Search results

Title: THE PROCESS OF LEAVING SEX TRAFFICKING : USING LIFE HISTORY CALENDAR METHODS TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF FORMAL SYSTEMS AND SUPPORT
Creator: Vollinger, Lauren
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Sex trafficking (ST) is a serious and hidden social problem affecting thousands of people in United States. ST is defined as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act” or when that person “has not attained 18 years of age” (Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 2000). Given the violent, coercive, and economic tactics used to control victims of this crime, it is challenging for individuals to leave their trafficking...
Show moreSex trafficking (ST) is a serious and hidden social problem affecting thousands of people in United States. ST is defined as “the recruitment, harboring, transportation, provision, or obtaining of a person for the purposes of a commercial sex act” or when that person “has not attained 18 years of age” (Trafficking Victims Protection Act, 2000). Given the violent, coercive, and economic tactics used to control victims of this crime, it is challenging for individuals to leave their trafficking situation. Thus, the purpose of this study was to understand how survivors exit from ST and use formal systems or services to facilitate that exit. This study presents findings from qualitative interviews with 34 survivors of domestic ST to understand the process of exiting the sex industry over time. Life History Calendar methodology was used to guide interviews about: 1) how participants conceptualized their experiences in the sex industry over time: 2) what formal systems participants had contact with during their time in the sex industry: and 3) the circumstances surrounding participants’ most recent exit from the sex industry. Results revealed that participants were in and out of ST multiple times over the course of their lives and had contact with many formal systems over time. However, what made the difference in most survivors’ last exit from the sex industry was the collaboration between formal systems to coordinate referrals and service provision. Findings from this study contribute to future research on exiting from sex trafficking and provide recommendations for policy and practice.
Show less

Title: Disentangling the branched respiratory chain of Shewanella oneidensis MR-1
Creator: Duhl, Kody Lee
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Bacteria possess a wide range of metabolic pathways, allowing them to adapt to an array of environmental changes. Focusing on these different metabolic pathways allows us to observe how bacteria catabolize substrate or use anabolic pathways to generate biomass. A more in-depth look shows that many of these pathways are redundant, meaning a single organism can conduct the same overall reactions differing only by the types of enzymes or intermediates used. Overlapping pathways are common in...
Show moreBacteria possess a wide range of metabolic pathways, allowing them to adapt to an array of environmental changes. Focusing on these different metabolic pathways allows us to observe how bacteria catabolize substrate or use anabolic pathways to generate biomass. A more in-depth look shows that many of these pathways are redundant, meaning a single organism can conduct the same overall reactions differing only by the types of enzymes or intermediates used. Overlapping pathways are common in bacteria and have become a focal point of metabolism research to determine the advantages of conserving redundant pathways throughout evolution. The metal reducing bacterium Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 is a practical model organism for metabolic studies, as it has substantial branching within its respiratory pathways. In this work, we focused on the extensive electron transport chain (ETC) of S. oneidensis MR-1 to understand the importance of seemingly redundant respiratory complexes and their functions during aerobic growth. The S. oneidensis MR-1 genome encodes four different NADH dehydrogenases (NDHs): a proton-pumping Type I NDH (Nuo), two sodium-pumping NDHs (Nqr1 and Nqr2), and one type II ‘uncoupling NDH (Ndh). NDHs oxidize NADH to move electrons into the ETC and generate ion-motive force that drives ATP synthesis, active transport, and motility. We determined that either Nuo or Nqr1 was required for aerobic growth in minimal medium. The presence of theoretically redundant complexes (Nqr2 and Ndh) did not rescue cell growth. Further, we determined that knocking out NDHs led to the inability to properly oxidize NADH. NADH build up inhibited the tricarboxylic acid cycle causing an amino acid synthesis defect and inhibiting growth of the S. oneidensis strain lacking Nuo and Nqr1. Recently, bacterial metabolic models have been developed to explain the use of energetically inefficient pathways during fast growth. Two standout models postulate that energetically inefficient pathways are used to reduce a cell’s proteome cost by eliminating thermodynamic barriers or to reduce dependence on the ETC as cells grow larger. We sought to uncover if these models applied to the respiratory chain of S. oneidensis MR-1 during aerobic growth, as the ETC can vary in energetic efficiency based on the combination of NDH and terminal oxidase used. Our findings indicate that the models apply to S. oneidensis MR-1 in the context of overflow metabolism during growth at higher growth rates, while the structuring of the ETC was not in agreement. Most importantly, determined that both carbon metabolism and the ETC were restructured for adaptive growth under differing conditions. As carbon metabolism became less efficient at faster growth rates, the NDH step of the ETC became more efficient, using complexes with higher coupling efficiencies.
Show less

Title: ALGAL CULTIVATION AND BIOMASS UTILIZATION FOR SUSTAINABLE CARBON CAPTURE FROM THE POWER INDUSTRY
Creator: Cutshaw, Ashley
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Anthropogenic climate change is a critical issue that must be addressed with a systems approach. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, like carbon dioxide (CO2), are key contributors to the climate crisis and originate from several different sources. Namely, the power industry is responsible for approximately 30% of U.S. CO2 emissions and 45% of global CO2 emissions. These emissions result from the combustion of carbon-based fuels, like coal and natural gas, and are emitted into the atmosphere in...
Show moreAnthropogenic climate change is a critical issue that must be addressed with a systems approach. Greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, like carbon dioxide (CO2), are key contributors to the climate crisis and originate from several different sources. Namely, the power industry is responsible for approximately 30% of U.S. CO2 emissions and 45% of global CO2 emissions. These emissions result from the combustion of carbon-based fuels, like coal and natural gas, and are emitted into the atmosphere in the form of flue gas. Being a large contributor of CO2 emissions has made the power industry the focus of research efforts to develop post-combustion carbon capture technologies. This work represents a comprehensive examination of microalgal cultivation and biomass utilization as methods for post-combustion carbon capture and replacement of fossil-dependent technologies and products. Optimized pilot-scale cultivation represents a sustainable post-combustion carbon capture technology with downstream economic value. An initial study of a 100 L photobioreactor (PBR) within a 100 MW power plant was conducted to optimize the long-term, continuous cultivation of the green microalgae Chlorella sorokiniana. The culture utilized flue gas as a source of CO2 and successfully operated continuously over a year long period. Insights from this study include the growth kinetics of C. sorokiniana, optimal cultivation conditions of the PBR, and an in-depth analysis of the microbial-microalgal assemblage throughout the study. The biomass produced during the 12-month study was stored and subsequently utilized to develop methods for cell disruption and protein recovery. This work investigated a mechanochemical method, using ball milling technology and chemically induced pH changes, to efficiently extract and recover microalgal proteins. The results of this study indicate that the mechanochemical method requires less energy than existing mechanical methods, while achieving similar levels of cell disruption. In addition to protein extraction and recovery, an alternate pathway for biomass utilization was explored. Microalgal biomass and microalgal proteins contain the foundational building blocks required for synthesis of chemicals like polyols. Polyols, used for polyurethane (PU) foam production, represent another value-added product that could provide the economic incentive to invest in microalgal cultivation for post-combustion carbon capture. Using biomass and recovered proteins as feedstocks, polyols were synthesized using a one-pot, two step method. Two microalgal polyols were selected based on their characterization and were evaluated using life cycle and techno-economic frameworks. The results elucidated the environmental and economic advantages when using microalgal biomass as an alternative to petrochemicals as a feedstock for polyol synthesis. Finally, this work evaluated a combined biological and chemical post-combustion carbon capture system using microalgal cultivation and a novel microalgal amino acid salt solution (MAASS). Life cycle and techno-economic frameworks were used to compare the MAASS to a standard amine-based solvent. The results of these assessments show that the MAASS capture system performs significantly better than an amine capture system, both in terms of environmental impacts and the cost of capture. This comprehensive collection of data and analysis represents advances in the field, as well as innovative methods and technologies that further demonstrate the viability of microalgal cultivation and biomass utilization for carbon capture from the power industry.
Show less

Title: OCCUPATIONAL STRESS AMONG EMPLOYEES IN CRIMINAL-LEGAL SYSTEMS : A META-ANALYSIS
Creator: Lawson, Spencer Grant
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Occupational stress is all too common, especially for employees in the criminal-legal system. Many sources of stress (i.e., stressors) have been shown to be associated with perceived occupational stress in the literature; yet, methodological variations and inconsistent findings across research articles obscure the empirical status of the effect of stressors on occupational stress among criminal-legal employees. To synthesize the research on this stressor-stress link, a meta-analysis was...
Show moreOccupational stress is all too common, especially for employees in the criminal-legal system. Many sources of stress (i.e., stressors) have been shown to be associated with perceived occupational stress in the literature; yet, methodological variations and inconsistent findings across research articles obscure the empirical status of the effect of stressors on occupational stress among criminal-legal employees. To synthesize the research on this stressor-stress link, a meta-analysis was conducted. Based on 80 peer-reviewed articles representing 57 unique data sets that contained 1,993 effect size estimates, random-effects analyses using multilevel modeling techniques were used to establish the grand mean effect of stressors on occupational stress. Results showed a modest effect of stressors on occupational stress (Mz = 0.15, 95% CI = [0.13, 0.18]). Importantly, the findings indicate that the strength of the effect size differed by the type of stressor. Specifically, larger effect sizes were yielded if the type of stressor was operational, followed by organizational stressors. The predicted effect size was smaller if the stressor was an individual demographic. Also, certain methodological decisions and study quality indicators moderate this effect. Overall, researchers must continue to explore the dimensions of these stressors to better understand their impact on occupational stress in criminal-legal systems. Theoretical, methodological, and practical implications of the meta-analytic findings are discussed and several directions for future research are identified in an effort to bring synergy to a disjointed evidence base.
Show less

Title: DEVELOPMENT OF GENOMIC RESOURCES TO FACILITATE PLANT BREEDING
Creator: Bornowski, Nolan
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Recent advances in sequencing and computation power have greatly contributed to our knowledge of plant genomics, and the development and use of plant genomic resources will be critical as plant researchers and breeders address future food security in light of the increasing world population, decreasing arable land, and variable effects of climate change. Plants belonging to the mint family provide culinary, medicinal, and cultural value due to their production of secondary metabolites. Genome...
Show moreRecent advances in sequencing and computation power have greatly contributed to our knowledge of plant genomics, and the development and use of plant genomic resources will be critical as plant researchers and breeders address future food security in light of the increasing world population, decreasing arable land, and variable effects of climate change. Plants belonging to the mint family provide culinary, medicinal, and cultural value due to their production of secondary metabolites. Genome assemblies and annotations for four important culinary herbs were generated to highlight genes involved in terpenoid biosynthetic pathways. Maize (Zea mays L.) is the most produced crop worldwide due in part to extensive commercial breeding programs. Genome assemblies and annotations for five commercially relevant maize inbred lines belonging to the stiff-stalk heterotic group were generated to characterize the pan-stiff-stalk gene repertoire and genomic regions associated with these founder lines. Tepary bean (Phaseolus acutifolius A. Gray), a close relative of the common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.), is indigenous to the arid climates of northern Mexico and produces high seed yields under drought stress. A diverse panel of tepary bean accessions was assembled, genotyped, and phenotyped to identify genomic regions associated with key agronomic traits that can be harnessed for tepary bean improvement.
Show less

Title: DEVELOPMENT OF A NEWS SUBSCRIPTION MOTIVATION SCALE
Creator: Chen, Weiyue
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: As news organizations face accelerated loss in advertising revenue, increasing importance is placed on strategies to increase subscription sales. Although previous studies have found several predictors of paywall, willingness to pay, and paying for news research, these factors did not fit into one clear conceptual framework that links them together. In this dissertation, I aim to introduce a new construct, News Subscription Motivation, that provides theoretical linkages between different...
Show moreAs news organizations face accelerated loss in advertising revenue, increasing importance is placed on strategies to increase subscription sales. Although previous studies have found several predictors of paywall, willingness to pay, and paying for news research, these factors did not fit into one clear conceptual framework that links them together. In this dissertation, I aim to introduce a new construct, News Subscription Motivation, that provides theoretical linkages between different predictors of paying for news. Mixed method research was employed to conceptualize and operationalize this new construct. In Chapter 1, I discuss my thought process developing this study, the purpose of the study, and why this topic matters in the context of digital economy. Chapter 2 includes a review of previous research on what drives people to pay for news, and the literature on consumer decision-making processes, consumer decision-making styles, and consumer motivation in general. The need to develop a new construct and measurement tools that are specially designed for news consumption was also addressed. In Chapter 3, I conducted 22 in-depth interviews to generate possible dimensions of the construct, analyzed the qualitative data to propose a conceptual framework and definition. Study 1 results suggested nine possible dimensions: content utility, journalism quality, price, convenience, hitting the paywall, surveillance, being a good citizen, brand reputation, and journalism. Conceptual definitions of each dimension were also elaborated. Chapter 4 focuses on the operationalization of News Subscription Motivation. An initial items pool was generated based on Study 1. After the pilot test, I recruited two independent samples, and they were respectively subjected to Exploratory Factor Analysis and Confirmatory Factor Analysis. The final scale included six dimensions with 19 items, and this scale demonstrated robust model fit and adequate convergent and discriminant validity. Six dimensions of News Subscription Motivation were identified: supporting journalism, journalism quality, triggered by the paywall, community attachment, price, and content utility. In Chapter 5, I aim to establish the nomological validity of News Subscription Motivation. Factors extracted from Chapter 4 demonstrated statistically significant relationships with numbers of news subscription people report paying for, types of subscriptions people get, and individuals’ intention to maintain their primary subscriptions in the next 3 months, 6 months, and 12 months. Finally, I discuss the theoretical and practical implications of the scale of News Subscription Motivation in Chapter 6.
Show less

Title: NATIVE AMERICAN COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES ON RENEWABLE ENERGY TECHNOLOGY
Creator: Gregorini, Jared
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Future generations of humans and our non-human relatives will face the environmental consequences of a human-first approach towards development. The transition from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources represents a deviation in behavior back to the eco-centric principles practiced by our ancestors for millennia. Renewable energy technology and infrastructure development often faces barriers within communities for numerous reasons. Using Native Nation Building theory from the...
Show moreFuture generations of humans and our non-human relatives will face the environmental consequences of a human-first approach towards development. The transition from fossil fuels towards renewable energy sources represents a deviation in behavior back to the eco-centric principles practiced by our ancestors for millennia. Renewable energy technology and infrastructure development often faces barriers within communities for numerous reasons. Using Native Nation Building theory from the community development literature as a foundation, this thesis examines the perspectives of tribal affiliated individuals for initiating renewable energy development in a Michigan tribal community. The study relies on 14 semi-structured interviews with tribal citizens and employees in one Native American community that has repeatedly expressed interest in developing renewable energy infrastructure projects on tribal lands. Through thematic analysis, observations, and personal experience, I show how both required elements of Native Nation Building have not been fulfilled and barriers to development are a result of conditions witnessed during repeated site visits to conduct qualitative interviews. This research makes it clear that the barriers identified by academic literature are overshadowed by the conditions witnessed while interacting with tribal community members. In addition to participatory based action research strategies, I argue that addressing poor community conditions is necessary while attempting community development projects focused on renewable energy transitions.
Show less

Title: The efficacy of implementing a technology-mediated dialogic pedagogy to support reading comprehension in virtual and co-located settings
Creator: Working, Christopher Scott
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Text-based discussion within a technology-mediated dialogic discussion (T+DLD) has the potential to engage students in higher-level reading comprehension with upper elementary students. While supported empirically, this approach is still not commonplace, and little is known about its efficacy within a remote setting. The primary aim of this project was to synthesize what is currently known about T+DLD and to explore changes in discussion within a remote setting to support practitioners...
Show moreText-based discussion within a technology-mediated dialogic discussion (T+DLD) has the potential to engage students in higher-level reading comprehension with upper elementary students. While supported empirically, this approach is still not commonplace, and little is known about its efficacy within a remote setting. The primary aim of this project was to synthesize what is currently known about T+DLD and to explore changes in discussion within a remote setting to support practitioners enacting the approach. This was achieved through a systematic review of the literature on T+DP that analyzed 18 included studies for study quality as well as patterns around study features (i.e., instructional design, environmental factors, task, methodology). Text-based discussion via web-based teleconferencing was studied using a comparative case study using sociocultural discourse analysis to study student discussion in three different training conditions: dialogic only, technology only, and a T+DLD training. A pathway of implementation was then developed to translate research into practice to support teachers in adopting T+DLD. A key finding within this project was that T+DLD builds on the key elements of ground rules for talk, an open task, and student reflection for talk. Additionally, the pedagogical approach of the teacher influences the way technology is used by students. Finally, technology can successfully support T+DLD in both co-located and remote settings. This dissertation provides recommendations for future research that compares methods of implementation and evaluates the direct impact on reading comprehension.
Show less

Title: THREE ESSAYS ON THE CHOICE OF COLLEGE MAJOR AND TRADE EXPOSURE
Creator: Wu, Yu-Siang
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation is composed of three chapters on the effects of import exposure. For my dissertation I mainly use the variation of import competition across local labor markets to explore its impact on labor market outcomes (e.g., wages and employment status), human capital investment decisions (choice of college major), and education-job mismatch.Chapter one explores the relationship between increasingly intense Chinese import competition and American college students’ choice of major in...
Show moreThis dissertation is composed of three chapters on the effects of import exposure. For my dissertation I mainly use the variation of import competition across local labor markets to explore its impact on labor market outcomes (e.g., wages and employment status), human capital investment decisions (choice of college major), and education-job mismatch.Chapter one explores the relationship between increasingly intense Chinese import competition and American college students’ choice of major in the 2000s. By employing a modified version of the measure for Chinese import competition from Autor, Dorn, and G. Hanson (2013) and analyzing the relationship between industries and college majors, I find that rising Chinese trade exposure of nineteen industries in the 2000s has a negative effect on American students’ choice ofsix engineering majors. The magnitudes of the effects range from 0.62 to 0.69 percentage point decreases in the probability of choosing those six engineering majors. I also find that males are more negatively affected by Chinese import competition in terms of the choice of the six engineering majors, whereas no significant results exist if I restrict my sample to females.Chapter two analyzes how increased trade exposure affects students’ choice of STEM major. I first present a simple model to illustrate how trade exposure impacts students’ utility functions through their self-beliefs about labor market outcomes and then use assorted data to show that import competition positively affects the choice of STEM major. I find that increased import exposure in the 2000s leads to 1.05 and 0.72 percentage point increases in the probability of choosing STEM majors for college underclassmen and upperclassmen, respectively. As for labor market outcomes, my results suggest that a rise in import competition leads to a pronounced negative effect on weekly wages, employment status, and full-time employment across STEM and non-STEM occupations from the late 1990s through the 2000s. STEM occupations, however, are less negatively impacted by import competition, which helps explain why a rise in import exposure increases the probability of students choosing STEM majors.Chapter three investigates the impact of import exposure on education-occupation mismatch. I first use the concept of a matching function to explain the connection between mismatch and the supply of and demand for college graduates. Next, I use an input-output table to construct a measure of import exposure that accounts for both direct and indirect trade shocks. Findings show that increased import exposure leads to a rise in education-occupation mismatch from 2011 through 2019. Moreover, for the supply side I present that a rise in import exposure significantly increases the number of bachelor’s degrees awarded in 4-year colleges and in most degree fields. However, for the demand side, I do not observe corresponding increases in occupational employment for most fields of education. The unbalanced demand for and supply of college graduates might potentially explain the rise in education-occupation mismatch.
Show less

Title: Differential Effects in Exposure to ACEs and Problematic Drinking : An Examination of Protective Factors
Creator: Welch, Timothy Sean
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Exposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has been associated with numerous negative developmental outcomes across the lifespan, including problematic drinking. However, not all individuals exposed to ACEs go on to drink problematically. This difference in the effect of exposure to ACEs on drinking use is an example of heterogeneity and is called a differential effect. Relatively little research has examined what factors predict resilience to the harmful effects of ACEs. Most existing...
Show moreExposure to Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) has been associated with numerous negative developmental outcomes across the lifespan, including problematic drinking. However, not all individuals exposed to ACEs go on to drink problematically. This difference in the effect of exposure to ACEs on drinking use is an example of heterogeneity and is called a differential effect. Relatively little research has examined what factors predict resilience to the harmful effects of ACEs. Most existing research has examined either a single protective factor or examined the total number of protective factors in a cumulative scale. No study has yet to specifically examine differential effects in the context of ACEs and alcohol use. The aim of this study was to examine differential effects in exposure to ACEs and alcohol use to empirically identify a resilient group of individuals. Two research questions drove this study 1) How can heterogeneity in the association between ACEs and alcohol use be characterized? and 2) What factors predict group membership? Using data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add health), two complimentary analytic tools were used to achieve these aims: Regression Mixture Modeling (RMM) and Structural Equation Model Trees (SEM trees). Results from the RMM found evidence of two groups: a resilient group consisting of 72.6% percent of the sample and a harmful effects group consisting of 27.4% percent of the sample. Two factors were positively associated with belonging to the resilient group, school bonding and self-control. One factor, having a mentor, was associated with a lower likelihood of being in the resilient group. Results from the SEM-tree divided the data into three groups based on two variables: self-esteem and having a mentor. In this analysis, higher self-esteem and having a mentor during adolescence were both associated with problematic drinking. Findings from this study provide empirical evidence of a resilient group of individuals for whom there is not an association between exposure to ACEs and alcohol use. Despite testing multiple theoretically based protective factors, only school bonding and problem solving were associated with resilience. This suggests future research should consider additional alternative protective factors. The results suggest therapists and clinicians working with youths exposed to ACEs should work to foster increased levels of school bonding during adolescence and should assess levels of self-control and focus on helping youths develop greater self-control.
Show less

Title: SLEEP MANAGEMENT AS A COLLABORATIVE WORK FOR THE FAMILY : DESIGNING SLEEP MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS TO IMPROVE BEDTIME ROUTINE
Creator: Shin, Ji Youn
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Sleep is a vital health issue. In families with young children, sleep problems can influence the physical, emotional, and behavioral health of all family members. Previous studies have investigated sleep as an individual activity, rarely considering the interconnected aspects of sleep among family members. To understand the social aspects of family sleep, this dissertation consists of two studies which can help researchers and designers understand the core issues of family sleep and address...
Show moreSleep is a vital health issue. In families with young children, sleep problems can influence the physical, emotional, and behavioral health of all family members. Previous studies have investigated sleep as an individual activity, rarely considering the interconnected aspects of sleep among family members. To understand the social aspects of family sleep, this dissertation consists of two studies which can help researchers and designers understand the core issues of family sleep and address them through the design of sleep-support technology. In the first study, I identified sleep as a complex experience entangled with the social dynamics between family members. For example, children's sleep means time not just for children to rest, but for a parent to have self-care. The results suggested how the boundaries that define sleep in terms of time (at night), space (in bedrooms), and unit of analysis (individual-focused) limit designers' opportunities to tackle the deeper sleep issues of families. I also suggest "division of labor" as an important but rarely discussed design concept to enhance family sleep, and as a promising design theme for home technologies that address issues emerging from social dynamics between household members. In the second study, by incorporating the identified themes from the first stage, I designed and tested two types of family-based sleep management prototypes. These prototypes redistributed the sleep-relevant tasks among family members and provided them with chances to reflect on the difficulties and values involved in the tasks. Through the in-the-wild study deploying two design prototypes in home settings, this study empirically revealed the importance of considering social dynamics as a design factor for family sleep management technologies. Implications of future design are discussed.
Show less

Title: Assessing Theoretical Mediators of Campaign-Induced Communication in the Context of Social Norms Campaigns
Creator: Park, Sunyoung
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The present paper examines the role of campaign-induced communication on the effects of a social norms campaign by focusing on cognitive elaboration, perceived injunctive norms, and message recall as mediating variables. Participants (n = 252) read an injunctive norms campaign message about choosing not to drink at parties or when socializing and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (control: received no prompts, prompt only; received prompts to engage in interpersonal...
Show moreThe present paper examines the role of campaign-induced communication on the effects of a social norms campaign by focusing on cognitive elaboration, perceived injunctive norms, and message recall as mediating variables. Participants (n = 252) read an injunctive norms campaign message about choosing not to drink at parties or when socializing and were randomly assigned to one of three conditions (control: received no prompts, prompt only; received prompts to engage in interpersonal communication about the campaign message with close others during the following week; prompt & plan: received prompts to engage in interpersonal communication with close others during the following week and to write a plan for the communication). The results revealed that the prompt (either alone or with the plan) significantly motivated participants to engage in positive conversations about the campaign message during the next week. Similar to past findings (Morgan et al., 2018), a higher frequency of positive conversations about the campaign message indirectly predicted better behavioral outcomes via higher cognitive elaboration. The findings suggest that social norms campaign developers should be encouraged to design social norms messages with a brief prompt to motivate the target audience to engage in interpersonal communication and need to account for such interpersonal communication and its indirect effects in evaluating campaign messages.
Show less

Title: IMPROVEMENT OF WINTER WHEAT AND SUGARBEET YIELD, GROWTH, AND QUALITY UTILIZING INTEGRATED NUTRIENT MANAGEMENT
Creator: Thomas, Lacie Katharine
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: The overwintering success of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) along with heightened awareness of soil spatial variabilities have growers focusing more on season-long soil nutrient availability. Field trials were initiated in Richville and Lansing, MI to evaluate the effects of autumn starter, spring nitrogen (N), and varietal stature on winter wheat plant growth, grain yield, and expected net return. Application of autumn starter (i.e., mid and high treatments compared to no autumn starter...
Show moreThe overwintering success of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) along with heightened awareness of soil spatial variabilities have growers focusing more on season-long soil nutrient availability. Field trials were initiated in Richville and Lansing, MI to evaluate the effects of autumn starter, spring nitrogen (N), and varietal stature on winter wheat plant growth, grain yield, and expected net return. Application of autumn starter (i.e., mid and high treatments compared to no autumn starter) increased grain and straw yield in all site years. Autumn starter and spring N applications indicate above-recommended spring N did not compensate for the lack of autumn-applied starter during establishment. Mid-rate autumn starter was the most economical option under the current environmental conditions to maximize grain and straw yield in soft red and white winter wheat. When fertilizing for straw production, varieties may respond to greater rates of autumn starter, but yield increases did not result in increased profitability. One of the more severe foliar pathogens capable of causing damage to sugarbeet is Cercospora beticola, the causal pathogen of Cercospora leaf spot (CLS). When not managed appropriately, CLS can reduce sugarbeet yield 40%. Management strategies including boron (B)-containing compounds have shown to have fungistatic properties with the ability to reduce disease severity in the field. Field studies were established to investigate the effects of foliar applied B on sugarbeet plant health and CLS disease severity. Application of foliar B did not reduce CLS in field environments across site years. Complementary in vitro studies were conducted to test B effects on C. beticola mycelial growth. Cercospora beticola EC50 values were 772-876 mg kg-1 for sodium tetraborate. Reduced control options, increased CLS resistance, and increase B requirement of sugarbeet enhance the need for further evaluation of alternative control. In-field evaluation of various B timing, increased B concentration, and addition of B-containing compounds may contribute to future CLS control.
Show less

Title: THROUGH THE MAGMA MUSH : TRACING MAGMA EVOLUTION FROM THE MANTLE, THROUGH THE CRUST, AND TO THE SURFACE USING THE GEOCHEMISTRY OF ERUPTED MELTS AND MINERALS
Creator: Svoboda, Christopher
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Studies synthesizing field work, numerical simulations, petrology, geochemistry, and geophysical observations indicate that the compositional diversity of lavas results from evolution of mantle-derived basaltic magmas by mixing, assimilation, and fractional crystallization. These studies indicate this evolution occurs within dispersed complexes called transcrustal magmatic systems, rather than tank-like magma chambers. The processes within these magmatic systems have implications for...
Show moreStudies synthesizing field work, numerical simulations, petrology, geochemistry, and geophysical observations indicate that the compositional diversity of lavas results from evolution of mantle-derived basaltic magmas by mixing, assimilation, and fractional crystallization. These studies indicate this evolution occurs within dispersed complexes called transcrustal magmatic systems, rather than tank-like magma chambers. The processes within these magmatic systems have implications for understanding the evolution of continental crust, the breakup of continental landmasses, and the hazards associated with volcanism. We present three studies in various tectonic and magmatic settings, using the geochemistry of whole rocks and minerals to relate magmatic processes within transcrustal magma systems and their inputs from the mantle to large-scale plate tectonic and geodynamic questions. In a study of magnesium-rich andesites from the Taupo Volcanic Zone, I link primitive mineral compositions in Mg-depleted melts to the growth of magma accommodation zones in a rifting segment of arc crust. Mineral constraints on temperature and pressure indicate that the plumbing system first formed at mid- to lower-crustal pressures (3.5-7.0±2.8 kbar). I interpret the mafic mineralogy and presence of disequilibrium features as evidence that these andesites and their crystal cargo represent the products of a developing magmatic system in the middle to lower crust. This study addresses the question of how magmatic systems initially form and evolve. I examine lavas from the back arc of Patagonian Argentina, where volcanism is displaced from the magmatic arc due to subduction of oceanic spreading centers. I demonstrate using thermodynamic models that the source regions for melts contain volumes of pyroxenite (3-11%), and were generated at high pressures (2.6-2.7 GPa). These melting conditions have been consistent since the Eocene. I interpret these results as evidence of detachment of pyroxene-rich lithosphere that was created by magma-lithosphere interaction during the Mesozoic breakup of Gondwana. These results show a link between prior magmatic events the role of pyroxene-rich mantle lithologies in subsequent mantle melting episodes. Finally, I present a study that probes the evolution of late-stage magmas in the failed 1.1-billion-year-old Mid-Continent Rift that are analogous to packages of lava and sediment that are buried during the final stages of continental breakup. I present evidence showing magma mixing between primitive and evolved residual magma controls the magma composition in these lavas. The highly negative εHf and εNd isotopic characteristics of these magmas, supported by modeling outcomes, suggest extensive assimilation (15%) of continental crust accompanying fractional crystallization of olivine, plagioclase feldspar, and spinel at 4 kbar pressure and 1060° C. I interpret this as a renewed pulse of magma that has exploited a preexisting transcrustal magmatic system. I posit that this system had its magma supply exhausted at the end of the main stage of volcanism but remained partially molten due to residual heat from the main stage. The results of this study have implications for the persistence of these magmatic systems through time. Each individual study, while from disparate time periods and tectonic settings, demonstrates that the transcrustal magmatic system (and the transcrustal system’s link to the mantle) provides a suitable conceptual framework for modeling and describing the evolution of magmas. These systems are not static but rather change with time to respond to geodynamic forces and rates of magma delivery.
Show less

Title: EFFICIENT AND PORTABLE SPARSE SOLVERS FOR HETEROGENEOUS HIGH PERFORMANCE COMPUTING SYSTEMS
Creator: Rabbi, Md Fazlay
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Sparse matrix computations arise in the form of the solution of systems of linear equations, matrix factorization, linear least-squares problems, and eigenvalue problems in numerous computational disciplines ranging from quantum many-body problems, computational fluid dynamics, machine learning and graph analytics. The scale of problems in these scientific applications typically necessitates execution on massively parallel architectures. Moreover, due to the irregular data access patterns and...
Show moreSparse matrix computations arise in the form of the solution of systems of linear equations, matrix factorization, linear least-squares problems, and eigenvalue problems in numerous computational disciplines ranging from quantum many-body problems, computational fluid dynamics, machine learning and graph analytics. The scale of problems in these scientific applications typically necessitates execution on massively parallel architectures. Moreover, due to the irregular data access patterns and low arithmetic intensities of sparse matrix computations, achieving high performance and scalability is very difficult. These challenges are further exacerbated by the increasingly complex deep memory hierarchies of the modern architectures as they typically integrate several layers of memory storage. Data movement is an important bottleneck against efficiency and energy consumption in large-scale sparse matrix computations. Minimizing data movement across layers of the memory and overlapping data movement with computations are keys to achieving high performance in sparse matrix computations. My thesis work contributes towards systematically identifying algorithmic challenges of the sparse solvers and providing optimized and high performing solutions for both shared memory architectures and heterogeneous architectures by minimizing data movements between different memory layers. For this purpose, we first introduce a shared memory task-parallel framework focusing on optimizing the entire solvers rather than a specific kernel. As most of the recent (or upcoming) supercomputers are equipped with Graphics Processing Unit (GPU), we decided to evaluate the efficacy of the directive-based programming models (i.e., OpenMP and OpenACC) in offloading computations on GPU to achieve performance portability. Being inspired by the promising results of this work, we port and optimize our shared memory task-parallel framework on GPU accelerated systems to execute problem sizes that exceed device memory.
Show less

Title: HYALURONAN AS EFFECTIVE PLATFORMS FOR COMBINATORIAL CARBOHYDRATE DERIVATIVE GENERATION, AND FOR IMAGE-GUIDED SURGERY WITH SURFACE-ENHANCED RAMAN SPECTROSCOPY (SERS)
Creator: Liu, Kunli
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Hyaluronan (HA) is a polysaccharide consisting of repeating disaccharides of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. HA plays important roles in a wide range of biological events. The principal endogenous receptor of HA, cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), is overexpressed on many types of tumor cells as well as inflammatory cells in human bodies. HA-CD44 interactions are important in cell adhesion, cell migration, induction of hematopoietic differentiation, and signaling for cell...
Show moreHyaluronan (HA) is a polysaccharide consisting of repeating disaccharides of N-acetyl-D-glucosamine and D-glucuronic acid. HA plays important roles in a wide range of biological events. The principal endogenous receptor of HA, cluster of differentiation 44 (CD44), is overexpressed on many types of tumor cells as well as inflammatory cells in human bodies. HA-CD44 interactions are important in cell adhesion, cell migration, induction of hematopoietic differentiation, and signaling for cell activation. Other HA receptors include lymphatic vessel endothelial HA receptor-1 (LYVE-1), and HA receptor for endocytosis (HARE). HA is versatile for chemical modification or conjugation by exploiting the reactivity of carboxyl group, hydroxyl group, or the reducing end of the HA chain. Through chemical modification of HA, various kinds of self-assembled HA nanoparticles (HA-NPs) can be generated. There are increasing interests in utilizing HA-NPs for targeted imaging and therapy. Active targeting from HA-CD44 mediated interaction could lead to selective accumulation of HA-NPs at targeted disease sites. Chapter 1 is a review focusing on the synthesis strategies of self-assembled HA-NPs, as well as their applications in therapy and biomedical imaging. With the recognition of the importance of HA-CD44 interactions, there have been substantial efforts to develop novel compounds capable of binding with CD44 to modulate CD44 biology. Chapter 2 reports a novel approach for generating HA derivatives with enhanced CD44 binding. By modifying the carboxyl group on HA with various amine, aldehyde, and isocyanide moieties through the Ugi reaction, 36 HA like polysaccharides were generated. Two lead compounds were identified with enhanced CD44 binding from the polysaccharide library compared to unmodified HA, which was confirmed by surface plasmon resonance and cellular studies. Ski-learn as a machine learning tool was utilized to analyze the library of binding data and yield prediction with an accuracy over 80%. In conclusion, modification of HA via the Ugi reaction can be a promising approach to develop novel binders toward CD44. While HA has been frequently employed as the targeting molecule in imaging via near infrared (NIR) or magnetic resonance (MRI) imaging, the potential of HA for surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) imaging has not yet been explored. SERS NPs are well-known for strong multiplexing capability, since different flavors of SERS NPs can be synthesized using different SERS dyes, resonant or non-resonant dye. SERS NPs are a promising tool for tumor margin removal in image-guided surgery. However, there are several challenges associated with SERS NPs for cancer imaging: 1) reproducible synthesis of SERS NPs; 2) ligand attachment for SERS NPs. Chapter 3 addresses these two issues by: 1) developing a reproducible protocol for 50 nm SERS NPs with low-femtomolar detection sensitivity; 2) employing liposome as the bridge for HA attachment to SERS NPs. The resulting HA-liposome SERS NPs have been successfully applied in imaging guided surgical removal of breast cancer in a spontaneous mouse breast cancer model.
Show less

Title: Locating the Great Cyclone of 1970 and Subsequent Disaster Relief Efforts in East Pakistan
Creator: Bullock, Michelle L.
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: Darkness, water, wind, and tragedy. The Great Cyclone of 1970 swept into East Pakistan on the evening of November 12, its surging waters wiping out whole villages. The final death toll is still unknown. But for one of the first times in history, relief aid came pouring in from around the world. Several countries participated in short term relief to provide food, water purification, and shelter to people within the hardest hit areas. Pakistan implemented an agricultural rehabilitation plan to...
Show moreDarkness, water, wind, and tragedy. The Great Cyclone of 1970 swept into East Pakistan on the evening of November 12, its surging waters wiping out whole villages. The final death toll is still unknown. But for one of the first times in history, relief aid came pouring in from around the world. Several countries participated in short term relief to provide food, water purification, and shelter to people within the hardest hit areas. Pakistan implemented an agricultural rehabilitation plan to provide food and agricultural aid to see the agrarian society through until the next harvest. Exactly where much of this aid went is not clear. Select aspects of the short- and medium-term aid effort that were connected to geographic locations were mapped. Maps were created from British and American accounts depicting national relief efforts and the international helicopter relief assistance. This paper also used post-cyclone surveys and aid reports to map the distribution of agricultural aid. It also discusses three of the factors that were considered when allocating the agricultural aid: season, manpower, and supplies and equipment. This paper also conducts content analysis of news coverage of the relief effort during this time using newspaper articles from the two largest international contributors: the United Kingdom and the United States. The purpose of this paper is to locate the cyclone and subsequent relief efforts in their geographic and historical context by mapping and analyzing the relief efforts and their contemporary perception.
Show less

Title: (de)(anti)(intra) : Queer Self-Storying as Embodied, Community, and Theory-Building Processes
Creator: de Sostoa-McCue, Tania
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This cultural rhetorics project asserts that story is theory, and surfaces self-storying as an embodied, theory-building process. I undertook phased interviews with three queer creative writers, holding space for their stories in order to witness, interact with and to learn from the ways in which queer authors discuss and approach relationships with one another through storying and composing. This desire to learn from other queer-identified community stakeholders led to the emergence of a...
Show moreThis cultural rhetorics project asserts that story is theory, and surfaces self-storying as an embodied, theory-building process. I undertook phased interviews with three queer creative writers, holding space for their stories in order to witness, interact with and to learn from the ways in which queer authors discuss and approach relationships with one another through storying and composing. This desire to learn from other queer-identified community stakeholders led to the emergence of a story-theory, through which a narrative thread of failure, survival and agency emerged. I articulate a reorientation and reframing of guiding concepts of community, composition and embodiment within queer spaces as (intra)community, (de)composition, and the (anti)body. An important impetus for this project was a desire to address the future of Queer in the academy. I utilize tools and theories from queer theory and cultural rhetorics not only to build, but to show spaces in which these conceptual frames can inform future, positive shifts. I do so to provide my own insights and to offer tools to continue the work Queer in the academy and to bridge the space between academic Queer and non-academic queer. I utilize cultural rhetorics to continue the work of what I see as one of Queer’s primary purposes: to subvert, to disrupt and to re-imagine the ways in which the queer community and Queer can thrive and effect systemic change.
Show less

Title: Essays in Labor Economics
Creator: VanderBerg, Bryce Scott
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This dissertation consists of two empirical studies and one applied theoretical study in labor economics. In the first chapter, I study the extend to which an observed layoff is used by employers to infer a worker's unobserved ability early in their labor market career. In the second chapter, I develop a theoretical model of wage dynamics that extends the employer learning and statistical discrimination model of Altonji and Pierret (2001) to allow for discrete changes in observable...
Show moreThis dissertation consists of two empirical studies and one applied theoretical study in labor economics. In the first chapter, I study the extend to which an observed layoff is used by employers to infer a worker's unobserved ability early in their labor market career. In the second chapter, I develop a theoretical model of wage dynamics that extends the employer learning and statistical discrimination model of Altonji and Pierret (2001) to allow for discrete changes in observable characteristics. In the third chapter, which is joint work with Gabrielle Pepin at the W.E. Upjohn Institute, we study the contribution of occupational sorting and mismatch to child penalties in the United States. I: The Signaling Role of Early Career Job LossI examine the extent to which ability signaling explains long-term wage losses suffered by young workers who experience layoffs. Young workers are of particular interest because employers have limited information about their ability, so signaling theoretically plays a larger role in determining wages. In addition, young workers are unlikely to experience wage losses due to loss of industry-specific human capital or separation from high-quality job matches, which may explain long-term wage decreases among older workers. Using data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997, I show that young workers of all ability levels initially experience similar wage losses following layoffs, but high-relative ability workers fully recover within five years while low-relative ability workers experience persistent wage losses. Consistent with traditional learning models, relative, not actual, ability affects wage trajectories. I illustrate a conceptual model of layoff signaling that varies by pre-layoff experience and can explain divergent wage trajectories across high- and low-relative ability workers. I test the model empirically and find that low-relative ability workers' inability to overcome negative layoff signals explains a substantial proportion of long-term wage losses among young workers. Employer learning effects vary by race and gender.II: Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination with Unexpected InformationThe Employer Learning and Statistical Discrimination (EL-SD) model of Altonji and Pierret (2001) assumes that employers learn about a worker's unobserved ability in a smooth, continuous manner, holding observable characteristics constant. In practice, observable characteristics, such as years of education, often change discretely over time for many workers. I extend the EL-SD model to allow for changes in observable characteristics to influence an employer's belief about a worker's ability. I show that changes in observable characteristics that are correlated with ability lead to discrete changes in employers' beliefs about the worker's ability, interrupting the smooth, continuous employer learning processes described in the EL-SD model. I further show that this discrete change in employer learning is larger for workers early in their labor market career, with the effect diminishing as labor market experience increases. I then use data from the NLSY97 to empirically test these predictions in the context of the signaling role of returning to school. I find suggestive evidence that returning to school to receive a GED or graduate degree sends a positive ability signal to the labor market, while returning to school to receive an associate or bachelor's degree does not.III: Occupational Sorting, Multidimensional Skill Mismatch, and the Child Penalty among Working MothersWe study the extent to which occupational sorting explains child penalties---gender gaps in labor market outcomes due to children---among working parents. Using an event-study approach and data from the National Longitudinal Surveys of Youth (NLSY) 1979 and 1997, we estimate that children generate long-run earnings gaps of over \$200 per week among working parents. In the NLSY79, we find that children lead mothers to sort into lower-paying occupations in which employees tend to work fewer hours. We estimate that children increase multidimensional occupation-skill mismatch among working mothers by 0.3 standard deviations, relative both to their own levels of mismatch from before birth and to those of fathers. In the NLSY97, results suggest that improvements in labor market outcomes among fathers in response to children, rather than a worsening of labor market outcomes among mothers, seem to drive child penalties.
Show less

Title: Trade, Finance & the Macroeconomy
Creator: Rowe, Nicholas
Date: 2022
Collection: Electronic Theses & Dissertations
Description: This paper investigates the effects of financial development on firm export when lenders specialize in lending against different borrower activities. Using Italian microdata on manufacturing firms, we document that financial development driven by locally-focused banks can boost export participation but can depress the export sales of incumbent exporters. We explain these patterns through an industry equilibrium model of international trade with heterogeneous firms and banks. Locally-focused...
Show moreThis paper investigates the effects of financial development on firm export when lenders specialize in lending against different borrower activities. Using Italian microdata on manufacturing firms, we document that financial development driven by locally-focused banks can boost export participation but can depress the export sales of incumbent exporters. We explain these patterns through an industry equilibrium model of international trade with heterogeneous firms and banks. Locally-focused financial development eases the entry of credit-rationed firms into export by increasing the pledgeability of their domestic inventory assets; however, it also induces credit-satiated exporters to partly redirect their production capacity to domestic markets. Model calibration reveals that when financial development is too local, increased domestic output and export participation can come at the cost of reduced aggregate exports.
Show less

MSU Libraries

Digital Repository

Enabled Filters

Pages

Pages

MSU Libraries

Digital Repository

You are here

Search results

Pages

Pages