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Decision-Making In Rats: Effects Of Drug Abuse
Get PDFDecision-making is a critical cognitive function, often impaired by substance abuse. Understanding the underlying mechanisms in both human and animal models is essential for developing effective treatments. This thesis aims to study approach-avoid decision-making in rats and focuses on the impacts of oxycodone self-administration and alcohol abuse on approach-avoid decision-making.We hypothesize that oxycodone self-administration will alter decision-making in female rats, revealing sex differences and distinct psychometric functions, alcohol habituation will similarly affect decision-making in male rats. The study involved 23 Long Evans rats (11 males and 12 females) for decision-making behavioral study connecting multiple levels of rewards and costs combinations. For the oxycodone self-administration experiment, 33 rats (5 experimental males, 5 experimental females, 11 control males and 12 control females) were trained in a decision-making task involving cost-benefit analysis, with rewards and costs signaled by sucrose concentration and LED light intensity, respectively. Oxycodone self-administration was conducted over 14 days, followed by a period of abstinence to assess changes in decision-making behavior. Another group of 45 rats (10 experimental males, 12 experimental females, 11 control males and 12 control females) was used to investigate the effects of alcohol habituation on decision-making. Behavioral features such as distance traveled, approach time, and stopping points were extracted and analyzed using custom scripts and a PostgreSQL database. This study provides comprehensive insights into the effects of drug abuse on decision-making, emphasizing the importance of sex differences and task variability. The findings underscore the relevance of animal models in studying human cognitive functions and pave the way for targeted therapeutic interventions
Staying Fresh: Unconventional Approaches Towards Advancing Energy Sustainability, Water Resources, and Community Resiliency in the Southwestern United States
Get PDFThis dissertation addresses critical challenges in urban heat management, sustainable energy resource utilization, and water quality communication through three studies. Study 1 investigates the impact of roof color on urban heat islands in Tucson, Arizona where approximately 70% of roofs display high albedo (i.e., light) colors. Energy consumption simulations conducted indicate that converting dark- to light-colored roofs could save Tucson approximately $1,400,000 annually in energy costs, highlighting the potential of cool roofs for energy savings and improved thermal comfort. Study 2 assesses the sources of lithium in subsurface waters in West Texas and South Central New Mexico. Water chemistry data from the Hueco, Mesilla, Tularosa, and Jornada del Muerto Basins were analyzed to predict lithium (Li) endmember composition using positive matrix factorization (PMF). Lithium is pivotal in energy storage and PMF source apportionment helps the assessment of the economic potential for Li extraction. The PMF model identified two out of four factors (i.e., sources) with high Li contributions, averaging 0.082 mg/L for Factor 1, a shallow, low-salinity water source, and 0.089 mg/L for Factor 2, an older groundwater source influenced by mineral dissolution from old evaporite deposits. Study 3 examines effective written communication of water quality data to the public, which is essential for informing residents about their water\u27s safety. The complexity and variability of reports hinder public understanding, especially in communities with diverse linguistic and cultural backgrounds. Based on an evaluation of established practices in regulated water quality reporting in diverse communities, a water quality reporting template for the immediate implementation by researchers was developed. Together, these studies contribute to the fields of urban planning, sustainable energy, and public health communication, guiding policymakers, researchers, and practitioners in addressing these pressing challenges and promoting sustainable development
Thieves Like Us: The Effectiveness Of A Positive Psychology Intervention On Compassion Fatigue, Burnout, And The Loss Of Compassion Satisfaction Among Peer Support Specialists
Get PDFTwo common phenomena of helping professions are compassion fatigue (CF), and decreased compassion satisfaction (CS). Literature on CF and decreased CS focuses on professionals with extensive education, training, and higher compensation. Peer Support Specialists (PSS) are helping professionals providing comparable support to clients while in recovery, and may be more susceptible to CF, decreased CS, and a return to substance use. Methods to impact these outcomes, including positive psychology interventions (PPIs), are worth investigating as they are generally inexpensive, can be tailored, and may reduce turnover and absences. The current study used the PPI, Using Signature Strengths in a New Way, to mitigate CF—which is composed of Burnout (BO) and Secondary Traumatic Stress (STS)—and increase CS among PSS while also increasing their self-reported ability to cope in high-risk substance use situations. I hypothesized (H1) that PSS who participated in the PPI, Using Signature Strengths in a New Way, would decrease BO and STS, and increase CS from baseline to one-week follow-up as compared to PSS who were given a work-focused writing exercise. I also hypothesized (H2) that PSS would increase situation-specific coping self-efficacy (SE) in high-risk substance use situations when compared to the control. Results indicated no statistically significant interaction effect between time and treatment assignment for BO [F(1,130) = 0.30, p = .67, partial η2 =.00]; CS [F(1,130) = 0.12, p = .78, partial η2 = .00]; STS [F(1,130) = 0.52, p = .50, partial η2 = .00]; and SE [F(1, 130) = 0.97, p =.49, partial η2 = .010]. Future studies should strive to create PPIs and self-report measures tailored to the PSS population. Ideally, a mixture of both PPIs (strengths use) and SUD constructs (relapse prevention strategies) would be delivered with greater frequency and extensive follow-up periods (1-year). Despite null findings, the study expands visibility of PSS, PPIs, and SUD in the wider scientific literature
Multilingual Students In Higher Education Writing Classes: Policies, Practices, And Experiences To Promote Social Justice
No full textStudent multilingualism is already becoming the norm (Schreiber, 2018) rather than the exception in US higher education, and there are increasing discourses that describe multilingualism as the norm for productive resources and meaning making, not a deficit (Schreiber & Worden, 2019). Universities often valorize students\u27 multilingual competenceâ?? as â??commodities and resources that the entire student body can consume and benefit from, while at the same time, through activities, students\u27 desires, struggles and dispositions become irrelevant or silenced, including linguicism and microaggressions that they encounter on campus on a regular basis (Wang, 2022, p. 43). Writing programs often create false binaries, for example, classes for multilingual writers vs. â??standardâ?? classes (Michaud & Hardy, 2023). When it comes to classroom instructional practices, multilingual students are not usually asked to use their full linguistic repertoires in their learning (Losey & Shuck, 2022).Against this backdrop, my dissertation explored three distinct but materially interrelated ways of enacting social justice in multilingual undergraduate writing classrooms: Through implicit and explicit programmatic policies and initiatives, through pedagogical practices (teaching contents/materials, pedagogical approaches, assignments, assessments, etc.), and through students\u27 experiences. Viewed from the perspective of social justice, translanguaging, linguistic justice, multimodal, decolonial, and antiracism, in this project I embraced a phenomenological research methodology in which I used surveys, interviews, and documents as tools for data collection from Writing Program Administrators (WPAs) and writing instructors, and surveys and open-ended questionnaires from multilingual students. I used a survey tool prepared based on the Conference on College Composition and Communication (CCCC) Statement on Second Language Writing and Multilingual Writers (SLW&MW) 2020, to recruit and orient survey participants to the phenomena that are being investigated, and then to collect qualitative data. My survey results indicated that all WPAs and most of the writing instructors surveyed are enacting social justice in the writing classrooms by, for example, recognizing and supporting multilingual studentsâ?? practices of integrating their unique linguistic and cultural practices, by investigating multilingual writing issues, etc. Similarly, participating multilingual students also experienced social justice in their writing classrooms, for instance, as their writing instructors value their linguistic diversity, incorporate studentsâ?? home-culture reading materials and experiences, provide options/choices for their assignments, embrace socially just assessment practices, etc. My dissertation findings from interviews with WPAs and documents analysis revealed that writing programs exhibit in their respective programs either implicit or explicit policies for enacting social justice. Universities lacking explicit policies often enact social justice in their programs through designing socially just philosophies and learning outcomes, offering professional development activities and workshops on social justice issues, allowing instructors to incorporate reading materials about multilingual students and by multilingual authors, giving leeway to design assignments and create assessment criteria that fit multilingual students, etc. The findings from interviews with instructors and document analysis indicated that instructors enact social justice in their classrooms by formulating socially just classroom policies and by pedagogical practices, for example, disrupting â??common senseâ?? ways of understanding writing, providing multiple options/choices for major assignments, assessing studentsâ?? work from a just approach, etc. Studentsâ?? open-ended questionnaire responses showed that instructors teach using diverse textsâ??texts about their own cultures, in multiple genres, and they encourage exploration of topics like literacy narratives, immigration, and linguistic justice, along with allowing assignment resubmissions. Further, studentsâ?? open-ended questionnaires showed that instructors do follow just assessment practices in their classes. For instance, instructors assess studentsâ?? projects based on ideas, content, and organization, and the honest labor students put into their assignments
Design of Engineered Nanomaterials for PFAS Adsorption and Catalytic Degradation from Relevant Environmental Conditions
Get PDFPoly- and per-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are a class of artificially made chemicals whose carbon chains are fully or partially fluorinated. Due to their persistent and pervasive distribution and their adverse effects on human health, the removal of PFAS from the environment has been the focus of current research. This project explores the use of engineered nanomaterials for the effective removal of PFAS through various adsorption and catalytic degradation methods. First, a comprehensive review of recent studies highlights the significant potential of various nanomaterials, including carbon-based, non-metal, single-metal, and multi-metal nanomaterials, for PFAS remediation. These materials are evaluated for their performance, mechanisms, and conditions in water treatment applications, emphasizing the opportunities for further development in this field. Subsequently, nano-MgAl2O4 modified carbon nanotubes (CNTs) were synthesized and used for the removal of perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) from drinking water and brackish groundwater, achieving over 99% removal within 3 hours under mild alkaline conditions (pH 7.5-9.0). Additionally, hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN), an electrochemically active semiconductor, was modified with UiO-66 (UiO-66@BN) to enhance proximal adsorption to catalytic sites, facilitating a trap-and-zap mechanism. This modification resulted in the removal of 99.5% of PFOA and 70% defluorination at an environmentally relevant concentration of 100 μg/L within 3 hours at pH 4.5, with an electrical energy per order (EE/O) of 6.1 kWh/m3, demonstrating its potential as an electrode for PFOA electrochemical oxidation. Overall, this project underscores the potential of nanomaterials in the remediation of PFAS from the environment, providing insights into their mechanisms of action, performance, and the challenges that need to be addressed
Tailoring Treatment Approaches with Supplemental Screening: Homeostatic Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) in an Obese Population
Get PDFBackground: This quality improvement project, conducted in the Texas-Mexico border region with high obesity rates, aimed to explore the utility of the Homeostatic Model Assessment for Insulin Resistance (HOMA-IR) as a screening tool for insulin resistance (IR) among overweight and obese individuals. The study focused on patients with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 25 who exhibited normal blood sugar levels or Hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) levels less than 5.7%.
Aim/Methods: The aim is to identify early intervention strategies for metabolic disorders, particularly in obese populations. Obesity is often the precursor to comorbid conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Insulin, which increases with high carbohydrate intake typical of the Standard American Diet (SAD), is identified as the underlying factor contributing to fat storage and eventual IR.
Results: The HOMA-IR test, a screening tool, was utilized on the selected cohort of patients who met the criteria. This enabled the implementation of individualized interventions and promoted health literacy and patient autonomy through further teaching. The results revealed that all screened patients exhibited a degree of IR, with an elevated HOMA-IR indicating a moderate to high risk for diabetes.
Conclusions: Despite its limitations, the HOMA-IR screening approach enhances awareness and motivation for early intervention. While not a definitive diagnostic test, it aids in identifying high-risk individuals and initiating timely, individualized interventions to prevent diabetes and reverse IR. Patients showed a sincere curiosity to understand the biological implications of IR and take steps for their own health by promoting patient empowerment. Strategies such as monitoring carbohydrate intake, utilizing metformin, practicing intermittent fasting, and engaging in low-impact resistance training are recommended for patient education to enhance insulin sensitivity.
Implications to practice: The findings underscore the importance of cost-effective, proactive measures in mitigating metabolic disorders, emphasizing the need for early detection and intervention in high-risk populations. This project contributes to the ongoing efforts to address the obesity epidemic, particularly among the Hispanic community in the border region, and the associated risk of developing metabolic disorders
Following National Guidelines and Treatment to Eradicate Streptococcus Pharyngitis in Pediatrics
Get PDFIntroduction: Sore throat (acute pharyngitis) is considered a prevalent disease worldwide among children and adults that requires healthcare. It is important to know that the etiology of sore throat in 70%-95% of cases is viral. Streptococcus pyogenes (group A streptococcus) is detected in approximately 15%-30% of all cases with sore throat, 5%-15% in adults, while 20%-30% in children. For the diagnosis of GAS infection, a throat swab is the gold standard procedure. Most guidelines are based on the seriousness of GAS infection to support the decision on the use of antibiotic treatment. All guidelines on sore throat give recommendations on the use of antibiotic therapy. First-line treatments are penicillin-based medications. Macrolides or cephalosporins are commonly recommended as second-line antibiotics when allergy to penicillin is present. Amoxicillin/clavulanate is infrequently recommended as a second-line antibiotic for sore throat. Only four guidelines recommend topical treatments such as lozenges, gargles, or sprays for analgesic treatment.
Aim/Methods: The quality improvement project was to follow National Guidelines to treat Staphylococcus Pharyngitis by doing a rapid antigen strep test to evaluate patients that were symptomatic with fever, no cough, enlarged cervical lymph nodes, and a sore throat. Penicillin or Amoxicillin 25 mg/kg/dose was prescribed if patients were not allergic to penicillin. If allergy to penicillin was present, Azithromycin 12 mg/kg/dose was prescribed. These patients followed-up in 2 weeks for a rapid antigen strep test. This project was conducted in a primary care pediatric clinic over a period of six weeks. Patients aged 5-17 years of age diagnosed with streptococcus pharyngitis were treated and education was provided by following national guidelines.
Results: Eighty-two patients met the criteria and were included in the QI project. Fifty-nine initiated and completed treatment. The primary goal was for patients to test negative at the two-week follow-up. Thirty-five patients tested negative at the two-week follow-up, nineteen patients tested positive, and twenty-three patients were lost to follow-up.
Conclusions: Following national guidelines when it comes to treating streptococcus pharyngitis proved to be highly successful. Children completed their antibiotic as prescribed and followed the educational recommendations
Not Plato\u27s Closet: The Dialectic Of Embodied Counterstory Through Fashion On The US/Mexico Border
No full textThis dissertation is best understood as a journey about identity that took place over more than eight years. The journey was an exploration that began in one frame of mind and ended in a very different place. I fully anticipated this research to reflect the racial tensions surrounding my participants who are predominantly Latine students at UTEP, a Hispanic serving institution on the US/Mexico border, but we ended up a place more deeply personal to them. From a sample of 2000 FYC students and their instructors, 65 participants engaged in taking a survey about their dress practices, and 4 of them further participated in focus groups. The significance in the survey portion reveals that factors such as weather, practicality, and the prioritizing of the self over media influences and even sometimes over family and culture was noteworthy as both a factor of self-determination and as a site of resistance and belied the preeminence of such considerations as aesthetics. It also revealed, however, that being perceived as fashionable was important to them, in terms of both perceived upward mobility, and happiness and well-being. The focus group portion showed a strong emphasis on family, friends/coworkers, and revealed even more considerations for dress choice, including body dysmorphia, mental health, weather, domicile instability/mobility, how school uniforms play a role, and mixed feelings about second-hand/thrifted apparel. Overall, participants expressed a clear desire for their dress to convey positive messages about their identity to others. While participants of this study did feel an onus to dress professionally and in accordance with the influences of fashion to achieve a sense of empowerment, they did not seem to correlate that specifically with representing for the race (Manthey, 2015, Dress Profesh). To sum up what I see in dress as a modality for individual storytelling on the Border, I draw on Anzaldua\u27s (2015) description of how one tells the story of one\u27s life through what I would call resilience, and what she calls the fifth space (p. 130). In this way, the story of dress on the Border, as elsewhere, can be seen not only as a practice of resistance, but also a practice in resilience
How to Check Continuity Based on Approximate Measurement Results
No full textIn many practical situations, a reasonable conjecture is that, e.g., the dependence of some quantity on the spatial location is continuous, with an appropriate bounds on the difference between the values at nearby points. If we knew the exact values of the corresponding quantity, checking this conjecture would be very straightforward. In reality, however, measurement results are only approximations to the actual values. In this paper, we show how to check continuity based on the approximate measurement results