The present study was a program evaluation of KidSpirit that investigated how gymnastics coaches’ growth mindsets changed over an eight week period after a training intervention. A mixed-method approach was used to measure growth mindset and self-determination theory (SDT). There were three aims of this study: (1) participants would improve...
Hypoproteinemia secondary to gastrointestinal disease in horses has traditionally been treated with the administration of colloids such as equine plasma or hetastarch. While plasma transfusion is common, evidence-based guidelines for its use in hypoproteinemic horses are lacking. This study involved prospective and retrospective components that aimed to weigh the efficacy...
Triathlon is an endurance sport consisting of back-to-back swimming, cycling, and running. There are four popular distances: sprint (.75k m swim, 20km bike, 5km run), Olympic (1.5km swim, 40km bike, 10km run), half-ironman (1.9km swim, 90km bike, 21.1km run), and ironman (3.8km swim, 180km bike, 42.2km run). Even at the...
Exertional rhabdomyolysis (ER), or the occurrence of muscle damage with exercise, is prevalent among Arabian horses, the most common breed participating in endurance racing. The cause and pathogenesis of this disease has yet to be determined, and due to the potential for significant morbidity and even mortality associated with ER...
Reducing the CO2 emitted by the production of cement can greatly reduce the carbon emissions attributable to the built industry. By specifying concrete mixes with lower global warming potentials (GWPs), structural engineers can reduce the carbon emissions of concrete used in the built industry. This thesis uses a cradle-to-gate life...
Using X-ray computed tomography (CT) scanning to characterize the physical characteristics of soil and sediment cores allows scientists to observe and analyze stratigraphy without destroying the integrity of different layers. Microbiologists often work with geologists to characterize the microbial communities in such cores; however, X-rays are known to be destructive...
A disproportionate amount of HIV/AIDS cases each year occur among African Americans. The purpose of this study was to review the numerous studies on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs and their effects into one document. This research was done using research databases to indentify peer-reviewed journal articles on HIV/AIDS conspiracy beliefs, and...
Traditional braced frames are an efficient and economic means of resisting seismic demands. However, braced frames are prone to story mechanisms, which can result in concentrations of demands and damage during seismic events. Including steel strongbacks in conjunction with traditional braced frames can mitigate story mechanisms. The SBF results in...
Wildfires are increasing in frequency. One area of research interest centers on the pollutants within wildfire smoke, including but not limited to particulate matter and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons. These chemicals are associated with exacerbation of respiratory, cardiovascular, dermatological, reproductive, oncological, gastrointestinal, and infectious conditions. As wildfires becoming increasingly prevalent, it...
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Erica Fleishman, Committee Member, representing the College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric
The intent of this thesis is to develop three creative non-fiction essays exploring the experience of being an undergraduate woman in a STEM field. The essays will all take on variations in form, humor, and perspectives. The purpose is to explore the position of women in STEM and the different...
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the U.S. but is often thought of as a man’s disease. Women with CVD, however, suffer poorer health outcomes due to previous education of stereotypically “male” signs and symptoms of heart attacks, despite the fact...
Adults with severe and persistent mental illness (SPMI) are overrepresented in the homeless population, and Oregon’s homeless population has expanded in recent years. In the 1950s, the mentally ill were moved out of the state hospitals and into the community. However, due to a lack of support services in the...
Sea turtles are endangered species that can be censused with aerial surveys, but the number of turtles in an area must be extrapolated to include animals that are submerged. Twenty-one satellite tags were attached to juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in North Carolina. I analyzed surfacing and dive behavior...
Sea turtles are endangered species that can be censused with aerial surveys, but the number of turtles in an area must be extrapolated to include animals that are submerged. Twenty-one satellite tags were attached to juvenile loggerhead sea turtles (Caretta caretta) in North Carolina. I analyzed surfacing and dive behavior...
Despite the prominence of LEDs in our society, we have limited knowledge pertaining to their long-term effects. These seemingly white LEDs have a large blue light component to them. Recent results have shown that Drosophila living in 12 hrs. of blue light and 12 hrs. of darkness live substantially shorter...
Infections in hospitals account for over 100,000 deaths per year. These infections occur at the
hospital from complications following bacterial adhesion to intravenous catheters, coronary
stents and other implanted devices. Another common problem is protein adsorption to the
surface of the device and subsequent blood clotting. Methods for combating these...
Farmers rely almost exclusively on the imported European honeybee (Apis mellifera L.) for fruit and vegetable crop pollination services. The recent decline in honeybee health has underscored he danger of relying on a single species to provide vital services. Increasing pollinator biodiversity with native bees may provide biological insurance against...
The cross over from batch nanoparticle synthesis to continuous synthesis processes is crucial to the commercialization of these materials. This project reports comparative studies of batch and continuous synthese of copper nanoparticles by the polyol method. Continuous synthesis of copper nanoparticles was done utilizing a stainless steel micro-mixer that yielded...
Coral reefs are diverse ecosystems and serve many purposes including preventing erosion on coastlines and acting as a source of food, income, and culture. Acropora cervicornis, a staghorn coral, has faced a significant 80-89% decline in the Caribbean, attributed to a poorly-characterized epizootic, White Band Disease (WBD). Previous studies showed...
The purpose of this research is to study the relationship between popular news media sources and individual perceptions of media credibility. Findings in this research show that there is a relationship between media credibility, media habits, and media trust, which affects the choice of media that an individual determines is...
Clear and unbiased question wording is important to obtaining consistent and accurate survey results. However, if the goal is not to obtain accurate results but instead to obtain a specific result, then altering question wording may be effective. To examine this possibility, we created a survey with 9 different versions...
Females more commonly injure their anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in
athletics than do males. Despite many studies researching anatomical, neuromuscular,
and hormonal causes, the predisposing risk factors behind this occurrence are currently
unknown. This study compared 5 females who had injured their ACL to 15 healthy
females concentrating on three...
Interest in organizational culture has grown enormously over the last twenty years and much
effort has gone into investigating the relationship between organizational culture and
performance. Because most research to date has focused on large organizations, we chose to
investigate the culture in a community bank undergoing a cultural transformation....
The emergence of the 2019 coronavirus disease drove the rapid implementation of telehealth in maternal healthcare services in the United States (US) and globally. To protect providers and patients, states across the US incorporated telecommunications technology to substitute traditional in-person care for many aspects of perinatal care, for low- and...
Endurance athletes set the intensities of training sessions using blood lactate data from a maximal graded exercise test. Specifically, these intensities are set as a percentage of heart rate (HR) at lactate threshold (LT). Often, however, gas exchange threshold (GET) data is used as a predictor of LT as it...
The WNBA is a league that has been characterized by struggle ever since its inception in 1996. The biggest reason for nearly all of its problems lies with one source: money. The WNBA simply does not have enough money to make it a functionable professional sports league. As a result...
The purpose of this thesis is to engage in a linguistic-conceptual inquiry into what it
proposes might for analytical purposes be conceived—and which it hence stipulatively
defines—as Applied Value Words. After constructing the conceptual framework through
which to identify, and within which to characterize Applied Value Words, this thesis then...
Epidemiological research on HIV/AIDS seeks to determine at-risk populations not reached by current care. In the forty years since the AIDS epidemic began, transgender people were only recently deemed “at-risk” by the CDC and more action was taken to study them. Most current research centers on transgender women, with transgender...