Open Research Oklahoma (Oklahoma State Univ.)
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Functional health and skeletal muscle adaptations following a community-based resistance training program
No full textAging results in the attrition of skeletal muscle, observed by reductions in muscle cross sectional area (CSA) and muscle thickness (MT). This loss of muscle mass, most notable in the lower body, leads to increased fall risk. Resistance training (RT) can improve muscle mass; however, many of these studies used controlled laboratory-based RT interventions. Thus, a paucity of research exists on whether community-based RT programs can induce muscle mass adaptations in aging adults. Purpose: Measure the effectiveness of community-based RT for improving aging adults’ muscle mass and functional health. Methods: Twenty-four participants (x̄ age= 66.1 ± 9.9 yrs) attended 2, 1-hour sessions per week for 8 weeks. Each session included a warmup, 8 RT exercises, and a cool down. Pre/post-tests included muscle mass measurements of the vastus lateralis (VL) using ultrasound. These measurements included CSA, MT, and echogenicity (EI). General and functional health measurements included sleep quality scores, 30-second sit-to-stand, 5 sit-to-stand, 10-meter walk (MWT), back-scratch, sit-and-reach (SNR), medicine ball toss, and 6 balance poses. Statistical analyses included paired t-tests with Bonferroni corrections for multiple comparisons (new muscle mass α=0.02; new functional health α=0.006) and Cohen’s d effect sizes. Results: VL-CSA, MT, and EI improved (all p≤0.01, all d≥ 0.6), while MWT and SNR were the only significant functional health measures (p=0.001, d ≥0.8). Conclusion: Lower body muscle mass and functional health improved following an 8-week community-based RT program. Community-based RT programs, designed to be accessible and cost-effective, may be efficacious solutions to age-related declines in muscle mass and function. However, exploration into community-based RT program progression is warranted, therefore, this ongoing study will have an additional 8-week RT block consisting of more volume and greater intensities
Freedom Canines International social media guide
No full textFreedom Canine International (FCI) is a non-profit organization based in Wimberly, TX. FCI raises and trains service dogs and then partners them with individuals in Texas who are in need. Individuals who receive a dog pay nothing and the dog is trained to help each need of the owner. FCI also works with Wimberly High School to create hands-on learning with the students. Currently, FCI is a small non-profit with the chance to change many individuals' lives. FCI has 902 followers on Facebook and 509 followers on Instagram. By using the social media guide, the owners of FCI will be able to increase their brand awareness and followers. This guide will also allow the company to have consistency within its posts and brand image
Mechanical properties of recycled polyester carpet composites for structural applications
No full textA substantial number of plastic products, especially single-use products such as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) or high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bottles and durable goods like carpets, are predominantly discarded into landfills, resulting in massive volumes of municipal solid waste. While the recycling of PET and HDPE from packaging has been extensively studied, the resulting recycled products are often more expensive and of comparatively lower quality than virgin materials, limiting their industrial and consumer adoption. Carpet recycling primarily involves recovering fibers through shredding and backing separation, which is expensive and results in minimal incentive to recycle. This work explores alternative applications for recycled materials by fabricating composites using compression molding with intact post-consumer PET carpets (cPET) with recycled PET (rPET) and recycled HDPE (rHDPE) resin. Process optimization was conducted for rPET/cPET composites, while preliminary studies examined rHDPE/cPET systems. The work evaluated the mechanical and functional properties of the developed composites to identify potential for structural applications. The rPET/cPET composites resulted in superior mechanical properties, including flexural strength and modulus, creep, impact resistance, and interlaminar shear strength, surpassing structural application requirements and cPET-alone performance. The addition of compatibilizer improved toughness and interlaminar shear strength, showing improved interfacial adhesion. An improvement in interfacial adhesion was confirmed through SEM fractography. Flammability and weathering tests validated their durability under adverse conditions. Acoustic testing showed their potential use as noise barriers. To summarize, rPET/cPET composites offer a potential solution to divert post-consumer PET carpets from landfills. Conversely, rHDPE/cPET composites require further process optimization to achieve comparable performance. However, additional research is required to improve the manufacturing process of rHDPE/cPET composites. Future studies should focus on advanced manufacturing techniques for composite systems and perform life cycle analysis and cost estimation to assess their feasibility for commercial applications
“Artificial mirrors”: Self and history in transpacific science fiction narratives
No full textThis dissertation offers a comparative analysis of East Asian literature and Anglophone literature focusing on reflections of physical, mental, and social environments of what I term “artificial mirrors.” Recent technological developments have raised concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and robots replacing humans in industry, including issues with deep fakes, AI replication, and social prejudice amplification. This timely project explores historical robot stories in Anglophone science fiction and investigates new voices from Asian literature, analyzing languages engaging and interrogating “otherness.” My project also examines how these languages reflect broader social conversations that create internalized forms of discrimination.
The dissertation has three analytical chapters. The first chapter compares two American male science fiction authors from the American global expansion period of the 1950s and 1960s to two Korean female authors who, during the 2010s and 2020s, published robot stories challenging established robot rules and exploring perspectives on a robot apocalypse or cyborg co-existence. The second chapter focuses on Asian and Asian American authors using science fiction tropes to dramatize reflections of trauma and the subconscious. The chapter explores both traditional and unconventional diaspora while addressing internalized trauma. In chapter three, the analysis addresses contradictory narrative stances reflecting the perspectives of dominant voices of imperialism and compares mirror images of Anglo-European imperialism with Japanese imperialism.
This dissertation aims to contribute to the comparative analysis between Korean and other Asian science fiction with established Anglophone works, exploring different cultural frames of reference such as folklore and sociology, while emphasizing themes of post-colonialism and transnational studies
Sorghums for grain and forage
No full textThe Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311
Possible pattern in the evolution of male meiotic cytokinesis in angiosperms
No full textEvolution of cellular characteristics is a fundamental aspect of evolutionary biology, but knowledge about evolution at the cellular level is very limited. In particular, whether a certain intracellular characteristic evolved in angiosperms, and what significance of such evolution is to angiosperms, if it exists, are important and yet unanswered questions. We have found that bidirectional cytokinesis occurs or likely occurs in male meiosis in extant basal and near-basal angiosperm lineages, which differs from the unidirectional cytokinesis in male meiosis in monocots and eudicots. This pattern of cytokinesis in angiosperms seems to align with the distribution pattern of angiosperms with the lineages basal to monocots and eudicots living in tropical, subtropical or temperate environments and monocots and eudicots in an expanded range of environments including tropical, subtropical, temperate, subarctic and arctic environments. These two cytokinetic modes seem to result from two phragmoplast types, respectively. A phragmoplast in the bidirectional cytokinesis dynamically associates with the leading edge of a growing cell plate whereas a phragmoplast in the unidirectional cytokinesis is localized to an entire division plane. The large assembly of microtubules in the phragmoplast in unidirectional cytokinesis may be indicative of increased microtubule stability compared with that of the small microtubule assembly in the phragmoplast in bidirectional cytokinesis. Microtubules could conceivably increase their stability from evolutionary changes in tubulins and/or microtubule-associated proteins. Microtubules are very sensitive to low temperatures, which should be a reason for plants to be sensitive to low temperatures. If monocots and eudicots have more stable microtubules than other angiosperms, they will be expected to deal with low temperatures better than other angiosperms. Future investigations into the male meiotic cytokinetic directions, microtubule stability at low temperatures, and proteins affecting microtubule stability in more species may shed light on how plants evolved to inhabit cold environments.Plant Biology, Ecology and Evolutio
From city centers to farmland: Analyzing availability and accessibility of healthcare in Nebraska
No full textThe availability and accessibility of healthcare in Nebraska is not very well documented. With the Affordable Care Act (ACA), critical access hospitals are required to conduct Community Health Needs Assessments (CHNAs) every three years. Health departments are not subject to the same requirements, but many in Nebraska choose to participate in the process regardless. This study aims to examine the status of the healthcare landscape in Nebraska through the lens of CHNAs and their associated Community Health Improvement/ Implementation Plans (CHIPs). Overwhelmingly, mental health is the number ne priority in communities throughout rural Nebraska, followed by substance abuse and heart disease. There is a wide variety of proposed evidence-based goals, strategies, and activities to address these priorities, which are also examined in detail. Longitudinal studies of the long-term impact of CHNA and CHIP execution is recommended
Assessing the role of psychological flexibility in the health-related quality of life of LGBTQ+ adults
No full textWhile the LGBTQ+ community incorporates a wide variety of identities, this community often faces several discriminatory factors and societal hardships (Hatzenbuehler & Link, 2014; The Trevor Project, 2022). These stressful events are often associated with significant disparities in both physical and mental health when comparing the LGBTQ+ community to a broader population (Mereish & Poteat, 2015). One factor often cited in psychological research that may underscore reduced negative health outcomes in LGBTQ+ persons experiencing such stressors is resilience (Meyer, 2003; Fredriksen-Goldsen et al., 2015; Hendricks & Testa, 2012). However, little is understood about how resilience influences practical change in individuals. Psychological flexibility may play a role as an actionable component of resilience, as its specific cognitive exercises informed by theories of resilience may illustrate how resilience can elicit influence on one’s health (Kashdan & Rottenberg, 2010). To assess this relationship in LGBTQ+ persons, the researcher utilized a bootstrapped mediation model that assessed resilience’s relationship to health-related quality of life (HRQoL), as mediated by psychological flexibility with age as a covariate (see Hayes, 2009). This model suggested that psychological flexibility was a significant, yet partial, mediator of the relationship between resilience and HRQoL while accounting for participant age. This suggests psychological flexibility may have both theoretical and conceptual relationships with improved health among LGBTQ+ persons, by bridging intrapersonal resilience factors and health by accounting for active cognitive processes. These results also suggest additional factors likely play a role in resilience’s relationship with health in this population, and additional social and societal factors leading to improved health in LGBTQ+ persons are further discussed
Examining maximizers’ strategies to find “the best” romantic partner
No full textThe decision-making literature suggests that maximizers exhaustively sift through all their available options to make “the best” choice, and relational maximizing tendencies apply to maximizing within the context of romantic relationships (i.e., to find “the best” partner). Prior research has revealed how relational maximizing is associated with relationship outcomes, but research examining maximizers’ mating strategies for choosing “the best” partner is limited. The current work aims to close this gap by developing a better understanding of the strategies maximizers employ to seek “the best” partner. In Study 1, I used existing data to show that maximizing women are more likely to utilize a short-term mating strategy (i.e. unrestricted sociosexuality), and this positive association was strongest among women high (versus low) in short-term mate value. In Study 2, I examined whether this association would replicate in women, extend to men, and if relational maximizers attempt to find “the best” partner by seeking those higher in mate value than them. Contrary to predictions, Study 2 did not replicate the findings from Study 1, instead finding the positive association between relational maximizing and unrestricted sociosexuality emerged among men. Additionally, Study 2 did not find evidence that relational maximizers attempt to find partners higher in global mate value or on specific traits. These conflicting and null results indicate that further research needs to be conducted to fully grasp relational maximizers’ mating strategies
4-H Club soil and water conservation
Get PDFThe Oklahoma Cooperative Extension Service periodically issues revisions to its publications. The most current edition is made available. For access to an earlier edition, if available for this title, please contact the Oklahoma State University Library Archives by email at [email protected] or by phone at 405-744-6311