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Motivated Gifts: A Self-Determination Perspective, Sharise Love, Liudmila Titova

Modern Psychological Studies

Gift-giving can strengthen relationships and facilitate favor requests. Previous researchers have found that 'motivated gifts' (gifts given with the intention of asking a favor) decrease recipients' satisfaction and willingness to help. The current study investigated the role of basic psychological need satisfaction (BPNS) in this effect. BPNS is said to facilitate the integration of autonomous motivation, which was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between motivated gifts and prosociality. In the current study, a sample of 426 undergraduate students was randomly given a hypothetical scenario in which they imagined receiving a motivated gift or not, while also being asked a favor. …

Body Dissatisfaction In College Students: Which Sociocultural Pressure Best Predicts Drive For Thinness?, Sawyer V. Ellis, Elaine M. Kozmiuk, Mary E. Pritchard, Heather Schoenherr

Modern Psychological Studies

Previous literature has suggested that family pressure is the main predictor of drive for thinness (Palladino Green & Pritchard, 2003). Given the growth of social media where thin beauty is glamorized, we wanted to test if this remains true while including multiple factors that may have been disregarded in body-centric studies. Consequently, we asked which sociocultural pressure—family, peers, or media—relates the strongest with body shame, body surveillance, and drive for thinness. A sample of 1,049 undergraduate psychology students, ages 18-29, were surveyed to better understand body dissatisfaction in college students. We predicted that each sociocultural pressure would correlate with body …

Body Image And Social Media In College Students, Elaine M. Kozmiuk, Sawyer Ellis, Mary Pritchard, Heather Schoenherr (Mentor)

Modern Psychological Studies

The current study assessed the relationship between social media appearance-related preoccupation (SMARP), body shame, body surveillance, and social physique anxiety (SPA). Data were collected from 1,049 participants, and a correlational analysis and a hierarchal regression were conducted. Significant relationships were found between body shame, body surveillance, SMARP, and SPA, supporting our hypotheses. Our results confirmed the relationship between SPA and SMARP, adding evidence to a mixed debate about the relationships between SPA and social media use. The researchers found that SPA moderated the relationship between body shame and SMARP. We can conclude that appearance anxieties and appearance-based social media use …

Interactions Between Anxiety, Family Influence, And Athletic Status On College Students: A Military School Cohort, Caragh Osborne, Aubrey Whitehead

Modern Psychological Studies

The prevalence of anxiety in college students has increased drastically over the past decade. Previous researchers have typically only examined how to help students while they are at school, however, there could be additional factors contributing to their anxiety prior to attending college. The current study aimed to observe how family influence and athletic status may play a role in anxiety among college students. Participants (N = 42) completed an anxiety symptoms inventory then disclosed how much their family influenced their decision to attend college. A two-way ANOVA indicated that neither athletic status nor degree of family influence had a …

Random Forests Regression For Soft Interval Data, Paul Gaona-Partida, Chih-Ching Yeh, Yan Sun, Adele Cutler

Mathematics and Statistics Faculty Publications

Analyzing soft interval data for uncertainty quantification has attracted much attention recently. Within this context, regression methods for interval data have been extensively studied. As most existing works focus on linear models, it is important to note that many problems in practice are nonlinear in nature and the development of nonlinear regression tools for interval data is crucial. This paper proposes an interval-valued random forests model that defines the splitting criterion of variance reduction based on an L₂ type metric in the space of compact intervals. The model simultaneously considers the centers and ranges of the interval data as …

Documents From The February 21, 2024 Meeting Of The Associated Students Of The University Of Montana (Asum), University Of Montana--Missoula. Associated Students

Senate Meeting Agendas and Minutes, 2007-Present

Agenda and meeting minutes from the February 21, 2024 meeting of the Associated Students of the University of Montana (ASUM). The following resolutions were discussed during the meeting:

SB17-23/24: Resolution Revising Article IV, Section 14 of the ASUM Bylaws

SB16 -23/24: Resolution Commending UM BSU President Jasmine Caldwell

An Overview Of Youth Crime And Violence In The Caribbean Community (Caricom), Marika Dawkins-Cavazos

Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Many Impacts Of The Covid-19 Pandemic On Latinx College Students’ Mental Health: Exploring The Role Of Sleep, Social Support, And Familismo, Mayra S. Ramos

Theses and Dissertations

College students experienced a multitude of disruptions to their daily life, and changes to their physical (i.e., sleep quality) and mental health (e.g., anxiety and depressive symptoms) because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Though the field has identified the factors that have contributed to negative physical and mental health changes, there remains much to be known about social and cultural protective factors that could buffer the negative role of the COVID-19 pandemic on Latinx college students. The current study contributed to the literature on the mental health outcomes of Latinx college students by identifying a possible mediator and moderators between the …

Trait Mindfulness And Political Polarization: Investigating Neural Responses And Emotional Orientations, Elif Z. Celik

Theses and Dissertations

The rapid escalation of political polarization has led to increased social distancing, aggressive partisan behavior, and discriminatory attitudes among Democrats and Republicans. Prior research has indicated that mindfulness is associated with increased compassion, reduced prejudice, and diminished aggression toward out-group members. This thesis investigates the relationship between trait mindfulness and political polarization by examining neural responses and emotional orientations in individuals with varying levels of mindfulness. This research measured brain activity using functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) while participants viewed emotionally charged political videos and neutral content. The primary hypothesis suggested that individuals with high trait mindfulness would exhibit left-lateralized prefrontal …

Evaluation Of Alternative Methods For Dna Recovery Of Compromised Skeletal Remains, Ciara N. Rhodes

Theses and Dissertations

Skeletal remains frequently serve as the sole source of genetic material available for developing a profile in cases concerning unidentified human remains or mass casualties. Nevertheless, as unidentified skeletal remains age and are exposed to uncontrolled environmental conditions, the success rates of conventional methods of bone analysis diminish significantly. The physical and mechanical processing of skeletal remains into fine powder for DNA isolation and downstream analysis can substantially impact the quality and quantity of recoverable genetic information. This concern may be exacerbated when dealing with degraded forensic skeletal remains. Few studies have explored whether pulverization of bone samples contributes to …

Title: I: L1-Norm Matrix Completion For Recommender Systems Ii: Conjecturing-Based Classification, Fatemeh Valizadeh Gamchi

Theses and Dissertations

Recommendation systems are essential for providing personalized user experiences, but their performance can be affected by outliers especially in traditional collaborative filtering methods that use the L2-norm. To address this challenge, we developed two new algorithms, SharpEl1rs and SharpEl1rs-Impute, based on the L1-norm to improve resistance against extreme values and effectively handle missing data. Our experimental setting was designed to compare these proposed methods with existing techniques. Then our algorithms are applied to real datasets to assess their performance, with findings indicating that our proposed models offer improved accuracy in some cases and solid performance in others for industrial-scale recommendation …

Not Woman Enough: How World Athletics’ Treatment Of Women With Differences In Sexual Development Violates The Olympic Charter And The Un’S Conventions Against Racial Discrimination And Discrimination Against Women, Rachel Crass

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

In 1966, in response to growing fears that men would attempt to pose as women to win medals in elite competition, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) began gender testing all female athletes through various visual and gynecological evaluations. These tests were quickly deemed to be too invasive and were replaced by other chemical and genetic tests as scientific capabilities advanced. The new tests led to the disqualification of dozens of elite female athletes after results revealed latent Y chromosomes in women with androgen insensitivity conditions. After multiple leading medical societies and international sports governing bodies called for an end to …

Menstrual Hygiene Management And The Right To Education In Ethiopia, Krista Jolivette

Denver Journal of International Law & Policy

This Note focuses on the nation of Ethiopia as an example of modern issues in menstrual hygiene management, calling upon existing measures of implementation and recommendations for future interventions. The Note concludes by pointing out that progress in this arena is possible with the help of government agents, NGOs, and international actors.

Against Associational Standing, Michael T. Morley, F. Andrew Hessick

Faculty Publications

This Article calls for the abandonment, or at least serious modification, of associational standing. Even without associational standing, groups may still sue to enforce their own rights. And they could continue to help vindicate their members’ rights by providing legal representation for member plaintiffs in individual or class action suits (filed anonymously, if necessary), covering members’ litigation costs, and providing expert witnesses and other guidance. In short, associational standing is a largely unnecessary deviation from both Article III’s injury-in-fact requirement and the fundamental principles underlying our justice system. Eliminating associational standing would not limit public law and other important collective …

A Phenomenological Study Of Online Physical Education On Former Students’ Activity Levels And Fitness Concepts Knowledge, Jerry Veshio

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to provide an understanding of the perspectives of former online physical education high school students and how participation in the course affected their ability to be active post-high school and their knowledge of fitness concepts. A phenomenological design was used to guide the study’s investigation. Participants in the study were interviewed about their experiences in online physical education while in high school and how that experience currently influences their physical activity levels. Additionally, respondents described the positives and negatives of their experience in the course, specifically as it relates to the course materials, assessments, instructor …

Digitizing The Photographs Of Black Photographers Horace And Evelyn Stewart, 1897-1978, S. Victor Fleischer

University Research

The purpose of this two-year project is to digitize and make available online for research and discovery the photographs of Horace and Evelyn Stewart from The University of Akron Archives & Special Collections. The Stewarts were a husband-and-wife team of professional Black photographers who owned and operated Stewart’s Photo Studio in Akron, Ohio. Their photographs visually document the rich history of the Black community in Akron, northeast Ohio, and beyond, from 1897 to 1978. The collection consists of 37 boxes containing approximately 46,000 historic black and white and color photographic prints and negatives that capture Black personalities and families; religious, …

Assessing The Potential Of Uav-Based Multispectral And Thermal Data To Estimate Soil Water Content Using Geophysical Methods, Yunyi Guan, Katherine R. Grote

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Knowledge of the soil water content (SWC) is important for many aspects of agriculture and must be monitored to maximize crop yield, efficiently use limited supplies of irrigation water, and ensure optimal nutrient management with minimal environmental impact. Single-location sensors are often used to monitor SWC, but a limited number of point measurements is insufficient to measure SWC across most fields since SWC is typically very heterogeneous. To overcome this difficulty, several researchers have used data acquired from unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) to predict the SWC by using machine learning on a limited number of point measurements acquired across a …

Descriptive Statistical Analysis Of Experimental Data For Wettability Alteration With Smart Water Flooding In Carbonate Reservoirs, Muhammad Ali Buriro, Mingzhen Wei, Baojun Bai, Ya Yao

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Smart water flooding is a promising eco-friendly method for enhancing oil recovery in carbonate reservoirs. The optimal salinity and ionic composition of the injected water play a critical role in the success of this method. This study advances the field by employing machine learning and data analytics to streamline the determination of these critical parameters, which are traditionally reliant on time-intensive laboratory work. The primary objectives are to utilize data analytics to examine how smart water flooding influences wettability modification, identify key parameter ranges that notably alter the contact angle, and formulate guidelines and screening criteria for successful lab design. …

Occupational Therapy Interventions For Visual Impairments Among Adolescents With Mild Traumatic Brain Injury, Olivia Vander Haar, Molly Whitlow, Sarah Fellman

Student Systematized Reviews: Occupational Therapy

PUPROSE: The purpose of this systematic review was to synthesize the evidence of occupational therapy (OT) interventions for adolescents who have sustained a mTBI and experience visual dysfunction.

DESIGN AND METHOD: A systematic review of peer-reviewed literature was conducted. Articles were included if participants were eight to nineteen years of age and diagnosed with an mTBI. Titles and abstracts of 506 articles from three databases were screened. The full text of 26 articles was reviewed. Seven met inclusion criteria. The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force levels of certainty and grade definitions described the strength of evidence.

RESULTS: Physical conditioning, vision …

Lessons Learned From Laboratory Study And Field Application Of Re-Crosslinkable Preformed Particle Gels Rppg For Conformance Control In Mature Oilfields With Conduits/Fractures/Fracture-Like Channels, Baojun Bai, Thomas P. Schuman, David Smith, Tao Song

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This Paper Surveys the Role of Re-Crosslink able Preformed Particle Gels (RPPG) in Addressing Conformance Challenges within Mature Oilfields. Despite Widespread Preformed Particle Gel (PPG) Application in 15,000+ Wells, their Limitations in Sealing Fractures and Conduits Prevalent in Mature Reservoirs Have Driven the Development of RPPG Formulations. Synthesized in Various Sizes from Micrometer to Millimeter Levels, These Environmentally Friendly RPPGs Are Tailored for Diverse Reservoir Conditions. Findings Showcase the Successful Laboratory-Scale Creation and Upscaling of RPPG Products, Offering Adaptability to Temperatures from 20 to 175°C, Customizable Sizes, Swelling Ratios (5 to 40 Times), and Re-Crosslinking Times Spanning Minutes to Days. …

Would Self-Supported Fracture Contribute To The Hydrocarbon Production In Shale Reservoir Besides Proppant-Supported Fracture, Y. Sun, G. Li, S. Zeng, J. Wu, J. Liu, M. Xu, C. Dai, Baojun Bai

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

During hydraulic fracturing in deep shale gas reservoirs, it is difficult to pump proppants long distances, and self-supported fractures are formed at the far and upper ends of the fractures. The self-supported fracture could hold the fracture space by its surface structure again fracture closure. However, it faces various aspects of impairment during shale gas reservoir development, which affect its conductivity. Among the impairment, long-term production results in a decline of bottom hole pressure, which will compact the fracture space, and self-supported fractures without proppant are more sensitive than those with proppant. In this paper, we conducted a series of …

An Unsupervised Learning Framework For Determining The Excitation Coefficients Using Near-Field Antenna Measurements, Yanming Zhang, Peifeng Ma, Steven Gao, Lijun Jiang

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

This article presents a novel unsupervised learning framework based on multiscale dynamic mode decomposition for determining the excitation coefficients of antennas using time-domain near-field measurements. The proposed framework integrates temporal multiscale analysis to extract a joint distribution of frequency, damping factors, and spatial modes, enabling precise extraction of excitation frequencies, rising/falling edges, and phases without labeled data. We validate the effectiveness of the proposed approach through two examples involving on-off keying modulation and a phase-shift dipole antenna. It is found that the proposed method performs well in handling nonstationary excitation signals and proves particularly advantageous for calibrating tunable antenna systems. …

On-Field Agroecosystem Research Experience: An Undergraduate Perspective, Elysee Ndayishimiye, Japhet Dushimeyesu, Yvon Ukwishaka, Chittaranjan Ray, David Fleisher, Dennis Timlin, Vangimalla Reddy, Arindam Malakar

Journal of Contemporary Water Research and Education

Undergraduate hands-on research can foster innovation and critical thinking among young scholars to delve into real-world challenges. Specifically, exploring the critical nexus between water usage and agricultural yield, can foster academic growth and holds the key to addressing global food security in an era of increasing environmental constraints, where students can unlock insights crucial to enhancing crop yield and sustainability. Investigating the intricate relationship between water management and crop productivity through undergraduate research is exemplified in this article. Undergraduate students acquired hands-on research experience by collecting, processing, and analyzing destructive (crop biomass samples) and non-destructive (plant height, nodes, and leaf …

Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Role In Supporting Students’ Mental Health Needs, Rachael Mcdonough

Masters Theses

Mental health issues are highly prevalent among children and adolescents and have recently increased in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Evidence shows a research to practice gap in the area of mental health practices and interventions in schools. As teachers are frontline gatekeepers for identifying mental health issues in students, it is important to understand current teachers' perspectives regarding their role, knowledge, and training. Thus, the current study sought to explore teachers’ perceptions regarding their role in supporting student mental health needs and the barriers that may prevent them from doing so. In the current study, general and special …

The Construct Validity Of The Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales, Second Edition (Rias-2) And The Wechsler Abbreviated Scale Of Intelligence, Second Edition (Wasi-Ii), Cristen J. Rozek

Masters Theses

This study is designed to assess the relationship between two brief intelligence tests, the Reynolds Intellectual Assessment Scales-Second Edition (RIAS-2; Reynolds & Kamphaus, 2015) and the Wechsler Abbreviated Scale of Intelligence-Second Edition (WASI-II; Wechsler, 2011), through evaluating their ability to similarly measure intellectual skills. These two tests measure an individual’s overall general intelligence. Both tests are able to assess individuals aged 6-90. The WASI-II publisher specified this test was only a screener while the RIAS-2 is not. Tests like the RIAS-2 and WASI-II are more time efficient allowing more time to be spent on other professional responsibilities. Manuals from both …

The Sewage Microbiome Dynamics Of Different Serving Neighborhoods In Charleston, Illinois, Sandra Chiamaka Okoye

Masters Theses

The complex microbial ecosystem within sewage systems holds significant implications for environmental and public health. Unlike studies on wastewater treatment plant microbiomes, upstream sewage systems have not been studied widely. This research investigated the dynamic sewage microbiome across diverse serving neighborhoods in Charleston, Illinois, encompassing residential, hospital, industrial, and university areas. Drawing upon recent advancements in microbiome research, the study aimed to unravel the spatial and temporal variations in microbial structures. Three times between June to December 2023 sewage samples were collected from manholes in the areas mentioned above. Community DNA was extracted and sequenced for the V4-V5 region of …

Automated Hiv Case Identification From The Mimic-Iv Database, Kai Jiang, Tru Cao

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Automatic HIV phenotyping is needed for HIV research based on electronic health records (EHRs). MIMIC-IV, an extension of MIMIC-III, contains more than 520,000 hospital admissions and has become a valuable EHR database for secondary medical research. However, there was no prior phenotyping algorithm to extract HIV cases from MIMIC-IV, which requires a comprehensive knowledge of the database. Moreover, previous HIV phenotyping algorithms did not consider the new HIV-1/HIV-2 antibody differentiation immunoassay tests that MIMIC-IV contains. Our work provided insight into the structure and data elements in MIMIC-IV and proposed a new HIV phenotyping algorithm to fill in these gaps. The …

Baseline Characteristics Of Sars-Cov-2 Vaccine Non-Responders In A Large Population-Based Sample, Ashraf Yaseen, Stacia M Desantis, Rachit Sabharwal, Yashar Talebi, Michael D Swartz, Shiming Zhang, Luis Leon Novelo, Cesar L Pinzon-Gomez, Sarah E Messiah, Melissa Valerio-Shewmaker, Harold W Kohl, Jessica Ross, David Lakey, Jennifer A Shuford, Stephen J Pont, Eric Boerwinkle

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Studies indicate that individuals with chronic conditions and specific baseline characteristics may not mount a robust humoral antibody response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines. In this paper, we used data from the Texas Coronavirus Antibody REsponse Survey (Texas CARES), a longitudinal state-wide seroprevalence program that has enrolled more than 90,000 participants, to evaluate the role of chronic diseases as the potential risk factors of non-response to SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in a large epidemiologic cohort.

METHODS: A participant needed to complete an online survey and a blood draw to test for SARS-CoV-2 circulating plasma antibodies at four-time points spaced at least three months …

Identification Of Novel 3d-Genome Altering And Complex Structural Variants Underlying Retinitis Pigmentosa Type 17 Through A Multistep And High-Throughput Approach, Suzanne E De Bruijn, Daan M Panneman, Nicole Weisschuh, Elizabeth L Cadena, Erica G M Boonen, Lara K Holtes, Galuh D N Astuti, Frans P M Cremers, Nico Leijsten, Jordi Corominas, Christian Gilissen, Anna Skowronska, Jessica Woodley, Andrew D Beggs, Vasileios Toulis, Di Chen, Michael E Cheetham, Alison J Hardcastle, Terri L Mclaren, Tina M Lamey, Jennifer A Thompson, Fred K Chen, John N De Roach, Isabella R Urwin, Lori S Sullivan, Susanne Roosing

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Autosomal dominant retinitis pigmentosa type 17 (adRP, type RP17) is caused by complex structural variants (SVs) affecting a locus on chromosome 17 (chr17q22). The SVs disrupt the 3D regulatory landscape by altering the topologically associating domain (TAD) structure of the locus, creating novel TAD structures (neo-TADs) and ectopic enhancer-gene contacts. Currently, screening for RP17-associated SVs is not included in routine diagnostics given the complexity of the variants and a lack of cost-effective detection methods. The aim of this study was to accurately detect novel RP17-SVs by establishing a systematic and efficient workflow.

METHODS: Genetically unexplained probands diagnosed with adRP …

Circulating Sphingolipids In Relation To Cognitive Decline And Incident Dementia: The Cardiovascular Health Study, Kristine F Moseholm, Héléne T Cronjé, Manja Koch, Annette L Fitzpatrick, Oscar L Lopez, Marcia C De Oliveira Otto, W T Longstreth, Andrew N Hoofnagle, Kenneth J Mukamal, Rozenn N Lemaitre, Majken K Jensen

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Introduction: Whether circulating levels of sphingolipids are prospectively associated with cognitive decline and dementia risk is uncertain.

Methods: We measured 14 sphingolipid species in plasma samples from 4488 participants (mean age 76.2 years; 40% male; and 25% apolipoprotein E (APOE) ε4 allele carriers). Cognitive decline was assessed annually across 6 years using modified Mini-Mental State Examination (3MSE) and Digital Symbol Substitution Test (DSST). Additionally, a subset of 3050 participants were followed for clinically adjudicated dementia.

Results: Higher plasma levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/16:0 (SM-16) were associated with a faster cognitive decline measured with 3MSE, in contrast, higher levels of sphingomyelin-d18:1/22:0 (SM-22) …