Digital Commons Network^™

Defining The Potential Of Gene Therapy With Bone Morphogenetic Proteins As A Novel Therapeutic Approach In Parkinson’S Disease, Susan Rebecca Goulding

Theses

Parkinson’s disease is a neurodegenerative disorder, characterised by the progressive degeneration of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, and the intracellular aggregation of the α-synuclein protein in neurons throughout the nervous system. These changes result in the characteristic motor impairments in Parkinson’s disease. Current treatments are solely symptomatic and therefore there is an unmet clinical need to develop new disease-modifying therapies that can alter disease progression. For over 25 years, one proposed experimental therapy has focused on the delivery of proteins called neurotrophic factors to the brain to prevent dopaminergic neuron degeneration. However, to date, clinical trials using the most well-known neurotrophic factors …

Development Of Analytical Methods For The Determination Of Β-Lactam Antibiotic Residues In Meat, Milk And Dairy Products, Melissa Di Rocco

Theses

In this project, analytical methodologies for the determination of β-lactam antibiotic residues in meat and dairy products were developed and validated using ultra-high performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry (UHPLC-MS/MS). The methods included the main penicillins, cephalosporins and carbapenems commonly employed in human or veterinary medicine for the treatment of bacterial infections. A multi-residue method for the analysis of 30 β-lactams was developed and validated in bovine muscle using dispersive-solid phase extraction (d-SPE), reversed-phase chromatography and mass spectrometry detection. A number of sorbent materials were assessed for clean-up, and a simple and straightforward sample preparation protocol developed for …

Investigating The Antioxidant, Immunomodulatory And Anti-Obesogenic Propertiesof Novel Bsg-Derived Extracts And Their Potential As Ingredients In Functional Foods For Older Adults, Suzanne O Brien

Theses

Brewer’s Spent Grain (BSG) represents a substantial waste product of the brewing industry, with 39 million tonnes generated globally every year. To date the primary use of BSG is as animal feed but there is significant interest in identifying alternative uses for this agro-industry by-product. BSG is rich in protein and fibre and is known to contain health-promoting bioactive compounds, thus one application would be in the area of functional foods. People are living longer and as the older adult population continues to increase globally so too is the prevalence of age-related chronic conditions. Diet plays an essential role in …

Optimisation Of Grass Measurement Technologies Through Field Experimentation And Numerical Simulation Methods, Darren Joseph Murphy

Theses

Maximising pasture utilisation through optimal grassland management is vital in terms of ensuring the economic sustainability and mitigating the environmental impact of both Irish and global pasture-based livestock production. Frequent and accurate measurement of grass quantity and quality is one of the main methods of maximising grass production and utilisation on pasture-based farms. The most prominent grass measurement tool used on Irish pasture is the rising plate meter (RPM), however, there are a range of issues with this method including operator bias, precision and difficulties in accounting for spatial variation. Currently, there is no definitive protocol for grass measurement which …

Predicting Carcass Cut Yields In Cattle From Digitalimages Using Artificial Intelligence, Darragh Matthews

Theses

Beef carcass classification in Europe is predicated on the EUROP grid for both fatness and conformation. Although this system performs well for grouping visually similar carcasses, it cannot be used to accurately predict meat yields from these groups, especially when considered on an individual cut level. Deep Learning (DL) has proven to be a successful tool for many image classification problems but has yet to be fully proven in a regression scenario using carcass images. Here we have trained DL models to predict carcass cut yields and compared predictions to more standard machine learning (ML) methods. Three approaches were undertaken …

Prejudice And Participation - An Investigation Into Challenges Surrounding Access To Early Childhood Care And Education For Children From The Traveller Community In Ireland, Denise Baker

Theses

Travellers are a distinct cultural group, gaining ethnicity in March 2017 but who have traditionally experienced educational disadvantage (Pavee Point, 2018). This study examines the challenges that Traveller children encounter in accessing the Early Childhood Care and Education scheme (DCYA, 2019) in Ireland. Early Childhood Care and Education (ECCE) is widely acknowledged as having a positive impact on children’s holistic development, school success and later outcomes (Boyce et al, 2018; OECD, 2018, NCCA, 2009). This study is underpinned by the bio-ecological systems theory (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 2007), which considers the child as a construct of their immediate surroundings and the …

The Role And Mechanism Of Cytochrome P450 1b1 On The Development Of Atherosclerosis; Producing The Animation For Visual Communication And Education., Joon Yeol Ryu

Theses

A large number of people are suffering from cardiovascular disease and losing their lives because of it. Atherosclerosis, a classic example of cardiovascular disease, is related to cytochrome p450 1B1 and other molecules in the development of the disease. Educational materials for patients and students on this topic are expected.

Advantage, role and effectiveness of three-dimensional (3D) animation as a communication tool in biomedical science research and education have been proved. Therefore, 3D animation is a suitable medium to create visual material for atherosclerosis and related subject.

Autodesk Maya 3D computer graphics software used for animation from modeling to animating …

Automatic Pain Assessment Through Facial Expressions, Ilham Seladji

Theses

Pain is a strong symptom of diseases. Being an involuntary unpleasant feeling, it can be considered as a reliable indicator of health issues. Pain has always been expressed verbally, but in some cases, traditional patient self-reporting is not efficient. On one side, there are patients who have neurological disorders and cannot express themselves accurately, as well as patients who suddenly lose consciousness due to an abrupt faintness. On another side, medical staff working in crowded hospitals need to focus on emergencies and would opt for the automation of the task of looking after hospitalized patients during their entire stay, in …

Impact Of Professional Sports’ Twitter Content On Their Fans, Gianna Sarkis

Theses

Professional sports organizations have begun to utilize social media to create an online community for fans. These organizations have partnered with companies to create monetary value for the team and the companies, which has led sponsorship from traditional advertising in the arena or venue of the professional sports organization to their team’s Twitter account. I investigated how fans of the professional sports organization recognized sponsored content on the organizations' Twitter pages concerning the Communication Theory of Identity (CTI). I then compared the sponsored and organic contents' interaction rates to see if there were similarities or differences between those rates. The …

Fda Regulation Impact On Early Stage Medical Device Innovation In Academia, Keyana Fariello

Theses

The commercialization of medical products at the university level is a multilayered and challenging process. One barrier to commercialization is the difficulty of meeting Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulatory requirements. Regulations and standards are undoubtedly necessary to maintain the highest product safety levels, but it creates many obstacles. This paper will analyze how researchers involved with early-stage medical device innovation in a university setting deal with FDA compliance issues and the implications of this engagement for innovation. I conducted an exploratory case study of ten medical product development projects at the Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT). Overall, I found …

Bringing Batavia Armory Building Back To Life – Community Center Adaptive Reuse Design, Jiangcheng Li

Theses

Built in 1963 and situated on a 4.6-acre lot in the City of Batavia, the Batavia Armory once housed tank battalions A and B of the Genesee National Guard, but has now remained vacant for decades. Instead of demolishing the armory buildings, providing them with a new role could alleviate the environmental impact, reduce construction time, and lower the cost of investment. At the same time, new features could be brought into the existing building from aesthetic and functional perspectives, and be beneficial to the community. Currently, we are facing the COVID-19 pandemic, and the virus impacts our lives and …

Exposure To Pesticides And Hepatocellular Carcinoma (Hcc) Risk In And Around Monroe County, Ny, Theodros Woldeyohannes

Theses

The impact of long-term exposure and persistence of pesticides in the environment on human biology is not completely understood. With the proliferation of pesticide application technologies, there have been documented associations between exposure to every major functional group of pesticide and adverse health effects in humans such as cancer and neurological disease. Of observed pesticide-induced cancer health-risks, hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has shown some of the most significant associations. Epidemiological study is complex, especially when examining pesticide health risks. It is difficult to understand the significance behind interactions between the large list of pesticide compounds, external environmental factors, and biological variables. …

Functional Investigations Of Proteins And Enzymatic Toxins From Full-Length-Enriched Cdna Of Timber Rattlesnake (Crotalus Horridus), Joshua Osula

Theses

Snake Venom is a highly modified form of saliva, contains hundreds of zootoxins, necrotoxins, cytotoxins, neurotoxins, and mytotoxins, all of which are primarily made up of mostly proteins, polypeptides, and other components such as enzymes, lipids, and carbohydrates. Although snake venom is known for its harmful effects, it has also had a positive impact in scientific discovery and medicine. Some toxins from snakes function to inhibit pain, and this means they can be very effective analgesics. For instance, crotalphine is considered a 14-amino-acid-peptide that has a disulfide bond and shows analgesic properties through TRPA1 desensitization. This …

Effects Of Eye Imagery On Criminal Justice And Forensic Students Cheating In Online Testing, Kortni Larue

Theses

Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) is a well-established subsection of environmental criminology in which aspects of the environment are altered in order to prevent crimes before they happen. This is primarily accomplished in two ways: physical and psychological. CPTED strategies often utilize both in order to prevent crime, but there is a lack of primarily psychologically based research in circulation. This includes the manipulation of the biopsychological response to gaze detection in order to increase prosocial behavior. Additionally, there is a lack of studies indicating if CPTED strategies are effective in a classroom setting and even less concerning online …

Freedom Of The Light, Kyle R. Padden

Theses

Freedom of the Light is a feature length script that follows the heir to a highly religious kingdom on her journey of self discovery and revelation. Amalye Alsean has spent her entire life in the isolationist kingdom of Caelios, being told that the other inhabitants of the continent are merciless barbaric savages. It is only when she defies her father and experiences the continent herself that she is able to see the lies she has been fed. With her newfound power and knowledge, she must confront her father and enlighten her people. The script explores the relationships between father and …

Finding A Wells Way: Using Sustainability Metrics To Determine Best Practices For Relocating Wells Barns, Sara P. Hall

Theses

Serving as a visual representation of a different time and place, barns and agricultural architecture across America have both historical and cultural values that are imitable. Evoking a strong sense of nostalgia and simplicity, barns are an often-overlooked architectural typology worth preserving. Native to Western New York, historical Wells style barns have served as an iconic agricultural symbol since the late 1800s. As the means and methods of agriculture change with technological development, more and more of these exemplary structures are becoming neglected and obsolete. Typically located in remote, rural areas, this thesis looks to determine alternate, sustainable options in …

The Closet, Renee Levasseur

Theses

The story begins with Sophie, the main character, waking up to find her house completely empty. There is no food and her parents are nowhere to be found. She opens all the doors in the house except one the closet at the end of the hallway. Stepping outside, she finds her town to be likewise abandoned, but largely untouched, for mysterious reasons. Her fear growing, Sophie runs down the street, hoping to find someone, anyone, who can help her.

But there is no one, and when she turns the corner, she finds herself back on the same street as her …

Metarec: Meta-Learning Meets Recommendation Systems, James Le

Theses

Artificial neural networks (ANNs) have recently received increasing attention as powerful modeling tools to improve the performance of recommendation systems. Meta-learning, on the other hand, is a paradigm that has re-surged in popularity within the broader machine learning community over the past several years. In this thesis, we will explore the intersection of these two domains and work on developing methods for integrating meta-learning to design more accurate and flexible recommendation systems.

In the present work, we propose a meta-learning framework for the design of collaborative filtering methods in recommendation systems, drawing from ideas, models, and solutions from modern approaches …

The Role Of Ai & Big Data In Habit Formation, Jingyu Cao

Theses

Forming habits are not easy for everyone. It requires professional methods and strong perseverance, which people usually feel hard to do by themself. However, people are eager to form good habits to have a better life.

This study aims to determine how AI & big data could help people to form habits. There are many applications on the market that already use this method to study user behavior in order to provide better service. My research has focused on how to conduct the personal plan and its effects on the action.

In this context, Marvelous is defined as the AI …

Dysphoria Ballet: A Morning Routine, Andrew Sonntag

Theses

Dysphoria Ballet is a short, stop-motion film that portrays the internal morning routine of a particular trans woman. It is based on a series of interviews with a woman early in transition, and is what I consider to be a deconstruction, compression, and expressionist interpretation of these interviews. It was made with her enthusiastic support and approval. In this way, it might be considered a kind of animated documentary, but it is deconstructed to the point of ultimately being shown as a kind of “experimental-narrative” dance film. It is motivated by an exploration and validation of using performative expression as …

Video-Based Iris Feature Extraction And Matching Using Deep Learning, Anisia Jabin

Theses

This research is initiated to enhance the video-based eye tracker’s performance to detect small eye movements.[1] Chaudhary and Pelz, 2019, created an excellent foundation on their motion tracking of iris features to detect small eye movements[1], where they successfully used the classical handcrafted feature extraction methods like Scale InvariantFeature Transform (SIFT) to match the features on iris image frames. They extracted features from the eye-tracking videos and then used patent [2] an approach of tracking the geometric median of the distribution. This patent [2] excludes outliers, and the velocity is approximated by scaling by the sampling rate. To detect the …

Algal Wrack Community Composition And Succession On A Sandy Beach In San Diego, Ca, Marisol Palomares

Theses

Sandy beaches are high-energy impact zones that produce little to no organic material. Much of the organic matter on beaches is washed up on shore in the form of algal wrack, providing a vital source of nutrients, food, and habitat for a variety of organisms on the sandy beach. Over time wrack will decay and decompose, releasing nutrients including nitrogen and phosphorus, which are consumed by benthic microalgae and bacteria. The type of wrack and geomorphology of the beach environments affect decomposition, which in turn supports a variety of different wrack associated macrofaunal communities. Different species of algal wrack will …

Native Activism And Materiality Through The Work Of Cannupa Hanska Luger: A 21st Century Indigenous Artist, Rachel Daniela Vera

Theses

This thesis focuses on a specific work by Cannupa Hanska Luger called This is Not a Snake. This project examines the materiality of the artwork, including beads, crochet, sewing, ceramics, and non-traditional materials. The materials used in this work address 21st-century indigenous issues while also promoting activism from the Water is Life movement, which is centered at Standing Rock Reservation, North Dakota. The materials of this work are relative to Luger’s 21st-century contemporary style. The use of repurposed heavily merchandized inorganic materials refers to the protests in Standing Rock. This is Not a Snake was inspired by these events, activism …

Exploring The Visual Arts With Rog: A Four-Part Series, Roger Heuberger

Theses

This project report addresses the research which led to the choice of content, formatting of curriculum, delivery system, and video conference management. The combined art appreciation and art history classes are innovative as they are built around high-interest key art events or movements instead of linear chronologies or systematic reviews of art elements. The research for this Thesis II project extended beyond art historical materials. The literature review and analysis additionally explored educational theories which could be adapted for use with the target audiences of 65+ aged seniors and lifelong learners. The original project submitted in mid-2019 was for in-class …

The Effect Of Deer Browse On Achyranthes Japonica, Nicholas R. Seaton

Theses

AN ABSTRACT OF THE THESIS OFNicholas Seaton, for the Master of Science degree in Plant Biology, presented on December 4, 2019 at Southern Illinois University Carbondale. TITLE: THE EFFECT OF DEER BROWSE ON ACHYRANTHES JAPONICAMAJOR PROFESSOR: Dr. David GibsonPlants respond in many ways to damage. These responses vary between sites depending on the severity and duration of the incident. One common form of damage in the forest understory is herbivory or browse. White tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus) have been observed to change the dominant species of forests by selectively browsing palatable species in the understory. These changes in species dominance …

Differentiating Between Invasive And Native Populations Of Bighead And Silver Carp Using Ms-Aflp, Erika Renee Sarvela

Theses

When a species is introduced outside their native range, the genetic diversity of the introduced population is generally decreased due to the founder effect, and the fitness of individuals in the introduced population may decrease due to inbreeding depression. Invasive species are a paradox to this paradigm because while the initial population size of an invasive species may be small in their non-native range, the individuals are able to survive, eat, and reproduce so successfully, that they have deleterious effects on native species. One mechanism that invasive species use to overcome a lack of genetic diversity and adapt to their …

An Examination Of Meat Consumption As A Pro-Environmental Behavior And Its Weak Correlation To Delay Discounting, Sarah Parkinson

Theses

This study presented meat consumption as an environmentally relevant behavior (ERB) and examined how the delay to an environmental loss might affect peoples’ decisions to eat meat. Participants completed a delay discounting survey where they selected what percentage of meat they would eliminate from their diet based on varying delays to rising sea levels flooding of their neighborhood. After watching a brief educational video, participants completed the survey a second time to examine whether the video had any influence on discounting rates in the post-survey. Participants also completed the 27-Item Monetary Choice Questionnaire (MCQ; Kirby & Marakovic, 1996) in order …

The Effect Of Nutritional Programming On Gut Microbiota In Broodstock And Progeny Fish, Samuel Patula

Theses

Aquaculture is currently the fastest growing animal production sector. Because the aquaculture sector is growing at rapid rates, certain materials for feed, specifically marine protein sources, are becoming increasingly expensive and unsustainable. To counteract the reliance on fishmeal (FM) and other marine protein sources in the industry plant protein (PP), specifically soybean meal (SBM), has been investigated to replace FM as a protein source. Unfortunately, SBM when given in high quantities (greater than 30%) has been shown to negatively affect fish performance including retarded growth, intestinal inflammation, reduction of spawn quality, as well as dysbiosis in the gut microbiome, most …

Environmental Effects Of Coronavirus Pandemic: Analysis And Prediction Of Global Air Pollution Levels, Nouf Saif Alhmoudi

Theses

The Covid-19 pandemic started last semester when I was starting on my proposal. At that time, the pandemic lockdowns were at their peak levels with strict restrictions against movements. This was the case in most countries across the world. The effect this had on the air pollution was immediately felt. There were negligible amount of flights and road traffic had also significantly reduced. This led to an amazing clearing of the skies of pollution. For the first time in years, the Himalayan mountains could be seen, and many cities saw their smog and blanket of air pollution disappear. At that …

We Eat, Maliheh Rahrovan

Theses

We Eat is an animated short film showing the struggles of a survivor living in an apocalyptic world within a cruise ship that holds the last of humanity, most of whom are wealthy, opulent, greedy people. We follow the protagonist on her journey through the ship as she attempts to save a single baby calf. The inhabitants on the ship are obese, obsessed with consumption, and all are wearing animal masks that cover their eyes. Justine, the protagonist, frightened as she slips from a room, closes an unseen item in her luggage case, and begins to flee the hungry passenger …