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Nina Tulashie Honors Portfolio, Nina Tulashie

Honors Capstone Portfolios

Nina Tulashie's honors portfolio captured in May 2022.

Barriers To Client Compliance And Understanding Of Heartworm Prevention In The Canine Patient, Emily Fischels

Honors College Theses

Dirofilaria immitis is a common and largely preventable mosquito-borne parasite that causes dirofilariasis, or heartworm disease, in a number of animal species. The necessity of heartworm prevention in the canine patient is undisputed and well-known among veterinary professionals, yet there are still many dogs not protected from this fatal parasite. Heartworm prevention traditionally requires a once-a-month administration of medication; therefore, its efficacy relies on owner compliance. The barriers to canines receiving heartworm prevention were assessed using a survey targeted at pet owners whose dogs have seen the veterinarian in the past year. The main barriers identified were inadequate client communication …

What Are The Economic Barriers For A More Efficient Adoption Equilibrium? Analyzing The Perceived Challenges Lgbtq+ Persons Face In The Adoption Process, Andrew Schoonover

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

From understanding why adoption matters to drilling down why same sex male couples are not adopting at high rates, more questions are raised than answers found. But all of the complexities and intricacies boil down to one umbrella question: How can the economy shift the equilibrium (i.e., current state of adoption in America) to be more equitable, empowering, and efficient for everyone? Specifically, how can policy choices help increase the demand of gay couples to adopt -- helping to close the gap between gay and lesbian adoption rates? The “lowest hanging fruit” policy remedy for this problem is to alleviate …

Economic Opportunity And Community Development Financial Institutions In Clark County, Ar And Beyond: An Analysis, Magdalena Hopkins

Economics Undergraduate Honors Theses

Arkansas is home to one of the greatest projects in the world of Community Development Financial Institutions: Southern Bancorp. Founded with the help and support of Bill Clinton, it pre-dates The Riegle Community Development and Regulatory Improvement Act of 1994, which is now used to fund similar Community Development Financial Institutions. According to the Opportunity Finance Network (2022), there are more than 1,200 Community Development Financial Institutions in the United States. These institutions span the country and operate in unique communities. The CDFI Coalition (2017) cites Arkansas as having 19 Community Development Financial Institutions in the state. It is important …

Liquid Chromatography With Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method Development For The Determination Of Β–Defensins In Bovine Milk, Symone T. Whalin

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Bovine mastitis, caused by a wide array of pathogens, results in a substantial economic loss for the dairy cattle livestock industry. β-defensins are a part of the bovine’s innate immune system and act as the first line of defense against mastitis. Only foundational research has been done on β-defensins’ ability to treat and prevent mastitis. There have been no analytical methods reported in the literature for analyzing β-defensins in bovine milk. This research aims to create an analytical approach to determine β-defensins in bovine milk. It is challenging to determine an analyte in a complex sample matrix, and milk is …

The Impact Of Teacher Perception Of Gifted Individuals On The Instruction Of Gifted Students, Justin Moreschi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study explores the impact of teacher perception on the instruction and identification of gifted students. All certified teachers in a local elementary school were invited to complete a survey addressing the state of gifted training opportunities and personal perceptions of giftedness in multiple capacities. Results from the survey led to the discussion of four themes: the support for gifted students in the traditional classroom, the amount of professional training for teachers, the identification of gifted students, and the fact that all teachers impact gifted students and their instruction.

Investigating Molecular Mechanisms Behind Bacterial Chondronecrosis With Osteomyelitis (Bco) Pathogenesis In Modern Broilers, Alison Ramser

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial chondronecrosis with osteomyelitis (BCO), a leading cause of lameness in broiler chickens, is characterized by infection, inflammation, and bone attrition. There are currently no effective treatments and positive diagnosis is only possible through necropsy evaluations. Lameness is also a rising animal welfare and economic concern, making prevention and detection of BCO all the more critical. These challenges are exacerbated by a lack of mechanistic understanding of BCO’s etiology. The question I asked during my dissertation was how bacteria induce bone attrition in BCO pathology. My research has shown that mitochondrial dysfunction is characteristic of BCO conditions along with autophagy …

Chilling Effects And Unequal Subjects: A Response To Jonathon Penney's Understanding Chilling Effects, Karen Levy

Minnesota Law Review Headnotes, Vols. 94-106 (2009-2022)

No abstract provided.

Who Decides Where The Renewables Should Go?: A Response To Danielle Stokes's Renewable Energy Federalism, Michael B. Gerrard

Minnesota Law Review Headnotes, Vols. 94-106 (2009-2022)

No abstract provided.

Genealib Archive 2022-05, Genealib

GENEALIB Archive

No abstract provided.

The Spiritual Care Protocol: Developing Informed Responses To End-Of-Life Concerns, Gabriel Fisher

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This thesis addresses the understanding and practice of spiritual care in a nonprofit hospice. The identified problem this project seeks to resolve is a lack of a protocol to continually assess the spiritual concerns of patients and families on service with this organization. The purpose of this project intervention is to develop a protocol document that assesses spiritual concerns and helps members of an interdisciplinary team offer more informed responses to spiritual care needs. The project has multiple intents in that it will also help address a gap in organizational awareness and seek to enhance current care practices and understandings. …

Designing A Program To Train Elders To Respond To #Metoo Experiences Of Adult Females In A Church Context, Jana H. Unruh

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This project intervention explores resolution of systemic issues of church-based sexual harassment, abuse, and violence, referred to as #MeToo, through design of a training program for elders. As theological foundation for the project, the Gospel of Luke frames positive approaches modern church leaders can align with in the quest for solutions to #MeToo. The Good Samaritan parable and the story of Mary and Martha extract valuable lessons for church elders addressing sexual harassment, abuse, and violence experiences of adult women. In Luke, we find fresh understanding for questions of #MeToo through the highly relevant concept of “neighbor.” Luke will …

Developing Practices Within The Lord’S Supper That Develop Central Identity At Queen City Church Of Christ, Ryan Russell

Doctor of Ministry Theses and Dissertations

This project was designed to meet a need at the Queen City Church of Christ (QCC) for developing intentional practices around the Lord’s Supper for forming a central identity in a diverse community. The scope of this project focuses on the project group’s ability to develop practices based on the theology of the Lord’s Supper, biblical teaching, engaging in practices of spiritual formation as a group, and their observations of Lord’s Supper practices in other Christian traditions. Paul’s first letter to the church in Corinth provides the textual context for the discussion of the role the Lord’s Supper plays within …

You Are What You Turk: Empirically Testing An Elance Work Design Model, Traci Megan Bricka

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

As the completion of short-term tasks on online work platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk (MTurk; i.e., eLancing) continues to increase in popularity, it is important to establish an understanding of how traditional work design principles manifest in a digital, transient workforce (Colbert et al., 2016). Therefore, the present effort aimed to do so by empirically testing aspects of Schroeder et al.’s (2021) eLance work design theoretical model through the lens of the Attraction-Selection-Attrition (ASA) model (Schneider, 1987). Data were collected from 325 MTurk workers to examine the mechanisms by which eLancers are attracted to tasks with specific work characteristics, …

The Influence Of Dark And Positive Personality Traits On Dyadic And Individual Creativity, Shaikha Salman Aldousari

Psychology Dissertations - Archive

The present study not only replicates Jonason et al.'s (2017) examination of the influence of negative personality traits—the Dark Triad of Machiavellianism, Narcissism, and Psychopathy—upon Creativity Valence; but expands this investigation to examine the influence of positive personality traits—the Light Triad of Kantianism, Humanism and Faith in Humanity, plus General Trust and Prosocial Motivation —between dyads. Specifically, I examine the influence of an individual’s negative and positive personality traits on the novelty, fluency, and valence (positive and negative) of ideas, based on a sample of 208 individuals (104 dyads) recruited through Prolific. Analyses reveal Machiavellianism as the only personality trait …

Does Experiencing And Witnessing Violence Negatively Impact Delinquency Throughout The Life Course?, Treshure Dene Jones

Criminology & Criminal Justice Theses - Archive

At some point in an individual’s life, there will be some type of exposure to violence whether direct or indirect. Also described as victimization, this takes place when there is a change in three main assumptions: belief in personal invulnerability, the perception of the world as meaningful, and self-positivity (Janoff-Bulman and Frieze, 1983). There is no specific answer for the cause of delinquency, but many factors that work together (Shader, 2001). The risk factors for delinquency and victimization have been shown to be the same creating an overlap. This study focuses on whether witnessing or experiencing violence can result in …

Evaluating And Addressing The Transportation Challenges Of Small-Scale Farmers And Ranchers In Regional Food Systems, Narjes Sadeghiamirshahidi

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

During the last 20 years, there has been a significant increase in US consumers’ interest in local food. At the same time, there is substantial potential demand for crops produced by local small and mid-size farmers and ranchers whose market channels are short distance distributions Although there is a variety of definitions for local food, it often refers to direct-to-customer market channels for farmers and ranchers, including farmers’ markets and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA), as well as distribution through local businesses like restaurants, grocery stores, as well as local institutions such as hospitals and schools. However, small and mid-size farmers …

Leveraging Ai And Supply Chain Technologies With Thermal Imaging And Telemedicine For Early Detection And Prevention Of Covid-19 And Respiratory Infections In Urm Communities, Gohar Azeem

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The underserved population could be at risk during the times of crisis, unless there is strong involvement from government agencies such as local and state Health departments and federal Center for Disease Control (CDC). The COVID-19 pandemic was a crisis of different proportion, creating a different type of burden on government agencies. Vulnerable communities including the elderly populations and communities of color have been especially hard hit by this pandemic. This forced these agencies to change their strategies and supply chains to support all populations receiving therapeutics. The National Science Foundation (NSF Award # 2028612) funded this research to help …

Machine Learning Methods For Statistical Analysis And Representation Learning On Neuroimaging Data, Fan Yang

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

With the recent advance and widespread adoption of imaging technological innovations, clinical practitioner and scientists can easily acquire and store a large amount of various neuroimaging modalities, such as Diffusion Tensor Imaging (DTI), Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), resting-state functional MRI (rs-fMRI) and Positron Emission Tomography (PET), etc. These novel imaging data sources cover a rich amount of factors that influence patients' cognitive health, offer an objective view of patients at unprecedented multi-resolution for the understanding of brain structure and function, and have the significant potential to improve healthcare by aiding better decision-making in diagnosing, monitoring and treating diseases. Machine Learning …

Using Antipatterns To Improve Database Code Fragments, And Utilizing Knowledge Graphs And Nlp Patterns To Extract Standardized Data Element Names, Bader Alshemaimri

Computer Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Database code fragments exist in software systems by using SQL as the stan- dard language for relational databases. Traditionally, developers bind databases as backends to software systems for supporting user applications. However, these bind- ings are low-level code and implemented to persist user data, so Object Relational Mapping (ORM) frameworks take place to abstract database access details. These approaches are prone to problematic database code fragments that negatively im- pact the quality of software systems. In the first part of the dissertation, we survey problematic database code fragments in the literature and examine antipatterns that occur in low-level database access …

Microfluidic Flow Focusing Platforms For Optofluidic Droplet Laser Development, Chen Zhang

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

ABSTRACT: Optofluidic droplet lasers have been developed for different applications in biomedical sciences, such as biosensing, cell tracking, tissue imaging, on-chip spectroscopy, and flow cytometry. Utilizing different generation methods, droplet lasers can be categorized as either static droplet lasers or droplet lasers on the flow. Static droplet lasers, which are supported by a surface or levitated by an external force, can be optically probed for an extended period of time, and thus enabling continuous monitoring of the lasing emission. However, static droplet lasers suffer from low-throughput generation, large size distribution, and poor reproducibility. In contrast, droplet lasers on the flow …

Power Allocation And Massive Mimo Channel Modeling For 5g Wireless Communications, Zhangliang Chen

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

To meet the demand for wireless communication transmission rate to reach a thousand times of the existing system in 2021, the fifth-generation (5G) mobile communication system was developed. Compared with Long-Term Evolution (LTE), the 5G mobile communication needs to be transmitted in wireless breakthrough innovation in technology to achieve the goal of ten times increase in spectrum efficiency and power efficiency. As a time series analysis tool based on vector autoregression, Granger causal analysis originated in the field of econometrics, and its staged generalized transfer entropy (TE) based on conditional co-information in information theory has been widely used in recent …

Camp Wolters: A History Of The Us Army's Relationship With Mineral Wells, Texas, Stacy E. Croushorn

History Theses - Archive

This thesis documents the Army's contributions to the town of Mineral Wells, Texas by locating the army camp of Camp Wolters there during WWII.

Investigation Into The Relationship Between Posture And Psychology: The Psychological Ramifications Of Forward Head And Rounded Shoulder Posture, Samuel Thomas Lauman

Kinesiology Dissertations - Archive

Embodied cognition speaks to the notion that the mind and body are inherently linked, and directly influence one another. Nonverbal communication experts hold the thought that sustaining chronic postures can impact an individual’s psychological disposition and vice versa. Therefore, the potential to intervene on these postures from a musculoskeletal rehabilitation perspective provides the opportunity to improve not only an individual’s posture, but also their psychological state. Forward head posture (FHP) and rounded shoulder posture (RSP) are common postural adaptations that occur from musculoskeletal dysfunction, and often lead to acute and chronic changes that can be a precursor to etiological pathologies. …

Investigation Of The Cellular Uptake And Cytotoxicity Of Ruthenium(Ii) Polypyridyl Complexes As A Function Of Lipophilicity, Matthew Guerrero

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses - Archive

Ru(II) polypyridyl complexes have been one of the focal points of investigation for inorganic anti-cancer drugs, as they are robust enough to remain chemically intact in vivo and many show potent cytotoxicty. In particular, the RPC [Ru(dip)3]2+, where dip is 4,7-diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline, is noted for its high cytotoxicity (IC50 ~2-5 uM) across a broad spectrum of cancer cell lines and more recently has been implicated as targeting microtubules, which is an unusual target for metal-based drugs. While the cellular uptake for [Ru(dip)3]Cl2 is among the highest seen for RPCs, its solubility in water or buffer is limited and problematic. In order …

Investigation Of F420-Dependent Glucose-6-Phosphate Dehydrogenase Variants Using Ph Profiles And Stopped-Flow Spectrometric Ligand-Binding Methods, Ana Laura Alvarez

Chemistry & Biochemistry Theses - Archive

F420-dependent glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (FGD) from Mycobacteria tuberculosis, catalyzes a reaction the conversion of glucose-6-phosphate (G6P) to 6-phosphogluconolactone using the oxidized F420 cofactor, which is reduced to F420H2. The reaction is important within M. tuberculosis, the cause of tuberculosis disease (TB) due to its health relevance for treatment of multiple drug resistant and extreme drug resistant strains of M. tuberculosis. TB affects millions of people worldwide, and although treatable, multiple drug resistant and extreme drug resistant forms of TB adds strain on the current generation of drugs. Since this enzyme is not found in humans, is an ideal drug target. A …

Sexually Transmitted Diseases Consultation And Education For Adolescents And Young Adults, Maryrose Chinedu Obidiaku

Nursing Dissertations - Archive

Sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) have drastically increased in recent years nationwide and worldwide. Adolescents and young adults (AYAs) ages 15-24 make up just over one-quarter of the sexually active populace. Additionally, AYAs account for half of the 20 million new sexually transmitted infections in the United States. Compared with older adults, sexually active adolescents aged 15–19 years and young adults aged 20–24 years are at higher risk of getting STDs. Lack of knowledge of risk and protective factors and high-risk sexual health practices and behaviors significantly contribute to AYAs' STD acquisition. Hence, increasing STDs awareness and prevention is essential in …

Evaluating Headstarting As A Conservation Strategy For Anegada Rock Iguanas (Cyclura Pinguis), Kelly Allison Bradley

Biology Theses - Archive

In an effort to combat the current extinction crisis, conservation biologists have developed a diverse set of tools, including conservation physiology. This scientific discipline applies physiological concepts and tools to generate conservation solutions for a broad range of species. The Anegada Rock Iguana (Cyclura pinguis) is a Critically Endangered species native to Anegada, British Virgin Islands. Feral cats depredate hatchlings within months of emergence, drastically reducing recruitment and population growth. By the 1990s, the population had declined by 80%. A headstart program was initiated in 1997 to combat this threat and increase the population. Wild collected hatchlings are reared in …

Petrophysical Studies On Woodford Shale In Oklahoma And Wolfcamp Shale In Texas: A Multiple-Approach Methodology, Chen Zhao

Earth & Environmental Sciences Dissertations - Archive

The successful development of oil and gas from unconventional reservoirs in the United States proves the high petroleum potential that shale rock reserves. Petrophysical studies on shale rocks are an important part of reservoir characterization. Petrophysical studies investigate the basic properties and pore structures of the shale rock, including porosity, density, pore size distribution, specific surface area, wettability, pore connectivity, and permeability, to understand the storage and movement of oil and gas in shale rocks. Multiple experimental approaches were applied onto both outcrop and well-core samples from several U.S. shale plays. A range of complementary methodologies of X-ray diffraction, polarized …

Global Mapping Of Protein-Nucleic Acid Interaction Of The Rle Line R2bm, Dhamala Santosh

Biology Theses - Archive

The R2 Long Interspersed Nucleotide Elements (LINEs) is a widely distributed site specific non-LTR retrotransposons that integrates exclusively into host genome’s 28s rRNA genes and replicate by a process called Target Primed Reverse Transcription (TPRT) which is a “copy-out, copy-in” mechanism whereby element protein binds to the mRNA from which they are translated, forming ribonucleic acid protein particles (RNPs). The investigation of nucleic acid-protein interactions using chemical modification of surface amino acid residues on a protein in the presence and absence of nucleic acids is a relatively new application/technique in the field of Mass Spectrometry and particularly significant in studying …