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Influence Of Lactobacillus Plantarum Administration On Some Serum/Tissue (Uterus) Antioxidant And Cytokine Levels In Female Rats Exposed To Cadmium (Cd), İhsan Kisadere, Bariş Güner, Hakan Tavşanli, Mehmet Faruk Aydin, Mustafa Usta

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The study aimed to investigate the effects of oral Lactobacillus plantarum (Lp) administration on some serum/tissue (uterus) antioxidant and cytokine levels as well as histopathologic changes in female rats exposed chronically to Cd. For this purpose, rats were separated into four groups including control (C, n = 8), cadmium (Cd, n = 8), Lp (n = 8), and Cd + Lp (n = 8). Cd (dissolved in water at a dose of 2.04 mg/mL) was orally administered to Cd and Cd + Lp groups for 28 days. Besides, active-live Lp, which was grown at a level of approximately 10$^{8}$-10$^{9}$ cfu/mL …

Could There Be A Relationship Between Feeding Characteristics And The Shape Of Condylus Occipitalis And Foramen Magnum In Mammals?, Yasi̇n Demi̇raslan, İsmai̇l Demi̇rci̇oğlu, İftar Gürbüz, Funda Aksünger Karaavci, Abdullah Ortadeveci, Özcan Özgel

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

The aim of the study was to investigate the shape of the foramen magnum and condylus occipitalis of mammalian species belonging to different feeding groups. For this, two-dimensional geometric morphometric method analyses were applied. The data from the skulls of the 12 species were used. In principal component analysis, the first three principal components accounted for 70.353%of the total shape variation. According to the first principal component, the dorsal edge of the condylus occipitalis and foramen magnum contributed the most to shape variation. Most of the individuals were correctly separated according to the feeding groups. The most accurate grouping features …

Volume 32, Number 4, Winter 2023-24, Office Of Communications, Illinois Wesleyan University

Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine, 2018-present

VOLUME 32 | NUMBER 4 | Winter 2023-24

ON OUR COVER:

Bryan McCannon '98 and Amber Kujath '97 have returned to IWU to lead the Schools of Business and Economics and of Nursing and Health Sciences.

14 Pilgrims of Science Scott Collins '02 and Kosha (Baxi) Carstens '02 have dreamed of going to the Galapagos Islands since they were children growing up together in Ottawa, Illinois. This summer, they finally went with Scott's class of high school biology students.

18 Returning Leaders Two IWU alumni, Amber Kujath '97 and Bryan McCannon '98, have returned to campus as experts in their …

Marine And Human Environmental Factors Influence Vibrio Parahaemolyticus And Vibrio Vulnificus In Vitro Biofilm Processes On Plastics, Ryan Eric Leighton

Theses and Dissertations

Marine bacteria often exist in biofilms as communities attached to surfaces, like plastic. Growing concerns exist regarding marine plastics acting as potential vectors of pathogenic Vibrio, especially in a changing climate. It has been generalized that Vibrio vulnificus and Vibrio parahaemolyticus often attach to plastic surfaces. Different strains of these Vibrios exist having different growth and biofilm forming properties. This work evaluated how temperature and strain variability affect V. parahaemolyticus and V. vulnificus biofilm formation and characteristics on glass (GL), low-density polyethylene (LDPE), polypropylene (PP), and polystyrene (PS). This work also evaluated how human body related factors like temperature, …

“Can I Get Some Help, Please?”: Examining Contributing Factors To First-Generation Student Success In California Community Colleges, Tijan G. White

Dissertations

This study aimed to determine the percentage of first-generation college students enrolled at California Community Colleges and examine their experiences through a culturally engaging lens using a mixed-methods approach. The research was interested in determining what percentage of community college students hold first-generation college student status using the federal definition of the term, understanding to what extent those students found their campus environments to be culturally responsive and relevant to their needs and what insights some of these students could offer regarding their experiences. The researcher surveyed and facilitated a focus group discussion with students throughout the Bay Area geographic …

Influence Of Prescribed Burning On Coast Redwood (Sequoia Sempervirens) Forest Wildfire Resistance, Resilience, And Risk Of Repeated Fire, Sky B. Biblin

Master's Theses

Land managers need tools to mitigate wildfire proliferation in the western United States. Prescribed burning may be an effective tool to reduce wildfire severity and promote healthy landscapes. In 2020, a large-scale wildfire provided a rare opportunity to compare early postfire data between areas with and without a history of prescribed burning. Field data were collected approximately one year after a wildfire in fifty 20-meter plots from sites treated with prescribed fire in either 1999, 2007, or 2011 and fifty from sites without a history of prescribed fire. The influence of prescribed burning on forest resistance, resilience, and risk of …

Western Snowy Plover Dispersal In Response To Repeated Nest Loss In Monterey Bay, California, Esther A. Haile

Master's Theses

Western snowy plovers (Charadrius nivosus nivosus) breed and winter along sandy beaches and salt pannes of the Pacific coast of the U.S. and Mexico. Since 2015, the percentage of successful nests in Monterey Bay has declined due to predation. This study examines the site fidelity and dispersal of western snowy plovers after repeated nest loss using nesting data from 2013-2020 from a banded population in Monterey, California. Dispersal distance within a breeding season reflected plovers serially polygamous breeding strategy, with more site fidelity within a breeding season than between two breeding seasons. Nests lost to environmental causes having a 41.3% …

Bubble Detection Under Microgravity In A Closed-Loop Microchannel Perfusion System, Max S. Kim

Master's Theses

Altered gravitational conditions result in changes in biological function. Studies in microgravity have shown irregularities in fluid redistribution within the vascular system. In order to study these irregularities, a cell culture perfusion system is necessary. Bubbles can proliferate in closed-loop systems and are detrimental to cells. However, the effects of bubbles in a closed-loop system in microgravity are unknown. Accordingly, the hypothesis of this investigation is that the absence of a constant-direction gravitational body force will exacerbate the presence of bubbles in a closed-loop microfluidic perfusion system. In order to examine the hypothesis, a closed-loop microfluidic cell culture perfusion system …

Combining Camera Trap And Fitness App Data Demonstrates That Mammals Change Behavior Near High-Use Bike Trails On Mount Tamalpais, Ca, Erin Rose Lacour

Master's Theses

Anthropogenic disturbance that results in habitat loss is the leading cause of the current extinction crisis. To mitigate loss of habitat, protected lands are dedicated to preserving ecosystems, but such areas often allow outdoor recreational activities. Research has shown negative impacts on a range of species from outdoor recreational activities, and there is little information about potential impacts of mountain biking on wildlife. Mountain biking and hiking tracking data from the social fitness app Strava Metro and data from a camera trap project in Marin County, CA, were analyzed to assess how mammal species’ spatial distribution, temporal activity, and richness …

Sustainable Roots: The Environmental Genealogies Of Chicanas And Latinas, Marlene Andrade

Master's Theses

Ingenuity and tending to the land are anything but contemporary to Communities of Color (COC). Even when our communities become targets of environmental racism and experience the brunt of institution-based degradation, COC resist in a multitude of ways. While there is a plethora of documented social movements led by the Chicanx community for civil, educational, and labor rights, there is a paucity of Chicanx presence in environmental discourse. Thus, my scholar-activist commitments are to highlight Chicana/Latina herstories, epistemologies, and praxes that debunk the narrow white-heteropatriarchal male narrative in mainstream environmentalism. This dominant narrative fails to: (a) address the historical and …

The Inverse Association Between Prebiotic Consumption And Depression Status In American Adult Females, But Not The Greater Population Or In Males: Nhanes 2015-2018, Cassandra L. Boyd

Master's Theses

It is unknown if a relationship exists between prebiotic intake and depression status. Using 2015-2018 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey cycles data, adult American estimated mean daily prebiotic intake across demographic groups, gender, and depression status were reported. Additionally, the 10 highest prebiotic content Food and Nutrient Database for Dietary Studies foods were identified. Adults (≥ 18 years) with adequate sleep and at least one day of dietary recall data were included. Participants with excessive alcohol intake, BMI ≤ 18, BMI ≥ 30, or current depression medication use were excluded. The confounding variables were inadequate sleep, unemployment, and age. …

Thinking Styles, Conspiracist Belief, And The Mediating Role Of The Dunning-Kruger Effect In Modeling Belief Change, Lucas C. Cusano

Master's Theses

Why can a person believe something for which there is no evidence and yet also fail to believe something for which there is overwhelming evidence? This study develops a structural model of belief change using the latent constructs of thinking styles and conspiracist belief while accounting for the Dunning-Kruger effect (i.e., overconfidence in one’s knowledge the less one knows about a topic) as a mediator. A combined two-hundred and twenty-six participants from both Amazon’s Mechanical Turk and the introductory psychology SONA subject pool were given two knowledge measures on topics of genetic modification and vaccination before and after reading refutational …

Examining The Role Of Echo-Chambers Within Online Incel Communities Using Sentiment Analysis And Group Based Trajectory Modeling, Francesca Florine Fanucchi

Master's Theses

Technological advancements within the last decade have created new opportunities for social movements to meet and communicate online with like-minded individuals. Under this notion, these online communities generate an echo-chamber of information, to which certain individuals only surround themselves with people sharing similar values and opinions. As a result, online platforms (e.g., forums, blogs, websites) form as safe spaces for members to express their views seen as unacceptable offline. Research examining the role of echo-chambers in facilitating extremist rhetoric within online incel communities is limited, despite real-world acts of violence perpetrated by self-proclaimed incels. Therefore, the objective of this thesis …

Examining The Plasticity Of The Dive Response In Relation To Dive Behavior Of Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga Angustirostris), Shawn M. Hannah

Master's Theses

Marine mammals face an extraordinary challenge as they must actively hunt during breath-hold dives. This challenge is conquered by the dive response (the decreased heart rate and increased peripheral vasoconstriction associated with a breath hold) and is influenced by dive duration, depth, exercise, and cognitive control. I studied the dive response of one of the deepest diving marine mammals, the northern elephant seal, across two years to determine interactions between behavioral and physiological factors on a fine scale. I examined the influence of dive depth, duration, and activity (ODBA) on dive heart rate (fH), pre- and post-dive fH, post-dive surface …

Where And Why Do Ecosystem-Based Adaption Projects Take Place In California?, Daniel K. Jacobson

Master's Theses

California is experiencing the harmful impacts of climate change and will continue to do so for generations. As a result, municipalities have been forced to turn to adaptation solutions to help local residents adjust to inevitable impacts such as sea level rise, extreme heat, and extreme weather. Ecosystem-based adaptation (EbA), the use of nature and ecosystem services to help human systems adapt to climate change impacts, is an increasingly popular, cost-effective, and multi-benefit adaptation strategy. While prior research has shown that other forms of adaptation, often referred to as ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ strategies, disproportionately benefit whiter and wealthier populations, there …

Linking Social Dynamics To Private Land Management: A Study Of Prescribed Burn Associations In Northern California, Spencer R. Klinefelter

Master's Theses

Prescribed fire is one way to improve the adaptive capacity of communities in the wildland urban interface in terms of managing wildfire risk and meeting socio-ecological goals. In California, Prescribed Burn Associations (PBAs) are a way of organizing private landowners with the goal of engaging in more widespread and frequent prescribed fires. This research uses semi-structured interviews with private landowners, along with key informants from public agencies such as CalFire and Regional Parks, to explore PBA development and functioning in northern coastal California. Sonoma and Marin counties were chosen as the primary study sites as they are represented by the …

Characterization And Evaluation Of Catalytic Activity Of Small Molecule Copper Complexes For Metallopolymer Design, Brenda Lu

Master's Theses

Catalysis is one of the driving forces in designing greener chemical processes for essential real-world applications. Enzymes, Nature’s catalysts, are known for their high selectivity, use of readily available metals and reagents, and ability to work under physiological conditions; three important qualities that synthetic chemists would like to mimic in their small molecule metal catalysts. Though most small molecule metal catalysts fall short of enzyme-like activity, we hypothesize that using a polymer scaffold as a secondary coordination sphere mimic around the metal complex will affect the microenvironment (steric and electronic) and enable enzyme-like activity. Previously, we synthesized ligand precursors and …

Intrinsic Motivation By The Principles Of Non-Linear Dynamical Systems, Phu C. Nguyen

Master's Theses

The design of appropriate control rules for the stabilization of dynamical systems can require quite substantial domain knowledge. Modern AI methodologies, such as Reinforcement Learning, are often used to mitigate the need for such knowledge. However, these can be slow and often rely on at least some hand-designed reward structure, and thus human input, to be more effective. Here, we propose an alternative route to construct rewards requiring only minimal domain knowledge, essentially relying on the structure of the dynamical system itself. For this, we use truncated Lyapunov exponents as rewards to calculate the stabilizing controller from samples. Concretely, the …

Controllability-Constrained Deep Neural Network Models For Enhanced Control Of Dynamical Systems, Suruchi Sharma

Master's Theses

Control of a dynamical system without the knowledge of dynamics is an important and challenging task. Modern machine learning approaches, such as deep neural networks (DNNs), allow for the estimation of a dynamics model from control inputs and corresponding state observation outputs. Such data-driven models are often utilized for the derivation of model-based controllers. However, in general, there are no guarantees that a model represented by DNNs will be controllable according to the formal control-theoretical meaning of controllability, which is crucial for the design of effective controllers. This often precludes the use of DNN-estimated models in applications, where formal controllability …

Behavorial Response Of Diving Northern Elephant Seals (Mirounga Angustirostris) When Exposed To Predator Calls, Daphne M. Shen

Master's Theses

Understanding how marine mammals respond to and recover from acoustic stressors is crucial if underwater noise increases. The use of an animal-borne biologger that combines a speaker with a motion sensor allows for the collection of whole-dive and fine-scale data over repeated exposures under identical experimental parameters. This study determined whether northern elephant seals (Mirounga angustirostris), a model for deep-diving marine mammals, exhibited a stereotypical behavioral response when exposed to killer whale whistles, an acoustic stressor. I examined changes in dive characteristics, measured duration of altered response, and observed behavior in response to repeated exposures. When exposed to the playback …

Micro-Scale Laser-Induced Fluorescence Thermometry For Multiphase Flow In Porous Media, Samuel J. Simmons

Master's Theses

In this thesis the use of Laser-Induced Fluorescence (LIF) thermometry was evaluated as a temperature measurement for multiphase flow in porous media. This optical temperature measurement technique utilizes the temperature-dependent emissive properties of fluorescent dyes to measure temperature. This research evaluates the accuracy, spatial resolution, and temporal resolution of LIF thermometry compared to existing temperature measurements. In this research water-soluble and oil-soluble fluorescent dyes are evaluated in terms of their temperature sensitivity. The ability of these dyes to measure temperature is compared to an Ansys FEA simulation of a fixed temperature gradient. For multiphase flow, the fluorescent dyes were both …

Effects Of Social Isolation And Adolescent Ethanol Exposure On Adult Drinking And Nicotine Co-Use, Jakob Shaykin

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Alcohol use often begins in adolescence and can lead to increased susceptibility to AUD in adulthood. Stress in the form of social isolation during adolescence can also prompt substance use disorders later in adulthood. This thesis determined if exposure to ethanol (EtOH) during adolescence and social isolation alters the trajectory of alcohol and nicotine intake during adulthood. In Experiment 1, adolescent male and female Sprague-Dawley rats were administered intermittent injections of EtOH (2g/kg 20% EtOH, IP) or saline (PND 28-41). EtOH consumption was measured in adulthood (PND 49-55) using a 2-bottle choice procedure where one bottle contained a 0.2% saccharin/15% …

Longitudinal Perspectives On Individual Outcomes, Family Functioning, And Social Support Among Diverse Adoptive Families, Emily Lapidus

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Given that family processes change when a child enters adolescence, it is imperative for research to utilize longitudinal analyses to capture a family unit’s development over time. This research is especially lacking amongst diverse families, such as those formed utilizing adoption or headed by same-gender parents. Utilizing both the Parenting Stress Model and Family Systems Theory, it has been shown that family dynamics are key indicators when predicting functioning within a family, opposed to family structure. Therefore, it is hypothesized that there will be no significant differences related to family processes (e.g., family functioning, parenting stress, adolescent adjustment, and social …

Prenatal Ethanol Exposure Impairs Performance On Spatial And Tactile Sequential Discrimination Task In Juvenile Rats, Caleb S. Bailey

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASDs) are a set of cognitive and behavioral abnormalities that arise in ~5% of children who have been prenatally-exposed to alcohol. Prenatal alcohol exposure (PAE) can cause impairments in learning acquisition, working memory, response inhibition, and attentional-set shifting that result in exaggerated deficits in executive function and impairments in goal-seeking behavior. There are standard procedures used in rodent research to address some components of these deficits, but few procedures are sensitive enough to comprehensively assess such deficits. To address this issue in FASDs research techniques, we developed a procedure that requires prolonged executive function in a …

Birds Of A Feather: Exploring Social Facilitation Effects On Learning And Suboptimal Choice In Pigeons (Columba Livia), Peyton Mueller

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The social facilitation effect describes a change in the behavior of an individual due to the presence of another organism of the same species (i.e., a conspecific). Many theories exist that attempt to explain why this change in behavior exists across species. A set of four experiments were executed to best explain how pigeons learn in the presence of non-competing conspecifics. The first experiment sought to replicate an interesting effect previously found in cockroaches and rats, such that conspecific presence inhibits performance early in training but facilitates it with increased training. The second experiment placed the novel response acquired in …

The Role Of Maladaptive Emotion Socialization In Risk For Urgency And Problem Drinking In Adolescents, Emily Atkinson

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Negative urgency (NU; the tendency to act rashly when experiencing negative emotions) is a robust risk factor for a number of problem behaviors, including early adolescent drinking. Little is known about the factors that precede the development of NU, and hence the full etiology of this component of risk. The current study aimed to investigate the possibility that childhood maladaptive emotion socialization (MES; the tendency for children’s expressions of emotions to be met with punishment, minimized, or invoke a reaction of distress from their parents/caretakers) increases risk for the development of NU. Secondarily, the study tested whether MES predicts increased …

The Effects Of Social And Nonsocial Contextual Stimuli On The Renewal Of Cocaine Seeking, Bree Humburg

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Those with substance use disorders can undergo craving and relapse when re-exposed to a drug-associated context. This study determined if renewal of cocaine seeking is differentially controlled by contexts consisting of social and/or nonsocial stimuli. Experiment 1, rats self-administered cocaine in Context A which included a social peer and house light illumination. Following self-administration, rats were randomly assigned to an AAA or ABA group for extinction and renewal. For the AAA rats, context was similar to self-administration; for ABA rats, the drug-associated stimuli (peer and house light) were removed (Context B). Following extinction, renewal of cocaine seeking was examined by …

Seeing The System Vs Seeing The Individual: How Contextual Information And Framing Facilitate Perceptions Of Structural Inequality, Derek Kahng

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

The current study investigates factors that facilitate adolescents' structural attributions. Namely, we focus on two main factors. First, we investigate if contextual information such as intergroup/intragroup comparisons and group/individual level framing of inequalities affects the likelihood of making structural attributions to race-based inequalities in academic achievement. Second, we investigate if the likelihood of making structural attributions differs based on individual characteristics, such as the individuals’ race/ethnicity, subjective and objective social status, and belief in meritocracy and a just world. Results and its implications will be discussed in the paper.

The Effects Of Extended Fructose Access On Relative Value And Demand For Fructose, Saccharin, And Ventral Tegmental Stimulation, Megan Halloran

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Globally, food addiction (FA) is a growing area of research and is largely attributed to the availability of foods that are both energy dense and high in fats and sugars. Further, it has been suggested, that sugar and fat, when consumed frequently, have properties similar to drugs of abuse. While the validity of FA is questioned, researchers have drawn parallels between substance use disorder (SUD) and FA. For example, sugar binge models emphasize craving, withdrawal and binging as primary components of FA, which are also hallmarks of SUD. Additionally, both natural rewards, like sugars, and drug rewards act on the …

Personalized Longitudinal Network Models Of Alcohol Use: A Mechanistic Approach, Stephen Semcho

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

AUD and high-risk drinking are significant public health concerns, and prevailing diagnostic models fail to account for the within-person variability in AUD presentation and the role of functional mechanisms that maintain drinking outcomes. The ETOH Framework highlights the importance of three primary superdomains that maintain and characterize AUD – reward salience, cognitive dyscontrol, and negative emotionality. The current study was the first attempt to investigate the role of the primary ETOH mechanisms, along with positive and negative affect, on alcohol use outcomes, using a novel approach to model individual-level networks of relations over time. This study gathered twice-daily diary data …