Digital Commons Network^™

Effect Of Herbivory On The Growth And Competitive Ability Of Reed Canary Grass (Phalaris Arundinacea), Lisa A. Kratzer

Theses

Herbivory plays an important role in plant community structure in many ecosystems through preferential selection, plant regrowth, and seed transport. Phalaris arundinacea, reed canary grass, is a prevalent wetland invasive species consumed by geese, muskrats, and snails. We lack a clear understanding of how herbivory impacts P. arundinacea's invasion potential. Therefore, I sought to understand the effect of herbivory by generalist macrograzers and micrograzers on the competitive dominance of P. arundinacea in created wetlands, especially the degree to which herbivory alters the competitive relationship between P. arundinacea and Typha latifolia (broadleaf cattail). To address this enclosure/exclosure cages were constructed in …

Anatomically Realistic Structural Modeling Of The Cardiac Purkinje Network: A Basis For Studying Contributions Of The Conduction System To Ventricular Arrhythmias, Benjamin Liu

Theses

A cardiac arrhythmia is a potentially-lethal event in which the normally orderly electrical activity in the heart is disrupted -- it becomes disorganized and compromises effective contraction. To better understand arrhythmia dynamics to develop potential therapies and treatments, experimental, computational, and mathematical tools are required. Simulations of cardiac tissue provide valuable insight into the dynamics of life-threatening cardiac arrhythmias, and though much work has been done in this area, the role of the Purkinje network during ventricular arrhythmias has largely been ignored. The function of the Purkinje network is crucial to normal heart rhythm, so its inclusion into cardiac structural …

Role Of Myd88 Protein In The Maintenance Of Immunological Self-Tolerance: Induction Of Autoimmunity By Salmonella Infection Consequent To Myd88 Deficiency., Jincy Merin Issac

Theses

Activation of the innate immune system is a prerequisite for the induction of adaptive immune responses to both infectious and non-infectious agents. Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are a family of proteins important for recognizing pathogen associated molecular patterns. MyD88 is an adaptor molecule whose function is critical in TLR signaling. MyD88-deficient (MyD88^-/-) mice exhibit heightened susceptibility to infections, even by attenuated strains of Salmonella enterica serovar Typhimurium. Paradoxically, despite their hypersusceptibility, infected MyD88^-/- mice produce elevated serum levels of anti-Salmonella antibodies regardless of the route of infection. This hypergammaglobulinemia was observed with both Th1-driven (IgG2c and IgG3) …

An Evaluation Of The International Volunteer Programme At Hope Community Resources In Alaska, Aisling Sugrue

Theses

A review of the literature identified a theme of ambiguity regarding the phenomenon of volunteerism, regarding the definition, academic perspectives and volunteer’s motives. The review also identified the Volunteer Process Model (VPM, Omoto and Snyder, 1995) and the researcher utilised this model when designing the mixed methods questionnaire to evaluate the motivations, satisfaction and attitudes towards disability of Hope’s international volunteers, both current (n=13) and previous (n=85), and also the impact the volunteer programme has on the volunteer’s careers. The attitudes towards disability of participating staff and management were also evaluated and compared with the volunteers. The impact on Hope’s …

The Effects Of Elevated Co2 On The Growth And Water Conservation Potentials Of Medicago Sativa L. And Chloris Gayana K., Asma Khan Ahmadani

Theses

Atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO₂) concentrations have been increasing for many decades. The impact of such greenhouse gas has been reported to affect ecosystems at all levels. Elevated atmospheric CO₂ can affect the growth of plants and their response to water intake. But, different plants show different degrees of response depending on whether they have C₃ or C₄ photosynthetic pathway. The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of CO₂ enrichment on the growth and microbial activity of alfalfa (Medicago sativa) and Rhodes grass (Chloris gayana) and also its effect on the water …

Treatment Of Oil Sludge By Supercritical Water Oxidation (Scwo), Alia Ali Mubarak Busamra

Theses

The treatment and disposal of oil sludge represents major challenges for oil industries and municipalities. The oil sludge consumes high portion of oil industries' budget. Several destruction and conventional technologies such as incineration, landfill and biological treatment have been used to treat oil sludge. However, most of these technologies have not been commercially practical due to some limitations including efficiency, ease of operation and cost or not being friendly to the environment.

Supercritical Water Oxidation (SCWO) provides a powerful means to transform toxic organic materials into simple, relatively inert oxides. In this thesis, treatment of oil sludge by using SCWO …

Aerobic Biodegradation Of 2, 4 Dichlorophenol In A Spouted Bed Bio-Reactor (Sbbr), Taghreed Tahseen Al-Khalid

Theses

Chlorinated phenolic compounds represent a major class of hazardous pollutants commonly encountered in wastewater generated by the petroleum and petrochemical industries. In this regard, biological treatment, as an economical and green technology, has been shown to be one of the most promising approaches for the removal of many organic water pollutants such as chlorophenols. Under aerobic conditions, bacteria utilize chlorophenols as a source of carbon and energy. This study aimed at developing an integrated system for biodegradation of 2, 4 dichlorophenol (DCP) in a specially designed spouted bed bioreactor (SBBR), characterized by systematic intense mixing, resulting in enhanced biodegradation rates. …

Live In The Moment: The Essence Of Life, Ta-Wen Huang

Theses

I have thought about the essence of human life ever since I witnessed the impermanence of people's lives through a near-death experience I had when I was nineteen years old. Life is a given amount of time, space, and memory, and every person, event, and object in the universe is stored up in time, space, and memory. These three factors combine to create the unique experience, character, and life of each individual person.

A number of experts from different fields, as well as international celebrities, have publicly expressed various thoughts on life. However, most of their theories are explained with …

Development Of Srade Tool And Analysis Of Quality Scores Of The Reads Of Next-Generation Sequencing Data, Chaitanya Krishna Kotha

Theses

Capillary Electrophoresis (CE) based on Sanger sequencing has given the ability to extract and explain the genetic information among any given biological system. Even though it brought about a major breakthrough in the field of biology, it had limitations like speed, throughput, scaling and resolution that paved the way for the invention of new technology named as Next-Generation Sequencing (NGS). With the invention of NGS technology, there has been a lot of insight into the genomes, transcriptomes and epigenomes of many of the species on earth. As time passed by, a lot of information has been generated using the NGS …

Samantha’S Dilemma: A Look Into A Life With Ai, Thomas Bojarski

Theses

In this paper, I propose a thought experiment, “Samantha’s Dilemma,” which captures the complexity of determining whether moral considerations can be attributed to artificial intelligence (AI). Deciding whether or not we attribute autonomous freedom to artificial beings lays the foundation, not only for our relationships with AI, but with any ‘intelligent’ species we encounter in the future. By analyzing several core arguments regarding the treatment of artificial beings, I will show that abandoning our predominant self-serving tendencies and choosing not to limit the potentiality of autonomous AI is not only the safest course of action, but also the morally correct …

Use Of Alkali Metal Salts To Prepare High Purity Single-Walled Carbon Nanotube Solutions And Thin Films, Rakan F. Ashour

Theses

Single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) display interesting electronic and optical properties desired for many advanced thin film applications, such as transparent conductive electrodes or thin-film transistors. Large-scale production of SWCNTs generally results in polydispersed mixtures of nanotube structures. Since SWCNT electronic character (conducting or semiconducting nature) depends on the nanotube structure, application performance is being held back by this inability to discretely control SWCNT synthesis. Although a number of post-production techniques are able to separate SWCNTs based on electronic character, diameter, or chirality, most still suffer from the disadvantage of high costs of materials, equipment, or labor intensity to be relevant …

Dynamics Of Early-Season Weed Management And Soybean Nutrition, Nick T. Harre

Theses

The popularity of growers using only postemergence (POST) herbicides for weed management in soybean was enabled by the commercialization of glyphosate-resistant soybean. The efficacy and flexibility provided by this technology diminished the use of soil residual herbicides and arguably, increased soybean yield loss from early-season weed competition. While, the rapid evolution and biogeographical spread of herbicide-resistant weeds, especially glyphosate-resistant biotypes, has renewed interest into the use of soil residual products, herbicide-resistant soybean technologies continue to be developed that may once again entice growers into POST-only weed management systems. The commercial interest in soybean yield advancements justifies further characterizing the benefits …

Plant Responses To Increased Experimental Nitrogen Deposition In A Boreal Peatland, Meaghan Petix

Theses

Increased nitrogen (N) deposition onto boreal peatlands and forests is anticipated with further expansion of Alberta's oil sands industry and consequently, an increase in sources of nitrogen oxide emissions. Increased N deposition has the potential to affect peatland flora and alter N cycling patterns in peatlands, therefore it is imperative to investigate at what level of excess N deposition these effects take place. This thesis discusses results from the first two years of a five year N fertilization study being conducted at a peatland complex near the hamlet of Mariana Lake in northeastern Alberta, Canada aimed at quantifying the N …

Energy Drinks: Factors That Influnce College Students' Consumption, Nameer Nassir Faris

Theses

The purposes of this study were: To assess factors that influence energy drink consumptions among college students. To analyze the reasons behind consuming energy drinks as well as the reasons for not consuming them. And to evaluate the participants' knowledge regarding energy drinks' ingredients, safety, and side effects. A total of 417 undergraduate students who registered in 101 general education classes during the Fall 2013 semester at the departments of Health Education, Kinesiology, and Nutrition at Southern Illinois University at Carbondale participated in the study. Energy drink use was associated with the number of the paid employment hours (p= .000). …

Galapagos Mosquitoes As Avian Disease Vectors, Daniel Anthony Hartman

Theses

An avian malaria parasite of the genus Plasmodium has been detected consistently in the Galapagos Penguin (Speniscus mendiculus) in recent years. Subsequent screening of passerines has revealed more PCR positive birds, with most of them sampled on the southern coasts of Isabela and Santa Cruz islands. We sampled the two zoophilic mosquito species (Aedes taeniorhynchus and Culex quinquefasciatus) using both CDC light traps and CDC gravid traps along an altitudinal gradient from the southern coasts of these islands to the highlands to investigate whether mosquitoes occur at all elevations, and whether there may be mosquito-free refugia at higher elevation zones …

The Reliability And Nature Of Philosophical Intuitions, Matthew Allen Destefano

Theses

The nature of philosophical intuitions has been a popular topic for philosophical debate. Here, I survey the views available about the nature of intuitions, how to discern and discriminate intuitions from beliefs, feelings, and seemings, and whether or not intuitions count as evidence. Then, I present an account of intuitions that is based on dual-process theory, and argue that philosophical intuitions should be understood as ordinary intuitions are in this account. After analysis of the environment in which philosophical intuitions are learned and receive feedback (although intuitions about logical structures of argument is a notable exception), I conclude that philosophical …

“Una Isla Caribeña Sobrepoblada”: Luis Muñoz Marín’S Overpopulation Discourse, 1922-1948, Luimil Mishette Negrón-Pérez

Theses

In the years that preceded Luis Muñoz Marín's tenure as Puerto Rico’s first elected and longest running governor, he used Puerto Rico’s so-called alarming population growth as the explanation for the island’s troubles and reform failures. In the early 1920s, the young neo-malthusianist, carved a place for himself as a staunch supporter of policies advocating for state provided birth control in a climate where critics of the jíbaros (Puerto Rico’s peasants) deemed them immoral and barbaric for having too many children. Less than twenty years later though, the same jíbaros who were causing Puerto Rico’s problems in the twenties were …

Recasting The Darwinian Dilemma, Abram L. Brummett

Theses

It is uncontroversial to say that evolution has contributed little to the content of our factual judgments about the world. It is also uncontroversial to say that evolution has had a lot to contribute to the content of our non-factual judgments. What has been controversial is the extent to which evolution has influenced the content of our moral beliefs, and whether such influence has any metaethical implications. Sharon Street has received a lot of attention for her attempt to “debunk morality” in her paper, “A Darwinian Dilemma for Realist Theories of Value.” She argues that not only have evolutionary influences …

A Composite Interface For Bioinformatics Applications (Ciba), Daniel F. Surdyk Iii

Theses

Bioinformatics, and more importantly the general use of computers in the field of Biology, has become a mainstream exercise for today's biologist. So mainstream, that Bioinformatics classes are commonly offered to students in the standard Biology and Computer Science degree programs. This poses a problem for educators since some of the core Bioinformatics programs are still command-line based, requiring a deeper knowledge of computers than a standard biology student is expected to possess. The Composite Interface for Bioinformatics Applications, or CIBA for short, was created to address this issue and allow educators to focus on teaching how the algorithms work …

Infinite Reflections Of Transition, Ellina Chetverikova

Theses

Coming from an international background, I often reflect on my transitional era coming to the United States from the Ukraine and finding a way to adapt. Creating the series of work In Between, I came up with the realization that I did not belong completely to either of the cultures. Instead, I was a child of the world. Change in life educates us by letting us to adapt to new situations and people. By changing the place where we live, the bigger picture opens up for us and we are able to see the world from many perspectives at the …

Purloined Sperm, Victim-Blaming, And Procreative Asymmetry: A Critique Of Christine Overall’S Analysis Of Prospective Parent Disagreement, Jordan Gabriel Potter

Theses

Prospective Parent Disagreement is an important issue in bioethics that has been upstaged by the related debate on abortion. Of the few pieces of literature that focus directly on this topic, perhaps none is better known than Christine Overall’s controversial book Why Have Children?: The Ethical Debate. In the third chapter, Overall discusses both manifestations of prospective parent disagreement, and she makes an argument that fathers should always be held financially responsible for the child their sperm creates, even in the case where the father does not want the baby. She justifies this claim by suggesting that the procreative asymmetry …

Immigration Restriction Then, Immigration Restriction Now; The Politics Of Iq, Alexandra L. Kummerow

Theses

Background: Immigration laws in the United States have had a strong impact on the development and utilization of intelligence testing since the early 1800's. Basic restriction laws were initially put into place to uphold the biological fitness of our country by excluding persons with physical, mental and intellectual disabilities. As the United States drew more immigrants into its country, physicians and doctors began to develop intelligence tests to examine new immigrants from all over the world. It was at Ellis Island where an extraordinary amount of scientific research took place and intelligence tests became the standard for determining mental abilities. …

Watt Community Rowing Center High-Performance Athletes Yield High-Performance Architecture, Allison Marie Lachance

Theses

The Watt Community Rowing Center (WCRC) is a conceptual project that will

demonstrate and quantify how an architectural design response can be both spatially evocative and technologically grounded. The WCRC is an architectural design evolving the typical rectangular boathouse into an energy-efficient boathouse that stimulates `out of the box', forward thought, focused both on architectural form and sustainable design. The WCRC is a synthesis of architecture, environment, and athletics and is a conceptual design and theoretical research exploration. The proposed architectural solution motivates a new form in sustainable architecture that encourages the participation of building occupants. The interaction between individuals …

The Sublime & The Picturesque In Art, James M. Chleboun

Theses

Is it possible to create "classical'' landscape pictures of today? The genre of drawing and painting landscapes is the subject for this thesis. For comparing for relevancy, the binary topic is two aesthetic terms, the Sublime and the Picturesque. I will show what the art critics and artists say about those terms with several historical and contemporary artists a<; examples. I will explain what I did with some of my drawings and paintings in relation to the terms within the "classical" composition format.

The challenge for my work is to compose the contemporary landscape using the classical composing principles used by Old Masters. A contemporary German artist has succeeded very well in composing the '·classical·' landscapes of today with modern cultural attributes, but they …

Ventricular Myocyte Contraction, Calcium Transport And Expression Of Genes Encoding Cardiac Muscle Proteins In Type 2 Diabetic Rats Fed A Sucrose-Enriched Diet, Eslam Mohamed Gaber El Nebrisi

Theses

Diabetes Mellitus (DM) is currently the fastest growing disease in the world. The prevalence of DM has increased worldwide and is expected to double within 20 years. The UAE is ranked 15^th worldwide, with 18.98% of the UAE population living with diabetes. Six Middle East North Africa (MENA) region countries – Bahrain, Egypt, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates (UAE) - are among the world’s 10 highest for prevalence of diabetes and impaired glucose tolerance. This represents a huge cost to society in terms of morbidity and mortality, and economically through lost productivity and cost burden on …

Multimodal Imaging And Characterization Of Biofilms, Kunal Vaidya

Theses

Bacterial infection is a rampant problem faced by the medical community. The bacteria gene pool is capable of adapting itself to changing conditions building biofilms to ensure the survival of progeny. This ability reduces the efficiency of antibiotics and protects the bacteria from immune system eradication, prompting the need for a technology capable of early detection of biofilms. The ability to non-invasively image and characterize bacterial biofilms in children during nasopharyngeal (NP) colonization with potential otopathogens and during acute otitis media, (AOM) would represent a significant advance. Identifying the properties of biofilms is a crucial step towards establishing a viable …

Mitigating Differential Power Analysis Attacks On Aes Using Neuromemristive Hardware, Colin R. Donahue

Theses

Cryptographic algorithms such as the Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) are vulnerable to side channel attacks. AES was once thought to be impervious to attacks, but this proved to be true only for a mathematical model of AES, not a physical realization. Hard- ware implementations leak side channel information such as power dissipation. One of the practical SCA attacks is the Differential power analysis (DPA) attack, which statistically analyzes power measurements to find data-dependent correlations.

Several countermeasures against DPA have been proposed at the circuit and logic level in conventional technologies. These techniques generally include masking the data inside the algorithm …

Reconstructing Electrocardiogram Leads From A Reduced Lead Set Through The Use Of Patient-Specific Transforms And Independent Component Analysis, Michael H. Ostertag

Theses

In this exploration into electrocardiogram (ECG) lead reconstruction, two algorithms were developed and tested on a public database and in real-time on patients. These algorithms were based on independent component analysis (ICA). ICA was a promising method due to its implications for spatial independence of lead placement and its adaptive nature to changing orientation of the heart in relation to the electrodes.

The first algorithm was used to reconstruct missing precordial leads, which has two key applications. The first is correcting precordial lead measurements in a standard 12-lead configuration. If an irregular signal or high level of noise is detected …

Reproducing The Chinese Ancient Heroic Figure “Xiang Yu” Using 3d Graphics Technology, Ke Xiang

Theses

The ancient country of China has a long history. It has many fascinating historical stories, historical figures, and an elaborate history. For people who want to learn about Chinese history it can often seem overwhelming.

I am planning to find an easy and interesting approach for people who are interested in learning about Chinese history. The effective approach to communicate to people could be enhanced visuals depicting the rich his€tory of China.

Out of this long history, I decided to reproduce a Chinese ancient heroic figure with 3D graphics tech€nology. I will achieve this by using 3D modeling technology, using …

Evaluation Of Electrocoagulation For The Removal Of Chromium (Vi) From Brackish Groundwater, Shaima S Hamdan

Theses

Electrocoagulation (EC) has been evaluated for the removal of Cr (VI) from brackish groundwater using three different bench-scale EC reactors, namely batch stirred tank reactor (BSTR), continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) and a continuous electrocoagulation column (ECC). Batch EC process was experimentally examined at room temperature and the results indicated that Fe-Fe electrode pair was the most efficient arrangement and was able to achieve 100 % Cr removal at an electrocoagulation time of 5 minutes, a current density of 7.94 mA/cm², and pH of 8. A kinetic study of batch EC was then performed using both pseudo-first-order and …