Digital Commons Network^™

Evaluating The Interaction Between Protein Kinase C And Meprins In Diabetic Nephropathy, Sada Boyd

Theses

Meprin metalloproteinases have been shown to play a role in the progression of diabetic nephropathy (DN) in both mice and humans. However, the mechanisms involved are not fully understood. Protein Kinase C (PKC) family members are a group of phospholipid-dependent serine/threonine kinases that regulate signaling pathways involved in cellular growth, proliferation, differentiation, and cell death. PKC signaling pathways have also been implicated in diseases such as DN. Specifically, PKCα has been shown to play a role in the development of albuminuria in mice with streptozotocin (STZ)-induced type 1 diabetes. The objective of this study was to determine whether PKCα is …

Study Of Pd-Ag Membranes With An Intermediate Oxide Layer Fabricated By Surfactant Induced Electroless Plating (Siep), Md. Moniruddin

Theses

Uses of fossil fuels in transportation and power generation release greenhouse gases. Hydrogen has the potential to be an alternative clean energy carrier. Hydrogen fueled proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) can be used in transportation and stationary power generation to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. However, high purity hydrogen is required for PEMFC. In the current work, dense Pd-Ag composite membranes with an oxide layer on microporous stainless steel substrate (MPSS) were fabricated by surfactant induced electroless plating (SIEP) process for hydrogen separation. Prior to palladium/silver metal deposition, the MPSS disc was oxidized in stagnant air at 500 ºC for …

Hvac Supply Air Optimization Using Evolutionary Algorithms, Tony Van Nguyen

Theses

Heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning account for a vast majority of energy consumption in the residential and commercial sectors. Intelligent energy management control system (EMCS) in buildings offers an excellent means of reducing energy consumption in heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning (HVAC) systems while maintaining or improving indoor environmental conditions. This can be achieved through the use of computational intelligence and optimization. This project proposes and evaluates a model-based optimization process for HVAC systems using an evolutionary algorithm. The process can be integrated into the EMCS to perform several intelligent functions and achieve optimal whole-system performance. The proposed process addresses the requirements …

Understanding Cell Viability And Mechanics Of Actin Filament Response Of Nih/3t3 Fibroblasts Under Biaxial Stretch, Hamed Ghazizadeh

Theses

Cells are constantly subjected to mechanical stress during various physical activities. Understanding the role of the resultant mechanical stresses on cellular mechanotransduction is critical for considerate various cellular activities in the body such as control of cell growth, migration, differentiation, apoptosis and wound repair. The long-term goal is to understand whether it is possible to control cell functions through mechanical forces. Specifically, in this work, we report on the cellular and mechanistic response of NIH/3T3 fibroblastic cells (cultured on silicone membrane), when subjected to cyclic biaxial stretch generated in a custom-built stretching system, as described in Karumbaiah et al (Karumbaiah …

An Investigation Into The Marketing, Advertising And Labelling Of Processed Food In Ireland And Its Influences On Consumer Choice And Subsequent Health Issues, Jane Healy

Theses

Ireland has experienced much economic and social change in recent years, and as a result of this, many new food choices and commodities are on offer to the consumer. The simple diet of fresh, unprocessed foods that existed in Ireland in the past has for many consumers been replaced by processed, convenience food products. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects which the marketing, advertising and labelling of processed food in Ireland has on consumers, and how these strategies influence their choice of food. The advertising claims and the labelling of these processed foods is of interest …

Detection, Identification And Characterization Of The Novel Campylobacter Species: Campylobacter Ureolyticus And Campylobacter Corcagiensis From Their Reservoirs., Monika Koziel

Theses

Campylobacter ureolyticus has been identified in a large proportion of diarrhoeal samples from patients in Ireland. However, the source of human infections has not been established and little is currently known about the potential reservoirs of C. ureolyticus in nature.

The aim of this project was to investigate a range of environmental and animal samples for the presence of this emerging pathogen using a molecular approach, to support the hypothesis of its zoonotic origin.

During the study, C. ureolyticus was detected in 30 out of 1,254 (2.4%) human diarrheic samples and isolated from 11 patients, describing, to the best of …

Gastroenteritis Viruses In Ireland: Epidemiology And Evolution, Lynda Gunn

Theses

Viral gastroenteritis is a common disease of both humans and animals. This thesis focuses on the use of classical virology, coupled with phylogenetics to study gastroenteritis viruses [Bocavirus (BoV), Coronavirus (CoV), and Rotavirus A (RVA)], isolated from selected samples from humans and animals. RVA was associated with outbreaks in elderly care facilities in Northern Ireland, isolates were genotyped and we reported the first detection of G2 lineage lie RVA in Ireland, with other common human RVA genotypes G1P[8], G2P[4] and G9P[8]. Evolutionary dynamics of human RVA VP7 genotypes was examined using codon models of evolution, results show heterogeneous selective pressure …

Characterisation Of The Enzybiotic Potential Of Selected Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteriophages, Ruth Keary

Theses

The work presented in this thesis focuses on harnessing the bactericidal potential of bacteriophage (phage) encoded peptidoglycan hydrolase enzymes to combat the significant pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. In order to identify novel peptidoglycan hydrolases lytic against S. aureus, the complete genomes of two staphylococcal temperate Siphoviridae bacteriophages, DW2 and CSl, were sequenced and annotated. Screening of these genomes identified genes for several putative peptidoglycan hydrolases including two endolysins and three virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases. The identification of putative genes relating to virulence and host fitness lends to the understanding of the role played by such temperate phages in the evolution of this …

The Development Of Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Methods For The Analysis Of Cyanobacterial Toxins In Environmental Freshwaters, Brian Anthony Dineen

Theses

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are a common component of many freshwater and marine ecosystems and have a potential to produce several different classes of biotoxins. The most common class of cyanobacterial toxins are the microcystins (MCs) and cylindrospermopsins (CYLs). MCs are cyclic heptapeptides that display potent hepatotoxicity and are tumour promoters. CYLs are alkaloids that are cytotoxic and can cause illness and display hepatotoxic effects in animals and humans. Worldwide, these toxins have caused fatal poisonings to animals, birds and fish. Several incidents of human intoxications have been reported and the presence of these toxins in environmental waters …

Investigation Of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids In Foods Using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry, Caroline Griffin

Theses

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PAs) are known plant toxins which can cause hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVOD) in both humans and livestock when ingested. Although PAs are primarily known for their hepatotoxicity they also induce genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and pneumotoxicity. PAs are consumed through plants as food, for medicinal purposes, or as contaminants of agricultural crops. Aside from ingesting the plants directly PA exposure may occur through the consumption of honey produced by bees that visit PA-containing plants or by drinking milk produced by animals that have consumed PA-containing plants. Possible PA contamination in our food chain is a potential health risk.

To assess …

Heat Misconceptions Among 11th Grade Students, Amnah Mohamed Abdullah Al Kaabi

Theses

This study explores the misconception of the female students at 11^thgrade about the heat concepts (e.g., latency, conduction, equilibrium, boiling point, etc.) the study targets to i – classifying the misconception nature, and ii- distinguishing the heat misconception from point of the lack of knowledge and lucky guess. A sample of 230 female students at 11^th grade randomly selected from five secondary schools in the Emirates of Fujairah; northern UAE. The heat misconception test (HMT), a three –tier diagnostic instrument comprising of ten question is used as data collection tool. The study raises the three research questions. …

Suspended Sediment And Nutrient Behaviour On The River Bandon, Ireland, James Hickey

Theses

Suspended sediment is a key contributor to contaminant transfer within river systems. The relationship between the transport of suspended sediment and nutrients influences the status of water quality and sustainability of aquatic habitats. This thesis studies suspended sediment and nutrient transport on the River Bandon.

This thesis includes a literature review of suspended sediment and nutrient transport, appropriate legislation, river flow representation and flood frequency estimation.

As part of a structured field monitoring programme, manual samples have been collected periodically and tested for suspended sediment concentration (SSC), turbidity, five species of phosphorus and five species of nitrogen. Continuous in-situ turbidity …

The Impact Of Nitrogen Limitation And Mycorrhizal Symbiosis On Aspen Tree Growth And Development, Bich Thi Ngoc Tran

Theses

Nitrogen deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional deficiency affecting plants worldwide. Ectomycorrhizal symbiosis involves the beneficial interaction of plants with soil fungi and plays a critical role in nutrient cycling, including the uptake of nitrogen from the environment. The main goal of this study is to understand how limiting nitrogen in the presence or absence of an ectomycorrhizal fungi, Laccaria bicolor, affects the health of aspen trees, Populus tremuloides. Under limited nitrogen conditions, aspen tree growth and development is reduced, and mycorrhizal symbiosis may significantly improve plant biomass, providing sufficient nitrogen is available. The results of biochemical analysis …

Caffeine Modulation Of Anticancer Drug Activity Against Topoisomerase Ii, Erika Knott

Theses

The essential nature of topoisomerase II makes it an ideal target for anticancer drugs. Such anticancer agents may either interfere with the catalytic activity of the enzyme, or cause it to induce permanent double-stranded breaks in the DNA. In this study, ten anticancer agents (berberine, chelerythrine, doxorubicin, sanguinarine, tingenone, paclitaxel, malvidin, delphinidin, ellipticine, and pelargonidin) were studied through gel electrophoresis assays to determine their ability to inhibit topoisomerase II activity. Caffeine has been shown to reduce the effectiveness of some topoisomerase II-targeting anticancer drugs. This ability was evaluated by the addition of caffeine in concentrations ranging from 165 nM to …

Activity Of Plant Essential Oils And Extracts Against Pathogenic Fungi, Venkatasai Chaitanya Surapuram

Theses

Despite the recent advances in antifungal development, fungi remain a highly destructive threat to human health and compromise food viability. Though chemical fungicides today provide the primary means of postharvest pathogenic fungal control, their continuous use is faced with two major complications - increasing concern regarding their bioaccumulation in the human system and increasing resistance among the pathogen populations. There is a need for alternative strategies for fungal control. Recently, the use of natural product plant extracts and essential oils for postharvest cure and protection is an increasing trend. In this study, antifungal properties of various Costa Rican, Australian, and …

An Architecture For Self-Healing Software Systems, Christopher J. Gardner

Theses

As computer languages gained the ability to reflect upon their running states, it should be possible for programs produced using those languages to detect and correct errors. In this thesis, I propose a system that is capable of accomplishing such a task. I created a system that is capable of detecting and correcting exceptional behavior within a running process. The system uses an aspect-oriented programming framework to inject advices into methods. These advices catch exceptional behavior, gather information about the state of the method, and pass the information to an external process for evaluation. Once the external process is able …

Minus 25 Betty Tyson, Taunja Isaac

Theses

Betty Tyson was convicted of murder in May 1973 in Rochester, NY. She was sentenced to 25 years to life in prison. Her trial was hasty and the jury of peers she faced was all white. The evidence against her was tainted yet she was still found guilty. I was 9 years old when I first heard this story. When I decided to pursue my Master in Fine Art, I remembered this story and wanted to use my journalism instincts that I developed during my undergraduate degree at SUNY Brockport. I approached my thesis committee for approval to pursue this …

Parameter Sensitivity Analysis For Co-Mediated Sickle Cell De-Polymerization, Yao Selom Messan

Theses

Sickle cell anemia is an abnormality that causes a deformation in the shape of the red blood cell that hinders the circulation of the red blood cell through the blood vessel. The deformation is caused by the association of monomers to each other to form polymers (polymerization). The oxygenation of the sickle cell may lead to the melting of polymers (depolymerization). Many studies have been conducted to understand the dynamics of depolymerization. This study focuses on the impact of various parameters over the output values in the system of de-polymerization. Both mathematical and statistical approaches for the sensitivity analysis of …

Adaptations Of Bacterial Flagella To Animal And Plant Hosts, Alshae’ R. Logan

Theses

Flagella have been studied for more than a hundred years, yet there remains a simple and powerful question about how to further make use of the recent wave of genomic data to find differences between flagellar genes across diverse bacterial strains. With the comparative power of bacterial genomic data, we propose that flagellar gene sequences may be used as genetic markers that indicate evolutionary adaptations of different bacteria for different hosts. We specifically proposed to identify and utilize genetic sequence differences that may diagnose for the presence of bacterial pathogens found to infect different hosts, specifically animal versus plant hosts. …

A Novel Waveform For Emergency Services Mobile Ad-Hoc Networks : The Link Layer Perspective, Sebastian Helmle

Theses

Existing wireless communication systems of emergency services mainly enable ordinary unicast or broadcast voice communications. The increasing demand for data services such as messaging, file transfer, maps, etc requires those long-range communication systems to provide higher data rates while maintaining robustness against link failures. In this thesis, various aspects of a link layer design specifically for narrowband mobile ad-hoc networks (MANETs) that are targeted at emergency services are investigated.

The major aspect of this thesis is the optimisation of a time division multiple access (TDMA) design considering both efficient and reliable multicast resource reservation. An approach to mathematically describe a …

Doc Of Bacteriophage P1 Is An Enzyme That Inhibits Translation And Phosphorylates A Protein Target, Stephanie Cale

Theses

Doc induces cell death by inhibiting translation; however, the mechanism of Doc-induced cell death and the cellular target of the toxin were unknown. One theory suggested that Doc inhibits translation elongation by binding directly to the 30S ribosomal subunit. Later evidence showed catalytic activity in distant homologs of Doc. These homologs contain a Fic-domain that has been shown to modify target GTPases by AMPylation and phosphocholination. Therefore, [35S] - Met, á[32P] - ATP, and ã[32P] - ATP were used in conjunction with an S30 extract to confirm that Doc inhibits translation, to assess the mechanism of modification, and to identify …

The Role Of The L4 Ribosomal Protein In The Expression Regulation Of Escherichia Coli Genes, Prativa Sharma

Theses

In bacterial cells, ribosomes synthesize proteins by translating messenger RNAs. Newly synthesized proteins travel out of translating ribosomes through a channel named peptide exit tunnel. Nucleotides of the 23S ribosomal RNA and amino acids residues of several ribosomal proteins are in the peptide exit tunnel. Regulatory nascent peptides interact with the components of the peptide exit tunnel affecting their own synthesis. These nascent peptides interact with a narrow region of the peptide exit tunnel, which is mostly comprised of amino acid residues of the L4 r-protein. The results of this study show that the L4 ribosomal protein is important in …

Factors That Contribute To The Establishment Of Marine Protected Areas In Western Australia, Andrew Hill

Theses

Five Marine Protected Area (MPA) establishment processes undertaken between 1998 and 2012 in Western Australia were reviewed using a case study approach to identify factors affecting establishment. While three MPAs were legally created, two were not, despite significant investment in planning, research and public participation. Processes were generally influenced by complex local and strategic planning issues that were significant barriers to legal establishment.

Planning and public participation processes were generally successful at addressing local concerns, deriving consensus and building ownership but ineffectual at addressing key strategic issues. MPA establishment was primarily influenced by the social, economic and political influences rather …

An Investigation And Evaluation Of The Proposed Harbour Development In Bantry Bay, Cork, Shane O'Flynn

Theses

RPS Group was appointed by Bantry Bay Harbour Commissioners to develop a master plan for a waterfront development in Bantry Bay Inner Harbour. It has been proposed that the inner harbour be dredged to a sufficient water depth to allow the entrance of marine craft. The purpose of the thesis is to evaluate and discuss the decisions regarding the environmental impacts that a harbour development would have on Bantry Bay. This research investigates the feasibility of alternative dredge treatment processes used in the Bantry Bay Inner Harbour Development. This research investigates the possibility of reusing the dredge material on site, …

Young People’S Mental Health Awareness (Including An Evaluation Of A Mental Health Promoting Pilot Project Developed In Connaught), Pamela Kent

Theses

Adolescence is a particularly vulnerable life stage during which mental health challenges can occur and “in order to create a positive state of mental health and well-being it is imperative for young people to be able to recognise which aspects of life have a positive and damaging effect on their mental health” (HSE, 2007: 14). Irish research states that “Positive mental health enables young people to live fulfilling lives and promoting the mental health and wellbeing of our young people is a shared responsibility and is everybody’s business” (Department of Education and Skills & Health Service Executive & Department of …

Do Irish Consumers Understand Financial Risk In Savings And Investment Products In The Irish Financial Services Market?, Alan N. Burrows

Theses

This thesis focuses on Irish adult consumers and examines whether they understand the financial risk pertaining to the savings and investment products that they purchase in the Irish financial services market. This study is important because there is no up to date data currently available on this topic, specifically and solely related to Ireland and to Irish consumers. The findings of this study are significant because, if consumers lack an understanding of financial risk, it can potentially lead to mistakes in financial decisions which may lead to negative financial repercussions for consumers throughout their life and into retirement. In this …

Molecular Markers Of Weight Loss In Sleeve Gastrectomy Patients: A Prospective Cohort Study, Tamara C. Preda

Theses

Background:

Obesity is a polymorphic chronic disease that has reached epidemic proportions. Bariatric surgery including sleeve gastrectomy (SG) has an increasingly important role in long-term management of these patients. The molecular mechanisms post SG are complex and not fully understood.

Aims:

The primary study aim is to investigate the hormonal mechanisms by which SG effects weight loss and related health benefits by examining the association between SG weight loss and biochemical/hormone levels. A secondary aim was to assess the improvements in obesity related chronic disease states following SG.

Methods:

We conducted a prospective cohort study of obese patients undergoing SG …

The Same But Different: How People With A Partial Capacity To Work Are Governed In Recent Policy Changes To The Australian Income Support System And The National Disability Insurance Scheme, L St Guillaume

Theses

No abstract provided.

Reproductive Timing Of The Scarlet Shiner (Lythrurus Fasciolaris) In Northern Alabama, Toacca Taylor

Theses

A key aspect to understanding a species' life history and ecological relationships is the species' schedule of reproduction. Knowledge about the reproductive biology of imperiled North American cyprinids is necessary for reversing population declines. Lythrurus fasciolaris, the Scarlet Shiner, is one species that needs better knowledge of its life history and ecological relationships. In an effort to understand reproductive ecology of the Scarlet Shiner, a 15-month study was performed along a 10 km length of the Flint River in northern Alabama. Based on the gonadosomatic index (fraction of body mass contributed by ovarian mass) of adult female Scarlet Shiners, peak …

Gender In Shakespeare's Macbeth : Performances And Performativities, Christa Reaves

Theses

Critics and audiences alike have been guilty of reducing Lady Macbeth and Macbeth to the most basic form of their characters--evil. Because of their non-normative, complex gender roles, they are often misunderstood. Through the application of gender theory and performance theory, the anxieties within Macbeth surrounding and concerning gender can be explained as an issue of performance. With the understanding that gender is performative, I argue that the key to portraying the humanity within these characters is through performance of the text. In examining various stage and screen performances of Macbeth, I demonstrate that portraying these characters as realistic and …