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Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

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Development Of Inducible Anti-Influenza Therapies, Cynthia Marie Mcmillen Jan 2016

Development Of Inducible Anti-Influenza Therapies, Cynthia Marie Mcmillen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Influenza viruses continue to cause significant morbidity and mortality each year despite the development of vaccines and antiviral therapies targeting these viruses. The inherent ability of influenza viruses to accumulate mutations over time has led to the emergence of strains resistant to antiviral therapies. Furthermore, genetic reassortment creates antigenically diverse viruses, making it difficult to develop vaccines that yield broad protection. The objective of the following research studies is to develop two alternative approaches to current methods of antiviral therapeutics.;Six new siRNAs targeting influenza protein expression by RNA interference (RNAi) were characterized. Three siRNAs (M747, M776, M832) knocked down the …

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Analysis Of Structured And Un-Structured Network Protocols For Data Aggregation Over Distributed Wireless Sensor Networks, Priyashraba Misra Jan 2016

Analysis Of Structured And Un-Structured Network Protocols For Data Aggregation Over Distributed Wireless Sensor Networks, Priyashraba Misra

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The focus of this thesis is on design and evaluation of one-shot data aggregation protocols for static and mobile wireless sensor networks (WSNs). The goal in one-shot data aggregation is to compute a statistical summary of sensor data such as max, average, sum, count and min, when initiated by a special node such as the base station. WSNs have wide range of applications in both static and mobile/dynamic systems. Static sensor networks are especially useful when monitoring is required in harsh, inaccessible environments and when the region to be monitored is really large. Examples of static sensor network applications include …

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A Communion Of Churches: Indian Christians, English Ministers, And Congregations In New England, 1600-1775, Gregory Alan Michna Jan 2016

A Communion Of Churches: Indian Christians, English Ministers, And Congregations In New England, 1600-1775, Gregory Alan Michna

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation advances the study of New England's religious history by exploring the complex and contested religious discourse surrounding puritan ecclesiology and the conceptual place of Native Americans within physical and imagined communities. While relations between puritan missionaries such as John Eliot and Thomas Mayhew and early "Praying Indians," or Indian Christians, have been closely studied, this work draws attention to the importance of theology and religious discourse in realms like hermeneutics, ecclesiology, and eschatology in shaping the nature of these exchanges. Despite communal and cultural differences, religious culture frequently served as a means of bridging these gaps to foster …

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The Association Between Early Dental Visits, Dental Outcomes, And Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life In West Virginia Children, Jennifer Momen Jan 2016

The Association Between Early Dental Visits, Dental Outcomes, And Oral Health-Related Quality Of Life In West Virginia Children, Jennifer Momen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Background and objectives: Early dental visits provide the opportunity to reduce the prevalence of early childhood caries through risk assessment, counseling, and provision of specific preventive measures. Despite the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry's recommendation that the first dental visit should occur by 1 year of age, many children are not receiving care until much later. Evidence that early dental visits improve dental outcomes is vital to educate parents and health care providers. Hence, this study examined the association between a child's age at the first dental visit and dental outcomes, parents' awareness of the recommendation for the first dental …

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The Impact Of Rural Contexts On Citizenship Education, Eric D. Moffa Jan 2016

The Impact Of Rural Contexts On Citizenship Education, Eric D. Moffa

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Social studies teachers are sensitive to local school and community values and, therefore, tactful when making decisions about their curriculum (Romanowski, 1996; Shaver, Davis, & Helburn, 1980; Thornton, 1989), including its citizenship aims (Saada, 2013; Sondel, 2015; Vinson, 1998). For this reason, scholars call for better contextual understandings of teachers' curricular-instructional gatekeeping (Thornton, 1989; Vinson, 1998). Rural-specific examples of this phenomenon remain largely unexamined (Martin & Chiodo, 2007; Pattison-Meek, 2012), though rural schools make up 32.9% of all schools in the United States (Johnson, Showalter, Klein, & Lester, 2014) and rural communities offer distinct socio-geographic and socio-cultural contexts (Brown & …

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Why Do Adolescents Use Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies? The Role Of Perceived Effectiveness, Distress Tolerance, And Impulsivity, Karena M. Moran Jan 2016

Why Do Adolescents Use Maladaptive Emotion Regulation Strategies? The Role Of Perceived Effectiveness, Distress Tolerance, And Impulsivity, Karena M. Moran

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Much is known about outcomes associated with adaptive and maladaptive emotion regulation strategies. However, less research has explored predictors of strategy use. The present study examined perceived effectiveness of strategies (i.e., how effective individuals believe a strategy is at decreasing negative affect or increasing positive affect) as a predictor of strategy use. The sample of 139 adolescents (Mage =15.50, 60.4% male) reported their use of regulatory strategies for positive and negative emotions and how effective they believed each strategy was at changing their emotional state in the desired direction (i.e., more positive, less negative). Strategies were aggregated into adaptive and …

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Application And Control Aware Communication Strategies For Transportation And Energy Cyber-Physical Systems, Ehsan Moradi Pari Jan 2016

Application And Control Aware Communication Strategies For Transportation And Energy Cyber-Physical Systems, Ehsan Moradi Pari

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cyber--Physical Systems (CPSs) are a generation of engineered systems in which computing, communication, and control components are tightly integrated. Some important application domains of CPS are transportation, energy, and medical systems. The dynamics of CPSs are complex, involving the stochastic nature of communication systems, discrete dynamics of computing systems, and continuous dynamics of control systems. The existence of communication between and among controllers of physical processes is one of the basic characteristics of CPSs. Under this situation, some fundamental questions are: 1) How does the network behavior (communication delay, packet loss, etc.) affect the stability of the system? 2) Under …

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The Role Of Mirnas In Niche Regulation Of All Phenotype, Blake Stephen Moses Jan 2016

The Role Of Mirnas In Niche Regulation Of All Phenotype, Blake Stephen Moses

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

While modern acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) treatment regimens have dramatically improved the survival of ALL patients, disease relapse still occurs in approximately 20% of cases. ALL relapse is, in part, due to the inability of traditional chemotherapeutic agents to efficiently target quiescent, non-dividing tumor cells. The number of viable remaining leukemia cells in patients after initial treatment, termed minimal residual disease (MRD), is directly correlated with likelihood of disease relapse. This reflects the proliferative potential of these refractory cells, consistent with the ability of their healthy hematopoietic progenitor pro- and pre-B cell counterparts. Developing novel therapies to combat refractory disease …

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Characteristics Of Bubble Behavior In Microgravity Conditions, Thilanka Munasinghe Jan 2016

Characteristics Of Bubble Behavior In Microgravity Conditions, Thilanka Munasinghe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The main objective of this thesis is to study the characteristics of bubbles in pool boiling under microgravity conditions with and without the influence of a magnetic field. In order to create microgravity conditions, the parabolic path of an aircraft was used for a period of 20-30 seconds, during which time the experiment was conducted. Two cylindrical tanks were used for the boiling process in the experiment. One tank had a permanent magnet attached at the bottom, and the other one was kept as the control. MnCl2 was dissolved in distilled water to make a paramagnetic liquid, and which used …

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Hydroclimatic Assessment Of Changing Climate On Diarrheal Diseases With Reference To Cholera, Fariborz Nasr Azadani Jan 2016

Hydroclimatic Assessment Of Changing Climate On Diarrheal Diseases With Reference To Cholera, Fariborz Nasr Azadani

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The association of cholera with the climatic processes is well documented. However the effects of changing climate on occurrence of cholera is not yet evaluated, perhaps due to unavailability of geophysical data and their quantitative linkages with cholera. Global climate models (GCMs) outputs are available at coarse resolution of 200-300km, but the diseases usually occur at 10-15 km, therefore, it is rather challenging to link any GCM outputs with a disease. The goal of this research is to develop algorithms that can link diarrheal diseases with changing climatic conditions. Within this context, cholera is used as a model disease due …

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Associations Among Task Self-Efficacy, Physical Activity And Subjective Wellbeing, Abigail M. Nehrkorn Jan 2016

Associations Among Task Self-Efficacy, Physical Activity And Subjective Wellbeing, Abigail M. Nehrkorn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The physical and psychological health benefits resulting from physical activity engagement have been documented in previous literature, including the connection between physical activity and subjective wellbeing (SWB). Associations have also been found between task-related self-efficacy and physical activity, connecting these concepts to Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory (SCT; Bandura, 1982, 1997), such that retaining a higher belief in one's physical activity abilities has been associated with successful physical activity engagement. Previous literature has documented these separate associations, but not as much focus has been placed on examining task self-efficacy, physical activity, and SWB in one model, especially during the time of …

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Cardiac And Mitochondrial Impacts Of Acute Pulmonary Xenobiotic Exposure, Cody Edward Nichols Jan 2016

Cardiac And Mitochondrial Impacts Of Acute Pulmonary Xenobiotic Exposure, Cody Edward Nichols

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

With every breath, we breathe in foreign materials, xenobiotic particles. These particles can interact with our tissues and influence the systems within. Airborne xenobiotic particles classically refer to ambient particulate matter (PM), but with technological advancement and the flourishing of nanotechnology, engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) have become entwined in the definition. Because the term xenobiotic particles encompasses particles with a broad range of size, shapes and chemical composition, definition of the properties that induce toxicity can be difficult, yet crucial to understand and predicting which of these characteristics is capable of inducing toxicity. This concept is crucial as nanotechnology moves forward …

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How College Instructors Use Social Media For Instruction, Benson Njoroge Jan 2016

How College Instructors Use Social Media For Instruction, Benson Njoroge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The use of social media has increased tremendously in recent years with many sectors using it for the purpose of communicating, sharing ideas, gathering information and stating opinions. The use of social media has trickled down into education with instructors using it for teaching and learning. This study used Gagne's Nine Events of Instruction as a framework to investigate the types of social media applications used, and how they are specifically used for instructional purpose in colleges. The study used both qualitative and quantitative methods to analyze data. Results indicated that about 31% of instructors use different social media types …

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Targeting The Peripheral Immune System As A Source Of Precision Stroke Biomarkers: Implications For Clinical Diagnostics And Immunotherapeutics, Grant C. O'Connell Jan 2016

Targeting The Peripheral Immune System As A Source Of Precision Stroke Biomarkers: Implications For Clinical Diagnostics And Immunotherapeutics, Grant C. O'Connell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Early and accurate diagnosis of stroke improves the probability of positive outcome, however the tools available to clinicians for the identification of stroke are limited. It is well established that the peripheral immune system responds robustly to ischemic brain injury, and thus may be a viable source of stroke biomarkers. The objective of this work was to utilize high throughput transcriptomics in combination with machine learning techniques to identify patterns of gene expression in peripheral whole blood with the potential to diagnose ischemic stroke, and to further determine the role of such gene expression patterns within the context of stroke …

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Disaggregating Behavioral And Psychological Components Of Religious And Spiritual Development Across Adolescence: Variations By Geographic Location, Rebecca Olson Jan 2016

Disaggregating Behavioral And Psychological Components Of Religious And Spiritual Development Across Adolescence: Variations By Geographic Location, Rebecca Olson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Religious behavior and spirituality have been consistently found to be associated with a host of positive youth outcomes including increased grade point average (Ferris, Oosterhoff, & Metzger, 2013) and community service (Paxton, Reith, & Glanville, 2014) and decreased substance use (Milot & Ludden, 2009). However, few studies have investigated how religious behavior and spirituality uniquely and interactively predict these outcomes, as well as how these associations vary across city and rural contexts. The current study sought to investigate how religious behavior and spirituality predict youth outcomes in both rural and city youth populations. Participants included 743 youth from a mid-sized …

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The Influence Over Time Of Abdominal Strength Changes On Gluteus Maximus Strength, Taylor M. Opperhauser Jan 2016

The Influence Over Time Of Abdominal Strength Changes On Gluteus Maximus Strength, Taylor M. Opperhauser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Context: Core stability is vital for appropriate functional activity and performance. The core is the primary link to the kinetic chain that allows for optimal performance. When one component of the core is either inhibited or overactive, an imbalance occurs. Antagonist and agonist muscles must function together to maintain appropriate muscle balance. Both the lower abdominal muscles and gluteus maximus muscle work together to create appropriate kinetic chain functioning. However, it is unknown whether a change in lower abdominal strength influences a change in gluteus maximus strength over time. Objective: The purpose was to determine if a change in lower …

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Effects Of Housing Condition And Acute Nicotine On Impulsive Choice In Lewis And Fischer 344 Rats, Jenny E. Ozga Jan 2016

Effects Of Housing Condition And Acute Nicotine On Impulsive Choice In Lewis And Fischer 344 Rats, Jenny E. Ozga

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Impulsive choice is defined as choice for a smaller, more immediate reinforcer relative to a larger, delayed reinforcer, and is commonly studied using delay-discounting procedures. There are many variables that contribute to impulsive choice, including biological and environmental determinants. The present study examined both of these variables by evaluating effects of housing condition (single versus paired) on impulsive choice in Lewis (LEW) and Fischer 344 (F344) rats, at baseline and following acute nicotine administration. A within-session procedure was used in which choice was between one food pellet delivered immediately and three food pellets delivered after a delay. The delay to …

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Investigation Of Combustion Phenomena In A Single-Cylinder Spark-Ignited Natural Gas Engine With Optical Access, Vishnu Padmanaban Jan 2016

Investigation Of Combustion Phenomena In A Single-Cylinder Spark-Ignited Natural Gas Engine With Optical Access, Vishnu Padmanaban

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

More demanding efficiency and emissions standards for internal combustion (IC) engines require novel combustion strategies, alternative fuels, and improved after-treatment systems. However, their development depends on improved understanding of in-cylinder processes. For example, the lower efficiency of conventional spark-ignited (SI) natural-gas (NG) engines reduces their utilization in the transportation sector. Single-cylinder optical-access research engines allow the use of non-intrusive visualization techniques that study in-cylinder flow, fuel-oxidizer mixing, and combustion and emissions phenomena under conditions representative of production engines. These visualization techniques can provide qualitative and quantitative answers to fundamental combustion-phenomena questions such as the effects of engine design, operating conditions, …

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An Evaluation Of Speed Monitoring Displays For School Travel Safety Improvement, David W. Palley Jan 2016

An Evaluation Of Speed Monitoring Displays For School Travel Safety Improvement, David W. Palley

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

School travel safety has been a concern for transportation and government officials for a long time. Traffic incidents are among the leading causes of child mortality, and many of these incidents can be related to school travel. While the school travel landscape has changed drastically over the past several decades, little has changed with regards to school zone traffic regulation, particularly in West Virginia. Speed trailers were installed at a rural high school located along a West Virginia highway to assess the effectiveness of these types of devices in lowering vehicle speeds near urban schools along high-speed roads. A student …

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Coaching Knowledge And Noticing In Youth Sports: Challenging The Assumption Of Expertise, Philip James Liversedge Jan 2016

Coaching Knowledge And Noticing In Youth Sports: Challenging The Assumption Of Expertise, Philip James Liversedge

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Sport is an integral part of the majority of children's lives. Participation in sport can provide children with many physical and psychological benefits. Tasked with coaching children are coaches who are often parents and volunteers. These coaches have a variety of different levels of experience and expertise. A question that must be answered is what are the range of kinds of knowledge that coaches rely upon? This study delves further and attempts to understand how coaches use this knowledge in the act of noticing. Alongside understanding the complexity of coaching this study attempts to demonstrate the individuality and diversity in …

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Geomorphic Landform Design Principles Applied To An Abandoned Coarse Coal Refuse Pile On Steep Terrain In Central Appalachia, Jeffrey T. Lorimer Jan 2016

Geomorphic Landform Design Principles Applied To An Abandoned Coarse Coal Refuse Pile On Steep Terrain In Central Appalachia, Jeffrey T. Lorimer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Geomorphic reclamation designs applied in western United States, Australia and Spain have reported success quantified by the economic, ecological, and hydrological benefits. Recent research suggests the feasibility of geomorphic principles in a steep humid environment (e.g. West Virginia). The primary objective of this work is to develop a reclamation alternative with geomorphic landform design principles for the coarse coal refuse pile at Royal Scot in Greenbrier County, WV. The reclamation design is based upon currently accepted engineering methods and promotes stormwater runoff, minimizes infiltration through the refuse pile, and is erosively stable. Design features include the following: (1) stormwater time …

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Elucidating Mechanisms Of Neurobehavioral Dysfunction In A Rodent Model Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Aric F. Logsdon Jan 2016

Elucidating Mechanisms Of Neurobehavioral Dysfunction In A Rodent Model Of Traumatic Brain Injury, Aric F. Logsdon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Neuropsychiatric symptoms and cognitive deficits are common among victims of a traumatic brain injury (TBI), and currently, there are no effective treatments to improve outcome. We first developed a clinically-relevant blast TBI model based on lung scaling parameters to elucidate mechanisms of neuronal cell death. In order to discover effective treatments to improve outcome, we had to validate our novel preclinical model of TBI. TBI is an external force that can cause damage to the neurovascular unit (NVU), which can lead to secondary effects, cell death and behavioral dysfunction. In our first study we observed that our model damaged the …

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Novel Immunoregulatory Elements In A Murine Model Of Epicutaneous Chemical Sensitization: A Role For Regulatory T Cells And Microrna 210, Carrie Mae Long Jan 2016

Novel Immunoregulatory Elements In A Murine Model Of Epicutaneous Chemical Sensitization: A Role For Regulatory T Cells And Microrna 210, Carrie Mae Long

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Toluene diisocyanate (TDI) is a low molecular weight chemical sensitizer and a major cause of occupational allergic disease and asthma. The roles of immunomodulatory elements such as microRNAs, which alter gene expression, and regulatory T cells (Tregs), which suppress T cell-mediated responses, in chemical sensitization are not fully elucidated. In order to further investigate the functional role of miR-210 and Tregs during TDI sensitization, BALB/c mice were dermally exposed to a single, sensitizing dose of TDI (0.5-4% v/v) and evaluated for immunologic endpoints. dLN T regs were phenotyped during TDI sensitization and a heterogeneous, expanded population was observed. To examine …

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Durability Analysis Of Self Consolidating Concrete Used In The Stalnaker Run Bridge, Zhanxiao Ma Jan 2016

Durability Analysis Of Self Consolidating Concrete Used In The Stalnaker Run Bridge, Zhanxiao Ma

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Self-Consolidating Concrete (SCC) was used in the pre-tensioned box beams for the Stalnaker Run Bridge project in Elkin, WV. It was found that the SCC used in Stalnaker Run Bridge has a low freeze-thaw durability index. One of the SCC full-scale box beam was subjected to loading test at WVU structural laboratory until failure. Following the observed freeze-thaw behavior, this research study was proposed to quantify the SCC filling ability by saw-cutting the full-scale SCC test beam and to determine the cause of SCC beam's low freeze-thaw durability using the air-void analysis. Results from the coarse aggregate distribution analysis of …

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A Multiple-Objective Framework For Sustainable Forest Management Under Uncertainty In The U.S. Central Hardwood Region, Wu Ma Jan 2016

A Multiple-Objective Framework For Sustainable Forest Management Under Uncertainty In The U.S. Central Hardwood Region, Wu Ma

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Despite the economic and ecological significance of oak-hickory forests in the Central Hardwood Region (CHR), major challenges are faced by both private and public landowners and policymakers due to the lack of reliable growth and yield models as well as the absence of useful tools for multi-criteria management. Moreover, the effects of climate change and fire disturbance on these forests and their management are largely unknown.;The second chapter of the dissertation is directed towards the study of the community and population structure of CHR forests under climate change and associated changes of fire regimes. The Central Hardwood Region of the …

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Investigation Of Particulate Matter Size, Concentration And Mass Emissions From Small Handheld 2-Stroke Spark Ignition Engines, Yashwanth Chowdary Maddineni Jan 2016

Investigation Of Particulate Matter Size, Concentration And Mass Emissions From Small Handheld 2-Stroke Spark Ignition Engines, Yashwanth Chowdary Maddineni

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Quality of air, change in the climate and exposure of humans to pollutants have become major concerns globally over the past decade. Particulate matter has been linked to many adverse health effects. Internal combustion engines are major source of PM emissions. Knowing the adverse health effects of particulate matter, the regulatory agencies are in the process of introducing strict regulations to limit the quantity of PM emitted by off-road small handheld gasoline engines. Two-stroke small engines typically emit more smoke as they burn oil-gasoline mixture compared to four-stroke engines running on gasoline only. Current regulations in the United States for …

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The Role Of Nad(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase 1 In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumorigenesis And Lung Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance, Brian Madajewski Jan 2016

The Role Of Nad(P)H:Quinone Oxidoreductase 1 In Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Tumorigenesis And Lung Cancer Stem Cell Maintenance, Brian Madajewski

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer related deaths worldwide. The five-year survival rates for those patients suffering from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), continues to be an abysmal 15%. One of the major reasons for the poor survival rate amongst NSCLC patients is the lack of early detection and subsequent late stage initial diagnosis. Tumors discovered at later stages are often refractory toward chemotherapy and radiation regimens. One theory as to why tumors become resistant to therapy relies heavily on the cells that make up the cancer stem cell (CSC) niche. This small percentage of cells within the …

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The Effect Of Ovine Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells On Haemonchus Contortus Larval Death In Vitro, Elizabeth Anne Shepherd Jan 2016

The Effect Of Ovine Peripheral Blood Mononuclear Cells On Haemonchus Contortus Larval Death In Vitro, Elizabeth Anne Shepherd

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Gastrointestinal nematode parasitism is the greatest problem facing small ruminant livestock, largely due to development of anthelmintic resistance. Of particular concern is Haemonchus contortus, a hematophagous trichostrongylid that can lead to death in lambs or immunocompromised sheep. Some breeds of sheep are resistant to Haemonchosis, e.g. St. Croix (STC) hair sheep. St. Croix sheep have well-documented resistance and have been shown to develop a robust immune response, generating a rapid cellular response to larval stages that does not occur in susceptible sheep. Studies evaluating effects of mononuclear cells, including monocytes and lymphocytes, indicate that these cells dramatically reduce motility of …

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Applying Psychological Reactance Theory To Communication Between Adult Child Caregivers And Their Older Adult Parents, Hannah Ball Jan 2016

Applying Psychological Reactance Theory To Communication Between Adult Child Caregivers And Their Older Adult Parents, Hannah Ball

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Given the rapid growth of the older adult population in the US and the number of adult children providing informal care to their older adult parents, there is a need for a better understanding of how communication can be used to negotiate the tension between dependence and autonomy in these caregiving relationships (Egbert, 2014; Morgan & Hummert, 2000). Guided by psychological reactance theory (Brehm, 1966; Brehm & Brehm, 1981), which posits that individuals value their autonomy and are motivated to restore it when they perceive that it is being threatened, the purpose of this dissertation was twofold: (a) to explore …

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Safe Semi-Supervised Learning With Sparse Graphs, Prithish Banerjee Jan 2016

Safe Semi-Supervised Learning With Sparse Graphs, Prithish Banerjee

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There has been substantial interest from both computer science and statistics in developing methods for graph-based semi-supervised learning. The attraction to the area involves several challenging applications brought forth from academia and industry where little data are available with training responses while lots of data are available overall. Ample evidence has demonstrated the value of several of these methods on real data applications, but it should be kept in mind that they heavily rely on some smoothness assumptions. The general frame- work for graph-based semi-supervised learning is to optimize a smooth function over the nodes of the proximity graph constructed …

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