TCU Digital Repository (Texas Christian Univ.)
Not a member yet
54550 research outputs found
Sort by
THE DESIGN AND SYNTHESIS OF FLUORESCENT DYES AS ENVIRONMENT-SENSITIVE MOLECULAR PROBES
No full textFluorescent small molecule environment-sensitive probes have photophysical properties such as emission wavelength, fluorescence intensity or lifetime that change based on their surroundings like temperature, pH, or viscosity. Viscosity is an important physical property of fluid media, which plays crucial roles in many chemical and biological systems. In biological settings such as a cellular environment, changes in viscosity could be indicative of cellular malfunction or abnormalities. Thus, utilization of these environment-sensitive molecular probes could be useful in assessing the changes in viscosity of the cells. Ratiometric probes have two components with different reactive spectral properties that allow for more consistent internal calibration that provides more accurate determination of viscosity. However, the synthesis of ratiometric probes is often challenging, requiring multiple purification steps for isolation of the desired compounds. Therefore, this research highlights our synthetic efforts to make ratiometric molecular viscometers in a facile, efficient and modular manner
Long highways, longer histories: Texas roads transform to state highways 1846-1949
No full textThis project’s central argument is that the establishment of motor highways in Texas during the early twentieth century was dependent on an existing framework of roads that had been in place at least since the first half of the nineteenth century. These roads that became incorporated into a national highway building initiative transcended eras, and provided a functioning structure for what developed later. Three roads, the Bankhead Highway, Preston Road, and El Camino Real, are particularly representative of that transition from trails within a specific Texas landscape/environment to roads that were then built or maintained because of influence or direction from national organizations and the federal government. This project focuses on these Texas highways not because their development from the late nineteenth through the early twentieth centuries was uncommon, but because of the utility they provided for decades prior. A detailed review of the history of these roads and their modern iterations constitutes a substantial portion of this project. This overview of each road’s origins begins in the Republic of Texas era and concludes prior to the 1950s. Another focus is the marked highway legislation passed in the first half of the twentieth century. Additionally, highway and car culture is discussed regarding how it aided in the construction and preservation of Texas roads, as well as gave them a certain recognition that remained uniquely Texan.
To better explain the interplay between the physical and cultural environment, or the historical geography, there is an important geographic component to this project as well. A spatial analysis of each of these highways provides information about the relationship between the Texas populace and the environment’s physical characteristics. ArcGIS Pro is the medium by which the geography component is included. GIS (Geographic Information System) mapping allows for the incorporation of both historic and modern maps accompanied by relevant spatial statistics
Molecular Aspects of Mitochondrial Dysfunction in Diabetes, Pearson and Kearns-Sayre Syndromes, and Neurodegenerative Disorders
No full textMitochondrial dysfunction results in complex pathophysiological alterations associated with clinical disease states including cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes mellitus, and anxiety disorders. As a key organelle within mammalian cells, the mitochondrion serves as the energetic source of cellular function which are crucial to cellular homeostasis, and cell death. In this report, we review key molecular causes of mitochondrial dysfunction and discuss how it influences insulin resistance, Pearson Syndrome and Kearns-Sayre syndrome, the latter of which occur due to pathogenic variants in mitochondrial DNA that lead to direct cellular pathology. We discuss the molecular and cellular pathophysiological mechanisms, disease interplays, and clinical considerations related to these diseases influenced by mitochondrial dysfunction
Rhestory: Story-based teaching for first-year composition contexts
No full textNothing is more central to the human experience, to how all people learn and live, than story. My project argues story should be the basis of our teaching in first-year composition classrooms because the two pillars of how we experience story, narrative imagining and narrative reasoning, are intrinsic. I synthesize my theory about narrative persuasion and rhetorical storytelling into one word: rhestory. The three components of rhestory, or in this context story-based teaching, are story-based pedagogy, storied instructional design, and story-based curriculum. I cite research from experts across fields of study to make one point: story-based teaching is a return to biologically innate forms of reasoning and knowledge acquisition. To help instructors know if they should share a story in the classroom, I offer my Story Pedagogical Readiness Index (SPRI) based on relevance, relatability, and reduced ambiguity. I also examine how story shapes the instructional design of first-year composition courses and how story-based curriculum differs from current mindsets and practices in the field of rhetoric and composition. This project culminates in an original tool designed for composition students: the Five Islands. The Five Islands is a physical product I designed after examining card decks created for novice storytellers. It combines industry-leading 3D software with scholarship on learning, game-based teaching, and persuasive communication for social change into a tangible tool that walks users through the process of writing a narrative argument
SPANISH-ENGLISH BILINGUAL VOCABULARY STRATEGIES FOR INTERVENTIONS FOR EMERGENT BILINGUALS WITH DEVELOPMENTAL LANGUAGE DISORDERS. A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW
No full textThere is a need to enhance intervention strategies for bilingual children with DLD. By synthesizing the available research, this review will provide evidence-based recommendations for SLPs and improve clinical practices, focusing on optimizing vocabulary acquisition in both Spanish and English. This systematic review aims to inform Speech Language Pathologists on best strategies for bilingual vocabulary interventions for emergent bilinguals with developmental language disorders. It will assess effective strategies, dosages, and other factors, while highlighting research gaps. We carried out searches in four electronic databases ComDisDome, Embase, Education Source, PubMed, and Citation Searching, as well as using additional hand searches of interventions studies using the keywords. The keywords were entered into each database to create a search string (children OR preschool* OR grade school OR primary school OR elementary school) AND abstract(vocabulary) AND (bilingual OR dual language) AND ("DLD" OR developmental language disorder* OR specific language impairment OR "SLI") AND Spanish) for ComDisDome. Four studies met inclusion criteria. Effective strategies included dialogic reading, cognate-based instruction, mediated learning experiences, and multimodal support. Interventions using Tier 2 vocabulary and providing at least 36 exposures per word led to improved outcomes. Bilingual approaches were more effective than English-only models and did not hinder English development. Simultaneous instruction in both languages facilitated cross-linguistic transfer. Findings support the use of interactive, linguistically responsive interventions to promote vocabulary development in Spanish-English emergent bilinguals with DLD
Uppers and downers of empire: A transgeographical study of opium, tea, and sugar in the long nineteenth century
No full textThis dissertation examines the literary representations of British colonial drug foods, opium, tea, and sugar, in the long nineteenth century. Texts examined include Bangla novels, short stories, and cookbooks, British Anglophone texts, texts by Indian writers in English, Indian pop culture, and diasporic literature. This project builds on three analytical concepts, Elaine Freedgood’s “ideas in things,” Lisa Lowe’s “intimacies of four continents,” and Richard Delgado’s “counter-storytelling,” to uncover recorded and fictionalized experiences of the colonized peoples of the Indian subcontinent and diasporas. My analysis, aided by these theoretical concepts, challenges nineteenth-century British imperial discourses. The project dismantles traditional imperial depictions such as racial stereotypes of Asians as “opium addicts,” tea as a “civilizing” beverage, and sugar as a post-abolition “ethical” product. Underscoring the multivocal, transgeographical, and interconnected nature of the nineteenth century, this project “widens” the scope of nineteenth century literature geographically, temporally, and linguistically
The Effects of Plyometric Fatigue on Spatiotemporal Parameters of Running Gait
No full textIntroduction: Fatigue is often thought to be a contributing factor to injury, as it generates changes in spatiotemporal parameters of the gait cycle. Previous literature has induced fatigue via prolonged running tasks, but not by other means such as resistance exercise, plyometric exercise, or mental fatigue.
Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of acute plyometric fatigue on spatiotemporal parameters of physically active, young adults? running gait.
Methods: Seven healthy, physically active young adults, participated in this study that evaluated mean stance and swing time, along with standard deviation from mean stance and swing time, under both pre-fatigue and post-fatigue conditions. All participants completed a plyometric fatigue protocol consisting of five exercises, totaling 272 ground contacts (182 per leg) to induce peripheral fatigue. Raw motion capture data were manually cleaned and gap filled prior to generation of a Visual 3D model. Spatiotemporal parameters were calculated and analyzed using paired t-tests in Microsoft Excel.
Results: There were no significant changes in the evaluated spatiotemporal parameters (all p-values > 0.05) of the running gait cycle. Lack of significant results may be due to limiting factors, such as personal motivation, unfamiliarity with the Borg Scale, and/or time to post-test.
Conclusion: The effects of plyometric fatigue on running gait have yet to be evaluated in depth. Whilst there were no significant changes in the evaluated spatiotemporal parameters, they are not the only changes exhibited with fatigue. Future directions may consider evaluating range of motion and coordination index
TEST ITEM - DELETE IF SEEN
No full textThis item is being deposited to test the static handle that has been assigned to this repository. You should see a persistent link assigned to this item that functions as expected
Monumental misfire: Art, diplomacy, and restitution in occupied Japan, 1945-1949
No full textThis thesis explores the under-studied actions of the Monuments Men and Women in Japan and Asia following World War II. While it follows the wartime iteration, the Monuments Fine Arts and Archives (MFAA) Division, the primary focus remains the successor group, the Arts and Monuments (A&M) Section during the occupation of Japan. I argue that despite a severe manpower shortage and an equally severe lack of familiarity with Asian art and culture, the A&M helped rebuild not only the Japanese art scene but helped turn Japan from a bitter enemy to a close American cultural ally. This progress, however, came at the cost of art restitution to victim Allied nations. Not only did the Monuments Men and Women struggle to find a balance that kept the Japanese cultural scene alive during restitution, but they also contended with their own colonialist bias and a new Cold War consensus that superseded restitution
Spiritual practices of food, faith, and place
No full textPlace is a vital part of the Christian faith; yet, our places are often overlooked. Where we live and how we live there are important aspects of faith and expressions of our understandings of and connections to God. One of the ways that people of faith can learn to faithfully inhabit their places is by paying attention to farmers and the places where their food is grown and raised; however, this approach to learning inhabitance is often ignored, overlooked, or not understood within many churches.Three keys to beginning to address the challenges of faithfully inhabiting place can be found in listening to the wisdom of food producers, embracing a cosmopolitan theology that extends divine love to the more-than-human helping people of faith to more closely connect to the places where they live and practice ministry, and using and expanding the Wesleyan ways of knowing to include the natural world. This project addresses the disconnect between the Christian faith, food production, and care of places by exploring six spiritual practices of faithfully inhabiting one’s place