Digital Commons Network^™

Identification And Characterization Of Msab Gene Involved In Biofilm Formation And Virulence In Staphylococcus Aureus, Amelsaad Elbarasi

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes a wide variety of life-threatening infections ranging from minor skin and oral infections to severe infections, such as bacteremia, pneumonia, osteomyelitis, or endocarditis due to the presence and secretion of a large number of virulence factors that are controlled by global virulence regulators in complex networks. Furthermore, S. aureus infections have become a threat to public health because of their high potential to form biofilm, and their ability to resist a wide range of antibiotics has exacerbated further. Therefore, understanding the regulatory networks and developing a drug targeting these networks has …

The Queer Gothic Hero's Journey In Oscar Wilde's The Picture Of Dorian Gray, Kyle Leon Ethridge

Master's Theses

This study of Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray argues that the novel participates in a Gothic subversion of the archetypal hero’s journey. The novel employs Gothic devices to supplant heroic narremes. As the novel progresses, both Dorian (as a type of hero-character) and the narrative repeatedly deny or subvert the normative idea of heroism later reified in Joseph Campbell’s archetypal theory. While Campbell’s hero attempts to secure and universalize a heterosocial story, Wilde’s hero is recuperated through a reconfiguring of normative failure as queer success. What is ostensibly a failure of the normative hero to achieve his quest …

Fear Of The Colonized Other In Richard Marsh's The Beetle, Kelsie Leigh Dove

Master's Theses

This thesis argues Richard Marsh’s Victorian novel The Beetle offers a critique of British colonial practices through the reverse colonization experiences had by British characters in the novel. Intrusive, exploitative actions perpetrated by the British subjects in the novel invite reciprocal mental and physical invasions from the female colonized subject. These encounters serve as metaphors for British imperialism, and the fear and loathing for the colonized subject felt by the British characters reveals anxiety felt by Victorian England regarding colonial subjects. The monstrous acts of the colonized subject mirror the exploitation of British imperialism, which ultimately critiques the practice.

[Blip] And Other Noises, Jennifer Jacob Brown

Master's Theses

[Blip] and Other Noises is a collection of short stories that explores the illusory nature of identity, time, space, and our experience of reality. Its principal characters include a sea captain, an Elvis fanatic, a space alien, and some very confused children. Its principal settings include small town Mississippi, the Gulf of Mexico, the Indiana wilderness, and uncharted (by humans) outer space. This collection is accompanied by a critical introduction.

Assemblage Comparisons Of Living Benthic Foraminifera At Bathyal Sites Oiled And Un-Oiled By The Deepwater Horizon Blowout In The Northeastern Gulf Of Mexico, Valerie Joanna Cruz

Master's Theses

Live benthic foraminiferal assemblages were studied at contaminated and uncontaminated bathyal sites around the wellhead of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Samples collected in October of 2010 and 2011 and summer of 2012 were divided into uncontaminated (GIP 12, 21, K, and 25 and Obs0), moderately oiled (GIP 16 and 17) and heavily oiled groups (GIP 15), in which the TPAH concentrations ranged from 29 to 7,553 ng/g in 2010. Metric multidimensional scaling (MDS) and cluster analyses were conducted to compare all surface samples. Additionally, the heavily oiled site (GIP 15) and an uncontaminated site (GIP 25) were studied downcore …

Characterizing Populations Of Non-Coding Rnas In Karenia Brevis At Different Times Of The Diel Cycle, Scott Boyd Anglin

Master's Theses

Karenia brevis is a mixotrophic, marine dinoflagellate found in the Gulf of Mexico that generates periodic, if not annual, harmful algal blooms (also known as “red tides”) in certain coastal areas. In an effort to better understand the biology of this organism, a functional genomics project has been initiated. As part of that project, it has been determined that a significant number of natural antisense transcripts (NATs) as well as double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) molecules exist within the transcriptome of K. brevis. I hypothesize that the non-coding NATs, similar to microRNAs (miRNAs) in other organisms play a role in regulating …

The Effects Of The Nat Turner Slave Revolt On The Health And Welfare Of 19th-Century Slaves In Southeastern Virginia, Jeffrey Clifford Auerbach

Master's Theses

The Nat Turner Slave Revolt stands as a major turning point in the history of American slavery and represents a fundamental shift in the master slave relationship. This event shattered the previous paternalistic view and caused a fundamental reorganization of slave life. Included in this reorganization was a shift in the subsistence practice, moving away from morenutritious food grown by the slaves themselves to poor quality rations provided by the masters. This change in subsistence practices dealt a serious blow to the nutritional health of those living in the area surrounding the revolt.

By examining stature recorded in the County …

Role Of Msaa Gene In Regulation Of The Msaabcr Operon And Biofilm Development In Staphylococcus Aureus, Ahmed Alzuway

Master's Theses

Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen that causes wide variety of diseases ranging from chronic biofilm associated infection to acute life threatening infection such as bacteremia, pneumonia, osteomyelitis, or endocarditis, despite the progress with antibiotics used in the treatment of bacterial infections. Furthermore, increased use of prosthetic and indwelling devices in modern medical practices has led to increased infections due to S. aureus. Treating S. aureus infections have become difficult owing to its ability to resist most of the antibiotics; this problem is further exacerbated by ability of MRSA strains to form biofilms. Emergence of community-acquired methicillin resistance …

Methane Dynamics In St. Louis Bay, Mississippi, Hannah Marie Roberts

Master's Theses

A method of dissolved methane analysis was developed utilizing cavity ring-down spectroscopy and headspace equilibration. Samples of 70 mL were collected in 140 mL plastic syringes and equilibrated with a methane free headspace. Reproducibility was high (i.e. 4% typical RSD), and samples were successfully measured in the low nanomolar to high micromolar range. During method development, multiple research cruises were undertaken in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Stations included the Orca Basin, the Deepwater Horizon site, and the surrounding area. The Deepwater Horizon site showed no continuing leakage from October 2010 to June 2013. Samples collected from the northern Gulf …

Interfacial Interactions Between Carbon Nanoparticles And Conjugated Polymers, Yanqi Luo

Master's Theses

Conjugated polymer based electronics, a type of flexible electronic devices, can be produced from solution by traditional printing and coating processes in a roll-to-roll format such as papers and graphic films. This shows great promise for the emerging energy generation and conversion. The device performance of polymer electronics is largely dependent of crystalline structures and morphology of photoactive layers. However, the solution crystallization kinetics of conjugated polymers in the presence of electron acceptor nanoparticles has not been fully understood yet. In this study, solution crystallization kinetics of poly (3-hexylthiophene) in the presence of carbon nanotubes and graphene oxide has been …

Nerve Fiber Diameter Measurements Using Hematoxylin And Eosin Staining And Brightfield Microscopy To Assess The Novel Method Of Characterizing Peripheral Nerve Fiber Distributions By Group Delay, Jorge Arturo Vazquez

Master's Theses

Peripheral neuropathies are a set of common diseases that affect the peripheral nervous system, causing damage to vital connections between various parts of the body and the brain and spinal cord. Different clinical conditions are known to selectively impact various size nerve fibers, which often makes it difficult to diagnose which peripheral neuropathy a patient might have. The nerve conduction velocity diagnostic test provides clinically useful information in the diagnosis of some peripheral neuropathies. This method is advantageous because it tends to be minimally invasive yet it provides valuable diagnostic information. However, this test does not determine characteristics of peripheral …

Treatment Of Nitrogen Oxides By Chlorella Vulgaris Algae In Photobioreactors, Steven Shihady

Master's Theses

The effectiveness of algae to treat NO₂and NO in simulated flue gas was tested using Chlorella vulgaris in photobioreactors (PBRs) using NO_xconcentrations between 30 ppm to 780 ppm. NO_xdissolved and reacted in water to form NO₃^-and NO₂^-in the PBR growth medium, providing a nitrogen source that the algae readily assimilated for cell synthesis. Three 20-L photobioreactors were inoculated with a pure culture of C. vulgaris prepared in Bristol growth medium and algae were grown in the PBRs at 25°C and pH of 7.0 in a modified Bristol medium …

Behavioral And Hormonal Flexibility Across Light Environments In Guppies (Poecilia Reticulata), Julia C. Walz

Master's Theses

Behavior may be dramatically influenced by changing environments, and differences in light intensity environments may have important behavioral consequences. One approach to understanding changes in behavior is by studying behavioral syndromes, suites of correlated behaviors reflecting between individual consistencies in behavior expressed within a behavioral situation (e.g., correlations between antipredator behaviors in different habitats), or across behavioral contexts (e.g., correlations among feeding, antipredator, or mating behavior) (Sih et al. 2004a). Guppies (Poecilia reticulata) provide a great model system to study behavior. Guppies are small, freshwater tropical fish that inhabit still pools in swift-flowing streams, and the backwaters of small rivers …

Delineating Wetlands In Serpentinitic Soils, Ariel Nikole Namm

Master's Theses

Wetlands serve an important ecological and functional role in the environment. In order to protect wetlands from degradation, the determination of wetland hydrology, hydrophytic vegetation, and hydric soils is necessary. Soils formed from serpentine parent material on hillside slump blocks do not meet any of the current morphological Field Indicators of Hydric Soils. Although these areas seem to be wetlands based on wetland hydrology and hydrophytic vegetation, there is no approved hydric soil indicator that includes the properties exhibited by serpentinitic soils on these landscapes. The objectives of this research were: (1) to examine soil chemical, physical, and morphological properties …

Assessment Of Microbial Biodegradation Of Mixed Soil Contaminants At The Santa Susan Field Laboratory Using Trflp, Qpcr, And Culturing, Kenny William Croyle

Master's Theses

The potential for biodegradation of contaminants in soil was assessed using an array of molecular methods, including terminal restriction fragment length polymorphism (TRFLP), quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR), and traditional culturing techniques combined with sequencing of the 16S or ITS regions of the cultured bacteria and fungi. Soil was collected from the Santa Susana Field Laboratory (SSFL), which was the site of numerous liquid-propulsion rocket engine tests as well as nuclear energy research and development, which led to contamination of the soil with a wide variety of constituents. The contaminants of interest (COIs) at this site include polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), …

A Multicultural Nutrition And Culinary Intervention For Middle School Students: Pink And Dude Chefs, Phase 2, Jaime Lynn Lockhart

Master's Theses

The prevalence of adolescent obesity in the United States has more than quadrupled in the past 30 years, growing from 5% to nearly 21% in 12-19 year olds. Although obesity has many interrelated causes, a lack of knowledge and practical skill to prepare healthy food from scratch is an important factor. Research indicates that nutrition and culinary interventions based on behavioral change theories may improve mediators of healthful eating in adolescents.

Pink and Dude Chefs, Phase 2, an eight-week after-school nutrition and culinary intervention targeted towards middle school students in a predominantly low-income, Hispanic community, was developed and evaluated. The …

A Comparison Of Fatigue During Cardiocerebral Resuscitation With Different Compression Rates Among Layperson And Professional Rescuers, Christopher Cassidy

Master's Theses

Quality chest compressions during Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) are vital to maintaining adequate perfusion of oxygenated blood to the organs of the body to sustain life. Over the years, the compression rate recommended in Basic Life Support (BLS)/ Advanced Cardiac Life Support (ACLS) protocols for the best possible outcome has risen, and with that increase there are questions regarding rescuer fatigue and the effectiveness of compressions. Layperson and professional rescuers, answering to an emergency, both maintain continuous chest compressions until advanced life support arrives. Depending on the location, this arrival time would most likely be longer than the two minute standard …

Stereo Vision System Module For Low-Cost Fpgas For Autonomous Mobile Robots, Connor Citron

Master's Theses

Stereo vision uses two adjacent cameras to create a 3D image of the world. A depth map can be created by comparing the offset of the corresponding pixels from the two cameras. However, for real-time stereo vision, the image data needs to be processed at a reasonable frame rate. Real-time stereo vision allows for mobile robots to more easily navigate terrain and interact with objects by providing both the images from the cameras and the depth of the objects. Fortunately, the image processing can be parallelized in order to increase the processing speed. Field-programmable gate arrays (FPGAs) are highly parallelizable …

Development And Use Of Moisture-Suction Relationships For Geosynthetic Clay Liners, Jacob Law Risken

Master's Theses

A laboratory test program was conducted to determine the moisture-suction relationships of geosynthetic clay liners (GCLs). Moisture-suction relationships were determined by combining suction data from pressure plate tests, contact filter paper tests, and relative humidity tests, then fitting water retention curves (WRCs) to the data. WRCs were determined for wetting processes and drying processes in terms of gravimetric moisture content and volumetric moisture content.

The effects of GCL type, hydration solution, wet-dry cycles, and temperature on the moisture-suction relationships were analyzed. The three GCLs of the test program consisted of configurations of woven and nonwoven geotextiles reinforced with needlepunched fibers. …

A Spatial Analysis Of Changes In Recreational Fishing Pressure On The Central Coast Of California Subsequent To Mpa Implementation, Morgan Ivens-Duran

Master's Theses

Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) are implemented to address a variety of management concerns, including conservation and restoration of fisheries, but few studies assess how MPAs affect regional fishing patterns. Previous research suggests effort will intensify at MPA edges, but few datasets include sufficient pre-implementation data to quantify how MPAs alter fishing effort. We used recreational fisheries data collected by scientific observers aboard Commercial Passenger Fishing Vessels that target nearshore fish species, primarily rockfish. We assessed shifts in the spatial distribution of fishing effort over a 10-year period that includes pre- and post-implementation observations of the California MPA network along the …

Asymptotic Behavior Of Finite-Time Ruin Probability In A By-Claim Risk Model With Constant Interest Rate, Lei Wang

Master's Theses

Enlightened by the results of Li [8] and Wang [19], we study the ruin probability of a renewal risk model with constant interest rate and by-claim parts. We assume that the claim size and the inter-arrival time satisfy a certain dependent structure with some additional assumptions on their distribution functions. Furthermore, we give relevant preparation of theory and compare several existing risk models and dependent structures. In this way, we present our result and prove it.

A Description Of Vocalizations And Their Association With Mouthing Behaviors And Social Context In Bottlenose Dolphins, Tursiops Truncatus, Christina Elyse Perazio

Master's Theses

Dolphin communication is multimodal and incorporates physical behaviors and vocalizations. Dolphins often exchange information with conspecifics using different types of vocalizations, and these vocalizations are sometimes associated with specific behaviors. However, the relationship of vocalization type and mouthing behavior type has not been investigated. This thesis examines simultaneous acoustic and visual recordings of bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) to determine the relationship between type of mouthing behavior and type of vocalization (whistle, whistle-squawk, chirp, moan, burst-pulse type A, burst-pulse type B, and click trains). The role of the social context of a mouthing behavior is also evaluated. Data were obtained opportunistically …

Characterization Of Rain And Stormwater Nitrogen Inputs To The Mississippi Sound: A Landscape Approach, Joshua Michael Allen

Master's Theses

Urbanization in coastal watersheds is becoming an increasingly important issue in the world. Increased impervious surface cover, a factor of urbanization, has drawn more attention to stormwater runoff as a source of contamination to receiving waters. In this study, nitrogen species from rain and stormwater were analyzed across three different landscape types along the Mississippi Sound (hardened, residential, and pristine), as well as from drainage pipes that flow directly into to the Mississippi Sound. Nitrogen stable isotopes were used to trace the stormwater nitrogen to the surface waters and biota within the Sound.

The objective of this study was to …

The Effects Of Age, Gender, And Gender Role Ideology On Adolescents' Social Perspective-Taking Ability And Tendency, Kaitlin M. Flannery

Master's Theses

The current research examined gender and age differences in adolescents’ social perspective-taking (SPT), or the social-cognitive ability to infer another person’s thoughts and feelings. This study aimed to demonstrate that SPT Ability and SPT Tendency are distinct constructs that should be considered separately. The influence of youths’ gender role ideologies on SPT also was considered. In a sample of adolescents ranging from ages 12 to 17 (N=158), participants reported their tendency to take the perspective of a specific same-age, same-gender friend, and also were assessed in their ability to use SPT in a hypothetical context. The results indicated …

Contrasting Leaf Shapes Vary In Extent Of Solar Tracking: Revisiting Darwin's "Service To The Plant", Kerri Mocko

Master's Theses

1. Solar tracking affects leaf temperature through the amount of direct light intercepting the lamina. However, leaf shape also affects leaf temperature due to heat transfer across boundary layers, and no studies have addressed the effect of leaf shape on solar tracking and leaf temperatures in the field.
2. We compare solar tracking, leaf temperatures, photosynthetic rates and leaf longevity in two co-occurring species with contrasting leaf morphologies: Pelargonium lobatum has a large, shallowly lobed leaf and P. triste has a highly dissected leaf composed of many small leaflets.
3. Pelargonium triste tracked the sun more closely than P. lobatum, although P. …

Differences In Parental Spoken Language Input, Gesture, And Emotional Sensitivity Between Hearing Parents Of Deaf Children And Hearing Parents Of Hearing Children, Molly A. Nowels

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Quantifying Tissue Densities In Cone Beam Computed Tomography Utilizing Pixel Intensity Values, Meredith Brownlee

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Fault Detection In Railway Track Using Piezoelectric Impedance, Matthew D. Cremins

Master's Theses

In this thesis, piezoelectric transducers are incorporated in an impedance-based damage detection approach for railway track health monitoring. The impedance-based damage detection approach utilizes the direct relationship between the mechanical impedance of the track and electrical impedance of the piezoelectric transducer bonded. The effect of damage is shown in the change of a healthy impedance curve to an altered, damaged curve. Using a normalized relative difference outlier analysis, the occurrences of various damages on the track are determined. Furthermore, the integration of inductive circuitry with the piezoelectric transducer is found to be able to considerably increase overall damage detection sensitivity.

The Relationship Between Trauma, Internalized Hiv Stigma, Social Support, And Sexual Risk Behavior Among Hiv-Positive Men Who Have Sex With Men Who Seek Sex Partners Online, Kaylee E. Burnham

Master's Theses

Men who have sex with men (MSM) remain the highest risk group for HIV infection. One reason suggested for the increase in incidence in recent years, despite knowledge about HIV prevention, is the use of the Internet to meet potential sex partners. Meeting sex partners online has been associated with greater sexual risk behavior. To date, few studies have investigated psychosocial predictors of sexual risk behavior among men seeking sex partners online. The purpose of the current study was to investigate the relationships between trauma symptoms, internalized HIV stigma, and social support on sexual risk behavior among MSM who seek …

The Effectiveness Of Tipback Mechanics For Correction Of Class Ii Malocclusion, Nandakumar Janakiraman

Master's Theses

Objective: The objective of this prospective study was to quantify the maxillary incisor and first molar changes and further, evaluate the Class II correction with tipback mechanics.

Methods: Lateral cephalograms of 16 adolescents (7 males, 9 females) taken at T1 (pre-tipback), T2 (after tipback) and T3 (after molar root uprighting) were evaluated. Average age of study subjects was 12.63 + 1.1 years. Wilcoxon signed rank test was performed to test the significance at T1, T2 and T3. P-value of

Results: The maxillary first molar distalized by 1.53mm with 6.65 degrees of distal tipping and extrusion of 0.86mm …