Student Projects
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Item Open Access Mothering behind bars: how addiction, recovery, and incarceration affect mothering(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Willkomm, Larissa A., author; Miller, Katelyn, author; Jacobi, Tobi, authorThe goal of this project is to create a collaborative essay focusing on the experiences of mothering, addiction, and recovery that incarcerated women face. Too often imprisoned women are ignored or criticized, relegated to an untenable space as a statistic or an unnamed casualty (Enos, 2000; Solinger et al, 2010; Haney, 2010; Jacobi and Stanford, 2014). The essay will be co-authored by three women who co-facilitate writing workshops through the Community Literacy Center at a county jail and four women who are held at the jail. This core group will offer their own views, their own definitions of addiction, their own experiences with mothering, and what these terms mean to them. The group will begin with stories, stories that unfold through their essay and that have been published in the SpeakOut journals that emerge twice annually across more than a decade of dedicated writing workshops. The writers are committed to collaborative authorship and will use a range of participatory methods to invite imprisoned mothers to co-author this story. They will distribute a call for contributions in the housing unit and invite the lead co-authors to engage in both reflection and autoethnographic/lifewriting. As a team the writers will review selected published poems and writing from the Speak/Out Journal in order to understand the breadth of experience that women have chosen to document. This essay will not only offer up those voices, but will actively engage currently incarcerated women in the shaping and crafting of the writing and perspectives the writers offer.Item Open Access My definition(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Fountain, Rachel, authorItem Open Access Chemotherapeutic responses in canine lymphoma models after treatment with the CHOP protocol(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Ramirez, Dominique, author; Wittenburg, Luke, authorIn both human and veterinary oncology, multi-drug resistance is a phenomenon where a cancer gains a cyto-protective effect against chemotherapeutics. Resistance is often witnessed when remitted cancers relapse and become untreatable. As an example, canine lymphomas are notorious for relapsing after treatment with the multi-drug CHOP protocol. While canonical drug efflux transporters have been implicated with the chemo-resistance phenotype, there are other transporters which might also contribute. Recent research has demonstrated that exposure to chemotherapeutics results in epigenetic changes to transporter gene expression; this could be a possible route for acquiring the resistance phenotype. What is still unknown, however, is a mechanistic understanding of the chemotherapy-transporter expression relationship. To address this void, we are focusing our research on three questions: 1) What are the temporal fluctuations in transporter expression following exposure to multi-drug regimens? 2) What patterns of epigenetic markers on transporter genes promote altered expression? 3) How does transporter expression correlate to protein levels in chemo-resistant lymphomas? We will address each of these questions using a panel of four chemo-sensitive canine lymphomas as our models, and the CHOP protocol as our drug regimen. We will expose the lymphomas to combinations of the CHOP protocol to mimic short- and long-term treatments, and monitor transporter expression via QT-PCR, and epigenetic changes via ChIP-assays. Additionally, protein levels will be monitored with LC-MS/MS methods to correlate expression with translation. We hypothesize that changes in transporter expression exhibit temporal and drug-dependent patterns.Item Open Access The woman who wanted to be a soldier(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Leskanich, Ivana, authorThis essay serves as a character analysis for Desdemona in William Shakespeare's Othello. It argues that Desdemona primarily wishes to be a soldier rather than acquiescing to her wifely role. She faces greater disadvantages than her husband Othello due to the fact that she is, first and foremost, a woman and cannot command multiple roles.Item Open Access Reduction of UDP-glucose diphosphorylase(UGP2) gene expression does not reduce accumulation of the diatom storage sugar chrysolaminarinin Phaeodactylum tricornutum(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Zhang, Yun, author; Caballero, Michael, author; Peers, Graham, authorDiatoms are ecologically significant microalgae, responsible for 40% of the ocean's primary productivity. Diatoms distribute fixed carbon into metabolic pools such as carbohydrate, lipid, and protein. We are interested in exploring the unusual storage carbohydrate of diatoms, chrysolaminarin, which has the same composition and function as starch from plants, but a different structure (‘-1,3 and ‘-1,4 linked glucans, respectively). Decreasing carbon partitioning into chrysolaminarin may increase diatom lipid productivity for biofuels. The synthesis and degradation pathways for chrysolaminarin are unknown. Biochemical evidence suggests that making UDP glucose is the first step of chrysolaminarin synthesis. The sequenced genome of the model diatom Phaeodactylum tricornutum encodes tow predicted gene products that may make UDP glucose (UGP1, UGP2). We investigate the contribution of UGP2 to diatom carbohydrate accumulation using an RNAi approach by constructing two independent antisense knockdown vectors with unique, non-overlapping amplicons from UGP2. We identified four UGP2 knockdown strains with reduced gene expression levels by a qRT-PCR screen. These mutants did not have different growth rates of chrysolaminarin per cell compared to wild-type controls. These data suggest the UGP2 does not significantly contribute to chrysolaminarin metabolism. However, partial gene knockdowns may be adequate to reduce chrysolaminarin syntheses. Therefore, UGP2 CRISPR/Cas9 knockouts are in development to study the role of UGP2 in chrysolaminarin biology. These studies improve our understanding of diatom central carbon metabolism, which may inform bioengineering strategies to produce biofuels.Item Open Access The rabbit in the Moon Palace(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Liang, Haiyin, authorItem Open Access Prejudice about stroke survivors in the workplace(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Zhu, Bing, author; Gibbons, Alyssa M., advisorRecovering from a major health challenge, such as a cancer diagnosis or a stroke, is difficult in itself, but survivors may face additional obstacles in returning to work beyond their physical health. A recent study by Martinez, White, Shapiro, & Hebl (2015) found that cancer survivors are perceived as a warmer, but less competent, than normal employees in the workplace, and that job applicants who disclosed a history of cancer were treated less well and were less likely to be called back for an interview. This high-warmth/low-competence stereotype profile is often associated with paternalistic prejudice (Fiske, Cuddy Glick, and Xu, 2002). We replicated and extended Martinez and colleagues' study by comparing perceptions of cancer survivors and stroke survivors. We conducted an anonymous online survey in which participants rated how they think others would perceive stroke survivors in the workplace. This approach has been used successfully in the past to identify shared stereotypes while avoiding social desirability effects. We expected that stroke survivors would be perceived as warmer than other widely stereotyped social groups (Fiske et al.), but as even less competent than cancer survivors.Item Open Access Assessing the variability of snow surfaces(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Thomas, Eric, author; Fassnacht, Steven, authorVariability in snow surface roughness is rarely incorporated into climate or hydrological models, yet it has the potential to have a large impact on both latent and sensible heat for a snow dominated system. We looked at the spatial variability of snow surface roughness using the data collected by the NASA Cold Land Processes Experiment (CLPX) during the winters of 2002 and 2003 for nine 1 km2 study sites across northern Colorado. Black boards were placed perpendicularly into the snow to create a contrast so that pictures could be taken of the surface. The surfaces digitally extracted and the surfaces were detrended to remove random data acquisition biases. The datasets for each board within a study site were then assigned a value based on variability in the surface, standard deviation and categorized based on location. These roughness metrics were then analyzed geospatially to understand their spatial variability and the driving processes.Item Open Access Sustainability vs. profitability: does socially responsible investing correlate to increased profits?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Michel, Malia, authorI am analyzing the link between companies who utilize sustainability practices in their business and the positive influence that can have on earnings. Specifically, looking at Bloomberg's Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) scores and the companies earning announcements. I am trying to prove the significance of doing good for the planet will positively correlate to an increase in profits.Item Open Access Sex role behavioral differences in parental alienation(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Chen, Qi, author; Ratajack, Ellen, author; Harman, Jennifer, authorMen and women deal with conflicts in different ways and sex differences have been demonstrated in terms of aggressive behaviors. The purpose of the current study is to examine if gender differences exist in the context of divorce, particularly when children are involved when parental alienation occurs. We hypothesized that men are more likely to use direct aggression to prevent a mother from seeing her children while women would employ more indirect aggression to assist with the alienation.Item Open Access Coping with a negative social interaction: the role of age and depressive symptoms(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Wilson, Samantha, author; Luong, Gloria, authorInterpersonal stressors, such as arguments and disagreements, are among the most distressing types of daily experiences. It is therefore important to understand how people cope with such stressors. Previous studies suggest that older adults are more likely to use emotion-focused, avoidant, and passive coping strategies during interpersonal tensions (e.g., Birditt & Fingerman, 2003), which are among the most effective strategies for these types of stressors (e.g., Blanchard-Fields et al., 2007). Individuals with greater depressive symptoms also tend to use similar coping strategies and yet, they often exhibit lower efficacy (Coyne, Aldwin, & Lazarus, 1981). The current study investigates how age correlates with depressive symptoms and coping styles in response to a controlled negative interpersonal stressor. Younger adult (18-35 years old) and older adult (60+ years old) participants (N = 159) discussed hypothetical dilemmas with an age-group, gender, and cultural group matched confederate who was scripted to act unfriendly and disagreeable. As expected, individuals with greater depressive symptoms were less likely to engage in active coping and more likely to self-blame, use behavioral disengagement, and be in denial about the negative social interaction with the confederate. Moreover, there was an interaction effect such that with increasing depressive symptoms, older adults were less likely to vent (i.e., express negative affect) with the confederate whereas for younger adults, greater depressive symptoms was associated with greater venting. However, it was also found that depressive symptoms were more likely to be found in the young adult participants than the older adult participants. These findings suggest the importance of considering how the association between depressive symptoms and coping strategies may depend on age and other possible motivational factors.Item Open Access When does grit predict job performance?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Su, Qiuyu, author; Gibbons, Alyssa M., authorThe researchers analyze grit as a good predictor for job performance.Item Open Access Rainbow lorikeet(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2016) Semsak, Cienna, authorItem Open Access M-CSF and GM-CSF influence naïve murine alveolar macrophage differentiation and function in vitro(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2008) Higgins, Jonathan R., author; Higgins, David M., author; Lee, Eric J., author; Orme, Ian M., author; Gonzalez-Juarrero, Mercedes, authorThe objective of this study was to compare the effect of M-CSF and GM-CSF in their abilities to affect the functional and phenotypical characteristics of AMs. In this study, we harvested naïve uninfected murine alveolar macrophages by bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) and cultured in the presence of M-CSF, GM-CSF or both. GM-CSF stimulated cell proliferation at a higher rate when measured by relative loss of CFDA-SE dye and had higher phagocytic capacity than M-CSF cultured cells. In contrast, alveolar macrophages cultured in the presence of M-CSF exhibited a dendritic-cell-like morphology and upregulated expression of dendriticcell- associated markers like CCR7, MHC II and DEC205. The dendritic cell character of M-CSF-treated AMs was also manifested in their higher capacity to stimulate CD4+ T cell proliferation in a mixed lymphocyte reaction (MLR). This study demonstrates that M-CSF has a strong ability to differentiate AMs into DC-like cells.Item Open Access Phylogeny of the Celastreae (Celastraceae) inferred using chloroplast and nuclear loci(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Cappa, Jennifer J., author; Daw, Allison L., author; Simmons, Mark P., authorThe phylogenetic inference presented of the Celastreae (Celastraceae) is based on four loci: matK and trnL-F from the chloroplast genome and ITS and 26S rDNA from the nuclear genome. The species sampled are combined with taxa sampled from previous studies to better test the monophyly of the genera along with the intergeneric relationships within this tribe. The main purpose is to give an overview of the laboratory procedures used and the results from the sampling. The procedures include DNA isolation, DNA amplification, DNA purification, construction of contiguous sequences, sequence alignment, and lastly phylogenetic inference.Item Open Access Drawings from the Golden Age transformed(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Thrasher, Rebekah L., authorThe purpose of this project was to find historical illustrations from the Gold Age of Fashion (approximately 1912-1930) and transform them into illustrations appropriate for the modern viewer. The original illustrations were updated from what some may consider a stagnant, two-dimensional piece of art into a creative interpretation of that picture, emphasizing fabric detail, figure movement, and overall mood.Item Open Access Human-wildlife interactions and the Potential for Conflict Index(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2007) Hummer, Caroline, author; Vaske, Jerry J., author; Needham, Mark D., authorDetermine acceptability of management actions in scenarios varying by severity of human-wildlife interaction and species involved, using the Potential for Conflict Index and Analysis of VarianceItem Open Access Purification of phenolic glycolipid from mycobacterium tuberculosis(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Vigil, Scott Brandon, author; Hesser, Danny C., author; Dobos, Karen, authorMycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a very successful human pathogen, infecting one-third of the world's population. Although originally thought to have little to no genetic variation, Mtb has been recently shown to be distinguished to clades based on geographical distribution. Further, members of specific clades (and/or subclades) have been shown to possess differences in virulence. Several clades from Asia, Africa, and India were found to express phenolic glycolipid (PGL). PGL is absent in many North American and European clades due to gene deletion. The West Beijing strains of Mtb, HN878, W4, and W451, contain PGL as part of their cellular envelope. These strains demonstrated reduced production of important immune-mediating cytokines including tumor necrosis factor alpha and interleukin 12. Subsequent evidence demonstrated this was due to PGL. Thus, it is believed that PGL works in concert with other factors to enhance the virulence of Mtb. Purification of PGL from these strains will permit further studies on the molecular interactions of PGL during infection with Mtb. In our laboratory, we attempted to isolate PGL from Mtb strain HN878. Initially, a lipid extraction was performed with 1:2 chloroform: methanol. This extract was then analyzed via preparatory and analytical Thin-Layer Chromatography (TLC) plates with a 90:10 and 95:5 chloroform: methanol developing solution. These TLC plates were then sprayed with CuSO4 and α-naphthol for sugar and carbon compound detection. Ultra-violet light was used to view and outline what is believed to be the major PGL band. This band was scraped off the TLC and will be extracted with diethyl ether to purify PGL. Once purified, we will perform studies with naïve and Mtb-infected macrophages to assess the role of PGL in the pro-inflammatory response during infection.Item Open Access The relationship between cognitive inhibition and extraversion/introversion(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Knapp, Alexandra Elizabeth, author; Campbell, Alana May, author; Burr, Hilary Kay, author; Matigian, Morgan Ashley, author; Davalos, Deana, authorThe purpose of this study was to analyze the visual and textual content presented on the covers of Seventeen magazines published between 1997 and 2007. Seventeen is the most widely read magazine among adolescent females today (SRDS, 2002); research suggests that young readers look to this publication for ideas about who to be and how to look (Duffy and Gotcher, 1996). Covers were chosen for analysis because they represent an index to the information included within the magazine and serve as an advertisement for the sale of the publication. Since young people look to Seventeen magazine for insight on how to look and act, it is important to be aware of what they are being told and shown.Item Open Access Does Flotillin play a role in lipid raft organization of the GnRH receptor and its ability to transduce an intracellular signal?(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2009) Phillips, Adam Paul, author; Mrdutt, Mary Megan, author; Clay, Colin McKeown, authorGonadotropin-Releasing Hormone (GnRH) and its subsequent signaling through the GnRH Receptor (GnRH-R) is critical for gonadal development and control of reproduction function. The GnRH-R is a member of the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) superfamily and is localized to specialized low-density areas on the cell membrane termed lipid rafts. These raft domains are implicated in GPCR coupled signaling by spatially organizing receptors and their associated signaling proteins to specific domains in the plasma membranes of cells. These raft domains appear to play an important role in the organization of GnRH-R and the signaling of GnRH to MAPkinase. Flotillin-1 is a protein thought to be intricately involved in the organization of rafts and the trafficking of proteins to raft domains. To examine the potential role of flotillin in GnRH signaling, gonadotrope derived αT3-1 cells were transfected with a specific siRNA for Flotillin-1 with the long-term goal of assessing the impact of Flotillin-1 deficiency on GnRHR trafficking to lipid rafts and signaling to intracellular targets including extracellular signal regulated kinase (ERK). Objectives: to use si-GLO Red to determine the transfection efficiency of Flotillin-1 siRNA; to use siRNA technology to knockdown Flotillin-1 expression; to determine the effect of Flotillin-1 knockdown on GnRH-R signaling.
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