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Biology, Ecology And Efficacy Of Lecanicillium Muscarium As A Potential Fungal Biocontrol Of The Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae) On Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis), Kristen L. Wickert Jan 2016

Biology, Ecology And Efficacy Of Lecanicillium Muscarium As A Potential Fungal Biocontrol Of The Invasive Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (Adelges Tsugae) On Eastern Hemlock (Tsuga Canadensis), Kristen L. Wickert

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Hemlock woolly adelgid (HWA) is an exotic insect pest of eastern hemlock. The entomopathogen Lecanicillium muscarium, including the commercially available strain MycotalRTM, is a potential candidate for fungal biocontrol. There are many factors to consider when using a fungal biocontrol such as ecology and genetic variation of candidate strains and interactions with other fungi and life stages of the target insect pest. Efforts of this study focused on: 1) sampling for reservoirs for L. muscarium and other Lecanicillium spp., 2) elucidating interactions between Lecanicillium and other fungi present in hemlock tissues and 3) characterizing genetic diversity of Lecanicillium and subsequent …

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Bacillus Firmus For The Biological Control Of Meloidogyne Hapla And Xiphinema Americanum, Lisa M. Valencia Jan 2016

Bacillus Firmus For The Biological Control Of Meloidogyne Hapla And Xiphinema Americanum, Lisa M. Valencia

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Root-knot nematode (RKN) and dagger nematode (DN) are serious pests of agricultural crops, including peach trees of West Virginia. RKN is a sedentary endoparasite that feeds and reproduces within the roots of host plants, causing gall formation, loss of vigor, and plant death. DN is an ectoparasite that has the potential to vector devastating plant viruses. Many control options recommended for annual crops are not appropriate for orchards and the use of chemical nematicides is limited. The endospore-forming bacterium, Bacillus firmus (BF), is marketed as a bionematicide, though its mode of action and efficacy in controlling certain nematodes indigenous to …

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Controls On Ecosystem Nitrogen (N) Status And Carbon (C) Balance In Red Spruce Forests Located In A Region Of Historically High Atmospheric N Deposition., Kenneth R. Smith Jan 2016

Controls On Ecosystem Nitrogen (N) Status And Carbon (C) Balance In Red Spruce Forests Located In A Region Of Historically High Atmospheric N Deposition., Kenneth R. Smith

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Atmospheric deposition of reactive nitrogen (N) can have a strong influence on patterns of carbon (C) and N cycling in forest ecosystems. High-elevation red spruce (Picea rubens Sarg.) forests in the central Appalachian Mountains have historically been among the most sensitive ecosystems to the negative effects of N deposition. I examined the primary environmental factors that influence 1) N status, 2) belowground C balance, and 3) red spruce aboveground growth in seven high-elevation study sites that are located in an area where N deposition has been historically moderate to high. I established the seven sites in 2011 along a transect …

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Beyond The What And How: Why Parents Want To Know About Their Adolescents' Lives., Elizabeth Yale Babskie Jan 2016

Beyond The What And How: Why Parents Want To Know About Their Adolescents' Lives., Elizabeth Yale Babskie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As adolescents spend more time away from home and increasingly engage in unsupervised activities, parents are challenged with allowing their children more responsibility while still promoting positive youth development (Smetana, Campione-Barr, & Metzger, 2006). Extant research shows that parents continue to play an important roll in facilitating positive adolescent development through their knowledge of what their adolescent children are doing and whom they are with when away from home or school (Racz & McMahon, 2011). Recent research has focused on understanding the sources of parents’ knowledge and has identified both parentdriven (rules, solicitation, indirect, covert) and adolescent-driven (disclosure, secrecy, concealment) …

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Synchrotron Investigations On La0.7Sr0.3Mno 3/Pbzr0.2Ti0.8O3 Heterostructures., Jinling Zhou Jan 2016

Synchrotron Investigations On La0.7Sr0.3Mno 3/Pbzr0.2Ti0.8O3 Heterostructures., Jinling Zhou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation is devoted to understanding the La0.7Sr0.3MnO3 (LSMO)/ PbZr0.2Ti0.8O3 (PZT) magnetoelectric interface through synchrotron x-ray absorption and other techniques. The word magnetoelectric (ME) describes the coupling effects in certain materials that exhibit a change of the magnetic (electric) order with the change of the electric (magnetic) field. Materials that are ME could potentially advance current technology. Faster, more sensitive, and more energy efficient devices can be built with ME materials as compared to the present systems. Practical ME materials are essential for the realization of this advancement. Single phase ME materials are rare and the known few do not …

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Same-Race Role-Models And Self-Efficacy Among African American College Students, Rueben Brock Jan 2015

Same-Race Role-Models And Self-Efficacy Among African American College Students, Rueben Brock

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Social Cognitive Career Theory (SCCT; Lent & Brown, 1996) offers an understanding of career interest, goals, and performance. It is based, in large part, on the social cognitive construct of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). The theory offers a framework for the interactive influence that self-efficacy, outcomes expectations, and personal goals have upon each other in the formation of a person's career aspirations. Within SCCT and the Social Learning Theory that it is based on, there is the presumption that modeling is a key component of learning (Bandura, 1986). The purpose of this study was to explore the impact that same-race role-models …

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Investigations Of Pasteuria And The Root-Lesion Nematode Pratylenchus Penetrans In Soils Collected From Certified Organic Farms In The Mid-Atlantic United States, Tiara Nicole King Jan 2015

Investigations Of Pasteuria And The Root-Lesion Nematode Pratylenchus Penetrans In Soils Collected From Certified Organic Farms In The Mid-Atlantic United States, Tiara Nicole King

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Occurrence of lesion nematodes and Pasteuria, an obligate bacterial parasite, was surveyed in 34 soils collected from certified organic farms in the Mid-Atlantic United States. Pasteuria endospores were observed on Pratylenchus crenatus in six of 22 soils. Population density of Pratylenchus in soils lacking signs of Pasteuria correlated positively with soil pH, cation exchange capacity, and concentration of phosphorus pentoxide and calcium. Pasteuria was detected on Pratylenchus in nematode suppressive soils at the West Virginia University Organic Research Farm. Interactions between Pasteuria and Pratylenchus penetrans were studied in two laboratory bench-top experiments. Soil treatment effects on reproduction of Pratylenchus penetrans …

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Vulture Flight Behavior Driven By Uplift Availability At Local And Continental Scales, Julie Mallon Jan 2015

Vulture Flight Behavior Driven By Uplift Availability At Local And Continental Scales, Julie Mallon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Understanding how animals move in response to their environment is a fundamental question in ecology. Soaring species, which rely on environmentally generated uplift to forage and migrate, should be especially sensitive to changing weather and climatic conditions. Changes in uplift distribution or strength can have energetic implications and restrict movement capacity for soaring species. Poor weather conditions can shorten foraging time or slow migration progress. To increase mobility, birds can switch to flapping or soar using another uplift type. Use of uplift, however, is associated with certain flight altitudes and movement speeds. Switching uplift types will affect a bird's ecological …

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Expanding The Use Of Rna In Forensic Science: A Quantum Dot Molecular Beacon Approach, Joshua R. Moore Jan 2015

Expanding The Use Of Rna In Forensic Science: A Quantum Dot Molecular Beacon Approach, Joshua R. Moore

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

As the popularity of shows such as CSI increases, so does the demand for DNA evidence in court cases. This has led to the overwhelming of capacity for analysis of biological samples at crime labs across the country, and to the development of a massive backlog of DNA evidence waiting to be processed. At the end of 2011, labs had a processing capacity of 250,000 cases per year, but an annual total of nearly 350,000 that needed to be processed. Such delays have effects throughout the US justice system. One way to reduce the backlog would be to increase the …

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Role Of Stem-Like Cells In Carbon Nanotube-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis, Amruta Manke Jan 2015

Role Of Stem-Like Cells In Carbon Nanotube-Induced Pulmonary Fibrosis, Amruta Manke

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Recent studies have shown that pulmonary exposure to (CNT) results in rapid and progressive interstitial lung fibrosis in animals without causing persistent lung inflammation, which is normally associated with other known fibrogenic agents. This unusual fibrogenic effect of CNT raises important health issues since the exposure could result in deadly and incurable lung fibrosis. Accumulating evidence indicates the fibrogenic potential of carbon nanotubes, however, the underlying mechanism remains poorly addressed. Recent studies have demonstrated the pathogenic role of mesenchymal stem cells in pulmonary fibrosis that differentiate into myofibroblasts and contribute to disease progression. Understanding the molecular/cellular basis of these fibrosis-associated …

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Cancer Exosomes Are Unique And Complex Mechanisms That Suppress Effector T Lymphocyte Functions, Yueting Wu Jan 2015

Cancer Exosomes Are Unique And Complex Mechanisms That Suppress Effector T Lymphocyte Functions, Yueting Wu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It is still unknown how tumor exosomes influence malignant cell survival and alter cell-to-cell communication to modulate the immune system by, in part, manipulating the activity of cytotoxic T lymphocytes. This study focuses on two critical parts regarding cancer exosomes. The first part is to tailor existing bionanotechnology methods to account for the nanoscale aspects of exosome biology. SEM, TEM, Bioanalyzer and flow cytometry were used to characterize exosome morphologies, identify specific protein biomarkers HER1 and HER2, as well as the quality of RNAs enclosed in exosomes. Competing methods related to exosome isolation, production, preservation, stability and analysis were evaluated. …

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The Root Of Sustainability: Investigating The Relationship Between Medicinal Plant Conservation And Surface Mining In Appalachia, Jessica B. Turner Jan 2015

The Root Of Sustainability: Investigating The Relationship Between Medicinal Plant Conservation And Surface Mining In Appalachia, Jessica B. Turner

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Since European colonization, Appalachian culture has been based on resource extraction, such as coal mining, timbering, and Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) harvest. Surface mining degrades forest habitat for medicinal plants, especially the habitat for the internationally valuable medicinal herb, American ginseng (Panax quinquefolius L.), and the NTFP culture associated with this plant. The relationship between medicinal plant conservation and surface mining must be studied with a non- traditional, multi-faceted approach: culturally, economically, and ecologically. (1) Using community-based participatory surveys, I determined how ginseng harvesters and non- harvesters in West Virginia communities view the relationship between surface mining and ginseng harvest. …

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Understanding The Educational Experiences Of Science Teachers In A Five-Year Teacher Education Program: A Phenomenological Study, Nitin Srivastava Jan 2015

Understanding The Educational Experiences Of Science Teachers In A Five-Year Teacher Education Program: A Phenomenological Study, Nitin Srivastava

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This qualitative study provides an overview of educational experiences of six in-service and three pre-service secondary science teachers in the Benedum Collaborative Five-Year Teacher Education Program at a land-grant university. The researcher interviewed secondary science teachers on the experiences they found meaningful in various program components that influenced their teacher identity, beliefs about science pedagogy, and their sense of preparedness for teaching. Document analysis of teachers' journals and lesson plans supplemented the qualitative data in addition to the researcher's role and knowledge as an outsider (non-Benedum graduate) and insider (facilitator and instructor in the technology integration based classes for one …

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Effects Of Size And Size Distribution On The Magnetic Properties Of Maghemite Nanoparticles And Iron-Platinum Core-Shell Nanoparticles, Kelly Pisane Jan 2015

Effects Of Size And Size Distribution On The Magnetic Properties Of Maghemite Nanoparticles And Iron-Platinum Core-Shell Nanoparticles, Kelly Pisane

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Magnetic nanoparticles with large magnetic moments that can be manipulated with an external magnetic field, have potential uses in medicine because their sizes are comparable to biological scales. For such applications it is important to understand how their magnetic properties are affected by their size and size distribution inherently present in magnetic nanoparticles. For this purpose, maghemite (gamma-Fe2O3) nanoparticles with average diameters of 7.0+/-0.8 nm, 6.3+/-0.6 nm, 3.4+/-0.8 nm and 2.5+/-0.7 nm and Fe-Pt core-shell nanoparticles with an approximate core diameter of 2.2 nm were synthesized and investigated. To aid in the interpretation of the magnetic properties, the structural properties …

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Against The Thalassocracy: Sacred Geography, Nationhood And Perennial Traditionalism In Alexander Dugin's Neo-Eurasianist Philosophy, Jonathan Rushbrook Jan 2015

Against The Thalassocracy: Sacred Geography, Nationhood And Perennial Traditionalism In Alexander Dugin's Neo-Eurasianist Philosophy, Jonathan Rushbrook

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis discusses the ideological makeup of the Russian right wing philosopher Alexander Dugin's and his conceptualization of race and nation in his Neo-Eurasianist imperial project. Tracing Dugin's ideological influences from early Eurasianism, the European New Right and esoteric religious beliefs such as Perennial Traditionalism, the thesis then goes on to place Dugin's body of thought within a larger debate on defining fascism and whether Dugin can be considered a fascist. Ultimately this thesis contests some scholars' interpretations of Dugin's worldview as a fundamentally ethnocentric or even racist Russian nationalism. Rather, by examining Dugin's writings on nation through an ethno-symbolist …

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Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry For Structural Characterization And Applied 'Omics: A Study In Neurodegenerative Diseases, James Russell Arndt Iii Jan 2015

Ion Mobility-Mass Spectrometry For Structural Characterization And Applied 'Omics: A Study In Neurodegenerative Diseases, James Russell Arndt Iii

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Huntington's disease is neurodegenerative disease caused by an expanded polyglutamine-coding CAG repeat in exon 1 of the huntingtin gene. Huntingtin exon 1 forms the primary toxic amyloid structure in Huntington's disease; disease severity is directly correlated with polyglutamine length. Recent works have shown that fully formed amyloid plaques may not represent the most toxic species in Huntington's disease; the most neurotoxic species may be small, diffuse oligomer (4 - 20 monomer units) that are precursors to amyloid plaques. While the polyglutamine region is undisputed as the primary constituent of amyloid structure, aggregation kinetics and morphology are regulated by the presence …

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Intimate Empire: Women's Travel Writing And U.S. Imperialism 1880-1920, Andrea Bebell Jan 2015

Intimate Empire: Women's Travel Writing And U.S. Imperialism 1880-1920, Andrea Bebell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation examines how several turn-of-century U.S. women journalists and travel writers represent U.S. imperialism in a range of locales, trafficking in prevailing discourses of gender and race to represent colonized Others and as they engage in a comparative analysis to evaluate women's status in the U.S. In doing so, I suggest that these women, largely overlooked in critical discourses on U.S. imperialism, nonetheless contributed to the U.S. imperial imaginary. By recuperating the work of "newspaper ladies" Margherita Hamm, Nellie Bly, and Mary Krout, and through a reconsideration of Edith Wharton's travel writing, I consider the complex ways that white …

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Comparing Diel Cycles Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon To Diel Cycles Of Fe And Mn At A Coal Mine Drainage Site In Harrison Co., Wv, Jill L. Riddell Jan 2015

Comparing Diel Cycles Of Dissolved Inorganic Carbon To Diel Cycles Of Fe And Mn At A Coal Mine Drainage Site In Harrison Co., Wv, Jill L. Riddell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Diel (24 hour) cycles of dissolved inorganic carbon and dissolved metals have rarely been studied in concert in coal mine drainage systems containing high CO2. Diel samples were collected from two locations at a site with elevated CO2; the locations differed in their CO 2 concentrations and the amount of vegetation present. Field data and samples were collected from both locations during March, May, and July 2014. To determine if the parameters cycled in a diel fashion, the data were fit using a cosine model and the goodness of fit was determined using an f-test statistic. Overall, 15 of 20 …

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Evaluating The Impacts Of Vaccination, Antiviral Treatment And School Closure On Influenza Epidemic, Xiaofei Shi Jan 2015

Evaluating The Impacts Of Vaccination, Antiviral Treatment And School Closure On Influenza Epidemic, Xiaofei Shi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Multi-objective simulation optimization was performed to synergistically investigate the cost and benefits of the most commonly-used strategies for H1N1 epidemic mitigation: vaccination, antiviral treatment, and school closure. By simultaneously considering the three intervention strategies, this study leads to findings that supplement those in the existing work, and provides additional insights regarding intervention decision making. Specifically, our investigation suggests that different vaccine prioritization strategies, the age-based versus ACIP (Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices) recommendation, be implemented depending on vaccine availability; individual school closure policies are favored over their global counterparts, at least when both vaccination and antiviral treatment are implemented with …

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Word Play: Modernist Women And Performative Writing, Kathryn Ridinger Smorul Jan 2015

Word Play: Modernist Women And Performative Writing, Kathryn Ridinger Smorul

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In Word Play: Modernist Women and Performative Writing I read modernist literary texts informed by theories about theatre, performance, and art. Exploring lesser-known works of Djuna Barnes, Gwendolyn Bennett, Edna St. Vincent Millay, and Mina Loy, I combine literary analysis and performance studies to discover how modernist texts "talk back" to performance theories.;Performance studies, of course, is an inter-discipline that includes anthropology, sociology, performing arts, and literary theory. Modernist authors, influenced as they often are by art, performance, and ritual, incorporate these interdisciplinary interests into a writing practice, specifically performative writing. Performative writing is not so much a matter of …

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Soluble Oligomeric Abeta42 Affects Microglia Activation And Mitochondrial Respiration, Cong Tan Jan 2015

Soluble Oligomeric Abeta42 Affects Microglia Activation And Mitochondrial Respiration, Cong Tan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Microglia activation is associated with many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). When activated, microglia cells change their morphology and become phagocytic. In the Alzheimer's brain, microglia cells play an important role in scavenging plaque-damaged cells and in clearing Abeta plagues. Soluble oligomeric Abeta (oAbeta) is capable to stimulate microglia activation. In AD brain, microglia cells accumulate around senile plaques as a hallmark of the pathology. Recently, we found that mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation is affected in a dose-dependent manner in a microglia cell line (C8-B4) and primary rat glia cell. Mitochondrial basal, maximal and spare respiration capacities increase at …

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Role Of Interference And Computational Complexity In Modern Wireless Networks: Analysis, Optimization, And Design, Salvatore Talarico Jan 2015

Role Of Interference And Computational Complexity In Modern Wireless Networks: Analysis, Optimization, And Design, Salvatore Talarico

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Owing to the popularity of smartphones, the recent widespread adoption of wireless broadband has resulted in a tremendous growth in the volume of mobile data traffic, and this growth is projected to continue unabated. In order to meet the needs of future systems, several novel technologies have been proposed, including cooperative communications, cloud radio access networks (RANs) and very densely deployed small-cell networks. For these novel networks, both interference and the limited availability of computational resources play a very important role. Therefore, the accurate modeling and analysis of interference and computation is essential to the understanding of these networks, and …

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Testing The Relation Between Disgust And Approach-Avoidance Behavior, Ronald Thomas Jan 2015

Testing The Relation Between Disgust And Approach-Avoidance Behavior, Ronald Thomas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The Behavioral Immune System (BIS) is a set of psychological processes that evolved to protect individuals from harmful contaminants and pathogens in the environment (Miller & Maner, 2011; Schaller & Duncan, 2007; Tybur, Lieberman, Kurzban, & DeScioli, 2013). The primary mechanism through which the BIS functions is the emotion of disgust, which causes negative physical and affective reactions that encourage avoidance behavior and serve as a deterrent from approaching potentially harmful stimuli (Schaller & Duncan, 2007). Consequently, disgust is proposed to serve a disease-avoidance mechanism. However, relatively little research has empirically tested the link between disgust and general behavioral avoidance …

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"Man Of The House": A Turning Point That Leads To Criminal Behavior?, Delia A. Trickett Jan 2015

"Man Of The House": A Turning Point That Leads To Criminal Behavior?, Delia A. Trickett

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This research study seeks to formally test a relationship between household structure, birth order and juvenile delinquency that was suggested as an onset to criminal behavior by men incarcerated in a maximum security facility. The focus of this study is on first born males due to the retrospective narratives given by the incarcerated men that being a first born male who has either lost a father-or father figure due to death, divorce and/or prison have felt a sense of responsibility as the "man of house" to be able to provide family stability which can include care of other siblings, maintaining …

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Lithofacies And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation For A Cored Well In Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Using Core Analysis Methods, Chloe S. Wonnell Jan 2015

Lithofacies And Sequence Stratigraphy Of The Middle Devonian Marcellus Formation For A Cored Well In Clearfield County, Pennsylvania Using Core Analysis Methods, Chloe S. Wonnell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Seven lithofacies were identified from visual descriptions and quantitative interpretations using traditional core analysis methods, such as core and thin-section description, x-ray diffraction (XRD), total organic carbon (TOC), and spectral core gamma-ray (GR). Ingrain's digital rock physics (DRP) color-coded CoreHDRTM lithofacies classification was successful at illustrating small-scale variations in the core based off high resolution bulk density (RHOB) and photoelectric factor (PEF) logs. A core-scale lithofacies log and spectral core GR aids in recognizing condensed sections and stacking patterns, which helps establish a sequence stratigraphic framework for the cored well that consists of six stratigraphic intervals. The sequence stratigraphic framework …

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Mapping And Modeling Soil Organic Carbon In The Eastern Allegheny Plateau And Mountains Using Legacy Data, Katey M. Yoast Jan 2015

Mapping And Modeling Soil Organic Carbon In The Eastern Allegheny Plateau And Mountains Using Legacy Data, Katey M. Yoast

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The deeply dissected topography and diverse climate of the Eastern Allegheny Plateau and Mountains (Major Land Resource Area (MLRA) 127) create challenges for dynamicpedoecological modeling needed for ecosystem management adaptation to a changing climate. The spatial distribution of soil organic carbon (SOC), one of the most dynamic soil properties, has been previously estimated and mapped using the State Soil Geographical Database (STATSGO2) and the more detailed Soil Survey Geographic Database (SSURGO) for MLRA 127, estimating mean SOC to a depth of 1 m to be 2.60 and 4.40 kg m-2, respectively. Previous studies have shown that these approximations underestimate true …

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The Influence Of Accelerometer Cut Points On Determining The Percent Of Preschool-Age Children Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines, Anna Elizabeth Scott Jan 2015

The Influence Of Accelerometer Cut Points On Determining The Percent Of Preschool-Age Children Meeting Physical Activity Guidelines, Anna Elizabeth Scott

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reduced physical activity is thought to be a major contributor to energy imbalance and obesity in children and adolescents. A challenge for researchers is selecting a tool that will accurately measure physical activity, especially in young children. A current tool that is used is an accelerometer. This study had two objectives. The first examined if different sets of accelerometer cut points developed for preschool-age children would produce the same physical activity results when identical raw data were run through them. Through the use of accelerometer data the second objective aimed to determine the percent of children who met the physical …

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A Novel Computational System For Identification Of Biological Processes From Multi-Dimensional High-Throughput Genomic Data, Julian Marshall Dymacek Jan 2015

A Novel Computational System For Identification Of Biological Processes From Multi-Dimensional High-Throughput Genomic Data, Julian Marshall Dymacek

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Identifying potential toxicity signaling pathways could guide future animal studies and support human risk assessment and intervention efforts. This thesis describes a novel computational approach for identifying biological processes and pathways that are significantly associated with a disease pathology from time series, dose response, gene expression data.;Our system employs a novel constrained non-negative matrix factorization algorithm and Monte Carlo Markov chain simulation to identify underlying patterns in mRNA gene expression data. Quantitative pathology can be used as a pattern constraint. The found patterns can be thought of as functions that influence a gene's expression. Using a database of curated gene …

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Institutional Decolonization: The Internationalization Of The Conflict Over Organized Labor In British Guiana, 1946-1961, Joshua David Esposito Jan 2015

Institutional Decolonization: The Internationalization Of The Conflict Over Organized Labor In British Guiana, 1946-1961, Joshua David Esposito

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation argues that an internationalized struggle for control of British Guiana's trade unions after 1946 resulted in institutional dysfunction and violence in the early 1960s. Some Guianese nationalists, who eventually became leaders of the People's Progressive Party (PPP), wanted to replace the institutions imported from Great Britain with trade unionism geared towards a Guianese version of communism. Conversely, reformist Guianese labor leaders were intent on establishing a left-leaning capitalist framework of labor relations, primarily based on a British model of unionism. Guianese unionists' ideological proclivities shaped their international affiliations, adding a transnational dimension to the struggle between the colony's …

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Cholesterol Modulates Huntingtin Binding To And Aggregation On Lipid Membranes, Xiang Gao Jan 2015

Cholesterol Modulates Huntingtin Binding To And Aggregation On Lipid Membranes, Xiang Gao

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Huntington disease is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disorder. The abnormally long CAG-repeats in the huntingtin gene that encode an expanded polyglutamine stretch which promotes self-assemble of huntingtin into different aggregation species that are disease related. Huntingtin intimately interacts with a variety of lipid membranes. Lipid composition is altered in HD, especially cholesterol content. Here we investigate how cholesterol content modulates the interaction between huntingtin and lipid membranes. TBLE/PDA binding assay is performed to test the binding affinity of huntingtin with lipid bilayers containing different amount of cholesterol. As the cholesterol content increases, the extent of huntingtin binding to lipid bilayers …

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