Digital Commons Network^™

Interactions Between The Nudibranch Okenia Zoobotryon And Its Bryozoan, Nicole Robinson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the Indian River Lagoon, the nudibranch Okenia zoobotryon and its egg masses are found attached to the bryozoan Zoobotryon verticillatum throughout the year. Okenia zoobotryon is thought to live, feed, and reproduce exclusively on Z. verticillatum, which would make this a very specialized predator-prey interaction. The primary goal of my study was to document certain aspects of the ecological and chemical relationships between Z. verticillatum and O. zoobotryon. Specifically, I wanted to understand the cues used by the nudibranch to locate and remain on Z. verticillatum. Population surveys on Z. verticillatum, as well as other potential hosts, were performed. …

Extracullular Atp Regulates Il-1beta Release From Microglial Cells Via Purinergic Receptor After In Vitro Trauma, Chengya Liang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) induces a state of microglialactivation, which includes upregulation of macrophage functions and release inflammatory mediators such as certain inflammatory cytokines. Current literature suggests that interleukin-1Beta is an important cytokine mediator, which is dramatically increased after brain injury. Previous studies indicate that ATP is released by traumatically injured astrocytes and serves as a cell-to-cell mediator through purinergic receptors after in vitro injury. However, the mechanism of interleukin-1Beta release after traumatic brain injury remains poorly defined and is difficult to study using in vivo models. Using an in vitro model for traumatic brain injury (cell strain or stretch), …

Nursing Leadership Characteristics: Effect On Nursing Job Satisfactio, Sandra Swearingen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to determine the degree to which a positive experience with nursing leadership increases nurse's job satisfaction. The different values and norms of the generational cohorts result in each cohort perceiving leadership characteristics differently. Factors such as length of exposure to leadership, location, shift worked, clinical versus non-clinical positions and the presence or absence of Servant-Leadership, all have the potential to impact nursing satisfaction. Nursing satisfaction, or dissatisfaction impacts retention, further modifying nursing leadership practices. Conflict, Cohort, Servant-Leadership, and Self-Discrepancy theories were utilized to identify the relationships of generations to each other and to the …

Improving Comprehension Of Capital Sentencing Instructions: A Bias Reduction Approach, Charles W. Otto

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Previous research has demonstrated that judicial instructions on the law are not well understood by jurors tasked with applying the law to the facts of a case. The past research has also shown that jurors are often confused by the instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial. Social scientists have used two different methods to improve juror understanding of legal instructions, psycholinguistic rewrites and bias-reduction techniques. Psycholinguistic rewrites of legal instructions have been shown consistently to improve juror comprehension of general legal instructions and instructions used in the sentencing phase of a capital trial, however, there has …

The New Girl, Angela Marie Meredith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The New Girl is a collection of poems in which the poet assumes a direct, unfeigned voice. These rhythmic poems cover the deeply personal to the universal and social. The body is presented as a record of experiences both good and bad. Feminist issues pertainingto marriage, work, and sexuality are explored. Whether the poem is about a personal relationship or some aspect of society, it is likely to be multi-dimensional and suggest a duality. Overall, the poems are rooted in the spiritual and attempt to relate, with holistic honesty, a sense of reverence for the impure parts of life.

Genre And Persona In Activist Websites, Margaret M.F. Boreman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Digital texts present significant challenges to technical communicators in terms of genre and persona. Because of the ubiquity of electronic media, we increasingly embrace digital formats over print-based documents. As a result, technical communicators must now devise the means to cue audiences to the purposes of digital documents in any given discourse community. We can only convey meaning to our Internet audiences through the use of appropriate standards and elements recognizable generic forms and rhetorical cues that we designate as conventions in specific digital discourse. Just as we use file and folder office metaphors for information stored on computers, digital …

Techniques For Assessing And Improving Performance In Navigation And Wayfinding Using Mobile Augmented Reality, Brian Goldiez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Augmented reality is a field of technology in which the real world is overlaid with additional information from a computer generated display. Enhancements to augmented reality technology presently support limited mobility which is expected to increase in the future to provide much greater real world functionality. This work reports on a set of experiments that investigate performance in search and rescue navigating tasks using augmented reality. Augmentation consisted of a spatially and temporally registered map of a maze that was overlaid onto a real world maze. Participants were required to traverse the maze, answer spatially oriented questions in the maze, …

Survival Of Mycobacterium Avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis In The Pol, John Rumsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mycobacterium avium subspecies paratuberculosis (map) is an intracellular pathogen that is known to parasitize macrophages and monocytes. Map infiltrates gastrointestinal tract host tissue where it is the known etiological agent of johne's disease in ruminants and implicated in the etiology of crohn's disease in humans. Map's ability to survive within macrophages enables it to disseminate throughout the rest of the host, possibly infecting other circulating blood leukocytes. In this study, the survival and fate of map strain atcc 43015 (human isolate) following phagocytosis was determined using in vitro murine macrophage cell line j774a.1 and polymorphonuclear cells (pmnc's) from five crohn's …

Multigene Metabolic Engineering Via The Chloroplast Genome, Oscar Nemesio Ruiz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The vast majority of valuable agronomic traits are encoded polygenetically. Chloroplast genetic engineering offers an alternate approach to multigene engineering by allowing the insertion of entire pathways in a single transformation event, while being an environmentally friendly approach. Stable integration into the chloroplast genome and transcription of the phaA gene coding for β-ketothiolase was confirmed by Southern and northern blots. Coomassie-stained gel and western blots confirmed hyperexpression of β-ketothiolase in leaves and anthers, with high enzyme activity. The transgenic lines were normal except for the male sterile phenotype, lacking pollen. Scanning electron microscopy revealed a collapsed morphology of the pollen …

Adaptive Intelligent User Interfaces With Emotion Recognition, Fatma Nasoz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this dissertation is on creating Adaptive Intelligent User Interfaces to facilitate enhanced natural communication during the Human-Computer Interaction by recognizing users' affective states (i.e., emotions experienced by the users) and responding to those emotions by adapting to the current situation via an affective user model created for each user. Controlled experiments were designed and conducted in a laboratory environment and in a Virtual Reality environment to collect physiological data signals from participants experiencing specific emotions. Algorithms (k-Nearest Neighbor [KNN], Discriminant Function Analysis [DFA], Marquardt-Backpropagation [MBP], and Resilient Backpropagation [RBP]) were implemented to analyze the collected data signals …

Evaluation Of A Microwave Radiative Transfer Model For Calculating Sat, Simonetta Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Remote sensing is the process of gathering and analyzing information about the earth's ocean, land and atmosphere using electromagnetic "wireless" techniques. Mathematical models, known as Radiative Transfer Models (RTM), are developed to calculate the observed radiance (brightness temperature) seen by the remote sensor. The RTM calculated brightness temperature is a function of fourteen environmental parameters, including atmospheric profiles of temperature, pressure and moisture, sea surface temperature, and cloud liquid water. Input parameters to the RTM model include data from NOAA Centers for Environmental Prediction (NCEP), Reynolds weekly Sea Surface Temperature and National Ocean Data Center (NODC) WOA98 Ocean Salinity and …

Thermal Management, Beam Control,And Packaging Designs For High Power, Te-Yuan Chung

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several novel techniques for controlling, managing and utilizing high power diode lasers are described. Low pressure water spray cooling for a high heat flux system is developed and proven to be an ideal cooling method for high power diode laser arrays. In order to enable better thermal and optical performance of diode laser arrays, a new and simple optical element, the beam control prism, is invented. It provides the ability to accomplish beam shaping and beam tilting at the same time. Several low thermal resistance diode packaging designs using beam control prisms are proposed, studied and produced. Two pump cavity …

Modeling Of Membrane Solute Mass Transfer In Ro/Nf Membrane Systems, Yu Zhao

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Five articles describing the impact of surface characteristics, and development of mass transfer models for diffusion controlled membrane applications are published in this dissertation. Article 1 (Chapter 3) describes the impact of membrane surface characteristics and NOM on membrane performance for varying pretreatment and membranes during a field study. Surface charge, hydrophobicity and roughness varied significantly among the four membranes used in the study. Membrane surface characteristics, NOM and SUVA measurements were used to describe mass transfer in a low pressure RO integrated membrane system. Inorganic and organic solute and water mass transfer coefficients were systematically investigated for dependence on …

Biostability In Drinking Water Distribution Systems Study At Pilot-Scale, Michael Le Puil

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Biostability and related issues (e.g. nitrification) were investigated for 18 months in 18 pilot distribution systems, under various water quality scenarios. This study specifically investigated the impact of steady-state water changes on HPC levels in chlorinated and chloraminated distribution systems. Chlorination was more effective than chloramination in reducing HPC levels (1-2 log difference). There was a rapid increase in HPC corresponding to the change in steady-state water quality, which was observed in all PDS. Modeling effort demonstrated that HPC levels reached a maximum within five days after water quality change and return to initial level ten days after the change. …

Characterization Of Protein Prenyltransferases And Protein Prenylation In Plasmodium Falciparum, Thiago Gaspar Dasilva

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Malaria kills at least one million people each year, mostly children - a death every 30 seconds. Almost one half of the world population is at risk from malaria. Antimalarial drugs are the only means for the treatment of about 500 million annual global malaria cases. Because of prevalent drug-resistance it is extremely urgent to identify new drug targets. Many proteins involved in eukaryotic signal transduction and cell cycle progression undergo post-translational lipid modification by a prenyl group. Protein prenyltransferases, which catalyze the post-translational prenyl modification, have been established as a target for anticancer therapy. Research done in our laboratory …

Finite Element Analysis Of Left-Handed Waveguides, Balasubramaniam, Vellakkinar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this work, waveguides with simultaneous negative dielectric permittivity and magnetic permeability, otherwise known as left-handed waveguides, are investigated. An approach of formulating and solving an eigenvalue problem with finite element method resulting in the dispersion relation of the waveguides is adopted in the analysis. Detailed methodology of one-dimensional scalar and two-dimensional vector finite element formulation for the analysis of grounded slab and arbitrary shaped waveguides is presented. Based on the analysis, for waveguides with conventional media, excellent agreement of results is observed between the finite element approach and the traditional approach. The method is then applied to analyze left-handed …

Chemistry Of Dithiolenes And Their Nickel And Molybdenum Complexes, Archana Nigam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A new class of dithiolene ligand containing a pyran ring that mimics a biologically important MPT (molybdopterin) have been proposed and the key reactions have been established to synthesize this ligand. Along with that, new dithiolene complexes of nickel [Ni(dt)2]n, where dt=dithiolene ligand, n=charge, have been synthesized and characterized by several spectroscopic techniques. A characteristic low energy charge transfer band in UV-visible spectra is found to be the good indicator of purity as well as the anionic states of the nickel complexes.

A ligand exchange reaction using neutral nickel complexes and molybdenum carbonyl complexes has been utilized to synthesize (LN2)MoO(dt) …

Examining The Perspectives Of An Interdisciplinary Treatment Team Regarding The Implementation Of A Sensory Motor Group Trauma Curriculum In A Child And Adolescent Partial Hospitalization Program, Barbara Peck

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A trauma curriculum was introduced at a child and adolescent partial hospitalization program. This study examined (a) the impact of the trauma curriculum on the partial hospitalization program; (b) the perspectives of the multi-disciplinary treatment team--teachers, teacher aides, trauma clinicians for the children and adolescents in the partial program, parents/caregivers, the facility's psychiatric nurse, the facility's medical director, and county program specialists--and a panel of expert practitioners toward the curriculum, and (c) any changes in the perspectives of the multi-disciplinary treatment team concerning the concept of trauma and its effects. To answer the research questions of this qualitative study, an …

Functional Characterization Of The Csp Homologs Of E. Coli K-12, Christina Ventrice

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

E. coli K-12 contains nine csp paralogs, cspA --cspI. Although the csp paralogs are conserved sequences that produce highly similar proteins, expression of each of these genes requires a different means of induction. While cspA, cspB, cspG, and cspI are induced by cold shock, cspC and cspE are constitutively expressed. cspD is induced by stationary phase. The type of induction, if any, needed for cspF and cspH is not known. Studies of CspE have demonstrated that the overexpression of this protein can confer a 10-fold resistance to the DNA decondensing agent, camphor, and upregulates the E. coli rcsA gene by …

Case Study: Nicosia Master Plan; Cooperation In The Midst Of Conflict, Doga Akinci

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Nicosia Master Plan reflects the courageous vision of Lellos Demetriades and Mustafa Akinci- the former Mayors, respectively, of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities of Nicosia. While both leaders looked forward to a common solution to the political crisis they believed that no time should be lost in dealing with the immediate problems of a divided city. They worked on a common sewage system that was a pressing need at that time on both sides of Nicosia.

This thesis examined the process that was used to develop the Nicosia Master Plan. The success of this cooperation was due …

The Impact Of Utilizing High-Fidelity Computer Simulation On Critical Thinking Abilities And Learning Outcomes In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Lori Schumacher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Critical thinking abilities and learning outcomes are major components of nursing education. Initial critical thinking skills are often gained while the nursing student is learning the theoretical nursing principles in the classroom and is further enhanced in the clinical setting where learned knowledge is applied. A variety of instructional strategies are utilized to facilitate learning and promote critical thinking. Through the utilization of three complex and dynamic conceptual models, this study compared critical thinking abilities and learning outcomes of beginning baccalaureate undergraduate nursing students when three instructional strategies were used (classroom, simulation, and a combination of classroom and simulation).

A …

Identification Of Protein Interaction Between The Drosophila Runx1 Transcription Factor Lozenge And Ets-1 Factor Pointed Using Site Directed Mutagenesis And Yeast Two-Hybrid Analysis, Shalini Singh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many classes of transcriptional regulatory proteins are known to function in both cell proliferation and differentiation. Runx1 proteins one such family of transcription factors, plays critical roles in hematopoiesis, osteogenesis and leukemogenesis and act as promoter organizers that cooperate with other transcription factors such as Ets-1 in the regulation of gene activation or repression. Genes that are regulated by the Runx1-Ets1 complex, frequently have multiple, adjacent consensus binding sites in their promoters. I have investigated a similar interaction in developing fly eye. Lozenge (DmRunx1) and Pointed P2 (DmEts-1) cooperate to upregulate expression of prospero, which has multiple Lz and Ets …

Playing Through : Sports, Patriotism, Manpower, And Scarcity During Wwii / By Jonathan Cory Wright, Jonathan Cory Wright

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

In Search Of Self, Jason Rae Baldwin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Characterization And Modeling Of Vbr Video Traffic In A High-Speed Packet Switched Network / By Yang George Sun, Yang George Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Functional Activities Of A Series Of Trimetoquinol Analogs On Human ⁾-Adrenoceptors In Vitro, Lene'sheya Y. Boyd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

A Study Of Horse Race Elements In Democratic Primary Election Coverage In The New York Times, Jon Francis(Jack) Carmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Transitions, Rebecca A. Geary

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Flavonoids On Cyp1 Expression In Rl95-2 Endometrial Carcinoma Cells, Zankhana Master

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Biopulping And Solid State Fermentation, Marty Lanier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.