Digital Commons Network^™

Redefining Ornamentation As Formal Functions In 21St-Century Popular Music, Matthew Kolar

Theses and Dissertations

Ornaments are embellishments and decorations of pre-established music; therefore, their existence relies on comparison to that original basis . Because pop music’s text is the recorded track rather than a written score, the determination of what is the main melody is strongly influenced by its first iteration, and ornaments can be found by comparisons of further iterations to the primary source. The goal of this thesis is to categorize the types of ornaments that exist in this repertory as well as define their overall functions. In this sense, ornamentation is being redefined; ornaments are not just decorations to a melody, …

Describing The Experiences Of Canadian Genetic Counseling Students Studying In The United States, Madeline Emma Ladouceur

Theses and Dissertations

There are fewer and smaller genetic counseling master’s programs in Canada compared to the United States, which makes it challenging for prospective Canadian students to train in their home country. We investigated which factors influenced Canadian students to apply or not to apply to American genetic counseling training programs, as well as the experiences of those Canadians who attended a program in the United States. We predicted that Canadian students applied to American genetic counseling training programs primarily because of limited training opportunities in Canada and a competitive application process across North America. We used a mixed method, online survey …

The Effects Of Game-Based Learning On The Motivation And Engagement Of Career Technical Education Students In The High School Chemistry Classroom, Samuel Lackey

Theses and Dissertations

The problem of practice in this dissertation in practice focuses on the lack of motivation and engagement exhibited by career technical education (CTE) students within the traditional high school chemistry classroom as a response to textbook and teacher-centered pedagogy. This qualitative action research study utilizes a game-based learning intervention that is ultimately based upon the personal interests and sociocultural discourses of the six case study participants and analyzes its impact on both the motivation and engagement of this particular sample of rural, socioeconomically disadvantaged, CTE secondary students. During the intervention, a total of five chemistry video games were played by …

Assessing Identification Of Newly Diagnosed Breast Cancer Patients For Referral To Genetic Counseling, Corinne Marie Locke

Theses and Dissertations

Since 1998, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines have specified clinical indications for genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility genes, but retrospective studies have shown that, despite meeting the NCCN criteria, patients are not always advised of the option of genetic testing. Further compounding this issue, studies have shown that cancer family history intake and documented family history can be incomplete even when taken by oncology providers. At this study site and other cancer centers in the country, patients with a new diagnosis of breast cancer are referred for genetic counseling by their cancer care team if they are …

“Power, Poison, Pain & Joy”: Applying A Critical Race Conceptual Model Of Implicit Racial Bias To Narratives Framing Blackness In Black Sports Columns, Black Music, And Black Journalism, Christina Lauren Myers

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a Critical Race Conceptual Model of Implicit Racial Bias to representations of African Americans in mass media to illustrate how stereotypical depictions and racist ideologies arise in media content, including by Black content creators. By bridging the concepts of implicit bias, framing theory and concepts from critical race theory through the conceptual model, I contend that content creators implicitly share racially biased beliefs. Moreover, Black content creators in expressing the authentic experiences of the Black community also do the same. Thus, Black content creators further stereotypes, majoritarian narratives as well as deficit perspectives about the Black community …

Defining Molecular And Morphological Phenotypes In Ash1l-Deficient Human Neurons, Foster D. Ritchie

Theses and Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are highly heritable neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by social and verbal impairments as well as repetitive behaviors. Large human genetic studies showed that genes encoding chromatin and transcriptional regulatory proteins are among the most commonly mutated genes in ASD. Absent, Small, or Homeotic 1-like (ASH1L) is a histone methyltransferase that has previously been identified as a major genetic risk factor for ASD. ASH1L di-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 36 (H3K36me2) and tri-methylates Histone H3 on Lysine 4 (H3K4me3), which mainly coincides with transcriptional activation. ASH1L is a Trithorax protein that is proposed to counteract the activity of …

“That Was Denied Thee On Earth”: An Intersectional Bioarchaeology Of Institutionalized Euro-American Women Throughout 19Th And 20Th-Century America, Madeline Maria Atwell

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid 19th-century, American state-supported insane asylums, later renamed state mental hospitals in the 20th-century, were constructed to house and humanely treat individuals perceived to be socially deviant or mentally and physically ill. Women were particularly vulnerable to undue institutionalization because of the prevailing patriarchal gender ideology within medical and colloquial spheres that contributed to the perception that they were biologically pathological. This dissertation interprets the findings of combined archival, historical, and osteological analysis from two U.S. skeletal collections: The Colorado State Insane Asylum (CSIA) Collection and the Hamann-Todd Human Osteological Collection (HT), to examine the embodied, physiological impact …

Engineering And Optimization Of An Aav Based Viral Vector To Limit The In-Vitro Expression Of Sars-Cov-2 Spike-Protein, Ronald Anderson Smithwick

Theses and Dissertations

Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Corona Virus-2, also known as SARS-CoV-2, is a newly emerged respiratory viral pathogen. The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 started in Wuhan, China, in late 2019 and rapidly transformed into a pandemic. Several vaccines have been developed and are available to the public on an unprecedented timeline, protecting individuals from a severe infection and saving precious lives. However, none of the vaccines can provide a sterile immunity, and the SARS-CoV-2 transmission cycle continues. Additionally, because of the mutation-prone RNA genome and immunological selection pressure, SARS-CoV-2 is rapidly mutating, especially the Spike(S) protein, and new viral strains are arising …

Female Reproductive Toxicity Of Harmful Algal Blooms-Produced Toxin Microcystin, Yingzheng Wang

Theses and Dissertations

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) have become a global emerging environmental concern; however, its impact on women’s reproductive health is poorly understood. Microcystin-LR (MC-LR) is the most common and hazardous type of HAB toxin. Using both a chronic oral exposure mouse model and an acute exposure mouse model, I found that human-relevant exposure to MC-LR could compromise follicle ovulation via affecting follicle maturation. Both in vivo mouse exposure model and encapsulated in vitro follicle growth (eIVFG) model revealed that exposure to MC-LR did not affect follicle development, but significantly reduced the expression of some follicle maturation-related genes, such as Lhcgr and …

Molecular Architecture Of Cardiometabolic Responses To Regular Exercise, Jacob L. Barber

Theses and Dissertations

Background: To investigate the molecular mechanisms, determinants, and predictors of cardiometabolic responses to regular exercise, this dissertation had two primary aims: 1) Examine the molecular architecture of cardiometabolic responses to exercise training (unsupervised approach) and 2) Identify molecular signatures of responsiveness to regular exercise within clinically relevant lipoprotein traits (supervised approach).

Methodology: Multi-omics data (17,945 muscle transcripts, 4,979 proteins, 411 metabolites) from participants (n=647) who completed 20 weeks of endurance training as part of the HERITAGE Family Study was collected before and after training. We employed an unsupervised machine learning approach (Aim 1) to identify patterns of molecular responses to …

The Comparative Neuroethology Of Distributed Visual Systems: Visual Neuroanatomy And Visually-Mediated Behaviors Of The Chiton Acanthopleura Granulata And The Bay Scallop Argopecten Irradians, Daniel Ritter Chappell

Theses and Dissertations

Vision is usually thought to be inextricably linked to cephalization; however, certain species of invertebrates deviate from this canonical association by having noncephalized visual systems that are composed of numerous photoreceptive organs distributed across their body paired with centralized, decentralized, or distributed neural architectures. In contrast to cephalized visual systems, we know comparatively little about the visual processing and visually-mediated behaviors of animals with distributed visual systems which are crucial towards understanding how and why these animals see with so many eyes. In this dissertation, we investigate the visual neuroanatomy and visually-mediated behaviors of two different marine molluscs with distributed …

The Effects Of Exercise Training On Cholesterol Efflux Capacity In The Heritage Family Study, Joshua Adam Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

Cholesterol efflux capacity (CEC) has been associated with cardiovascular disease risk independent of HDL-C levels. However, the effect of regular exercise on CEC is not yet fully understood. Therefore, we examined the effects of exercise training on CEC in the HERITAGE Family Study. In HERITAGE, subjects participated in an endurance training program that consisted of exercise on a cycle ergometer three times per week for 20 weeks. Global and non-ABCA1 CEC were measured at baseline and post-training in 542 subjects via a cell- based radiolabeled CEC assay. Neither global nor non-ABCA1 CEC significantly changed with training in the whole cohort. …

Higher Calling: A Qualitative Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Black Women Presidents Of 4-Year Colleges And Universities, Rushondra Janeé James

Theses and Dissertations

According to the National Center for Education Statistics (NCES), women are out earning men in the numbers of associate’s, bachelor’s, and master’s degrees awarded. When separated by race, Black women are the largest proportionally, representing 64 percent of bachelor’s degrees among Black women and men. Moreover, Black women account for 15 percent of all master’s degrees and 10 percent of earned doctoral degrees among all women. Given the most recent NCES statistics, the student body of degree granting institutions includes a significant number of Black women students. Conversely, about 9 percent of all college presidents and 3 percent of full-time …

Classification Of Acoustic Emission Data Into Load Steps Using An Artificial Neural Network, Allen Ross

Theses and Dissertations

The average age of bridges in South Carolina is approaching 40 years, very close to the 50-year service life. Almost 11% of the bridges in South Carolina are rated as structurally deficient, greater than the national average of 7.5% (South 2021). Health monitoring is the concept that in-situ sensors can continuously monitor civil structures and send real time signals of damage. This process allows for automation and could save time and money on the inspection and load rating of bridges. Health monitoring requires sensors that provide uninterrupted data without sacrificing the functionality of the bridge. A prime candidate for this …

In Vitro And In Vivo Studies Of Mediator Kinase, Lili Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This project addresses the molecular and in vivo activities of transcriptionregulating module CKM, comprised of CDK8 (or CDK19) kinases, Cyclin C, MED12 and MED13. Our lab has found that CDK8/19 potentiates NFkB-induced transcription. In this study, we confirmed that both CDK8 and CDK19 regulate gene expression in kinasedependent manner. CDK8 and CDK19 are not required for NFkB-induced transcription, which also occurs in HEK293-dKO (CDK8 and CDK19 double knockout) cells, but such transcription becomes CDK8/19-dependent upon re-expression of CDK8 or CDK19 in dKO. Surprisingly. pre-treatment with a CDK8/19 inhibitor decreases the effect of CDK8/19 on NFkB-induced transcription.

In another set of …

Interrogating The Role Of Ing4 In Hematopoietic Stem Cells And Cancer, Zanshé Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

We recently identified the tumor suppressor, Ing4, as a critical regulator of hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) homeostasis. The mis-regulation of Ing4 in human cancers has also been shown to lend malignant cells specific advantages that support carcinogenesis and tumor progression. This activity is, in part, due to Ing4 mediated regulation of overlapping signaling pathways that regulate stem cell activity and cancer cells, including NF-B and c-Myc. In a two-part study, we have investigated the role of Ing4 in murine hematopoiesis and human malignancies. While the specific mechanisms of stem cell self-renewal, maintenance, and differentiation are poorly characterized, we have determined …

Elucidating The Role Of O-Glcnacylation And Gsk3b In Alzheimer's Disease, Emily Valencia

Selected Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is one of the most common types of neurodegenerative disease. There are currently no treatment methods for AD, but there are treatments for some of the symptoms. Aberrant levels of both O-GlcNAcylation and GSK3ß have been found in patients with AD. Studies have suggested that there is a relationship between the level of O-GlcNAcylation and the phosphorylation of GSK3ß. In order to discover new treatment methods, the phosphorylation of GSK3ß should be explored. This study uses a western blot analysis to quantify the ratio of p-GSK3ß:GSK3ß between the experimental group (higher levels of O-GlcNAcylation) and a control …

A Preliminary Investigation Of Trust-Based Relational Intervention In Reducing At-Risk Behavior For Children In Care, Kaeleigh G. Ausley

Selected Honors Theses

Children in care face a breakdown of the family unit, which often puts them at risk of becoming victims to complex developmental trauma, insecure or disorganized attachments, and even the delinquency system. There are 424,000 children in the United States foster care system that face these dangers (Children’s Rights, 2021). The purpose of this study was to examine the impact of Trust-Based Relational Intervention in reducing the risk factors of incarceration for children in care. The participants in this study were 85 caregivers (50 TBRI-users; 35 non-TBRI users) who were recruited via email from the Pearl Project to complete an …

The Effects Of Floatation-Rest On Cortisol Levels Of Patients With Glioblastoma Grade Iv: A Conceptual Framework, Hilario Gomez

Selected Honors Theses

Glioblastoma is reported to be the most aggressive and common brain tumor in adults (Davis, 2016). To help alleviate pain in patients with glioblastoma, floatation-REST (Restricted Environmental Stimulation Technique) is proposed. Such therapy has been shown to benefit chronic tension headaches, muscle tension, and other stress-related pain conditions (Feinstein, 2018). The magnesium and sulfate components of Epsom salt combined with controlled warm water allow the muscles and joints to relax. Studies show that magnesium targets the Adrenocorticotropic Hormone (ACTH) produced by the Anterior Pituitary Gland which in turn affects cortisol hormone levels to activate the body's immune defenses and eliminate …

The Assessment Of College Female Athletes’ Perspectives On Their Coaches’ Discussion On Food Relationships And Body Positivity, Maggie E. Vernon

Selected Honors Theses

This study examined the differences in how often college female athletes’ coaches discussed food relationships and body positivity with how often the college female athletes wished their coaches discussed food relationships and body positivity. I hypothesized that the coaches’ discussions of food relationships and body positivity did not meet the expectations of the college female athletes. Twenty-six participants from Southeastern University in a population of female athletes completed an online survey that produced quantitative data to determine the discrepancy. The survey consisted of three main topics of eating habits, eating disorders, body positivity, and their relationship building with their coaches. …

Surviving Child Pornography: Fifty Years On, Jeanette M. Westbrook

Dignity: A Journal of Analysis of Exploitation and Violence

No abstract provided.

Illinois State University Jazz Festival, April 1 And 2, 2022, Michael Davis, Paul Nolen

School of Music Programs

Center for the Performing Arts

April 1 and 2, 2022

Pilot Trial Of A Technology Assisted Treatment For Trichotillomania, Jordan T. Stiede, Douglas W. Woods, Aneela K. Idnani, John Pritchard, Kirk Klobe, Sameer Kumar

Psychology Faculty Research and Publications

The present study examined the usability, acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary efficacy of a prototype wrist-worn motion detection device and accompanying mobile app, developed by HabitAware®, as a system for delivering self-administered Habit Reversal Training (HRT). As an exploratory aim, the effect of the device and HRT app combination was compared to a reminder bracelet. The pilot trial included 15 adults with trichotillomania who interacted with the device and app system (n = 10) or reminder bracelet (n = 5) for 4 weeks. Participants in the device and app condition reported high usability, acceptability, and perceived efficacy of the …

Air-Deflected Microfluidic Chip For Characterization Of Fluid-Structure Interactions, Chad Ten Pas

Theses

Millions of people suffer from dentinal pain each year caused by a pressure change and fluid shear in the dentin tubule and nerve pulp system. Dentin is made up of mostly hydroxyapatite, a hard and opaque material. In-situ characterization is extremely challenging because of the tubules that run through are high-aspect ratio micropores with a feature size of 1-2 µm. Current studies have proven that various methods can be deployed to fabricate microscale geometry using PDMS. The most used methods are three-dimensional stereolithography, fused deposited material (FDM), 3D printed sacrificial mold, FDM 3D printed molds and soft lithography molding from …

Deep Feature Learning And Adaptation For Computer Vision, Abu Md Niamul Taufique

Theses

We are living in times when a revolution of deep learning is taking place. In general, deep learning models have a backbone that extracts features from the input data followed by task-specific layers, e.g. for classification. This dissertation proposes various deep feature extraction and adaptation methods to improve task-specific learning, such as visual re-identification, tracking, and domain adaptation. The vehicle re-identification (VRID) task requires identifying a given vehicle among a set of vehicles under variations in viewpoint, illumination, partial occlusion, and background clutter. We propose a novel local graph aggregation module for feature extraction to improve VRID performance. We also …

Adsorption-Based Atmospheric Water Harvesting: A Review Of Adsorbents And Systems, Muhammad Bilal, Muhammad Sultan, Tatiana Morosuk, Walter Den, Uzair Sajjad, Mian Ma Aslam, Muhammad W. Shahzad, Muhammad Farooq

Water Resources Science and Technology Faculty Publications (Archived)

Atmospheric water harvesting (AWH) has been an appealing prospect for decades to overcome water scarcity in remote areas. Adsorption-based AWH technologies have gained popularity due to their adaptability, and applicability using low-grade heat sources. This study presents up-to-date and future possibilities of adsorbents and systems for adsorption-based AWH. In this review, in-depth advancements in adsorbent materials are compartmentalized into adsorption equilibrium/isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and thermal conductivity. Various systems designs and modifications have been reviewed and classified accordingly. Liquid desiccants i.e., CaCl₂ and LiCl-based AWH systems produced in between 0.63 to 1.0 kg/m/d of water. Recently, metal-organic frameworks …

Reclaiming Equality: How Regressive Laws Can Advance Progressive Ends, Jonathan Feingold

Faculty Scholarship

Since the fall of 2020, right-wing forces have targeted Critical Race Theory ("CR T') through a sustained disinformation campaign. This offensive has deployed anti-CRT rhetoric to justify a host of "Backlash Bills" designed to chill conversations about race and racism in the classroom. Concerned stakeholders have assailed these laws as morally bankrupt and legally suspect. These responses are natural and appropriate. But challenging a bill's moral or legal mooring is insufficient to counter a primary purpose of this legislative onslaught: to further erode, within our public discourse and collective consciousness, the ability to distinguish between racism and antiracism. To meet …

Of Mutualism And Migration: Will Interactions With Novel Ericoid Mycorrhizal Communities Help Or Hinder Northward Rhododendron Range Shifts?, Taryn L. Mueller, Elena Karlsen-Ayala, David A. Moeller, Jesse Bellemare

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Rapid climate change imperils many small-ranged endemic species as the climate envelopes of their native ranges shift poleward. In addition to abiotic changes, biotic interactions are expected to play a critical role in plant species’ responses. Below-ground interactions are of particular interest given increasing evidence of microbial effects on plant performance and the prevalence of mycorrhizal mutualisms. We used greenhouse mesocosm experiments to investigate how natural northward migration/assisted colonization of Rhododendron catawbiense, a small-ranged endemic eastern U.S. shrub, might be influenced by novel below-ground biotic interactions from soils north of its native range, particularly with ericoid mycorrhizal fungi (ERM). We …

Redbird Impact, Vol. 5, No. 1 (Spring 2022), Center For Civic Engagement

Redbird Impact

No abstract provided.

Redbird Scholar, Vol. 7, No. 2 (Spring 2022), Illinois State University, Office Of The Vice President For Research And Graduate Studies

Redbird Scholar

No abstract provided.