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Articles 1 - 30 of 245
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Dynamic Characterization Of The Ikk:Κbα:Nfκb Negative Feedback Loop Using Real-Time Bioluminescence Imaging, Britney Moss
Dynamic Characterization Of The Ikk:Κbα:Nfκb Negative Feedback Loop Using Real-Time Bioluminescence Imaging, Britney Moss
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The transcription factor NF-κB is a pivotal regulator of mammalian cell function, modulating genes implicated in cellular stress responses, proliferation, differentiation, cell survival and apoptosis, as well as immune and inflammatory responses. Improper regulation of NF-κB signaling has been implicated in a myriad of human pathological disorders, including cardiovascular and neurodegenerative diseases, chronic inflammation, and various cancers. A key regulatory node within canonical NF-κB signaling is the IKK:NF-κB: IκBα negative feedback loop that plays a major role in regulating the strength and duration of NF-κB transcriptional activity. We have developed and characterized an unique bioluminescent reporter (κB5àIκBα-FLuc) …
The Psycho-Economic Model Of Ecstasy Consumption And Related Consequences: A Multi-Site Study With Community Samples, Arbi Ben Abdallah
The Psycho-Economic Model Of Ecstasy Consumption And Related Consequences: A Multi-Site Study With Community Samples, Arbi Ben Abdallah
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
A Psycho-Economic Model of Ecstasy Consumption and Related Consequences: A Multi-Site Study with Community Samples By Arbi Ben Abdallah The consumption of mind-altering drugs is well recognized as a complex behavior entailing many different etiological precursors. To understand its complexity, drug use has to be considered from multiple perspectives. Over time, numerous theories have been advanced to explain drug use, the pattern of its use, and its related consequences. Because they approach such a behavior from slightly different vantage points, these theories offer unique explanations with different take on its genetic, physiological, psychological, and environment risk factors. A substantial body …
Market-Driven Development In Frontier Ecologies, Dolly Daftary
Market-Driven Development In Frontier Ecologies, Dolly Daftary
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
This dissertation investigates the interaction of market-based development policy with democratic decentralization in ecological frontiers in western India inhabited by the vast majority of the country's poor. The study explores how the leaders of elected local bodies called panchayats who are driven by the imperatives of broad-based distribution deliver upwardly distributive capital-intensive development in resource-poor communities during a period of state-neoliberalization. On the basis of eighteen months of ethnographic fieldwork in eastern Gujarat, the study explores how the implication of panchayats- the world's largest system of democratic politics- in large-scale politics shapes the distribution of material resources in resource-dependent communities. …
Using Dirichlet Process Priors For Bayesian Mixture Clustering, Xiao Huang
Using Dirichlet Process Priors For Bayesian Mixture Clustering, Xiao Huang
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
We describe a non-parametric Bayesian model using genotype data to classify individuals among populations where the total number of populations is unknown. The model assumes that a population is characterized by a set of allele frequencies that follow multinomial distributions. The Dirichlet Process is applied as the prior distribution. The method estimates the number of populations together with the allele frequencies and the ancestry coefficients of each individual. Distance matrices and bootstrap support numbers based on MCMC runs are generated to create a phylogeny of the ancestral populations.
Redox Homeostasis In Cyanobacteria, Jeffrey Cameron
Redox Homeostasis In Cyanobacteria, Jeffrey Cameron
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Oxygenic photosynthetic organisms utilize high-energy electron transfer chains comprised of redox active intermediates and light harvesting complexes. While oxygen is a necessary byproduct of water oxidation and the source of photosynthetic electrons, its presence is also dangerous because leakage of electrons and excitation energy can interact with molecular oxygen to generate reactive oxygen species: ROS). Elaborate antioxidant networks and redox buffering systems have evolved to protect photosynthetic organisms from the threat of ROS. Glutathione: GSH) is a multifunctional molecule that is involved in core metabolism, detoxification of xenobiotics and in maintenance of cellular redox poise. The ubiquitous nature of glutathione …
Simulation Of The Undiseased Human Cardiac Ventricular Action Potential: Model Formulation, Experimental Validation And Application, Thomas O'Hara
Simulation Of The Undiseased Human Cardiac Ventricular Action Potential: Model Formulation, Experimental Validation And Application, Thomas O'Hara
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Creation of an accurate model for the undiseased human ventricular action potential: AP) which reproduces a broad range of physiological behaviors requires extensive experimental data, of which essential elements have been unavailable. We developed and validated such a model using new experimental data from endocardium of 140 undiseased human hearts. 78 were from male: 56%). Average age was 41 with standard deviation of 12 years. New experiments include: Ca2+ versus voltage dependent inactivation of L-type Ca2+ current; kinetics for the transient outward, rapid delayed rectifier, Na+/Ca2+ exchange, and inward rectifier currents; AP recordings at all …
The Interaction Of Cofilin With The Actin Filament, Diana Wong
The Interaction Of Cofilin With The Actin Filament, Diana Wong
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The regulation of filamentous actin: F-actin) production from the polymerization of globular actin: G-actin) within the cell is critical for many cell functions. Since actin is found in all cells, understanding how actin-binding-proteins: ABPs) bind and how their regulating mechanisms work is not only important to the basics of cytoskeletal pathways, but also to understanding associated diseases and creating possible therapeutics to combat them. Cofilin is an ABP that plays an important part in the regulation process and in recent times, has come to be known as a player in maintaining a cell's homeostasis. It's activity has been shown to …
A Dlk And Jnk Dependent Axon Self-Destruction Program Promotes Wallerian Degeneration, Bradley Miller
A Dlk And Jnk Dependent Axon Self-Destruction Program Promotes Wallerian Degeneration, Bradley Miller
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Axon loss is a debilitating consequence of a wide range of neurological conditions. As axons degenerate, they go through a stereotyped sequence of morphological changes termed Wallerian degeneration. It has long been hypothesized that there is an active axonal breakdown program, conceptually similar to apoptosis, which underlies Wallerian degeneration. However, the molecular pathways that accomplish this program in neurons have remained elusive. We demonstrate that dual leucine kinase: DLK) promotes degeneration of severed axons in Drosophila and mice, and its target JNK promotes degeneration locally in axons as they commit to degenerate. This pathway also promotes degeneration after chemotherapy exposure, …
Ultrasound-Encoded Optical Tomography And Time-Reversed Ultrasonically Encoded Optical Focusing, Xiao Xu
Ultrasound-Encoded Optical Tomography And Time-Reversed Ultrasonically Encoded Optical Focusing, Xiao Xu
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Ultrasound modulated optical tomography is a developing hybrid imaging modality that combines high optical contrast and good ultrasonic resolution to image soft biological tissue. We developed a photorefractive crystal-based, time-resolved detection scheme with the use of a millisecond long ultrasound burst to image both the optical and mechanical properties of biological tissues, with improved detection efficiency of ultrasound-tagged photons. We also applied spectral-hole burning: SHB) aided detection in ultrasound-modulated optical tomography: UOT) to image optical heterogeneities in thick tissue-mimicking phantom samples and chicken breast tissue. The efficiency of SHB was improved by using a Tm3+: YAG crystal of higher doping …
Analysis Of Zinc Transporters In C. Elegans, Hyun Cheol Roh
Analysis Of Zinc Transporters In C. Elegans, Hyun Cheol Roh
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Zinc is a trace element essential for organisms, and organisms have homeostatic mechanisms to control zinc metabolism. Zinc metabolism is mediated by numerous proteins including zinc transporters, zinc-responsive transcription factors and zinc-binding proteins. Of these proteins, zinc transporters, composed of CDF and ZIP families, play a major role and are implicated in a variety of human diseases. However, the mechanisms by which zinc transporters coordinate to regulate zinc homeostasis in whole animals and by which they are related to human diseases are not well understood. To address these questions, we used C. elegans as a model system. While three C. …
Effects Of Movement Context On Reach-Grasp-Lift Motion And Grip Force After Stroke, Stacey Dejong
Effects Of Movement Context On Reach-Grasp-Lift Motion And Grip Force After Stroke, Stacey Dejong
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Loss of upper extremity function after stroke is a significant problem resulting in enormous personal, societal, and economic costs. Neurophysiological discoveries over several decades have revealed great potential for use-dependent neural adaptation, and have revitalized the search for training strategies that optimize recovery. Although task-specific repetitive practice is recognized as a key stimulus to promote upper extremity function after stroke, choices of what to practice and how to practice remain challenging and poorly guided by evidence. This research was inspired by evidence in healthy individuals, that movement can be altered by characteristics of the task and the environment, together referred …
From Gwoka Modénn To Jazz Ka: Music, Nationalism, And Creolization In Guadeloupe, Jerome Camal
From Gwoka Modénn To Jazz Ka: Music, Nationalism, And Creolization In Guadeloupe, Jerome Camal
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
My dissertation explores the development of new musical styles based on gwoka, a Guadeloupean drum-based music and dance tradition. During five visits to Guadeloupe between 2007 and 2009, I interviewed musicians, music professionals, and cultural and political activists. In addition, I attended numerous musical performances, learned to play and dance gwoka, and performed with several ensembles. I combine this ethnographic data with archival evidence to reveal how Guadeloupe's atypical path to decolonization and economic dependency has fueled the growth of nationalist sentiment on the island. Using transcriptions and analyses of musical recordings, I demonstrate how musicians have participated in Guadeloupe's …
Information Processing For Biological Signals: Application To Laser Doppler Vibrometry, Alan Kaplan
Information Processing For Biological Signals: Application To Laser Doppler Vibrometry, Alan Kaplan
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Signals associated with biological activity in the human body can be of great value in clinical and security applications. Since direct measurements of critical biological activity are often difficult to acquire noninvasively, many biological signals are measured from the surface of the skin. This simplifies the signal acquisition, but complicates post processing tasks. Modeling these signals using the underlying physics may not be accurate due to the inherent complexities of the human body. The appropriate use of such models depends on the application of interest. Models developed in this dissertation are motivated by underlying physiology and physics, and are capable …
“God And Posterity Will Show Me Favor”: A Search For The Historical Lady Jane Dudley In Light Of Her Later Portrayals, Rachel Wisdom
“God And Posterity Will Show Me Favor”: A Search For The Historical Lady Jane Dudley In Light Of Her Later Portrayals, Rachel Wisdom
Undergraduate Theses—Unrestricted
The sixteen-year-old Lady Jane Dudley, born Grey, was pushed onto the throne for nine days in July 1553, a last-minute effort in retaining a Protestant monarch. She was quickly toppled by the rightful heir, the Catholic Queen Mary I, giving Jane the shortest reign in English history. Shortly thereafter, Jane was beheaded for treason. For the next four and a half centuries, Jane’s story would be told over and over again—vastly more often than her relative insignificance in history would suggest— casting her as a saint, a martyr, a child prodigy, an airheaded girl with little interest in religious or …
Part I Development Of Nucleophilic Acylation Catalysts Part Ii Chiral Brønsted Acid Catalyzed Enantioselective Alcoholysis, Guojian Lu
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Chiral bicyclic amidines and isothioureas developed in our group have been showed as a new type of nucleophilic acyl transfer catalysts. Based on the previous achievement in our group, several aza-analogues and a 5,7-menbered ring bicyclic analogue of THTP were prepared. Its synthesis proved to be more laborious than that of the THTP analogue derivative, and the enantioselectivity was substantially lower. Based on the previous discovery in our group that 1,2,4-triazole anion, as an active acyl transfer catalyst, can promote aminolysis and transesterification of moderately activated or even unactivated esters, a systematic study of pyrazole derivatives in this transformation was …
The Roles Of Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide In Circadian Entrainment Of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, Sungwon An
The Roles Of Vasoactive Intestinal Polypeptide In Circadian Entrainment Of Suprachiasmatic Nucleus, Sungwon An
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
In mammalian hypothalamus, the suprachiasmatic nucleus: SCN) generates daily behavioral and physiological rhythms as a circadian pacemaker. The 20,000 SCN neurons synchronize to each other and to the ambient cues to generate coherent daily rhythms. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide: VIP), a neuropeptide produced by SCN neurons, plays a major role in synchronizing SCN neurons to each other. Whether VIP mediates synchrony to environmental cues and how synchrony within the SCN is achieved has not been examined extensively. We recorded PERIOD::LUCIFERASE: PER2::LUC) expression from SCN explant cultures over multiple days following VIP application at different circadian time points to generate a phase …
What Good Is Engagement? Predicting Academic Performance And College Satisfaction From Personality, Social Support, And Student Engagement, Timothy Bono
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
This dissertation identifies variables that predict academic performance and university satisfaction among 146 undergraduate students at Washington University tested during their first semester of freshman year and later as sophomores or juniors. Hierarchical regression analysis reveals that, after controlling for SAT scores, freshman levels of conscientiousness and upperclass Academic Engagement predict higher GPA. Freshman levels of life satisfaction, Co-curricular Engagement, and low regret, and upperclass levels of happiness, social support, and low regret predict university satisfaction. A quantifiable model of Student Engagement is also offered. Further, results demonstrate that, over the college years, personality and student engagement change over time. …
Isotopic And Elemental Compositions Of Stardust And Protosolar Dust Grains In Primitive Meteorites, Maitrayee Bose
Isotopic And Elemental Compositions Of Stardust And Protosolar Dust Grains In Primitive Meteorites, Maitrayee Bose
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
This dissertation presents the results and implications of the isotopic and elemental analyses of presolar silicate grains from the primitive chondrites, Acfer 094, SAH 97096, and ALHA77307. Oxygen-anomalous, C-anomalous, and N-anomalous grains were identified by O, C, and N isotopic imaging, respectively, using the NanoSIMS 50. Subsequently, the elemental compositions of the grains carrying the anomalous isotopic signatures were acquired in the PHI 700 Auger Nanoprobe. Some silicate grains with unique O isotopic compositions were measured for Si and Fe isotopes. The isotopic analyses indicate that a majority of the silicate and oxide grains are 17O-rich with solar to sub-solar …
Sentimental Ideology, Women's Pedagogy, And American Indian Women's Writing: 1815-1921, Christine Cavalier
Sentimental Ideology, Women's Pedagogy, And American Indian Women's Writing: 1815-1921, Christine Cavalier
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Sentimental Ideology, Women's Pedagogy, and American Indian Women's Writing: 1815-1921 by Christine Renée Cavalier Washington University in St. Louis, 2011 Professor Vivian Pollak, Chairperson This dissertation examines how sentimental notions of respectable womanhood and refined education shaped the polished poetry and prose of four seminal female figures in the history of American Indian literature: Jane Johnston Schoolcraft: 1800-1842), the earliest American Indian female author recovered thus far; E. Pauline Johnson: 1861-1913), the most successful nineteenth-century Native writer who became Canada's iconic poetess and Native national symbol; S. Alice Callahan: 1868-1894), the first American Indian female novelist; …
Markov Chains Derived From Lagrangian Mechanical Systems, Scott Cook
Markov Chains Derived From Lagrangian Mechanical Systems, Scott Cook
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The theory of Markov chains with countable state spaces is a greatly developed and successful area of probability theory and statistics. There is much interest in continuing to develop the theory of Markov chains beyond countable state spaces. One needs good and well motivated model systems in this effort. In this thesis, we propose to produce such systems by introducing randomness into familiar deterministic systems so that we can draw upon the existing: deterministic) results to aid the analysis of our Markov chains. We will focus most heavily on models drawn from Lagrangian mechanical systems with collisions: billiards).
Inferring Aggregation Mechanisms Of Molecules Involved In Neurodegeneration Through Quantitative Studies Of Phase Behavior, Scott Crick
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Polyglutamine is involved in at least nine known neurodegenerative diseases, the most prominent of which is Huntington's Disease. It is thought that polyglutamine aggregation leads to disease. The biophysical mechanism of polyglutamine aggregation remains controversial as highlighted by conflicting proposals that have been put forth in the literature ranging from homogeneous nucleation to a more complex assembly mechanism that involves heterogeneous distributions of oligomers. Converging upon an accurate framework for describing polyglutamine aggregation in vitro is an essential first step for understanding how interactions in cis i.e., flanking sequences and trans i.e., heterotypic interactions in the cellular milieu shape self-assembly …
Apobec-1 Complementation Factor (Acf) Binds And Regulates Multiple Rnas, Kimberly Delaney
Apobec-1 Complementation Factor (Acf) Binds And Regulates Multiple Rnas, Kimberly Delaney
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
AU-Rich Elements: ARE) are cis-acting RNA sequences in the 3'UTRs of a wide range of transcripts that function to regulate mRNA stability, localization, and/or translation through interaction with ARE-Binding Proteins. Apobec-1 Complementation Factor: ACF) was originally identified as a co-factor in ApoB mRNA C to U editing, but has recently been implicated in regulation of mRNA stability as an ARE-Binding Protein. Here we have used tissue culture models with RNA turnover assays to show that the stability of reporters cloned upstream of the Interleukin-6: IL-6) 3'UTR or portions of the Cox-2 3'UTR is regulated by levels of ACF expression. Surprisingly, …
National History And The Novel In 1930s Britain, Erica Delsandro
National History And The Novel In 1930s Britain, Erica Delsandro
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Although indebted to scholars whose work has illuminated the distinctiveness of 1930s Britain, "National History and the Novel in 1930s Britain" argues that rather than seeking distinction, writers of the period were more concerned with the task of contextualizing their decade and their own position within a national historiography from which they felt the Great War and military masculinities had excluded them. Focusing on the novelists Christopher Isherwood, Evelyn Waugh, and Virginia Woolf, and the philosopher of history, R. G. Collingwood, I describe how the 1930s inheritors of British cultural privilege found themselves symbolically disenfranchised from a national identity inextricably …
Regulation Of Neutrophil Homeostasis By Chemokines Signaling Through The Cxcr2 And Cxcr4 Receptors, Kyle Eash
Regulation Of Neutrophil Homeostasis By Chemokines Signaling Through The Cxcr2 And Cxcr4 Receptors, Kyle Eash
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
The number of neutrophils in the blood is tightly regulated to ensure adequate protection against microbial pathogens while minimizing damage to host tissue. Neutrophil homeostasis in the blood is achieved through a balance of neutrophil production, release from the bone marrow, and clearance from the circulation. Accumulating evidence suggests that chemokine signaling in the bone marrow may play a key role in maintaining neutrophil homeostasis. Based on this evidence, we developed a "tug-of-war" model in which opposing chemokine gradients, specifically release-inducing CXCR2 signals and retention-promoting CXCR4 signals, act antagonistically to regulate neutrophil release from the bone marrow. We generated mice …
On The Road To Samaria: Urban Religious Congregations As Resource Brokers, Kirk Foster
On The Road To Samaria: Urban Religious Congregations As Resource Brokers, Kirk Foster
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Concentrated poverty is an increasing problem in urban U.S. neighborhoods leading to social isolation and marginalization from mainstream institutions. Conventional thought has argued that the urban poor lack resources necessary for social and economic mobility due to constrained social networks endemic in homogeneously poor communities. However, neighborhood based organizations may be one place where the urban poor can engage heterogeneous resource networks to advance socially and economically. Religious congregations are enduring neighborhood organizations that present the opportunity for social interaction and resource access. Thus, this study examines the role of religious congregations in providing access to resources embedded in congregational …
Spray Techniques And Lung Cancer Chemoprevention, Huijing Fu
Spray Techniques And Lung Cancer Chemoprevention, Huijing Fu
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Chemoprevention is a promising approach to decrease the incidence of lung cancer in current and former smokers. Directly delivering drugs to the lung could lead to a high concentration in the target organ with a lower dose compared to other means of administration. The primary advantages of aerosol delivery in treating lung diseases include improving the bioavailability of the drug in the lung, decreasing the medicine dose, rapid action, and reducing the systemic toxicity as well as side effects. Spray techniques are widely used for aerosol delivery. Two spray techniques were evaluated in this study for their applications in lung …
The Advancement Of Mass Spectrometry-Based Hydroxyl Radical Protein Footprinting: Application Of Novel Analysis Methods To Model Proteins And Apolipoprotein E, Brian Gau
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Fast photochemical oxidation of proteins: FPOP) has shown great promise in the elucidation of the regions of a protein's structure that are changed upon interaction with other macromolecules, ligands, or by folding. The advantage of this protein footprinting method is that it utilizes the reactivity of hydroxyl radicals to stably modify solvent accessible residues non-specifically in a microsecond. The extent of *OH labeling at sites assays their solvent accessibility. We have corroborated the predicted profoundly short timescale of labeling empirically, by FPOP-labeling three oxidation-sensitive proteins and examining their global FPOP product outcomes. The novel test developed to validate conformational invariance …
The Effects Of Visuospatial Sequence Training With Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Michelle Gremp
The Effects Of Visuospatial Sequence Training With Children Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Michelle Gremp
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Abstract Despite advances in hearing aid and cochlear implant technologies, many children who are deaf or hard of hearing continue to lag behind typically hearing peers in language and reading abilities. Additionally, there is a high degree of variability in language outcomes among children with a hearing loss. Evidence indicates that auditory input provides a foundation not only for speech and language development but for cognitive functions such as sequence memory and learning ability. This study investigated a variety of cognitive functions with two major aims in mind: 1) to verify differences between children who are deaf or hard of …
The Manipulated Mechanism: Towards An Account Of The Experimental Discovery Of Mechanistic Explanations, Donald Goodman-Wilson
The Manipulated Mechanism: Towards An Account Of The Experimental Discovery Of Mechanistic Explanations, Donald Goodman-Wilson
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
Recent work in the philosophy of biology has sought after an account of mechanistic explanation. Biologists frequently encounter causal relationships that beg for explanation. For example, genes appear to encode for particular phenotypes. How does gene expression work? Biologists posit mechanisms to explain the link between cause and effect. Thus, gene expression would be explained by an appeal to a complex mechanism linking the gene to the phenotype, as such an appeal will provide answers to broad ranges of "how" and "why" questions about the causal relationship, and predict novel effects. Here, I focus on a recent problem raised for …
Specific Roles Of Macaque Parietal Regions In Making Saccades And Reaches, Eric Yttri
Specific Roles Of Macaque Parietal Regions In Making Saccades And Reaches, Eric Yttri
All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)
A principle task of our brain is to guide movements, includng saccade: fast eye movements) and reaches towards things that we see. Regions in the parietal cortex such as LIP and PRR are active during visually-guided movements. Neurons in these areas respond differentially for saccades versus reaches, but in most parietal areas there is some response: in single unit recording as well as in fMRI imaging) with either type of movement. This raises an important question. What is the functional significance of the neuronal activity in parietal areas? Recording and imaging studies can only show correlations; causal roles must be …