Digital Commons Network^™

Combining Sustainable Value Stream Mapping And Simulation To Assess Manufacturing Supply Chain Network Performance, Daniel T. Sparks

Theses and Dissertations--Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering

Sustainable Value Stream Mapping (Sus-VSM) builds upon traditional VSM to capture additional sustainability aspects of the product flow, such as environmental and societal aspects. This work presents research to expand the utility of Sus-VSM to supply chain networks, develop a general approach towards improving supply chain sustainability, and examine the benefits of implementing simulation and a design of experiments (DOE) style analysis. Metrics are identified to assess economic, environmental, and societal sustainability for supply chain networks and visual symbols are developed for the Supply Chain Sus-VSM (SC Sus-VSM) to allow users to easily identify locations where sustainability can be improved. …

Assessing Candidacy For Intensive Language Therapy: A Preliminary Study, Jessica N. Bellamy

Theses and Dissertations--Communication Sciences and Disorders

The goal of the present study was to examine changes in the speech and language performance of patients with chronic, non-fluent aphasia over the course of a three-hour group speech and language treatment session, a time allotment comparable to intensive therapy practices. Nine participants, (three groups of three), with chronic, non-fluent aphasia were seen for a single group therapy session three hours in length. Therapeutic activities were designed to be as similar as possible for each group of participants. Each participant was individually assessed before (time 1), during (time 2), and after (time 3) the group treatment session. Assessments included …

Using Video Based Instruction To Teach Art To Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Anthony W. Woodruff

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorders often do not respond to common pedagogical strategies and traditional in vivo teaching approaches. From my observations, students diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorders learn best when material is presented through technology. Based on the information found in the literature review and personal observations from working with students with special needs, when students with Autism Spectrum Disorders receive video based instruction by watching recorded art lessons, they may learn to develop artistic skills and retain more art content knowledge with greater success than through traditional teaching methods. The purpose of this research study is to test …

The Relationship Between Patient Expectations, Functional Outcome, Self-Efficacy, And Rehabilitation Adherence Following Cartilage Repair Of The Knee: A Sequential Explanatory Analysis, Jenny L. Toonstra

Theses and Dissertations--Rehabilitation Sciences

Patient expectations have been shown to be a major predictor of outcomes. Furthermore, fulfilled expectations have been linked to increased patient satisfaction and rehabilitation adherence. Expectations may be influenced by a variety of factors, including patient characteristics, pre-operative function, or disease characteristics. However, it is currently unknown what factors and to what degree they may influence patient expectations prior to knee surgery. Furthermore, understanding the importance and values of those expectations for recovery using qualitative methods has not previously been conducted in this patient population.

A mixed methods design was used. Twenty-one participants scheduled to undergo cartilage repair of the …

Nucleoside Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors Are Anti-Inflammatory And Target Dry Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Benjamin J. Fowler

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a principal cause of blindness in the United States and other industrialized nations. An estimated 10 million Americans are afflicted with AMD, which is comparable in scope to the 12 million living with cancer, or the 5 million with Alzheimer’s disease. The prevalence of AMD steadily increases with age, affecting 2% of the population at age 40, and one in four people by age 80. For reasons that are not fully understood, AMD is more common in lightly-pigmented and female populations. Treatment of AMD is largely an unmet need: There are no FDA approved therapies …

Attenuating Trigeminal Neuropathic Pain By Repurposing Pioglitazone And D-Cycloserine In The Novel Trigeminal Inflammatory Compression Mouse Model, Danielle N. Lyons

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

Approximately 22% of the United States population suffers from a chronic orofacial pain condition. One such condition is known as trigeminal neuropathic pain frequently reported as continuous aching and burning pain, often accompanied by intermittent electrical shock-like sensations. Dental procedures or trauma are known causes of peripheral trigeminal nerve injury and inflammation. Patients who have this type of facial pain also suffer from emotional distress. For these reasons, trigeminal neuropathic pain needs to be studied in more detail to improve the understanding of the etiology and maintenance of this condition, as well as to develop effective treatment strategies. The first …

Trpa1 Channels In Cochlear Supporting Cells Regulate Hearing Sensitivity After Noise Exposure, Alejandra C. Velez-Ortega

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

TRPA1 channels are sensors for noxious stimuli in a subset of nociceptive neurons. TRPA1 channels are also expressed in cells of the mammalian inner ear, but their function in this tissue remains unknown given that Trpa1^–/– mice exhibit normal hearing, balance and sensory mechanotransduction. Here we show that non-sensory (supporting) cells of the hearing organ in the cochlea detect tissue damage via the activation of TRPA1 channels and subsequently modulate cochlear amplification through active cellshape changes.

We found that cochlear supporting cells of wild type but not Trpa1^–/– mice generate inward currents and robust long-lasting Ca²⁺ responses …

Identification Of Soils On Firefighter Turnout Gear From The Philadelphia Fire Department, Tabitha N. Huston

Theses and Dissertations--Retailing and Tourism Management

The purpose of this research was to identify the composition of soils on firefighter turnout gear from the Philadelphia Fire Department and to determine which soils contain hazardous materials. The objective of the research was to identify the composition of soils remaining on the firefighter turnout gear to enable the industry to design an effective cleaning procedure for removal of soils. A pilot study was conducted on hoods from the Philadelphia fire department to evaluate the test methods that would be used to identify the composition of soils. Soils that had been identified from previous studies were targeted in the …

The Effects Of Mountaintop Removal Mining And Valley Fills On Stream Salamander Communities, Brenee' Lynn Muncy

Theses and Dissertations--Forestry and Natural Resources

Mountaintop removal mining and valley filling (MTR/VF) is a common form of land conversion in Central Appalachia and threatens the integrity of stream ecosystems. We investigated the effects of MTR/VF on stream salamander occupancy probabilities and community structure by conducting area constrained active searches for stream salamanders within intermittent streams located in mature forest (i.e., control) and those impacted by MTR/VF. During March to June of 2013, we detected five stream salamander species (Desmognathus fuscus, D. monticol, Eurycea cirrigera, Pseudotriton ruber, and Gyrinophilus porphyriticus) and found that the probability of occupancy was greatly reduced in MTR/VF streams compared …

The Roles Of Orthopaedic Pathology And Genetic Determinants In Equine Cervical Stenotic Myelopathy, Jennifer Gail Janes

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Cervical stenotic myelopathy (CSM) is an important musculoskeletal and neurologic disease of the horse. Clinical disease occurs due to malformations of the vertebrae in the neck causing stenosis of the cervical vertebral canal and subsequent spinal cord compression. The disease is multifactorial in nature, therefore a clearer understanding of the etiology and pathogenesis of CSM will allow for improved management and therapeutic practices. This thesis examines issues of equine CSM diagnosis, skeletal tissue pathology, and inherited genetic determinants utilizing advances in biomedical imaging technologies and equine genomics. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data provided a more complete assessment of the cervical …

Use Of Genomic Tools To Discover The Cause Of Champagne Dilution Coat Color In Horses And To Map The Genetic Cause Of Extreme Lordosis In American Saddlebred Horses, Deborah G. Cook

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Champagne dilution of coat color in horses is caused by dominant gene action. Three sire families were identified as segregating for this trait. Genome wide linkage analysis using 104 microsatellite DNA markers was used to map the gene to ECA14 (LOD > 11.0). Four genes, namely SPARC, SLC36A1, SLC36A2 and SLC36A3, were selected from the region implicated by linkage and their exons sequenced. DNA sequences were compared for two homozygotes for Champagne dilution, two heterozygotes and two horses without dilution. A single base change in exon 2 of SLC36A1 was found unique to horses exhibiting Champagne dilution. This change in base …

Modulation Of Type-I Interferon Mediated Immune Response: A Novel Innate Immune Evasion Strategy Of Equine Herpesvirus 1, Sanjay Sarkar

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Equine herpesvirus-1 (EHV-1) is one of the major viral pathogens causing respiratory disease, abortion, perinatal mortality and neurologic disease among horses resulting in significant economic losses to the equine industry. The virus can also remain latent in the horses and recrudesce at any time. Type-I interferons (IFNs) act as a first line of defense against many viral infections.

In this study we investigated the type-I IFN response against the neuropathogenic T953 strain of EHV-1 in equine endothelial cells (EECs). The results showed that after a transient induction of IFN-β mRNA as well as protein at an early time (3h) post …

Evaluation Of The Susceptibility And Humoral Immune Response Of Foals To Rhodococcus Equi Infection, Macarena G. Sanz

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

While Rhodococcus equi (R. equi) remains the most common cause of subacute or chronic granulomatous bronchopneumonia in foals, development of a relevant model to study this bacterium has proven difficult. As a result, the reasons for the underlying foal’s susceptibility to this disease are not well understood. Furthermore, data regarding the immune response of foals to R. equi infection remains controversial. We hypothesized that foals are susceptible to R. equi early in life and that this susceptibility decreases with age. Also, we hypothesized that specific subclasses of IgG antibodies to the virulence-associated protein of R. equi, VapA, …

Anti-Müllerian Hormone In Stallions And Mares: Physiological Variations, Clinical Applications, And Molecular Aspects, Anthony N.J. Claes

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Anti-Müllerian hormone (AMH) is a homodimeric glycoprotein that is best known for its role in regression of the Müllerian duct in the male fetus. Accumulating evidence indicates that AMH also has an important role during different physiological processes after birth. In contrast to other species, relatively little is known about AMH in the horse. In chapter one, developmental and seasonal changes in serum AMH concentrations in male horses were determined, and the use of AMH for determination of retained cryptorchid testes was established. In chapter two, the interrelationship between plasma AMH concentrations, antral follicle counts (AFC), and age in mares …

Role Of Viral And Host Factors In Influenza Virus Mediated Inhibition Of Interleukin-23, Ashish Tiwari

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Influenza virus is one of the major respiratory pathogens of humans as well as animals, including equines. There is an increasing evidence that bacterial infections are the most common cause of the death during influenza. In horses also, secondary bacterial pneumonia can lead to death, and surviving horses may take up to six months for the complete recovery resulting in heavy economic loss to the equine industry. Interleukin (IL)-23 mediated innate immune response has been shown to protect the host from various respiratory bacterial infections. However, studies to investigate the role of host and viral factors in the regulation of …

Examination Of The Snsag Surface Antigen Gene Family In Sarcocystis Neurona, Ablesh Gautam

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Sarcocystis neurona is a protozoan parasite that causes the serious neurologic disease equine protozoal myeloencephalitis (EPM). The life cycle of S. neurona progresses through multiple developmental stages that differ morphologically and molecularly. The S. neurona merozoite surface is covered by multiple related proteins, which are orthologous to the surface antigen (SAG) gene family of Toxoplasma gondii. The SAG surface antigens in T. gondii and another related parasite Neospora caninum are life cycle stage-specific and seem necessary for parasite transmission and persistence of infection. The present research was conducted to explore the gene family of SnSAGs in S. …

Studies On Equine Placentitis, Igor Frederico Canisso

Theses and Dissertations--Veterinary Science

Two types of placentitis were studied: ascending and nocardioform placentitis. Although the first diagnosis of nocardioform placentitis was made three decades ago, little is known about the disease, due to the lack of an experimental model. In attempt to develop a research model, Crossiela equi was inoculated through intrauterine, intravenous, intrapharyngeal, and oral routes, but none of the routes resulted in nocardioform placentitis. This may indicate that unidentified factors may play a role in disease pathogenesis and that simple presence of bacteria is not sufficient to induce nocardioform placentitis. The second and major component of this dissertation involved the identification …

Changing Litter Resources Associated With Hemlock Woolly Adelgid Invasion Affect Benthic Communities In Headwater Streams, Christopher J. Strohm

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

Hemlock woolly adelgid is an invasive herbivore causing extensive mortality of eastern hemlock, an important foundation species that provides stable conditions influencing biological communities. Hemlock is often found in riparian areas and following its decline, broadleaved species, including birch, beech, and rhododendron, will replace it. These plants differ from hemlock in patterns of canopy cover and leaf properties, which influence conditions and resources within streams.

My goal was to evaluate potential impacts of adelgid-induced alterations to riparian canopies and litter on benthic communities and litter breakdown in streams. I characterized benthic invertebrate communities, litter colonization and litter breakdown in streams …

Exploring The Links Between Seasonal Variation And Spider Foraging, Thomas Edward Dantas Whitney

Theses and Dissertations--Entomology

According to optimal foraging theory, generalist predators, such as spiders, are thought to feed indiscriminately on prey according to its availability, especially when food is scarce. In contrast, generalists can display selective feeding decisions under regimes of high prey abundance, but few studies have tracked changes in prey choice on a seasonal basis under open field conditions. Additionally, adaptations to surviving winter have been largely ignored in the research of foraging behavior. To elucidate this, I monitored prey availability and collected common forest-dwelling wolf spiders for molecular gut-content analysis, in parallel for 18 months, to assess the temporal changes occurring …

Exploring The Relationship Between Emotional Brain Training, Stress, Depression, Food Addiction, And Weight, Bailey Regina Adams

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Obesity is a complex issue; stress, depression, and food addiction, are several psychological conditions that can accompany an obesity diagnosis. Emotional Brain Training (EBT) was evaluated as a new approach to these conditions. Stress, depression, food addiction, and weight were assessed at baseline, after a seven week active intervention, and after a seven week no contact period. The final sample consisted of 26 obese adults. At seven week assessments, EBT participants experienced significant weight loss (p-value = 0.05) and decreased perceived stress (p-value = 0.035). Food addiction also decreased from 50% to 8.3% (or one participant). At fourteen week assessments, …

Diclazuril Protects Against Maternal Gastrointestinal Syndrome And Congenital Toxoplasmosis, Helieh S. Oz, Thomas Tobin

Internal Medicine Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Toxoplasmosis is a common cause of foodborne, gastrointestinal and congenital syndrome with particularly severe or unknown health consequences. There is no safe and effective preventive or therapeutic modality against congenital toxoplasmosis or to eliminate the persistent chronic infection.

HYPOTHESIS: Diclazuril to be safe in pregnancy and effective against gastrointestinal toxoplasmosis.

METHODS: CD1 programmed pregnant mice were divided into groups and administered a diet containing diclazuril, or sham control. Treatments were initiated on Day 5 of pregnancy and continued until Day 16 when dams were euthanatized. On Day 8 of pregnancy dams were infected intraperitoneally with escalating doses of tachyzoites …

Laboratory Scale Concept Validation And Evaluation Of Compromising Plant Nodal Integrity As A Means To Increase Bale Density, Aaron P. Turner

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Transportation costs represent a significant role in the economics of packaged hay and biomass crops. The material’s low bulk density limits transportation efficiency. Density is currently limited by the ability of the baling twine to withstand the expansion forces generated by the baled material shortly after it is ejected from the bale chamber. It was hypothesized that compromising the structure of the plant, particularly the plant nodes could reduce the amount of energy stored in the material as it is compressed and thereby reduce the material’s elastic response to compression. Literature pertinent to the biomass material’s behavior in compression was …

Nuclei/Cell Detection In Microscopic Skeletal Muscle Fiber Images And Histopathological Brain Tumor Images Using Sparse Optimizations, Hai Su

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

Nuclei/Cell detection is usually a prerequisite procedure in many computer-aided biomedical image analysis tasks. In this thesis we propose two automatic nuclei/cell detection frameworks. One is for nuclei detection in skeletal muscle fiber images and the other is for brain tumor histopathological images.

For skeletal muscle fiber images, the major challenges include: i) shape and size variations of the nuclei, ii) overlapping nuclear clumps, and iii) a series of z-stack images with out-of-focus regions. We propose a novel automatic detection algorithm consisting of the following components: 1) The original z-stack images are first converted into one all-in-focus image. 2) A …

Depth-Assisted Semantic Segmentation, Image Enhancement And Parametric Modeling, Chenxi Zhang

Theses and Dissertations--Computer Science

This dissertation addresses the problem of employing 3D depth information on solving a number of traditional challenging computer vision/graphics problems. Humans have the abilities of perceiving the depth information in 3D world, which enable humans to reconstruct layouts, recognize objects and understand the geometric space and semantic meanings of the visual world. Therefore it is significant to explore how the 3D depth information can be utilized by computer vision systems to mimic such abilities of humans. This dissertation aims at employing 3D depth information to solve vision/graphics problems in the following aspects: scene understanding, image enhancements and 3D reconstruction and …

Warmikuna Juyayay! Ecuadorian And Latin American Indigenous Women Gaining Spaces In Ethnic Politics, Maria S. Moreno Parra

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

This research utilizes an agency framework to examine the complexities of the participation of indigenous women in local, national, and global spaces of activism. By examining the connections between processes of globalization of indigenous and women’s rights, development agendas, local politics, and gender dynamics in indigenous organizations, this research highlights the connection of ethnicity, gender, and power in an indigenous organization of Cotacachi, Ecuador, and for Ecuadorian and Latin American indigenous leaders and professionals working in national and global arenas.

Four interconnected topics are explored: (1) the understanding of indigenous women’s participation in the history of their organization within a …

Lithic Analysis Of The Jot-Em-Down Shelter (15mcy348) Collection: Settlement Patterns, Raw Material Utilization, And Shelter Activities Along The Cumberland Plateau, Mary M. White

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

The Jot-em-Down Shelter (15McY348) was excavated by U.S. Forest Service archaeologists in 1986. The present study concentrated on the lithic assemblage, with a particular focus on the chipped stone debitage. The Jot-em-Down Shelter lithic assemblage was compared to assemblages recovered from four nearby sites, open sites 15McY570 and 15McY616, and rockshelter sites 15McY403 and 15McY409; and rockshelter sites located in and near the Red River Gorge, Cold Oak Shelter (15LE50) and Rock Bridge Shelter (15WO75). This study determined that Jot-em-Down Shelter was a multicomponent site utilized by mobile groups of people from the Early Archaic through Mississippi periods. Use of …

Staging Theseus: The Mythological Image Of The Prince In The Comedia Of The Spanish Golden Age, Whitaker R. Jordan

Theses and Dissertations--Hispanic Studies

This dissertation uses the seventeenth-century Spanish plays which employ an array of mythological stories of Theseus to analyze the Early Modern ideology of the Prince. The consideration of the different rulers in these plays highlights different aspects of these sovereigns such as their honor, prudence, valor, and self-control. Many of these princes fall well short of the ideal explained in the comedia and in the writings of the arbitristas. By employing the hylomorphic theory in which everything can exist in either its matter or its form, it is shown that in order to have the form of a prince, …

Transmural Heterogeneity Of Cellular Level Cardiac Contractile Properties In Aging And Heart Failure, Premi Haynes

Theses and Dissertations--Physiology

The left ventricle of the heart relaxes when it fills with blood and contracts to eject blood into circulation to meet the body’s metabolic demands. Dysfunction in either relaxation or contraction of the left ventricle can lead to heart failure. Transmural heterogeneity is thought to contribute to normal ventricular wall motion but it is not well understood how transmural modifications affect the failing left ventricle. The overall hypothesis of this dissertation is that normal left ventricles exhibit transmural heterogeneity in cellular level contractile properties and with aging and heart failure there are region-specific changes in cellular level contractile mechanisms.

Age …

Study Of Thoroughbred Workers: Physical Health, Mental Health, And Income, Marina Byrd

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Horse racing is a well-known sport and the part of the horse industry best known to the public; however, there is little information on the health status and health needs of people who work in this business. Past research shows that the thoroughbred worker population faces a myriad of health challenges. Swanberg et al. (2013) studied demographics, working conditions, and health of Latinos who work on thoroughbred farms in the United States by analyzing phone interviews, face-to-face interviews, and injury logs. The majority of injuries in this study are general injuries such as getting kicked or injuring fingers.

This study …

Field Implementation Of Phanerochaete Chrysosporium Biomass Pretreatment: Fungal Identification And Inoculation Techniques, Bobby D. Carey Jr

Theses and Dissertations--Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering

Scaling biological pretreatment from the bench scale to the production scale may be more economical if unsterilized feedstock are used, however these allow for microbial competition from contaminates. An accurate and rapid method for identifying the desired biological pretreatment organism is necessary to confirm the presence of the desired organism when contaminates are morphologically similar to the target organism. Traditional methods, such as visual identification, sequencing, and selective plating can be time consuming and are sometimes still inconclusive. Based on methods described in the literature, plasmid DNA containing the marker genes gus (�-glucuronidase), LacZ, and gfp (green fluorescence protein) …