Digital Commons Network^™

The Movement Of Escherichia Coli And Enterococci Among Beach Sand, Lyngbya Wollei, And The Water Column: Implications For Human Health, Krystal Ann Bakkila

Wayne State University Theses

Occurrence of the filamentous cyanobacteria Lyngbya wollei has become an increasing concern in the Great Lakes region. Prior to the early 1900's, L. wollei had been occasionally documented in the Great Lakes region, but in the last decade it has been observed with increasing frequency. In the Great Lakes L. wollei has been proliferating, fragmenting, and accumulating ashore, where it decays forming thick detrital mats harboring potentially harmful bacteria such as Escherichia coli and enterococci. While the filamentous green algae species Cladophora glomerata has been well studied in this region, very little research has been done on the cyanobacteria L. …

Radon Loss From Zircon: Effects Of Microstructure On Radon Emanation And Diffusion, Marty Eakin

Wayne State University Theses

Radon emanation from rocks and minerals is ubiquitous, but the mechanisms of radon loss are not well understood. Quantification of radon emanation rates from zircon has potential bearing on the reliability of U-Pb ages of zircon bearing rocks. The 238U decay chain includes 222Rn, a noble gas, which has a half-life of 3.82 days and can escape from the crystal structure of zircon if sufficient pathways exist, or by recoil if the parent 238U was very near the outer edge of the crystal. Loss of 222Rn ultimately leads to a deficiency of 206Pb, resulting in discordance between 238U-206Pb, 235U-207Pb, and …

Thermal And Cooling Systems Modeling Of Powertrain For A Plug -In Parallel-Through-The-Road Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Mengjia Cao

Wayne State University Theses

Thermal modeling and control play an ever increasing role with hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) design and development for improving overall vehicle energy efficiency, and to account for additional thermal loading from electric powertrain components such as electric motor, motor controller and battery pack.

This thesis presents a complete development process for an efficient modeling approach with integrated control strategy for the thermal management of plug-in HEV in a parallel-through-the road (PTTR) architecture, adopted by Wayne State University Hybrid Warriors for their Department of Energy's EcoCAR2 Plugging in to the Future Competition.

The frameworks of this project include simulating the thermal …

Compare Effects Of Diets Made With Different Saturated Fatty Acids On Body Weight Regulation And Metabolism In Wister Rats, Dilruba Fatema

Wayne State University Theses

Animal fats are known to cause elevated blood total and low-density- lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol levels in humans and animals. This study was designed to investigate the effects of both the quality (coconut oil and a modified beef tallow with reduced saturated fatty acid content) and quantity (low and high) of dietary fat in body weight regulation and alteration of blood cholesterol levels in an animal model. Forty two male Wister rats were randomly divided into 4 groups: Control Low Fat (CLF, n=10), Control High Fat (CHF, n=10), Modified Low Fat (MLF, n=11), and Modified High Fat (MLF, n=11). They were …

Synthesis Of 4'-O-Glycopyranosyl Paromomycin Aminoglycoside Antibiotics: Influence Of The Glycoside On Antiribosomal, Antibacterial Activity And Utilization Of Electrospray Ionization Mass Spectrometry To Evaluate Reactivity Of Glycosyl Phosphate, Weiwei Chen

Wayne State University Theses

The data in this thesis is trying to address two problems. The first problem is paromomycin associated ototoxicity; the second problem is the lack of precise reactivity data of glycosyl donors in one-pot synthesis.

Paromomycin is out of the market as an antibiotic due to its ototoxicity. Previous work done by Vasella and Böttger's groups identified 4'-O position of paromomycin as a promising site of modification to reduce the side effect. A series of 4'-O-glycopyranosyl paromomycin has been synthesized and tested for their biological activity and selectivity. From the results of anti bacterial ribosomal activity, anti hybrid ribosomal activity and …

Neuroimage Analysis Of Traumatic Brain Injury In Human Patients, Hardik Doshi

Wayne State University Theses

CEREBRAL HEMODYNAMIC CHANGES IN MILD TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY AT THE ACUTE STAGE

by

Hardik J. Doshi

May 2014

Advisor: Dr. Zhifeng Kou

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Degree: Master of Science

There are more than 1.7 million reported traumatic brain injury (TBI) cases every year in the United States alone. Out of all these, more than 85% are mild TBI (mTBI) and it has significant socio-economic impacts. The motivation towards this study is to measure changes in the arterial cerebral blood flow (CBF) and venous oxygen saturation by combining Arterial Spin Labeling (ASL) and Susceptibility Weighted Imaging and Mapping (SWIM) techniques and …

Investigation Of Ion Current Signal In A Modern Automotive Diesel Engine, Rojan Mathew George

Wayne State University Theses

Research is driven towards finding an alternative or extender to the conventional diesel fuel for compression ignition engines. Such alternative fuels have wide ranges of physical and chemical properties which is not suitable for CI engines. Therefore, experimental investigation to understand the effects of different fuels on engine performance, combustion, and emissions are necessary. A complete understanding of ion current signal during heterogeneous diesel combustion has not yet been made. Implementation of ion current signal as a feedback in diesel engines, during all operating conditions needs further research and understanding.

This thesis covers the investigation of ion current signal characteristics …

Comparative Phenolic Content And Antioxidant Activities Of Blueberry (Vaccinium Corymbosum) Afected By In Vitro Digestion, Sonia Gharbi

Wayne State University Theses

Abstract

COMPARATIVE PHENOLIC CONTENT AND ANTIOXIDANT ACTIVITIES OF BLUEBERRY (VACCINIUM CORYMBOSUM) AFECTED BY IN VITRO DIGESTION

By

SONIA GHARBI

May 2014

Adviser: Dr. Kevin Zhou

Major: Nutrition and Food Science

Degree: Master of Science

The biological properties of antioxidants depend on their release from the food matrix during the digestion process. Blueberry contains a wide range of phenolic compounds which are of great significance due to their antioxidant activity. In vitro digestion is a rapid and inexpensive method used to determine the availability of nutrients involved in the absorption studies with humans. Total phenolic content and antioxidant activity of Vaccinium …

Species - Dependent Cardiac And Motor Responses To Cholinergic Stimulation In Daphnia Pulex And Daphnia Magna, Bryan James Hannan

Wayne State University Theses

The role of acetylcholine (ACh) in regulating the activity of the heart and `feeding current' driven by the beating thoracic appendages of Daphnia pulex and Daphnia magna was evaluated using acetylcholinesterase inhibitors (AChE-I) and muscarinic receptor agonists. Single animals, tethered to a stainless steel pin, were tested in a watertight aquatic chamber that allowed free movement of appendages and swimming antennae. Heart contraction rate and the rate of thoracic appendage beating were quantified optically by measuring fluctuating changes in light-intensity caused by movement. Physostigmine, neostigmine, oxotremorine, pilocarpine as well as nicotine were used to study ACh and AChE. Atropine was …

Resilience As A Predictor Of Postpartum Quality Of Life In A Sample Of Women With A History Of Trauma, Jessica Lee Irwin

Wayne State University Theses

Changes in economic, social, and living situations make the postpartum period especially challenging. Despite the growing need to study postpartum mothers' quality of life to determine how to buffer against risk, a vast majority of studies in this area have focused on what negatively impacts quality of life. The current study sought to determine whether factors such as positive parenting, family functioning and resilience positively predict quality of life when controlling for annual household income, depressive symptomatology and posttraumatic stress symptomatology. Using hierarchical regression, it was confirmed that positive parenting and family functioning significantly contribute to quality of life, but …

An Investigation Of Kinetic Effects Of Split Injection Timing On Low Temperature Combustion, Tejaswini A. Kamble

Wayne State University Theses

Low temperature combustion (LTC) modes of operating internal combustion engines are of great interest for their potential to achieve high thermal efficiencies while maintaining low nitrogen oxide (NOX) and particulate matter emissions below levels requiring costly after-treatment systems. While various strategies for realizing LTC have been developed, including homogeneous charge compression ignition (HCCI), reactivity controlled compression ignition (RCCI) and premixed charge compression ignition (PCCI), a common challenge is the control of the kinetically-driven auto-ignition processes over appreciable load ranges.

This study examines the chemical kinetics of split-injection timing and the kinetic effect of this parameter on combustion phasing and pressure …

Bacteriophage Isolated From The Environment And E. Coli Of Meat Origin As A Reservoir Of Antibiotic Resistance, Manisha Polur

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

BACTERIOPHAGE ISOLATED FROM THE ENVIRONMENT AND E. COLI OF MEAT ORIGIN AS A RESERVOIR OF ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE

by

MANISHA POLUR

April 2014

Advisor: Dr. Yifan Zhang

Major: Nutrition and Food Science

Degree: Master of Science

This study was aimed to determine the extent of antibiotic resistance reservoir in bacteriophage. Bacteriophages were isolated and purified from waste water treatment plants, Detroit river, Belle Isle, Urban Garden soils and examined for the presence of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance genes. Thirty E. coli isolates from retail meat were analyzed for the presence of beta-lactam antibiotic resistance genes. 95% of E. coli them carried …

Truthful Mechanisms For Resource Allocation And Pricing In Clouds, Mahyar Movahednejad

Wayne State University Theses

A major challenging problem for cloud providers is designing efficient mechanisms for

Virtual Machine (VM) provisioning and allocation. Such mechanisms enable the cloud

providers to effectively utilize their available resources and obtain higher profits. Recently,

cloud providers have introduced auction-based models for VM provisioning and allocation

which allow users to submit bids for their requested VMs. We formulate the dynamic

VM provisioning and allocation problem for the auction-based model as an integer program

considering multiple types of resources. We then design truthful greedy and optimal

mechanisms for the problem such that the cloud provider provisions VMs based on the

requests …

Everyday Memory: An Expanded View Of Autobiographical Memory Functions, Jana Ranson

Wayne State University Theses

The current study investigated an expanded set of everyday autobiographical memory (AM) functions as proposed by developers of the 7-function Child-Caregiver Reminiscence Scale (CRS) (Kulkofsky & Koh, 2009). The current study adapted the theoretical CRS for use with diverse, adult samples. Participants (N = 1841) from a large, urban university completed the CRS-A online over the course or two academic semesters. Validation analyses included EFA using principal axis factoring, CFA, MGCFA invariance testing, and MTMM tests of construct validity (convergent and discriminant) and method effects. Results yielded evidence for a 6- function (Conversation, Perspective-Taking, Relationship Maintenance, Behavioral Control/Teaching/Problem-Solving, Emotion Regulation, …

Simulations And Measurements Of Fuel Film Using Refractive Index Matching Method, Fengkun Wang

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

SIMULATIONS AND MEASUREMENTS OF FUEL FILM USING REFRACTIVE INDEX MATCHING METHOD

by

FENGKUN WANG

APRIL 2014

Advisor: Dr. Ming-Chia Lai

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Degree: Master of Science

Direct Injection (DI) has been known for its improved performance and efficiency in gasoline spark-ignition engines. However, wall wetting is inevitable and the source of UHC and PM. In order to take advantage of the GDI technology, it is important to investigate spray wall interactions in detail.

Numerical and experimental studies are carried out for spray and wall impingements in an optical constant volume vessel. The fuel film was measured spatially and …

The Influence Of Gestural Learning On Oral Reading And Reading Comprehension, Rachael Joymarie Williams

Wayne State University Theses

The purpose of this study is to evaluate how gestural training may facilitate oral reading and reading comprehension of single words. For example, it is not clear whether multi-modal cues such as gesture provide an advantage over verbal cueing alone, or which type of multi-modal cues may be more effective than others in visual-verbal learning. This study examined language learning in healthy volunteers to be able to apply the effective methods for language intervention in individuals with language difficulties.

Thirty-two healthy adults were selected to participate in four different learning conditions including verbal alone, visual cue, meaningful gesture, and meaningless …

The Effects Of Phragmites Australis Litter On Seed Emergence In The Erie-Huron Corridor, Michigan, Travis White

Wayne State University Theses

The invasive reed, Phragmites australis, is widespread within the Great Lakes region, and is often blamed for habitat degradation. Once established, it creates dense litter mats that may persist following remediation efforts of living stock removal. We investigated the effects of P. australis and Typha angustifolia, narrow-leaf cattail, litter on seedling emergence from the native seed bank by harvesting soils from five Great Lakes coastal marshes densely populated by either Phragmites or Typha and exposing them to Phramities or Typha litter in treatments of varying litter depths. Seedling emergences were quantified for six weeks. Soils from Phragmites dominated sites had …

Real-Time High Resolution Integrated Optical Micro-Spectrometer, Sabarish Chandramohan

Wayne State University Theses

A real-time integrated planar single-mode waveguide grating micro-spectrometer with high resolution of 0.5 nm in 120 nm wide range of visible spectrum, from 525 nm to 645 nm is demonstrated. A CMOS sensor is used for capturing the output image of micro-spectrometer. A f = 1cm lens is used to focus the diffracted monochromatic light onto the CMOS sensor. An algorithm is developed using simple polynomial equation which uses two known reference wavelengths to convert x-pixel numbers of the CMOS sensor to wavelength spectrum. The output of micro-spectrometer in this design has comparatively less noise than usual spectrometric measurements. This …

From Instantaneities To The Eternal: Shifting Pictorial Temporalities In Monet's Rouen Cathedral, Kaleigh Paige Winchell

Wayne State University Theses

This paper focuses on Monet's Rouen Cathedral paintings, a set of canvases painted by the artist between February 1892 and May 1895. This series has traditionally been hailed as Monet's greatest and most significant, but historical scholarship has addressed the series within an Impressionist framework. However, this paper argues instead that the Cathedral paintings no longer represented Monet as an Impressionist, but instead as an artist with entirely original and different goals for whom the nature of time had taken on new meaning. Where Monet began his endeavors in seriality with a feverish focus on the temporary and elusive - …

Gpu Optimizing And Accelerating Of Gibbs Ensemble On The Cuda Kepler Architecture, Yuanzhe Li

Wayne State University Theses

The main purpose of implementing the code on Kepler architecture is to speed up the GPU code, which is from the previous work done by our group, by using the new functions of NVIDIA CUDA's Kepler architecture. Therefore, this thesis specifically focuses on the latest architecture.

To get benefits from the Kepler architecture, the primary work is to convert the code and make it adapt to the new features: Warp Shuffle and Dynamic Parallelism. The new code changes the way to transfer data and generate new kernel functions. In addition, another challenge is to trade o the use of resources …

Performance Analysis Of Scalable Sql And Nosql Databases : A Quantitative Approach, Harish Balasubramanian

Wayne State University Theses

Benchmarking is a common method in evaluating and choosing a NoSQL database. There are already lots of benchmarking reports available in internet and research papers. Most of the benchmark reports measure the database performance only by overall throughput and latency. This is an adequate performance analysis but need not to be the end. We define some new perspectives which also need to be considered during NoSQL performance analysis. We have demonstrated this approach by benchmarking HBase, MongoDB and sharded MySQL using YCSB. Based on the results we observe that NoSQL databases do not consider the capability of the data nodes …

Explicit Preemption Placement For Real-Time Conditional Code Via Graph Grammars And Dynamic Programming, Bo Peng

Wayne State University Theses

Traditional worst-case execution time (WCET) analysis must make very pessimistic assumptions regarding the cost of preemptions for a real-time job. For every potential preemption point, the analysis must add to the WCET of a job the cache-related preemption delay (CRPD) incurred due to the contention for memory resources with other jobs in the system. However, recent work has shown that CRPD can vary at each preemption point (due to the cache lines that must be reloaded for subsequent code after the preemption). Using this observation and information obtained from schedulability analysis on the maximum length of the non-preemptive region of …

Defying Mandatory Motherhood: The Social Experiences Of Childfree Women, Braelin E. Settle

Wayne State University Theses

Research suggests motherhood is central to a woman's adult identity. In 2000, however, almost twice as many women ages 40-44 were childless than in 1980. Scholarship points to the social, economic, and attitudinal factors shaping the dramatic increase in the number of childfree women, many of whom are white, educated beyond high school, and upper-middle class. This qualitative case study focuses on the growing social phenomenon of childfree women in the United States. Using in-depth interviews, I examine the reasons behind women's decisions to remain childfree and the experiences of being childfree in their everyday lives. I focus on the …

The Rna Newton Polytope And Learnability Of Energy Parameters, Elmirasadat Forouzmand

Wayne State University Theses

Computational RNA secondary structure prediction has been a topic of much research interest for several decades now. Despite all the progress made in the field, even the state-of-the-art algorithms do not provide satisfying results, and the accuracy of output is limited for all the existent tools. Very complex energy models, different parameter estimation methods, and recent machine learning approaches had not been the answer for this problem. We believe that the first step to achieve results with high quality is to use the energy model with the potential for predicting accurate output. Hence, it is necessary to have a systematic …

Making Lemonade: Nonprofit Survival During The Great Recession, Latitia Mccree

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

MAKING LEMONADE: NONPROFIT SURVIVAL DURING THE GREAT RECESSION

by

LATITIA MCCREE

May 2014

Advisor: Dr. Dapne Ntiri, Ph.D.

Major: Interdisciplinary Studies, Nonprofit Sector Studies

Degree: Master of Arts

The Great Recession that officially began in December 2007 and ended in June 2009 significantly impacted the quality of life for many US families. Jobs were permanently lost, homes were foreclosed, and personal savings were depleted. This caused many families to seek aid from nonprofit organizations. As the demand for nonprofit services rose, many nonprofit organization's revenues and resources declined.

A case study of the YMCA of Metropolitan Detroit was conducted …

Saudi Arabian Students In Detroit Use Natural Health Products More So Than Other University Students In Detroit, Samiah Naji Alqahtani

Wayne State University Theses

Natural Health Products (NHP), are defined as products that derive from organisms and may include supplements and herbal/traditional remedies. Prior research indicates that females use NHP more than males. We have unpublished data to show that students use NHP for health maintenance with significantly different use of NHP by Native/Aboriginal students vs. other students. Less is known about Saudi students. We hypothesize that: (1) There are gender differences in NHP used; and (2) There are geo-ethnic differences in NHP used. We also determine the predictor variables that influence NHP use by students. Students from Wayne State University (n=560; 193 …

Working Through School And Living With Conflict: The Role Of Selective Optimization With Compensation, Lydia Elizabeth Hamblin

Wayne State University Theses

Work-School Conflict (WSC) is defined as the extent to which work interferes with the ability to meet school demands (Markel & Frone, 1998). The aim of the present study was to examine perceptions of WSC among employed college students, as well as a positive antecedent, Selective Optimization with Compensation (SOC; Baltes & Baltes, 1990), a group of behavior-based coping strategies. WSC was predicted to be a partial mediator between context-specific SOC strategies and the four outcomes: intent to persist with college, GPA, as well as two components of burnout, disengagement and exhaustion (Demerouti & Bakker, 2008). Structural equation modeling was …

Contextualized Extraversion And Its Change In Cross-Cultural Adjustment, Mengqiao Liu

Wayne State University Theses

Bridging recent developments in personality changes and contextualized personality, the current research focuses on changes in contextualized personality and their impact on cross-cultural adjustment. Findings revealed that contextualized Extraversion provided incremental validity in predicting context-related outcomes (i.e., cross-cultural adjustment) above and beyond global Extraversion. Although no significant changes were revealed regarding contextualized Extraversion, individual characteristics (i.e., cultural flexibility and cross-cultural motivation) negatively predicted individual differences in the rate of contextualized Extraversion changes. Implications and limitations were discussed.

Determination Of Jet Transport Parameters And Their Temperature Dependence In Heavy-Ion Collisions, Karen Marie Burke

Wayne State University Theses

In the continuing effort to describe properties of the quark-gluon plasma, energy loss is studied through leading order higher twist calculations of high transverse momentum single hadron suppression. Input of several values for the jet transport parameter q ̂ were used at pT ranges of ~5-20 GeV at RHIC and ~10-100 GeV at LHC, with collision centrality of 0-5%. The results of the calculations are then compiled and compared with experimental data to determine the best fit value for q ̂.

Development And Evaluation Of Plga-S-S-Peg Micelles Coencapsulating Curcumin Difluorinated And Paclitaxel For Synergistic Therapeutic Efficacy, Lakshmi Deepika Cheemalakonda

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF PLGA-S-S-PEG MICELLES COENCAPSULATING CURCUMIN DIFLUORINATED AND PACLITAXEL FOR SYNERGISTIC THERAPEUTIC EFFICACY

by

LAKSHMI DEEPIKA CHEEMALAKONDA

August 2014

Advisor: Dr. Joshua Reineke Major: Pharmaceutical Sciences Degree: Master of Science

Solid tumors like pancreatic tumor has unique property of forming a dense desmoplastic layer around the tumor cells making it difficult for the drug to transport across this layer. Multi drug resistance is also one of the major limitation of chemotherapy. Therefore the aim of this project was to make PLGA-SS-PEG micelles encapsulating CDF and paclitaxel for synergistic cancer therapy. CDF was found to have 16-fold better …