Digital Commons Network^™

Understanding The Transcriptional Landscape Of Chinese Hamster Ovary (Cho) Cell Lines Using Next-Generation Sequencing Technology, Rna-Seq, Under Industrially Relevant Conditions, Yogender Kumar Gowtham

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Recombinant therapeutic proteins are widely used to treat life-threatening diseases including cancer. Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells have been used for over 25 years in the biopharmaceutical industry to produce recombinant therapeutics, where CHO cells produce almost one in three of the manufactured recombinant therapeutics. CHO cell lines are the preferred host for protein expression due to their ability to produce human-compatible protein glycosylation, mediate protein folding, ease of culturing in large-scale bioreactors and protein expression stability. However, several limitations exist in CHO cell bioprocessing, including low protein yields, resulting in high market prices of the biopharmaceuticals. Understanding of CHO …

Ceramic Thin Films With Embedded Magnetic Nanofibers Or Nanorods Of Controlled Orientations, Zhaoxi Chen

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Ceramic thin films embedded with oriented magnetic nanofibers or nanorods are highly demanded for the applications in remote sensing, electromagnetic shielding, and thermal management at high temperatures. The general strategy for developing ceramic composite thin films with aligned magnetic nanorods or nanofibers has not been developed yet. This dissertation is centered on fundamentally understanding a sol-gel and polymer-based route towards creation of ceramic thin films with aligned magnetic nanostructures. The topics cover fabrication and properties of ceramic and ceramic-based nanofibers, precipitating magnetic nanoparticles within ceramic fibers, aligning and embedding nanofibers or nanorods within ceramic films, and preventing cracking during the …

A Multi-Model Approach To Design A Robust Fixed-Order Controller To Improve Power System Stability, Abdlmnam Abdlrahem Abdlrahem

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The rapid increase in power system grid has resulted in additional challenges to reliable power transfer between interconnected systems of a large power network. Large-scale penetration of intermittent renewable energy increases uncertainty and variability in power systems operation. For secure operation of power systems under conditions of variability, it is imperative that power system damping controllers are robust. Electromechanical oscillations in the range of 0.2 Hz to 1 Hz are categorized as inter-area modes. These modes arise due primarily to the weak interconnections characterized by long transmission lines between different operating areas of an interconnected power system. One of the …

Characterizing The Performance Of A Ferrofluid-Based Electromagnetic Energy Harvester Under Direct And Parametric Excitations, Saad F. Alazemi

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When a container carrying a magnetized ferrofluid is subjected to external mechanical stimuli, the sloshing motion of the magnetized ferrofluid generates a time-varying magnetic flux, which can be used to induce an electromotive force in a coil placed adjacent to the container. This process generates an electric current in the coil, and therewith, can be used to transduce external vibrations into electric energy providing a unique approach for vibration energy harvesting using liquid-state transduction materials. As compared to traditional vibratory energy harvesters that employ soli transduction elements, this approach offers several advantages including, but not limited to, conformability to different …

Using Soil Conditioners To Improve Soil Physiochemical Properties And Agricultural Productivity In Libya, Gandura Abagandura

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The results of Libyan agricultural review confirmed that soil degradation and limited freshwater resources are the primary causes of the country’s dependence on food imports. The intrusion of the seawater into the groundwater is causing soils to become salt-affected. In addition, many crops in the country are susceptible to pests. The spatial distribution of soil degradation occurrence and type were predicted using regression models, estimating that 666 882 km2 (53.5 %) of Libyan soils are degraded with 46.4 % due to salinization, 6.4 % water erosion and 0.66 % wind erosion.

The majority of the soils in Libya are sandy …

Accelerating Big Data Analytics On Traditional High-Performance Computing Systems Using Two-Level Storage, Pengfei Xuan

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High-performance Computing (HPC) clusters, which consist of a large number of compute nodes, have traditionally been widely employed in industry and academia to run diverse compute-intensive applications. In recent years, the revolution in data-driven science results in large volumes of data, often size in terabytes or petabytes, and makes data-intensive applications getting exponential growth. The data-intensive computing presents new challenges to HPC clusters due to the different workload characteristics and optimization objectives. One of those challenges is how to efficiently integrate software frameworks developed for big data analytics, such as Hadoop and Spark, with traditional HPC systems to support both …

A Critical Analysis Of Factors That Contribute To Maasai Land Appropriation: The Case Of Maasai Land Appropriation In Kajiado And Narok Counties In Kenya, Ben R. Koissaba

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The aim of this case study was to analyze events, practices, laws, and decrees that have contributed to Maasai land appropriation and acquisition from the perspective of the Maasai in order to make policy recommendations. This case study was both intrinsic (how the Maasai understood the situation of land appropriation and acquisition) and instrumental (what can others learn from the situation of the Maasai).

This study used a form of qualitative research known as a case study. This particular study uses both intrinsic and instrumental case study designs (Denzin and Lincoln, 2006, Stake, 1995). The goal of the intrinsic component …

Connected Vehicles At Signalized Intersections: Traffic Signal Timing Estimation And Optimization, S. Alireza Fayazi

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Summary: While traffic signals ensure safety of conflicting movements at intersections, they also cause much delay, wasted fuel, and tailpipe emissions. Frequent stops and goes induced by a series of traffic lights often frustrates passengers. However, the connectivity provided by connected vehicles applications can improve this situation. A uni-directional traffic signal to vehicle communication can be used to guide the connected vehicles to arrive at green which increases their energy efficiency; and in the first part of the dissertation, we propose a traffic signal phase and timing estimator as a complementary solution in situations where timing information is not available …

Enabling Marker Assisted Breeding (Mab) For Phytochemical Compounds In Peach [Prunus Persica (L.) Batsch], Asma Abdelghafar

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Genetic control and location of QTLs associated with phytochemical compounds in peach were evaluated using bi-parental mapping and genome wide association (GWAS). The bi-parental mapping was conducted in an F2 population (ZC2) derived from cross between ‘Zin Dai’ x ‘Crimson Lady’. GWAS was performed on an association panel representing modern peach cultivars available and/or produced for the U.S. market. Antioxidant capacity and phenolic compound accumulation (total phenolics, flavonoids and anthocyanins) were evaluated for two years on all materials. The ZC2 progeny were genotyped using IPSC 9K peach SNP array v1., and the association panel was genotyped using genotyping-by-sequencing. The genetic …

Radiative Transfer Using Path Integrals For Multiple Scattering In Participating Media, Paul Michael Kilgo

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The theory of light transport forms the basis by which many computer graphic renderers are implemented. The more general theory of radiative transfer has applications in the wider scientific community, including ocean and atmospheric science, medicine, and even geophysics. Accurately capturing multiple scattering physics of light transport is an issue of great concern. Multiple scattering is responsible for indirect lighting, which is desired for images where high realism is the goal. Additionally, multiple scattering is quite important for scientific applications as it is a routine phenomenon. Computationally, it is a difficult process to model. Many have developed solutions for hard …

Towards Structuring Smart Grid: Energy Scheduling, Parking Lot Allocation, And Charging Management, Mehdi Rahmani-Andebili

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Nowadays, the conventional power systems are being restructured and changed into smart grids to improve their reliability and efficiency, which brings about better social, economic, and environmental benefits. To build a smart grid, energy scheduling, energy management, parking lot allocation, and charging management of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) are important subjects that must be considered. Accordingly, in this dissertation, three problems in structuring a smart grid are investigated.

The first problem investigates energy scheduling of smart homes (SHs) to minimize daily energy consumption cost. The challenges of the problem include modeling the technical and economic constraints of the sources and …

Defects In Graphene: Electrochemical, Magnetic, And Optical Properties, Jingyi Zhu

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Graphene has attracted tremendous attention due to its unique proper- ties, such as its two-dimensional structure, zero-band-gap, and linear dispersion relation of its electronic band structure, which are all very interesting from a fundamental standpoint. In addition, its ultra-light weight, high surface area, exceptional electrical and thermal conductivities, as well as robust mechanical strength portends huge potential in diverse applications. Defects in the otherwise perfectly hexagonal lattice of graphene lead to lattice symmetry breaking, and the emergence of new fundamental properties of graphene. Therefore, to understand the role of defects in graphene and further to control the fundamental characteristics of …

Simulation Of Reverse Osmosis And Osmotically Driven Membrane Processes, Peng Xie

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To address the increasingly severe global water shortage and pollution problem, reverse osmosis (RO) has been widely used because of its ability to produce high quality water. Meanwhile, related technologies have been developed, called osmotically driven membrane processes (ODMPs). These include forward osmosis (FO), which has potential for wastewater purification and desalination, and pressure retarded osmosis (PRO), which has the capacity to produce energy. The main problems associated with RO and ODMPs are concentration polarization and membrane fouling which deteriorate the quality and quantity of the permeate flux and increase the operating cost of the system. The task of this …

Conjugated Polymers Under Confinement: Molecular Dynamics Simulations Study, Sabina Maskey

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The conformations and dynamics of luminescent polymers, polymeric nanoparticles or polydots and polymers grafted onto inorganic nanoparticles using molecular dynamics (MD) simulation have been studied. Rigidity of the backbones of polymers effects their properties. Model polymer, dialkyl poly para phenylene ethynylene (PPE), comprises rigid backbones substituted by flexible side chains. The degree of conjugation of these polymers depends on the conformation of their backbones, which in turn affects their electronic and luminescence characteristics. The results of single chain of PPEs followed by polydots and polymers grafted onto inorganic nanoparticles. PPEs as a function of molecular weight and the nature of …

Studies In Organic Synthesis: Copper Mediated Allylic Substitutions, Synthesis Of Spiro 3(2H)-Furanones, Intermolecular Halofunctionalization Of Alkenes And Synthesis Of Difluorovinyl Ethers, Alfredo Picado-Valenzuela

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This dissertation encompasses 4 independent projects in the field of Methodology Development in Organic Synthesis. Chapter 1 summarizes our efforts in the regio- and stereocontrol of copper mediated allylic substitutions with rearrangement of the double bond (SN2') in (Z)-α-halo-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-phosphate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-mesylate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (Z)-α-pentafluorobenzoate-β,γ-unsaturated esters, (E)-α-chloro-β,γ-unsaturated esters and allylic cyanophosphates. Different organocopper compounds bearing alkyl or aryl substituents were prepared from organolithium and Grignard reagents, and then added to these unsaturated substrates. When lithium cuprates were employed in combination with (Z)-α-nucleofuge-substituted-β,γ-enoates, exclusive formation of the SN2' products (e.g., γ-substituted-α,β-unsaturated esters) were obtained in good yields and with complete stereoselectivity …

Study Of Chemical Profiles Of Volatile And Non-Volatile Bioactive Compounds Of Muscadine Grapes (Vitis Rotundifolia) During Ripening Stages And Evaluation Of Their In Vitro Biological Properties, Bolim Lee

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Muscadine grapes (Vitis rotundifolia) have attracted consumers because of their unique flavors and high concentrations of bioactive phytochemicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of ripening stages (i.e., stage I, II, and III) of muscadine on physiochemical properties, volatile organic compounds (VOCs), and phenolic compounds in the grapes, and explore the enzymatic inhibitory effects of the muscadine extracts and some of its inherent phenolics on some important enzymes, such as angiotensin-I-converting enzyme (ACE), pancreatic lipase (PL), tyrosinase, collagenase and elastase, relevant to human chronic diseases. Physiochemical properties of the muscadine grapes were evaluated in …

Characterization And Modeling Of Deformation, Springback, And Failure In Advanced High Strength Steels (Ahsss), Jun Hu

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New generations of advanced high strength steels (AHSSs), expected with tension strength exceeding 1000 MPa, sufficient cold-stamping ductility, and low-alloyed microstructure, are being highly sought for automotive lightweighting applications without compromising on neither performance nor cost standards. From the standpoint of metallurgy, the most straightforward solution is to realize complex microstructures in the new AHSSs with significant fractions of the strongest ferrous phase, martensite, in combination with the most ductile phase, austenite. Nevertheless, the preliminary-developed new AHSSs exhibit unique and complex deformation, failure, and springback characteristics compared with the conventional steel grades, which thereby bring significant challenges to the current …

Glycosome Heterogeneity, Dynamics, And Er Association In Trypanosoma Brucei, Sarah Twitty Bauer

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Trypanosomatid parasites, including Trypanosoma and Leishmania, are the causative agents of lethal diseases threatening millions of people around the world. These organisms compartmentalize glycolysis in essential, specialized peroxisomes called glycosomes. Peroxisome proliferation can occur through growth and division of existing organelles and de novo biogenesis from the endoplasmic reticulum. The level that each pathway contributes is debated. Current evidence supports the concerted contribution of both mechanisms in an equilibrium that can vary depending on environmental conditions and metabolic requirements of the cell. Homologs of a number of peroxins, the proteins involved in peroxisome biogenesis and matrix protein import, have …

Examining The Effects Of Interaction Fidelity On Task Performance And Learning In Virtual Reality, Jeffrey Wayne Bertrand

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Virtual reality training applications are becoming more widespread as hardware costs for head-mounted displays (HMDs) and tracking technology decrease, enabling a wide variety of interaction techniques beyond the mouse and keyboard. Advancements in VR hardware yield higher levels of interaction fidelity or the objective degree of exactness with which real-world interactions can be reproduced in an interactive system. Despite the growing use of virtual reality simulations for training, few prior investigations have examined the constituent components of fidelity and how they affect performance and learning in the context of a real-world skills training applications. With tracking and HMD technology reaching …

Evaluation Of 1,4-Dioxane Biodegradation Under Aerobic And Anaerobic Conditions, Francisco J. Barajas Rodriguez

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Used mainly as a solvent stabilizer, 1,4-dioxane is present at many sites contaminated along with chlorinated solvents and other chemical compounds. Considered a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this contaminant has raised considerable concerns because of its potential adverse effects on health. Therefore, remediation of 1,4-dioxane has gained importance, and although there are several approaches for its treatment, such as ex situ physicochemical processes, bioremediation is a key alternative because it is a low energy demanding process. Anaerobic conditions are present at most contaminated sites, however, there is insufficient scientific evidence for anaerobic biodegradation of 1,4-dioxane. …

Functional Analysis Of Human Long Non-Coding Rnas And Their Associations With Diseases, Steven Cogill

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Within this study, we sought to leverage knowledge from well-characterized protein coding genes to characterize the lesser known long non-coding RNA (lncRNA) genes using computational methods to find functional annotations and disease associations. Functional genome annotation is an essential step to a systems-level view of the human genome. With this knowledge, we can gain a deeper understanding of how humans develop and function, and a better understanding of human disease. LncRNAs are transcripts greater than 200 nucleotides, which do not code for proteins. LncRNAs have been found to regulate development, tissue and cell differentiation, and organ formation. Their dysregulation has …

Physics-Based Models For Engine System Studies: Quasi-D Dual-Fuel Combustion And Real-Time Intake Charge Flow Estimation, Shuonan Xu

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Ever tightening emissions and fuel economy regulations provide a strong impetus for research on high-efficiency low-emission engine concepts. In addition, CO2 emission regulation and energy security considerations motivate investigations focused on alternative fuels. In the current heavy-duty fleet, diesel engines dominate the market due to their unmatched thermal efficiency. Nevertheless, they suffer from NOx and soot emissions and require complex aftertreatment systems to meet stringent regulations. Due to recent advancements of the Natural Gas (NG) extraction technology, its supply has become increasingly abundant. Conversion of Heavy Duty engines to NG operation provides a most effective way of increasing utilization of …

Social Entrepreneurialism As Economic Development Policy, Peter Staples

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The overall theme of this dissertation is social entrepreneurship and economic development policy. Empirical studies show strong evidence of the important role entrepreneurship plays in economic development. Recently, social entrepreneurship has emerged as a distinct field of scholarly study with the potential to increase economic development activities. It has the added benefits of increasing social and human capital and of reducing market failure and government failure by assisting underserved and marginalized populations in improving their standards of living. In spite of this potential, entrepreneurship in general has been neglected as part of a comprehensive economic development policy. Social entrepreneurship in …

Release And Degradation Of Microcystin-Lr Following Exposures Of Microcystis To Copper-Based Algaecides, Kyla Iwinski

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Microcystins (MCs) are hepatotoxic endotoxins produced by cyanobacteria such as Microcystis that can cause both ecological and human health risks, as well as economic losses in freshwater resources. The use of copper-based algaecides to manage MC-producing cyanobacteria is sometimes limited due to perceived risks of MC release from cyanobacterial cells and persistence of toxins in water resources. The aim of this research was to investigate the influence of copper concentration and form on MC release and persistence, as well as potential consequences of “no-action” management decisions (i.e. no treatment). To achieve these objectives, a tiered approach was employed utilizing both …

Complex Network Analysis And The Applications In Vehicle Delay-Tolerant Networks, Bo Wu

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Vehicle Delay Tolerant Networks (VDTNs) is a particular kind of Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs), where vehicles equipped with transmission capabilities are interconnected to form Vehicle NETworks (VNETs). Some applications and services on the top of VDTNs have raised a lot of attention, especially by providing information about weather conditions, road safety, traffic jams, speed limit, and even video streamings without the need of infrastructures. However, due to features such as high vehicle mobility, dynamic scenarios, sparsity of vehicles, short contact durations, disruption and intermittent connectivity and strict requirements for latency, many VDTNs do not present satisfactory performance, because no path …

Evaluating Indirect Calorimetry Methodology, Postural Energy Expenditure, And The Effects Of Diet And Exercise Recommendations, Collin Jeffrey Popp

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Scientific research provides the evidence necessary to build an effective framework for health recommendations. In a population of young, healthy adults the recommended duration of an indirect calorimetry measurement period when measuring resting energy expenditure was a minimum of 10 minutes, with the first 5-minutes being discarded. A steady state period was achieved during the second 5-minute segment of a 30-minute period. Furthermore, in a population of young women, short-term standing energy expenditure was statically greater than lying and sitting energy expenditure. However, recommendations to stand instead of sit may be negligible as the magnitude of the effect of short-term …

Techniques To Improve The Retrieval Efficiency And Usability Of G-Bean, Yuanyuan Zhang

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Mary E. Kurz, Committee Chair

Spatial Analysis Of The Nutritional Risk Of Older Adults Participating In The Older Americans Act Program In South Carolina, 2013, Maciel Ugalde

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Malnutrition is a prevalent, serious, and often unrecognized health threat for older adults in the United States. The prevalence estimates of malnutrition in the elderly are highly variable as methods for detection are not standardized. It is dependent on the use of the different available tools, the population being studied, and the different settings (living at home, institutionalized, or hospitalized) The purpose of this study was to determine the spatial variation of the nutritional risk of Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) service recipients in South Carolina (SC) using factors that influence the nutritional status of older adults included in the …

The Intentionality Of Coaching Responses: Connecting Stances To Practices, Leigh Martin

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Limited research exists that highlights instructional coaching practices associated with teacher learning, practice, and student learning (McGatha, Davis, & Stokes, 2015; Gibbons & Cobb, 2011). This study investigates coaching as a high-leverage strategy for mathematics teacher learning as a way to contribute to this research base. My study examines one coach's practices with two different teachers in order to respond to questions in the field about the decision-making processes of coaches. More specifically, this study examines how one coach determined which practices to use and the ways in which one coach adapted her practices with teachers. This dissertation seeks to …

Effect From Substrate Binding And Selected Mutations For Allosteric Communication In Atm1 Type Abc Exporter, Yinling Liu

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This thesis employed molecular dynamics (MD) simulations to investigate the effects of substrate binding and site-direct mutation of proteins. Chapter 2 performed MD simulations to examine the substrate effects on the behavior of Atm1 type ABC exporter. We found that thiol-containing glutathione (GSH) bound Atm1 type ABC exporter undergoes the largest conformational changes characterizing the nucleotide binding domain (NBD) coming closer together. The intracellular loops ICL1 and ICL2 between NBDs and transmembrane domains (TMDs) associated with the biggest fluctuation in the first principle component from PCA analysis in GSH bound system. Also, unlocking and slide along each other of two …