Matching Items (347)
ContributorsChandler, N. Kayla (Author) / Neisewander, Janet (Thesis director) / Sanabria, Federico (Committee member) / Olive, M. Foster (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Previous findings from our lab have demonstrated that nicotine and social reward have synergistic effects when experienced together versus when experienced separately. The purpose of this experiment is to understand the neural mechanisms underlying this synergistic effect by quantifying Fos protein, a marker for neural activation, in various brain regions. We utilized the conditioning place preference (CPP) model to assess reward. Four groups of adolescent male rats (n=120) were given either nicotine (Nic) (0.1 mg/kg/mL) or saline (Sal) and were placed in the CPP apparatus either with a social partner (Soc) or alone (Iso). Thus, groups were: 1.)Sal+Iso, 2).Sal+Soc, 3).Nic+Iso, 4).Nic+Soc. Brains of some the rats (n=40) were collected for Fos staining 90 minutes after the last conditioning session to obtain Fos data in response to direct exposure to the stimuli. The following regions were analyzed for Fos expression: central amygdala (CeA), medial amygdala (MeA), basolateral amygdala (BLA), nucleus accumbens core (NAcCore), and nucleus accumbens shell (NAcShell). Place preference changes occurred in socially-conditioned groups reflecting social reward and in nicotine-conditioned groups reflecting nicotine reward. As expected, the Sal+Iso control group failed to display a preference change. Fos data revealed a significant increase in Fos expression in the CeA, MeA, NAcCore and NAcShell for socially-conditioned animals and a significant decrease in the NAcCore for nicotine-conditioned groups. Experiencing both social and nicotine rewards together appeared to produce greater activation in the BLA. However, there was an increase in Fos expression in the negative control group relative to Nic+Iso group. The results of CPP suggest that social, nicotine and their combination are rewarding. The combination of the nicotine and social reward could have been more rewarding than social and nicotine separately, but the test was not sensitive to reward magnitude. The increase in Fos expression in the negative control group in the BLA could be due to isolation stress. Overall, these results suggest that these brain regions had greater activation to social reward.
ContributorsGoenaga, Julianna Gloria (Author) / Neisewander, Janet (Thesis director) / Orchinik, Miles (Committee member) / Olive, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This thesis addresses the conception and eventual execution of Walt Disney's model of the city of the future, one in which individuals would work, live and play. EPCOT, representing an Experimental Prototype Community of Tomorrow, was envisioned as a utopian and idealized society in a bubble. Aimed at eliminating the ills that plagued American society of the 1960s by returning individuals to community roots, complete with emerging technologies and innovations to improve lifestyles, EPCOT would take inspiration from unique urban planners and innovators. But EPCOT failed to materialize in its original form once Disney passed away on December 15, 1966. The massive city planning venture eventually evolved into a World's Fair-like theme park called Epcot Center, where the correlations between culture and technology would become blurred in this entertainment venue. The park's success stems from its ability to carry components of its community vision, but to appeal to visitors' interests in experiencing application of new technologies through exposure of other cultures and ideas. Technology and culture, while often interrelated, but sometimes at odds with one another, substantially account for Epcot's development over the past 50 years. This thesis not only reflects on Walt Disney's EPCOT the community, but also details how the Walt Disney World theme park has contended with addressing the dualistic relationship between technology and culture.
ContributorsNachman, Brett Ranon (Author) / Stewart, Pamela (Thesis director) / Dombrowski, Rosemarie (Committee member) / Kurtti, Jeff (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Peoria, a city of about 171,000 residents in the northwest Valley, is recognized as one of Arizona's fastest growing cities. Peoria does not have a news source that engages millennials, despite the fact that adults ages 18 to 34 make up about 20% of Peoria's population. Thus, I created a digital news outlet with a complementary social media presence to target a millennial audience. Peoria Next covers news about Peoria that is either not currently covered by other news outlets or is covered in a different way. The goal of the website is to inform millennials of news and events in Peoria with a focus on topics millennials are interested in. The website receives 40 to 50 unique visitors and around 90 views every month, and Facebook insights show that 32% of the people reached by Peoria Next are in the target age range of 18 to 34. This paper discusses the process involved in creating a news outlet for millennials in Peoria with social media platforms as the main avenue for audience development. The first section discusses the role of local news in a community, using social media to engage the audience and how millennials receive and engage with news. The second section discusses how I developed the website and the overall results.
ContributorsRogers, Anya Bryn (Author) / Leonard, Christina (Thesis director) / Pucci, Jessica (Committee member) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor) / Economics Program in CLAS (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Glioblastoma multiforme is associated with a very low survival rate and is recognized as the most vicious form of intracranial cancer. The Akt gene pathway has three different isoforms, each of which has a different role in the tumors of GBM. Preliminary data suggests that Akt3 may work to decrease tumorigenicity. A produced image that visualizes the subcellular localization of Akt3 led the author to believe that Akt3 may reduce tumorigenicity by decreasing genomic instability caused by the cancer. To explore this, flow cytometry was performed on GBM cell lines with Akt3v1 over-expression, Akt3v2 over-expression, and a control glioma cell line.
ContributorsGhorayeb, Antoine (Author) / Neisewander, Janet (Thesis director) / Diehnelt, Chris (Committee member) / Moussallem, Suzan (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
In 2014 alone, 40% of all drug abuse-related emergency department visits involved cocaine, and despite the detrimental effects there is still no FDA approved treatment for cocaine use disorders (CUDs; Dawn, 2014). Studies show that serotonin 1B receptor (5HT1BR) agonists modulate cocaine abuse-related behaviors in opposite directions depending on the phase of the addiction cycle in male rats. In particular, the selective 5HT1BR agonist, CP94,253, facilitates cocaine intake during maintenance of daily cocaine self-administration. Paradoxically, after 21 days of abstinence, CP94,253 attenuates cocaine intake in male rats on a low effort fixed ratio 5 (FR5) and a high effort progressive ratio (PR) schedule of reinforcement. PR measures motivation as it requires an exponentially increasing number of lever responses to obtain the next reinforcer after a successful reinforcer. In contrast to male rats, we recently found CP94,253 attenuates cocaine intake before and after abstinence on an FR5 schedule of reinforcement in female rats, suggesting the attenuating effects of CP94,253 on cocaine intake is not dependent on a period of abstinence in females. However, the effect of CP94,253 on motivation for cocaine has not yet been examined in female rats. Therefore, we addressed this gap in the present study. Female Sprague-Dawley rats were trained to self-administer 0.375 mg/kg, IV cocaine or to obtain sucrose pellets (45 mg) on a PR schedule of reinforcement and were then pretreated with vehicle or CP94,253 (3.2, 5.6 and 10 mg/kg, SC) prior to their self-administration session. A separate cohort was pretreated with CP94,253 to examine the effects of CP94,253 on cocaine-seeking behavior (i.e., operant responses when cocaine is no longer available) and spontaneous locomotion after 21 or 60 days of abstinence. The preliminary findings show that CP94,253 has minimal impacts on decreasing cocaine intake on a PR schedule in female rats but decreases cue reactivity up to 60 days after abstinence in female rats. These findings suggest that 5-HT1BR agonists may be useful treatments for cocaine craving.
ContributorsRuscitti, Brielle Allesandra (Author) / Neisewander, Janet (Thesis director) / Powell, Gregory (Committee member) / Scott, Samantha (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Examining whether or not a bias exists on individual shows on CNN, FOX News, and MSNBC by using content analysis. Each individual show following the third presidential debate was coded using content analysis, then that information was used to determine whether a bias existed on any of the shows and then whether or not a bias existed across the network as a whole.
ContributorsNelson, Roy Emil (Author) / Kenney, Patrick (Thesis director) / Woodall, Gina (Committee member) / Wells, David (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
This project aims to aggregate recent information on broadcast journalism curriculum and propose a website design to help educate broadcast students about the most-needed web skills in newsrooms. Television reporters must go beyond re-hashing their broadcast package and script on the station's website, and this includes knowledge of the best site design practices to house more in-depth content. The Grady Undergraduate Survey, as well as the opinions and experience of professionals today, show that web design and web writing skills are two of the most important skills a broadcast student can possess as they prepare to graduate and seek jobs.
ContributorsPorter, Caroline (Author) / Lodato, Mark (Thesis director) / Carpenter, Serena (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2012-12
ContributorsHeath, Chelsey (Author) / Goodman, Rebekka (Thesis director) / Gillmor, Dan (Committee member) / McGuire, Tim (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2012-12
Description
Empathy is a characteristic fully developed and manifested in one creature: the human being. In February 2011, we saw the supercomputer, Watson, challenge highly intelligent human beings on Jeopardy. The human beings put up a brutal battle of wits but ultimately, the computer was declared victor. Scientists have made remarkable leaps when it comes to creating artificial intelligence. We have "smart" phones that sit in the palm of our hand and can do far more than what we expected of bulky desktops in the 90s.
ContributorsFidura, E. L. Monica (Author) / Knopf, Richard (Thesis director) / Sylvester, Edward (Committee member) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor)
Created2012-12