This collection encompasses thousands of theses and dissertations produced by graduate students from the University of Colorado Denver.

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University of Colorado Denver Theses and Dissertations

The birth of the first American “test-tube” baby on December 28, 1981 was a watershed moment in medical history and marked the zenith of over one hundred years of work by physicians and scientists. These medical professionals had dedicated their careers to assisting infertile couples by “curing” their childlessness and made in vitro fertilization a reality. While medical intervention into conception has become commonplace in American society today, due to widespread media coverage, many questions still remain regarding the process that this nation underwent to view infertility as a “disease” and the avenues that have been explored to provide “cures.” What was the role of the medical community in shaping understandings of reproduction and infertility in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? What types of medical interventions and technologies did doctors create and to what ends? What were the societal perceptions of medical interventions for infertility in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries? These questions have driven this investigation and granted much insight into the process of the medicalization of infertility and the role that reproduction played in family formation and gender expectations.  The secondary scholarship as well as a wide-array of primary sources has revealed that over the course of the last one hundred years, doctors and scientists have developed new techniques and new technologies to “cure” the “disease” of infertility. Infertile couples sought doctor’s assistance and women often underwent invasive treatments in hopes of becoming pregnant. Through the efforts of the medical community, more and more couples were able to achieve pregnancy but the work of infertility specialists aroused concerns regarding the moral, legal, and ethical consequences of medical intervention in infertility. The arguments for and against medical intervention in cases of infertility shed light on the role of reproduction in forming and maintaining family ideals and gender expectations. Ultimately, the medicalization of infertility has been marked by a distinct desire by medical practitioners to “treat” infertility through the development of technologies, which has challenged the traditional understandings of parenthood and gender roles and established the endurance of the perceived necessity of a nuclear family in American culture.

CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 Attribution NonCommercial-NoDerivs

Military commericalism and coup behavior

Surgical treatment of peripheral nerve injury clinically remains an unmet medical need as the current gold standard autograft is associated with many drawbacks, including a second surgical procedure, donor site morbidity, mismatch of donor nerve size, and limited donor nerve length. Nerve guidance conduits are a promising alternative to the autograft that promote neuronal growth and guide axonal extension. A nerve guidance conduit was designed using a blend of arginylglycylaspartic acid conjugated polyurea and polycaprolactone containing intraluminal microchannels with aligned nanofibers. The nerve guidance conduit was evaluated in a 10 mm sciatic nerve transection rat model. Functional, electrophysiological, and histological assessments were used to evaluate nerve regeneration of the conduit. Although generally no statistically significant improvement in nerve regeneration was observed for the nerve guidance conduit compared the autograft, the conduit consistently demonstrated comparable, if not improved, recovery characteristics.

Evaluation of biomimetic polymer nerve guidance conduit for peripheral nerve regeneration

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations (B3LYP and M06) were performed to elucidate the mechanism of a Z-selective asymmetric ring-opening/cross-metathesis reaction catalyzed by a ruthenium complex with an N-heterocyclic carbine (NHC)-adamantyl chelator (1cat).  The reaction was also enantioselective because the catalyst employed was a chiral and stereogenic at the ruthenium center.  The systems that have been computed are without any simplification the catalyst (1cat), allyl acetate substrate, cyclobutene derivative, and one norbornene substrate.  A truncated model for a second norbornene derivative was also utilized.  The initial metathesis of 1cat with terminal olefins via a side-bound pathway yields two active catalytic species, which lead to the final Z- and E-products, respectively.  The high enantioselective excess of both Z- and E-isomers of norbornene derivatives originates from the steric hindrance imparted by the incoming substrate, which only has one favorable approach out of four possible orientations.  A low enantiomeric excess observed for E-products in the reaction of cyclobutene is caused by two energetically feasible approaches to the E-active catalyst.

Computational insights into the origins of Z- and enantioselective asymmetric ring-opening/cross-metathesis reactions catalyzed by a sterogenic-AT-RU-complex

This manuscript presents the analyses of full-scale field testing of      flexible rockfall barrier post foundations under horizontal loading.      While significant research has been conducted and published regarding     design and analysis of the net, post, and cable components of flexible    rockfall barrier systems, little research has been conducted or           published regarding the design of anchors and foundations to support      these structures and transfer impact loads to the ground.  To better      understand past efforts at designing these foundation structures, the     initial chapters cover an outline of "state of practice" summaries,       review of past design guides, case studies on rockfall barrier impacts,   and past full-scale barrier testing efforts that focused specifically on   foundations.  These chapters are followed by an overview of full-scale   foundation testing efforts that the author helped to coordinate with a    group of geotechnical engineers in Colorado.  Full-scale testing          provides the most accurate and representative data sets for developing    design criteria for future systems.  The latter chapters include a        discussion of design considerations for post foundations of rockfall      barriers based on the results of the testing.  As well as design          recommendations for specific barrier applications.  The results     presented in this research document a quantitative assessment of loading    conditions experience by rockfall barrier post foundations, as well as   qualitative performance assessment of the various foundation types.

Design recommendations for rockfall fence post foundations based on full-scale testing

Acceptance-based factors in chronic pain

The use of social media as a means of communication among law enforcement agencies and the community is growing in popularity. The implementation of social media outreach may represent an effective and cost efficient means of enhancing community policing. Research addressing this topic in the United States, however, is limited, and the efficacy of using social media to inform, prevent, and solve crimes, is unknown. This research explores the methods and means of employing social media in policing using qualitative semi-structured interviews with law enforcement personnel. The study examines how police departments utilize the social media platform Twitter as an effector of positive relations between community and law enforcement officials. Moreover, the current research seeks to answer questions regarding the propagation of information to the public though Twitter, as well as examine the perceived effectiveness of such platforms as tools in community policing.

Tweeting

The financial crisis of 2008 began the worst economic downturn in the West since the Great Depression. It spread throughout the world, and hit Europe in the form of a currency crisis. Many states in the West, especially those in Europe, responded to these crises with several economic measures collectively known as austerity. The enactment of austerity on such a broad scale provides an opportunity to study other facets of the international community. One such facet is the environment. The environment is a public good, and a healthy environment requires some form of government assistance to maintain. Since austerity measures involve cuts to government spending and capacity, they should have some measurable effects on environmental indicators. Furthermore, states have previous spending commitments; primarily the welfare apparatus. The structure of the welfare states can have far-reaching effects on both the economy and society. It stands to reason that the structure of the welfare state affects the intensity of the impact of austerity on the environment. This thesis will argue that austerity measures do have an effect on the environment and that the effect is either intensified or mitigated according to the structure of the welfare state.

Austerity policy and welfare regimes in the EU

The research in this dissertation can be placed into two broad categories:  structural and extremal graph theory.  Extremal graph theory seeks to determine maximum and minimum values of graph parameters that ensure (or prohibit) particular graph properties.  Structural graph theory considers the substructures of a graph, such as paths, cycles, and matchings, and considers conditions that guarantee the existence (or non-existence) of such graph structures.  The work in this dissertation considers three distinct problems:  rainbow-matching ; 2-factor ; and graph-packing.

Problems in structural and extremal graph theory

Stem cells are able to differentiate into a variety of tissue-specific cells, demonstrating a unique promise for tissue engineering and orthopaedic regenerative therapies. Routine culture techniques utilize soluble factors that chemically influence differentiation, though the mechanical properties of the surrounding environment are proving to significantly impact cell differentiation as well. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), a widely studied cell source for bone regeneration, have repeatedly demonstrated these mechanotransductive properties in vitro, favoring relatively rigid substrates under osteogenic differentiation conditions. The effect of substrate stiffness on osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal progenitors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC-MPs), a novel cell source for bone regeneration, has not been widely studied. By culturing iPSC-MPs on Polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) substrates with varying stiffness, we tested the hypothesis that comparatively rigid substrates could promote more efficient osteogenic differentiation than softer substrates. The stiffness of the substrates, characterized by Young’s modulus, ranged from 0.5 to 2.5 MPa. Cells cultured on these substrates were run against controls grown on tissue culture plastic (TCP). Effects were observed for cultures grown in both complete culture media (CCM) and osteogenic differentiation media (ODM). Gene expression at 3, 7, 14 and 21 days, quantified by RT-qPCR, shows significant upregulation of osteogenic markers, including runt-related transcription factor 2 (RUNX2), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and osteocalcin  (OCN) for cells cultured on 2.245 MPa substrates in ODM. In comparison to cells cultured on softer substrates and especially TCP, these cells also displayed an increase in ALP protein activity and calcium deposition as determined by alizarin red s staining and quantification. Cells cultured in CCM showed trends for osteogenic differentiation, suggesting that mechanical properties of the substrate may affect cell fate without chemical differentiation signaling. With recent studies showing the efficacy of iPSCs as a novel stem cell source for regenerative medicine, it is becoming ever more necessary to establish a fast and efficient method for differentiating these cells for orthopaedic applications. This study shows how substrate stiffness can be used to promote faster, more efficient osteogenic differentiation in iPSC-MPs. This information could be used to design scaffolds that would promote bone formation in vivo.

Substrate stiffness influences osteogenic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells

In many countries, particularly in the developing world, a large number of girls are receiving little or no formal education, in spite of all of the benefits that education can confer. Education has intrinsic value, as girls can experience a sense of agency and empowerment when they are able to achieve their educational goals. It is also important to human development, and there are tangible benefits to be gained from educating girls.  This study examines the effects of increased efforts to improve gender equality in education in the developing world. Specifically, I investigate many of the interventions that have been implemented for the purpose of improving girls’ secondary education, and consider which have been the most effective, in terms of both numbers of girls in school and the quality of their educational experience. In evaluating quality, I specifically consider what ramifications the different strategies have for girls’ capabilities as informed by Martha Nussbaum’s conception of the capabilities approach.  The data come primarily from published papers and reports from a variety of countries, and also include a small amount of firsthand information that I collected from contacts that I met during recent travel in Uganda and Rwanda. Details from people who work in schools and in education-related NGOs in these countries, and who have seen up-close the effects of different interventions on girls’ education, are utilized to add depth and personal insights to the data from the published reports.  At the conclusion of the study, I make recommendations, with girls’ capabilities in mind, about which interventions I think are the most beneficial and worth pursuing. Which strategies are the most effective at improving girls’ access to schools and the experiences they have once they are there? Those that specifically address issues of quality, rather than just access, seem likely to have the most beneficial effects on girls’ capabilities.

University of Colorado Denver Theses and Dissertations

Items in this collection

Military commericalism and coup behavior

Evaluation of biomimetic polymer nerve guidance conduit for peripheral nerve regeneration

Computational insights into the origins of Z- and enantioselective asymmetric ring-opening/cross-metathesis reactions catalyzed by a sterogenic-AT-RU-complex

Design recommendations for rockfall fence post foundations based on full-scale testing

Acceptance-based factors in chronic pain

Tweeting

Austerity policy and welfare regimes in the EU

Problems in structural and extremal graph theory

Substrate stiffness influences osteogenic differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cell-derived mesenchymal stem cells

A girl with a book

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Items in this collection

Military commericalism and coup behavior