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Validating A New In Vivo Model To Study Als, Izabela J. Cimachowska

Student Theses and Dissertations

Buildup of oxidative stress and mitochondrial dysfunction are well known characteristics of both sporadic and hereditary amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). While both forms of the disease seem to arise from common cellular dysfunction, the genetic disease is studied to a much greater extent. Engineering novel animal models of the sporadic form of the disease is crucial for development of druggable targets to treat ALS and understand the underlying mechanisms. Interestingly, accumulation of oxidative stress by exacerbated emission of reactive oxygen species (ROS) from presynaptic mitochondria is a hallmark of both hereditary and sporadic ALS. Previous work by our laboratory showed …

"Challenge And Hold One Another Accountable:" Social Work Faculty Respond To Incivility, Njeri Kagotho, Jennifer Mcclendon, Shannon R. Lane, Todd Vanidestine, Matthew Bogenschutz, Theresa D. Flowers, Lauren Wilson

Social Work (Graduate) Faculty Publications

Incivility within social work education reflects patterns seen across higher education and within society. Previous work has found that social work faculty are reluctant to report incivility and have limited confidence in their ability to address it effectively. In order to address potential solutions, this paper uses qualitative data (n = 164) drawn from a larger survey of social work faculty in the United States. The exploratory analysis focuses on strategies social work faculty use when experiencing incivility and bullying them-selves, and methods recommended by social work faculty to confront incivility administratively and systemically within the social work academy. Responses …

Studies Of Epigenetics And Properties Of B Cell Receptor In Waldenström Macroglobulinemia (Wm), Mona Karbalivand

Doctoral Dissertations

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM) is an indolent lymphoproliferative disorder with aberrant monoclonal immunoglobulin M (IgM) production that is associated with disease symptoms. Despite significant advances in our understanding of disease biology, the cell of origin remains largely unknown. Although WM therapy options have improved over the last decade, WM is still an incurable disease. Many studies have identified epigenetic dysregulation as a regulatory factor in WM malignancy. Here, we investigated the role of Mixed-lineage leukemia 1 (MLL1) histone methyltransferase in WM. We showed that MLL1 and its partner Menin are upregulated in WM patients. We also found that MLL1 knockdown and …

Gelatin-Based Microporous Injectable Hydrogels For In Situ Stem Cell Encapsulation, Seth David Edwards

Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation, I developed and investigated gelatin-based microporous injectable hydrogels for the encapsulation of stem cells for multiple applications in cell delivery. Utilizing microgels composed from a mixture of gelatin and modified gelatin, I demonstrated the utility of a dual crosslinking mechanism, which enabled rapid gelation and tissue adhesion with improved cytocompatibility. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) encapsulated in this hydrogel proliferated at a more rapid rate than in a nonporous counterpart, and showed increased immunomodulatory potential. Then, I investigated gelatin microporous hydrogel for the encapsulation of MSCs for bone tissue regeneration. Encapsulated cells more readily differentiated into osteoblasts (i.e. …

The Warriors' Views: Mid-Level Officers On American Interventions, Foreign Policy, And The Road To 9/11, 1993-2001, Michael Anthony Anderson

Doctoral Dissertations

When President William Jefferson Clinton took office, the United States had entered into a new era, though it was heavily influenced by almost a half-century of Cold War. Foreign policy staples had been embedded into United States foreign policy habits, influencing American decisions even as it tried to transition to a new global environment. The Cold War had left America, but America had a hard time leaving the Cold War. The nation had difficulty transitioning away from applying containment, relying on mutually assured destruction in preventing weapons of mass destruction attacks, and focusing on major conventional warfare when small-scale contingencies …

"A Wild Home For Wild Things": Forest Workers' Co-Creation Of Knowledge, Identity, And Place, Adrienne R. Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

This study addresses the relationship between environmental knowledge and place-based and occupational identities. I conducted fifty-five in-depth interviews with people involved in forest management in northern California. Participants belonged to one of three groups: logger- industrial, governmental-institutional, or organizational. In addition, I completed twenty-seven hours of observational fieldwork at logging sites in the region. From these transcripts, several themes emerge. Participants adopt a variety of ways of knowing and conceptions of care, and these correspond to different forest priorities, as well as attitudes toward global environmental issues. These groups also each construct distinct occupational identities, which sometimes form in response …

Highly Dispersed Metal Sites On Semiconductor Surface For Small Molecule Activation, Ehab Shaaban

Doctoral Dissertations

Heterogeneous catalysts have been extensively used in various chemical transformations that have important ecological and economical relevance. The rational design of such catalysts, however, is still not effectively implemented due to the ambiguity that encircles their structure-activity correlations. The origin of synergetic effects which make the binary system (metal/metal oxide) distinct from the individual components continues to elude researchers. In this work, binding and structural properties that emerge from metal/metal oxide interaction were investigated using in situ diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform spectroscopy (DRIFTS) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS). Different catalytic structures, including highly dispersed Cu sites on TiO2, were …

Designing For The Dissonance: Community-Engaged Field Experiences For Challenging Curricular Misconceptions Of Place Toward Localizing And Indigenizing Curricula Within Elementary Teacher Education., Elaine Marhefka

Doctoral Dissertations

Harmful oversights remain in elementary social studies curricula which overlook or misrepresent minoritized communities. This dissertation explores designs for teacher education which address these oversights through community collaborations. This multi-manuscript dissertation is an empirical-conceptual inquiry design (Cochran-Smith & Lytle, 2009), as it is not purely empirical or conceptual research. This design allows for an independent discussion of each study, while interpreting phenomena across the three chapters. Acknowledging my positionality as a white female, in a predominantly white, female profession, I look to Indigenous and Black scholars, both locally and broadly, to inform my perspective and project design. Using a phenomenological …

Low Current Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry For Environmental Contaminants And Proteins, Taoqing Wang

Doctoral Dissertations

The introduction of electrospray ionization (ESI) in the 1980s has had a significant impact on the field of liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry (LC-MS), enabling the qualitative and quantitative analysis of small molecules in complex biological and environmental samples. NanoESI, developed in 1993, further improved sensitivity and reduced sample consumption. However, the detection limits for some environmental contaminants, such as perfluorooctanoate sulfonate (PFOS), require ppt-level detection, which necessitates preconcentration. Solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is a commonly used technique, and liquid-liquid extraction has shown promising results for water samples. Recently, the Li group has discovered femtoampere and picoampere ionization modes of ESI, which have …

Paying Attention To Prior Reinforcement: How Acetylcholine, Norepinephrine, And Adolescence Influence Anterior Cingulate Cortex Function, Madison K. Clement

Doctoral Dissertations

Converging evidence supports the need to understand the unique contributions of the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) in attention. The ACC has been implicated in filtering distractors, determining the relevance of stimuli, generating prediction errors, conflict monitoring, and goal-oriented behavioral changes. Unfortunately, much of this work has used broad definitions of ACC, which have often captured activity or deficits in regions outside of the ACC. Specific attention to the ACC, without concomitant damage to other regions of the prefrontal cortex is necessary to illuminate the specific role of the ACC in attention. Dysfunction of the ACC in humans is implicated in …

Ultralight Axion Dark Matter With Self-Interactions, Noah James Glennon

Doctoral Dissertations

Our Universe is filled with an invisible substance, called dark matter, which dominates the ways in which structures like galaxies form. Ultralight axion (ULA) dark matter is a possible alternative to more common cold dark matter models. Self-interactions in ULA models are often discarded because they are constrained to be very small. However, in my research, I have found that including self-interactions in these models can have a significant impact on what we observe, even when the self-interaction is small. I simulate ULA dark matter with self-interactions and quantify how different phenomena, including isolated soliton oscillations, binary soliton collisions, tidal …

Embedding Explicit Metacognitive Instruction Into The General Chemistry Curriculum: Equipping Community College Students With 21st Century Stem Competencies, Sonja Gamby

Doctoral Dissertations

This work describes the development, implementation, and assessment of a curriculum- embedded metacognition instruction model. The Talking About Learning is Key (TALK) module, a 10-week, discussion-based instruction module was initially integrated into a general chemistry course at a community college in Spring 2020. This case study was assessed qualitatively using a thematic analysis to characterize student posts and replies to the Learning Management System discussion board. Course outcomes between Spring 2020 – Fall 2021 were analyzed to determine what effect participation had on course completion and final grade.Finally, the generalizability of the module was investigated using a focused case comparison …

Synthesis, Modification, And Characterization Of Semiconductor Photocatalysts For Environmental Remediation, Norbert Okechukwu Okolie

Doctoral Dissertations

Semiconductor photocatalysis is a viable solution to tackle the increasing global demand for energy and the need for the recovery of wastewater in situ, without the need for fossil fuel dependence. Semiconductor materials active in the visible or near visible regions of light have been explored as suitable candidates for photocatalytic environmental remediation. Magnesium tantalates (MgTa2O6-xNx) were initially explored as promising candidates because their bandgaps can be brought well into the visible region by the introduction of nitrogen atoms as dopants. The synthesis of a highly ordered mesoporous nitrogen doped magnesium tantalate was achieved and the bandgap of magnesium tantalate …

“They Turn To Violence”: Active Shootings And The Convergence Of Hegemonic Masculinity, Race, And Perceived Injustice, Linda M. Fogg

Doctoral Dissertations

Public rampage shootings like Parkland, FL, the Las Vegas concert shooting, and Sandy Hook are a type of crime that captures national attention. As media covers these incidents and the perpetrators of them, they seek to explain why someone would commit such violence. Using active shooter data for incidents that occurred between 2000 and 2019, I examine shooter identity with particular focus on the shooter’s race, an often-unreported statistic. Finding 55.4% of active shooters are white men, interviews with 20 white men and 10 white women are analyzed for explanations for white men’s violence. These men and women describe active …

Influences Of Students’ Use Of Calculus 1 Signs/Symbols On Students’ Assessment Scores, Phuong Wilk

Doctoral Dissertations

Mathematical notations not only contribute to but also confound the development of the understanding of mathematical concepts (Leinhardt, Zaslavsky & Stein,1990). Inaccurate use of calculus notations is likely to have a significant influence on student conceptual understanding and student assessment scores in the Calculus 1 course. This dissertation study aimed to examine whether or not the relationship between student’s ability to correctly write signs/symbols, interpret signs/symbols and interpret concepts using signs/symbols (students’ use of signs/symbols) and student assessment scores is statistically significant. The relationship between students’ use of sign/symbol and students’ grade performance was also examined under the effects of …

A Mixed Methods Approach To Social License To Operate For Aquaculture: Understanding How Broad Public Perceptions And Local Company Actions Influence Community Acceptance, Emily H. Whitmore

Doctoral Dissertations

With aquaculture development becoming increasingly important in meeting global food needs, understanding social dynamics of development is essential. Social license to operate (SLO), a concept that describes community acceptance and approval of incoming industry, offers a lens into these dynamics and possible strategies for successful development. Using a mixed-methods approach, this project aimed to investigate how broad public perceptions and local company actions influence social license to operate in aquaculture. First, a systematic literature review of SLO studies identified perceptions that would likely condition a community’s willingness to issue social license, independent of company actions. These predictors included environmental values, …

Examining Empathy During An Initial Nutrition Counseling Session Through Video-Cued Narrative Reflection, Kevin Joseph Pietro

Doctoral Dissertations

Empathy is considered critical to client-centered care within the broader nutrition profession. Through empathy, practitioners are said to recognize the individual experience better, support client/patient autonomy, and encourage collaboration in decision-making regarding treatment. However, the literature on empathy is fraught with conceptual disagreement and methodological misalignment, which has resulted in a limited understanding of the role and presence of empathy within a nutrition counseling session. Additionally, research conducted on nutrition undergraduate students using self-reported questionnaires may offer insight into students’ perceived/believed tendencies related to empathy but fail to provide evidence of empathy during a patient/client interaction. Given the current landscape, …

Deep Learning Based Predictive Models For Performance Enhancement In Bio Medical Applications, Sajila Dimagi Wickramaratne

Doctoral Dissertations

The medical field produces large quantities of multidimensional, complex, and often unstructured data. The timely interpretation of medical data is crucial for medical diagnostics. Machine learning applications are increasingly becoming popular with the ever-increasing computational ability and data availability. Machine learning methods can potentially find complicated relationships that may not be apparent in traditional clinical decision rule systems used in medical applications. Models deployed in medical applications need to be reliable, time efficient, and easy to interpret, thus making working with biosignals challenging in some cases.

The first part of the dissertation focuses on building predictive systems using existing data …

Type 3 Adenylyl Cyclase, Neuronal Primary Cilia, And Hippocampus-Dependent Memory Formation, Yuxin Zhou

Doctoral Dissertations

Primary cilia are microtubule-based cellular antennae present in most vertebrate cells including neurons. Neuronal primary cilia have abundant expression of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and downstream cAMP signaling components such as type 3 adenylyl cyclase (AC3). The deflects of neuronal cilia is associated with many memory-related disorders, such as intellectual disability. Thus far, little is known about how neuronal primary cilia regulate neuronal activity and affect hippocampal memory formation. Episodic memory is thought to be encoded by sparsely distributed memory-eligible neurons in the hippocampus and neocortex. However, it is not clear how memory-eligible neurons interact with one another to form …

Interferometric Imaging Of Lightning Initiation Through Lofar: Uncovering The Spontaneous And Not-So-Spontaneous Nature Of Lightning Initiation In 3d, Christopher Sterpka

Doctoral Dissertations

With recent advances in instrumentation and the continued development and refinement of analytical methods, the hindrances that previously existed in uncovering the physical processes governing the behavior of lightning are diminishing. The focus of this dissertation research, interferometric imaging of lightning initiation through beamforming via the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR), will describe in detail how both the instrumentation and methods cooperate to enable the detection of lightning processes in which are below the level of the galactic and thermal very high frequency (VHF) background on individual antennas within the array. These conditions have proven to be integral in uncovering of …

Nonprofit Marketing And Communication Personnel Job Satisfaction: The Effects Of Role Conflict And Role Ambiguity, Rachel L. Swink

Communication Theses - Archive

Job satisfaction is becoming increasingly important in efforts to retain employees across all sectors. The nonprofit sector is facing greater challenges than ever before in competing for and retaining adequate talent. The nonprofit sector provides unconventional benefits such as hybrid office models, paid time off, and others to improve job satisfaction. While nonprofits receive high job satisfaction, turnover is a big issue, even among marketing and communication teams which are often underfunded, understaffed, and unappreciated. Marketing and communication teams play a unique role within nonprofits, as they are frequently pulled in different directions to accomplish tasks that may not necessarily …

Community Engagement Newsletter, May 2023, University Of Northern Iowa. Office Of Community Engagement.

Community Engagement Newsletter

Contents:

--- Award Recipients
--- PROJECT HERE
--- Iowa Nonprofit Alliance Launching in the Cedar Valley
--- Community Transit Survey
--- Summer Opportunities with Campus Compact
--- UNI Engaged Podcast
--- See you next fall, but in the meantime…

A Community U-Knighted: Developing A Community Engagement Program For Student-Athletes, Jensen Kitrel

Undergraduate Theses

Student-athletes are expected to fill multiple roles and balance both athletic and academic responsibilities while facing other stressors. In some cases, student-athletes are further tasked with engaging with their communities as university representatives. Past research has shown that the motivation to participate in these initiatives is low due to lack of time and has acknowledged burnout among college athletes (Martin, 2019; Huml, 2019). However, few studies have taken a creative approach to address this important challenge. Utilizing functionalist theory and marketing strategies, the current research develops a program to increase volunteerism and community engagement among collegiate athletes.

Finding The Circle In The Square: A Neoplatonic Interpretation Of Kazimir Malevich’S Black Square, Matthew Madison Rowe

Theses

This thesis explores the influence of Silver Age philosophers Vladimir Soloviev, Sergei Bulgakov, and Pavel Florensky on Kazimir Malevich’s Black Square. Malevich was among the first to apply Silver Age philosophy to abstract art, fully rejecting all objective representation in art. The thesis argues that Malevich’s Suprematism was the result of the fundamental antimony of the Russian religious worldview, which understands reality as both immanent and transcendent. This understanding of reality was not unique to Russia but was the result of historic influences, including the Neoplatonic and religious-humanist philosophy that was prevalent in Russian intellectual culture during this period. …

User Experience Research For Books For Stl Kids, Danielle Nicole Randall

Theses

This project focuses on how to improve Book for STL Kids website experience. The primary focus is to study how key users utilize and interact with the organization’s website. The final deliverable is a list of user experience improvement recommendations for the organization.

A Cookieless Future: Solving The Ux Problems Caused By The Privacy Protections Method, Ibrahim S. Hanoglu

Theses

To the author’s knowledge, this article is the most comprehensive research study of its kind, if not the only example, as it examines the user experience issue caused by privacy protection methods from a theoretical and practical perspective. This study investigated where third-party cookies are used according to marketing techniques, the effects of these cookies, and the user experience problems that arise after these cookies are blocked by privacy protection methods. The research firstly determined the access to the user’s computer in both methods by measuring the files and trackers left on the computer by comparing the Chrome browser, which …

An Analysis Of Tiktok's Digital Marketing Capabilities And Its Effectiveness For Brands And Businesses Across Different Industries, Katherine Jacome Guerrero

Theses

TikTok, a video-sharing social media site, has become one of the most popular platforms among digital natives. As a result of evolving globalization trends and unprecedented social changes, this platform has rapidly grown in popularity since its debut in 2016. TikTok has established an ideal setting to boost engagement by fostering a repetitive logic and enabling everyone around the globe to easily create and consume short videos. Although TikTok has capabilities similar to those found on other more established platforms, it has a distinct framework and platform culture refined by its predictive algorithm and user-friendly content interface. For this study, …

Building An Immersive Simulation Of The 1785 Parisian Salon In Vr: A Guide To Recreating Historical Interiors And Digital Twins, Charles E. O'Brien

Theses

This project aims to identify a workflow for creating digital twins without access to specialized 3D imaging equipment, such as photogrammetry. The process of creating a digital twin without specialized equipment is focused more on research than data analysis. Readily available resources, such as literature, paintings, drawings, and any other historical accounts, need to be considered. The case study for this workflow was reconstructing the Parisian Salon from 1785. The Salons were a haven for men and women to have intellectual discourse. The essence of scholarly thought that was produced through these Salon exhibits makes them perfect historical event candidates …

High School Curriculum Outline And Unit Plan For Unit 3: Researching And Referencing For The Comparative Study, Kendra Bomar

Theses

Before beginning the International Baccalaureate Art program, most high school students will have already spent a significant amount of time studying a variety of art genres and will have a solid understanding of art terminology and methods. This is because the program is designed to build upon prior knowledge and experience. This is true for the majority of schools that participate in the IB program. It is common practice for educational institutions that provide tough programs to insist that students complete prerequisite coursework before they are allowed to enroll in the challenging programs that the institution provides. This is done …

The Impact Of Internal Barriers On Technology Use In Rural Schools, Coquesa G. Dotson

College of Education

Technology implementation in rural schools can ensure that students are more prepared to meet the challenges of the 21st century. Therefore, it is important to remove internal barriers to technology implementation. By revealing the current levels of implementation , insight will be provided to rural districts on how to address internal barriers. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative, correlational study was to identify how integrate technology into their instruction influenced their actual practices. Data were collected using a closed-ended online survey using a 7-point Likert scale. Nonparametric measures were taken to analyze data. Comparative data analysis (Kruskal-Wallis Test and Dunn …