Assessing Student Learning and Perceptions in an Upper-level General Education Requirement Argumentation Course

This project addressed the difficulties of teaching argument skills, a staple of liberal education, to a mixture of Communication majors and non-majors taking the course for General Education Requirement (GER) credit. The design uses independent instructor comparison of students’ pre- and post-test performances, students’ comparative self-evaluation of their pre- and post-test performances, as well as students’ reflections on their learning in response to a separate questionnaire and independent instructor assessment of their performance in arguing those reflective claims, to analyze learning processes in an upper-level argumentation course. The results include specific content concepts and course and instructor strategies that both majors and non-majors credit for improvements in their argument skills, suggestions for assessing whether GER courses meet their learning outcome goals, and analysis of the importance of attending to students’ own perceptions of and justifications for changes (or lack thereof) in their performances on tasks tied to liberal learning outcomes

Analyzing Differences in Mental Health Treatment Seeking Behavior in Hopkins County, Kentucky

Rates of mental illnesses are consistently higher in the corrections system at all levels of incarceration. However, local jails are largely unable to meet the mental health needs of their inmates. Considering that there are several barriers to treatment seeking such as stigma, transportation, or availability of services in rural areas already, the treatment seeking behavior of people in jail differs from those not in jail. The objective of this research is to understand the factors that influence treatment seeking behavior among those in jails, and how those factors differ from those not in jail. Overall people in jail had higher rates of diagnosed mental illnesses, and worse perceptions of their own mental health that may have contributed to their higher rates of treatment seeking behavior. Transportation related barriers to treatment seeking which were prevalent among those in jail were not significant enough to decrease treatment seeking behavior in the jailed population

Motivational Interviewing in Primary Care and General Health Care Settings: a Meta-Analysis

The rate of mortality and morbidity due to alcohol consumption warrants a comprehensive and evidence-based investigation exploring the efficacy of behavioral interventions within a general health care setting as a means of alcohol reduction. A particular type of intervention, known as Motivational Interviewing (MI; Miller, 1983) and Motivational Enhancement Therapy (MET; Miller, Sovereign, & Krege, 1988), both of which have seen surge in popularity, merits further inspection. Through electronic database searching, hand searching previous meta-analyses and systematic reviews, and searching the Motivational Network of Trainers bibliographic resource, 33 randomized controlled trials were located isolating the effect of motivational interviewing in general health care settings. The average effect (d = .153, k = 33, N = 32,588) constitutes a small effect in favor of MI and/or MET, with no substantial benefit in offering MET (d = .125, (95% CI [0.044, 0.206], N = 21,226) as opposed to MI (d = .114, (95% CI [0.06, 0.016], N = 8689). MI and/or MET produces a small benefit within primary care and is relatively comparable to other brief interventions within the same setting. Primary care providers wishing to implement MI/MET within their practice may be reasonably assured that MI/MET will be more effective in improving patient outcomes than delivering no intervention

Conservation Education: Using Birds to Connect Communities to their Natural Environment

The theme of my portfolio is conservation education, using birds as an example of how to connect people of all ages to their natural environment. Birds were chosen as an example because of a personal curiosity for the animal, and because they are an accessible and tangible element of nature for all people, urban and rural. The first component is a Curriculum Development Guide created for the Wings Over Water program of the Montana Natural History Center. It synthesizes scientific research on Ospreys, relates central themes of the literature to Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and provides inventive activity ideas that could be implemented in middle school lesson plans. The second component is a self-guided tour box created for the PEAS Farm that includes information on various bird species I found on the farm during self-conducted bird surveys. The third component is a proposal for the University Center to install bird friendly technology to mitigate wildlife-human conflict and, through the ASUM Sustainability Center, to educate the campus community on the importance of that technology.https://scholarworks.umt.edu/grad_portfolios/1011/thumbnail.jp

NEBRASKA REVISED STATUTES: SELECTED PROVISIONS PERTAINING TO CHILD WELFARE, JUVENILE JUSTICE, AND VULNERABLE ADULTS. 2018 Edition

TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Duty and Power of DHHS Regarding the Protection of Children 1 (Sections 43-707 and 43-708) II. General Social Services Provisions 2 (Sections 68-1202 through 68-1212 and 85-2501) III. Family Policy and Family Finding 7 (Sections 43-532 through 43-534; and Sections 43-2201 through 43-2209) IV. Child Protection and Family Safety Act (includes Alternative Response provisions) 11 (Sections 28-710 through 28-727 and 81-3136) A. Child Abuse Mandatory Reporting Provisions 11 (Sections 28-710 through 28-717) B. Central Registry of Child Protection Cases 16 (Sections 28-718 through 28-727, and 81-3136) V. Child Abuse and Neglect Investigation and Treatment Teams 21 and Child Advocacy Centers (Sections 28-728 through 28-731) VI. Access to Information and Records and Disclosure of 25 Child Abuse and Neglect Information by HHS (Sections 43-3001 and 81-3126) VII. Nebraska Juvenile Code 27 (Sections 43-245 through 43-2,129) VIII. Foster Care 84 (Sections 43-1301 through 43-1322) IX. Nebraska Indian Child Welfare Act 100 (Sections 43-1501 through 43-1517) X. The Interstate Compact on the Placement of Children 110 (Section 43-1103) XI. The Interstate Compact for Juveniles 128 (Sections 43-1005 and 43-1011) XII. Court Appointed Special Advocates 141 (Sections 43-3701 to 43-3720) XIII. Nebraska Strengthening Families Act 146 (Sections 43-4701 through 43-4714) XIV. Juvenile Services Provisions: 152 A. Office of Juvenile Services 152 [Health and Human Services, Office of Juvenile Services Act] (Sections 43-401 through 43-425) B. Juvenile Services Act 165 (Sections 43-2401 to 43-2413) C. Nebraska County Juvenile Services Plan Act 174 (Sections 43-3501 to 43-3507) D. Nebraska Juvenile Service Delivery Project (Section 43-4101 and 43-4102) 176 XV. Assistance and Services for Delinquent, Dependent, and Medically 177 Handicapped Children (Sections 43-501 through 43-536) XVI. Miscellaneous Provisions Regarding Children Committed to DHHS 191 and the Placement of Children (Sections 43-701 through 43-709, 43-901 through 43-908, and 81-603) XVII. Early Intervention Act 195 (Sections 43-2501 through 43-2516) XVIII. Child Support and Paternity 202 (Sections 43-1401 through 43-1418) XIX. Grandparent Visitation 208 (Sections 43-1801 through 43-1803) XX. Guardianship of Minors 210 (Sections 30-2605 through 30-2616) XXI. Adoption of Children 214 (Sections 43-101 through 43-154) XXII. Adoption-related Provisions: 242 A. Exchange of Information Contracts 242 (Sections 43-155 through 43-160) B. Communication or Contact Agreements 243 (Sections 43-162 through 43-166) XXIII. Foreign National Minors 246 (Sections 43-3801 through 43-3812) XXIV. Compulsory Education 249 (Sections 79-201 through 79-210) XXV. Children’s Behavioral Health Task Force 254 (Sections 43-4001 through 43-4003) XXVI. Nebraska Children’s Commission 256 (Sections 43-4201 through 43-4218) XXVII. Office of the Inspector General of Nebraska Child Welfare Act 267 (Sections 43-4301 through 43-4332) XXVIII. Child Welfare System Reporting and Evaluation Requirements of DHHS 277 (Sections 43-4401 through 43-4409) XXIX. Young Adult Bridge to Independence Act 283 (Sections 43-4501 through 43-4514) XXX. Adult Protective Services Act [Vulnerable Adults] 292 (Sections 28-348 through 28-387) XXXI. Selected Criminal and Miscellaneous Provisions: 301 A. False Imprisonment and Unlawful Intrusion 301 (Sections 28-314 and 28-311.08) B. Criminal Sexual Assault 302 (Sections 28-317 through 28-320.02) C. Methamphetamine 305 (Section 28-457) D. Criminal Offenses Involving the Family Relation 305 (Sections 28-703 through 28-709) E. Classification of Criminal Penalties 308 (Sections 28-105 through 28-106) F. “Safe Haven” Provision 310 (Section 29-121) G. Statute of Limitations for Criminal Offenses 311 (Section 29-110) H. Justifiable Use of Force 312 (Section 28-1413) I. Definition of Detention Facilities 313 (Section 83-4,125) J. Request for Transfer of Criminal Case to Juvenile Court 314 (Section 29-1816) K. Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Prohibited Juvenile Offender 315 (Section 28-1204.05

Master of Science

thesisEchinococcosis is a zoonotic disease caused by the tapeworm Echinococcus. The two most common species are E. granulosus and E. multilocularis. They cause infections in humans called cystic echinococcosis (CE) and alveolar echinococcosis (AE), respectively. Due to current epidemiological trends, there is a growing need for a sensitive and specific assay that can distinguish between the two infections. The purpose of this research was to design a multiplex PCR assay for serum that will be able to simultaneously identify and distinguish between E. granulosus and E. multilocularis via high-resolution melting analysis (HRMA). A primer set was designed to amplify the mitochondrial ND5 gene of E. multilocularis and a previously designed and tested primer set was used to amplify a genomic repeat in E. granulosus known as EgG1 Hae III. Human DNA was used as the positive internal control along with previously designed primers targeting the CFTR gene. All templates and primer sets were combined into a multiplex reaction. Optimization was achieved by varying the primer concentrations to achieve equal amplification of all targets. Serial dilution of all three templates was carried out. Each concentration of Echinococcus template was tested individually in combination with each concentration of control DNA to establish a limit of detection for each organism and an appropriate amount of control DNA to be used in the assay. iv To eliminate bias from the interpretation of results, 20 blind samples were tested. Each consisted of one of four concentrations of either Echinococcus template or water. Results were reported as E. multilocularis positive, E. granulosus positive or negative. The samples were de-blinded and compared to the results obtained. Eighteen out of 20 results were identified correctly. The two samples that were not identified correctly were called negative, but had very low concentrations of either E. granulosus or E. multilocularis template. Further research should be conducted to find a more suitable positive control due to its preferential amplification. However, this assay shows promise in its ability to detect very low levels of Echinococcus DNA and may have clinical use in the future

Scaleable transient transfection of intensified rAAV production processes

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Structure of a Pheromone Receptor-Associated MHC Molecule with an Open and Empty Groove

Neurons in the murine vomeronasal organ (VNO) express a family of class Ib major histocompatibility complex (MHC) proteins (M10s) that interact with the V2R class of VNO receptors. This interaction may play a direct role in the detection of pheromonal cues that initiate reproductive and territorial behaviors. The crystal structure of M10.5, an M10 family member, is similar to that of classical MHC molecules. However, the M10.5 counterpart of the MHC peptide-binding groove is open and unoccupied, revealing the first structure of an empty class I MHC molecule. Similar to empty MHC molecules, but unlike peptide-filled MHC proteins and non-peptide–binding MHC homologs, M10.5 is thermally unstable, suggesting that its groove is normally occupied. However, M10.5 does not bind endogenous peptides when expressed in mammalian cells or when offered a mixture of class I–binding peptides. The F pocket side of the M10.5 groove is open, suggesting that ligands larger than 8–10-mer class I–binding peptides could fit by extending out of the groove. Moreover, variable residues point up from the groove helices, rather than toward the groove as in classical MHC structures. These data suggest that M10s are unlikely to provide specific recognition of class I MHC–binding peptides, but are consistent with binding to other ligands, including proteins such as the V2Rs