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SCREENING OF A SELECTED SET OF STRAWBERRY GENOTYPES FOR GRAY MOLD RESISTANCE
No full textThesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Plant Breeding, Genetics and Biotechnology - Crop and Soil Sciences - Master of Science, 2024Botrytis cinerea is a necrotrophic fungus that causes gray mold disease in strawberries, leading to significant pre- and post-harvest losses. Considering there are no strawberry cultivars that show complete resistance to gray mold, this research is aimed at screening a selected set of germplasm consisting of both strawberry Cultivars and MSU Lines as promising candidates for breeding parents to develop resistance to B. cinerea, thereby reducing the use of chemical pesticides on strawberries. Our other goal is to see where advanced MSU Lines stand compared to Cultivars for tolerance to B. cinerea. The experiments were conducted in 2021 and 2022 with the fruits harvested from plants maintained in the Pathology Farm at Michigan State University (MSU). In total, 26 different genotypes were examined for their disease severity, Titratable Acidity (TA), and Soluble Solids Content (SSC). The Area Under the Disease Progress Curve (AUDPC) was calculated to quantify the level of tolerance, and the correlation between AUDPC to SSC and TA was analyzed to determine if there is any correlation. Allstar and Camarosa showed moderate tolerance, agreeing with previous studies on determining tolerance in literature. Three MSU Lines, MSU69, MSU78, and 14_30_4 were more tolerant than most of the genotypes evaluated. Although Cultivars performed better in general, many MSU Lines appeared to be significantly better than some Cultivars, such as Earliglow and Jewel. We also observed a positive correlation between SSC and AUDPC for Cultivars; however, TA did not show a correlation with disease severity. Overall, MSU Lines could be stated as moderately susceptible to gray mold; however, MSU69, 78, and 14_30_4 were found to be promising lines to be used as parents along with cultivars tolerant to B. cinerea to increase the level of tolerance in the MSU germplasm.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
Glucagon-like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonists
No full textThesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Basic Medical Science - Master of Science, 2024ABSTRACTThe purpose of this paper is to provide a detailed exploration of the development of glucagon-like peptide receptor (GLP-1) agonists along with their uses, effects, and societal impact. As this class of medications has progressed from the 1980s to the current day, multiple FDA-approved medications have been produced. These medications have both beneficial and negative side effects on multiple organs in the human body. The differences between glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists include the length of half-life, effectiveness in weight loss and glycemic control, the intensity of side effects, and the specific incretin hormones stimulated. Semaglutide was proven to induce statistically significant increased weight loss compared to placebo in multiple clinical trials. There are clear disparities in obesity and Type II diabetes outcomes, acquiring proper medication, and affordability based on socioeconomic status and race. Pharmaceutical compounding has resulted because of the high demand for glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists and the inability of those of low socioeconomic status to pay for these drugs in cash because these drugs are often not covered for weight loss by insurance. In conclusion, the efficacy of glucagon-like peptide receptor agonists has been ground-breaking, and going forward, these medications need to be accessible to those who need them most regardless of socioeconomic status.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
Surviving China\u2019s Rejuvenation\u2014 Global Han Supremacy, Sinophobia + the Theft of Asian America in Education
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Curriculum, Instruction, and Teacher Education - Doctor of Philosophy, 2024The ways Chinese identity is perceived by education researchers is a confluence of deliberations on questions such as who is Chinese, how they are Chinese, how they come to identify as Chinese, and who gets to say who is and is not Chinese. This dissertation\u2019s task is, as a result, not to define Chinese identities or Chineseness. Rather, I unpack the multiple discourses that shape Chineseness that impact the decisions that governments, social movements, and schools make to (re)present Chineseness and Asianness. These multiple contestations across space and time sought to stabilize or institutionalize Chinese identities into a single idea, nation-states, such as the People\u2019s Republic of China and the United States of America, assert political, social, and cultural power. As well, individuals work to resist these state discourses to further shape their own and communities\u2019 understandings of Chinese identity. To analyze the global movements and circulations of Chineseness across contexts, this dissertation uses Asian Critical Race Theory (AsianCrit) and decolonial theory across four discrete articles to center how Chineseness moves through each of the power structures (white supremacy, Han supremacy, [settler] coloniality, and anti-Blackness) operating on its (re)production(s). Across the chapters of this dissertation, I argue for the analytical utility of the concept of Han Supremacy to understand the global and cross-temporal movements of state discourses of Chineseness that shape the lived experiences of Asian Pacific Islander Desi American and Asian (APIDA/A) people and those identifying with Asian diasporic communities cross multiple curricular sites. In the first article, I conceptually disentangle the overlapping and entangled boundaries between Han, \u201cYellow,\u201d Chinese, Asian, and People\u2019s Republic of China identities. I historicized the fluid boundaries and institutionalization of ethnic Han norms, ontologies, and logics that became subsumed into Chinese identity. I then show how the concept of Han identity becomes operationalized into a form of supremacy with parallels to other supremacist ideologies and its implications on how Chinese identity moves and is understood in diasporic contexts. Next, in the second article, I use critical race archival analysis and rememory to demonstrate the movements of Chinese identities across nation-state contexts by introducing my expansive conceptualization of curriculum and the analytic possibility of a nomencurriculum, or curriculum of names. I show that, within this framework, names are curricular touchstones by which nation-states can bind and (b)order individuals within a paradigm of white supremacy and empire. I do so by analyzing my own adoption paperwork and namings as an assemblage of ideologies, using critical race archival methods in conversation with AsianCrit Counterstorytelling and rememory. The third article uses critical discourse analysis and critical race archival analysis to analyze the U.S. military\u2019s training curriculum for soldiers during World War II. The document I analyze, Educational Manual No. 42 (1944) Our Chinese Ally, I argue is a window into how the U.S. government at the time mobilized its selective and stereotypical interpretation of the Chinese context to affirm its imperialist ambitions. Using critical race theory archival analysis and critical discursive analyses, I show racialized reverberations of this document across time. Finally, in the fourth article, I use critical textual analysis to show the resistances to these state discourses by conducting a critical ideological textual analysis of Gene Luen Yang\u2019s (2006) American Born Chinese. I analyze the text to show the ways Yang engages in deliberate racial rhetorical positioning to destabilize racialized and xenophobic stereotypes mobilized against APIDA/A people and members of Asian diasporic communities. By adapting my methodologies and tuning my application of these two bodies of theory throughout these chapters, I show the contours and facets of Chinese identities as they are institutionalized and resisted. As a result, across these chapters, I argue that repairing these histories means critically examining the ways Chinese identities respond and bend to Han supremacy, Sinophobia, and Sinocentrism across curricular contexts.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
LEVERAGING PUPILLOMETRY TO EVALUATE TRANSDIAGNOSTIC MOTIVATIONAL NEGATIVE SYMPTOM MECHANISMS IN SCHIZOPHRENIA AND BIPOLAR DISORDER
No full textThesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Psychology - Master of Arts, 2024Motivational negative symptoms of schizophrenia (SZ) are predictors of poor functional outcome and are notoriously difficult to treat. These symptoms also occur in bipolar disorder with psychotic features (BPP), although it is unclear how they are developed and maintained both within and across diagnoses (SZ or BPP). Pupillometry can be used as a tool to clarify said mechanisms. Blunted dilation as a function of cognitive demands has been interpreted as a metric of diminished effort while blunted constriction to light has been interpreted as a metric of blunted autonomic balance and both have been found to be reduced in individuals with schizophrenia and related to increased motivational negative symptom severity. However, associations between these two sets of findings in the same individuals have not yet been investigated. Blunted cognitive-related dilation has also been observed in individuals with BPP compared to healthy controls, but relationships with motivational negative symptoms have not been examined. To investigate these two lines of research, I first computed correlations between blunted constriction and blunted dilation in individuals with schizophrenia (n = 55) and then used multi-level modeling (MLM) to determine whether motivational negative symptoms in BPP (n = 30) and SZ (n = 55) are significant predictors of blunted dilation. Results indicate a significant positive correlation between both pupil metrics not explained by motivational negative symptoms. Blunted dilation was replicated in SZ relative to HC but was not found in BPP relative to HC nor SZ. Motivational negative symptoms did not predict blunted dilation. These findings provide, for the first time, evidence for a shared mechanism linking blunted pupil response to light and cognitive demands in SZ. Individuals with schizophrenia may show reduced attentional resource allocation to internal versus external goals. No conclusion can be made as to pupil/symptom relationships in SZ nor transdiagnostically in BPP.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
Boats Against the Current : Tocqueville on Fatalism and Inequality in a Democratic Age
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Political Science - Doctor of Philosophy, 2024In this dissertation, I examine the system of Alexis de Tocqueville\u2019s thought. I explain his definition of democracy, the problem of \u201cdemocratic despotism\u201d that potentially results from this definition, and Tocqueville\u2019s strategy for avoiding this outcome through his discussion of freedom and religion in colonial New England. Overall, I conclude that Tocqueville\u2019s thought is characterized by a concern for teaching democratic citizens to believe in a moderate balance concerning what is subject to human control. In other words, I argue that he encourages a middle ground between extreme fatalism on the one hand, and an excessive belief in human agency or activism on the other. Finally, I show how Tocqueville applies this teaching in his discussion of the role of women and racism.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF GROUP 2 MITE ALLERGENS AND AN INVESTIGATION INTO THEIR INTERACTIONS WITH SMALL MOLECULE LIGANDS
No full textThesis (M.S.)--Michigan State University. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology - Master of Science, 2024Mites are ubiquitous arthropods inhabiting nearly every type of ecosystem. Domestic mites, which include house dust mites and storage mites, are one of the major sources of indoor aeroallergens worldwide with house dust mites being the leading cause of allergic asthma and rhinitis. It is not the mites themselves that are the cause of allergy, but various proteins found in the mite\u2019s fecal pellets, salivary secretions, cuticle sheds, and eggs that are allergy inducing. The International Union of Immunological Societies and the World Health Organization recognize 128 proteins produced by mites as being allergenic. Of these, Groups 1 and 2 are considered major allergens. However, studies suggest that it isn\u2019t the protein alone that is responsible for allergy, but the small molecule ligands that bind them likely play a role in the disease process as well. The purpose of this research is to structurally characterize Group 2 allergens from all 8 mite species that are known to produce them using X-ray crystallography methods, and to study the small molecules that bind them. Novel methods of Group 2 allergen expression were used to purify Der f 2, Tyr p 2, and Blo t 2 with Der p 2 being purified using previously established methods. In silico studies as well as probe displacement assays were used to study the binding of 9 fatty acids (of varying carbon length and saturation) and cholesterol to the binding pocket of Blo t 2 and Der p 2. The computational studies suggest no binding to cholesterol for either protein. At the same time, these studies indicate that Blo t 2 may bind 7 of the 9 fatty acids tested, whereas Der p 2 may bind 8 of the 9 fatty acids. Initial probe displacement assays indicate binding of Blo t 2 to oleic and pinolenic acid with a possible higher affinity for pinolenic acid.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
INTRADUCTAL DELIVERY OF AN ABLATIVE AGENT AS A LOCAL INTERVENTION FOR BREAST CANCER PREVENTION IN RODENT MODELS
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Pharmacology and Toxicology-Environmental Toxicology - Doctor of Philosophy, 2024Breast cancer (BC) is the leading cancer diagnosis accounting for 31% of all cancer cases for women in the United States. Equally as impactful, BC is also the second leading cause of cancer deaths among women. Despite the rise of BC diagnoses, the number of preventive interventions to mitigate the prevalence of cases is inadequate. Currently, only three BC prevention options are approved and implemented for women. Prophylactic mastectomy removes the entirety of the breast and reduces breast cancer risk by up to 90%. However, it\u2019s a highly invasive procedure that takes many painful weeks to heal and can be emotionally exhausting. Tamoxifen and raloxifene are selective estrogen receptor modulators that have less risk reduction, only 50%. These drugs can increase the risk of stroke, endometrial cancer, and can induce postmenopausal symptoms early. Watchful waiting does not lower BC risk and relies on attentiveness, self-breast exams and annual checkups to detect tumor formation before it becomes cancerous. The harsh realities of the detrimental side effects outweigh the risk reduction benefits and deter most women from opting for these preventions. Consequently, only \u2018high-risk\u2019 women, those with a prevalent family history or BRCA1/2 mutations, even consider the choices. Therefore, it is imperative to investigate modern prevention methods with high-risk reduction while minimalizing side effects associated with current preventions because while treatments can save lives, prevention can save more. Unlike other organs, the breast, specifically the ductal tree, is accessible externally. The ductal tree is primarily composed of epithelial cells that line the lumen and are responsible for milk production and secretion but are the origin of most breast cancer cases. Intraductal (ID) injections are a unique approach solely for the breast that can directly target epithelial cells of the ductal tree through entry at the nipple. By utilizing ID injections to deliver an ablating agent, epithelial cells can be eradicated before they have a chance to become malignant with minimum invasion to the organ and no systemic processing. Ethanol is an inexpensive, readily available, ablating agent used for treatments such as unresectable liver tumors and breast pseudoaneurysms that can be repurposed for ID ablation as an effective prevention method. Therefore, the objective of this dissertation is to identify the impact of 70% ethanol ID ablation as a novel competitive approach for BC prevention that mitigates the shortcomings of existing preventive measures. Herein I demonstrated that ID ablation with 70% ethanol is an effective preventive for BC. A single injection can ablate a majority of epithelial cells within the ductal tree without inducing a cancerous effect. I investigated the minimum volume necessary for effective prevention while maintaining a high ablation rate. The translational ability of ID ablation was demonstrated by successful ablation and increased tumor latency from mouse to rat BC models. I explored the combination of ethanol and ethyl cellulose, a clinically used gelling agent, with the aim to mitigate ethanol dispersion which yielded no reduction in dispersion. The addition of tantalum oxide, a versatile X-ray contrast agent further supports the translational ability of ID ablation into clinics. However, further studies are needed to identify the impact on the local immune response and the exact mechanisms behind wound healing. The work is highly translational with tools readily available for repurposing and can have a direct impact on saving human lives.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
POLITICAL INTENSITY, CUSTOMER LOYALTY, AND BRAND ADVOCACY : A NOVEL PERSPECTIVE ON POLITICAL POLARIZATION WITH STRATEGIC IMPLICATIONS
No full textThesis (Ph.D.)--Michigan State University. Business Administration-Marketing-Doctor of Philosophy, 2024Political polarization continues to grow in the U.S., prompting considerable research in marketing on the effects of individuals\u2019 political identities on their behaviors as customers. Underpinning this stream of research is an assumption that individuals\u2019 political orientations drive their customer behaviors. While this approach has generated important insights, it covers only one dimension of political polarization \u2013 ideologically-driven asymmetries differentiating those on the \u201cleft\u201d versus the \u201cright\u201d \u2013 and thus provides an incomplete picture of the implications of political polarization to marketers. The authors introduce a previously overlooked dimension of political polarization \u2013 political intensity \u2013 focusing on how those closer to the far ends of the political spectrum (on the \u201cleft\u201d and \u201cright\u201d) are similar to each other and different from those with weaker and moderate identities. They propose distinct effects of political intensity (beyond those of political orientation) on customer loyalty and brand advocacy, outline the mechanisms underlying these effects, and show that they are stronger in market-based contexts (competitor-related, product launches and promotions; firm-related, failures) that otherwise threaten customer-brand relationships, but weaker in a nonmarket context (customer-brand political misalignment) contradicting customers\u2019 foundational political values. These relationships are tested across nine studies that utilize a variety of data sources and estimation approaches.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
NOTES TOWARDS DECOLONIAL READINGS : A CLOSE READING OF \uc1NGELA MAR\ucdA D\uc1VILA\u2019S POETRY AND THE DECOLONIAL TURN
No full textThesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Literature in English - Master of Arts, 2024This thesis delves into \uc1ngelamar\ueda D\ue1vila's poetry in adding her poetic voice to the black Caribbean artist producing art with a decolonial turn. It examines how her poetic works can be harnessed in educational contexts to nurture a profound understanding of Caribbean and Puerto Rican culture and identity. By integrating D\ue1vila's poetry into teaching practices, the thesis advocates for radical solidarities and decolonial love, aiming to break away from conventional educational systems that often overlook marginalized perspectives. This approach seeks to empower learners with knowledge and values deeply rooted in Caribbean traditions and decolonial thought.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references
USING DIFFERENT TYPES OF PRAISE STATEMENTS IN TEACHING A CHILD WITH ASD INTRAVERBAL BEHAVIOR
No full textThesis (M.A.)--Michigan State University. Applied Behavior Analysis - Master of Arts, 2024Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a developmental disorder that impacts an individual\u2019s behavior, social, and communication skills (American Psychiatric Association, 2013). A common approach to teach socially significant behaviors to individuals with ASD is applied behavior analysis, which utilizes reinforcement to increase the chances of behaviors occurring again. Research typically suggests that when teaching children with ASD new skills, descriptive praise will lead to faster acquisition and mastery compared to using general praise. However, previous studies comparing using the two types of praise have demonstrated mixed findings regarding which one leads to faster acquisition of skills. The purpose of current study is to extend research conducted by Polick and colleagues (2012) by examining the use of general praise, descriptive praise, and irrelevant statements in teaching 1 young child with ASD intraverbal behavior. An adapted alternating treatment design embedded within a multiple baseline design across behaviors was used to teach the participant to respond to simple \u201cwhat\u201d questions. The results showed that sets assigned to descriptive praise condition met mastery criteria first. However, the difference between mastery of descriptive praise sets and the other sets were small. Future research is needed to fully understand the correlation between descriptive praise and acquisition speed of learning new skills for children with ASD.Description based on online resource. Title from PDF t.p. (Michigan State University Fedora Repository, viewed ).Includes bibliographical references