Digital Commons Network^™

Thermal Analysis Of Lead Zirconate Titanate Thin Films Using Digital Image Correlation., Brek J. Meuris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lead Zirconate Titanate (PZT), known for its ferroelectric properties, is widely used in micro-electromechanical (MEMS) and nano-electromechanical (NEMS) devices. PZT is a ceramic material that is most commonly found in its sol gel form, which allows for a relatively simple and cost-effective means of deposition and device fabrication. The material properties of PZT have been subject to significant research; however, the material properties of PZT sol gels remain largely unknown. In an effort to further understand thermal strain development, a combination of thermal loading and digital image correlation (DIC) were used to analyze the mechanical response of PZT sol gel …

Age-Associated Changes In Innate Immunity And Their Impacts On Inflammatory Disease., Mehmet Akif Eskan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease arises from excessive host inflammatory responses to the tooth-associated microbial biofilm, known as dental plaque. Severity ranges from superficial inflammation of the gingivae (gingivitis) to extensive destruction of connective tissue and bone (periodontitis) leading to tooth loss. In its severe form, periodontitis affects 10 - 15% of the total human population to the extent that they will lose half their teeth by age 50. Periodontitis, a prevalent chronic disease with an impact on systemic health, such as atherosclerosis and Alzheimer's disease, is critically dependent on neutrophils. Although conventional periodontal treatment may reverse destructive inflammation, a subset of patients …

Optimization Models For Patient Allocation During A Pandemic Influenza Outbreak., Li Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pandemic influenza has been an important public health concern. During the 20th century, three major pandemics of influenza occurred in 1918, 1957, and 1968. The pandemic of 1918 caused 40 to 50 million deaths worldwide and more than 500,000 deaths in the United States. The 1957 pandemic, during a time with much less globalization than now, spread to the U.S. within 4 to 5 months of its origination in China, causing more than 70,000 deaths in the U.S., and the 1968 pandemic spread to the U.S. from Hong Kong within 2 to 3 months, causing 34,000 deaths. Pandemic influenza is …

Using Geographical Information Systems To Investigate Spatial Patterns In Fossils Of Tapirus Polkenis From The Gray Fossil Site, Washington County, Tennessee, Winn Addison Ketchum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Discovered in 2000, the Gray Fossil Site provides a snapshot of the flora and fauna that lived during late Miocene to early Pliocene time in eastern Tennessee. These fossils occur in sediments consisting of fine-grained clays and sands of lacustrine origin, which were deposited after multiple sinkholes formed in the underlying Knox Group basement carbonates. Three-dimensional nearest neighbor analysis has been applied to fossils of Tapirus polkensis, characterizing the spatial patterns exhibited. These analyses determined the importance of taphonomic and depositional processes that occurred during the sites formation. Six characteristics were analyzed, four at the bone level including carnivore …

Effect Of Gender On The Association Of Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms With Bipolar Disorder, Jerald Eric Mullersman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bipolar disorder is a relatively common form of mental illness that depends strongly on genetic inheritance for expression. The author of this study has sought to evaluate whether the gender of subjects influences which genetic variants are associated with the disease. A portion of the cases from a previously published study were analyzed using PLINK software and the association of single-nucleotide polymorphisms was evaluated separately for all cases, for female subjects alone, and for male subjects alone. The results obtained for male subjects alone reached higher levels of statistical significance than when both genders were evaluated together or when female …

Effect Of Pesticides On Salicylic Acid Binding Protein 2 (Sabp2) And Plant Defense, Joannes Petrus Yuh

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco SABP2 has been shown to display high affinity for salicylic acid (SA) and methylsalicylate (MeSA) and plays an important role in SAR signal development. Using biochemical approach, SABP2 has been shown to demonstrate strong esterase activity in converting MeSA to SA. Recent study shows that tetra fluoroacetophenone, a synthetic analog of SA, competitively inhibits SABP2 esterase activity as well as suppresses SAR signal development in tobacco mosaic virus (TMV)-infected tobacco plants. Not much has been studied on the effect of pesticides on plant defenses. Because both AChE and SABP2 are esterase-like proteins belonging to α/β hydroxylase superfamily, we hypothesize …

Mitochondrial Dna Analysis By Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography For The Characterization And Separation Of Mixtures In Forensic Samples, Richard Kristinsson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A mixture of different mtDNA molecules in a single sample is a significant obstacle to the successful use of standard methods of mtDNA analysis (i.e., dideoxy dye-terminator sequencing). Forensic analysts often encounter either naturally occurring mixtures (e.g., heteroplasmy) or situational mixtures typically arising from a combination of body fluids from separate individuals. The ability to accurately resolve and interpret these types of samples in a timely and cost efficient manner would substantially increase the power of mtDNA analysis and potentially provide valuable investigative information by allowing its use in cases where the current approach is limited or fails. Therefore, this …

The Creation Of Art Books With Adolescents Diagnosed With An Eating Disorder: Effectiveness, Self-Esteem, And Related Factors, Eileen Chaves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This pilot study undertook a mixed methods exploration of the interaction of art therapy and self-esteem in an adolescent eating disorder population. Using therapeutic art books in a group format, adolescents created art about their feelings, their eating disorder, or whatever else they deemed important. This art technique is relatively new and novel as an art therapy intervention. Therefore, this study aimed to look at the technique's effectiveness at decreasing participants' negative mood states and investigated the technique's ability to affect participants' perceptions of their self-esteem. Measures of global self-esteem and art therapy related self-esteem were measured using the Rosenberg …

A Statin-Regulated Microrna Represses C-Myc Expression And Function., Apana Agha L. Takwi 1980-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

c-Myc dysregulation is one of the most common abnormalities found in human cancer. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are functionally intertwined with the c-Myc network as multiple miRNAs are regulated by c-Myc, while others directly suppress c-Myc expression. In this work, we identified miR-33b as a primate-specific negative regulator of c-Myc. The human miR-33b gene is located at 17pl1.2, a genomic locus frequently lost in medulloblastomas, which are pediatric brain tumors that display c-Myc overproduction. Through a small-scale screening with drugs approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), we found that lovastatin up-regulated miR-33b expression, reduced cell proliferation, and impaired c-Myc …

Extreme Variation In The Sagittal Crest Of Tapirus Polkensis (Mammalia Perissodactyla) At The Gray Fossil Site Northeastern Tn., Aaron Randall Abernethy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The preservation and quantity of fossil tapirs (Tapirus polkensis) from the Gray Fossil Site in northeastern Tennessee provides a unique opportunity for comparison and analysis of skeletal characters. Intraspecifically, modern tapirs show little to no variation in the morphology of the sagittal crest. However, several different morphologies exist within the sample at Gray. No osteological evidence of sexual dimorphism exists for tapirs, and no correlation between crest shape and sex was observed. Several juveniles display well defined crests, while some adults have only minor thickening of the temporal ridges; therefore, no distinct correlation between age and crest state …

Substance Abuse And Mental Disorders Among State And Federal Prison Inmates., John Richard Haggerty

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research consistently demonstrates that prison inmates are more likely than the general population to suffer from both mental disorders and substance abuse. The current study explored the relationship between diagnoses of mental disorders and maladaptive substance use among state and federal prison inmates. Linear regression analysis was used to ascertain the prevalence of comorbidity of substance abuse and mental disorder, and multiple models were constructed to determine the direction of relationship between the two disorders. Overall, mental disorders and substance use were positively related within the sample, though mixed conclusions were drawn regarding the exact nature of their relationship. Recommendations …

The Reality Of The Greene County School System Preschool Program., Kathryn E. Crumm

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

State funded preschool programs are recent phenomena in the United States and the state of Tennessee. The intent of the researcher was to explore the implementation of the preschool program in the Greene County Schools system and to develop a better understanding of the effects of this process at the classroom level. This study may provide significant information for other pre-k programs in the state of Tennessee or nationwide programs in partnership with Head Start.

The preschool program in the Greene County Schools system consisted of 16 classes with nine of the classes in partnership with Head Start and one …

Psychopathy And Gender Of Serial Killers: A Comparison Using The Pcl-R., Chasity Shalon Norris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychopathy and serial murder are 2 of society's most devastating and least understood tribulations. Even less is comprehended with regards to the differences in the way these ills are expressed between the genders. In this study, psychopathic personality traits are considered in a sample comparison of male and female serial murderers. Traits are measured using questions derived from Hare's Psychopathy Checklist Revised (PCL-R, 1991). A content analysis was performed to score the components for each subject, using known and accepted biographical and personal interview materials. Findings showed a distinct difference between the sexes, with females scoring lower than their male …

Identifying Interventions That Work In Juvenile Justice: An Analysis Of The Moral Kombat Program., Thelma Deneen Mcgowan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Effective intervention programs play a fundamental role in reducing rates of juvenile delinquency. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is an evidence-based psychotherapy that is strongly supported by research (ACT, 2010). Moral Kombat (MK) is an intervention that combines character-building and CBT concepts in programs for at-risk and delinquent juveniles with the goal to change their belief systems, thus improving their behaviors (Marchant, 2009). The purpose of the study was to evaluate the extent to which MK incorporates the principles identified in the literature as necessary for a CBT program to be successful. The occurrences of the 11 CBT principles identified in …

Biopharmaceutic And Pharmacokinetic Studies Of Sucrose Acetate Isobutyrate As An Excipient For Oral Drug Delivery., Martin Ray Tant

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sucrose acetate isobutyrate (SAIB), a randomly substituted sucrose approximating sucrose diacetate hexaisobutyrate, is produced by Eastman Chemical Company for a variety of applications. SAIB is widely used in the food industry as a weighting agent to disperse flavoring oils in primarily citrus-based soft drink beverages. Additionally, SAIB is currently being marketed by another company as a parenteral drug delivery system. The studies reported here focused on investigating SAIB as an excipient, or delivery vehicle, for use in oral delivery of several drugs, including ibuprofen, saquinavir, and clarithromycin. Dissolution experiments were conducted using both ibuprofen and caffeine, and results suggest that …

Does Decertification Work? Outcome Analysis Of The National Football Leagues Negotiated Order (1986-2008)., Matthew Bowers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

For decades, union membership and activity has been declining in North America; employers have demanded greater flexibility and have successfully weakened workplace and worker protections. Modern workers increasingly use alternative strategies to negotiate conditions of employment with managers who have limited their discretionary power. Negotiated order theory provides a useful tool for analyzing the mesostructural arrangements of bargaining parties during labor disputes. This thesis applies negotiated order theory to explore how and why the National Football League (NFL) players have twice decertified their union and sought court intervention to challenge the legitimacy of the League's highly restrictive reserve system. An …

Electrochemical Studies Of The Interaction Between Dna And A Compound Having Anticancer Properties., Antibe Pouliwe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Electrochemical method has been used to study the interaction between DNA and the compound N-(3',6'-dihydroxy-3-oxospiro[isobenzofuran-1(3H),9'-[9H]xanthen]-5-yl)-N'-(2-imidazoyl)urea having anticancer properties. A DNA modified nanometer-sized gold electrode was prepared by surface modification of a bare gold electrode using cysteamine. These electrodes have been characterized using electrochemical techniques and were used to study the interaction between DNA and the compound. Our results showed an increase in the adsorption peak current and a negative shift of E_1/2 in the oxidation of ferrocyanide on cysteamine and DNA modified electrodes. For the interaction between the DNA and the compound having anticancer properties, a decrease in peak …

Implementation Of A New Sigmoid Function In Backpropagation Neural Networks., Jeffrey A. Bonnell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis presents the use of a new sigmoid activation function in backpropagation artificial neural networks (ANNs). ANNs using conventional activation functions may generalize poorly when trained on a set which includes quirky, mislabeled, unbalanced, or otherwise complicated data. This new activation function is an attempt to improve generalization and reduce overtraining on mislabeled or irrelevant data by restricting training when inputs to the hidden neurons are sufficiently small. This activation function includes a flattened, low-training region which grows or shrinks during back-propagation to ensure a desired proportion of inputs inside the low-training region. With a desired low-training proportion of …

Sequence Detection And Comparative Analysis Of The Hv1 And Hv2 Control Regions Of Human Mitochondrial Dna By Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography, Sarah E. Lewis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research was the evaluation and forensic validation of Denaturing High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (DHPLC) as a sequencingindependent means of detecting the presence of sequence differences in pair-wise mixtures of non-concordant amplicons of human mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA). The reproducibility and efficacy of DHPLC results, including amplification reproducibility, injection reproducibility, and column-to-column reproducibility were measured, showing negligible assay-to-assay variability. In addition, cross-contamination on the DHPLC columns demonstrated very low level DNA carryover between a high-abundance sample and subsequent zero-volume injections.

The accuracy with which DHPLC technology can be used to screen both evidence and control samples in the context …

Multinational Teams: The Relationship Between Work Values And Productivity And The Moderating Effect Of Degree Of Operational Integration, Kelly C. Kinnebrew

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The present study gathered data from 147 employees in two U.S. headquartered multinational manufacturing companies. Participants responded to questions about their work-related values, perceptions of the productivity of their work teams, and the degree of operational integration between firms‟ foreign affiliate offices and their U.S. based headquarters. Additionally, analyses were conducted to assess the relationship between team productivity and psychic distance, which is a measure of country-level cultural differences. Work values were assessed using The Values Scale (Neville & Super, 1989), perceptions of team productivity were assessed used an instrument by Kirkman and Rosen (1999), degree of operational integration was …

To Get The Shot Or Not: Narratives, Rhetoric, And The Childhood Vaccination Crisis, Katherine M. Hurley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parents in developed countries like the United States are questioning the need for and safety of childhood vaccinations. Incidences of disease have risen as fewer parents have vaccinated their children. Perhaps the most significant public figure to reinforce the choices of parents not-to-vaccinate is Jenny McCarthy, whose best-selling book details her theory about the cause of, and cure for, her son‘s autism. As I demonstrate, the study of the narratives is vital for understanding the vaccination crisis, not the least because of the extent to which McCarthy‘s (2007) story has echoed through parenting communities. I examine whether chosen anti- and …

The Role Of Curcumin In Response To Bpde-Induced Dna Damage In Human Lung Epithelial Cells., Erica Nicole Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Long-term exposure to harmful carcinogens like benzo[a]pyrene (BaP) are linked to lung cancer. Benzo[a]pyrene diol epoxide (BPDE), the ultimate carcinogen produced by BaP bioactivation, is believed to play an important role in lung carcinogenesis. The tumor suppressor protein is p53 signals cell cycle arrest, DNA repair, and apoptosis in response to BPDE-induced damage. However, physiological exposure to BPDE fails to activate p53. Although the bioactive principle of turmeric spice, curcumin, shows promising effects against BPDE-induced carcinogenesis, its exact mode of action remains unclear. Therefore the aim of this dissertation was to investigate whether curcumin prevents BPDE-induced DNA damage by regulating …

(An)Other Gender : A Cross-Cultural Analysis Of War-Torn France And Great Britain In Which Simone De Beauvoir And Virginia Woolf Redefine "Woman"., Anna Stamp 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a cross-cultural analysis of France and Great Britain during both the First World War and World War II in which Simone de Beauvoir and Virginia Woolf redefined "woman." Utilizing New Historicism, the first chapter begins with a focus on the evolution of the two cultures from the mid-nineteenth to early twentieth century France and Great Britain and discusses the ways in which the women's movement was both perpetuated and hindered by the volatile political and cultural climates of these two countries. The second chapter discusses the traditional woman as she was viewed in both French and British …

Examining The Relationship Between College Football Season Ticket Holders' Service Personal Values And Their Behavioral Intentions : The Moderating Effect Of Team Identification., Gary Peng-Liang Tan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, some college football programs have experienced unsustainable attendance growth, increases in revenue discrepancies, stagnant "revenue growth", and increased operating costs (Brown, 2009; Fulks, 2009; Fullerton & Morgan, 2009; Jackson, 2005; NCAA, 2009, 2010). These problems can be examined from customer service, social identification, and consumer behavior perspectives (Curtin, 1982; Katona, 1974; Wann & Branscombe, 1993; Zeithaml, 1988). This study's research purposes are to understand service personal values antecedents and outcomes, and team identification's moderating effect on the relationship between service personal values, and both consumption satisfaction perceptions and behavioral outcomes. A sample of college football season ticket holders at …

The Effect Of Tissue Damage And Inflammation On Gene Expression In Sensory Neurons., Sean Anthony Trusty 1984-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of tissue damage and inflammation on the expression in sensory neurons of P2X3, a gene that has a role in nociception and sensing bladder distension, which is regulated by nerve injury. Tissue damage induces expression of ATF3, an indicator of injury, in sensory neurons. Animals were exposed to different types of tissue damage including single and repeated skin incision, bladder incision and a spinal cord injury with bladder inflammation. P2X3 was regulated differentially between conditions of single and repeated skin incision. One condition that involves repeated tissue damage and alteration of bladder function is spinal …

Teacher-Student Relationships During Adolescence : The Role Of Parental Involvement, Behavioral Characteristics, Gender, And Income., Amanda Jeane Wyrick

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation provides an examination of contributing factors to high quality teacher-student relationships during adolescence. High quality teacher-student relationships have been linked to better academic, emotional, and social functioning for students in elementary, middle, and high school. While the importance of teacher-student relationships is well documented, less is known about contributors to the relationship, especially during adolescence. Previous research has identified that in younger populations a student's gender, income, behavioral characteristics, and parental involvement can influence the nature of the teacher-student relationship. This dissertation provides an important extension of contributing factors into the adolescent age group, where teacher-student relationships offer …

Consistency Of Differentially Expressed Gene Rankings Based On Subsets Of Microarray Data., Dake Yang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Data derived from gene expression microarrays are frequently used to identify candidate genes which can characterize and distinguish between two biological phenotypes. A key step in this process is the selection of an appropriate test statistic to identify which genes are differentially expressed between the two tissues. Although many methods have been explicitly developed for this purpose, the traditional (-test still remains a popular choice. In this study, we evaluate the empirical impact of choice of test-statistic on the resulting list of differentially expressed genes, in particular when the available sample size is small. We evaluated several different methods for …

Evaluation Of Methods For Analyzing Gene-Gene Interaction Data For Survival Outcomes., Jie Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, a number of computational and statistical problems for identifying SNP-SNP interactions in high dimensional survival data have been studied, and several data mining approaches have been proposed. However, the relative performance of these methods to detect SNP-SNP interactions has not been thoroughly investigated. In this study, we directly compared the performance of the four techniques to detect gene-gene interactions in a recently conducted study of genetic polymorphisms associated with breast cancer survival and recurrence. Four methods were evaluated for their ability to detect SNP-SNP interactions: Survival Multifactor Dimensionality Reduction, Cox regression with LJ (Lasso) and LJ-L2 (Elastic …

Sleep/Wake Activity And Energy Expenditure In Overweight And Obese Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients : A Pre- And Post-Cpap Comparison., Pamela A. Mccullough

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Overweight and obesity is a major contributing factor in an estimated 70% of all obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) cases. Approximately five percent of the adult population has OSA, and the numbers continue to soar with the rising prevalence of obesity. As a primary therapy, continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) has demonstrated improvement in many comorbidities associated with both OSA and obesity. Although anecdotal and clinical references support increased energy, activity, and weight loss as a potential benefit of CP AP treatment, there remains little evidence to endorse CP AP as a significant weight-reduction measure for overweight and obese OSA patients. …

Functional Analysis Of N-Acetyltransferase (Nat1*14b And Nat1*10) In Complete Natb And Nata Mrna., Lori Michele Millner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

N-acetyltransferase 1 (NAT1) is a phase II metabolic enzyme responsible for the biotransformation of aromatic and heterocyclic amine carcinogens such as 4-aminobiphenyl (ASP). NAT1 catalyzes N-acetylation of arylamines as well as the 0-acetylation of N-hydroxylated arylamines. 0-acetylation leads to the formation of electrophilic intermediates that result in DNA adducts and mutations. NAT1 is transcribed from a major promoter, NATb, and an alternative promoter, NATa, resulting in mRNAs with distinct 5'-untranslated regions (UTR). NATa mRNA is expressed primarily in the kidney, liver, trachea and lung while NATb mRNA has been detected in all tissues studied. To determine if differences in 5'-UTR …