Intergenerational Transmission of Alexithymia as a Predictor of Child Posttraumatic Stress Outcomes during COVID-19

The objective of this study was to test the role of parent alexithymia in explaining why some children are functioning relatively well during the COVID-19 pandemic while others are experiencing poor mental health. Participants were 88 U.S. children (Mage = 9.94 years; 54.5% female; 59.1% White) and their parents/caregivers (68.2% female; 59.1% White). Two models were tested: a path model in which the association between parent alexithymia symptoms and child COVID-19-related posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) was mediated by child alexithymia symptoms, and a moderator model in which the association between parent alexithymia symptoms and child PTSS was moderated by child alexithymia symptoms. The hypothesized mediation model was statistically significant (β = 0.15, SE = 0.05, 95% CI: [0.07, 0.25]), whereas the alternative moderator model was not (β = .06, p = .44). Findings highlight the importance of parents’ emotional understanding and regulation for child mental health during mass trauma

The Role of Online Reading and Writing in the Literacy Practices of First-Year Writing Students

This dissertation examines the online reading and writing practices of four first-year college students. Through case studies of these four focal participants, I explore the various roles online reading and writing played in their lives during their first year of college. My work draws on participants’ own descriptions of and reflections on their Internet use for academic as well as social and recreational purposes in order to examine what motivated the ways they used the Internet to read and write and the connections they both saw and did not see among their uses of the Internet for various purposes. The results are based on surveys, logs of Internet use, and interviews conducted at three points during the academic year. These data lead to three major findings. First, in contrast to images of young people as active creators of web content, participants were much more likely to consume than produce content online. Second, they were often aware of the other individuals reading or writing within the sites they visited online but much less aware of the groups and individuals producing and maintaining the sites themselves, and those levels of awareness were linked to participants’ motives for visiting such sites. Finally, the findings suggest that while participants themselves saw relatively few connections between their reading and writing online for academic and non-academic purposes, those connections do exist, particularly in the participants’ emerging abilities to critically analyze the texts they read in their non-academic lives. These findings also suggest that first-year writing instructors can help students examine and broaden their online reading and writing practices for academic and non-academic purposes in light of a range of options available for both. I argue such analysis can enhance first-year writing students’ understandings of the potential the Internet holds for the creation and consumption of meaningful and effective online texts

Soda

Soda Firing is an atmospheric firing technique that produces radiant colors and surfaces, ranging from oranges and yellows to deep reds and browns. The flame pattern and soda vapor interacts with the clay body creating a color response. Once the kiln door is shut these pots share an experience together that the creator is isolated from. My research is based on operating the soda kiln and turning the spontaneity of the firing into a controlled process to produce results geared towards my personal aesthetic. The clay body, glaze and slips, temperature, atmosphere, placement of an object and direction of soda ash determine the outcome of a pot. While the pyrometer reads the air temperature of the kiln, pyrometric cones are placed inside the kiln near the spy hole to determine the temperature of the work. Cones are made of ceramic materials that have different melting points. Each cone melts at a certain temperature, giving an accurate representation of the temperatures progress. Clay rings placed inside the kiln close to the spy hole are pulled out of the kiln throughout the spraying process to monitor the amount of soda. When the kiln gets hotter, there are small adjustments made to the damper, air, and gas. The damper allows for air to flow through the kiln. It should be pushed in slightly to start the reduction at cone 012 (1600° F). Reduction fire starves the kiln of oxygen and produces intense earth tones. The air and gas need to be slowly bumped up over the duration of the firing in order to gain heat. Soda ash is crushed into a powder, dissolved in water and sprayed into a soda kiln during high reduction at cone 8 (2280° F). The fire and soda ash strike the pot at different angles, creating a dynamic surface. I’m interested in the different effects produced by the amount of soda ash and placement of pots. While these pots sit together, they create pathways for the soda to travel. Pots that were closer to the spy hole were blasted with soda ash, producing a thick grey/blue surface. After the first firing I noticed a mesmerizing brown that appeared inside my vessel. I’ve learned that the inside of my pots generated this color because they are enclosed; receiving a light coating of soda ash that produced a shiny brown surface. My goal for the second firing was to produce this color on the exterior. I fired small cups that were surrounded by work twice the size. These cups were sheltering from soda exposure, triggering the rich color on the interior and exterior. In the third firing I fired a large vessel and placed tall pots around it in hopes of generating shadows. These tall pots work as a shield, obstructing large amounts of soda ash from hitting my vessel, ultimately obtaining a diverse surface. I’ve learned how to successfully operate the soda kiln and place pots in a manner where I can achieve a variety of color and texture. In order to have a controlled outcome, I will need to continue to study the pattern of the soda kiln. This will be achieved by recording the process of multiple firings to come

Biomarker discovery using urinary metabolomics for noninvasive early cancer detection

The development of new screening methods for the early detection of cancer remains one of the foremost challenges facing modern cancer research. The emergence of new analytical technologies and their application to \u27omics\u27-based approaches has provided researchers with powerful new tools for molecular biomarker discovery that may benefit early screening of cancer. This dissertation outlines several key advances made toward the application of urinary metabolomics to cancer biomarker discovery. The term urinary metabolomics here refers to the investigation of small metabolites in urine as potential disease biomarkers. The advantage of using this approach lies in its noninvasive sampling characteristics and robust analytical feasibility. The dissertation begins with the development of two analytical methods for the determination of sarcosine in urine for the early detection of prostate cancer. The next three papers discuss the analytical challenges facing the determination of pteridine derivatives in biological samples and present a new method to adjust their levels to patient hydration status and time since last urination. Briefly, pteridines and their derivatives function as intermediates in the metabolism of various vitamins and cofactors, where altered levels of pteridines have been reported in the urine of patients with several types of epithelial cancers, among other diseases. The following paper explores the possibility of using urinary metals as potential cancer biomarkers in a proof-of-concept study. The final two papers investigate the biological variation of urinary pteridines in order to better understand how urinary metabolites naturally fluctuate, and apply this information to a new method for the comprehensive determination of pteridine derivatives in urine. Taken together, this body of research presents new opportunities and challenges in the discovery of new cancer biomarkers --Abstract, page iv

Neurodevelopmental Trajectories as an Explanatory Mechanism for Adverse Mental Health Outcomes following Child Maltreatment

Affecting one in every seven children in the United States, child maltreatment (CM) is a major public health issue associated with a myriad of adverse outcomes (e.g., alcohol and drug abuse, mental illness, interpersonal violence, sexual risk taking, etc.). While any subtype of CM (e.g., physical abuse, sexual abuse, emotional abuse, and neglect) increases the likelihood of subsequent psychopathology, heterogeneity in psychiatric sequelae of CM is associated with different CM subtypes. Elucidating the underlying mechanisms of this heterogeneity is vital for improving intervention and treatment of CM, and research aimed at accomplishing this is a critical need. One possible explanatory mechanism is structural brain development, though the distinct impact of CM subtype brain morphology has not been thoroughly explored. The goal of this longitudinal study was to examine neurodevelopmental trajectories of the hippocampus, with attention given to the distinct role CM subtype may have, and ascertain if those trajectories act as a mechanistic explanation for anxiety, depression, and substance use following CM. Data were drawn from baseline (ages 9-11 years) as well as 2- and 4-year follow-ups from a large-scale, youth-centered, multi-site dataset: the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Hippocampus density was found to increase over time in both the left and right hemispheres; however, CM subtypes were not found to have distinct trajectories. Further, CM subtypes mostly did not predict anxiety, depression, and substance use outcomes, and hippocampal morphology did not mediate any present associations. Potential explanations for these null findings are discussed, and directions for future research are outlined

The effects of certain treatments on the quality of fresh and home frozen Kansas strawberries

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1958 B87Master of Scienc

Establishing Pteridine Metabolism in a Progressive Isogenic Breast Cancer Cell Model – Part II

Introduction: Determining the biological significance of pteridines in cancer development and progression remains an important step in understanding the altered levels of urinary pteridines seen in certain cancers. Our companion study revealed that several folate-derived pteridines and lumazines correlated with tumorigenicity in an isogenic, progressive breast cancer cell model, providing direct evidence for the tumorigenic origin of pteridines. Objectives: This study sought to elucidate the pteridine biosynthetic pathway in a progressive breast cancer model via direct pteridine dosing to determine how pteridine metabolism changes with tumorigenicity. Methods: First, MCF10AT breast cancer cells were dosed individually with 15 pteridines to determine which pteridines were being metabolized and what metabolic products were being produced. Second, pteridines that were significantly metabolized were dosed individually across the progressive breast cancer cell model (MCF10A, MCF10AT, and MCF10ACA1a) to determine the relationship between each metabolic reaction and breast cancer tumorigenicity. Results: Several pteridines were found to have altered metabolism in breast cancer cell lines, including pterin, isoxanthopterin, xanthopterin, sepiapterin, 6-biopterin, lumazine, and 7-hydroxylumazine (p \u3c 0.05). In particular, isoxanthopterin and 6-biopterin concentrations were differentially expressed (p \u3c 0.05) with respect to tumorigenicity following dosing with pterin and sepiapterin, respectively. Finally, the pteridine biosynthetic pathway in breast cancer cells was proposed based on these findings. Conclusions: This study, along with its companion study, demonstrates that pteridine metabolism becomes disrupted in breast cancer tumor cells. This work highlights several key metabolic reactions within the pteridine biosynthetic pathway that may be targeted for further investigation and clinical applications

Repeated Low-Level Blast Exposure Alters Urinary And Serum Metabolites

Repeated exposure to low-level blast overpressures can produce biological changes and clinical sequelae that resemble mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). While recent efforts have revealed several protein biomarkers for axonal injury during repetitive blast exposure, this study aims to explore potential small molecule biomarkers of brain injury during repeated blast exposure. This study evaluated a panel of ten small molecule metabolites involved in neurotransmission, oxidative stress, and energy metabolism in the urine and serum of military personnel (n = 27) conducting breacher training with repeated exposure to low-level blasts. The metabolites were analyzed using HPLC—tandem mass spectrometry, and the Wilcoxon signed-rank test was used for statistical analysis to compare the levels of pre-blast and post-blast exposures. Urinary levels of homovanillic acid (p \u3c 0.0001), linoleic acid (p = 0.0030), glutamate (p = 0.0027), and serum N-acetylaspartic acid (p = 0.0006) were found to be significantly altered following repeated blast exposure. Homovanillic acid concentration decreased continuously with subsequent repeat exposure. These results suggest that repeated low-level blast exposures can produce measurable changes in urine and serum metabolites that may aid in identifying individuals at increased risk of sustaining a TBI. Larger clinical studies are needed to extend the generalizability of these findings

Children\u27s Perceptions of Parent-Child Relationships: A Narrative, Inductive Approach

Background: Narrative methods can allow researchers to gather rich data from children regarding their perceptions of their relationship with parents that may not otherwise be captured using tasks, questionnaires, or structured interviews; however, existing coding systems have been established with samples that are largely White and middle class. The current study sought to establish child-inspired codes that would better reflect the sample. Methods: Children aged 5-12 years (M=8.82, 48.9% female) and their caregivers were recruited from high-poverty urban US areas. All participants identified as Black or African American. Children were audiotaped while speaking, uninterrupted, for three minutes about their relationship with their primary caregiver (TMSS; Marshall et al., 1990). A team of five researchers - diverse in race, ethnicity, and background - established a codebook using in-vivo methods, dually coded N=51 transcripts via thematic analysis, and analyzed codes for emergent themes (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Results: Coders identified N=671 codes from the transcripts, of which 332 (49.5%) were unique codeable units. Five themes emerged from the data: interactions, feelings about caregiver, emotional closeness, reciprocity, and insight. Conclusions: The use of open-ended speech sampling coupled with qualitative coding allowed cataloging of Black children’s own perceptions of the parent-child relationship. Children emphasized time spent together, mutual understanding, & reciprocity. Many children also showed insight into parents’ perspectives and motivations, including financial awareness. Previous work indicates this dyadic reciprocity may be one way families protect themselves against the negative consequences of financial difficulties (Wilhoit et al., 2021). References: Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3, 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa Marshall, V.G., Longwell, L., Goldstein, M.J., & Swanson, J.M. (1990). Family factors associated with aggressive symptomatology in boys with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A research note. J. Child Psychol. Psychiat., 31(4), 629-636. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1469-7610.1990.tb00802.x Wilhoit, S.A., Trentacosta, C.J., Beeghly, M., Boeve, J.L., Lewis, T.L. and Thomason, M.E. (2021). Household chaos and early childhood behavior problems: The moderating role of mother–child reciprocity in lower-income families. Fam Relat, 70, 1040-1054. https://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12560https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/gradposters/1174/thumbnail.jp