Digital Commons Network^™

Filmmaker, Lawyer, Indian Chief: The Negotiation Of Identity In An Indigenous Film Festival, William Lempert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since colonial contact, indigenous peoples have been predominantly represented by community outsiders. As a result, native peoples have rarely had a primary, or even collaborative role, in the production of these representations. However, in the last two decades, there has been an unprecedented proliferation of indigenous created films and the festivals that feature them. The Denver Indigenous Arts and Film Festival is an annual festival that exclusively showcases films made by and with indigenous peoples. The festival’s 2009 theme of “Telling Our Stories” emphasized cultural control of representation and the transmission of traditional knowledge.

In this thesis, I show that …

Composing Music In Constrained Search Environments, Jeffrey Keene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Composing music with computers in constrained search environments adds complexities and problems not present in the traditional problem domain of generative music. The traditional and well researched mechanisms of Markov chains, genetic algorithms and data driven rule based systems do not directly map to a problem domain in which pitch choice and rhythm choice are likely to be highly limited.

We therefore explore several possible solutions to generating rhythms in extremely constrained environments with the goal of generating music that adheres to user specified constraints and is aesthetically pleasing.

Neuropsychological Aspects Of Fetal Transplant Surgery For The Treatment Of Parkinson's Disease: A Longitudinal Study, Gina M. Signoracci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease often characterized at the time of diagnosis by resting tremor, rigidity, and/or bradykinesia. Over the course of the disease, motor functioning, cognitive functioning, and quality of life typically decline as the effectiveness of drug therapies diminishes. This study utilized medical, neuropsychological and quality of life data that were collected as part of a double-blind placebo surgery trial in which 40 patients were randomly assigned to receive bilateral transplantation of embryonic mesencephalic dopamine cells into the putamen or sham surgery. Nineteen women and 21 men participated in the study. Analyses focused on relationships between …

Toward Using Games To Teach Fundamental Computer Science Concepts, Jeffrey Michael Edgington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Video and computer games have become an important area of study in the field of education. Games have been designed to teach mathematics, physics, raise social awareness, teach history and geography, and train soldiers in the military. Recent work has created computer games for teaching computer programming and understanding basic algorithms.

We present an investigation where computer games are used to teach two fundamental computer science concepts: boolean expressions and recursion. The games are intended to teach the concepts and not how to implement them in a programming language.

For this investigation, two computer games were created. One is designed …

An Investigation Of Sliced Inverse Regression With Censored Data., Daniel W. Riggs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The complexity of high-dimensional data creates a number of concerns when trying to analyze it. This data often consists of a response or survival time and potentially thousands of predictors. These predictors can be highly correlated, and the sample size is often very small and right censored. Sliced inverse regression (SIR) is a method of reducing the dimension of the data, while preserving all the regression information. Sliced inverse regression with regularizations was developed to work when the number of predictors exceeds the sample size, and to deal with highly correlated predictors as well. In this study we investigated the …

Queer Tension : Le Teuer Inside Me., Nicholas Ryan Wood 1986-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The film High Tension (2005) is a complex and powerfully threatening portrait of queer monstrosity and negativity. Upon its release, the film's twist ending garnered widespread derision, but there is a mad method, so to speak, in its insistence on purposeful irreconcilability. This thesis aims to tease out the nuances of High Tension's subversive twist. It examines the makeup and history of the slasher sub-genre of horror, as well as relevant 'criticism in the field, in order to locate High Tension's specific contribution. The film presents an image of queer monstrosity that performs what Michael Moon calls sexual disorientation, as …

The Role Of Hsl7 In Morphology And Pathogenicity And Its Interaction With Other Signaling Components In The Plant Pathogen Ustilago Maydis., Charles Ben Lovely 1977-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dimorphism is a highly conserved process in fungi in which a transition between a unicellular, yeast-like growth form and either a unicellular or multicellular, filamentous growth form occurs in response to several different environmental cues. The phytopathogenic fungus Usti/ago maydis undergoes the dimorphic transition from a yeast-like saprobic growth form to a unicellular, hyphal growth form in response to successful mating and subsequent host cues. In addition, U maydis can also undergo haploid filament formation in response to several environmental cues including low ammonium conditions and growth in lipids or acid pH. On solid media deficient in ammonium (SLAD), U …

Female Gothic, Chinese And American Styles : Zhang Ailing's Chuanqi In Comparison With Stories By Eudora Welty And Carson Mccullers., Zuqiong Caroline Ma 1980-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to situate our understanding of Zhang Ailing's Chuanqi as part of global women's efforts to establish a voice of their own by way of hijacking patriarchal literary heritage. In order to show Zhang Ailing as a conscious weaver of female Gothic, Chinese style, my study pursues two parallel routes of argument. First, proceeding from Zhang's unique vision of human experience as an interplay of the ordinary and the extra-ordinary, my dissertation delineates her indebtedness to and rebellion against traditional Chinese "Gothic," especially the genre of Chuanqi. To illuminate the common raison d’être of Zhang's modem romances in …

Substance P And The Tectothalamic Pathway., Sean Phillip Masterson 1974-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cortical and tectal inputs to the caudal LPN in the rat were examined using anatomical and physiological techniques. Pyramidal cells in layer 6 of the visual cortex and wide-field vertical cells in the stratum opticum of the superior colliculus (SC) project to the caudal LPN. Ultrastructural examination revealed that cortical terminals within the caudal LPN were small, contacted small dendrites, and could be identified through vGLUT1 immunohistochemistry. In contrast, tectal terminals were much larger, contacted large dendrites, and could be identified through vGLUT2 immunohistochemistry. In whole cell current clamp recording, stimulation of corticothalmic fibers elicited EPSPs that showed a frequency …

Curcumin Reactivates Epigenetically Silenced Tumor Suppressor Gene Tissue Factor Pathway Inhibitor-2 In Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cells., Akshata Moghe 1983-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) is the fifth most common cancer worldwide and the third most fatal, with a rising incidence in the US as a result of the increase in alcoholic liver disease and obesity. Current therapeutic strategies are unsatisfactory with poor treatment outcomes and efficacious therapies are acutely needed for better management of this deadly disease. Curcumin, a phenolic compound from the rhizome of the plant Curcuma longa has been shown to inhibit growth and induce cell death in various types of cancer cells including HCC. However, the anti-HCC mode of action of curcumin has not yet been elucidated. In …

Munc13-3 Mutation Prevents Critical Period Neuronal Plasticity In Visual Cortex., James Geoffrey Morris 1984-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Through differential display PCR, Munc13-3 was identified as a gene whose relative expression in the visual cortex corresponds to critical period plasticity. Expression of the gene was low at the peak of the critical period and expression was high in the weeks near the end of the critical period. Expression of the gene also shifted during dark rearing, a process known to delay the time course of the critical period. Using electrophysiology and monocular deprivation (MD) in mice at different points within the critical period, it is possible to compare normal MD mice's visual evoked potentials to Munc13-3 mutant MD …

Design, Fabrication, And Testing Of A Microfluidic System For Cardiac Cell Culture., Mai-Dung Thi Nguyen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for nearly 1,372,000 deaths each year. In addition, ~81 million Americans suffer from some form of CVD. Understanding the molecular basis of various manifestations of CVD requires cellular-level studies. However, current technologies for cell culture, fail to recreate the in-vivo environment where cells are subject to pressure and stretch as a consequence of normal hemodynamic loading and unloading. Therefore, to study cardiac cells with physiological relevance, the mechanical loading environment needs to be accurately replicated in-vitro. In order to create an appropriate platform for cardiac …

Glycine Receptor Subunits -A2 And A3 Participate In Different Inhibitory Circuits That Alter The Receptive Field Organization Of On- And Off-Center Retinal Ganglion Cells., Regina D. Nobles

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the retina, the receptive fields (RFs) of most neurons are comprised of an excitatory center and a suppressive surround. Retinal ganglion cell (RGC) RF center excitatory input arises from bipolar cell (BC) inputs, while their surround arises from lateral inhibitory inputs. Because of the availability of selective antagonists the role of GABAergic inputs has been well defined. In contrast, the role of individual glycine receptor (GlyR) subunit inhibition is less clear because the antagonist, strychnine, blocks all GlyR subunit combinations. To define individual retinal circuits that utilize specific glycinergic subunits, I examined maintained and visually-evoked responses of ON- and …

Emission Difference Between Natural Gas Usage And Digester Gas Usage., Mahyar Ghorbanian 1986-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

It is important to burn the air toxics and harmful gases which come from water and wastewater treatment processes. In common practice, instead of natural gas, digester gas is used for economical reasons. This burning process takes place in the Regenerative Thermal Oxidizer (RTO). The current research was conducted to identify if there exists any differences between natural gas and digester gas in outlet emission. The location of the experiment was at Morris Forman Wastewater Treatment Plant of Metropolitan Sewer District (MSD) of Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA. In this experiment, the RTO was run in two cases: one fueling by …

The Role Of Matrix Metalloproteinases Induced Angiogenesis During Transition From Compensatory Cardiac Hypertrophy To Cardiac Failure : Therapeutic Effects Of Hydrogen Sulfide., Srikanth Givvimani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Although matrix metalloproteinase (MMPs) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinase (TIMPs) play a vital role in tumor angiogenesis and TIMP-3 causes apoptosis, their role in cardiac angiogenesis is unknown. Interestingly, a disruption of coordinated cardiac hypertrophy and angiogenesis contributes to the transition to heart failure, however, the proteolytic and anti-angiogenic mechanisms of transition from compensatory hypertrophy to decompensatory heart failure are unclear. Previous studies have shown the cardio protective role of hydrogen sulfide (H2S) in myocardial ischemia, infarction and heart failure, but its role during transition from compensatory cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure is yet to be unveiled. We hypothesize …

Rachel Carson And Nature As Resource, Object And Spirit : Identification, Consubstantiality, And Multiple Stakeholders In The Environmental Rhetoric Of The Conservation In Action Series., Cynthia E. Britt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This project examines the Conservation in Action series, twelve texts produced by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) from 1947-1957 and developed and written by Rachel Carson and other agency employees. She developed the series to publicize the refuge service and conservation work, and I specifically focus on the first two booklets in the series, Chincoteague: A National Wildlife Refuge and Parker River: A National Wildlife Refuge, which argue the need for waterfowl sanctuaries. I analyze the texts as early examples of government environmental rhetoric produced by Carson, author of Silent Spring. For the analysis I use four …

The Effects Of Estrogen And Phytoestrogens On Focal Infarct, Pten, And P-Akt Expression In Aged Rats., Karen Powell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Premenopausal women have fewer and less severe strokes when compared to postmenopausal females and aged matched males. The most obvious factor that could account for the observed difference is the physiological activity of Estrogen. Numerous studies over the past two decades have investigated estrogen's role as a neuroprotective agent against stroke damage. Many physiological mechanisms have been identified supporting neuroprotection; however, data also exist to suggest that estrogen may be harmful in certain situations such as those that produce high blood levels of estrogen or use estrogen in older models. The Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a large epidemiological study, found …

De-Differentiation Of Parotid Acinar Cells In Vitro., Andrew Scott Currie 1983-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: When rat salivary gland cells are cultured in vitro, they dedifferentiate within 24 h. Hypothesis: Growth factors will prevent de-differentiation of primary cultures of parotid gland cells, and they will induce differentiation of ParC5 cells. DNA methylation drives de-differentiation and the loss of expression in cultured parotid cells. Methods: Rat parotid glands were collected and cultured in media using different combinations of growth factors. DNA was evaluated for methylation at various time points. Results: No media tested prevented the de-differentiation of parotid cells, and none induced differentiation of ParC5 cells. Limited variation in methylation of CpG sites was seen. …

Ridge Preservation Comparing The Clinical And Histologic Healing Of A Mineralized Cortical Vs. Mineralized Cancellous Allograft With An Acellular Dermal Matrix Barrier Membrane., Marquez J. Sams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aim. To compare two techniques of ridge preservation using a mineralized cancellous particulate allograft to a mineralized cortical particulate allograft plus an acelluar dermal matrix barrier membrane using clinical and histologic data to assess the outcome. Methods. Twelve positive controls received a intrasocket mineralized cortical particulate allograft (500-800 µm) while twelve test patients received an intrasocket mineralized cancellous particulate allograft (500 to 800 µm). All sites were covered with acellular dermal matrix barrier. Following tooth extraction, horizontal ridge dimensions were measured with a digital caliper and vertical ridge dimensions were measured from a stent. Each site was re-entered for implant …

Sa-4-1bbl As A Modulator Of T Effector To T Regulatory Cell Conversion., Shravan Madireddi 1980-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The immune system is of profound importance for host survival due to its ability to clear many acquired diseases. In case of infections and cancer, disease arises due to under-performance of immune system. Whereas in autoimmunity and transplantation, deleterious immunity to normal self-antigens and allogeneic antigens arises due to enhanced immune responses. Regulatory T (Treg) cells play a critical role in immune homeostasis in health and disease. Treg cells are important in the development and maintenance of immune tolerance towards self or transplantation antigens. However, Treg cells also play an obstructive role in cancer-related immunity by suppressing various effector cells. …

Freedom In Middle French Enlightenment : Interpreted Through A Picturesque Garden., Ning Jia 1977-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Freedom is a critical concept that helps shape the discourse of modern society and corresponding thoughts about people's private, public, cultural and spiritual lives. Standing at the fountainhead of the modern era, the Enlightenment was a critical period when this concept was defined, analyzed and debated in modern terminology with modern questions directed at modern problems. However, despite its importance, scholars in the twentieth century have disagreed about what to make of the Enlightenment liberal tradition. What was not fully discussed were the cultural sentiments and artistic expressions that interacted with the intellectual and political domains. To complement this, this …

Arsenic In Drinking Water Causes Gene Expression Changes In The Liver Related To Inflammation And Metabolic Dysfunction And Accelerates Atherosclerosis In Apoe-/-Mice, Matthew R. Zajack

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Arsenic exposure in drinking-water is a significant worldwide health problem. It causes adverse human health effects, such as cancer, increases the risks for others such as cardiovascular disease, and accelerates atherosclerosis. In this study, we analyze arsenic-induced gene expression changes in the liver of ApoE-knockout mice given 49 ppm arsenic in drinking-water. We hypothesize chronic arsenic exposure accelerates atherosclerosis by disrupting liver homeostasis, causing aberrant gene expression changes. Networks revealed hubs on 3 stress-response MAP kinase pathways, ERK, JNK, and p38. Pathways revealed mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative phosphorylation enrichment from the gene set. Transcription factor binding site analysis revealed specific …

Testing The Social Processing Advantage In Recognition And Reconstruction Tasks, Stephan Adair

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A recent study found that participants were more likely to recall words that were processed socially than when processed in other ways (Reysen & Adair, 2008). Using a similar methodology, the goal was to extend those observations. Specifically, two experiments examined the effect of social processing on participants’ ability to both recognize and reconstruct the order of list items. Participants were asked to remember a list of words with help either from a computer or, purportedly, another participant. It was hypothesized participants would be more likely to recognize list items and better at reconstructing the order of list items, if …

Refashioning Old Clothes: Secondhand Fashion, Meaning, And Liquid Modern Consumption, Keeley M. Buehler

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study takes a critical look at consumption in liquid modernity as it plays out in secondhand shops. Interviews with secondhand shop owners and shoppers demonstrate that secondhand fashion has the potential to promote individuality and foster relationships, ultimately encouraging a reflexive approach to consumption. It also becomes clear that secondhand shoppers are more concerned with how they consume than what they consume. Secondhand shoppers situate how they approach consuming as a facet of their identity that qualifies them as expert shoppers. In addition, shoppers are aware that how they use secondhand fashion is an opportunity for individuality. Shop owners …

Greening The Green Revolution: Moving Beyond Chemicals To Sustainable Agricultural Practices, Elizabeth G. Crawley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Agriculture has dominated the economy of many developing countries for centuries, which has led to development policies that center on agricultural development. An obvious approach to improved production is to decrease agricultural losses in the fields and increase efficiency to markets. This study focuses on the developmental role of pesticides and chemical fertilizers on non-traditional agricultural export farming and the adoption of IPM techniques. With farmers in the Comayagua Valley of Honduras, an Asian vegetable production center for the country, as the study population, the costs and benefits of planting oriental vegetables was examined. Statistical analysis was used to examine …

Dogs And Technology: Our Most Beloved Companions In Twentieth And Twenty-First Century America, Claire V. Bow

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Since the suburban rush and steep rise in household technological devices in the mid-twentieth century, Americans have drawn apart from each other, a shift that has coincided with a rise in both dog ownership and the adoption of handheld mobile devices. This paper argues that these phenomena, which are both ubiquitous and intimate in many American households, reflect one of the most basic and static human needs: the need for emotional connection. Furthermore, it is the unique combination of canine and digital elements that replace human-to-human social networks; networks that were once both literally and figuratively tightly drawn. In the …

An Investigation Into Associations With Attachment, Companion Pet Attachment, Empathy, And Prosocial Behaviors In 18–20 Year Old College Students, Christian Anderson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines empathy, parental attachment, companion pet attachment and social behaviors in a sample of 120 students between the ages of 18-20 enrolled at Front Range Community College in Westminster CO during the fall semester 2008. The study is based on the research questions posed by Thompson and Gullone (2008) but pays particular attention to the relationships between and among variables measured in that study as well as their association with variables indicating companion pet companionship. The research questions are: (1) does parental empathic attachment predict prosocial and antisocial behaviors during older adolescence or young adulthood? And (2) does …

Ethical Elitism: A Burkean Analysis Of The Rhetorical Construction Of A Moral Persona In The First Term Of President George W. Bush, Veronica Lynn Koehn

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

On November 4, 2004, President George W. Bush won re-election. According to exit polls, a majority of people who voted for Bush over his opponent, Senator John Kerry, did so because they believed that Bush was the “moral values” candidate. In this dissertation, I assess the moral persona that the President rhetorically constructed during his first term in office. To do so, I utilize Kenneth Burke‟s cluster and pentad tools to analyze Bush‟s statements on embryonic stem cell research, 9/11 and the ensuing War on Terror, and same-sex marriage, three issues that the elite press explicitly identified as being “moral …

Newfangled., John Daniel Simmons

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis paper supports the Master of Fine Arts exhibition at the B. Carroll Reece Museum, East Tennessee State University, from March 9th through April 22nd, 2010. The exhibit is comprised of 62 unique ceramic pieces, which are presented on pedestals and wall mounted shelves. The exhibition presents the artist's exploration of form and surface used to create functional pottery. Topics discussed are the influences, concepts, techniques, and methods used to create the work. Included are process images, detail images, and images of selected works from the exhibition.

Peter L. Berger's Early Conception Of Agency: Exposition And Evaluation., James Greene

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Peter L. Berger's conception of agency in his earliest writings (c.1954-1960) is logically and empirically inadequate. At the root of this inadequacy is an idealism that prevents him from providing a compelling account of actual empirical agency. Chapter 1 asserts that Berger's earlier works warrant analysis. Chapter 2 discusses Berger's earliest influences, particularly Max Weber and The Swedish Lund School of motif research. Chapter 3 identifies a unique commitment to Christian Humanism at the base of Berger's conception of agency. Chapter 4 clarifies how Berger's Christian humanism interacts with his Weberian, and Parsonian-inspired functional analysis of the American religious establishment. …