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Acl Prevention Programming For Female Athletes, Julia Korklewski

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

Tenaciously Curious, Joe Mark Taylor

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

In this thesis paper, I will outline the journey I’ve taken throughout my graduate studies at the University of Montana and how it has culminated in my thesis exhibition, Tenaciously Curious. I’ll begin with an Introduction that speaks to the importance of finding ways to connect to nature, and the benefits we gain by recognizing our bodies as extensions of the organic world.

In the following section, Influences, Theory and Lineage, I’ll explore the themes that drive my research, highlight artists who have influenced my work, and discuss why this inquiry feels vital within our contemporary moment.

In the section …

Examining Coinfections With Human Cytomegalovirus, Christopher Samuel Peterson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the largest of any human virus, both physically at up to 300 nm in diameter, and as a genome, with its 235 kbp DNA genome with at least 165 open reading frames. It is also the number 1 non-genetic cause of birth defects and has a global prevalence rate of just over 80%. Despite these characteristics, it is not as well known to the general public as some of the other human herpesviruses, such as herpes simplex or varicella-zoster virus. Like other herpesviruses, HCMV can establish latency, leading to a lifelong infection for its host with …

Community Resilience Factors For Gsm Individuals: Considering The Roles Of Transgender Identity And Age, Benny Ilac

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Gender and sexual minority (GSM) individuals face a variety of health disparities, including increased rates of depression, anxiety, and substance use. One explanation for the presence of these health disparities is the minority stress model, which suggests that proximal (internal) and distal (external) experiences of minority stressors contribute to poorer health outcomes in GSM populations. An important yet understudied component of this model is resilience, which acts as buffer against the negative impacts of minority stressors. Focus on community resilience factors, as opposed to individual resilience factors, may be particularly important in GSM populations in reducing the onus placed on …

Nonactin And Salinomycin Fragment Scaffold Derived Synthesis For Antibiotic Drug Discovery, Evelyn Amelia Schwartz

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Antibacterial drug discovery is an important necessity across all medical practices in both treatment and prevention of antimicrobial resistance. Infections with antimicrobial resistant pathogens are likely to increase over the years, and new classes of antibiotics can address this issue directly. Traditional screening of natural product libraries unfortunately has exhausted these resourceful compounds so that few easily accessible medical drug candidates remain. Natural products have often been recognized for their unique and complex structures that are attributed to their biological activity. This esteemed trait also is linked to cytotoxic activity and difficult synthetic modifications. A fragment of the natural product …

Genomics Of Adaptation To Yellowstone’S Geothermal Mosaic In The Yellow Monkeyflower Mimulus Guttatus, Colette Sevier Berg

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The push and pull between recombination and selection shapes the structure of adaptive genomic variation. By mapping the genetic architecture and genetic basis of traits, we can test theoretical predictions about the nature of adaptation on the landscape. Furthermore, investigating the genetics of repeated evolutionary transitions sheds light on the nature of parallel evolution: are adaptations constrained at the molecular level, or are there many genetic paths to the same phenotype? In this dissertation I explore the genetic and phenotypic variation in the yellow monkeyflower Mimulus guttatus, which occupies Yellowstone National Park’s complex geothermal mosaic. In Chapter 1, I identify …

Methods To Improve Efficiency, Sensitivity, And Selectivity Of Sequence Similarity Search, Daniel Olson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The rapid growth of biological sequence data presents significant challenges for bioinformatic analysis. A cornerstone of this analysis, sequence similarity search, is hampered by three main obstacles: sensitivity in detecting distant evolutionary relationships, selectivity in distinguishing true homology from spurious similarity caused by features like tandem repeats, and scalability to handle massive databases. This dissertation introduces two novel computational tools, ULTRA and NEAR, that address these challenges to improve the efficiency, sensitivity, and selectivity of sequence similarity search. Part I of this dissertation addresses the problem of selectivity by focusing on tandem repeats, a common source of false-positive results in …

Investigating Non-Invasive Survey Methods And Building A Predictive Occupancy Model For Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus Histrionicus) In Western Montana And Northern Idaho, Holli Ann Holmes

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Harlequin Ducks (Histrionicus histrionicus; HADU) are an imperiled sea duck that breeds along white-water mountain streams, but challenges in surveying them have made it difficult to understand population trends in their Northern Rocky Mountain breeding population. In this study we had two objectives: (1) evaluate non-invasive survey methods for detecting HADU on their breeding grounds in Western Montana and Northern Idaho, and (2) develop an occupancy model to predict potential breeding stream use for HADU across the region. First, we assessed the efficacy of ground-based foot surveys (GBS), environmental DNA (eDNA), and camera traps to detect breeding HADU during …

Occupational Therapy Assistant Education: Exploring The Relationship Between Student Factors And Nbcot Examination Pass Rates, Micahela Parker

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The purpose of this retrospective quantitative study was to examine the predictive ability of gender, age, GPA, attendance and both Level II fieldwork scores (Fieldwork One and Fieldwork Two) on first attempt NBCOT exam success. To practice as an occupational therapy assistant, an individual must complete an accredited occupational therapy assistant (OTA) program and pass the National Board for Certification in Occupational Therapy (NBCOT) exam. The NBCOT exam was developed to ensure entry-level occupational therapy assistants have the necessary knowledge to make safe and competent decisions.

The overarching research focus was to understand the extent of one or more of …

Impacts Of Fire-Driven Vegetation Changes On Evapotranspiration In North American Boreal Forests, Tyler Glen Albrethsen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

A growing body of evidence suggests that land cover change could be impacting evapotranspiration (ET) trends more than the direct impacts of climate change (Dashti et al., 2022; Zhang et al., 2015). In boreal forests, one of the Earth’s most important carbon sinks (Kang et al., 2006), climate and disturbance-driven land cover change is progressing rapidly, threatening the resilience of conifer-dominated forests (Baltzer et al., 2021; Massey et al., 2023). The spread of deciduous trees and the changing structure of boreal forests likely have large implications for the magnitude and seasonality of ecosystem water fluxes (Young-Robertson et al., 2016). This …

A Retrospective Assessment Of Post-Fire Planting In The Us: Aligning Actual And Optimal Planting Sites To Address The Reforestation Gap, Lewis Faller

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The natural regeneration processes that maintain semi-arid North American conifer forests are being disrupted. Increasingly, large wildfires burn core areas beyond the typical seed dispersal range of surviving adult trees and even when seeds are present, climate conditions increasingly are unsuitable for conifer recruitment, establishment, and survival. The USDA Forest Service (USFS), mandated to maintain forest cover in response to harvest or disturbance, now faces a planting backlog of over 3.8 million acres. Here, we conduct a retrospective assessment (1986–2023) of USFS post-fire reforestation to evaluate (1) whether historical planting patterns align with the goal to close the national reforestation …

Whole Genome Sequencing From Snowshoe Hare Fecal Samples, Jessica J. Powell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Genomic analyses can provide powerful insights into important issues in conservation biology, including rapid estimates of overall genetic diversity and related population genetic parameters. Noninvasive DNA sampling from fecal samples is an affordable, efficient, and broadly applicable sampling method that has been used in many targeted genetic analyses. However, the efficacy of whole genome sequencing from fecal samples remains relatively unexplored in most taxa. Here, we present results from two experiments designed to test the quantity and quality of whole genome resequencing data obtained from snowshoe hare (Lepus americanus) fecal pellets. Extensive previous research has used genetic analyses …

Climate Change And Behavioral Plasticity: Migration, Parturition, And Phenological Mismatch In Northern Rockies Elk, Tara Kelly Meyer

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The survival and reproduction of large herbivores depend on the synchronization of life-history events with ephemeral resource availability. Migratory ungulates have navigated this seasonality by relying on environmental cues (e.g., snowmelt or green-up) to predict when to migrate to distant foraging areas. However, anthropogenic climate change is rapidly altering environmental baselines. This dissertation investigates the intersection of climate change, behavioral plasticity, and reproductive ecology in a partially migratory elk (Cervus canadensis) population in Alberta, Canada. Integrating 22 years of longitudinal monitoring data (2002–2024) of individual elk with remotely sensed NDVI and statistical modeling, I examine how three coexisting migratory tactics …

Mountain Pine Beetle Host Tree Selection And Climate-Growth Dynamics In Whitebark Pine, Hannah Rose Alverson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Recent climate-driven outbreaks of mountain pine beetles (Dendroctonus ponderosae) in whitebark pine (Pinus albicaulis) have raised fears of increasing whitebark pine mortality with increased warming and drought due to climate change. However, little is known about how whitebark pine responds to climate, what characteristics may predict whitebark pine susceptibility to mountain pine beetle outbreaks, or how these may interact. This information is critical in understanding how whitebark pine might persist in a changing climate. My research investigated how whitebark pine growth responds to various climate variables and how these responses may be predictive of attack by …

Binoculars To Bytes: Development And Field Validation Of An Ai-Driven System For Avian Monitoring, Christian J. Dupree

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Autonomous camera-trap arrays coupled with artificial-intelligence (AI) vision can lift bird monitoring beyond the spatial, temporal, and labor limits of traditional field surveys. We present Binoculars to Bytes (B2B), an open-source pipeline that turns 180–360° time-lapse imagery into analysis-ready avian data. At Freezout Lake Wildlife Management Area (Montana, USA) the system ran four-hour morning deployments during spring and fall migrations (2023–2024). A YOLO-NAS detector, incrementally refined with a “Specialized Localized Iterative Model” workflow, quadrupled local accuracy and, after confidence-based species-binning, cut false-positive rates in half. Daily AI species lists were benchmarked against contemporaneous eBird citizen-science checklists and recovered ≥ …

"I'Ve Never Felt A Pain Like This" A Dialogic Analysis Of Parent-Child Estrangement Narratives On Reddit, Grant W. Lane

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

How do adult children estranged from their parent(s) create meaning and make sense of their estrangement in Reddit posts on the subreddit r/EstrangedAdultChild? This study analyzed Reddit posts written by estranged adult children for a presumed audience of other estranged adult children. Using relational dialectics theory (RDT) as a lens for analysis, this research examined the competing discourses that influence the meaning-making and sense-making processes of estranged adult children in their posts when the intended audience is fellow estranged adult children. Seventy-four posts from r/EstrangedAdultChild, authored by adult children who self-identified as estranged from at least one parent, were collected …

Trace Level Benzoylecgonine Detections In Equine Plasma/Serum – A Proposed Interim Plasma Level Regulatory “Cut-Off“, Andreas F. Lehner, Kimberly Brewer, Levent Dirikolu, Abelardo Morales Briceñod, Robert Holland, George Maylin, Clara Fenger, Thomas Tobin

Maxwell H. Gluck Equine Research Center Faculty Publications

Cocaine is a widely used human recreational substance routinely transferring at pharmacologically irrelevant trace level amounts to non-user humans and horses. Horses and humans rapidly demethylate cocaine to benzoylecgonine which is excreted in urine at concentrations approaching two thousand times higher than the corresponding plasma cocaine concentrations. In human workplace drug testing, these usually pharmacologically irrelevant trace level urinary detections of benzoylecgonine are handled by application of a 100 ng/ml urinary “cut-off“, as presented by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA). In horse racing several American states have long used published urinary “cut-offs“ for benzoylecgonine of from …

Risk And Prognosis Of Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Mexican Americans With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Rikita I Hatia, Lu-Yu Hwang, Ruosha Li, Catherine Troisi, Prasun K Jalal, Christopher I Amos, Henry F Gomez, Yun Shin Chun, Asif Rashid, Ahmed O Kaseb, Paul A Scheet, Manal M Hassan

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) disproportionately affects Hispanic persons with higher age-specific incidence and increased mortality rates compared to non-Hispanic Whites. These high rates of incidence and mortality may be explained by the variation in risk factors. Given the high prevalence of type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) among the Hispanic population, we aimed to assess the risk and prognosis of HCC in Mexican Americans with type 2 DM with consideration of treatment for DM.

METHODS: A case-control study of 241 Mexican American HCC patients and 500 healthy controls in Texas was conducted. Multivariable logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the …

Intercellular Mitochondrial Transfer Contributes To Microenvironmental Redirection Of Cancer Cell Fate, Julie Sofie Bjerring, Yara Khodour, Emilee Anne Peterson, Patrick Christian Sachs, Robert David Bruno

School of Medical Diagnostics & Translational Sciences Publications

The mammary microenvironment has been shown to suppress tumor progression by redirecting cancer cells to adopt a normal mammary epithelial progenitor fate in vivo. However, the mechanism(s) by which this alteration occurs has yet to be defined. Here, we test the hypothesis that mitochondrial transfer from normal mammary epithelial cells to breast cancer cells plays a role in this redirection process. We evaluate mitochondrial transfer in 2D and 3D organoids using our unique 3D bioprinting system to produce chimeric organoids containing normal and cancer cells. We demonstrate that breast cancer tumoroid growth is hindered following interaction with mammary epithelial cells …

Secondhand Tobacco Smoke Exposure And Sleep Disturbance In School-Aged Children In Appalachian Ohio, Ketrell Mcwhorter, Christine Kim, Timothy J. Hilbert, Danielle E. Mcbride, Anthony A. Mangino, Patrick J. Parsons, Kurunthachalam Kannan, Erin N. Haynes

Epidemiology and Environmental Health Faculty Publications

Introduction: Secondhand tobacco smoke (SHS) exposure remains a major public health concern for children and has been implicated in sleep disturbances through biological and behavioral mechanisms. Different methods of measuring SHS exposure have yielded inconsistent results. This study examined the relationship between SHS exposure and sleep among rural Appalachian 7–9-year-olds, utilizing three SHS measurements: natural log-transformed (ln) serum cotinine concentrations, dichotomized serum cotinine levels (≥0.05 vs. <0.05 ng/ml), and parent/caregiver report of ≥1 smoker in the home. We hypothesized SHS-exposed children would have a significantly higher prevalence of sleep disturbance—e.g., short sleep, frequent snoring, night awakenings—compared to unexposed, regardless of measurement method. Methods: We used data from the Marietta Community Actively Researching Exposure Study, a cohort of 404 children in Marietta and Cambridge, Ohio. Sleep disturbances were parent/caregiver-reported. Linear models were used for continuous outcomes to estimate beta coefficients; log-binomial models with generalized estimating equations (exchangeable correlation) were applied for dichotomized outcomes to estimate prevalence ratios (PR), each with 95% confidence intervals (CI). Results: Twenty-six percent of children had a parent/caregiver report of ≥1 sleep disturbance. There was a 35% increased prevalence of short sleep [PR = 1.35 (95%CI:1.02–1.80), p =.04] with each unit increase of ln serum cotinine levels, adjusting for age, sex, parent education, BMI percentile, and history of breathing difficulties in the past two years. Increasing ln serum cotinine levels were associated with a significant 5.5-min decrease in average sleep duration in age-adjusted models. Conclusions: Higher SHS exposure was associated with poorer sleep outcomes, with serum cotinine emerging as the only measure linked to short sleep, underscoring the importance of smoke-free environments, particularly in rural communities, and objective exposure assessment.

Oral Anticoagulation In The Era Of Continuous Rhythm Monitoring, Chu-Pak Lau, Hung-Fat Tse

Journal of the Hong Kong College of Cardiology

Background

Primary prevention of stroke using oral anticoagulants (OACs) is indicated for clinical atrial fibrillation (AF) documented on standard electrocardiogram (ECG) in those patients with a high risk of stroke. The recent availability of both external ECG monitors (either using consumer electronic or medical devices) and implantable devices have enabled earlier AF episodes to be detected before clinical AF become manifest. These episodes, often termed subclinical AF (SCAF), represent an area of controversy for the application of OAC.

Objective

The present review summarises the management of SCAF, based on recent guidelines and publications in the following areas:

1. In the presence …

Academic Stress, Performance, And Satisfaction Among Undergraduate Nursing Students Under The Semester System, Kalyani Sinha, Sangeetha Priyadarshini, Baby S Nayak, Meghna Pandit

Manipal Journal of Nursing and Health Sciences

Introduction: Stress is a key indicator of psychological well being. Various factors contribute to the psychological disturbances among undergraduate students. These issues can affect academic satisfaction and increase stress. Examination-related stress negatively impacts students’ academic performance. Each course determines its assessment methods, content, learning strategies and instructional approaches. Objectives: This study assessed academic stress, performance, and satisfaction among undergraduate nursing students in the semester system at selected nursing colleges in Udupi District, Karnataka and find it’s relationship. Method: A descriptive study was conducted among 210 undergraduate students selected from the second and fourth semesters using a purposive sampling …

An Investigation Of Maritime Piracy And Its Implications To The Development And Sustainability Of The Port Harcourt Seaport, Its Local Communities And The Niger Delta Region In Nigeria., Nsikan Umoette

Plymouth Business School Theses

ABSTRACTWithin the last decade, widespread ramifications of maritime piracy occasioned by insurmountable piratical attacks in the Gulf of Guinea region have been evidently seen in the Nigerian territorial waters with hallmarks on strategic areas in the Niger Delta region, Nigeria – the Port Harcourt seaport, its local communities, and the Niger Delta region. It is against this backdrop that this study investigates maritime piracy and its implications for the development and sustainability of the Port Harcourt Seaport, its local communities, and the Niger Delta region in Nigeria. Incorporating maritime piracy and sustainability in the literature review showed the social and …

Finite Element Modeling For Two-Dimensional Wireless Capsule Endoscope Manipulation System, Wael S. Abbas, Mohamed T. El-Wakad, R.R. Darwish

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

The inadequacies of traditional flexible endoscopes used in gastrointestinal diagnostic procedures, causing pain and discomfort to patients, led to the development of the wireless capsule endoscope. There are two types of wireless capsule endoscopes: passive and active. The passive wireless capsule endoscope cannot stop at a specific position for diagnostic purposes, which can lead to capsule retention. The active capsule can solve those problems. In this article, we use COMSOL Multiphysics to simulate a two-dimensional (2D) electromagnetic actuation (EMA) system for active wireless capsule endoscope. The EMA system uses a stationary two-pair coil system (Helmholtz and Maxwell). The capsule endoscope …

The Possible Protective Effect Of Coenzyme Q10 And Indole-3-Carbinol On Cyclosporine Induced Nephrotoxicity In Rats, Maha A. Ollaek, Gehan S. Georgy, Engy M. El Morsy, Eman M. Raafat

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

Background: Cyclosporine A (CsA) is a potent immunosuppressive drug, with nephrotoxicity being its most frequent adverse effect, primarily due to the involvement of free radicals in inflammatory and fibrotic pathways. Both coenzyme Q10 (CoQ10), a fat-soluble vitamin-like molecule, and indole-3-carbinol (I3C), a natural compound, possess anti-inflammatory and antioxidant properties. Aim: This study aimed to investigate the potential protective effects of CoQ10 and/or I3C against CsA-induced nephrotoxicity in rats. Methods: Male albino rats were randomly assigned to five groups, with six rats in each group. Group (1) served as the normal control group and received corn oil orally by gavage for …

Repair And Regeneration Of Low Dose Ionizing Radiation To Injured Muscles Using Barium Chloride In A Rat Model, Esraa A. Aboelfadl, Hesham Haffez, Soheir S. Koraa, Ahmed E. Abdel Moneim, Ola H. El-Habit, Rasha S. Elbeltagy

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

The biological consequences of low dose ionizing radiation (LDIR) are strongly debated. While most studies confirm its detrimental effects, several studies suggest beneficial (hormetic) effects of LDIR as an anti-inflammatory agent on musculoskeletal injuries. The present study aimed to investigate the bio-stimulatory effects of LDIR (direct and indirect) in healing the musculoskeletal injuries induced by barium chloride (BaCl2). Thirty adult male Albino rats were used in this study and were divided into five groups as follows: control, BaCl2, g-rays (direct), g-rays (indirect), BaCl2 and g (direct), and BaCl2 and g (indirect) group. Muscle injury was induced using 50 ml of …

Adme Predicted Molecular Intervention Aiming At Assessment Of An Alternative Means Of Phyto-Based Pest Control Of Cotton Leaf Roller, Haritalodes Derogata Using Diluted Ethanolic Extract Of Nux Vomica, Arnob Chakrovorty, Avidipta Hazra, Banani Bhattacharjee, Debarsi Das, Anisur Rahman Khuda-Bukhsh, Asmita Samadder

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

The leaf roller moth, Haritalodes (=Sylepta) derogata (Fabricius, 1775) (Lepidoptera) is a common pest of many economically important plant species including cotton (Gossypium spp.) and okra (Abelmoschus esculentus). This study was designed to investigate mainly the insecticidal/pesticidal efficacy of diluted ethanolic extract from seeds of native deciduous Indian tree, Strychnos nux-vomica Linn. (Nux Vom 2X - prepared by diluting raw extract or mother tincture 100 times in 91% ethanol by following homeopathic procedure) known to contain the main toxic ingredient, Strychnine and to elucidate the toxicity related cellular and physio-chemical effects inflicted by it on larva of H. derogata. Present …

To Explore Potential Targets And Their Natural Inhibitors To Combat Diabetes, Rishita Dey, Sisir Nandi, Asmita Samadder

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

Diabetes is a chronic metabolic disorder that affects millions of people around the globe. Prolonged hyperglycemia, abnormal metabolism of fats and carbohydrates, oxidative damage, and a high incidence of microvascular diseases are the common hallmarks of diabetes and its complications. This condition has been shown to hasten the onset of several other disorders, including peripheral neuropathy, nephropathy, and cardiomyopathy, pulmonary arterial disease, and coronary artery disease, thereby necessitating exploration of different avenues of medicinal regimen to address / delineate the complications. The subject matter for this review has been gathered from a range of research publications, review papers, and book …

Complex Plant Disease Syndromes Induced By Plant Parasitic Nematodes And Phytopathogenic Bacteria: Interactions, Mechanisms And Management, Atef M. El-Sagheer, Eman A. Hammad, Radwa G. Mostafa

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

Plant-parasitic nematodes (PPNs) are among the most significant agents contributing to plant disease complexes, acting both as direct parasites and as facilitators of bacterial infections. Their interactions with phytopathogenic bacteria are multifaceted, involving mechanical wounding caused by stylet penetration, disruption of plant cell integrity, and alteration of host physiology. These changes create favourable conditions for bacterial entry, colonization, and systemic spread. Additionally, PPNs can suppress plant defines responses and modify root exudate profiles, thereby enhancing bacterial survival and virulence in the rhizosphere. Such interactions often lead to a synergistic increase in disease incidence and severity, resulting in greater yield losses …

Genetic Mutations Affecting Dentin Formation: Molecular Insights And Therapeutic Strategies, Mohamed Yehia Abdelfattah, Yara Sameh Said, Shimaa A. Elsaady, Shahenda A. Abdallahahmed, Wael Abou-Zeid

Trends in advanced sciences and technology

Writing a comprehensive review on gene mutations affecting dentin mineralization requires thorough research and organization, as each section examines how specific mutations influence this process, supported by relevant findings. Mutations in genes such as DSPP, DMP1, andMEPE impair dentin structure and mineralization by disrupting odontoblast function, dentin matrix integrity, and mineral deposition. These genetic alterations interfere with key biological processes, including odontoblast differentiation and matrix formation, through altered signaling pathways such as Wnt/β- catenin and TGF-β, contributing to dental disorders like Dentinogenesis Imperfecta (DI). Gaining molecular insights into these disruptions enhances our understanding of dentin biology and supports early diagnosis, …