Digital Commons Network^™

How Much Do U.S. University Students Know, And Want To Know, About Sustainability And Green Building? The Findings Of A Survey, And Possible Implications For General Elective Curriculum., Jeremy R. Farner

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

Using the survey approach, this investigation examined the attitudes and interest of college students at two universities in different geographic locations within the United States.  Approximately 24,000 students from all disciplines and majors at Weber State University (WSU) in Utah, and 4,000 at Purdue University in Indiana, were invited to participate in a study to determine current knowledge, familiarity, and interest in topics within the sustainability and Green Building educational arena. The goal of this study was to determine what students already know, would like to know, and how much interest there would be in developing …

Stereoscopic Visualization As A Tool For Learning Astronomy Concepts, Norman M. Joseph

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

Three-dimensional (3D) visualization is becoming an extensively used educational tool. 3D visualization tends to be most useful when demonstrating concepts involving the very large – such as astronomy, or the very small – such as nanotechnology. Stereo visualization allows students to familiarize and immerse themselves in worlds which are difficult or impossible to experience in real life. This study will evaluate the educational benefit of teaching lessons involving a highly spatially-oriented topic (astronomy) using stereoscopic visualization technology.

We have used a stereoscopic visualization system, installed in a classroom, to deploy 3D simulation packages for use in classroom instruction. This educational …

Gpu-Based Global Illumination Using Lightcuts, Tong Zhang

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

Global Illumination aims to generate high quality images. But due to its high
requirements, it is usually quite slow. Research documented in this thesis was
intended to offer a hardware and software combined acceleration solution to
global illumination. The GPU (using CUDA) was the hardware part of the whole
method that applied parallelism to increase performance; the “Lightcuts”
algorithm proposed by Walter (2005) at SIGGRAPH 2005 acted as the software
method. As the results demonstrated in this thesis, this combined method offers
a satisfactory performance boost effect for relatively complex scenes.

Using A Serious Game To Motivate High School Students To Want To Learn About History, Marin M. Petkov

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

Serious games are games, whose primary goal is not entertainment, but instead
education (Michael & Chen, 2005). They have the capability of presenting the
educational material into a way that is more engaging than traditional classroom
instruction. The researcher has decided to develop a serious game called
National Pastime. National Pastime is an online role playing game with the main
goal of motivating high school students to learn about the Japanese internment
camps that were established in the United States during World War II. The game
intends to improve the students’ motivation with its engaging story and gameplay.

A Study Of Social Media Integration In Public Emergency Alert Systems, Alexander G. Barnett

Purdue Polytechnic Masters Theses

To remain effective, modern emergency alert systems must continue to investigate new methods and technologies for contacting the public.  Today’s emergency alert systems, which rely primarily on broadcast media, have yet to fully embrace the potential of one category of Internet technologies: Social media.  Social media potentially represents a large, untapped audience for emergency alert personnel to not only contact, but also utilize when seeking information regarding an incident.  The following paper investigates these technologies and their relevance to the emergency alert field.

A Synergistic Antiproliferation Effect Of Curcumin And Docosahexaenoic Acid In Sk-Br-3 Breast Cancer Cells: Unique Signaling Not Explained By The Effects Of Either Compound Alone., Jeffrey D. Altenburg, Andrew A. Bieberich, Colin Terry, Kevin A. Harvey, Justin F. Vanhorn, Zhidong Xu, Vincent J. Davisson, Rafat A. Siddiqui

Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Faculty Publications

Background

Breast cancer is a collection of diseases in which molecular phenotypes can act as both indicators and mediators of therapeutic strategy. Therefore, candidate therapeutics must be assessed in the context of multiple cell lines with known molecular phenotypes. Docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) and curcumin (CCM) are dietary compounds known to antagonize breast cancer cell proliferation. We report that these compounds in combination exert a variable antiproliferative effect across multiple breast cell lines, which is synergistic in SK-BR-3 cells and triggers cell signaling events not predicted by the activity of either compound alone.

Methods

Dose response curves for CCM and DHA …

Systems-Scale Analysis Reveals Pathways Involved In Cellular Response To Methamphetamine., Lijie Sun, Hong-Mei Li, Manfredo J. Seufferheld, Kent R. Walters Jr, Venu M. Margam, Amber Jannasch, Naomi Diaz, Catherine P. Riley, Weilin Sun, Yueh-Feng Li, William M. Muir, Jun Xie, Jing Wu, Fan Zhang, Jake Y. Chen, Eric L. Barker, Jiri Adamec, Barry R. Pittendrigh

Department of Animal Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Methamphetamine (METH), an abused illicit drug, disrupts many cellular processes, including energy metabolism, spermatogenesis, and maintenance of oxidative status. However, many components of the molecular underpinnings of METH toxicity have yet to be established. Network analyses of integrated proteomic, transcriptomic and metabolomic data are particularly well suited for identifying cellular responses to toxins, such as METH, which might otherwise be obscured by the numerous and dynamic changes that are induced.

Methodology/Results

We used network analyses of proteomic and transcriptomic data to evaluate pathways inDrosophila melanogaster that are affected by acute METH toxicity. METH exposure caused changes in the …

Quantitative Reappraisal Of The Helmholtz-Guyton Resonance Theory Of Frequency Tuning In The Cochlea, Charles F. Babbs

Weldon School of Biomedical Engineering Faculty Publications

To explore the fundamental biomechanics of sound frequency transduction in the cochlea, a two-dimensional analytical model of the basilar membrane was constructed from first principles. Quantitative analysis showed that axial forces along the membrane are negligible, condensing the problem to a set of ordered one-dimensional models in the radial dimension, for which all parameters can be specified from experimental data. Solutions of the radial models for asymmetrical boundary conditions produce realistic deformation patterns. The resulting second-order differential equations, based on the original concepts of Helmholtz and Guyton, and including viscoelastic restoring forces, predict a frequency map and amplitudes of deflections …

Single Molecule In Vivo Analysis Of Toll-Like Receptor 9 And Cpg Dna Interaction, Jiji Chen, Suman Nag, Pierre-Alexandre Vidi, Joseph Irudayaraj

Birck and NCN Publications

Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) activates the innate immune system in response to oligonucleotides rich in CpG whereas DNA lacking CpG could inhibit its activation. However, the mechanism of how TLR9 interacts with nucleic acid and becomes activated in live cells is not well understood. Here, we report on the successful implementation of single molecule tools, constituting fluorescence correlation/cross-correlation spectroscopy (FCS and FCCS) and photon count histogram (PCH) with fluorescence lifetime imaging (FLIM) to study the interaction of TLR9-GFP with Cy5 labeled oligonucleotide containing CpG or lacking CpG in live HEK 293 cells. Our findings show that i) TLR9 predominantly forms …

Treatment Of Experimental Adjuvant Athritis With A Novel Folate Receptor-Targeted Folic Acid-Aminopterin Conjugate., Yingjuan Lu, Torian W. Stinnette, Elaine Westrick, Patrick J. Klein, Mark A. Gehrke, Vicky A. Cross, Iontcho R. Vlahov, Philip S. Low, Christopher P. Leamon

Department of Chemistry Faculty Publications

Introduction

Folate receptor (FR)-expressing macrophages have been shown to accumulate at sites of inflammation, where they promote development of inflammatory symptoms. To target such a macrophage population, we designed and evaluated the biologic activity of EC0746, a novel folic acid conjugate of the highly potent antifolate, aminopterin.

Methods

Using a FR-positive subclone of murine macrophage-derived RAW264.7 cells and rat thioglycollate-elicited macrophages, we studied the effect of EC0746 on dihydrofolate reductase activity, cell proliferation, and cellular response towards bacterial lipopolysaccharide as well as IFNγ activation. The EC0746 anti-inflammatory activity, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity were also evaluated in normal rats or in rats …

Under The Hood -- New To You, Xan Arch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Book Reviews -- Monographic Musings, Debbie Vaughn

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Airline Quality Rating 2011, Brent D. Bowen, Dean E. Headley

Airline Quality Rating Report

The Airline Quality Rating (AQR) was developed and first announced in early 1991 as an objective method for assessing airline quality on combined multiple performance criteria. This current report, the Airline Quality Rating 2011, reflects monthly Airline Quality Rating scores for calendar year 2010. AQR scores for 2010 are based on 15 elements in four major areas that focus on airline performance aspects important to air travel consumers.

The Airline Quality Rating 2011 is a summary of month-by-month quality ratings for U.S. airlines that are required to report performance by virtue of having at least 1% of domestic scheduled-service passenger …

Flight Operational Quality Assurance For University Aviation Operations, Lauren Vala

Purdue Polytechnic Directed Projects

The ability to use quantitative, objective flight data in order to improve training and operations has dramatically changed in the last decade.  By taking advantage of hundreds of sensor collecting digital data on single engine aircraft, the use of Flight Operations Quality Assurance (FOQA) programs become more feasible for non-airline operations.  With the integration of FOQA data use into university aviation operations, multiple opportunities exist for a complete utilization of this data in a variety of applications.

There are many barriers to overcome during implementation and use of FOQA data in the training environment.  The goals and efforts of university …

Libraries' Strategic Stewardship Of Their Users' Discovery Experience, Roger C. Schonfeld

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

The Future Of The Textbook -- Part Ii: The Impact Of Technology On The Development Of The Etextbook Market, Sara Killingworth, Martin Marlow

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Biz Of Acq -- Collecting In The Cloud, Korey Brunetti, Lori Townsend, Michelle Flinchbaugh

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Is Selection Dead? The Rise Of Collection Management And The Twilight Of Selection, Rick Anderson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Technical Editing: Practices And Prospects, Joseph C. Fineman

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Issues In Vendor/Library Relations -- Not Good At What They Do, Bob Nardini

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

@Brunning: People & Technology -- At The Only Edge That Means Anything / How We Understand What We Do, Dennis Brunning

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

If Rumors Were Horses, Katina Strauch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

From The University Presses -- University Ebook Collections: Coming Now!, Alex Holzman

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

The Challenges Of Bibliographic Control And Scholarly Integrity In An Online World Of Multiple Versions Of Journal Articles, Todd Carpenter, Sanford G. Thatcher

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Papa Abel Remembers -- The Tale Of A Band Of Booksellers, Fasicle 14: Building And Computers In The Twentieth Century, Richard Abel

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Back Talk -- "What A Difference A Day Makes:" The Web And Digital Publishing In Hong Kong, Anthony (Tony) W. Ferguson

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Something To Think About -- New Styles For Old Problems, Mary E. (Tinker) Massey

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Acquisitions Archaeology -- It's The Platform, Jesse Holden

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

The P53 Inhibitor Mdm2 Facilitates Sonic Hedgehog- Mediated Tumorigenesis And Influences Cerebellar Foliation, Reem Malek, Jennifer Matta, Natalie Taylor, Mary Ellen Perry, Susan Mendrysa

Department of Basic Medical Sciences Faculty Publications

Disruption of cerebellar granular neuronal precursor (GNP) maturation can result in defects in motor coordination and learning, or in medulloblastoma, the most common childhood brain tumor. The Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pathway is important for GNP proliferation; however, the factors regulating the extent and timing of GNP proliferation, as well as GNP differentiation and migration are poorly understood. The p53 tumor suppressor has been shown to negatively regulate the activity of the Shh effector, Gli1, in neural stem cells; however, the contribution of p53 to the regulation of Shh signaling in GNPs during cerebellar development has not been determined. Here, we …

Promoting Meaningful Learning Through Video Production-Supported Pbl, Päivi Hakkarainen

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

This paper reports on a design-based research for designing, implementing, and refining a problem-based learning (PBL) course on educational digital video at the University of Lapland’s Faculty of Education. The course builds on a combination of problem-solving in small group tutorial sessions and realizing a practical hands-on project during which the students design and produce educational videos about the topics they are studying. The research has a dual goal of refining the PBL course and designing a pedagogical model that combines video production with PBL to support students’ meaningful learning. The data were collected through a questionnaire for the course …