Digital Commons Network^™

A Classification Of Lower Paleozoic Carbonate-Bearing Rocks For Geotechnical Applications, Bethany L. Overfield

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

An empirically-based classification of lower Paleozoic carbonate-bearing rocks was created for field-based geotechnical applications. Geotechnical parameters were subsequently correlated to that classification. Seven hundred seventy-seven samples were used as the basis for the classification. Thirteen categories based on visual and tactile properties and a hydrochloric acid test were created. Samples were from central, north-central, and south-central Kentucky and represented the majority of Ordovician exposures in the state, and some Mississippian exposures. Few Silurian and Devonian units were included in the sample set. Geotechnical parameters, including density as well as elastic constants (shear and compression wave velocities, Poisson’s ratio, Young’s modulus, …

Analysis Of Student & Teacher Outcomes From Pre-Existing Data Obtained Through The Low Incidence Initiative: Teaching Academic Age-Appropriate Learning Via Communication Project, April M. Holman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Students with significant cognitive disabilities frequently exhibit reduced communicative and academic competence. The Low Incidence Initiative (LII) project was a professional development model designed to train school-based teams to facilitate increased communicative and academic competence with such students via distance-technology coaching. This study analyzed pre-existing data from year one of the LII. Data were analyzed to determine effectiveness of the project on communication status of students and on training school personnel to accurately identify student levels of communication, and for overall satisfaction with the project. Results indicated that all student participants demonstrated improvement in expressive communication output. 100% of students …

Investigation Of The Toxicity And Efflux Of Polychlorinated Biphenyls And Hydroxylated Polychlorinated Biphenyls In Escherichia Coli, Shen Geng

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) are persistent organic pollutants. Due to their properties, PCBs accumulate in the food-chain and post a threat to the health of human beings and wildlife. Hydroxylated PCBs (OH-PCBs) are oxidative metabolites of PCBs and are more hydrophilic than their parent PCBs. One of the best approaches to break down these contaminants is through bioremediation, which is an environmental friendly process that uses microorganisms to restore natural environment.

Towards this goal, we have investigated the toxicity and accumulation of PCBs and OH-PCBs in a Gram-negative bacterium, Escherichia coli. We have also determined the role played by a …

Determining Interstellar Reddening: A New Approach Using Spectroscopy And Photometry, Syed A. Uddin

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The mystery of Canis Major overdensity is addressed. We discuss concurrent methods and their limitations on the determination of interstellar reddening. We establish a new way to determine line of sight interstellear reddening by observing stellar spectral lines and UBV colors. We observe and analyze spectra of 22 stars in different open clusters. We find that Hydrogen Balmer line at 4861 angstrom can predict the stellar atmospheric parameters and intrinsic colors with reasonable accuracy. Comparing with observed colors we derive the reddening of the stars. We compare our results with standard database WEBDA and find that within 90% probability limit …

Perch Landing Maneuvers And Control For A Rotating-Wing Mav, Jonathan Louis Lubbers

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis addresses flight control of the perch landing maneuver for micro-aerial vehicles. A longitudinal flight model is constructed for a pigeon-sized aircraft. In addition to a standard elevator control surface, wing-rotation also considered as a non-standard actuator for increasing low-speed aerodynamic braking. Optimal state and control trajectories for the perch landing maneuver are computed using commercial software. A neighboring optimal control law is then developed and implemented in a set of flight simulations. Simulations are run with both a quasisteady and an unsteady aerodynamic model. The effectiveness of wing rotation and of the neighboring optimal control law is discussed, …

Physical Conditions In A Galactic Star Forming Region W22, Akshaya Rane

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This document describes study of an active star forming region in our galaxy (the Milky Way) known as W22. Physical conditions in these regions can help us in understanding star formation processes in the universe and hence the structure and evolution of the universe. Zeeman effect measurements in 18 cm OH absorption line were carried out in order to estimate the line of sight magnetic field strength in the molecular cloud associated with this star forming region. Other physical parameters such as hydrogen column density, optical depth, critical magnetic field were also determined from these measurements. The region was mapped …

“All Must Combine In The Struggle Against The Microbes” Global Biopolitics And Twentieth-Century Health Organizations, Patrick Kothe

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The following paper explores the rise of global biopolitics by focusing on the League of Nations Health Organization (LNHO) and the World Health Organization (WHO) as pivot points around which an international system transitioned into a global system. The central thesis of the paper is that the LNHO served as the first true site of deployment for global discourses on health and hygiene, not as recent scholarship has suggested, the WHO. The purpose of the paper, however, is to provide an overview of the larger transformation of public health in the twentieth century, beginning with the proliferation of nineteenth-­‐century international …

New Photovoltaic Acceptors: Synthesis And Characterization Of Functionalized C-Fused Anthradithiophene Quinones, Kerri Shelton

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Stable organic semiconductors are critical to produce inexpensive, efficient and flexible thin film organic solar cells. A current chemical focus is the synthesis of stable, electron-accepting materials to be utilized as an acceptor layer in photovoltaics.¹ The Anthony group has shown that the functionalization of pentacene with suitable electron withdrawing groups provides a catalog of suitable acceptors for this purpose.² These pentacenes can be further modified to pack in a unique 1-dimensional "sandwich herringbone" crystal packing, leading to improved device current.³ To improve the stability of acene acceptors, we have taken two hetero-atom themed approaches. First, we …

Constructing The Real: The New Photography Of Crewdson, Gursky And Wall, Melissa A. Schwartz

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A new class of photographs that relies on digital processes, best exemplified by the works of Gregory Crewdson, Andreas Gursky and Jeff Wall all exhibit a ‘not quite right’ quality that calls into question some of the most closely held truisms of photographic thought. Through novel technological processes combined with the elements of the new photography—new scale, fabulist imagery, and implied narrative—these images challenge the nature of photography as a documentary process and, beyond that, the nature of what we understand to be ‘the real’ that is supposedly documented. A visual analysis of these images through the lens of Roland …

Development Of Novel Electrophilic Ruthenium(Ii) And Iridium(Iii) Complexes And Their Applications As Homogeneous Catalysts, Ryan R. Ketcham

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Our aim was to develop the synthetic potential and reaction chemistry of Ir³⁺ and Ru²⁺ electrophiles by preparing well-characterized complexes whose properties are controllable by modification of the ancillary ligand environment Specifically, we prepared a series of ruthenium complexes to serve as selective hydrogenation and hydrogenolysis catalysts of furan derivatives. We also expanded the synthesis of electrophilic Ir³⁺ di-thiolate complexes. These types of compounds could eventually serve as catalysts precursors for the addition of weak nucleophiles to alkynes and nitriles.

A Reliability-Based Routing Protocol For Vehicular Ad-Hoc Networks, James Bernsen

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Vehicular Ad hoc NETworks (VANETs), an emerging technology, would allow vehicles to form a self-organized network without the aid of a permanent infrastructure. As a prerequisite to communication in VANETs, an efficient route between communicating nodes in the network must be established, and the routing protocol must adapt to the rapidly changing topology of vehicles in motion. This is one of the goals of VANET routing protocols. In this thesis, we present an efficient routing protocol for VANETs, called the Reliable Inter-VEhicular Routing (RIVER) protocol. RIVER utilizes an undirected graph that represents the surrounding street layout where the vertices of …

Experimental Flow Visualization For Corrugated Airfoils At Low Reynolds Number Including Development Of A Pitch And Plunge Fixture, Jeremy Ryan Sparks

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Micro Air Vehicles (MAV’s) have small size and extreme maneuverability which makes them ideal for surveillance. Propulsion mechanisms include propellers, rotors, and flapping airfoils. Flapping motions, along with biologically-inspired wing profiles, are of interest due to their use of natural physics. Corrugated airfoil structures appears to have poor aerodynamic performance at higher Reynolds numbers, but serve well at Re<10,000. Understanding flow structures around corrugated profiles and comparing them to a standard airfoil will aid in understanding how these corrugated profiles perform well and have been adopted by some of nature’s most acrobatic flyers. Motivation for this investigation is to compare static flow visualizations of corrugated profiles to a standard National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) airfoil from low to high angles of attack and further observe flow structure development of a pitching and plunging flat plate at a Re<10,000 and a Strouhal number relevant to natural fliers. The static visualization was conducted at Re=1,000 with a NACA 0012 airfoil and two corrugated models. The Pitch and Plunge Fixture (PPF) developed was constructed by simplifying flapping wings as a two degree of freedom motion in plunge (translation) and pitch (rotation). Results obtained from the PPF were compared with a numerical simulation.

Fate Of Stable Isotope Label During Predation Of 15N-Tagged Wild-Type Escherichia Coli By Protozoa, Ashley M. Barton

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Currently, bacterial movement in karst aquifers is not well understood. Use of stable isotopes to label non-pathogenic Escherichia coli as a particulate groundwater tracer in karst systems has been examined in previous studies. Loss of the stable isotope signal is anticipated in traces greater than 500 m in length. Potential loss of ¹⁵N due to predation by protozoa was examined. Filter-sterilized water from Royal Spring in Georgetown, Kentucky, was inoculated with a mixture of either Tetrahymena pyriformis or Colpoda steinii and ¹⁵N-enriched E. coli and stored in the dark at 14°C. Samples were analyzed for their nitrogen isotope …

Combinatorial Aspects Of Excedances And The Frobenius Complex, Eric Logan Clark

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In this dissertation we study the excedance permutation statistic. We start by extending the classical excedance statistic of the symmetric group to the affine symmetric group eSn and determine the generating function of its distribution. The proof involves enumerating lattice points in a skew version of the root polytope of type A. Next we study the excedance set statistic on the symmetric group by defining a related algebra which we call the excedance algebra. A combinatorial interpretation of expansions from this algebra is provided. The second half of this dissertation deals with the topology of the Frobenius complex, that …

Computational Analyses Of The Uptake And Distribution Of Carbon Monoxide (Co) In Human Subjects, Kinnera Chada

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Carbon monoxide (CO) is an odorless, colorless, tasteless gas that binds to hemoglobin with high affinity. This property underlies the use of low doses of CO to determine hemoglobin mass (M_Hb) in the fields of clinical and sports medicine. However, hemoglobin bound to CO is unable to transport oxygen and exposure to high CO concentrations is a significant environmental and occupational health concern. These contrasting aspects of CO—clinically useful in low doses but potentially lethal in higher doses—mandates a need for a quantitative understanding of the temporal profiles of the uptake and distribution of CO …

Traumatic Brain Injury: Cyclophilin D As A Therapeutic Target And The Neuropathology Caused By Blast, Ryan Douglas Readnower

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

With an estimated incidence of 1.5 million each year, traumatic brain injury (TBI) is a major cause of mortality and morbidity in the United States. Opening of the mitochondrial permeability transition pore (mPTP) is a key event contributing to TBI pathology. Cyclophilin D (CypD), a matrix peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase, is believed to be the regulating component of the mPTP. Cyclosporin A, an immunosuppressant drug, inhibits CypD and blocks mPTP formation and has been shown to be neuroprotective following TBI. However, it is unclear if CsA’s neuroprotective mechanism is due to inhibition of CypD and/or immuno-suppression. Therefore to directly assess the …

Biomarkers Of Mild Cognitive Impairment And Alzheimer's Disease, Mark A. Lovell, Bert C. Lynn

Chemistry Faculty Patents

A method for quantifying a neurodegenerative disorder in a patient that includes obtaining a fluid sample from the subject; measuring a protein biomarker complex in said fluid sample and correlating the measurement with mild cognitive impairment or Alzheimer's disease status. The biomarkers include those that comprise at least one of a transthyretin protein and/or a prostaglandin-H2 D-isomerase protein, and at least one second, different protein selected from a transthyretin, prostaglandin-H2 D-isomerase, beta-2-microglobulin, cystatin C, superoxide dismutase [Cu—Zn], plasma retinol-binding protein, phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein, carbonic anhydrase 2, prostaglandin-H2 D-isomerase, and/or serotransferrin protein.

Precatalysts Useful In Polyolefin Polymerization Reactions, Omofolami Tesileem Ladipo, Richard Eaves, Alexey Zazybin, Sean Parkin

Chemistry Faculty Patents

Compounds are provided that are useful as precatlysts in the polymerization of olefins such as ethylene and propylene. Other compounds are useful as intermediates in the production of such precatalysts.

A Model Of The Information Seeking And Decision Making Of Online Coin Buyers, Donald O. Case

Information Science Faculty Publications

Introduction. The Everyday Life Information Seeking approach suggests that much information behaviour takes place in non-work settings, for example in the pursuit of leisure activities such as hobbies. This study focuses on a community of collectors to examine how they gather information to decide whether to purchase an item for their collection when the target item has an ambiguous or deficient description.

Method. Manual scanning of eBay and other online discussion board for coin buyers led to 187 postings indicating an attempt to reach a purchase decision, or to authenticate a purchased coin, through solicitation or posting of advice.

Analysis. …

Structure And Feedback In 30 Doradus. I. Observations, E. W. Pellegrini, J. A. Baldwin, Gary J. Ferland

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

We have completed a new optical imaging and spectrophotometric survey of a 140 × 80 pc² region of 30 Doradus centered on R136, covering key optical diagnostic emission lines including Hα, Hβ, Hγ, [O III] λλ4363, 4959, 5007, [N II] λλ6548, 6584, [SII] λλ6717, 6731 [S III] λ6312, and in some locations [S III] λ9069. We present maps of fluxes and intensity ratios for these lines, and catalogs of isolated ionizing stars, elephant-trunk pillars, and edge-on ionization fronts. The final science-quality spectroscopic data products are available to the public. Our analysis of the new data finds that, while stellar …

Endothelial Cell Capture Of Heparin-Binding Growth Factors Under Flow, Bing Zhao, Changjiang Zhang, Kimberly Forsten-Williams, Jun Zhang, Michael Fannon

Ophthalmology and Visual Science Faculty Publications

Circulation is an important delivery method for both natural and synthetic molecules, but microenvironment interactions, regulated by endothelial cells and critical to the molecule's fate, are difficult to interpret using traditional approaches. In this work, we analyzed and predicted growth factor capture under flow using computer modeling and a three-dimensional experimental approach that includes pertinent circulation characteristics such as pulsatile flow, competing binding interactions, and limited bioavailability. An understanding of the controlling features of this process was desired. The experimental module consisted of a bioreactor with synthetic endothelial-lined hollow fibers under flow. The physical design of the system was incorporated …

Mapsplice: Accurate Mapping Of Rna-Seq Reads For Splice Junction Discovery, Kai Wang, Darshan Singh, Zheng Zeng, Stephen J. Coleman, Yan Huang, Gleb L. Savich, Xiaping He, Piotr Mieczkowski, Sara A. Grimm, Charles M. Perou, James N. Macleod, Derek Y. Chiang, Jan F. Prins, Jinze Liu

Computer Science Faculty Publications

The accurate mapping of reads that span splice junctions is a critical component of all analytic techniques that work with RNA-seq data. We introduce a second generation splice detection algorithm, MapSplice, whose focus is high sensitivity and specificity in the detection of splices as well as CPU and memory efficiency. MapSplice can be applied to both short (<75 bp) and long reads (≥75 bp). MapSplice is not dependent on splice site features or intron length, consequently it can detect novel canonical as well as non-canonical splices. MapSplice leverages the quality and diversity of read alignments of a given splice to increase accuracy. We demonstrate that MapSplice achieves higher sensitivity and specificity than TopHat and SpliceMap on a set of simulated RNA-seq data. Experimental studies also support the accuracy of the algorithm. Splice junctions derived from eight breast cancer RNA-seq datasets recapitulated the extensiveness of alternative splicing on a global level as well as the differences between molecular subtypes of breast cancer. These combined results indicate that MapSplice is a highly accurate algorithm for the alignment of RNA-seq reads to splice junctions. Software download URL: http://www.netlab.uky.edu/p/bioinfo/MapSplice.

Lessons Of Mastery Learning, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

The core elements of mastery learning provide the foundation for other innovative models, including Response to Intervention.

On The Disappearance Of The Broad-Line Region In Low-Luminosity Active Galactic Nuclei, Moshe Elitzur, Luis C. Ho

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

The disk-wind scenario for the broad-line region (BLR) and toroidal obscuration in active galactic nuclei (AGNs) predicts the disappearance of the BLR at low luminosities. In accordance with the model predictions, data from a nearly complete sample of nearby AGNs show that the BLR disappears at luminosities lower than 5 × 10³⁹(M/10⁷ M_⊙)^2/3 erg s^-1, where M is the black hole mass. The radiative efficiency of accretion onto the black hole is ≲10^-3 for these sources, indicating that their accretion is advection-dominated.

Trans-Excision-Splicing Ribozyme And Methods Of Use, Stephen M. Testa, Michael A. Bell

Chemistry Faculty Patents

A group I intron-derived ribozyme which binds RNA in trans, excises an internal segment from within the RNA, and splices the remaining 5′ and 3′ ends of the RNA back together (the trans-excision-splicing reaction) is disclosed. The excised segment can be as long as 28 nucleotides, or more, and as little as one nucleotide. The ribozymes of the invention are easily modified to alter their sequence specificity. Such ribozymes represent a new and potentially powerful class of generally adaptable genetic therapeutics.

Thinking Outside The Curve, Part Ii: Modeling Fetal-Infant Mortality, Richard Charnigo, Lorie W. Chesnut, Tony Lobianco, Russell S. Kirby

Statistics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Greater epidemiologic understanding of the relationships among fetal-infant mortality and its prognostic factors, including birthweight, could have vast public health implications. A key step toward that understanding is a realistic and tractable framework for analyzing birthweight distributions and fetal-infant mortality. The present paper is the second of a two-part series that introduces such a framework.

METHODS: We propose estimating birthweight-specific mortality within each component of a normal mixture model representing a birthweight distribution, the number of components having been determined from the data rather than fixed a priori.

RESULTS: We address a number of methodological issues related to our …

Thinking Outside The Curve, Part I: Modeling Birthweight Distribution, Richard Charnigo, Lorie W. Chesnut, Tony Lobianco, Russell S. Kirby

Statistics Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Greater epidemiologic understanding of the relationships among fetal-infant mortality and its prognostic factors, including birthweight, could have vast public health implications. A key step toward that understanding is a realistic and tractable framework for analyzing birthweight distributions and fetal-infant mortality. The present paper is the first of a two-part series that introduces such a framework.

METHODS: We propose describing a birthweight distribution via a normal mixture model in which the number of components is determined from the data using a model selection criterion rather than fixed a priori.

RESULTS: We address a number of methodological issues, including how the …

Distorting The Sarcomere, Kenneth S. Campbell

Physiology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Talmidae Rhetoricae: Drashing Up Models And Methods For Jewish Rhetorical Studies, Janice W. Fernheimer

Writing, Rhetoric, and Digital Studies Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Sea Change In Eta Carinae, Andrea Mehner, Kris Davidson, Roberta M. Humphreys, John C. Martin, Kazunori Ishibashi, Gary J. Ferland, Nolan R. Walborn

Physics and Astronomy Faculty Publications

Major stellar-wind emission features in the spectrum of η Car have recently decreased by factors of order 2 relative to the continuum. This is unprecedented in the modern observational record. The simplest, but unproven, explanation is a rapid decrease in the wind density.