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Incels in Relation to Masculine Honor Beliefs and Beliefs of Pure Evil
No full textKirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Individual Non-Freshman category, honorable mentionNora BalboaIncels have become a population of men who believe that they are unable to be [sic] receive love or attention from women and blame those outside of the incel community. This population has been the cause of multiple death, much of past research has focused on the analyzing the words and behavior of incels through the internet. However, this study proposes to analyze their internal beliefs; specifically masculine honor beliefs (i.e., beliefs of how men need to act to uphold their masculinity) and beliefs of pure evil (i.e., people are inherently motivated to do harm). We hope to have a further understanding of why these individuals behave the way they do by understanding where the internal drive is coming from
Feasibility Study of Replacing Soy and Alfalfa Protein with Spirulina Protein to Develop a More Sustainable and Nutrient Rich Horse Feed
No full textKirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Individual Non-Freshman category, grand prizeMarcella ReekieMy research focused on the feasibility of using Spirulina protein, a strand of microalgae, in place of soy and alfalfa in horse feed. I had four key research objectives, which included the nutritional facts about Spirulina and how it can benefit horses, an analysis of efficient growing processes of Spirulina and how they protect the environment, a cost analysis and comparison of soy, alfalfa, and Spirulina, and final recommendations on how to implement Spirulina protein into horse feed. I concluded my research by listing the overall objectives and my recommendation
Impact of Covid-19 on Foodservice Operations Within Urban Kansas Childcare Centers
Get PDFMethods: Three COVID-19-related questions were added to an online survey of Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) participating childcare centers located throughout Kansas. Responses were collected from July through August, 2020. Descriptive statistics and thematic analysis of open-ended responses were used to identify common concerns. Results: Seventy-nine of the 138 childcare centers invited to complete the COVID-19-related questions responded (57.2% participation rate). The majority (n = 56, 70.1%) reported decreased enrollment, whereas a small number (n = 9, 11.4%) reported an increase. Approximately two-thirds of the centers (n = 49, 62.0%) reported foodservice operation modifications owing to COVID-19-related challenges. Three overarching themes were discovered within the centers’ responses: a) procurement challenges including decreased availability and increased cost of foods, b) changes in meal service including shifting to disposable tableware and ceasing family-style meal service, and c) menu and production changes in response to enrollment changes and product availability issues. Application to Child Nutrition Professionals: Future consideration for CACFP participants include shifting to more shelf-stable foods when faced with food availability issues and utilizing more cost-effective food purchasing options, which might be attained through group purchasing organizations. Well-developed emergency plans such as emergency menus should include plans for procurement challenges. Resources and training to increase understanding and knowledge of CACFP meal pattern guidelines may make menu changes based on availability easier or less challenging. Best practice guidelines, such as family-style meals, may have to take health and safety measures into consideration. As centers continue to experience COVID-19-related issues and plan for a “return to normal”, child nutrition professionals can fulfill an important role in helping centers adapt their foodservice operations to meet the challenge
Increasing Oil Production in Camelina sativa Engineered to Synthesize Unusual Lipids
Get PDFDifferent Euonymus species naturally produce acetyl-triacylglycerol (acTAG) in their seed oil. AcTAG are unusual structures of the triacylglycerols (TAG) typically found in vegetable oil, and have lower freezing points and viscosity compared to regular vegetable oil. Seed oil containing AcTAG can be used as biodiesel, plasticizers, and other alternatives to petroleum-based products. AcTAG can be synthesized in Camelina sativa by expressing key enzymes from Euonymus and by using RNA interference (RNAi) to suppress competing camelina biochemical pathways. Previous observations of high acetyl-TAG camelina lines have shown an increase in overall TAG molecules, but lower fatty acid levels compared to wild-type seeds. It is hypothesized the decrease in overall fatty acid content is due to a limited amount of glycerol-3-phosphate (G3P) backbone. To increase G3P, C. sativa seeds were transformed to overexpress the gene that encodes glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (GPD1), which converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) to G3P. By increasing G3P synthesis, the fatty acid content is expected to increase to wild-type content or higher. C. sativa seeds were collected from third-generation homozygous transgenic lines for lipid analysis. These lines were analyzed in three or more replicates to measure the amount of AcTAG, TAG, and overall fatty acid per seed. The resulting data is expected to show increased fatty acid content closer to wild-type seeds. Higher fatty acid content using acTAG and TAG molecules can be used to decrease the number of plants needed to produce C. sativa oils and save agricultural space for farmers.
The effect of artificial lighting and controls on patient outcomes in behavioral health facilities
Get PDFMaster of ScienceDepartment of Architectural Engineering and Construction ScienceFred L. HaslerMental illness has been somewhat of an enigma for much of human history. Lack of understanding mental illness led to inhumane treatments in psychiatric hospitals. During the era of inhumane patient treatment, it was theorized that the built environment could influence patient behavior and reception to treatment. Subsequently, design recommendations for mental health treatment facilities in the 18th century were centered around daylighting allowances which has significant benefits including regulating hormones and mental health. With the advent of artificial light sources, humans can control how much light they consume, which can be deleterious to biological systems including the circadian system.
This report provides design recommendations for patient rooms, group rooms, and corridors in an adult, behavioral health, inpatient hospital setting with an LED lighting system. The design recommendations are based on studies that examine the impact of lighting on various mental illnesses (depression, eating disorders, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia) within a lens of the biological impact of current lighting solutions. To ensure proper circadian entrainment, a circadian lighting system should be installed. In patient rooms, an exam luminaire above the bed may be provided with supplemental lighting throughout the room in the form of downlights. Controls may be provided outside of the patient room. Task lighting in patient and group rooms should be provided via wall surface-mount touch-controlled fixtures. Additionally, group rooms should have lighting that is controllable by patients via dimming or multi-level stepped dimming. Corridors must consider patient viewing, so cove lighting along the perimeter of the ceiling provides uniform ceiling distribution while eliminating glare. Throughout a behavioral health facility, wall- recessed wayfinding luminaires installed 2’ above the finished floor with a light source at 2700K should provide evening illuminance. Melanopic lux measurements can be a useful way to quantify the impact of lighting on biological processes. The lighting designer should discuss the spectral power distribution with the manufacturer to ensure that the blue wavelength light decreases as correlated color temperature decreases. Providing appropriate lighting solutions can decrease the length of patient stays and increase staff productivity
Hydrogel interfaces for applications in microbial biotechnology
Get PDFDoctor of PhilosophyDepartment of Chemical EngineeringRyan R. HansenHydrogels are three-dimensional, water-swollen, highly crosslinked polymers that can be designed to provide biocompatible and biofunctional interfaces for cells and biomolecules. With facile fabrication and precise control over chemistry, pore size, and mechanical properties, hydrogels have been studied extensively in various areas of biomedical and bioengineering, particularly in drug delivery and tissue engineering applications. However, hydrogels have not been well-studied or well-applied to many emerging applications in microbiology. This thesis explores two new applications involving hydrogel interfaces: (1) photodegradable hydrogels for high-throughput screening and isolation of rare bacteria and (2) hydrogels for protection of electroactive biofilms from environmental shocks in microbial electrolysis cell systems.
The initial portion of this thesis focuses on the use of photodegradable hydrogels for microbial cell screening and rare cell isolation. The photodegradable hydrogel used here was formed with polyethylene glycol (PEG) o-nitrobenzyl acrylate and PEG-tetrathiol macromers, which form three-dimensional hydrogels through thiol-acrylate addition reactions to encapsulate heterogenous populations of bacterial cells. The individual entrapped cells can be cultured into clonal microcolonies due to the suitable hydrogel mesh size for nutrient transport to the cells. Cells are monitored en masse and rare cells showing unique growth phenotypes are identified and extracted from the hydrogel interface using a high-resolution light patterning tool. The optimum experimental setup for achieving high throughput observation and clean extraction was developed. Release kinetics with light dose, the effect of light pattern on cell morphology, and the DNA quality of the extracted cells after exposure to 365 nm light patterns was also investigated. We demonstrated the use of this approach as a screening interface by rapidly screening a mutant library of the Gram-negative bacteria Agrobacterium tumefaciens to identify, isolate, and genetically characterize strains with rare growth profiles. The reported method offers an inexpensive and practical approach to cell screening and cell sorting and can be applied to a wide range of applications where isolating phenotypically pure cells from complex, heterogenous mixtures is essential. This includes applications in microbiology, microbial therapeutics, and biomedical diagnostics.
The next section of this thesis focuses on developing PEG-based hydrogels that are designed to protect electroactive biofilms from harsh environmental stressors. The coating was fabricated using PEG-tetrathiol and PEG-divinyl sulfone macromers that form hydrogels with crosslinks resistant to degradation from acid or base hydrolysis, while still promoting nutrient diffusion and electron transport. Methods of fabricating anodes containing electroactive biofilms with the hydrogels are first reported, followed by investigation of the hydrolytic stability of the coatings. Transport of a carbon source (acetate) through the coating is then modeled, and the long-term stability and compatibility of the coating over the biofilm is investigated. Lastly, the effect of the coating on the biofilm recovery from an environmental shock (ammonium exposure) is demonstrated to emphasize the potential benefit of the coating.
Finally, the future directions of hydrogels in these applications are recommended, which include discussion on developing a hydrogel chemistry that is degradable on exposure to a near-infrared (NIR) light source as well as discussion on chemical and biological hydrogel additives that will improve its performance
An Examination of Student Loans, Partisanship and Complaining Behavior: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Get PDFThis research examines consumer complaints within a government-to-consumer context. The study is focused on two highly discussed topics, student loans and partisanship. While student loans are widely promoted to college students, outstanding U.S. student loan debt trails only consumer debt. Similarly, a stark contrast exists between the views of the two major political parties within the U.S. Our examination provides a nuanced view of partisanship and its effect on complaining behaviors within the student loan realm. Specifically, our study investigates whether partisanship affects the level of student loan complaints submitted to a federal agency initiated during partisan division. Our contributions include the use of a diverse, integrated database that enables insights into complaining behaviors within an understudied area, the government-to-consumer context
The Human Understanding of Garments: An Exploratory Study on Technology Inspired Clothing Design for Young Adults with Anxiety
Get PDFKirmser Undergraduate Research Award - Group category, grand prizeYingying WuThe purpose of this exploratory study investigates the clothing preferences and choices of people who have anxiety issues. The goal of this project is three-fold: 1) studying the relationship between people's anxiety and their clothing choices; 2) experiment with different apparel technologies to accommodate the wants and needs of people who have anxiety issues, and 3) developing an apparel collection that incorporates apparel technologies to address the anxiety issues of the wearer. The basis for this project revolves around innovative apparel technology, anxiety issues, and their relationships with clothing preferences and choices. The research study included questions about the effect of color, comfort, and fit in clothing in correspondence to participants' anxiety as well as their demographics. Our project “HUG” is focused on the subjects within our 18–25-year target market
MARS/NDRI/KSU Communications Workshop: Part 6. Summary of Responses to Day 2 Nominal Group Discussion Questions
No full textA. Identify Communication Strategies for Important Mycotoxin Issues of Relevance to
Consumers – Pages 1-4
B. Identify Communication Strategies for Important Mycotoxin Issues of Relevance to
Producers, Traders & Distributors – Pages 5-12
C. Identify Communication Strategies for Important Mycotoxin Issues of Relevance to
Health Professionals – Pages 13-15
D. Identify Communication Strategies for Important Mycotoxin Issues of Relevance to Policy
Makers & Regulators – Pages 16-2
MARS/NDRI/KSU Communications Workshop: Part 5. Summary of Responses to Day 1 Nominal Group Questions
No full textA. Identify Key Issues Regarding Mycotoxins of Relevance to Consumers – Pages 1-3
B. Identify Key Issues Regarding Mycotoxins of Relevance to Producers, Traders &
Distributors – Pages 4-5
C. Identify Key Issues Regarding Mycotoxins of Relevance to Health Professionals – Pages
6-8
D. Identify Key Issues Regarding Mycotoxins of Relevance to Educators, Trainers &
Researchers – Pages 9-11
E. Identify Key Issues Regarding Mycotoxins of Relevance to Policy Makers & Regulators
– Pages 12-1