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Weak Scattering Of Scalar And Electromagnetic Random Fields, Zhisong Tong

Open Access Dissertations

This dissertation encompasses several studies relating to the theory of weak potential scattering of scalar and electromagnetic random, wide-sense statistically stationary fields from various types of deterministic or random linear media. The proposed theory is largely based on the first Born approximation for potential scattering and on the angular spectrum representation of fields. The main focus of the scalar counterpart of the theory is made on calculation of the second-order statistics of scattered light fields in cases when the scattering medium consists of several types of discrete particles with deterministic or random potentials. It is shown that the knowledge of …

Mechanobiology Of The Intervertebral Disc: Influences Of Static And Dynamic Compressions On Energy Metabolism, Chong Wang

Open Access Dissertations

Low back pain (LBP) is the leading reason for people to miss work and chief complaint of 5% people who visit doctors. Although it has a high impact in society, the causes of LBP cannot always be clarified. However, intervertebral disc (IVD) degeneration has been reported to be a possible leading source for LBP. Since IVD is the biggest avascular tissue in human body, nutrition supply plays very important role for IVD degeneration. IVDs are under mechanical load all the time in vivo, it is also been revealed by in vitro studies that mechanical loadings can alter cellular activities including …

A Study Of Microtubule Dipole Lattices, Shubhendu Nandi

Open Access Dissertations

Microtubules are cytoskeletal protein polymers orchestrating a host of important cellular functions including, but not limited to, cell support, cell division, cell motility and cell transport. In this thesis, we construct a toy-model of the microtubule lattice composed of vector Ising spins representing tubulin molecules, the building block of microtubules. Nearest-neighbor and next-to-nearest neighbor interactions are considered within an anisotropic dielectric medium. As a consequence of the helical topology, we observe that certain spin orientations render the lattice frustrated with nearest neighbor ferroelectric and next-to-nearest neighbor antiferroelectric bonds. Under these conditions, the lattice displays the remarkable property of stabilizing certain …

Role Of The Wnt-Regulated Transcription Cofactor Lbh In Normal And Neoplastic Mammary Stem Cell Control, Linsey E. Lindley

Open Access Dissertations

Breast cancer (BC) is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in women. Aggressive basal-subtype BCs contribute disproportionally to the number of cancer deaths and have no molecular targeted therapies currently available. Limb-Bud and Heart (LBH) is a novel transcription co-factor in the WNT pathway with hither-to unknown physiological function and is aberrantly overexpressed in poorly differentiated basal-subtype BCs. Here we show that in normal mammary epithelium of postnatal mice, LBH is predominantly expressed in the mammary stem cell (MaSC)-enriched basal cell subpopulation. Upon conditional inactivation of LBH function, mice exhibited a pronounced delay in pubertal mammary gland outgrowth, reduced …

The Transcriptional Coactivation Function Of E6-Associated Protein In The Brain: Novel Insights Into The Pathobiology Of Angelman Syndrome, Jimmy El Hokayem

Open Access Dissertations

Angelman syndrome (AS) is a complex genetic disorder that affects the nervous system. AS affects an estimated 1 in 12,000 to 20,000 individuals. Characteristic features of AS includes developmental delay or intellectual disability, severe speech impairment, seizures, small head size (microcephaly), and problems with movement and balance (ataxia). AS individuals usually have microdeletion of the maternal copy of 15q11.2 -15q13 region of chromosome 15. The E6-associated protein, E6AP (an E3 ubiquitin protein ligase enzyme) gene, UBE3A is located in this region and it has been shown that deregulation of E6AP gives rise to AS and neuropathology of autism spectrum disorders …

Effects Of Ocean Acidification On The Early Life History Of Two Pelagic Tropical Fish Species, Cobia (Rachycentron Canadum) And Mahi-Mahi (Coryphaena Hippurus), Sean G. T. Bignami

Open Access Dissertations

Ocean acidification is of particular concern for vulnerable larval stages or marine organisms that are critical to population replenishment and connectivity. In fishes, the existing body of ocean acidification research has focused mostly on small demersal species, which may be more resistant to acidification than less well-studied offshore pelagic species. A better understanding of the effects of ocean acidification on these understudied species requires examination of biological factors that influence larval ability to successfully survive, navigate, and recruit to adult populations. This dissertation reports a series of studies researching the impact of ocean acidification on the larval stages of two …

Peptide Template Effects On The Synthesis And Reactivity Of Metal Nanoparticle Networks, Rohit Bhandari

Open Access Dissertations

A bio-templated approach for the synthesis of multiple inorganic materials has been presented that correlates with the role of a 3-dimensional peptide template in controlling the overall reactivity of the fabricated materials for a variety of chemical reactions. The role of self-assembling R5 peptide for the formation of metallic nanoparticles including Pd, Au and Pt has been described. The materials were fully characterized using UV-vis spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering analysis, transmission electron microscopy and powder-X ray diffraction analysis. Also, the materials were employed as efficient catalysts for the Stille coupling reaction, 4-nitrophenol reduction as well as olefin hydrogenation reactions. These …

A Biographical Overview Of Pianist-Pedagogue Alexander Siloti And His Revision Of Liszt’S Piano Concerto No. 2, Noppawan Tantikarn

Open Access Dissertations

The theme of this paper concerns the life and times of Alexander Siloti—a leading Russian pianist and pedagogue of the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century. The paper also discusses Siloti’s revisions of Franz Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2. The first chapter is a brief biography of Alexander Siloti (1863-1945). The second comprises details of his musical background, influential teachers who affected his life, and his contributions to the great composers of his era. The third chapter is a comparison of Liszt’s Piano Concerto No. 2, published by B. Schott and Siloti’s manuscript of the concerto. This essay also deals with his …

Computational Modeling And Inference Of Alternative Splicing Regulation., Ji Wen

Open Access Dissertations

Alternative splicing of precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) provides an important means of regulating gene expression and generating transcriptomic and proteomic diversity in most eukaryotes. A number of special proteins, named splicing factors, can regulate the alternative splicing process by binding to certain short subsequences on pre-mRNA, named splicing regulatory elements (SREs). Therefore, identification of these SREs and prediction of their combinatorial effects are very important to the understanding of the mechanisms that regulate splicing. In this dissertation, we develop two methods for identifying SREs and their interactions. In the first method, we use the traditional enrichment-based approach, which identifies SREs by …

Analysis Of Long-Term Borehole And Seafloor Pressure Data Recorded By The Subseafloor Observatories In Middle Valley, Northern Juan De Fuca Ridge, Katherine E. Inderbitzen

Open Access Dissertations

Pressure data recorded by long-term subseafloor observatories (CORKs) are a useful tool for understanding the state of the crustal hydrologic system. In Middle Valley, a sedimented rift at the northern end of the Juan de Fuca Ridge, thickly sedimented basaltic crust hosts an array of hydrologic regimes that have been monitored continuously by two CORKs since 1996. This dissertation analyzes both recent trends in borehole and seafloor pressures, as well as several older datasets, in concert with local seismicity, physical properties of the crust, and hydrothermal circulation in an effort to understand the region’s ongoing dynamic eruptive cycle and hydrogeologic …

Elucidation Of Peptide Sequence Effects That Control The Activity, Size, And Function Of Nanoparticles, Ryan Coppage

Open Access Dissertations

Bio-inspired nanoparticle catalysis offers the opportunity to improve on current catalytic standards with respect to turnover efficiency, organic solvent use, and thermal activation. Unfortunately, projected energy demands will soon outweigh our fuel supplies. The task of creating multifunctional catalysts that both lower thermal activation and possess a number of functions in aqueous conditions is daunting. Similar to these needs, nature has evolved to create a wide range of highly specialized catalytic processes, which incorporate inorganic materials, take place in ambient temperatures, and in an aqueous environment. These specialized biological systems provide inspiration, but are not applicable to current needs. Exploitation …

Effect Of A Curricular And Professional Development Intervention On Elementary Teachers’ Science Content Knowledge, Brandon S. Diamond

Open Access Dissertations

Teacher science content knowledge (SCK) is an important but rarely studied construct. The study examined two research questions using two measures of SCK (i.e., knowledge test and questionnaire) in order to explore changes in SCK over time and to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention at improving SCK as compared to the control group of teachers who did not receive the intervention: (1) Did participation in two years of the study have additional benefits over one year of participation? and (2) Did teacher background variables and treatment group (treatment vs. control) predict teacher SCK at the start of the intervention …

The Negative Regulation Of The Antiviral Signaling Pathway, Soratree Charoenthongtrakul

Open Access Dissertations

A key feature of the innate antiviral immune response is a rapid nonspecific response to virus infection largely mediated by the induction and extracellular secretion of type I interferons (IFNs) that restrict virus replication. Cytoplasmic sensors such as RIG-I recognize viral RNA and trigger antiviral signaling pathways that upregulate IFN transcription. However, it remains largely unknown how antiviral signaling is negatively regulated to maintain homeostasis after the elimination of virus. We have identified the RING domain-containing protein RING finger 11 (RNF11) as a novel negative regulator of innate antiviral signaling. Overexpression of RNF11 downregulated IFN-β expression and enhanced viral replication …

Moral Emotions In Nonhuman Animals, Daniel A. Hampikian

Open Access Dissertations

I defend the view that some nonhuman animals can be morally motivated by empathic emotions. First, I argue that we are justified in ascribing to some animals phenomenal consciousness, the conceptual capacities to represent values and intentional objects, and the relevant behavioral and physiological similarities to human emotional states. Subsequently, I argue for a model of basic emotions that I call the Awareness of Physiological Vehicles (APV) account. According to the APV account, an animal’s emotion is best thought of as a focal awareness of an intentional object and a peripheral awareness of sensations of physiological states as indicators of …

Responses Of Stress-Tolerant Corals To Ocean Acidification, Remy R. Okazaki

Open Access Dissertations

Increased atmospheric pCO2 is expected to reduce coral calcification through increased temperatures (global warming) and decreased pH (ocean acidification). Two species of corals found in Florida Bay, Solenastrea hyades and Siderastrea radians, exhibit high stress tolerance, persisting in an environment where seasonal swings in temperature and salinity often exceed tolerance limits for most other species of coral. The persistence of these two species in this marginal environment may provide insights into mechanisms of resilience to climate change stress. In other words, does tolerance to broad swings in physical environmental parameters also convey a tolerance to swings in the carbonate chemistry …

Cloning, Expression, And Functional Characterization Of Tl1a-Ig, Samia Q. Khan

Open Access Dissertations

TNFRSF25, a member of the TNF receptor superfamily, is a type I transmembrane protein that has a cytoplasmic death domain. TNFRSF25 is expressed primarily by T lymphocytes, including CD4+, CD8+, and NKT cells and is efficiently upregulated after T cell stimulation. The natural ligand for TNFRSF25, TL1A, is a type II transmembrane protein can be subsequently cleaved as a soluble trimeric protein by a member of metalloproteases. Our lab previously reported that TNFRSF25 stimulation using an agonist antibody, 4C12, expands pre-existing CD4+FoxP3+ Tregs in vivo. To determine how the physiological ligand differs from the antibody, we generated the soluble mouse …

Old Age Imposes Selection Of Precursor B Cells By A Surrogate Light Chain Dependent Mechanism, Michelle Ratliff

Open Access Dissertations

Senescent mice show diminished B lymphopoiesis as well as alterations in mature B cell compartments. Within both spleen and bone marrow (BM), aged mice show ~5-10 fold increases in "age associated B cells (ABC)", which is a normally minor mature B cell subset that lacks surface expression of CD21/35 and CD23. This population, through senescence acquired secretion of TNF-alpha, can induce apoptosis in pro-B cells directly, as well as indirectly through the bone marrow. Adoptive transfer experiments suggest ABC contribute to a pro-inflammatory environment within the bone marrow of aged mice. Old FO and FO-like BM B cells produce TNFà …

Retinal Ganglion Cell Differentiation And Transplantation, Jonathan Hertz

Open Access Dissertations

Adult central nervous system (CNS) neurons fail to regenerate following injury, and there is no repair or replacement of cells lost after injury or in neurodegenerative diseases. There is much interest in transplanting stem cell-derived neurons into the injured nervous system and enhancing the differentiation of donor cells into mature, integrated and functional neurons. Little is known, however, about what signals control the differentiation and integration of neurons, either during development or in the adult. Generating appropriate types of donor neurons from stem cells has been challenging because the signals that regulate neural subtype-specific fates are largely unknown. Therefore, it …

Regulation Of Hemolysin Gene Expression And The Effects Of Metabolism Mutations On The Virulence Of Vibrio Anguillarum, Xiangyu Mou

Open Access Dissertations

Vibrio anguillarum is the causative agent of vibriosis, a fatal hemorrhagic septicemic disease. V. anguillarum infects more than 50 fresh and salt-water fish species including various species of economic importance to the larviculture and aquaculture industry. In vibriosis, V. anguillarum invades its host fish through the intestine and skin. Infected fish usually die with systemic infection of V. anguillarum. Bacterial hemolysins are exotoxins that cause lysis of erythrocytes in the host and thus the release of the intracellular heme, and are therefore identified as important virulence factors. Moreover, hemolysins are known to also cause lysis in other cell types, …

Effects Of Ciona Intestinalis Distal-Less-B Nonexpression And Overexpression On Phenotype And Downstream Targets, Matthew David Blanchette

Open Access Dissertations

Ciona intestinalis can serve as a useful model for developmental studies in the chordate lineage due to its basal position in the chordate phylogeny. It shows a simplified chordate body plan during its development, during which important genetic pathways are conserved with vertebrates, and its developmental gene regulation can be manipulated through the insertion of transgenic DNA by electroporation. The Distalless (Dll) genes are a family of homeobox genes in chordates that are homologous to the single Dll gene of other metazoan animal groups and code for developmental factors that play a role in determining multiple developmental cell fates. These …

On Design And Implementation Of An Embedded System For Neural-Machine Interface For Artificial Legs, Xiaorong Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

According to limb loss statistics, there are over one million leg amputees in the US whose lives are severely impacted by their conditions. In order to improve the quality of life of patients with leg amputations, neural activities have been studied by many researchers for intuitive prosthesis control. The neural signals collected from muscles are electromyographic (EMG) signals, which represent neuromuscular activities and are effective bioelectrical signals for expressing movement intent. EMG pattern recognition (PR) is a widely used method for characterizing EMG signals and classifying movement intent. The key to the success of neural-controlled artificial limbs is the neural-machine …

Assessment Of Mammal Biodiversity In Coffee-Dominated Landscapes Of India And Costa Rica, Stephanie Amanda Caudill

Open Access Dissertations

The fate of many tropical wildlife species depends on the way in which human-dominated landscapes are managed. Conservation strategies that incorporate agricultural landscapes are imperative for the survival of native fauna. Coffee is a major cash crop worldwide and is grown in tropical regions of the world that are often designated as biodiversity hotspots. Shade coffee, an agroforestry system in which coffee is grown under the shade of intentionally managed and/or native tree cover, has shown promise to provide habitat and support the diversity of bird, bat, and insect communities, but few studies have focused on non-volant mammals living in …

Ultra-Low Power Pll Design And Jitter Anaylsis, Fu Luo

Open Access Dissertations

This thesis presents the design of ultra-low power Phase-Locked Loops (PLLs) intended for applications in the extended audio range. The PLL is well suited for battery operated systems, where small size and low power operation are crucially important. The two implementations presented are based on current controlled relaxation oscillator and a ring oscillator intended for the same frequency range. The frequency is controlled by a current that can vary from 2 to 74 nA. Using a reference frequency of ¼ of the typical watch crystal frequency, the user can select any integer multiple of 8.192 kHz up to the maximum …

Sustaining Environmental Flows In Southern New England Rivers: Effects Of Watreshed Factors And Land Use, Alisa Morrison

Open Access Dissertations

Rivers and river systems serve as conduits for nutrients and organisms, function as corridors for fish and wildlife passage, and provide resources for humans. Streamflow has been called the master variable in a river because it affects habitat diversity and availability through its impact on physical factors that influence habitat quality. However, land use changes such as urbanization and irrigation, can have major effects on stream hydrology. Modifications of the land surface due to urbanization alters natural stream hydrographs by increasing flood peaks, decreasing time to peak flows, and causing higher runoff velocities. Irrigation may produce the opposite effects.

In …

The Development And Validation Of The Family Experiences With Autism Spectrum Disorders (Feasd) Scale, Adam Moore

Open Access Dissertations

Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) impacts 1 in 50 children in the United States (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2013). This striking increase in the number of children with ASD affects families in a variety of ways.

The purpose of this study was to develop and validate a scale that measured the experiences of families of children with ASD in schools, health care settings, and in their families/communities. Family-centered care (American Academy of Pediatrics, 2003) principles were used to create the items in the scale. In addition to determining the psychometric properties of the scale, the second purpose of …

Responses Of Nitrogen Cycling To Nutrient Enrichment In New England Salt Marshes Over An Annual Cycle, Leanna Ruth Heffner

Open Access Dissertations

The excessive input of anthropogenic nutrients to coastal waters has impacted estuarine ecosystems worldwide, resulting in low oxygen conditions, increases in the severity and frequency of nuisance and harmful algal blooms, the loss of submerged aquatic vegetation, and changes to community diversity and structure. Salt marshes are ecologically important estuarine ecosystems that provide habitat for marine and terrestrial species, provide protection from storm surge, and transform nutrients at high rates. Because of these qualities there is much interest from scientific and management communities to understand the impacts of nutrient enrichment on salt marshes, as well as the potential for marshes …

Study Of Glycation And Advanced Glycation On A Humanized Monoclonal Antibody, Hong Liu

Open Access Dissertations

In the presented work, we reviewed the protein glycation effect on recombinant monoclonal antibodies (MAbs), and demonstrated an in vitro glycation model on rhuMAb A was a successful tool to evaluate site-specific glycation. We also implemented this model to study MAb glycation in three aspects: the formation of glycation, the change of glycation adducts under thermal stress, and the control of glycation adducts stability by formulation compositions.

A protein characterization study demonstrated that the in vitro forced glycation model generated seven glycated amino acid sites on rhuMAb A. The lysine residue K49 was the preferably site, while others sites were …

Simulating Land Use Land Cover Change Using Data Mining And Machine Learning Algorithms, Amin Tayyebi

Open Access Dissertations

The objectives of this dissertation are to: (1) review the breadth and depth of land use land cover (LUCC) issues that are being addressed by the land change science community by discussing how an existing model, Purdue's Land Transformation Model (LTM), has been used to better understand these very important issues; (2) summarize the current state-of-the-art in LUCC modeling in an attempt to provide a context for the advances in LUCC modeling presented here; (3) use a variety of statistical, data mining and machine learning algorithms to model single LUCC transitions in diverse regions of the world (e.g. United States …

The Role Of Rumination, Negative Affect, And Fitness On Cardiac Rehabilitation Program Outcomes Following A Discrete Cardiac Event, Nathaniel Jay Deyoung

Open Access Dissertations

Individuals with cardiovascular disease are at an increased risk for anxiety, depression, stress, and other negative cognitive processes. Following a cardiovascular event such as a myocardial infarction or open heart surgery, cardiac rehabilitation (CR) can have large physical and psychological benefits. This study investigates the role of depression, anxiety, and rumination on CR outcomes including program completion and fitness improvements. Fifty-one patients with cardiovascular disease who were enrolled in CR were tracked over the course of their treatment. Objective fitness testing was completed prior to and after CR program completion. Self-reported psychological, health, and fitness data were gathered at weeks …

Interactional Analysis Of Emergent Risks In Institutionally Diverse Construction Projects, Nader Naderpajouh

Open Access Dissertations

Naderpajouh, Nader Ph.D., Purdue University, December 2013. Interactional Analysis of Emergent Risks in Institutionally Diverse Construction Projects. Major Professor: Makarand Hastak.

Construction projects, as complex systems of systems (SOS), increasingly involve institutionally diverse actors that escalate complexity of the projects. Examples of these actors include the export credit agencies, international organizations such as the World Bank, non-governmental organizations (NGO), regulatory actors, transnational organizations, as well as public and community groups. The observed surge in complexity of the projects aim to enhance their robustness in: i) sustaining the increasing demand for service of these projects, and ii) sustaining the contextual fluctuation …