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Evaluation of the Aerosolized Transmission of Porcine Reproductive and Respiratory Syndrome (PRRS) Virus
No full textPorcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome (PRRS) is a viral disease that has had a tremendous economic impact on the US pork industry. This study sought to isolate the PRRS virus (PRRSV) from air sampled within and downwind of PRRSV-positive swine farms to evaluate potential farm-to-farm aerosolized transmission risks. A simple and inexpensive air sampling unit was constructed and validated to collect samples for RT-qPCR testing. Testing at two locations in fall 2023 provided positive results from surface swabs and air samples obtained inside swine housing units and outdoors at up to 20 feet downwind of building exhaust fans. In 2024, three sampling events were conducted at naturally and mechanically ventilated swine barns with PRRSV-positive pigs using air samplers distributed downwind of buildings at distances up to one mile and immediately downwind of a field receiving irrigated effluent from an anaerobic lagoon associated with PRRSV-positive pigs. No downwind air samples from the 2024 sampling events tested positive for PRRSV. However, oral fluid samples collected from pigs housed in the mechanically ventilated facility were PRRSV-positive. Future sampling downwind of swine housing units will need to consider sampling duration, ambient weather conditions, and status of infection/viral load among housed pigs. By quantifying viral loads of air samples distributed longitudinally and laterally in the exhaust plumes downwind of PRRSV-positive swine farms, modelling of airborne viral dispersion using the model FLEXPART is anticipated. Expanding knowledge of PRRSV dispersion will promote additional preventative measures to limit its transmission and impact
Analysis of Variation of Fatty Acid Profiles in Novel Wild Wheat Introgressions for the Identification of High Oleic Wheat Lines
No full textBitterness in whole wheat bread has been attributed primarily to the oxidation of linoleic acid, the main polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) in wheat. Thus, decreasing PUFA, while increasing the more stable monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFA), may increase acceptability of whole wheat bread by decreasing bitterness. The aim of this study was to determine the fatty acid composition in a panel of wild wheat introgression lines to identify lines with high MUFA/PUFA ratios. Eighteen introgression lines derived from crosses between two bread wheat cultivars (KanMark and KS090387K-20) and Triticum dicoccoides (wild emmer) were grown in Hays, KS in 2023 and Ashland, KS in 2022 along with the commercial bread wheat cultivars, in duplicate. Fatty acids were quantified in whole milled seed by gas chromatography. The fatty acids showed significant genotypic variation across lines, with broad sense heritability values ranging from 0.483 to 0.634. Dunnett’s test showed 7 lines out of the 11 lines derived from KanMark, and 2 lines of the 7 derived from KS090387K-20 had significantly increased MUFA/PUFA ratios. While 8 lines increased in total fatty acid concentration, 3 lines showed a significantly higher MUFA/PUFA ratio without a significant increase in total fatty acids. These findings indicate high potential for the breeding of high oleic wheat for reduced bitterness and increased consumer acceptance of whole wheat bread
Copper Deficiency Promotes Lipid Toxicity In the Liver
No full textBackground: Metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) is a condition characterized by fat accumulation in the liver and progression of liver damage to inflammation, fibrosis, and liver failure. Previous studies have suggested that copper deficiency is linked to the pathogenesis of MAFLD. Copper is an essential cofactor for enzymes, including superoxide dismutase (SOD1), cytochrome c oxidase (CCO), and ceruloplasmin (Cp). Therefore, copper deficiency may impair mitochondrial ATP generation, increase oxidative stress, and dysregulate iron transport, contributing to liver steatosis and dysfunction. Hypothesis: A high-fat diet (HFD) may dysregulate copper uptake and utilization to impair copper-dependent enzyme expression and activities, exacerbating the onset and progression of MAFLD. Objective: This research will determine the effects of HFD and surplus fatty acids on mice and cultured hepatocytes on copper-containing enzymes\u27 expression levels and activities. Results: The data show that excess fatty acids significantly change copper-dependent enzyme expression levels and activities. Significance and impacts: Future studies on the relationship between metabolic stress of excess fat and copper dysregulation can help better understand the mechanism behind MAFLD and advance the cure for MAFLD patients
Tenaska Flow Tracker App
No full textThe Flow Tracker App is a real-time web application developed for Tenaska to improve how natural gas transactions are monitored. Replacing an outdated internal tool, the app gives schedulers better visibility into each transaction through live updates, clear stage tracking, and an intuitive interface. Key features include a visual timeline, custom filters, and automatic error highlighting. By making critical data easier to access and understand, the app helps schedulers resolve issues faster and work more efficiently, supporting Tenaska’s goals of saving time and reducing risk
Analyzing Florida’s LGBTQIA+ Censorship Laws and their Anti-Democratic Attack on Education
No full textThe past four years (2021-2024) have seen an increase in academic censorship laws and anti-LGTBQIA+ rhetoric across the United States. Florida, specifically, has established itself as a leader in discriminatory legislation. In this paper, the author analyzes four Florida laws: HB 1557, HB 1069, HB 7, and SB 266, along with the rise in book bans to consider both the pedagogical effects and negative impacts on the LGBTQIA+ community. These analyses will be juxtaposed with extant political rhetoric around these laws to expose a) the intent of the law b) the contradictions within and across laws and thereby c) the ideological underpinnings of the legislation. By targeting educational spaces, both K-12 and higher education, legislators have sought to suppress the LGBTQIA+ community, strip them of their rights and autonomy, and foster a discriminatory and hateful environment from a young age. Anti-LGBTQIA+ sentiments within legislation are not new and represent a documented history in Florida and the nation, where accusations against marginalized groups like the LGBTQIA+ community are presented as an effort to save or protect children. The agenda of these laws are not about saving or protecting children from so-called indoctrination or grooming. Rather, by attacking educational freedom, they aim to restrict and control curriculum central to the wellbeing of the LGBTQIA+ community and deny all students the knowledge needed for harmonious co-existence in an inclusive and pluralistic democracy. This paper is written from the point of view of a Florida doctoral candidate, educator, and scholar of Women, Gender, and Sexuality Studies
Heat Induced Diagenesis and Osteometrics: An Experimental Approach to Assessing Thermal Alterations to Forensic Anthropological Data on Dry Bone
Get PDFFire appears in forensic casework in instances of arson, vehicle fire, house fire, to conceal evidence, or, in increasing contemporary frequency, wildfire, as a result of climate change. Thermal alteration is a destructive process to osseous material and can impact the accuracy of identification methods and trauma analysis by alteration of the structure, appearance, and morphology of human remains. This study seeks to validate previous research on the metric and morphological changes bone undergoes when exposed to extreme heat, and how that may impede estimation of metric features such as stature. Three long bones, a humerus, femur, and tibia, from a domestic pig (Sus scrofa domesticus) that had been decomposed in an outdoor setting in the Great Plains, were heated to 1500°F in a kiln. This experiment was performed with a goal of reproducing a setting similar to skeletal remains effected by wildfire, whilst meeting the threshold for calcination (in which the bones’ crystalline and organic structure is altered). Osteometrics, weights, and visual/photographic analysis were conducted prior to and after experimentation for use in comparative analysis. Percentage decrease, paired data plotting and visual analysis supported the position that all bone exhibited alteration to size, color, and shape and all elements experienced a significant degree of change before and after heating. Ample preparation and further research, as it applies to burned remains in forensic anthropological casework, allows for more prompt and thorough recovery and analysis.
Advisor: William R. Belche
(When the Dust Settles)
Get PDFI use photography to explore absence, where sediment in melting ice helps create a visual record of the ice’s existence. I begin by harvesting ice from nearby Antelope Creek, transporting it to the studio, and placing it on photo-sensitive paper or film. The natural traces of dust frozen in the water remain visible on the surfaces after the ice melts. Ice thus becomes an entropic medium to index, translate, and record what is left behind when the ice melts, water evaporates, and floods subside in the midst of drought conditions.
I have developed two techniques, cryogrammetry and cryography, to visualize and measure ice melt. A cryogram is a photogram made with ice, where the ice rests on photo-senstive material that when exposed to light makes a direct and indexical impression. A cryograph is a record of the sediment left behind after the frozen sample evaporates on a transparent film or surface. Through this “cryology”, I present localized ice melt in 1:1 scale photograms and enlarged photographic prints that evoke geologic forms and glacial melting.
Using photography – a medium that typically demands physical subjects –these experiments chronicle what is disappearing in front of our eyes. In my novel lexicon of ice related language, ice acts as a model for glacial melting, and glacial melting stands as a signifier for climate emergency. The gallery installation extends this “reading” of ice – it is inspired by a hydrograph, which has two measurements of water levels for the same dataset. It presents twoscales of measurement, where the viewer navigates between micro and macro abstractions. The exhibition title implies the impossibility of a future climate, when everything will be okay or return to a state of stasis.
Advisor: Dana Frit
MASH Crashworthiness of Work Zone Devices and Breakaway Luminaire Poles
Get PDFThis thesis presents a study on the crashworthiness of two commonly-used roadside safety devices: Type II barricades and luminaire poles supported by TB1-17 transformer bases. The first part focuses on designing and evaluating a non-proprietary, Type II barricade that meets MASH criteria. A validated LS-DYNA model, based on a previously-tested Type III barricade, was used to guide the design. The proposed Type II system was evaluated through simulation and confirmed with full-scale crash testing. The second part of the study investigates luminaire poles supported by the TB1-17 transformer base. A previously-developed LS-DYNA model was updated and validated using test No. TBLP3. Sensitivity analyses were conducted to evaluate the effects of base thickness, material properties, and bolt preload. A matrix of pole configurations was then simulated to identify systems that meet the MASH longitudinal Occupant Impact Velocity (OIV) limit of 16 ft/s. Both weak- and strong-base scenarios were considered, along with a ±20% error margin to account for modeling and construction uncertainties. Regression analysis was used to assess the role of pole characteristics, such as weight, center of gravity, and moment of inertia. The results showed that while pole geometry affects crash response, base properties remain the most critical factor.
Advisor: Mojdeh Asadollahi Pajou
“Re-storying” Anne Shirley and the ADHD Child: A Crip Genealogy of \u3cem\u3eAnne of Green Gables\u3c/em\u3e
Get PDFThis thesis explores the contested nature of Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD), focusing on its cultural and historical constructions. While ADHD has been included in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders since 1980, its legitimacy remains a subject of debate across medical, disability studies, and historical scholarship. Using Eli Clare’s critique of diagnosis as a tool rather than a fact, this project examines how ADHD is both pathologized and re-storied within societal and medical discourses. It highlights the tension between medical classifications and lived experiences of those diagnosed with ADHD, particularly in the context of girlhood.
The central aim of this thesis is to trace the evolving representations of ADHD in literature, specifically through the character of Anne Shirley from Lucy M. Montgomery’s Anne of Green Gables. By analyzing Anne’s early depictions in the early 20th century, as well as later adaptations and reinterpretations, this thesis investigates how cultural understandings of hyperactivity and inattentiveness have been shaped by evolving developmental, psychiatric, and feminist discourses. Through a comparative reading of Anne and the contemporary novel Focused, which features a protagonist diagnosed with ADHD, the thesis examines how the narratives surrounding ADHD in literature influence the developmental arcs and social perceptions of neurodivergent characters.
Grounded in Critical ADHD Studies, disabled children’s studies, and Crip theory, this thesis challenges the deficit model of neurodivergence, advocating for a revision of how ADHD is understood and represented. It argues for a cultural and historical understanding of ADHD, which acknowledges the role of race, class, and medical authority in shaping these narratives. Ultimately, this thesis seeks not just to represent ADHD, but to re-story it, offering a framework for understanding neurodivergence that moves beyond pathologization to embrace a more nuanced, transformative perspective.
Advisor: Gabrielle Owe
Heartbeat of the Heartland: Sonic Engagement with Hip-hop in the American Midwest
Get PDFThis project analyzes Hip-Hop artists from the American Midwest through the context of the Midwest’s construction as a nostalgic, peaceful area where conflict seems nonexistent. This study applies Adam Ochonicky’s concept of nostalgic spatiality, or “instances in which nostalgia is projected onto a physical environment, thereby altering the perception, understanding, and/or experience of that space and its accompanying cultural sphere” (Ochonicky 29) to close readings on Midwest Hip-Hop texts. In the case of the Midwest, projected nostalgia is rooted in whiteness and propels the narrative that the Midwest is predominantly occupied by white people who maintain its peace and serenity (Ochonicky 9).The image of the Midwest as the ‘Heartland’ alludes to assertions of harmony guiding relations across the region. The reality, however, is that communities of color have lived in and exercised a strong work ethic in the Midwest even as these myths were constructed. Indeed, in many cases Black communities and residents in the Midwest were targets of white supremacist violence.
Hip-Hop provides a phenomenal avenue to critique the enforced whiteness of the Midwest, as Black and brown communities created the genre of rap to critique the very social, economic, and political realities of white supremacy that circumscribed their lives. That these communities have been villainized and criminalized by white communities for centuries was not lost on Midwestern rap artists. Although now in the mainstream cultural lexicon, Hip-Hop provided—and continues to provide—a space for marginalized people of color to unite that is not completely dictated by whiteness. Thus, I use Hip-Hop as a means of troubling the enforced whiteness of the Midwest.
The Midwestern Hip-Hop scene has historically been overlooked perhaps due to the overwhelming exposure of the East and West coast scenes, particularly the rivalries fueled by two influential record labels, Bad Boy Records on the East Coast and Death Row Records on the West Coast. Therefore, Heartbeat of the Heartland: Sonic Engagement with Hip-Hop in the American Midwest draws attention to a sound that is largely neglected, and pays homage to Black Hip-Hop artists from the Midwest who are rapping about their own communities.
Advisors: Kwakiutl Dreher and Jeannette Eileen Jone