ScholarWorks

ScholarWorks is an open access repository for the capture of the intellectual work of Montana State University (MSU) in support of its teaching, research and service missions. MSU ScholarWorks is a central point of discovery for accessing, collecting, sharing, preserving, and distributing knowledge to the Montana State University community and the world.

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Scholarship & Research

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Psychological Resilience and Cognitive Functioning in Black and White Men and Women
(Oxford University Press, 2025-02)
Scambray, Kiana A.
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Morris, Emily P.
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Palms, Jordan D.
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Lee, Ji Hyun
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Sol, Ketlyne
Background and Objectives. Psychological resilience is associated with better physical and mental health, but little is known about its role in cognitive health from an intersectional perspective. This study aimed to assess the relationship between psychological resilience and cognitive function across subgroups of older non-Hispanic Black and White men and women while taking stress exposure into account. Research Design and Methods. A total of 453 participants (Black men = 87; Black women = 147; White men = 98; White women = 121) from the Michigan Cognitive Aging Project completed the Brief Resilience Scale and a neuropsychological battery. Analyses of variance were used to assess differences in psychological resilience across the intersection of gender and race. Linear regressions assessed relationships between psychological resilience and global cognition, controlling for sociodemographics and discrimination. Interaction terms and stratified regressions characterized these relationships across intersectional groups. Results. The level of psychological resilience did not differ across intersectional groups despite differences in stress exposure. Higher resilience was associated with better global cognition in the whole sample (β = 0.12, p = .002), but this association was found only among Black men (β = 0.40, p < .001). Discussion and Implications. Levels of resilience did not differ between Black and White older adults, despite disproportionate stress exposure among Black older adults. Links between psychological resilience and cognition may depend on stressors and resources that are differentially patterned across intersectional groups. Psychological resilience may be particularly important for cognitive health among Black men, who are frequently underrepresented in cognitive aging research.
Evaluation and Future Prospects of Data-Driven Intelligence-Based Framework for Predicting Cyclic Behavior of Reconstituted Sand
(Wiley, 2025-01)
Jas, Kaushik
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Jana, Amalesh
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Dodagoudar, G. R.
Most of the robust artificial intelligence (AI)-based constitutive models are developed with synthetic datasets generated from traditional constitutive models. Therefore, they fundamentally rely on the traditional constitutive models rather than laboratory test results. Also, their potential use within geotechnical engineering communities is limited due to the unavailability of datasets along with the model code files. In this study, the data-driven constitutive models are developed using only laboratory test databases and deep learning (DL) techniques. The laboratory database was prepared by conducting cyclic direct simple shear (CDSS) tests on reconstituted sand, that is, PDX sand. The stacked long short-term memory (LSTM) network and its variants are considered for developing the predictive models of the shear strain (γ [%]) and excess pore pressure ratio (ru) time histories. The suitable input parameters (IPs) are selected based on the physics behind the generation of ru and γ (%) of the liquefiable sands. The predicted responses of γ (%) and ru agree well in most cases and are used to predict the dynamic soil properties of the PDX sand. The same modeling framework is extended for other sand and compared with existing AI-based constitutive models to verify its practical applicability. In summary, it is observed that though the trained models predicted the time histories of ru and γ reasonably well; however, they struggled to predict the hysteresis loops at higher cycles. Therefore, more research is needed to verify and enhance the predictability of existing AI-based models in the future before using them in practice for simulating cyclic response.
An Elongator mouse model of ALS spotlights TDP-43 in the motor neuron nucleolus
(Springer Science and Business Media LLC, 2025-08)
Snow, Magge
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Cameron, BreAnna
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Pond, Renzie
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Trudell, Rachel
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Snyder, Sara
Dysfunction of Elongator is associated with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Here, we describe mouse models in which either Elongator subunit 1(Elp1) or subunit 3 (Elp3) is selectively ablated in alpha motor neurons of the spinal cord. These mice exhibit a progressive loss of motor strength and motor neuron degeneration. To interrogate the molecular mechanisms that contribute to motor neuron cell death in these mice, we examine multiple disease pathways, including the expression of TDP-43 whose cytoplasmic aggregation is associated with the human disease. Although TDP-43 is a well-characterized nuclear protein functioning in RNA metabolism and gene transcription, here we document TDP-43’s robust presence in the nucleolus of wild-type motor neurons and its clearance from both the nucleus and the nucleolus of motor neurons in Elp conditional knockout mice. Thus, this study directly links dysfunction of Elongator with nucleolar disruption and TDP-43 clearing, two hallmark cellular pathologies of ALS.
Timing is everything: accurate parasitism timing is critical to cowbird nestling success
(Elsevier BV, 2025-12)
Boldrick, Julia
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Schelsky, Wendy M.
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Hauber, Mark E.
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Tullius, Abigail
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Hoover, Jeffrey P.
Obligate brood parasitism is a reproductive strategy whereby the parasitic parent leaves its offspring to be raised by a host of a different species. This has resulted in specialized adaptive behaviours selected to improve the survival of parasitic progeny. The timing of when to leave a parasitic propagule with the host can be paramount to the parasite’s success, and erring in this decision could have dire fitness consequences. Brown-headed cowbirds, Molothrus ater, are North America’s most widespread avian obligate brood parasite and, as generalists, successfully parasitize over 170 host species. Female cowbirds are cryptic and difficult to monitor, and much of how they make parasitic egg-laying decisions is not well understood. Despite the diversity in potential host species, cowbirds nearly always parasitize nests during a narrow window of the host’s egg-laying period just before the onset of incubation, resulting in their offspring typically hatching before the host’s own young. How important is it to get this timing right, and what are reproductive costs to parasitizing nests ‘late’ (i.e. after the onset of host incubation)? We simulated three different parasitic egg-laying timing decisions by adding cowbird eggs to the nests of a locally common host, the prothonotary warbler, Protonotaria citrea, at different stages of the host’s laying and incubation periods and monitored the subsequent effects on cowbird hatching success, hatching asynchrony relative to host eggs, nestling size, haematocrit, a health proxy, and survival. Our experiment established the costs of delayed parasitic egg laying: late egg addition produced cowbird nestlings that hatched at the same time or later than their host nestmates, had smaller same-age body size and showed markedly lower survival compared to those placed in the pre-incubation window, supporting our hypothesis that parasitism timing is a behaviour under strong selection in this, and perhaps other, obligate brood parasites.
James Buttle Review: Dynamic Water Storage Shapes Critical Zone Function in Snow-Dominated Mountain Watersheds
(Wiley, 2025-11)
Tague, Christina
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Barnard, Holly R.
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Harpold, Adrian A.
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Heckman, Christopher J.
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Johnson, Keira
Dynamic water storage is the water that remains for enough time in watersheds to influence streamflow generation, chemically weather rock and drive the release of solutes, breakdown organic carbon (C) through microbial activity, and sustain vegetation between periods of precipitation. The amount and connectivity of dynamic water stores control critical zone processes, including evapotranspiration, vegetation productivity and mortality, streamflow, weathering and solute transport. Here, we present recent advances and identify frontiers in the study of dynamic water storage in the critical zone, focusing on observational techniques for quantifying dynamic storage, advances in conceptual and numerical models that capture dynamic storage, and emerging hypotheses that drive dynamic storage evolution. We specifically identify and focus on four primary dynamic water storages: snow, plant-accessible water, groundwater, and surface water. While we use semi-arid mountain environments as an exemplar of dynamic storage controls on critical zone processes, this work offers implications for a broad range of geoclimatic settings.