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Radioactive
No full textThis creative project serves as a pre-production for a large-scale animated series based upon characters invented by my brother and me during childhood. The long-term goal of this project is to create the world with which I grew up, and perhaps show that siblings in modern entertainment do not have to hate each other to be relatable. I want to create a beloved story that I know many people never knew they needed. I will depict how the inspiration for this story came about, along with the process of creating the project. KEYWORDS: Animatic; media; creative process; sibling
Modulation of Macrophage Antifungal Activity by the Transcriptional Coregulator, CITED1
No full textThe fungal pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans (Cn) causes 220,000 cryptococcosis cases and 181,000 deaths annually, mostly in immunocompromised people. Alveolar macrophages serve as the first line of defense against Cn, which typically enters the body as inhaled propagules and is critical to the outcome of the infection. The ability of macrophages to eliminate Cn is influenced by their polarization state, a set of transitory phenotypes characterized by the altered expression of >1000 genes, with macrophages polarized to the proinflammatory M1 state by IFNγ-stimulation exhibiting the highest fungicidal activity. RNA sequencing-based transcriptome profiling was employed to assess if Cn impacts the expression of M1-associated genes in RAW264.7 macrophages. Intracellular infection partially reverted the gene expression profile to a naïve (M0)-like state. To ascertain the mechanism underlying this gene expression, transcriptional regulators were identified among the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in mock vs. Cn-infected cells. Amongst these, CITED1 exhibited the largest fold increase in expression. CITED1 encodes a member of the CBP/p300-interacting transactivator with glutamic acid (E) and aspartic acid (D)-rich tail (CITED) family of transcriptional co-regulators. Since CITED2 inhibits M1 polarization by preventing STAT1 from recruiting the histone acetyltransferase, CBP/p300, to gene cis-regulatory sites, we hypothesized that CITED1 would have similar effects. This was tested using a loss- and gain-of-function approach coupled with RNAseq. Surprisingly, ectopic CITED1 expression increased the expression of multiple interferon-stimulated genes (ISGs), including Ccl2, ifit1, Isg15, and Oas2, and this was reversed In Cited1 null cells. These findings imply an antagonistic relationship between CITED proteins in controlling macrophage inflammatory activity. Additionally, it was found that Cited1 activity is regulated at multiple levels post-IFNγ stimulation. Cited1 transcription was found to be STAT1-dependent, and IFNγ increased CITED1 phosphorylation and nuclear accumulation. Collectively, these data demonstrate that CITED1 enhances the transcriptional response to IFNγ stimulation and acts as a positive regulator of macrophage proinflammatory function.Ph.D
Getting A Good Push: Improving the Baader 212’s Head Pusher for Increased Recovery and Quality
No full textThe American fish processing industry occupies a small, niche part of the industrial world but offers substantial areas for improvements. Mechanical fish processing efficiency is one of these areas. The current version of the Baader 212 fish processing machine does not adept well to size, shape, and mass variation, so it was altered. This thesis aims to explain the process of enhancing Baader’s factory head pusher for increased recovery while increasing quality and machine consistency in the fillet cuts. KEYWORDS: Fish Processing; Baader; Baader 212; Pollock Industry; Pollock Fish; Engineering; Head Pusher; Heading Attachment
The effects of viral infection and lysis by cyanophage LPP-1 on the lipid composition of the cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum
No full textThe role of host lipids during viral infection is an area of study only recently examined within the last two decades, and existing literature is limited. The few studies that exist have been limited to observations in eukaryotes and heterotrophic prokaryotes. Since cyanophages have been considered as a means for biotic control of cyanobacterial harmful agal blooms, understanding the replication of cyanophages and their effect on host cells is critical to optimizing their utilization. This research focused on establishing the galactolipid profile of cyanobacterium Plectonema boryanum, and on the effects of cyanophage LPP-1 on the galactolipid composition of Plectonema boryanum. Nine major galactolipids were found and identified as either mono- or digalactosyldiacylglycerol (MDGD or DGDG, respectively) with the dominant regiochemisty exhibited being the C18/C16 form. A difference in the relative abundance of 18:3/16:1 MGDG between infected and uninfected cultures of Plectonema boryanum was observed; however, further research must be conducted to confirm the significance this observation
New Interviewing Technologies: What do job applicants think?
No full textRecently, organizations have begun utilizing asynchronous online video interviewing platforms which combine video streaming technology with artificial intelligence to facilitate the interviewing step in their personnel selection process. As with many emerging technologies, little research exists to investigate how these platforms may be received by job applicants. The goal of this study is to examine how applicants may react to requests from organizations to complete asynchronous video interviews and the differences in perceptions of fairness, organizational attractiveness and job pursuit intentions, based on what information, if any, is provided about the decision-making agent. Participants (n = 287) completed a study where they were assigned a role as a recent job applicant that received an invitation to complete an interview using the organizations’ online video interview platform as the next step in the selection process. Participants were then randomly assigned to one of three conditions: the first provided no information about how the selection decision would be made, the second informed them that an artificial intelligence (AI) algorithm would make the decision, and the third that a recruiter [human] would make the decision. Hypotheses stated that participants would rate the human decision maker more favorably than the AI decision maker and would rate both the human and AI decision maker conditions more favorably than the no information condition. Results indicated that perceptions of organizational attractiveness and job intentions were significantly influenced, but only for the human decision maker over the AI decision maker. Gender, comfort level and previous experience with recording asynchronous interviews were found to have moderating effects.M.A
Technology and Politics: Telegraphy and the 1860 Election
No full textThis dissertation has incorporated digital modes and methods of research to answer the question “Did telegraphy aid in the rise of the Republican Party and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860?” My assessment is that telegraphy affected Lincoln’s ability to consolidate the North into a Republican voting bloc ultimately securing his election to the presidency. I came to that conclusion by examining the locations (states and counties) where telegraph offices existed and compared them with locations that provided the most support for Lincoln in 1860. I have also, to some extent, examined telegraphy’s impact on the rise of the Republican Party, the political organization that carried Lincoln to victory. The digital tool used for this examination was ArcGIS. I used ArcGIS to map and then to digitally analyze the data and other information collected during this research process. By 1860, most major newspapers used telegraphy to gather and disseminate information so I have also included a discussion and some information about newspapers. Local newspapers, such the Charleston Mercury, had sections labeled “Latest By Telegraph.” National newspapers, such as the New York Herald, also had sections labeled “News By Telegraph.” These columns were dedicated to publishing news very rapidly. I used the digital newspaper repository www.newspapers.com and the Library of Congress’s Chronicling American newspaper database. These digital newspaper databases made it possible to keyword search thousands of newspapers to see where information appeared at certain times. Though the databases may not represent an exhaustive listing of newspapers, they did provide a snapshot of some of the places information appeared and when it was published. The focus of this dissertation has been narrowed to focus primarily on an examination of the Republican Party’s role in the election of 1860. The analysis has centered on comparing the locations that provided the highest density of support for the Republican Party in 1860 with the locations that had the greatest amount of telegraph office locations. The “public” portion of this dissertation is represented in the creation of a public website (www.edbeason.com) that contains maps and other graphical displays along with data collected during the project.Ph.D
Use of Dynamic Technology Tools in Statistics Education
No full textThis paper examines the role of technology tools in statistics education over the
past decades as well as provides recommendations for incorporating such tools into
instruction. At this time, much software has been developed for the learning of statistics.
However, students remain struggling to understand major statistical ideas such as center,
shape, variation, sample size, sample, sampling distribution, and inference. Technology
tools have numerous advantages over static demonstrations from textbooks or worksheets
to assist with learning these major ideas.
Incorporating evidence from literature, this thesis demonstrates that technology
tools serve as a crucial element for both students and teachers in teaching and learning
statistical concepts. It argues that the use of dragging and measuring in dynamic
statistical environments aid students in exploratory data analysis which increases their
use of statistical reasoning. The same holds true for students when using dynamic
statistical applets to view the processes of resampling from sample data to aid with
statistical inference.M.S
EFFECTS OF A MORPHOLOGICAL INTERVENTION ON THE ABILITY OF 9TH AND 10TH GRADERS WITH DISABILITIES TO READ MULTISYLLABIC DERIVED WORDS
No full textSome students still reach secondary level schooling without proficient foundational reading skills. Students who struggle to decode words accurately and efficiently will fail to adequately access grade-level texts independently, furthering the gap between themselves and their peers. Despite a subgroup of students reaching high school with word reading deficits, very few studies aimed at improving word reading/identification have been done with this age group. Phonics instruction has a rich research base for teaching children how to read. At the same time, research focusing on morphology may help address the unique needs of an older student demographic due to the prevalence of multisyllabic and morphologically complex words in grade-level texts. However, most reading intervention studies for secondary-age students focus on vocabulary and comprehension rather than decoding and word reading skills. The proposed research seeks to investigate the effectiveness of explicit morphology instruction (structural word analysis, syllable type instruction, and syllabication practice, and study of Latin bases and affixes) on the ability of 9th and 10th graders (N = 23) with decoding deficits to read morphologically complex words. Students identified with reading difficulties and registered for a special education reading intervention class received roughly 20 hours of intervention over 10 weeks. The gains in reading skills achieved by the treatment group in response to the intervention were compared to other students identified with reading deficits who did not participate in an intervention period. On measures of word reading and morphologically complex word reading, the experiment group performed better than the control group when controlling for performance at pretest, though without statistical significance. Hedge’s g effect sizes for morphological knowledge (g = 0.97), word reading (g = 0.67), and complex word reading g = 0.60) suggest practical efficacy when compared to current literature. The results of this study provide important information needed to help inform how we address the instructional needs of students in high school struggling to read.
Keywords: reading intervention, high school, decoding, word reading, morphologyPh.D
Effect of Pregnancy on Body Temperature Regulation and Habitat Use of Northern Watersnakes (Nerodia sipedon) in Middle Tennessee
No full textSnakes of several species select and maintain higher and less variable body temperatures (Tbs) during pregnancy by means of behavioral thermoregulation. The leading hypothesis for this behavior is that the rate of embryonic development is facilitated by warmer temperatures, shortening gestation time, and there are optimal temperature ranges for successful embryonic development which are typically warmer than baseline body temperatures. Therefore, maintaining a warm and relatively constant body temperature could be more beneficial than costly to a reproductive snake. Body temperature selection can be accomplished through behavioral actions such as modifying body postures, choosing different habitats and moving throughout the environment. To test this hypothesis, in 2021 and 2022 I implanted reproductive and non-reproductive female Nerodia sipedon from middle Tennessee with radio transmitters and temperature loggers to continuously record their body temperatures throughout the gestation season. With a sample size of 12 female snakes (7 reproductive, 5 non-reproductive) and a total of 7440 Tbs (from 7 July – 14 August for 2021 and 2022), daily (24-hour) mean Tb was 27.1 ± 0.03 °C. Non-reproductive snakes overall 24-hour mean Tb (27.0 ± 0.05°C) was the same as that of reproductive snakes (27.2 ± 0.04°C). After running a generalized additive mixed model with body temperature as the response variable and pregnancy status as the main predictor variable and accounting for time of day (in hours), air temperature, water temperature, month, snake ID (individual snakes) and site as random variables, pregnancy appeared to have no effect on body temperature selection. Because habitat use and snake movement can influence body temperature selection, I also collected data on movements and habitat use. Reproductive and non-reproductive females had similar daily movements, generally moving less than 50 m between each telemetric location. However, snakes did show differences in habitat use with reproductive snakes predominately choosing rocks out of water and forbs while non-reproductive females chose rocks within the river or close to the water. Comparison of this study to others suggests the possibility that N. sipedon may exhibit thermal plasticity in body temperature selection based on geographic variation and that pregnant N. sipedon in warmer climates may not need to thermoregulate as strongly to maintain body temperatures at appropriate levels for embryonic development.M.S
Collage
No full textMiddle Tennessee State University arts and literary journal features poetry, porse, short plays, song lyrics, art, design, audio, video, and photography from current students and recent graduates.University Honors Colleg