Middle Tennessee State University
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Targeting Young Minds: The Role of Fast Food Ads in Childhood Obesity
No full textFast food advertisements targeting children increase childhood obesity rates. The United States is currently facing a childhood obesity epidemic, and research studies have shown a direct correlation between the preventable disease and frequent fast food consumption. This research thesis investigates the rapid rise in childhood obesity rates within the United States and the alarming budget increase the fast food industry has made to market to children. A discussion of potential solutions and legislation that other countries have in place to help prevent the further spread of the disease will take place. The level of responsibility and accountability the U.S. government and the American Marketing Association have on this serious issue will also be evaluated
I Am Your Constituency: Voices and Perspectives of LGBTQ+ Tennesseans on anti-LGBTQ+ Legislation
No full textDespite both national and state level Supreme Court decisions such as Obergefell v. Hodges and Campbell v. Sundquist expanding the scope of LGBTQ+ rights, LGBTQ+ individuals still face ongoing discrimination and legal challenges. In addition, LGBTQ+ individuals struggle with mental health challenges at a disproportionate rate when compared to their non-LGBTQ+ peers. The purpose of this study was to examine and understand the relationship between LGBTQ+ identifying individuals and anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. Qualitative open-ended surveys were distributed to and answered by 49 of LGBTQ+ self-identifying higher education students in Rutherford County, Tennessee. The survey questions aimed to collect participant perspectives on anti-LGBTQ+ legislation. The data indicated a complex, highly individualized perspective from each participant, with all disagreeing with anti-LGBTQ+ legislation, but responding to it in their own way. The centering of LGBTQ+ voices in a study such as this is especially important because oftentimes anti-LGBTQ+ legislation is created and considered without input from a legislator’s LGBTQ+ constituents. Through this study, the participants were empowered to be heard in their own words on the legislation that dictates their lives
Analyzing the Effects of Hemoglobin and Red Blood Cell Count on Executive Function in Healthy Older Adults
No full textThe purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationship between levels of red blood cell count (RBC) and hemoglobin (HGB) and their effect on executive functioning in healthy, non-anemic older individuals. Previous research has investigated the relationship between anemia and cognitive function, yet research on these parameters on executive function in healthy, non-anemic individuals is understudied. Participants consisted of 88 men and women who were seen at an outpatient neuropsychology clinic in Middle Tennessee and who completed a neuropsychological evaluation for the purpose of evaluating memory and cognitive functioning. Participants were not found to have any evidence of memory and cognitive impairment, stroke, dementia, or head injury. As part of the neuropsychological evaluation participants were given the Trail Making Test (TMT), Stroop, and Controlled Oral Word Association Test (COWAT) as standardized measures of executive functioning. Laboratory values for HGB and RBC were obtained through a review of the participant’s medical records during the neuropsychological evaluation, and values for HGB and RBC were averaged for three years prior to the date of the evaluation. It was predicted that a quadratic relationship exists between hemoglobin, red blood cell count, and performance on tests of executive functioning such that participants with low and high levels will perform lower on these measures than participants with more moderate levels. Overall, there was no significant relationship between RBC, HGB, and executive function in healthy, non-anemic older individuals.M.A
Carving Out Communities: Black Institution Building in Rutherford County, Tennessee 1860-1890
No full text"Carving Out Communities: Black Institution Building in Rutherford County, Tennessee 1860-1890" explores a still neglected topic in public history and historic preservation: the significance of space in considering the significance of Black churches in community formation and institution building in the 19th century rural South. Historic preservationists in particular still neglect African American space making and Black institution building when they assess the cultural landscape or consider the significance of where and when Black churches were located. This study focuses on Black churches and cemeteries in Rutherford County, Tennessee. The county seat of Murfreesboro once briefly served as the state capital in the 1820s; during the Civil War, the U.S. Army occupied the county at two different times, and created a major military base in the county by 1863, after the Battle of Stones River had devastated adjacent farms and plantations. Using documentary evidence and the substantial material culture evidence left behind by the congregations as they formed and built their churches, the study investigates how Reconstruction-era Black congregations acquired land and created sacred safe havens within an increasingly hostile social and political environment of white supremacy, racial atrocity, and political disenfranchisement. The acquisition of space and construction of Black institutions were key points of resistance and allowed Black groups and neighborhoods to carve their own identity and protect their own community within a racially contested landscape.Ph.D
Eco-anxiety and pro-environmental behaviors in college students
No full textClimate psychology is an emerging field that studies the impacts that climate change has on mental health. Eco-anxiety, a term used to describe anxiety about climate change and environmental destruction, is of growing concern because of its potential negative effects on pro-environmental behavior. Young people are particularly vulnerable to the effects of eco-anxiety, studies have shown. This study utilizes survey methods to examine relationships between eco-anxiety, pro-environmental behaviors, generalized anxiety, and a variety of demographic factors among the undergraduate population at Middle Tennessee State University. Our hypothesis was that those with low eco-anxiety will engage in fewer pro-environmental behaviors than the moderate and high eco-anxiety groups, but due to the potential paralyzing effects of eco-anxiety, the moderate group will engage in more pro-environmental behaviors than the high eco-anxiety group. Our results showed that eco-anxiety has a significant positive relationship with pro-environmental behaviors as well as gender
Determining the Effect of Residual SWI/SNF Subunits on Small Cell Carcinoma of the Ovary Hypercalcemic Type (SCCOHT) Cell Lines
No full textSmall cell carcinoma of the ovary, hypercalcemic type (SCCOHT) is a rare and aggressive cancer which has an exceptionally high mortality rate. The main mutation correlated with this cancer type impacts the proper functioning of a major chromatin remodeling complex called SWI/SNF. One commonality of all SCCOHT cancers is deleterious mutation of the SMARCA4 gene that is known to encode for the SWI/SNF ATPase subunit, BRG1. Loss of BRG1 incorporation within SWI/SNF is the driving mutational event to promote tumorigenesis, and it has been difficult to find new therapy options for patients with this type of cancer resulting in a low survival rate. In other cancers defined by SWI/SNF subunit mutations like SCCOHT, there is a reliance of the cancer state on the SWI/SNF subunits that remain present in the cell. Two proteins with important functions in the SWI/SNF chromatin remodeling complexes that remain following BRG1 loss are BAF155 and ARID1A. To interrogate whether these two remaining SWI/SNF subunits are important for SCCOHT cancer processes, I determined in my thesis work whether knockdown in expression levels of these SWI/SNF subunits has any detrimental impact on SCCOHT cell proliferation and cell cycle progression. To achieve this, I introduced a new CRISPR technique called CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) into the laboratory to target BAF155 and ARID1A subunit expression. Results from this research show that CRISPRi worked more successfully for targeting knockdown of BAF155. However, in contrast to my hypothesis, decreasing BAF155 levels did not impair cell division but rather induced a trend towards increased cell function. Overall, my thesis research has provided insight into the dependency of SCCOHT cell lines on a core SWI/SNF subunit and helped to define the optimal parameters for future CRISPRi-based research in the laboratory that will assist the uncovering of essential proteins in various cancer cell lines.M.S
The Right Time for Process(ing): Trauma-Informed and Student-Informed Care Pedagogy in FYC at the Two-Year College
No full textABSTRACT
In this dissertation, I use a qualitative interview study to explore the student experience of writing about personal trauma in first-year composition (FYC). Based on my ten study narrators, all community college students who chose to write about a traumatic experience for an essay in FYC, I consider that FYC may be perceived by some students as a kairotic space -- the right time and right place -- to write about a trauma, perhaps for the first time. Because students may choose to write about a traumatic experience, whether or not we invite it, I also consider how trauma-informed writing pedagogy may help instructors respond in due measure. To highlight the kairotic nature of their experiences at key points during the writing process, I organize narrator quotes according to a chronological sequence: first, when they decided to write about their topic (Ch. 2: Opportunity), second, when they worked through the drafting process (Ch. 3: Process), and third, when they received feedback and grades from their instructor (Ch. 4: Response). I analyze their quotes alongside composition pedagogy and trauma-informed pedagogy. What separates my study from other trauma-informed writing pedagogy scholarship is that it centers student voices, highlighting the ways in which student experiences align with and depart from established pedagogy. Based on my study narrators, I propose that allowing students to write about trauma -- if they choose to -- and supporting them during the process can motivate students to achieve FYC rhetorical outcomes, cultivate academic belonging, and promote the relevance of composition in their own lives. Rather than a healing pedagogy, my last chapter offers a trauma-informed and student-informed care pedagogy that aims to support the wellness of students while sustaining ourselves.Ph.D
Applying a Multi-Dimensional Memory Model to Experience to Observe How Components of Experience Might Mediate the Relationship Between Personality and Christian Beliefs
No full textPrevious research in our lab has shown that experience mediates the relationship between personality and belief. However, the models of experience mediation that we previously used are too simple. Rubin (2022) presented a memory model that identified scene vs. not, self-reference vs. not, and explicit vs. implicit as three dimensions along which memories can be classified. The goal of this research was to evaluate whether experiences could be classified along these same dimensions (along with positive and negative affect) to provide a generic framework for classifying experience components. To test this multiple mediation model, we used personality variables correlated with Christian belief and evaluated the role of the experience components in mediating their relationships. The data suggest that specific experience components may mediate the relationship between personality and belief
Growing an OER Program to Support Student Success
No full textThrough affordability initiatives like open educational resources (OER), academic libraries play pivotal roles on campuses worldwide to support student success. These initiatives not only help shape a student-centered educational landscape, but they also drive equity and foster academic achievement. This poster explores how the James E. Walker Library in Murfreesboro, Tennessee is cultivating and leading an Open Educational Resources (OER) program on the campus of Middle Tennessee State University. The poster highlights current OER goals and projects organized by the library’s OER Task Force and documents how this OER initiative began, how it has grown, and how it positively impacts students. Presented at the American Library Association Annual Conference 2024
Unexpected Intimacies: A Scrapbook of Critical Fictions
No full textDrawing on works at the intersections of feminist theory, studies in writing process and craft, rhetoric, and contemporary literature, this thesis employs critical discourse analysis, close reading, and creative writing as methodologies to position creative writing as a rigorous academic pursuit that requires interdisciplinary knowledge to create compelling flash works. Kafka: Towards a Minor Literature by Guattari and Deleuze, Critical Fictions: The Politics of Imaginative Writing (Discussion in Contemporary Culture) edited by Philomena Mariani, and Workbook: Memos and Dispatches on Writing by Steven Heighton are just a few titles that give this collection of multigenre-flash writings its theoretical backbone. In their own way, the flash works––flash fictions, prose poems, lyric essays, and hybrid writing––comprising this collection argue for the importance of minor literature’s role in resisting existing master narratives by examining themes of grief, girlhood, community, queerness, loss, language, family, and desire. Rural American landscapes often serve as a backdrop, adding another critical lens through which these multigenre pieces can be interpreted, highlighting issues of religion, culture, and class struggle traditionally rooted in rural settings.M.A