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Investigation of the Stability Conferred by the Salt Bridge SB12 to the Structure of the Recombinant FGF1-FGF2 Dimer
No full textIn the United States, among other countries, an estimated 145 billion dollars are spent yearly on wound care treatments. Recently, a novel Fibroblast Growth Factor dimer (FGF1-FGF2 dimer) was developed to solve this common issue among patients globally...
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Garver
Get PDFThis thesis is a summary of my two-year internship at Garver, an engineering firm headquartered in North Little Rock, Arkansas. I interned with the finance department in the North Little Rock office. During my time with Garver, I gained an abundance of technical experience in the accounting field, as well as invaluable networking and professional development skills
Calming Music as an Emotion Regulation Technique in Response to a Traumatic Sexual Assault Narrative
Get PDFProblem. Experiencing a sexual assault often results in lasting psychological trauma that inhibits the person’s ability to function (CDC, 2022), so coping strategies are needed to reduce those symptoms. For instance, after listening to traumatic stories, people experience significant increases in subjective distress (Bynion et al., 2023). And laboratory studies demonstrate that calming music reduces subjective distress (Judd, 2020; Ophir & Jacoby, 2020). On the other hand, calming music appears to interfere with memory and processing (Rickard et al., 2012). While music has been shown to be a helpful coping mechanism to decrease anxiety and may relate to memory and learning, no study to date has examined these simultaneously as they relate to trauma. This study examines the effect of listening to calming music (vs silence) on both anxiety levels and memory recall following the description of a sexual assault. We hypothesize that: (H1) Participants who listen to calming music after hearing the trauma script will report lower anxiety levels than those who did not listen to music, controlling for baseline anxiety levels; (H2) Participants who listen to calming music after hearing the trauma script will demonstrate less memory retention than those who didn’t listen to music; (H3) Participants’ anxiety levels will be significantly positively related to their memory retention; and (H4) The association between listening to calming music and memory for a traumatic script will be partially mediated by anxiety levels. Methods. Participants (N = 84; 73% female; aged 18-24; 7% Asian, 5% Black, 11% Latine, 4% Native American, 1% Pacific Islander, 86% White; 89% heterosexual) with no PTSD or uncorrected hearing impairments were recruited from undergraduate psychology courses. Participants came into the lab, took a baseline anxiety measure (State-Trait Anxiety Inventory; STAI; Spielberger et al., 1970), listened to a script detailing a sexual assault, then completed the anxiety measure again. Participants were then randomly assigned to listen to either calming music (“Gymnopedie No. 1 by Erik Satie) or sit in silence for five minutes before taking the anxiety measure for a third time. Then, participants took a researcher-developed multiple-choice memory test based on the traumatic narrative they listened to. Results. Data analyses are currently being conducted. To test the hypothesis, a mediation model will be estimated in R using path analysis. The independent variable will be post-story STAI scores. The mediators will be experimental condition and final STAI scores. The dependent variable will be total story recall score. Conclusions. This research has implications for factors impacting the processing potentially traumatic information and may have extensions to the treatment of clinical populations.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/1007/thumbnail.jp
A Statistical Analysis for Evaluating the Parameters Influencing the Rutting and Cracking Performance of Asphalt Mixtures
Get PDFDurable pavement is essential for modern transportation infrastructure, especially in the United States of America which boasts over 8.5 million lane miles of roads and highways. Despite advanced construction techniques, asphalt pavements are susceptible to rutting and cracking, significantly affecting their performance and maintenance costs. Current methods for analyzing rutting and cracking in asphalt mixtures rely on various parameters, leading to measurement variability. This highlights the need for more rigorous analysis to explore the relationship between mix design variables and pavement performance. This research explores the IDEAL-CT and Asphalt Pavement Analyzer (APA) data from mix designs collected by the Arkansas Department of Transportation. Both mix designs had virgin and recycled asphalt mixtures to compare how the percent recycled asphalt affected the susceptibility of rutting and cracking along with other variables. To better understand which asphalt mixture properties impact cracking and rutting in the field, box-and-whisker plots, Pearson correlation, Spearman rank correlation, and Kendall’s Tau analysis methods were used. After running these analysis methods, the CTIndex for virgin mixtures had the highest correlation with the number of design gyrations, while the CTIndex for RAP mixtures had the highest correlation with the theoretical maximum specific gravity. The rut depth correlated heavily with the upper performance grade for both virgin and RAP mixtures. Interestingly, the second highest correlation for the CTIndex was the bulk specific gravity of aggregate mixture for both virgin and RAP mixtures. The rut depth had the second highest correlation with the number of design gyrations for both types of mixtures. The outcome of this research contributes valuable insight into the key factors affecting the asphalt mixture performance and allows other owners to examine how their asphalt mixture properties impact their own performance tests.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/1010/thumbnail.jp
Sports Injury Prevention - Epidemiological Analysis of Concussion Mechanisms in Female Soccer Players: A Review of NEISS Data (2020–2023)
Get PDFBackground/Introduction: Concussions are a significant concern in women’s soccer, with many studies showing that women have a higher rate of having them than compared to men. The number of concussions in athletes have raised concerns about long-term health and calls for a deeper look into ways to prevent them from occurring. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to review the epidemiological data related to the mechanisms of concussions as a result of soccer, specifically within female participants.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/coesym25/1003/thumbnail.jp
Enhancing Agricultural Knowledge of Rural and Urban Elementary School Children in Arkansas
No full textResearch suggests that 4th- and 5th- grade students are potentially ill-informed about general agricultural knowledge nationwide due to a growing gap between agriculture and the general population, including young students. As such, and with the help of an Honor’s College grant, students were surveyed at both rural and urban schools across Arkansas to assess how much they knew about where their food comes from and to determine whether they connected it back to agriculture. Additionally, students were asked to draw a picture of a farm to capture what farming means to them. A short presentation about general agricultural knowledge, following a seed of corn to the consumer plate, was used to assess its effectiveness in increasing awareness and interest in the agri-food system. Pre- and post-presentation responses were then analyzed for differences among students by i) grade level; ii) rural vs. urban elementary setting; and iii) whether or not the student had taken an Arkansas history class. The presentation effectively increased knowledge across all categories of questions. The presentation was also effective in generating career interest in agriculture and increased awareness of the connection between agriculture and food. The differences between rural and urban settings and by age highlight the importance of tailored educational experiences and strategies that could inform future curriculum development. Targeting students early on is one suggestion. Providing more real-life visuals in a presentation to urban students may also be more effective. As such, using information collected in this survey, we have gained insight into how to target educational materials about agriculture to appropriate audiences.https://scholarworks.uark.edu/hnrcsturpc25/1004/thumbnail.jp
Prevalence of Cytauxzoon felis in ticks from South-central Kansas and Northwest Arkansas
No full textCytauxzoon felis is a protozoan that causes an often-fatal illness in felines known as cytauxzoonosis, or bobcat fever. Ticks are vectors of this pathogen, with Amblyomma americanum being the most common vector. Previous studies have noted a correlation between peak tick season and peak cytauxzoonosis diagnosis. For cytauxzoonosis, minimal treatments exist, and scientists have not found a cure, which is why focus needs to be on preventing disease. Knowledge on the prevalence of C. felis in different tick species helps veterinarians and pet owners be aware of the potential for their cat developing cytauxzoonosis if one or more ticks are found feeding on the animal. To assess the prevalence of C. felis in vectors, we collected ticks from cats and the environment in the South-central Kansas area in 2023 and Northwest Arkansas area in 2024. All ticks were collected through dragging or directly from animals. We used a qPCR assay targeting the cox3 mitochondrial gene to detect the presence of C. felis DNA in the ticks. In total, 658 ticks were tested. 20/351 ticks collected from cats tested positive for C. felis, and 2/307 ticks collected from the environment also tested positive. Of the 22 positives, 21 ticks were Amblyomma americanum and one was Dermacentor variabilis. The prevalence of C. felis in A. americium suggests that this is the most common vector in both states. For environmental collections, differences between states were significant (P\u3c 0.001). For clinic collections, there were no significant differences in the mean number of A. americanum collected between the number of ticks collected per state except when comparing May and July (P=0.0333). Cat owners should consider tick preventives at least during peak vector activity season
Spillover Effects of Foreign Direct Investment within Japan\u27s Industries
Get PDFThis thesis investigates the relationship between inward Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and Total Factor Productivity (TFP) across Japanese industries to evaluate FDI’s potential for economic revitalization in Japan. Despite policy efforts under Abenomics to attract more FDI, Japan continues to lag behind other developed economies in foreign investment levels, hindered by structural barriers such as keiretsu networks and limited absorptive capacity. Using industry-level panel data from 1994 to 2018, this study applies Granger causality tests and panel regression models to examine the direction and magnitude of FDI spillovers on productivity. The results indicate a one-way causal effect from FDI to TFP, though the panel regression suggests that FDI’s contribution to productivity growth is conditional and often statistically insignificant when controlling for lagged TFP. These findings emphasizes the importance of institutional context, vertical linkages, and industry characteristics in shaping FDI’s effectiveness