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Design Considerations For Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Fiber-Optic Detection Of Human Blood Group, Anuj K. Sharma, Rajan Jha, Himansu S. Pattanaik, Gerhard J. Mohr Jan 2009

Design Considerations For Surface Plasmon Resonance-Based Fiber-Optic Detection Of Human Blood Group, Anuj K. Sharma, Rajan Jha, Himansu S. Pattanaik, Gerhard J. Mohr

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

A fiber-optic surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for the detection of human blood groups is proposed. Previous experimental results describing the wavelength-dependent refractive index variation of multiple samples of different blood groups are considered for theoretical calculations. The spectral interrogation method, along with silica fiber and silver layer, is considered. The sensor's performance is closely analyzed in terms of shift in SPR wavelength and SPR curve width in order to optimize the design parameters for a reliable and accurate blood-group identifier. The sensor design parameters include silver layer thickness, fiber core diameter, sensing region length, and temperature variation. The results …

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Improved Resolution Haplogroup G Phylogeny In The Y Chromosome, Revealed By A Set Of Newly Characterized Snps, Lynn M. Sims, Dennis Garvey, Jack Ballantyne Jan 2009

Improved Resolution Haplogroup G Phylogeny In The Y Chromosome, Revealed By A Set Of Newly Characterized Snps, Lynn M. Sims, Dennis Garvey, Jack Ballantyne

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: Y-SNP haplogroup G (hgG), defined by Y-SNP marker M201, is relatively uncommon in the United States general population, with only 8 additional sub-markers characterized. Many of the previously described eight sub-markers are either very rare (2-4%) or do not distinguish between major populations within this hg. In fact, prior to the current study, only 2% of our reference Caucasian population belonged to hgG and all of these individuals were in sub-haplogroup G2a, defined by P15. Additional Y-SNPs are needed in order to differentiate between individuals within this haplogroup. Principal Findings: In this work we have investigated whether we could …

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A Hypercube-Based Encoding For Evolving Large-Scale Neural Networks, Kenneth O. Stanley, David B. D'Ambrosio, Jason Gauci Jan 2009

A Hypercube-Based Encoding For Evolving Large-Scale Neural Networks, Kenneth O. Stanley, David B. D'Ambrosio, Jason Gauci

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Research in neuroevolution-that is, evolving artificial neural networks (ANNs) through evolutionary algorithms-is inspired by the evolution of biological brains, which can contain trillions of connections. Yet while neuroevolution has produced successful results, the scale of natural brains remains far beyond reach. This article presents a method called hypercube-based NeuroEvolution of Augmenting Topologies (HyperNEAT) that aims to narrow this gap. HyperNEAT employs an indirect encoding called connective compositional pattern-producing networks (CPPNs) that can produce connectivity patterns with symmetries and repeating motifs by interpreting spatial patterns generated within a hypercube as connectivity patterns in a lower-dimensional space. This approach can exploit the …

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Solution Processed Large Area Field Effect Transistors From Dielectrophoreticly Aligned Arrays Of Carbon Nanotubes, Paul Stokes, Eliot Sibar, Yashira M. Zayas, Saiful I. Khondaker Jan 2009

Solution Processed Large Area Field Effect Transistors From Dielectrophoreticly Aligned Arrays Of Carbon Nanotubes, Paul Stokes, Eliot Sibar, Yashira M. Zayas, Saiful I. Khondaker

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

We demonstrate solution processable large area field effect transistors (FETs) from aligned arrays of carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Commercially available, surfactant free CNTs suspended in aqueous solution were aligned between source and drain electrodes using ac dielectrophoresis technique. After removing the metallic nanotubes using electrical breakdown, the devices displayed p-type behavior with on-off ratios up to similar to 2x10(4). The measured field effect mobilities are as high as 123 cm(2)/V s, which is three orders of magnitude higher than typical solution processed organic FET devices.

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Iron In Arterial Plaque: A Modifiable Risk Factor For Atherosclerosis, Jerome L. Sullivan Jan 2009

Iron In Arterial Plaque: A Modifiable Risk Factor For Atherosclerosis, Jerome L. Sullivan

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

It has been proposed that iron depletion protects against cardiovascular disease. There is increasing evidence that one mechanism for this protection may involve a reduction in iron levels within atherosclerotic plaque. Large increases in iron concentration are seen in human atherosclerotic lesions in comparison to levels in healthy arterial tissue. In animal models, depletion of lesion iron levels in vivo by phlebotomy, systemic iron chelation treatment or dietary iron restriction reduces lesion size and/or increases plaque stability. A number of factors associated with increased arterial disease or increased cardiovascular events is also associated with increased plaque iron. In rats, infusion …

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Electrically Induced Deflective Amplification For Adaptive Sensing Of Chemicals, Ruhai Tian, Liyuan Ma, Ming Su Jan 2009

Electrically Induced Deflective Amplification For Adaptive Sensing Of Chemicals, Ruhai Tian, Liyuan Ma, Ming Su

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

An adaptive strategy for sensitive detection of chemicals is proved in electrically induced deflections of an optical fiber. The surface of the fiber, close to one end, is modified by a sensing polymer film. Upon contact with solutions, the adsorption of ions onto the polymer changes the surface charge and bends the fiber in an electric field. The concept has been confirmed in several systems including detections of pH and metal ion, nanoparticles, and self-assembled monolayers. The dependence of the sensitivity on the strength of electric field provides an adaptive approach with adjustable sensitivity for chemical sensing.

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Reawakening Retrocyclins: Ancestral Human Defensins Active Against Hiv-1, Nitya Venkataraman, Amy L. Cole, Piotr Ruchala, Alan J. Waring, Robert I. Lehrer, Olga Stuchlik, Jan Pohl, Alexander M. Cole Jan 2009

Reawakening Retrocyclins: Ancestral Human Defensins Active Against Hiv-1, Nitya Venkataraman, Amy L. Cole, Piotr Ruchala, Alan J. Waring, Robert I. Lehrer, Olga Stuchlik, Jan Pohl, Alexander M. Cole

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Human alpha and beta defensins contribute substantially to innate immune defenses against microbial and viral infections. Certain nonhuman primates also produce theta-defensins-18 residue cyclic peptides that act as HIV-1 entry inhibitors. Multiple human theta-defensin genes exist, but they harbor a premature termination codon that blocks translation. Consequently, the theta-defensins (retrocyclins) encoded within the human genome are not expressed as peptides. In vivo production of theta-defensins in rhesus macaques involves the post-translational ligation of two nonapeptides, each derived from a 12-residue "demidefensin" precursor. Neither the mechanism of this unique process nor its existence in human cells is known. To ascertain if …

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Neighbourhood Friends, Vanessa M. Blakeslee Jan 2009

Neighbourhood Friends, Vanessa M. Blakeslee

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

No abstract provided.

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Extreme Value Statistics In Silicon Photonics, D. Borlaug, S. Fathpour, B. Jalali Jan 2009

Extreme Value Statistics In Silicon Photonics, D. Borlaug, S. Fathpour, B. Jalali

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

L-shape probability distributions are extremely non-Gaussian functions that have been surprisingly successful in describing the occurrence of extreme events ranging from stock market crashes, natural disasters, structure of biological systems, fractals, and optical rogue waves. We show that fluctuations in stimulated Raman scattering, as well as in coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering, in silicon can follow extreme value statistics and provide mathematical insight into the origin of this behavior.

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A New Measurement Of Sequence Conservation, Xiaohui Cai, Haiyan Hu, Xiaoman Li Jan 2009

A New Measurement Of Sequence Conservation, Xiaohui Cai, Haiyan Hu, Xiaoman Li

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: Understanding sequence conservation is important for the study of sequence evolution and for the identification of functional regions of the genome. Current studies often measure sequence conservation based on every position in contiguous regions. Therefore, a large number of functional regions that contain conserved segments separated by relatively long divergent segments are ignored. Our goal in this paper is to define a new measurement of sequence conservation such that both contiguously conserved regions and discontiguously conserved regions can be detected based on this new measurement. Here and in the following, conserved regions are those regions that share similarity higher …

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Evidence For An Ancient Adaptive Episode Of Convergent Molecular Evolution, Todd A. Castoe, A. P. Jason De Koning, Hyun-Min Kim, Wanjun Gu, Brice P. Noonan, Gavin Naylor, Zhi J. Jiang, Christopher L. Parkinson, David D. Pollock Jan 2009

Evidence For An Ancient Adaptive Episode Of Convergent Molecular Evolution, Todd A. Castoe, A. P. Jason De Koning, Hyun-Min Kim, Wanjun Gu, Brice P. Noonan, Gavin Naylor, Zhi J. Jiang, Christopher L. Parkinson, David D. Pollock

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Documented cases of convergent molecular evolution due to selection are fairly unusual, and examples to date have involved only a few amino acid positions. However, because convergence mimics shared ancestry and is not accommodated by current phylogenetic methods, it can strongly mislead phylogenetic inference when it does occur. Here, we present a case of extensive convergent molecular evolution between snake and agamid lizard mitochondrial genomes that overcomes an otherwise strong phylogenetic signal. Evidence from morphology, nuclear genes, and most sites in the mitochondrial genome support one phylogenetic tree, but a subset of mostly amino acid-altering substitutions ( primarily at the …

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Comparative Data Mining Analysis For Information Retrieval Of Modis Images: Monitoring Lake Turbidity Changes At Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Ni-Bin Chang, Ammarin Daranpob, Y. Jeffrey Yang, Kang-Ren Jin Jan 2009

Comparative Data Mining Analysis For Information Retrieval Of Modis Images: Monitoring Lake Turbidity Changes At Lake Okeechobee, Florida, Ni-Bin Chang, Ammarin Daranpob, Y. Jeffrey Yang, Kang-Ren Jin

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

In the remote sensing field, a frequently recurring question is: Which computational intelligence or data mining algorithms are most suitable for the retrieval of essential information given that most natural systems exhibit very high non-linearity. Among potential candidates might be empirical regression, neural network model, support vector machine, genetic algorithm/genetic programming, analytical equation, etc. This paper compares three types of data mining techniques, including multiple non-linear regression, artificial neural networks, and genetic programming, for estimating multi-temporal turbidity changes following hurricane events at Lake Okeechobee, Florida. This retrospective analysis aims to identify how the major hurricanes impacted the water quality management …

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Loss Of Prostasin (Prss8) In Human Bladder Transitional Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines Is Associated With Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (Emt), Li-Mei Chen, Nicole J. Verity, Karl X. Chai Jan 2009

Loss Of Prostasin (Prss8) In Human Bladder Transitional Cell Carcinoma Cell Lines Is Associated With Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition (Emt), Li-Mei Chen, Nicole J. Verity, Karl X. Chai

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: The glycosylphosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored epithelial extracellular membrane serine protease prostasin (PRSS8) is expressed abundantly in normal epithelia and essential for terminal epithelial differentiation, but down-regulated in human prostate, breast, and gastric cancers and invasive cancer cell lines. Prostasin is involved in the extracellular proteolytic modulation of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) and is an invasion suppressor. The aim of this study was to evaluate prostasin expression states in the transitional cell carcinomas (TCC) of the human bladder and in human TCC cell lines. Methods: Normal human bladder tissues and TCC on a bladder cancer tissue microarray (TMA) were evaluated …

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The Homocysteine-Inducible Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Protein Counteracts Calcium Store Depletion And Induction Of Ccaat Enhancer-Binding Protein Homologous Protein In A Neurotoxin Model Of Parkinson Disease, Srinivasulu Chigurupati, Zelan Wei, Cherine Belal, Myrian Vandermey, George A. Kyriazis, Thiruma V. Arumugam, Sic L. Chan Jan 2009

The Homocysteine-Inducible Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress Protein Counteracts Calcium Store Depletion And Induction Of Ccaat Enhancer-Binding Protein Homologous Protein In A Neurotoxin Model Of Parkinson Disease, Srinivasulu Chigurupati, Zelan Wei, Cherine Belal, Myrian Vandermey, George A. Kyriazis, Thiruma V. Arumugam, Sic L. Chan

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is a key organelle regulating intracellular Ca(2+) homeostasis. Oxidants and mitochondria-derived free radicals can target ER-based Ca(2+) regulatory proteins and cause uncontrolled Ca(2+) release that may contribute to protracted ER stress and apoptosis. Several ER stress proteins have been suggested to counteract the deregulation of ER Ca(2+) homeostasis and ER stress. Here we showed that knockdown of Herp, an ubiquitin-like domain containing ER stress protein, renders PC12 and MN9D cells vulnerable to 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium-induced cytotoxic cell death by a mechanism involving up-regulation of CHOP expression and ER Ca(2+) depletion. Conversely, Herp overexpression confers protection by blocking 1-methyl-4-phenylpyridinium-induced …

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Biopsy Related Prostate Status Does Not Affect On The Clinicopathological Outcome Of Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy, Hoon Choi, Young Hwii Ko, Sung Gu Kang, Seok Ho Kang, Hong Seok Park, Jun Cheon, Vipul R. Patel Jan 2009

Biopsy Related Prostate Status Does Not Affect On The Clinicopathological Outcome Of Robotic Assisted Laparoscopic Radical Prostatectomy, Hoon Choi, Young Hwii Ko, Sung Gu Kang, Seok Ho Kang, Hong Seok Park, Jun Cheon, Vipul R. Patel

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Purpose To determine whether the biopsy core number and time interval between prostate biopsy and radical prostatectomy affect the operative and oncologic outcome of robot assisted laparoscopic radical prostatectomy (RALP). Materials and Methods From January 2008 to April 2009, a single surgeon performed 72 RALPs after an initial learning period of 30 cases. The relationship between time from biopsy to prostatectomy and biopsy core number with operative time and estimated blood loss (EBL) were initially evaluated with a linear regression model. These patients were classified into groups according to whether the interval from biopsy to RALP was within four weeks …

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Optimization Of Codon Composition And Regulatory Elements For Expression Of Human Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 In Transgenic Chloroplasts And Evaluation Of Structural Identity And Function, Henry Daniell, Gricel Ruiz, Bela Denes, Laurence Sandberg, William Langridge Jan 2009

Optimization Of Codon Composition And Regulatory Elements For Expression Of Human Insulin Like Growth Factor-1 In Transgenic Chloroplasts And Evaluation Of Structural Identity And Function, Henry Daniell, Gricel Ruiz, Bela Denes, Laurence Sandberg, William Langridge

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Background: Transgenic chloroplasts are potential bioreactors for recombinant protein production, especially for achievement of high levels of protein expression and proper folding. Production of therapeutic proteins in leaves provides transgene containment by elimination of reproductive structures. Therefore, in this study, human Insulin like Growth Factor-1 is expressed in transgenic chloroplasts for evaluation of structural identity and function. Results: Expression of the synthetic Insulin like Growth Factor 1 gene (IGF-1s, 60% AT) was observed in transformed E. coli. However, no native IGF-1 gene (IGF-1n, 41% AT) product was detected in the western blots in E. coli. Site-specific integration of the transgenes …

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Two-Photon Photodetector In A Multiquantum Well Gaas Laser Structure At 1.55 Mu M, D. Duchesne, L. Razzari, L. Halloran, R. Morandotti, A. J. Spring Thorpe, D. N. Christodoulides, D. J. Moss Jan 2009

Two-Photon Photodetector In A Multiquantum Well Gaas Laser Structure At 1.55 Mu M, D. Duchesne, L. Razzari, L. Halloran, R. Morandotti, A. J. Spring Thorpe, D. N. Christodoulides, D. J. Moss

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

We report two-photon photocurrent in a GaAs/AlGaAs multiple quantum well laser at 1.55 mu m. Using 1ps pulses, a purely quadratic photocurrent is observed. We measure the device efficiency, sensitivity, as well as the two-photon absorption coefficient. The results show that the device has potential for signal processing, autocorrelation and possibly two-photon source applications at sub-Watt power levels.

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Nonlinear Optical Dynamics In Nonideal Gases Of Interacting Colloidal Nanoparticles, R. El-Ganainy, D. N. Christodoulides, E. M. Wright, W. M. Lee, K. Dholakia Jan 2009

Nonlinear Optical Dynamics In Nonideal Gases Of Interacting Colloidal Nanoparticles, R. El-Ganainy, D. N. Christodoulides, E. M. Wright, W. M. Lee, K. Dholakia

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

We show that many-body effects in stabilized nanocolloidal suspensions can have a profound effect on their optical nonlinearity. By considering the screened Coulomb repulsions between nanoparticles, we find that the nonlinear optical behavior of these colloids can range from polynomial to exponential depending on their composition and chemistry. The dynamics and stability properties of optical beams propagating in such nonideal gas environments of interacting colloidal particles are investigated. Our analysis provides a theoretical foundation for understanding the recently observed super-Kerr nonlinear optical response of such systems.

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Met Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Degradation Is Altered In Response To The Leucine-Rich Repeat Of The Listeria Invasion Protein Internalin B, Xiu Gao, Marta Lorinczi, Kristen S. Hill, Natasha C. Brooks, Hatem Dokainish, Keith Ireton, Lisa A. Elferink Jan 2009

Met Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Degradation Is Altered In Response To The Leucine-Rich Repeat Of The Listeria Invasion Protein Internalin B, Xiu Gao, Marta Lorinczi, Kristen S. Hill, Natasha C. Brooks, Hatem Dokainish, Keith Ireton, Lisa A. Elferink

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Entry of the bacterial pathogen Listeria monocytogenes into host epithelial cells is critical for infection and virulence. One major pathway for Listeria entry involves binding of the bacterial protein Internalin B to the host receptor tyrosine kinase Met ( hepatocyte growth factor receptor). Activation of Met and downstream signaling cascades is critical for Listeria entry. Internalin B is composed of several structural domains including an N-terminal leucine-rich repeat that is sufficient for binding Met and stimulating downstream signal transduction. Internalin B is monomeric, whereas the leucine-rich repeat is dimeric when expressed as an isolated fragment. The different quaternary states of …

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Modeling The Land Surface Heat Exchange Process With The Aid Of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Images, Zhiqiang Gao, Wenjiang Zhang, Wei Gao, Ni-Bin Chang Jan 2009

Modeling The Land Surface Heat Exchange Process With The Aid Of Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer Images, Zhiqiang Gao, Wenjiang Zhang, Wei Gao, Ni-Bin Chang

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Most ecosystems and crops experience water stress in arid and semiarid areas of the Inner Mongolia grassland, Northern China. Yet the lack of long-term in situ monitoring data hinders the managerial capacity of changing water vapor environment, which is tied with sustaining the grassland in the Inner Mongolia. Environmental remote sensing monitoring and modeling may provide synergistic means of observing changes in thermodynamic balance during drought onset at the grassland surface, providing reliable projections accounting for variations and correlations of water vapor and heat fluxes. It is the aim of this paper to present a series of estimates of latent …

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Decorin Is A Novel Antagonistic Ligand Of The Met Receptor, Silvia Goldoni, Ashley Humphries, Alexander Nyström, Sampurna Sattar, Rick T. Owens, David J. Mcquillan, Keith Ireton, Renato V. Iozzo Jan 2009

Decorin Is A Novel Antagonistic Ligand Of The Met Receptor, Silvia Goldoni, Ashley Humphries, Alexander Nyström, Sampurna Sattar, Rick T. Owens, David J. Mcquillan, Keith Ireton, Renato V. Iozzo

Faculty Bibliography 2000s

Decorin, a member of the small leucine-rich proteoglycan gene family, impedes tumor cell growth by down-regulating the epidermal growth factor receptor. Decorin has a complex binding repertoire, thus, we predicted that decorin would modulate the bioactivity of other tyrosine kinase receptors. We discovered that decorin binds directly and with high affinity (K(d) = similar to 1.5 nM) to Met, the receptor for hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). Binding of decorin to Met is efficiently displaced by HGF and less efficiently by internalin B, a bacterial Met ligand. Interaction of decorin with Met induces transient receptor activation, recruitment of the E3 ubiquitin …

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Native Fire Regime As A Reference For Establishing Management Practices, Brean Duncan Jan 2009

Native Fire Regime As A Reference For Establishing Management Practices, Brean Duncan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of natural fire regimes in human-dominated landscapes is limited. Fire regimes operating in the pyrogenic ecosystems of Florida have been altered by fire suppression and fuel fragmentation. This is especially true of North Merritt Island, Florida, where human impacts have led to an incomplete knowledge of current fire regimes. We know that growing season fires frequently occurred within general return intervals and that many native terrestrial species require fire to remain viable. A 20-year plus period of fire suppression caused structural and compositional changes to vegetation/fuels that led to catastrophic fires and the decline of native species populations …

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Bacterial Selenoproteins: A Role In Pathogenesis And Targets For Antimicrobial Development, Sarah Rosario Jan 2009

Bacterial Selenoproteins: A Role In Pathogenesis And Targets For Antimicrobial Development, Sarah Rosario

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Selenoproteins are unique proteins in which selenocysteine is inserted into the polypeptide chain by highly specialized translational machinery. They exist within all three kingdoms of life. The functions of these proteins in biology are still being defined. In particular, the importance of selenoproteins in pathogenic microorganisms has received little attention. We first established that a nosocomial pathogen, Clostridium difficile, utilizes a selenoenzyme dependent pathway for energy metabolism. Following this initial characterization, we demonstrate that this pathway is linked to production of toxins by this organism. Finally, we show that interruption of selenium metabolism is a viable pathway for development of …

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Mcp-1 And App Involvement Of Glial Differentiation And Migration Of Neuroprogenitor Cells, Emmanuel Vrotsos Jan 2009

Mcp-1 And App Involvement Of Glial Differentiation And Migration Of Neuroprogenitor Cells, Emmanuel Vrotsos

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuroprogenitor cells are an important resource because of their potential to replace damaged cells in the brain caused by trauma and disease. It is of great importance to better understand which factors influence the differentiation and migration of these cells. Previously it has been reported that neuroprogenitor cells undergoing apoptotic stress have increased levels of Amyloid precursor protein (APP) and increased APP expression results in glial differentiation. APP activity was also shown to be required for staurosporine induced glial differentiation of neuroprogenitor cells. Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) is a chemokine that is expressed during inflammatory. The binding of MCP-1 to …

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Imaging And Spectroscopy Of Conducting Polymer-Fullerene Composite Materials, Daeri Tenery Jan 2009

Imaging And Spectroscopy Of Conducting Polymer-Fullerene Composite Materials, Daeri Tenery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the development and optical study of conjugated (conducting) polymers it has become apparent that chain conformation and aggregation at the molecular scale result in complex heterogeneous nanostructured bulk materials for which a detailed insight into morphological, spectroscopic as well as optoelectronic properties and mechanisms is overwhelmingly difficult to obtain. Nanoparticles composed of the conjugated polymer poly (MEH-PPV) and nanocomposite nanoparticles consisting of MEH-PPV doped with 1-(3-methoxycarbonylpropyl)-1-phenyl-C61 (PCBM) were prepared as model systems to study these materials at the length scale of one to a few domains. The MEH-PPV and PCBM doped nanoparticles were analyzed by single imaging/particle spectroscopy (SPS) …

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A Comparison Study Of Florida Middle Schools With Advancement Via Individual Determination (Avid) And Non-Avid Middle Schools, Scott Lifvendahl Jan 2009

A Comparison Study Of Florida Middle Schools With Advancement Via Individual Determination (Avid) And Non-Avid Middle Schools, Scott Lifvendahl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act, schools and school districts have come under increased pressure to demonstrate student proficiency and success at the elementary, middle and high school levels. Each state is required to use standardized test data as evidence of student proficiency. The data is collected by each state and reported to the federal government to demonstrate progress. In Florida, the exam used to record proficiency is the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT). At all three levels, the FCAT is administered annually and the results are used to create school grades ranging from A-F. Florida …

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Educational Video Game Effects Upon Mathematics Achievement And Motivation Scores: An Experimental Study Examining Differences B, Wendi Kappers Jan 2009

Educational Video Game Effects Upon Mathematics Achievement And Motivation Scores: An Experimental Study Examining Differences B, Wendi Kappers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An experimental research study using a mixed-method analysis to was conducted to examine educational video game effects on mathematics achievement and motivation between sexes. This study examined sex difference in a 7th grade mathematics (Mathematics 2/Mathematics 2 Advanced) classroom (n=60) learning algebra. Attributes and barriers relating to educational video game play, preference, and setting characteristics were explored. To examine achievement and motivation outcomes, a repeated-measure (SPSS v14) test was used. The analysis included ethnographic results from both student and teacher interview and observation sessions for data triangulation. Results revealed a statistically significant academic mathematics achievement score increase (F =21.8, df …

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A Preliminary Study Of A Non-Invasive Glucose Sensor Based On A Mercury Sensor, Erin Wood Jan 2009

A Preliminary Study Of A Non-Invasive Glucose Sensor Based On A Mercury Sensor, Erin Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes mellitus is a potentially lethal disease that affects 7.6 percent of American people. In the US, it is recognized as the 6th leading cause of death. Failure to control blood glucose levels (BGL) in patients with either type of diabetes can lead to other serious complications as well, such as loss of limb, blindness and other health problems. Controlling and monitoring the BGL in post-op and intensive care patients in the hospital is also vital to their health. Currently the most reliable method of monitoring BGL is through an invasive procedure which monitors the amount of glucose in blood …

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Dod Acquisition Workforce Education: An Sba Education Case Study, Richard Davenport Jan 2009

Dod Acquisition Workforce Education: An Sba Education Case Study, Richard Davenport

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A Department of Defense (DoD) M&S education task force is in the process of studying the Modeling and Simulation (M&S) education of the acquisition workforce. Historically, DoD acquisition workforce education is not referred to as education, but rather what the Defense Acquisition University (DAU) refers to as "practitioner training, career management, and services." The DAU is the organization primarily responsible for training the DoD acquisition corps in conjunction with service schools and strategic partners in the civilian sector. DAU programs primarily focus on program management, contracting, and management of logistics across the system life cycle. Further, the examples and cases …

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Modeling Scenes And Human Activities In Videos, Arslan Basharat Jan 2009

Modeling Scenes And Human Activities In Videos, Arslan Basharat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we address the problem of understanding human activities in videos by developing a two-pronged approach: coarse level modeling of scene activities and fine level modeling of individual activities. At the coarse level, where the resolution of the video is low, we rely on person tracks. At the fine level, richer features are available to identify different parts of the human body, therefore we rely on the body joint tracks. There are three main goals of this dissertation: (1) identify unusual activities at the coarse level, (2) recognize different activities at the fine level, and (3) predict the …

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