Digital Commons Network^™

Subchronic Oral Cylindrospermopsin Exposure Alters The Host Gut Microbiome And Is Associated With Progressive Hepatic Inflammation, Stellate Cell Activation, And Mild Fibrosis In A Preclinical Study, Punnag Saha, Macayla Upright, Dipro Bose, Subhajit Roy, Ayushi Trivedi, Madhura More, Geoff Scott Ph.D., Bryan W. Brooks, Saurabh Chatterjee

Faculty Publications

Epidemiological studies have reported a strong association between liver injury and incidences of hepatocellular carcinoma in sections of humans globally. Several preclinical studies have shown a strong link between cyanotoxin exposure and the development of nonalcoholic steatohepatitis, a precursor of hepatocellular carcinoma. Among the emerging threats from cyanotoxins, new evidence shows cylindrospermopsin release in freshwater lakes. A known hepatotoxin in higher concentrations, we examined the possible role of cylindrospermopsin in causing host gut dysbiosis and its association with liver pathology in a mouse model of toxico-pharmacokinetics and hepatic pathology. The results showed that oral exposure to cylindrospermopsin caused decreased diversity …

An Acute Sense Of Place: The Songs Of Norman Blake, Thomas Jutz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American flat-picking guitarist, singer and songwriter Norman Blake holds legendary status among guitar players, bluegrass, and folk musicians.

The aim of this research is to analyze the interaction of sense of place in Norman Blake’s songwriting. This research will explore the techniques Blake uses to create that acute sense of place. Elements of literary criticism, cultural geography, ethnomusicology, and sense of place studies, as well as historical background information on Northern Alabama and North Georgia will be employed to show how this particular region of Southeastern Appalachia has informed Blake’s songwriting.

The research questions that I aim to answer are …

The Folk Festival Of The Smokies And The Role Of Music Festivals In Preserving Old-Time Music In Appalachia, Keegan Luckey-Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the history of the Folk Festival of the Smokies, which sought to preserve old-time music as an expression of southern Appalachian regional culture. The study uses qualitative methods, including personal interviews with one of the founders and significant festival participants, supplemented with archival and historical research into photographs, festival performances and literature regarding the festival. Since the festival operated for thirty-three years as a small festival in a relatively isolated location in eastern Tennessee, this case study serves as an example of the role of festivals in intangible cultural heritage preservation in relatively rural settings. The legacy …

The Serbian Orthodox Church As A Transnational Political Actor: A Case Study Of Regime Change In Montenegro, Dunja Arandjelovic

All Theses

Although many scholars have considered how religious institutions can affect democratic change, little attention has been given to the contemporary transnational potential of a church with a distinctively national identity. This study will explore the capacity of national churches to act transnationally by analyzing the Serbian Orthodox Church’s (SOC) recent political intervention in Montenegro, during which the church mobilized almost half of the Montenegrin population during the COVID pandemic in a movement that led to the defeat of Montenegro’s president in parliamentary elections for the first time in 30 years. My project is based on in-depth elite interviews with ten …

Late Quaternary Biotic Homogenization Of North American Mammalian Faunas, Danielle Fraser, Amelia Villaseñor, Anikó B. Tóth, Meghan A. Balk, Jussi T. Eronen, W. Andrew Barr, A. K. Behrensmeyer, Matt Davis, Andrew Du, J. Tyler Faith, Gary R. Graves, Nicholas J. Gotelli, Advait M. Jukar, Cindy V. Looy, Brian J. Mcgill, Joshua H. Miller, Silvia Pineda-Munoz, Richard Potts, Alex B. Shupinski, Laura C. Soul, S. Kathleen Lyons

School of Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Biotic homogenization—increasing similarity of species composition among ecological communities—has been linked to anthropogenic processes operating over the last century. Fossil evidence, however, suggests that humans have had impacts on ecosystems for millennia. We quantify biotic homogenization of North American mammalian assemblages during the late Pleistocene through Holocene (~30,000 ybp to recent), a timespan encompassing increased evidence of humans on the landscape (~20,000–14,000 ybp). From ~10,000 ybp to recent, assemblages became significantly more homogenous (>100% increase in Jaccard similarity), a pattern that cannot be explained by changes in fossil record sampling. Homogenization was most pronounced among mammals larger than 1 …

Ambiguous, Affective, And Arduous: Volunteers’ Invisible Work With Young Adults, Jenni Mölkänen, Päivi Honkatukia

Journal of Youth Development

Mentoring has been regarded as a promising way to reach at-risk youth and to strengthen the protective factors. This article focuses on emotions, reflections, and challenges that adult volunteers face in trying to establish and maintain a friend relationship with young adults in a multicomponent mentor setting in Finland. Based on our participatory observations in volunteering, a focus group discussion with volunteers and facilitators of volunteering, and interviews with young adults we analyze the nature of volunteers’ actions as invisible work as characterized by Devault (1999). We argue that invisible work should be recognized as a significant part of volunteering …

Raising Native Plant Awareness As A Method For Re-Naturalization, Meredith L. Haaker

Social Sciences

Humans are inseparable from the natural environment. We are one and the same, interconnected within the ecology of creation and care, not only destruction. By grounding ourselves in Indigenous wisdom and the principles of Traditional Ecological Knowledge, we are more able to recognize the important relational facets between humans and three native Californian plants (California black walnut, California blue elderberry, California bay laurel). In introducing Kimmerer’s concept of re-naturalization of humans, we can draw a connection to the same process a naturalized plant undergoes; immigration from a foreign place, dependence on the surrounding resources, and settlement of an area …

Prehistoric Subsistence Strategies On The Pecho Coast: An Experimental Collection Of California Mussels And Turban Snails, Kate S. Knox

Social Sciences

Shellfish exploitation by ancient Indigenous people can be observed in archaeological assemblages from shellfish middens throughout California (Erlandson 1988; Glassow 1992; Kennett 2005; Kennedy 2005; Whitaker 2008). Indigenous Californians relied upon the resources from open rocky coast ecosystems as early as 9,000 years BP, yet archaeological researchers continue to debate the actual dietary value of and energy required for procurement of such shellfish (Erlandson 1988; Jones 2003; Jones and Richman 1995). In order to discern the costs and benefits associated with shellfish exploitation, researchers have conducted archaeological experiments to try to replicate prehistoric shellfish foraging. The empirical data produced from …

Tracing The Roots Of Resistance, Collective Action And Solidarity Among Igbo Women, Sebastian Ukoh

Theses

Most societies have always achieved balance through some internal mechanisms. Achieving gender balance and drawing lines without letting what we may term the "stronger sex" domineer the "weaker sex" is not always easy. Among the Igbos of South Eastern Nigeria, the women have always pressed home their demands without fear. We will be looking at how they have done this for more than a century, especially at the onset of the British colonial enterprise.

Needs Assessment For Systematic Cultural Competence Training In The Field Of Applied Behavior Analysis, William Edwards

All Dissertations

As the prevalence rates of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) continue to increase, Applied Behavior Analysis (ABA) is now universally recognized as the most effective and empirically based treatment option for children. This recognition has led to greater accessibility to services for families, a broader range of funding sources, increased client diversity, and an unprecedented demand for qualified service providers. With this increased demand for qualified providers and the increased diversity of clients, a needs assessment for cultural competence training was conducted.

The Needs Assessment for Systematic Cultural Competence Training in Applied Behavior Analysis captured demographic information related to providers and …

Full Issue

Criterion: A Journal of Literary Criticism

No abstract provided.

A New Feudalism: Selfish Genes, Great Wealth, And The Rise Of The Dynastic Family Trust (Dft), Eric Kades

Faculty Publications

Today’s record levels of economic inequality are infecting our future as the top 0.01% bequeath vast wealth to their descendants. With the death of the Rule Against Perpetuities (RAP), this inequality has the potential to harden social class lines—not just for a generation or two, but forever. Although it may sound implausible, interviews with estate lawyers serving very high-net-worth clients reveal that some members of the wealthiest tier of testators are already exploiting the RAP’s elimination, along with a tax loophole, to establish dynasty trusts that will financially empower their bloodline as long as it continues. Recent work in evolutionary …

Species Data And Vector Modeling: Evaluating Datasets For Improved Models Of Ixodes Ricinus Tick Distribution In Europe Under A Changing Climate, Steven Jones

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To increase capacity for monitoring and surveillance of tick-borne diseases, publicly available tick distribution and climate change datasets are required to create accurate predictive distribution models. It is difficult, however, to assess model accuracy and utility when using incomplete datasets.  The more recent development of comprehensive tick databases for Europe and availability of climate change scenarios from multiple IPCC Assessment Reports allows for improved modeling efforts. Multiple tick datasets were combined and three climate change projections were compared by predicting current and future distributions of Ixodes ricinus ticks in Europe using the MaxEnt species distribution model. Overall, much of Europe …

“The Taste Of This Country”: Jefferson’S Legacy Of Cultural Production And The Formation Of American Identity, Erika Gibson

War, Diplomacy, and Society (MA) Theses

This paper uses three fundamental elements of cultural anthropology, food, customs, and language, to examine Jefferson’s diplomatic strategy as president and understanding how he forged a new culture rooted in republicanism. The legacy of tyrannical British rule spurred Jefferson to establish White House protocol which dispensed with the hierarchies of European social practices and instead mirrored republican values of liberty and equality. Analyzing Jefferson’s presidency within a framework of cultural production, reveals that Jefferson strategically deployed cultural elements in the construction of a distinctly American identity.

Alfred Russel Wallace Notes 24. Wallace At 200: Potential Subjects For Student Theses, Charles H. Smith

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

The bicentennial of Alfred Russel Wallace’s birth in 2023 will likely produce a wide array of reviews of his life and work; here, we pause for a short look at some Wallace-related questions that might be adapted for student theses and dissertations. Some of the subjects treated fall in with established lines of research, while others are suggested by other Wallace interests or activities that have not been much explored.

The "Therapeutic Relationship:" Emergence, Eclipse, And Transformations Of A Social Technology., Ulrich Koch

Clinical Research and Leadership Faculty Publications

This essay situates the history of "the relationship" as a therapeutic technology within the broader context of changing social relations in the twentieth-century United States. More specifically, it outlines the emergence and subsequent diffusion of practices that aim to cultivate a social bond between therapist and patient that may serve as a psychotherapeutic tool. The article highlights the transformations of this technology as its institutional and epistemic foundations became challenged. Initially conceived as an "artificial" social relation designed to help with "personal adjustment," the therapeutic relationship was soon also deployed by non-experts and became a model for more healthful social …

“I Don’T Believe The World Is Tilted”: Emotion, Struggle, And Relationship In Making Meaning With Texts, Alison Faye Oddie

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how the social and cultural practices of classroom literacy instruction afforded students opportunities to make meaning with texts. Research was conducted from a sociocultural perspective that focused on students as participants in social learning, in a context of interactive relations. This study was responsive to contemporary developments of the sociocultural tradition, recognizing the importance of emotion and other subjective means for constructing understanding. Two classes of a turnaround school, 18 Second-Grade students and 20 Third-Grade students, were observed as they participated in Interactive Read Aloud and Guided Reading over a period of …

Vatra: A Poetic Memoir, Ashley Nichole Stevens

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

When I initially began researching for and composing this collection, the idea I had in mind was a simple one: tell my great grandfather's story, on many Lemko-American immigrants lived in the early 1900s. However, it took several months for me to realize this was not the complete story. It required refinement. While I had always felt a significant connection to this particular side of my family, I could never articulate why. The genealogical and historical research I conducted spoke for me. My great grandfather survived numerous traumas associated with being an ethnic minority in his homeland as well as …

Healing Queer Trauma In A Cisheteronormative Society, Dominic Ray Vasquez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The birth of Pose created a space that helped to branch away from traditional queer stories that entered the mainstream. It dealt with pain, death and put Queer identities back in traumatic spaces such as survival sex work and the AIDS crisis, where we lost a generation of queer art. Nevertheless, that wasn’t the goal of the show. The goal of the show was to focus on these stories of transwomen and give them a space to be portrayed in more authentic ways. Steven Canales, the creator of Pose opted out of the same trauma filled story for something much …

The Monster Theory Of Relativity: Triggering Supernatural Monsters, Maggie Mercil

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

Current monster scholarship examines monstrous bodies, how they represent our cultural fears, anxieties, or forbidden desires, and how monsters can guard, break, or blur the boundaries between us and Other. While examining the monsters themselves can provide a better understanding of ourselves and our culture, it is just as important to consider the conditions in which these monsters were able to manifest in the first place. This paper argues that it is through our own actions, whether intentional or not, that we effectively “trigger” the monsters into our narratives. There are three categories of “triggers” that this paper will explore: …

Communication As Conscience, Florence Chee

School of Communication: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Focusing on ethics in games studies, Chee notes the importance of
communication as it has played parts in these other fields and how that might
reflect back on our community.

Pregnancy And Childbirth: Male Partner Involvement In Uasin Gishu, Kenya, Kamau Tabitha, Roselyter Riang’A, Mwanzia Lydia, Buluku Elizabeth, Sawe Caroline, Wambugu Beth, Patel Kirtika, Mutai Judith, Pauline Mwenje, Kemboi Sharon

Population Health, East Africa

Introduction: In many African countries, pregnancy and childbirth has traditionally beenregarded as a woman’s affair. As a result, male partner involvement and participationin pregnancy and childbirth has been minimal, which is thought to have contributed tothe high rate of maternal and neonatal morbidities and mortalities. Male partners areoften key decision-makers in African households for cultural reasons, yet their role inpregnancy and childbirth is not clearly defined. The aim of this study was to examine anddocument male partner involvement in maternal healthcare in Kenya.

Methods: A health facility-based cross-sectional descriptive study design was used.Systematic random sampling was used to …

Academic Discourse Socialization Of International Graduate Students: The Negotiation Of Participation In Classroom Speaking Activities, Guoyong Wu

All Dissertations

As the graduate student body in American universities becomes more and more diverse in this globalized era, it has become critical to understand how newcomers from different linguistic, cultural and educational backgrounds acquire dominant language and academic practices, and how local academic communities themselves may or may not be transformed as a result of such diversity (Morita, 2004).

This dissertation conducted a qualitative descriptive study to investigate the socialization process primarily through classroom oral activities participation, for a group of international Chinese Ph.D. students to achieve their goals and thrive during their academic programs. As pressure increases on Ph.D. students …

School Of Music Faculty/Staff Newsletter, December 2022, School Of Music

School of Music Faculty/Staff Newsletter

Accomplishments and news from the faculty and staff of the School of Music at Illinois State University.

Characterizing The Diversity Of Mhc Conserved Extended Haplotypes Using Families From The United Arab Emirates, Halima Alnaqbi, Guan K. Tay, Sarah El Hajj Chehadeh, Habiba Alsafar

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Aside from its anthropological relevance, the characterization of the allele frequencies of genes in the human Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC) and the combination of these alleles that make up MHC conserved extended haplotypes (CEHs) is necessary for histocompatibility matching in transplantation as well as mapping disease association loci. The structure and content of the MHC region in Middle Eastern populations remain poorly characterized, posing challenges when establishing disease association studies in ethnic groups that inhabit the region and reducing the capacity to translate genetic research into clinical practice. This study was conceived to address a gap of knowledge, aiming to …

Choreographing Neutrality: Dance In Cambodia’S Cold War Diplomacy In Asia, 1953-1970, Darlene Machell Espena

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This article examines the role of dance in Cambodia’s Cold War diplomacy in Asia from 1953 up until the establishment of the Khmer Republic in 1970. It explores how Sihanouk leveraged Cambodian dances to enact Cambodia’s neutral stance during the Cold War and forge cordial relations with other Asian states. Through an examination of the myriad of dance performances of the Royal Ballet and other Khmer dance troupes within the context of Cambodia’s diplomatic relations in Asia, this paper demonstrates how dance afforded a space for Inter-Asia referencing amidst the Cold War tension in the region. Premised on an interdisciplinary …

A Qualitative Multi-Disciplinary Analysis Of Employers’ Technology Competency Perceptions For Graduates Readiness To The Workforce, Marcel Maghiar, Christopher M. Brown

Civil Engineering & Construction: Faculty Publications

To fully prepare college graduates to function competently and productively in their career, it is important to examine employers’ views of technology competency and graduates’ readiness. Using a qualitative approach by interviewing employers in South-eastern United States across a range of fields, the authors describe the major functions and dimensions of technology competency, compare similarities and differences across the disciplines, and integrate the results to inform theory and pedagogy. The main purpose of this research is to investigate how well new graduates from selected disciplines can transfer technological skills, how they learned and/or used these skills during their program of …

Invisibly Inked: An Intersectional Analysis Of Tattooed Female Arrest Patterns, Jocelyn N. Camacho

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

This project fills a gap in the literature of law enforcement response to a visible tattoo on a racialized female arrestee. With the increase in popularity of tattoos and their inherited status as a proxy for deviance, the entanglement of both racialized female bodies and symbols of deviance at the place of entry into the criminal justice system is significant. The racialized female body does not move without carrying the history of violence and inequality on it. As such, the entry of female bodies of Color into the criminal justice system is a time where capturing their experience is critical. …

Natural History Of Discourse Of Missouri House Bill 1042: Bringing A Critical Perspective To Policy Engagement In Two-Year Contexts, Mary Casey Reid

English Theses & Dissertations

In this autoethnographically-infused natural history of discourse (NHD) (Silverstein and Urban, 1996; Slembrouck, 2001), I use methods from critical discourse studies (CDS) to trace 10 years of changes in “remediation” discourses within a corpus of texts associated with Missouri HB 1042, a piece of legislation passed in 2012 that requires higher education institutions to “replicate best practices in remediation” (CBHE, 2013). After providing national and state context related to HB 1042 and the discourses circulating within the HB 1042 corpus of texts, I describe what I call the “higher ed’s remediation problem” discourse, focusing on three discourse features that I …

Illinois State University, One Hundred And Sixty-Third Annual Commencement, December 2022, Illinois State University

Commencement Programs

Illinois State University
One Hundred and Sixty-Third Annual Commencement
December 2022