Matching Items (103)
Description
Collaborative research is not only a form of social and human capital and a public good, but also a fundamental elicitor of positive Collective Action. Collaborative Research Networks can serve as models of proactive and purposive Collective Action and catalysts of societal change, if they function as more than hubs of research and knowledge. It is the goal of this Honors Thesis to examine the current nature under which collaborative research networks, focused on matters of Global Health or Sustainability, operate., how they are organized, what type of collaboration they engage in, and who collaborates with whom. A better understanding of these types of networks can lead to the formation of more effective networks that can develop innovative solutions to our collective Global Health and Sustainability problems.
ContributorsHodzic, Mirna (Author) / Van Der Leeuw, Sander (Thesis director) / Janssen, Marco (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-05
Description
Studies on urban heat island (UHI) have been more than a century after the phenomenon was first discovered in the early 1800s. UHI emerges as the source of many urban environmental problems and exacerbates the living environment in cities. Under the challenges of increasing urbanization and future climate changes, there is a pressing need for sustainable adaptation/mitigation strategies for UHI effects, one popular option being the use of reflective materials. While it is introduced as one effective method to reduce temperature and energy consumption in cities, its impacts on multi-dimensional environmental sustainability and large-scale non-local effect are inadequately explored. This paper provides a synthetic overview of potential environmental impacts of reflective materials at a variety of scales, ranging from energy load on a single building to regional hydroclimate. The review shows that mitigation potential of reflective materials depends on a portfolio of factors, including building characteristics, urban environment, meteorological and geographical conditions, to name a few. Precaution needs to be exercised by city planners and policy makers for large-scale deployment of reflective materials before their environmental impacts, especially on regional hydroclimates, are better understood. In general, it is recommended that optimal strategy for UHI needs to be determined on a city-by-city basis, rather than adopting a “one-solution-fits-all” strategy.
ContributorsYang, Jiachuan (Contributor) / Wang, Zhi-Hua (Correspondent) / Kaloush, Kamil (Contributor)
Created2015-06-11
Description
Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a common mental disorder that can affect individuals at nearly every stage of life. Women are especially vulnerable to MDD in part, from ovarian hormone level fluctuations. In this thesis, I focused on MDD using a rat model in middle-age to explore potential sex differences in response to a corticosterone (CORT) – induced depressive-like state. Estradiol (E2), a naturally occurring steroid sex hormone in humans and rats, is implicated in mood changes, which is especially prominent during the menopause transition. CORT, a stress hormone, was used to create a depressive-like state in middle-aged female (F) and male (M) rats with their gonads surgically removed. This produced the following independent treatment groups: Sex (F, M), CORT (vehicle = V ml/kg, C 40mg/kg), E2 (V 0.1 ml, E 0.3µg/0.1ml). CORT and E2 injections were injected daily, s.c) for 7 days before behavioral testing began and continued throughout the study when behavior was assessed. For my honor’s thesis, I focused on the social interaction test and elevated plus maze to investigate whether CORT enhanced social avoidance and anxiety, and whether E2 mitigated the CORT effects. In the social interaction test, three new behaviors were assessed (interacting, grooming, and immobility) to better understand exploratory and anxiety profiles of the rats, and these behaviors were quantified over two 5-minute periods in the 10-minute trial. These new quantifications showed that for the female rats, C+E and V+V enhanced the interaction with the novel rat significantly more than an inanimate object, which was not observed in the females given CORT only or E2 only. The males in all conditions showed a significant preference for side with the novel rat compared to the object, however no treatment differences were observed. In both sexes, the overall time spent interacting decreased in the second five minutes of quantification compared to the first five minutes. No effects were observed with grooming or immobility, in part from the high variability across rats. For EPM, female rats treated with CORT and E2 exhibited a lower anxiety index than compared to female rats given CORT only, indicating that E2 mitigated the depressive-like effects of CORT. Males showed no CORT or E2 effects. The result in part supported my hypothesis, as the CORT-treated females exhibited reduced socialization and E2 improved socialization in CORT-treated females, as this was seen in the F-C-E group. Interestingly, CORT failed to produce a depressive-like effect in males in both behavioral tests, which was an unexpected outcome. These results suggest that administration of E2 with CORT mitigated the depressive-like state created by CORT in female rats, however failed to produce these outcomes in males. The outcome of this work will give us insight into the potential mechanisms that may contribute to sex differences with MDD.
ContributorsSladkova, Sara (Author) / Conrad, Cheryl (Thesis director) / Amdam, Gro (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2024-05