Digital Commons Network^™

Handling And Restraint Induce A Significant Increase In Plasma Corticosterone In Hispaniolan Amazon Parrots (Amazona Ventralis), Shelby N. Parks, Thomas N. Tully, Aspen L. Settle, Christine R. Lattin

Faculty Publications

OBJECTIVE: To measure baseline plasma corticosterone levels in Hispaniolan Amazon parrots (Amazona ventralis) and assess the effects of handling and restraint on corticosterone levels over 1 hour, reflective of what parrots might experience during veterinary care. ANIMALS: 10 male and 12 female Hispaniolan Amazon parrots. PROCEDURES: Each parrot was removed from its cage and wrapped in a towel for restraint similar to that performed in a clinical setting. An initial baseline blood sample was collected in < 3 minutes upon entrance into the parrot room, after which blood samples were taken every 15 minutes for 1 hour (a total of 5 blood samples). An enzyme-linked immunoassay was validated for Hispaniolan Amazon parrots and used to determine concentrations of plasma corticosterone. RESULTS: On average, parrots showed a significant increase in corticosterone between baseline samples and all subsequent postrestraint time points (average baseline corticosterone ± SD: 0.51 ± 0.65 ng/mL). Females, on average, displayed significantly higher corticosterone levels than males after 30, 45, and 60 minutes of restraint (P = .016, P = .0099, and P = .015, respectively). Birds with feather-destructive behavior did not have significantly higher corticosterone levels than birds without the condition (P = .38). CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Understanding the physiological stress response in companion psittacine birds during routine handling will allow clinicians to better evaluate how this may affect the patient's condition and diagnostic test results. Assessing how corticosterone correlates to behavioral conditions such as feather-destructive behavior will provide clinicians with the potential to develop treatment options.

‘Flla09015-U1’: A Broadly Adapted Dual-Purpose Oat Cultivar For Southern Usa, Md Ali Babar, Stephen A. Harrison, Ann Blount, Ronald D. Barnett, Jerry Johnson, Mohamed Mergoum, Daniel J. Mailhot, J. Paul Murphy, Richard E. Mason, Amir Ibrahim, Russell Sutton, Bryan Simoneaux, Richard Boyles, Brad Stancil, David Marshall, Myron Fountain, Kathy Esvelt Klos, Naeem Khan, Marcelo Wallau, Henry G. Jordan

Faculty Publications

‘FLLA09015-U1’ (Reg. no. CV-387, PI 699117) is a new facultative oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar that was co-developed by the University of Florida and Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and was released in 2019. This line was derived from a single cross of FL0210-J1/MN06203. FLLA09015-U1 has considerable potential for grain and forage yield and for conservation tillage purposes in the southern United States. Exclusive marketing rights for FLLA09015-U1 has been granted to JoMar Seeds and is currently commercialized under the name of Juggernaut. FLLA09015-U1 was developed using selected bulk breeding method and was selected as an F5:6 head row. The …

‘Flla11019-8’: A New Dual-Purpose Facultative Oat Cultivar For Grain And Forage Production In The Southern United States, Md Ali Babar, Stephen A. Harrison, Ann Blount, Ronald D. Barnett, Jerry Johnson, Mohamed Mergoum, Daniel J. Mailhot, J. Paul Murphy, Richard E. Mason, Amir Ibrahim, Russell Sutton, Bryan Simoneaux, Richard Boyles, Brad Stancil, David Marshall, Myron Fountain, Kathy Esvelt Klos, Naeem Khan, Marcelo Wallau, Henry G. Jordan, Xuefeng Ma, Juan Arbelaez

Faculty Publications

‘FLLA11019-8’ (Reg. no. CV-386, PI 700040) is new facultative oat (Avena sativa L.) cultivar for the southern United States for forage, grain, cover, and wildlife food crop uses. It was co-developed by the University of Florida and Louisiana State University Agricultural Center and was released in 2020 under the SunGrains, a cooperative small grain breeding program among seven Southern Universities. This line was derived from a single cross between two advanced breeding lines, FL0564-Ab13 and LA06071SBSB-S1. Exclusive marketing rights were granted to Ragan & Massey, Inc., and the line is currently commercializing under the names of RAM Forage Oats and …

Detection Of Acetaminophen In Groundwater By Laccase-Based Amperometric Biosensors Using Mos2 Modified Carbon Paper Electrodes, Marcela Herrera-Domínguez, Koun Lim, Iris Aguilar-Hernández, Alejandra García-García, Shelley D. Minteer, Nancy Ornelas-Soto, Raúl Garcia-Morales

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

The use of enzyme-Based biosensors for the detection and quantification of analytes of interest such as contaminants of emerging concern, including over-the-counter medication, provides an attractive alternative compared to more established techniques. However, their direct application to real environmental matrices is still under investigation due to the various drawbacks in their implementation. Here, we report the development of bioelectrodes using laccase enzymes immobilized onto carbon paper electrodes modified with nanostructured molybdenum disulfide (MoS2). the laccase enzymes were two isoforms (LacI and LacII) produced and purified from the fungus Pycnoporus sanguineus CS43 that is native to Mexico. a commercial purified enzyme …

Longitudinal Trends (2011–2020) Of Premature Mortality And Years Of Potential Life Loss (Ypll) And Associated Covariates Of The 62 New York State Counties, Maria-Isabel Roldos, John Orazem, Talita Fortunato-Tavares

Publications and Research

Background

New York State (NYS) is the 27th largest state and the 4th most populous state in the U.S., with close to 20 million people in 62 counties. Territories with diverse populations present the best opportunity to study health outcomes and associated covariates, and how these differ across different populations and groups. The County Health Ranking and Roadmaps (CHR&R) ranks counties by linking the population’s characteristics and health outcomes and contextual factors in a synchronic approach.

Methods

The goal of this study is to analyze the longitudinal trends in NYS counties of age-adjusted premature mortality rate and years of potential …

Sustainability Hub Newsletter - May 2023, Jacqueline Jergensen, Neyda Gilman, Jennifer Embree

Library Sustainability Resources

In this last issue of the Sustainability Newsletter for the semester, learn which plants are best to grow in May, how to plan a garden, donation and volunteer opportunities with the Move Out Project, a food and clothing drive, our new Plant Buddy program, and a digital fungi collection now in the ORB! Also find upcoming events and announcements at the end!

Debt And Dependence: Foreign Interference In Haiti And The Importance Of Non-State Actor Accountability, Sandra Wisner, Brian Concannon

Northwestern Journal of Human Rights

Colonialist policies and lending practices by foreign states and non-state actors have led to serious and wide-spread violations of Haitian individuals’ fundamental human rights. In particular, a series of loan conditions imposed by international financial institutions and their members states left Haiti vulnerable to increased food insecurity and a severely diminished social sector. This paper proposes that the imposition of such loan conditions constitutes a violation of foreign actors’ obligations under international law respecting economic, social, cultural, and political rights, as well as their extra-territorial obligations (ETOs) to take joint and separate action to promote and respect human rights beyond …

Discipline, Disparity, And Diplomas: Suspension And Grade Retention In A Southeastern State, Sarah N. Kangarloo Crist

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to explore how race and gender impact student success in a southeastern state. A mixed-methods design was implemented so that the quantitative data could be further explained and explored using qualitative research. The quantitative analysis was conducted using a three-factor ANOVA to analyze the number of days a student misses due to suspension and the number of grade level retentions; race, gender, and the district a student attends were used as the independent variables in the analyses. Purposive sampling and the development of a script for the qualitative interviews followed the quantitative analyses. Interviews with administrators …

Ethics And Contemporary Leadership: Do Ethical Leadership Theories Align With Scripture?, Anthony Scott Poston

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Morals, ethics, and values are instrumental for leaders to know and choose between right and wrong. Leadership theories regularly discuss ethics, but where do these ethics come from? Frequently, the source of leadership ethics is glossed over or left out entirely. This study sought to address this gap in contemporary leadership literature by answering the question: how do contemporary leadership theories, which contain morals, ethics, and/or or values components, align with similar themes found within the Hebrew and Christian scriptures? The researcher used a thematic analysis of contemporary leadership literature to identify ethical themes within the literature. Next, the themes …

The Free Press Vol. 54, May 05-01-2023, Kelly Ledsworth

Free Press, The

Hello tomorrow, Goodbye Yesterday--A Letter From Our President--What's Going On in Pop Culture--Super Happy Fun Time Three--Got the Grad Hat--The Next Chapter of USM is Here

A Descriptive Study Of The Implications Of Sleep Hygiene And Mental Health In The Butler University Student Athlete, Abigail Grace Roberts

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Introduction: There is ample research available regarding the bidirectional relationship between sleep and mental health, but not specifically within the collegiate student athlete population. The purpose of this study was to describe the sleep hygiene and perceived mental health within the Butler University student athlete population through the use of previously validated survey questionnaires. The study aimed to contribute to this growing field of research while also providing possible areas for improvement within this specific population. Methods: 92 total participants completed a 14-question survey which included the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the 18-item Athlete Sleep Behavior Questionnaire (ASBQ), and …

Special Cases In Estimating Multiple Missing Values In Linear Models, Aaron Christopher Marshall

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Missing a single observation, or more, very commonly occurs in observational and designed studies. Estimating a single missing observation and analysis of these types of data is found in literature (Montgomery, 2020). But the estimation and analysis of data becomes more complicated when the study dataset becomes imbalanced due to multiple missing. Though the case of two missing values is the simplest case of multiple missing values, the analytic estimation and analysis will not be as straight forward as in the one missing value case, because two missing can occur in various ways. This thesis will be exploring mainly the …

The Athlete Advantage: The Impact Of Sport Participation On Auditory And Visual Reaction Times, Alexandra Lynn Carmichael

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Reaction time is the amount of time it takes an individual to process information following a stimulus (Haen Whitmer, 2021). An aspect of daily life that heavily relies on reaction times is sports. Sports can be categorized into two different categories: open skill-dominated (OSD) and closed skill-dominated (CSD). OSD sports, such as football, occur in changing environments and athletes must react and make decisions quickly to perform well. CSD sports, such as swimming, occur in unchanging environments and athletes must react to a single stimulus quickly. In this research, participants reacted to visual stimuli and combined (visual + auditory) stimuli …

It Takes Two: A Crisis Of Identity And Turkey's Rejection Of The European Union, Amelia Claire Ball

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

It Takes Two: A Crisis of Identity and Turkey's Rejection of the European Union explores Turkish-European Union (EU) relations over time through the lens of accession. With the suspension of eight of the thirty-five chapters of Turkish accession in 2006- effectively hindering any semblance of productive negotiations, this thesis seeks to understand if, and how, Turkish sentiment shifted in relation to EU accession prior to and following this event. I conducted a textual analysis of primary and secondary sources and examined Turkish public opinion from the years 2000 to 2013. I found that there was a discernable process of ""de-Europeanization"" …

Comparing The Visuospatial Abilities Of Alzheimer's Patients And Huntington's Patients, Alysa Anna Aralis

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Visuospatial deficits emerge from the pathophysiology of Huntington's Disease (HD) and Alzheimer's Disease (AD). We directly compared the mental rotation abilities of HD (n=18) and AD (n=18) patients relative to age matched young healthy controls (n=20) and older healthy controls (n=20). Participants completed non-rotational and rotational components of the Right-Left Orientation (RLO), Luria, Money Road Map (MRM), and Stick Construction (SC) tests. Participants indicated the strategy they used on each test: personal rotation, extrapersonal rotation, or non-rotation. Results indicated that HD and AD patients were equally impaired relative to healthy controls on rotational, components of all tests. The groups did …

Aphasia-Friendly Reading Comprehension Training To Enhance Nutritional Literacy, Alexandra Elliott Schell

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

This study aimed to establish the impact of exposure to controlled, aphasia-friendly articles about dietary mindfulness on the nutritional literacy of people with aphasia. The student researcher evaluated five participants from the Butler Aphasia Community to determine their level of reading impairment, the severity of their aphasia, and baseline nutritional knowledge. Participants attended two pretest sessions, two reading sessions, and one post-test session. They were exposed to eight nutritional articles, four in an aphasia-friendly format and four in a traditional format, and evaluated on reading speed and comprehension. During their final session, the student researcher re-administered the assessment of nutritional …

Double-Stranded Rna Binding Motifs And Recognition Of Rna-Editing Substrates, Amol Singh Kular

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

RNA editing, the changing of a nucleotide sequence from that encoded by the gene, can both diversify and re code the genome. Adenosine deaminases that act on RNA (ADARs) are one class of enzymes that edit RNA by causing adenosine to inosine (functionally similar to guanine) mutations in RNA that is largely double stranded. These mutations are essential to neural receptor activity, and have been linked to clinical depression, schizophrenia, epileptic seizures, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. The ADAR enzyme consists of a catalytic domain, whose structure has been previously determined, as well as one or more double stranded RNA binding …

The Impact Of A Not-For-Profit Organization: Examining How Kids Dance Outreach Is Guided By Its Mission Statement, Anna Sutton Brandner

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Kids Dance Outreach (KDO) is a not-for-profit organization that provides accessible, high-quality dance arts education to children in Indianapolis. Its mission is to positively impact the lives of all children through joyful dance programs that inspire excellence, instill confidence, encourage teamwork, and applaud persistence. In an effort to study its impact on the community, this thesis examines how the organization is guided by its mission statement and how it lives out this mission through its staff, stakeholders, and programming. For my research, I went on site visits to observe a KDO class in action, and conducted interviews with several individuals …

Memorialization And Nation-Building: Shifts In Historical Framing In Monuments Constructed In Kyiv, Ukraine Between Soviet Control And Independence, Anna Elizabeth Faulkner

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

It is easy to take monuments to historical events at face value. However, in observing monuments and memorials, it is possible to learn about how those in power utilize this medium to distribute intentional historical narratives to the public. In looking at monuments constructed in Kyiv, Ukraine, this can be seen in different historical monuments that have been erected across the city. Between Soviet control and Ukrainian independence since 1991, the manner in which history is framed in memorials has fundamentally shifted. Given the context of heightened tensions between the two countries in recent years, culminating in the invasion of …

Investigation Of Microgravity Grown Organic Crystals By Diffusion Techniques Over The Course Of Thirty-One Years, Ashley Wilkinson

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The effect of microgravity on crystallization experiments has been a topic of interest over the past fifty years. The first microgravity crystallization experiments have been dated back to the early 1970s, and since then hundreds of crystals have been grown in microgravity. Crystallization experiments have been conducted on multiple flights and a variety of spacecraft, using an assortment of techniques, and funded by several different countries. Scientists have been and continue to examine how macromolecular crystals grow in microgravity and how the structures determined from crystals grown in microgravity compare to the structures determined from Earth grown crystals. Parameters such …

For Whom Does The Cue Transfer? Exploring The Efficacy Of Congruent And Incongruent Identity-Safety Cues Among Sexual And Gender Minority Women, Avery Cathryn Buck

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Persons with intersecting, marginalized identities encounter unique challenges in workplace settings and may avoid unsupportive professional spaces. Exposure to an identity safety cue (i.e., a signal indicating one's identity is valued) can help attract marginalized persons to organizational environments. Past work suggests that identity safety cues congruent or incongruent with one's marginalized identities can transfer across traditionally marginalized groups. However, the efficacy of incongruent identity safety cues had yet to be explored among individuals with multiply marginalized identities. The present work examined whether an incongruent identity safety cue, or a cue designed for a marginalized group incongruent with one's identities, …

A Role Model For Whom? Black Scientists As Role Models For White Woman Students., Camille Simone Weiss

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

White women are heavily underrepresented within science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields, increasing their likelihood of experiencing social identity threat. Exposure to a successful scientist can potentially serve as an identity-safety cue and buffer against identity-safety threat. We investigated whether a professor with a marginalized identity (i.e., race or gender minority) would serve as an effective identity-safety cue among White female participants. That is, participants viewed either a Black man, Black woman, White woman, or White man professor in a hypothetical STEM school, and reported their anticipated trust, belonging, and interest. We found that when exposed to the Black …

#Aidtoo: Analysis Of Sexual Violence And Power Structures In The Global Aid Sector, Caitlin N. Mcevoy

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The global aid sector is meant to serve the world's most impoverished, exploited, and vulnerable peoples by providing assistance to those in poverty, internally displaced persons, refugees, and victims of natural disasters, wars, and famines. Aid organizations have been afforded a moral status as crucial entities for humanitarian crises, but they operate in patriarchal, oppressive structures that perpetuate gender inequality, neocolonial mentalities, and sexual violence. This paper will focus on atrocities involving sexual violence. As sexual violence scandals from aid organizations increasingly emerged in 2018 alongside the height of the #MeToo movement, the global aid sector developed its own hashtag, …

Technological Change In A Pandemic Educational Landscape, Colin Michael Harts

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The aim of this paper was to determine through prior research what the state of Indiana schools were pre-pandemic regarding technology use, distribution, and training. Furthermore, it utilized both research and data collection to understand the relationships between pandemic-induced technological change, the preparedness of Indiana schools to meet this change, and what the aftereffects were on educational systems in the state. There was also an analysis on what trends were more effective than others and which trends best benefited students pre, during, and post-pandemic. Bountiful research on this subject and data that analyzed trends in Hoosier households already existed. Unfortunately, …

What We Have To Offer: Making A Case For Gender Non-Conforming Space In The Church Through An Analysis Of Its History, Delaney Marie Beh

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

In recent years, discussions about sexuality and gender identity have become a focal point for most Christian churches. Many have come to support and affirm the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ+) community, citing a commitment to Jesus’ teachings of love, peace, and justice. However, a sizable proportion still stands largely opposed to this acceptance. In the midst of a current fixation on the role of gender nonconforming individuals in American society, certain Christians are rushing to the forefront in defense of what they perceive to be ‘biblical’ manhood and womanhood. Although many are adamant that both scripture and …

Dilemmas Of Difference And Nonhuman Animals: Applying Insights From Feminist Philosophy To Animal Rights Law, Ethan Charles Shopmeyer

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Martha Minow’s concept of dilemmas of difference, widely influential in feminist philosophy of law, exposes how hidden patriarchal norms are reified in legal institutions and harmfully categorize oppressed groups. Though Minow primarily focuses on how such dilemmas impact interpersonal relationships, I argue that her work can be applied to the relationship between nonhuman animals, human beings, and our legal institutions. Just as certain patriarchal norms establish categories that mask the true roots of difference and thus make it more difficult for non-dominant groups to obtain justice, so too do implicit anthropocentric norms mark out nonhuman animals as different from human …

Infiltrating The Boys’ Club: The Portrayal Of Women In Popular Crime Dramas, Emma Doreen Bergquist

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The present study examines whether there has been a change in the portrayal of female criminal investigators over the past two decades. Cultivation Theory suggests that media profoundly impacts the views of the larger society, thus indicating significant implications of this portrayal. Five popular shows (Chicago P.D., Criminal Minds, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, Hawaii Five-O, and Law & Order: SVU) were explored with 200 episodes examined between the series using a mixed-methods approach. The main characters in each show’s first and most recent seasons were coded and analyzed. Characters were coded for depth, authority, helplessness, and sexualization, among other variables. …

Transnational, Queer Feminist: Remembering Harriet Noble, Indiana's Prominent Suffragette, 1851-1919, Emma Katherine Gifford

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Historians play a vital role in questioning mainstream narratives and understanding bias; there are seldom public conversations about the varying historical accounts of events or the power behind controlling the story. The common narrative of the woman’s suffrage movement begins with the 1848 Seneca Falls convention and centered around respectable women requesting the ballot, including familiar figures such as Susan B. Anthony. This excludes radical, transnational, queer, feminists; in Indiana, this woman is Harriet Noble. By framing Noble’s relation to the suffrage movement through the analysis of qualitative, narrative-based archival research at archives in Indiana, Washington D.C., and England a …

The African-American Experience In United States Emergency Departments, Grace Elizabeth Sloan

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

The research presented addresses the following question: Are African American patients more likely to have a negative experience and outcome than White patients in United States emergency departments? This research was completed using the National Hospital Ambulatory Medical Care Survey dataset from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. This collection of data, most recently gathered in 2019, contains over 900 variables documented about patient visits in 24-hour emergency departments around the United States. A select number of variables were isolated and analyzed within the context of race to identify if Black patients fared worse than White patients in terms …

Cannabis Consumption On A College Campus: Mental And Behavioral Health, Joseph Benjamin Gareis

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Collection

Background: Societal views and many state and federal laws regarding cannabis are evolving. Cannabis use is increasing, with the highest prevalence among young adults ages 18-25. Both the 2021 National Survey of Drug Use and Health (NSDUH) and the 2022 National College Health Assessment survey found that ~35% of young adults used cannabis within the last year. Methods: Students, faculty, and staff at a small, private university in Indiana were surveyed regarding cannabis use and mental/behavioral health. Participants were recruited via university list serves and social media. The anonymous confidential survey was administered electronically via Qualtrics between December 9, 2022 …