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Elongate Locomotors Show Consistent Torque Patterns Across Substrates, Spencer Bradford, Henry Astley

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The four main movements found in snakes are understood mainly due to external study; however, muscular forces and resulting torques are poorly known. The main research objective is to study the torque production on different substrates using a snakebot. The study will give a rudimentary model for torque production on different substrates. It can then be compared against biological systems to understand snake movement at a muscular level. This study used a snakebot, allowing direct assessment of the current being run through each of its motors (proportional to torque). Data was then examined using a Principal Component Analysis test for …

Astrocyte Specific Enhancers In The Cortex And Striatum Of Mice, Mikaela Kottelich

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Among glial cells, astrocytes have a prevalent influence on supporting neuronal function and overall brain health. Specifically targeting this cell type for disease treatment is an existing issue. Other cell types tend to express the desired treatment, which is not always wanted and can lead to unintended, negative consequences. Astrocytes contribute largely to maintaining the blood brain barrier, which is disrupted in Parkinson’s disease. Certain genes are thought to be the reason for this disruption, so if they can be specifically targeted in astrocytes with a specific enhancer, the disruption of the disease could be reversed. In our experiment, we …

Impact Of Tetrahydrocannabinol (Thc) On Daphnia Magna Heart Rate, Ashley Cosgrave

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Marijuana (Cannabis) is currently federally illegal within the United States and classified as a Schedule I drug. This leaves a large research gap on the impacts of Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) use. Daphnia magna are frequently used as a model organism for the human heart and toxicology screenings due to their myogenic heart, similarities in physiological pathways, and sensitivity to toxins. As such, in order to bridge the research gap and uncover potential use of Daphnia magna as a model organism for humans in regard to impact on heart rate, we hypothesized that if Daphnia magna possess CB1 receptors or an equivalent …

Emergency Oversight, Catherine Baylin Duryea

Faculty Publications

This Article examines one of the most pressing questions in administrative law: How much judicial oversight should administrative agencies face during an emergency? This issue was particularly salient during the COVID epidemic, but it is not new. The Second World War saw a significant expansion and consolidation of the power of administrative agencies as well as experimentation with the appropriate oversight role for courts. This Article analyzes one such experiment: judicial oversight of agencies implementing wartime anti-inflationary measures, i.e., price controls and rationing. During the war, Congress created a specialized court, the Emergency Court of Appeals (ECA), to hear disputes …

An Integrative Approach To Diabetes Education In The Immigrant Somali Community, Bilal Kadri, Amina Osman

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease with numerous health and financial ramifications, especially for vulnerable populations like Somali immigrants. Effective management of diabetes requires adequate knowledge and management skills. Traditional diabetes education programs are ineffective for Somali immigrants because they do not account for their unique social, cultural, and traditional backgrounds. This study implemented a culturally sensitive, in-person, interactive education session for 14 first-generation Somali immigrants with type 2 diabetes. The effectiveness of the study was evaluated with pre- and post-education tests, as well as the participants’ self-confidence in managing diabetes. Mean test scores and a paired t-test were calculated …

Infectious Disease Response Preparedness: Survey Of Small To Medium Residential Universities, Tara Hicks

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Objective: To improve the understanding of strategies implemented by institutions of higher education (IHE) during the COVID-19 pandemic, including how those experiences and resulting knowledge influenced staff confidence and preparedness for future infectious disease events.

Participants: Small to medium undergraduate residential IHE in CA, OR, and WA.

Methods: A Qualtrics survey collected data 1/26/25 – 2/24/25.

Results: Over 50% of respondents identified 7 of 9 preparedness needs as a major to critical need of their IHE. Statistically significant associations were found between IHE conducting a review of actions during COVID-19 and both self-confidence (ρ 0.46, p=0.018) and confidence in …

Assessment Of Bifidobacterium Longum Itt 13 As A Probiotic Candidate, Eleana Keatley

Masters

Probiotics are live microorganisms that when administered in adequate amounts confer a health benefit on the host. Beneficial microbes are found in several sites throughout the body such as the oral cavity, skin, respiratory tract, vagina, urinary tract, breast tissue and the gut. In this research, the culture Bifidobacterium longum ITT 13, which was previously isolated from a neonatal faecal sample, was examined for its potential as a probiotic candidate. Probiotics can have numerous desirable characteristics. The pertinent ones to this research are being of human or animal origin, not prone to antibiotic resistance, demonstration of antagonistic activity towards pathogens, …

Characterizing Niche Specialization In Staphylococcus Epidermidis, Sandra Jablonsk

Dissertations

This thesis investigates the microbial diversity of Staphylococcus epidermidis (S. epidermidis) across various anatomical sites in the human body. While traditionally viewed as a benign skin microbe, S. epidermidis also inhabits the urinary, gastrointestinal, and respiratory tracts, raising questions about its genetic variation and adaptability in different environments. The research aims to compare strains of S. epidermidis isolated from the oral cavity, nostrils, urinary tract, and skin of healthy individuals to determine if they share a common ancestor or if they evolved independently in response to specific environmental factors. The study comprises three main aims. Aim 1 focuses on assessing …

Insights On The Cranial Anatomy And Osteohistology Of Cyonosaurus, Alexander Acker

Dissertations

This study investigates the cranial anatomy and life history of the small-bodied gorgonopsian Cyonosaurus. Previous research on gorgonopsians has disproportionately focused on larger members of the clade, leaving smaller forms relatively understudied. This gap has led to several unresolved questions, the most pressing of which concerns gorgonopsian ontogeny. Specifically, it remains unclear whether small-bodied gorgonopsians represent genuinely diminutive adult individuals or juveniles of larger species. The specimen NHCC LB1087 presents an ideal opportunity to address this issue and gain new insights into the biology of small-bodied gorgonopsians. The first chapter focuses on cranial anatomy. Due to the specimen’s preservation, many …

The Criminal System Under Racial Capitalism, Sandeep Singh Dhaliwal

Faculty Publications

In 2021, major segments of the business lobby converged around a consensus for criminal system reform. As the United States experienced historic levels of labor market tightness, business groups argued for removing “barriers” to employment that system-involved people face. Just a few months later, the orientation of business to the criminal system was decidedly more mixed. By March 2022, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the country’s most powerful business lobby, had stepped to the forefront of the national moral panic around retail theft, launching a vigorous campaign to defend and even strengthen criminal punishment across the country.

Anchoring its analysis …

Examining The Adjustment, Acculturation, And Well-Being Of International Arab Students In The United States: Implications For Policy And Practice, Hassan A A Kh A A Arab

Wayne State University Dissertations

This paper explored Arab international students studying in the United States to see whether they face acculturation stress, adjustment, or well-being issues. I found that my sample (N=95) experienced moderately high well-being distress and acculturative stress. However, the sample showed resilience and positive adjustment in all aspects, psychological (M=34.7), social (M=38.5), and academic (M=37.4). Moreover, well-being score from a modified GHQ survey came with high SD, indicating some students were dealing with serious mental issues, while others were doing well (M=42.92, SD=5.52). The majority of my participants were males (74.7%), single (75.8%), and graduate students (50.5%). Chi-square analysis found a …

Neuropsychological Assessment Accuracy In Diagnosing Early-Onset Alzheimer’S Disease, Elise Thomas

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Early-onset Alzheimer’s disease (EOAD), a progressive neurological condition, is often difficult to diagnose before substantial neuronal damage. Neuropsychological assessments offer a more cost-effective and accessible method for detecting early cognitive decline, yet limited research exists on optimal combinations for EOAD identification. This study analyzed data from 24 clinical studies to determine the diagnostic accuracy of FDA-approved EOAD assessments used in combination. No single combination was found to be superior across all diagnostic metrics. MMSE + MoCA + ADAS-Cog showed the highest sensitivity, MMSE + MoCA + RBANS the highest specificity, MMSE + RBANS the highest AUC value, and MMSE + …

English Pronouns: Default Case And Conversion, Olivia Ziemelis

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Case is a well-defined feature of generative syntax. However, the phenomenon of default Case, while widely accepted and discussed, is less defined in its triggers and limitations. The main body of work that seeks to explore default Case is that of Schütze (2001), which presents the main principles of default Case as well as the environments in which it may occur. The purpose of this thesis is to explore default Case at a deeper level, focusing on the interactions of Case, structure, and phi-features to determine how exactly the mechanism works. To achieve this, the data set used consists of …

Differentiation Or Dialectic: Pluralism And Contestation In European Economic Constitutionalism, Paul Linden-Retek, Marija Bartl

Journal Articles

In this contribution we ask how Přibáň’s theoretical choices shape the capacity of ‘European constitutional imaginaries’ to account for the ever more necessary work of recognition and redistribution within European society. While ‘European constitutional imaginaries’ reveal the intricate ideologies at play within European law and politics, as well as their power in motivating dominant currents of European political life, the project remains limited in that it accepts essential tenets of functional differentiation in society, obscuring the conditions of possibility for the formation of differentiated systems. Put differently, ‘European constitutional imaginaries’, both as forms of life and analytic concepts, have difficulty …

The Association Between Medication Adherence, Internalized Stigma And Social Support Among Outpatients With Major Depressive Disorder In A Malaysian Hospital: A Cross-Sectional Study, Martha Sajatovic

Faculty Scholarship

Background: Internalized stigma and medication non-adherence pose significant challenges for treating major depressive disorder (MDD), leading to disability, increased suicide risk, and morbidity. Limited data exists on modifiable factors associated with adherence in lower-resourced settings like Malaysia. This study aimed to investigate poor adherence prevalence and the demographic and clinical factors associated with poor medication adherence among patients with MDD. Methods: This cross-sectional survey recruited participants using universal sampling from a major hospital in Selangor, Malaysia. Participants answered questionnaires consisting of demographic and clinical information (medical history, duration of anti-depressant treatment for MDD, psychiatric ward admission history, and any medication …

Landscape Intactness As A Necessary Component Of Multiple-Use And Sustained-Yield Management Of Bureau Of Land Management Public Lands, Matthew S. Dietz, Alison C. Flint, R. Travis Belote

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Greenwashed Forest Management And Wildfire Resilience, Sarah A. Matsumoto

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Dire Straits In The Gulf: Using The Endangered Species Act To Better Protect The World's Rarest Whale From Industrial Threats, Aidan Bodeo-Lomicky

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Applying The Rights Of Nature To The Rights Of Animals: Comparing The Lake Erie Bill Of Rights To Happy The Elephant, Mason Liddell

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Colorado Environmental Law Journal

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Colorado Environmental Law Journal

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, Emily Derrenbacker

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Interrogating Marine Plastics Pollution Regulations: The Intended Roles Of The Global Plastics Treaty, Ndubuisi Augustine Nwafor

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Towards Multispecies Environmental Justice, Laura Street Cole

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Holding Fossil Fuel Producers Accountable In U.S. And Other Foreign Courts: A Climate Justice Pathway For Sierra Leone, Jamil Sahid Fofanah

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Still Silent: How The U.S. Regulatory Framework Fails To Address The Dangers Of Pesticides, Obie Johnson

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Distinct Odorant Receptor Response Patterns To Aliphatic Odorants In Freely Behaving Mice, Claire A. De March, Patrick Breheny, William B. Titlow, Hiroaki Matsunami, Timothy S. Mcclintock

Physiology Faculty Publications

In mammals, odors are encoded by a combinatorial code determined by the pattern of responses across hundreds of odorant receptors expressed monogenically and monoallelically in olfactory sensory neurons. The compositions of these receptor response patterns are largely unknown and overlap between them has yet to be explored. Activity-dependent reporter gene expression in freely behaving S100a5-tauGFP mice allowed capture of activated olfactory sensory neurons and identified 168 receptors responsive to moderate concentrations of 1 or more of 12 aliphatic (5 to 8 carbons) ketones, alcohols, and carboxylic acids. These 12 response patterns are remarkably different, with only 19% of the receptors …

Feeding- And Light-Cycle Synergistically Regulate Mouse Blood Pressure Daily Rhythm Via Bmal1-Dependent And Independent Mechanisms, Tianfei Hou, Wen Su, Aaron Chacon, An-Hsuan Lin, Zhenheng Guo, Ming C. Gong

Physiology Faculty Publications

Cardiovascular health requires the orchestration of the daily rhythm of blood pressure (BP), which responds to changes in light exposure and dietary patterns. Whether rhythmic light and feeding can modulate daily BP rhythm directly or via modulating intrinsic core clock gene Bmal1 is unknown. Using inducible global Bmal1 knockout mice (iBmal1KO), we explored the impact of rhythmic light, rhythmic feeding, or their combination on various physiological parameters. Daily rhythms of BP, heart rate, and locomotor activity were monitored via radiotelemetry, while food intake patterns were tracked using the BioDAQ system. Respiratory exchange ratio (RER) and energy expenditure (EE) were assessed …

Prosecutorial Reform And The Myth Of Individualized Enforcement, Justin Murray

Articles & Chapters

The American prosecutor’s legitimacy faces unprecedented challenges. A new wave of reformist prosecutors has risen to power promising to transform the criminal justice system from within, sparking fierce backlash from defenders of the prosecutorial status quo. Central to this conflict is a debate over the nature of prosecutorial discretion, influenced by a set of claims and assumptions that this Article terms the myth of individualized enforcement. This myth posits that prosecutors base discretionary decisions on case-specific facts and equitable circumstances rather than generalizable criteria or categorical nonenforcement practices, such as the policies some reformist prosecutors have adopted that disfavor prosecuting …

Methylome–Proteome Integration After Late-Life Voluntary Exercise Training Reveals Regulation And Target Information For Improved Skeletal Muscle Health, Toby L Chambers, Andrea Dimet-Wiley, Alexander R Keeble, Amin Haghani, Wen-Juo Lo, Gyumin Kang, Robert Brooke, Steve Horvath, Christopher S Fry, Stanley J Watowich, Yuan Wen, Kevin A Murach

Physiology Faculty Publications

Abstract: Exercise is a potent stimulus for combatting skeletal muscle ageing. To study the effects of exercise on muscle in a preclinical setting, we developed a combined endurance–resistance training stimulus for mice called progressive weighted wheel running (PoWeR). PoWeR improves molecular, biochemical, cellular and functional characteristics of skeletal muscle and promotes aspects of partial epigenetic reprogramming when performed late in life (22–24 months of age). In this investigation, we leveraged pan-mammalian DNA methylome arrays and tandem mass-spectrometry proteomics in skeletal muscle to provide detailed information on late-life PoWeR adaptations in female mice relative to age-matched sedentary controls (n = 7–10 …