Digital Commons Network^™

Characterizing The Controlled Release Of Glial Cell-Line Derived (Gdnf) Neurotrophic Factor From Encapsulated Schwann Cells, Kristy Broadrick

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

CHARACTERIZING THE CONTROLLED RELEASE OF GDNF IN SCHWANN CELLS

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KRISTY BROADRICK

May 2010

Advisor: Dr. Pamela VandeVord

Major: Biomedical Engineering

Degree: Masters of Science

Controlled expression of glial cell line derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF) can be integrated in the development of a system for repair of injured peripheral nerves. This delivery strategy was demonstrated via inducible GDNF from microencapsulated cells in barium alginate. The Schwann cell line RT4-D6P2T was initially modified utilizing an ecdysone-based stable transfection system to produce RT4-GDNF cells. During construct preparation, it was found that C6 cells (where GDNF cDNA was isolated) make three GDNF …

Identification Of Deletion Mutants Of Inositol Kinases And Phosphatases Hypersensitive To Valproate, W-Mudiyanselage Manoj Senaka Bandara

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

IDENTIFICATION OF DELETION MUTANTS OF INOSITOL KINASES AND PHOSPHATASES HYPERSENSITIVE TO VALPROATE

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WELLEWATTA MUDIYANSELAGE MANOJ SENAKA BANDARA

MAY 2010

Advisor: Dr. Miriam Greenberg

Major: Biological Sciences

Degree: Master of Science

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a chronic psychiatric illness affecting at least 1% of the world population. BD is ranked as the sixth greatest cause of death or disability globally. The cause of BD is unknown. Although the anticonvulsant valproate (VPA) is widely used as a mood stabilizer to treat BD, VPA is not completely effective and causes numerous side effects. Hence, it is important to develop more effective …

Effect Of Exogenous Leptin On Thrombotic And Metabolic Profiles Of Fvb/B6 Lipodystrophic Mice, Hoda Chaouki Kadouh

Wayne State University Theses

Lipodystrophy caused by fat deficiency contributes to metabolic disease for which several treatment modalities have been implemented, with leptin therapy being the most effective to date. In addition to playing a role in energy homeostasis and metabolism, leptin was also shown to play a pro-thrombotic role in mice. This role was not examined in fatless mice, neither was thrombosis measured. The AZIP/F-1 (FVB) lipodystrophic mouse appeared to have a prolonged arterial occlusion time (p〈0.05) in a trial done in our lab, with clotting factors being normal. The present study was designed to observe the thrombotic and metabolic characteristics of fatless …

Does Disinhibition Mediate Alcohol Use And Risk Taking?, Brian J. Klassen

Wayne State University Theses

The relationship between alcohol use and risk-taking is well-documented in the psychological literature. Although this area has attracted an enormous amount of research and interest, the mechanisms that underlie this relationship are not well understood. A model whereby executive functioning (disinhibition, specifically) mediated the relationship between alcohol use and risk-taking/impulsivity was proposed and tested. Although alcohol use and self-reported impulsivity were related on a number of different measures, alcohol use was largely not related to disinhibition, nor was disinhibition related to impulsivity/risk-taking. Therefore, full-fledged tests of mediation could not be performed. Study limitations and directions for future research were also …

Feminine Beauty Norms And The Media: A Content Analysis Of A Popular Tween Magazine, Victoria Velding

Wayne State University Theses

The term “tween” is rather new and has become widely used in mainstream culture. In terms of how this term is constructed, today’s tween is overwhelmingly female rather than male. Girls are expected to look and act a certain way because of societal beauty norms, which they can learn about via mainstream media, parents, teachers, peers, and other sources of socialization. So far, little research has focused on magazines whose target audience is the younger teen and tween; that is, girls who are roughly 8 to 14 years of age. This research consisted of a content analysis of advertisements found …

Electroless Deposition Of Superconducting Magnesium Diboride Thin Films On Various Substrates, Khrupa Saagar Vijayaragavan

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

ELECTROLESS DEPOSITION OF SUPERCONDUCTING MAGNESIUM DIBORIDE THIN FILMS ON VARIOUS SUBSTRATES

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KHRUPA SAAGAR VIJAYARAGAVAN

MAY 2010

Advisor: Dr. Susil K Putatunda

Dr. Gavin Lawes

Major: Chemical Engineering

Degree: Masters of Science

Superconducting thin films of magnesium diboride were synthesized by a novel electroless plating process. Electroless plating shares many similarities to electroplating with the major difference being the absence of a continuous bias voltage. Significantly, this work represents the first investigation where electroless deposition has been used to prepare compounds, as opposed to the elemental metals considered in all previous studies. Magnesium Diboride is a recently discovered superconducting …

Generational Differences In Reaction To Negative Feedback, Abigail E.B. Reiss

Wayne State University Theses

Generational differences in the workplace have received a great deal of attention in the past few years. The present study examined the reactions of Generation Y, Generation X, and Baby Boomers after receiving negative feedback. The sample of both working adults and undergraduate students were asked to watch a video of an actor portraying a supervisor dealing with a problem. The participants were asked what they would do in the situation and then received negative feedback about their answers. After receiving the feedback the participants showed no difference in motivation levels or self-efficacy, however there were significant differences between Generation …

The Contribution Of Genes And Hormones To The Sexual Differention Of The Zebra Finch Song System, Jessica Bayley Thompson

Wayne State University Theses

Recent studies in the zebra finch suggest the sexual differentiation of the song system and singing behavior may not be solely driven by steroid hormones organizing the brain, and may be genetically driven. In fact, genes and hormones might act together to produce sexual differentiation of the brain. To test this hypothesis, animals were implanted with a 1mm pellet containing 50ug of 17b-estradiol or a blank pellet on the third day post-hatching. At post-hatch day 25, the brains were collected and a double label fluorescence in situ hybridization protocol using biotin and digoxigenin-tagged mRNA probes was used to simultaneously label …

The Acute And Sub-Acute Effects Of Electrosurgical And Ultrasonic Surgical Devices On The Neurophysiologic Changes Of Sciatic Nerve Function, Anuja Gopalkrishna Vedpathak

Wayne State University Theses

THE ACUTE AND SUB-ACUTE EFFECTS OF ELECTROSURGICAL AND ULTRASONIC SURGICAL DEVICES ON THE NEUROPHYSIOLOGIC CHANGES OF SCIATIC NERVE FUNCTION

Since the dawn of medicine, blood loss during surgeries has been one of the major concerns for the surgeons. Iatrogenic blood loss can have several harmful effects on the patient condition. With the rapid development in technology, the blood loss can now be significantly minimized by using a variety of vessel sealing devices that use several energy sources to seal the blood vessels or tissue bundles instead of traditional sutures and clips. These devices can be used in several general, colorectal, …

A Novel Image Processing Platform Development For Preprocessing Images With Two-Phase Microstructures Containing Isolated Particles, Yuxiu Zhang

Wayne State University Theses

A novel image processing platform is developed in this thesis for pre-processing the images of two-phase microstructures containing isolated particles based on Matlab®. The two phases in this work represent martensite particles and ferrite matrix in Dual Phase steels that are developed for lightweight automotive body structures. An automated image processing tool is useful for obtaining statistical microstructure characteristics, important for better understanding material's deformation and fracture behavior. However, a generalized commercial software can not automatically realize the microstructural features of special interest, and a user-specified pre-processing tool is needed.

This platform utilizes the Matlab® GUI technique, Matlab image processing …

Effect Of Alternative Fuels On Aftertreatment Device, Bunpreet Singh

Wayne State University Theses

EFFECT OF ALTERNATIVE FUELS ON THE AFTERTREATMENT DEVICE.

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BUNPREET SINGH

Dec 2010

Advisor: Dr. Dinu Taraza

Major: Mechanical Engineering

Degree: Master of Science

There is no doubt that globally, alternative fuels have attained the center of attention in order to reduce the dependency on fossil fuels. A lot of research has been conducted on the alternative fuels in the automotive industry pertaining to the sustainability, engine performance and the emission characteristics.

The focus of this study is to investigate the effect of alternative fuels (JP8, Soy-based B20, and S8) on the aftertreatment device. Different fuel properties (both physical and …

Threat By Association: Minimal Group Affiliation And Its Outcome For Stereotype Threat, Eric W. Fuller

Wayne State University Theses

Stereotype threat has been shown to be an important cause of performance detriments in various social groups. It has also been theorized that stereotype threat could be applicable to any group so long as the individual believes their performance may reinforce the negative stereotype. The current work attempts to induce stereotype threat in participants believing they belong to an experimentally created and negatively stereotyped group using a minimal group paradigm. Across two studies there did not appear to be significant performance changes typically observed in stereotype threat research. Various cognitive measures and post-performance inquiries did generally support claims that participants …

Lateral Cognitive Processing And Belief Updating, Erin Marie Holcomb

Wayne State University Theses

Bias in mental representations and belief systems has been linked to asymmetries in information processing by the two hemispheres in research that uses wide variety of methodologies and participant samples. Also, associations have been drawn between such biases in belief systems and sociopolitical orientation leading to the hypothesis that links can be drawn from lateral processing through cognitive style to social and political orientation. This study sought to examine individual differences in laterality - as assessed via a lateralized semantic priming methodology - and manifestations of rigidity and flexibility in belief updating within a sociopolitical context. Analyses revealed that a …

The Role Of Mitochondria In The Radiation-Induced Bystander Effect In Human Lymphoblastoid Cells, Sountharia Rajendran

Wayne State University Theses

This work evaluated the radiation-induced bystander effect in mitochondrial mutant cells and in normal cells treated with mitochondrial inhibitors. Although much research has been performed on the bystander effect, the underlying molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Cells without intact mitochondrial DNA have been shown to lack the bystander effect, which is an energy-dependent process. Based on these findings, cells harboring mutations in the mitochondrial genes responsible for ATP synthesis, and normal cells treated with mitochondrial inhibitors, were hypothesized to show a decreased bystander effect when compared to normal cells that were not treated with the mitochondrial inhibitors.

Radiation-induced bystander effects …

A Front-End For An Ownership Object Graph Interactive Editor, Talia Frances Selitsky

Wayne State University Theses

Runtime views which show runtime structure, is a type of object graph. They show components as groups of objects and data structures. Runtime views are useful for tasks related to performance, reliability, and security. Most previous work on extracting object graphs has produced flat object graphs which are not scalable. Ownership object graphs (OOGs) increase the scalability of object graphs because it nests objects, creating hierarchy. Recent work has shown that sound extraction of OOGs from object-oriented systems is technically feasible. Soundness means that in any execution of the program, every object can be mapped to exactly one component in …

Digital Human Models Of People With Disabilities, Ron Hamameh

Wayne State University Theses

The current state-of-the-art in Digital Human Modeling (DHM) allows for full simulation and analysis of any task a person is required to perform at home, at work, in the military, in space, in sports, etc. The problem is that the software is missing a very important population: people with physical disabilities. What modifications and enhancements must be made to existing, commercially available DHM software to include this population?

The Roles Of Rhle And Hfq In Srna-Dependent Gene Regulation, Abeykoon Jayalath Iresha Sandeepanie Rathnayake

Wayne State University Theses

THE ROLES OF RHLE AND HFQ IN SRNA-DEPENDENT GENE REGULATION

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ABEYKOON JAYALATH IRESHA SANDEEPANIE RATHNAYAKE

DECEMBER 2010

Advisor: Dr. Andrew Feig

Major: Chemistry

Degree: Master of Science

Bacteria are adapted to live in diverse environmental conditions. Thus, they show excellent tolerance and response to extreme environmental conditions caused by low or high temperatures, high salinity, reactive oxygen species or high nutrient concentrations. sRNAs have been identified and characterized as cis-acting or trans-acting post-transcriptional regulators in diverse cellular processes including virulence and adaptation to environmental stress (11,12,14,15). Interactions of sRNAs and target mRNAs result in translational repression, translational activation or/and …

The Black Death And The Future Of Medicine, Sarah Frances Vanneste

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

THE BLACK DEATH AND THE FUTURE OF MEDICINE

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SARAH FRANCES VANNESTE

May 2010

Advisor: Dr. Hans Hummer

Major: History

Degree: Master of Arts

The Black Death was a catastrophic event in Europe's history. It had both devastating immediate effects and deep long-term consequences. Historians, however, have not agreed on the extent of the Black Death's effects on the development of medicine and medical practices in Europe. Some historians credit it with revealing the general failure of medieval medicine and directly sparking a reassessment and reformation of medical practices, while other historians minimize its effects on medicine or omit …