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Equivalence: A Covariantly Constant Problem In General Relativity, Jaren Hobbs

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

In studying the space-time structures described by Einstein’s theory of general relativity, it is often useful to identify particular properties referred to as geometrical invariants. These are attributes of the space-times which do not change regardless of the underlying coordinate systems used to study them. This project is part of a larger effort to catalogue space-times studied in general relativity. Specifically, computational software was used to identify structures known as covariantly constant vector fields.

A Proposed Study To Explore The Relationships Of Methionine Restriction, The Mitochondrial Upr, And Animal Lifespan Determination, Joanne Mai

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The determination of chronological age is complex and can be influenced by both genetic and environmental factors. Mitochondria, essential organelles that generate the vast amount of cellular energy, are closely associated with the aging process. While many studies have been performed, we still lack a complete understanding of how animal lifespan is determined. In the following research proposal, a strategy is outlined to uncover the mechanism of the mitochondrial unfolded protein response (UPRmt) and extended lifespan resulting from restriction of the amino acid methionine. The model organism Caenorhabditis elegans and a forward genetic screening strategy will be used to identify …

A Scoping Review Of Motor Assessments For Children, Crystal Tavarez

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Motor skill assessments are used to evaluate a child’s development and reveal potential deficits of the individual. The purpose of this study was to research and analyze a number of motor assessments for children that have been created over the past 30 years. This information will then be used, in the future, to create a new motor assessment that would be able to be utilized in therapeutic settings. To accumulate the articles to review, the website Rayyan was used. A total number of 14,524 articles were gathered and the screening consisted of assessing abstracts to determine whether an article was …

The Impact Of Developmental Coordination Disorder, Irissa Le

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Development Coordination Disorder (DCD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects the performance of common, everyday tasks in children due to a delay in the development of motor skills. Oftentimes, parents of these children express concern about the limited number of resources available. To further understand what kind of support children with DCD may need, questionnaire responses of parents with DCD children in the US were documented. A survey was prepared through a survey software program called QuestionPro for the parents participating in Impact for DCD – USA. In total, there were 217 surveys completed. It was found that most children …

Collected Data And Research Into Turtle Populations In The Fort Worth Area, My Dung Nguyen

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The turtle population within Fort Worth has been observed to be in danger. Turtles of all species were washing up on lakes and rivers deceased or incapacitated, often diseased and lacking any sense of innate self-preservation that would otherwise be present in the species. The research conducted aimed to trap and track the turtle population using Passive Integrated Transponders, or PITs. These techniques were utilized to further solidify any potential new disease outbreak or trend in turtle deaths so that further action could be taken in the future. The turtles were each measured for circumference, weight, and sex while the …

A Practical Moral Theory The Failed State Of Normative Ethics, Gage Martinez

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Normative ethics can be described as the investigation into how one ought to act, morally speaking. The state of contemporary normative ethics is, essentially, a split between consequentialist (the idea that things are morally right or wrong based on their consequence) and non-consequentialist thought. Yet in practice, no one seems to be able to live by these moral theories, and I argue that it would be bizarre to do so as well. I examine reasons to believe that neither theory provides a complete account of real moral life, and how they fail at being prescriptive in practice. I provide a …

Personality Assessment In Cloned Equines, Alexis Erickson

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The nature versus nurture debate of personality has been widely researched, yet it has seldom used cloned animals. Since cloned animals are genetically identical to their donors, this avenue of research provides a unique opportunity to understand the genetic and environmental factors of personality. To explore these influences of personality, a donor polo pony and her cloned offspring were analyzed. The trainers of the horses rated each horse based on its personality traits and physical characteristics. A positive correlation was found between the personality of the donor horse and her cloned offspring. Moreover, the personality of the donor positively predicted …

Parameter Estimation And Sensitivity Analysis Through Mathematical Modeling Of Colon Cancer, Achyuth Manoj

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

We formulated a new and efficient method to propose a personalized treatment platform for colorectal cancer. A mathematical model of colon cancer was used and is comprised of a system of differential equations, which model various cell dynamics. The dynamics are dependent on patient-specific parameters that are unknown which we estimate given patient data in form of cell measurements. We approached this estimation as an inverse problem based on an optimization framework and developed computational optimization techniques created on non-linear conjugate gradient methods to solve for the optimal set of parameters for a specific patient. These optimal parameters are then …

The Effects Of Maternal Oral Health On Pregnancy And Child Tooth Development, Warda Wyne

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

The impact of oral health is something that is often overlooked, especially during pregnancy. Tooth development occurs during the first three months of pregnancy, a fact that not a lot of pregnant women are aware of. To further understand the implications that poor oral health can have on pregnancy and child tooth development, two different studies were conducted. The first study involved a questionnaire given to pregnant women asking them to rank their dental anxiety on a scale of not anxious (1) to phobic (5). Following this, dental history for all their children was recorded and compared to the questionnaire …

New Experience: An Ethnographic Study Of Students Who Transfer From A Low-Performing Public School District To A Better-Performing Public School District In Missouri, Yolanda J. Campbell

Dissertations

School districts in Missouri are responsible for public K-12 education and must be accredited to educate children. As a result, there is an evoking interest, demanding attention in Missouri public schools' quality and the students who transfer from unaccredited, critically low-performing schools to accredited, significantly betterperforming schools. These students have a higher risk of failing academically or dropping out of school and transitioning successfully into adulthood. Therefore, through this study, students, parents/guardians, and teachers tell their stories to empower the public to work together to raise all students' achievement in school, close the poverty and opportunity gap in education, and …

The Effectiveness Of A Web-Based Motor Intervention Program On Motor And Psychosocial Abilities Of Children With Dcd: A Preliminary Study, Karyssa Nelson

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Group intervention programs are known to improve motor and psychosocial skills in children with motor difficulties, however, many programs were suspended due to COVID-19. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of a web-based asynchronous intervention on the motor and psychosocial abilities of children with DCD. The Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire, Developmental Coordination Disorder Questionnaire, and Motor Ability Questionnaire were completed before and after eight sessions. No significant differences were seen on the DCDQ, but effect sizes were found for the MAQ in jumping (d= .28), grasping (2= .27), lacing (d= .70) and overall ability (d= .30). For the SDQ, small effect …

The Sublethal Effects Of Ammonia On Daphnia, Michelle Le

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Water pollution is a worldwide concern due to its devastating effects on the environment. Not only does this pose a significant threat to the environment, but these effects can also matriculate to humans causing disease and even death. As clean water is vital to our society, it is essential to monitor the effects of pollution and assess water quality. Using Daphnia spp. as bioindicators, the effects of various sublethal doses of ammonia, a common waterborne pollutant, on the phototactic behavior of Daphnia was investigated. Daphnids were first reared in common garden conditions and exposed to following concentrations of ammonia: 0 …

Aqueous-Based Associated Solvents For Protein And Peptide Fractionation And Protein Purification, Sajad Tasharofi

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

The focus of this dissertation is studying capabilities of a novel two-phase system in enhancing protein identification in the whole-cell proteomics studies. In this document, two types of biphasic systems have been used for two different purposes. The first type of biphasic system is formed by the addition of 1,1,1,3,3,3-Hexafluoro-2-propanol (HFIP) to the aqueous solutions of water-miscible organic solvents. A combination of HFIP, organic solvent, and water forms a two-phase system in spite of the fact that every solvent pair in the three-component system is miscible and forms homogeneous solutions in water. This biphasic system is called Fluoroalcohol-Organic Associated Solvent …

Total Synthesis Of Imidazole-Containing Β-Carboline Alkaloids And Pyrrole-Imidazole Alkaloids, Moumita Singha Roy

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

The first part in this dissertation focuses on the development of an enantioselective total synthesis of villagorgin A, from another natural product haploscleridamine. Haploscleridamine was targeted first as it was thought that a successful approach to this family member would permit access to the other congeners through minor modifications, including conversion to villagorgin A. Moreover, villagorgin A has just one additional carbon atom compared to haploscleridamine, the introduction of which can be envisioned through a Pictet-Spengler reaction with formaldehyde. On completion of the haploscleridamine synthesis, attention was turned to the brominated congener, lissoclin C. Lissoclin C can be accessed from …

Everyone, Karisa Kinard

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Avant-garde is described as an experimental technique of art, whether it be fashion, painting, or theater. These methods have been effective in helping the audience connect to the script. This script, entitled Everyone, echoes the high emotional value placed on common human themes; depression, hatred, faith, isolation, self-consciousness, and education are aspects of life we have all experienced and have had adverse and inescapable influences on our health. Everyone is a way to describe the cycle of life revolving around us. The theater has always been a conduit for catharsis, evolving from stringent rituals to emerging contemporary works. Over time, …

Altering The Genome Of The Microcrustacean, Daphnia, With Exposure To The Mutagen, Proflavine, Eesha Khan

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

DNA can be altered by introducing mutagens that can induce mutations and alter the genomes of organisms. The microcrustacean, Daphnia, was exposed to Proflavine, a mutagenic disinfectant, and the effects were seen by breeding the organisms and sequencing their genomes. Isolates of Daphnia were collected, and then solutions with the mutagen were prepared to determine the adequate concentration to utilize for exposure. After successive reproductions, the babies were monitored, then sent to sequencing to examine mutations present in the DNA. After many trials, the optimal concentration for Proflavine was determined to be 35 ug/mL, showing the ability of Daphnia to …

The Skull Of The Semi-Aquatic Neotropical Lizard Echinosaura Horrida (Squamata Gymnopthalmidae: Cercosaurinae) And New Synapomorphies For The Genus, Alison Ngo

2021 Fall Honors Capstone Projects - Archive

Echinosaura is a semi-aquatic group of lizards of the Gymnophthalmidae family, which inhabits the streams of the tropical forests of Costa Rica down to Ecuador along the Andes mountains. Echinosaura is composed of seven species: E. brachycephala, E. centralis, E. horrida, E. keyi, E. orcesi, E. palmeri, E. panamensis. Recent studies have proposed a well-resolved phylogenetic hypothesis for this genus, based on molecular data. However, there is a lack of knowledge on morphological aspects, such as their osteology. Here, we perform a bone-by-bone description and illustration of the skull of E. horrida using CT-scan data. We found variation in characters …

Development And Characterization Of Novel A Tcrm Antibody And Its Application As An Immune Checkpoint Blocker, Soroush Ghaffari

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Immunotherapy, the treatment of diseases via targeted immune system activation, has recently shown extraordinary success in clinical trials for multiple malignancies. In contrast to a routine therapeutic regimen for cancer, effective immunotherapies can stimulate the innate and adaptive immune system to marsh specific and durable responses against tumors. Immunotherapies come in many shapes and forms. Immune checkpoint blockade (ICB) is an example of immunotherapy that revolutionized the field of immuno-oncology. Considering the recent success of ICB therapies, the scientific community tried to discover new inhibitory molecules and pathways as a new target for cancer immunotherapy. Indeed, CD94/NKG2A receptor is an …

Development Of New Techniques To Dissect The Genetic Basis Of Population-Level Variation Of Recombination Rates In The Daphnia Model System, Swatantra Neupane

Biology Dissertations - Archive

We know very little about the determining genetic factors that control the recombination events within a genome. Moreover, the cause of recombination rate variation in population-level remains poorly understood, especially in non-mammalian species. The scarcity of population-level recombination rate data makes pinpointing genetic loci responsible for recombination rate variation even more challenging. Due to a lack of population-level recombination data, this hypothesis remains untested mainly in natural systems, like Daphnia. In response to the limitation of genetic tools used to dissect the genetic determinant of a trait in Daphnia, we put an effort to address these shortcomings in the Daphnia …

Design For Older Adults – Functional Limitations And Human Factors Engineering, Megumi Sato Hice

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Background: Throughout the aging process, people experience changes in functional ability and such changes can happen in physical and mental functions. As a result, older adults develop limitations in their capabilities to perform daily activities. Although many studies have done to identify functional limitations for elderly, many older adults still face negative consequences in daily living conditions due to their functional declines. One of the possible causes may be a lack of feedback or participations of elderly users in the design process. Other reason could be a lack of consideration to identify the needs for a specific task associated with …

The Effects Of Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy On Pain Thresholds And Anxiodepressive Behaviors In A Pre-Clinical Fibromyalgia Pain Model, Cassie Mae Argenbright

Psychology Theses - Archive

Fibromyalgia (FM) is a chronic, widespread pain disorder generally of a non-inflammatory nature. FM has many known affective and cognitive comorbidities, including fatigue, sleep disturbances, cognitive deficits, and mood disturbances. As a result, FM treatment approaches are mixed in nature and lack a robust characterization that address symptoms on a sensory, affective, and cognitive level. However, there is promise in the implementation of hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for alleviating fibromyalgia pain and comorbidities, despite no work investigating the efficacy of this treatment in prominent preclinical FM models. Thus, this project aims to investigate the affective components, specifically anhedonia and anxiety, …

Study Of Sac Solder Interconnect Parameters In Microelectronic Semiconductor Packaging And Their Effects On Electromigration Failure Mechanisms, Allison Theresa Osmanson

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

As the shrinkage of electronic devices becomes more appealing, so do their high capacity and efficiency. This demand for ever-shrinking sizes of electronic devices follows the trend predicted by Moore’s Law. To achieve smaller devices, reduced sizes of solder joints, Cu traces, Cu pads, and other components in packages are implemented with tighter tolerances for geometries and layouts. With each incremental change in dimension or material, new reliability challenges emerge. Electromigration (EM), the directional diffusion of atoms with the flow of electrons, has been an inevitable reliability concern for microelectronic device packaging. It is one common failure mechanism in wafer-level …

Study On Forming Dna-Mediated Nanoparticle Conjugates: Toward Detection Of Covid-19, Chinmay Nitin Afzulpurkar

Material Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

The objective of this thesis is to establish a rapid, robust, and reproducible procedure to controllably assemble DNA-functionalized Au nanoparticles (AuNPs) into satellite-shaped nanostructures using sequence-specific DNA hybridization. A target DNA strand with COVID-19 sequence (t-DNA) is used as a bridge to connect a capture DNA functionalized on a 50nm gold nanoparticle (C-AuNP) and a probe DNA functionalized on a 30nm nanoparticle (P-AuNP), creating C-AuNP/t-DNA/P-AuNP conjugates. The C-DNA is complementary to a portion of t-DNA, and P-DNA is complementary to the other portion of t-DNA. The parameters that affect the conjugate formation, including hybridization buffer strength, hybridization temperature, and DNA …

Change In Sedimentation Regime Due To Bridge Construction Activities: A Field Study At Fm 2478 Bridge Over Wilson Creek, Mckinney, Texas, Subhas Kandel

Civil Engineering Theses - Archive

Bridge construction activities can cause soil disturbances that introduce sediments into a receiving stream and potentially impact its quality and the ecosystem. The impacts of bridge construction activities are studied in two ways: overland erosion and in-stream sediment concentration. For this research, the overland erosion of Wilson Creek in McKinney, Texas was monitored from four erosion plots constructed on its banks, near the bridge construction activities zone. The instream water quality was examined during the construction period by measuring the Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and the turbidity of water samples, and the sediment and water samples were collected and analyzed …

The Influence Of Black Greek Membership On The Academic Engagement Of African American Male Students, Cedric D. Shelby

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The purpose of this qualitative study was to better understand the experiences of Black male students who are members of Black Greek Letter Fraternities (BGLF) while attending a large institution. This study examines the academic practices of the fraternity members, and the effects fraternity membership has on their academic progress. For this study, four Black male undergraduate fraternity members and five graduates shared stories of their undergraduate experiences and how being in a fraternity impacted their academic progress. Semi-structured questions were used during the interviews to explore the student’s academic engagement and they focused on the following research question: 1. …

2021-December-01-Meet Pamela AvendañO-Rubi, University Marketing And Communication, East Tennessee State University

ETSU News

Language is what ties everything and everyone together for Pamela Avendaño-Rubi, whose native language of Spanish has been the key to relationships and opportunities throughout her time at East Tennessee State University.

“I was born and raised in Mexico, and it wasn’t until maybe seven or eight years ago that I first learned English. That was the biggest thing ever,” said the senior pre-medical student. “So, I empathize with a lot of people for whom English is a second language, even the professors here who have English as a second language and they struggle to express themselves. I am able …

China's Food Pagodas: Looking Forward By Looking Back?, Yifei Li, Dale Jamieson

Journal of Food Law & Policy

In this Article we provide a close analysis of the Chinese Dietary Guidelines – the Food Pagoda. Our focus on the dietary guidelines is motivated by two main considerations. First, the guidelines represent the most comprehensive, nationwide, state sponsored effort to educate the people of China about food. Like citizens in most countries, Chinese people are presented with numerous, often competing, messages from scientists, food gurus and online influencers. The dietary guidelines are different in that they are backed by an entire suite of governmental resources for nationwide dissemination through hospitals, schools, public billboards, TV and radio ads, among others. …

Lasting Consequences Of Psyllid (Bactericera Cockerelli L.) Infestation On Tomato Defense, Gene Expression, And Growth, Kyle Harrison, Azucena Mendoza-Herrera, Julien Gad Levy, Cecilia Tamborindeguy

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

Background: The tomato psyllid, Bactericera cockerelli Šulc (Hemiptera: Triozidae), is a pest of solanaceous crops such as tomato (Solanum lycopersicum L.) in the U.S. and vectors the disease-causing pathogen ‘Candidatus Liberibacter solanacearum’. Currently, the only effective strategies for controlling the diseases associated with this pathogen involve regular pesticide applications to manage psyllid population density. However, such practices are unsustainable and will eventually lead to widespread pesticide resistance in psyllids. Therefore, new control strategies must be developed to increase host-plant resistance to insect vectors. For example, expression of constitutive and inducible plant defenses can be improved through selection. Currently, it is …

Conolidine: A Novel Plant Extract For Chronic Pain, Amber N. Edinoff, Akash S. Patel, Mitchell W. Baker, Jesse Lawson, Christopher Wolcott, Elyse M. Cornett, Kambiz Sadegi, Adam M. Kaye, Alan David Kaye

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

Pain, the most common symptom reported among patients in the primary care setting, is complex to manage. Opioids are among the most potent analgesics agents for managing pain. Since the mid-1990s, the number of opioid prescriptions for the management of chronic non-cancer pain (CNCP) has increased by more than 400%, and this increased availability has significantly contributed to opioid diversion, overdose, tolerance, dependence, and addiction. Despite the questionable effectiveness of opioids in managing CNCP and their high rates of side effects, the absence of available alternative medications and their clinical limitations and slower onset of action has led to an …

Mif But Not Mif-2 Recruits Inflammatory Macrophages In An Experimental Polymicrobial Sepsis Model, Pathricia Veronica Tilstam, Wibke Schulte, Thomas Holowka, Bong-Sung Kim, Jessica Nouws, Maor Sauler, Marta Piecychna, Georgios Pantouris, Elias Lolis, Lin Leng, Jürgen Bernhagen, Günter Fingerle-Rowson, Richard Bucala

Pacific Faculty Work

Excessive inflammation drives the progression from sepsis to septic shock. Macrophage migration inhibitory factor (MIF) is of interest because MIF promoter polymorphisms predict mortality in different infections, and anti-MIF antibody improves survival in experimental models when administered 8 hours after infectious insult. The recent description of a second MIF superfamily member, D-dopachrome tautomerase (D-DT/MIF-2), prompted closer investigation of MIF-dependent responses. We subjected Mif^-/- and Mif-2^-/- mice to polymicrobial sepsis and observed a survival benefit with Mif but not Mif-2 deficiency. Survival was associated with reduced numbers of small peritoneal macrophages (SPMs) that, in contrast to large peritoneal macrophages …