Digital Commons Network^™

Using Multiple Air Models To Form A Superensemble, Frank Gronwald

Theses

Determining the level of air pollution is a modern day necessity for government regulators and industrialized sources. Air dispersion models are often used to determine the concentration of a pollutant. However changing conditions and several assumptions made by the models limit their accuracy at various times. This research proposed combining four different air dispersion models (Gaussian Plume, Variable K Theory, Box, and AFTOX) into a superensemble. Since the superensemble is typically more accurate than its member models, the end result should be a more accurate prediction under any condition. In the interest of evaluating performance, the change in accuracy was …

The Role Of Crude Rosehip Extracts In The Regulation Of African-American Breast Cancer Cell Proliferation, Tonisha Lestar Coburn

Theses

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC), an aggressive form of breast cancer, has abnormal therapeutic results; leading to the need for unique treatment methods. Currently TNBC has no specific targeted therapy and has limited response to other chemotherapeutics. Plant extracts have shown to be useful as chemopreventive agents due to their disruption of pro-survival and proliferative mechanisms on cancer cells. Rosehip extracts have shown anti-proliferative activity against cancer cells in vitro. We hypothesized that rosehip extracts will inhibit cell proliferation in triple negative breast cancer cell lines at varying concentrations. Therefore, this study was designed to investigate the effect of rosehip …

Consumer Acceptability And Storage Stability Of Cupcake Supplemented With Fish Oil Emulsion, Olariyike A. Fasanya

Theses

Omega-3 fatty acid (fish-oil) has gained attention as a functional food, and it is one of the best supplements used by several researchers to improve the nutritional value of different food products such as yogurt. The study was conducted to determine the effect of fish-oil emulsion on the physical attributes of shortened cupcake (control cake and five treatments) with different whey protein isolate concentrations. Emulsion concentration in each treatment included (1) 250mg Fish-oil + 0.5% Xanthan gum, (2) 250mg Fish-oil + 5% WPI, (3) 250mg Fish-oil +10% WPI, (4) 250mg Fish-oil + 0.5% Xanthan-gum + 5% WPI, and (5) 250mg …

Investigating Moringa Oleifera Lam As A Dietary Supplement To Promote Immune Health: A Mouse Model, Donja S. Smith

Theses

Moringa oleifera Lam (MOL) is a tree, native to the tropics and sub-tropics of Asia and Africa. All parts are edible and because it is rich in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants it has many nutritional benefits. For example, many of the vitamins and minerals are known to modulate immunity, suggesting that MOL could be a good dietary supplement to boost immunity. Our lab is interested in identifying natural products that can be used to enhance immunity and health among animals. Therefore, the objective of this study was to investigate immune modulation by Moringa using a mouse model. Two trials were …

Investigating The Apoptotic Response Of Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells To Styrene, A Potential Poly(Adp-Ribose) Polymerase (Parp) Inhibitor, Shaina Richardson

Theses

Triple Negative Breast Cancer (TNBC) is a rare basal-like subtype of breast cancer characterized by the absence of the estrogen (ER), progesterone (PR), and human epidermal receptor 2 (HER2) receptors which are normally targeted in other breast cancer subtypes, thereby making TNBC difficult to combat. In this study, four different styrene compounds (1.001, 1.006, 1.007, and 1.009) were used to treat TNBC cell lines HCC1806 and HCC70. Each of the compounds were composed of a 3-nitro group on the A ring and varying aryl groups on the B ring of the styrene. The breast cancer cells were exposed over a …

Systemic Optimization Of Microalgae Grown On Swine Wastewater As A Biofuel Feedstock, Rifat Hasan

Theses

This research broadens the scope of research on microalgae grown on swine wastewater as it offers a combination of wastewater treatment and biofuel production. Swine wastewater is an enriched source of phosphorus, nitrogen and other organic compounds that are necessary for the growth of microalgae. While growing in swine wastewater, algae consume the nutrients from the wastewater, so there is no need of arable land for their growth. Current biofuel production relies on limited arable lands to supply feedstock making it impossible to meet the global biofuel demands without disrupting food production. Algae can potentially produce 1,000-4,000 gallons of oil/acre/yr …

Effect Of Oxidative Stress On Human Brain Vascular Pericytes, Rasha Mohamed

Theses

The occurrence of neurodegenerative diseases (NDs) increases with extended life expectancy. The rise in elderly populations is resulting in an increased incidence of cognitive impairment, and a high risk for developing dementia. Oxidative stress is implicated in the pathogenesis of a number of neurovascular disorders, such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD). It has also been linked to disruption of blood brain barrier (BBB) in hypoxic-ischemic injury. As part of the neurovascular unit, pericytes are inevitably subjected to insult from oxygen and nitrogen radicals, generated in the central nervous system (CNS), leading to cell dysfunction or damage. In …

Prophage Proximities To Cell Boundary Genes And Other Functional Categories In Escherichia Coli Genomes, Corey D. Young

Theses

Changes in bacterial genomes due to the integration of prophages have been proposed to be part of a symbiotic relationship. Prophage activity is common for bacterial pathogens in the fluctuating environment of animal hosts. Pathogenic bacteria have been found to have extensive variation of their bacterial cell boundary zone of components, which is the inherent interface for virulence properties of antigenicity, toxicity, and resistance. Prophages are a source of this variation, both through insertion of cargo genes via prophages into bacterial strains, and additional effects due to prophage insertions affecting the overall genomic structure. The latter scenario of genomic reorganization …

Rural And Urban North Carolina Parent-Child Feeding Behaviors, Kayla J. Brooks

Theses

This pilot study was conducted to describe parental feeding factors and explore the association between these factors and region of residence. Data was collected from 60 parents of children ages 2-11 in the form of a self-administered questionnaire. Thirty participants resided in a rural community and 30 resided in an urban community in North Carolina. Of the respondents, 87% were mothers, 50% were African Americans, 25% were Caucasians, and 20% were Hispanic Americans. This study’s findings indicated a significant difference in the frequency of consumption of home cooked meals (p=0.002). The intake of fruits (p=0.000), vegetables (p=0.001), meat, fish and …

Hemocompatibility Of Magnesium Alloys, Nevija A. Watson

Theses

There are over 15 million people living in the United States with cardiovascular disease (CVD). The standard treatment for CVD is stent angioplasty, traditionally bare metal stents have been used for this procedure however they are permanent and can lead to in-stent restenosis. Biodegradable bare metal stents are a suggested solution to this problem because they will degrade over time. Magnesium alloys are the most clinically advanced materials for biodegradable bare metal stents. They have been tested in various clinical trials with promising biocompatibility results; however materials degrade before full healing has occurred. The alloying of magnesium with elements such …

Evaluation Of Fc Receptor Genes In Bovine Neutrophils, Jamie S. Williams

Theses

Receptors for the Fc portion of IgG, Fc receptors (FcR) are found on immune cells and contribute to protective functions of the immune system. The FcγRs (I, II and sub isoforms) bind specifically to IgG molecules and are important due to stimulating effector cells to destroy pathogens by phagocytosis and intracellular killing. The SYK kinase is critical for FcγR mediated phagocytosis and signal transduction in cells. Neutrophils contain a heterogeneous population of FcR. The objectives of this study were to evaluate genetic variation and the impact of IgG binding on transcription of FcγR and secreted levels of phosphorylated Syk between …

A Study Of Cytocompatibility And Biodegradability Of Az31 Magnesium Alloy In Simulated Airway Surface Lining Fluid, Daniel R. Owuor

Theses

The nature of magnesium alloys to degrade is attributed to the high oxidative corrosion rates which are attractive for a biodegradable medical implant since they will avoid a removal surgery by gradually degrading and being absorbed by the body. In this thesis project, the biocorrosion characteristics of AZ31 Mg alloy are investigated in a simulated physiological solution mimicking the airway surface lining fluid. Particular attention was focused on the effect of carbonate ions present in the solution and porcine stomach mucin added to the test solution to create an in vitro model of the epithelial mucus surfaces mimicking the epithelial …

Comparative Study Of Sheep And Goat Innate Immune Responses On Pasture, Randall Merriott

Theses

The objective of this study was to evaluate the innate immune response in goats co-grazed with St. Croix sheep. Boer goats (20) and St. Croix sheep (10) were co-grazed on the same pasture. A second group of Boer goats (10) were grazed on a separate pasture. On days 0 and 56 of the study body weights, FAMACHA© scores, blood (for packed cell volume and white blood cell differentials) and fecal samples (for fecal egg counts) were collected and the data analyzed using SAS PROC GLM. To evaluate the goat’s infection status blood from sheep and goats with low infection (7) …

Meprin Interaction With Osteosarcoma 9 (Os9) And The Hypoxia Response Gene, Hypoxia Inducible Factor 1 (Hif1) Alpha, In Kidney Tubular Cells, Barry L. Martin

Theses

Meprins, metalloproteases that are highly expressed in the brush-border membranes of kidney proximal tubules, have been associated with ischemia-reperfusion induced kidney injury. Osteosarcoma 9 (OS9), a peripheral membrane protein, has been shown to selectively interact with the carboxyl-terminal tail of meprin beta (β). Additionally, OS9 was shown to promote oxygen-dependent degradation of the hypoxia-inducible factor 1α (HIF1α), a protein involved in oxygen homeostasis. However, it is not known if OS9 is a meprin substrate. The objective of this study was to determine if OS9 is a meprin substrate, and whether there is a correlation between expression of meprins, OS9, and …

Synthetic Design Of Coumarin And 2h-Chromene-2-Thione Derivatives To Inhibit Carcinogenesis, Rhashanda D. Haywood

Theses

The goal of this project was the synthesis of 4-substitued coumarins and 2H-chromene-2-thione derivatives that can be used to inhibit or retard the growth of cancer cells. According to the American Cancer Society's 2012 death statistics for prostate cancer, 28,170 men died from prostate cancer and there was 241,740 (29%) new cases of prostate cancer as well (Society, 2012). Few studies have been conducted on 2H-chromene-2-thiones and their ability to act as cancer chemopreventive or anticancer agents, therefore, we seek to synthesize a sequence of coumarins and 2H-chromene-2-thiones via the Von Pechmann reaction. We believe that the 2H chromene-2-thiones will …

Effect Of Soil And Irrigation Water On Microbial Quality Of Fresh Produce Grown In North Carolina, Tracie Davis

Theses

Foodborne outbreaks involving Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella enteritidis, and E. coli O157:H7 from contaminated fresh produce have been increasingly recognized all over the world. The purpose of this research was to determine the effect of irrigation water and soil on microbial quality of leafy greens and tomatoes grown in different parts of North Carolina (NC). Soil and water samples were collected from 4 small farms located in NC and inoculated onto selective media (TSA for total aerobic count, XLT4 for Salmonella spp. (SS), and MacConkey for total E. coli species, EC). All plates were incubated for 48 hours at 37°C. Following …

Identification And Characterisation Of Campylobacter Ureolyticus: A New And Emerging Gastrointestinal Pathogen, Susan Bullman

Theses

Campylobacter jejuni is universally recognized as the leading bacterial cause of human gastroenteritis. However, within recent years a growing number of non- jejuni/coli Campylobacter species have been acknowledged as emerging human and animal pathogens. Advances in molecular diagnostics and development of pioneering culture methodologies have led to the detection of a range of under-appreciated and nutritionally fastidious Campylobacter species, including C. ureolyticus. Herein, we provide the first report of C ureolyticus in the faeces of patients presenting with gastroenteritis and suggest a role for this organism as an emerging enteric pathogen.

Employing a two-tiered molecular study, we report C. ureolyticus …

Development Of A Recombinant Lactobacillus Salivarius For Prophylactic Applications Against Mycobacterium Avium Subspecies Paratuberculosis And Johne’S Disease, Christopher Johnston

Theses

Current whole-cell vaccines against Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis, the etiological agent of Johne’s disease, are unable to provide complete protection against infection. Moreover, such whole-cell formulations interfere with diagnostic tests for bovine tuberculosis (Mycobacterium bovis). The development of subunit vaccines, those which are preferentially based on one, or a select few, immunodominant protective antigens is considered as the realistic next step in overcoming these issues. The (MAP) K-10 genome is a single circular chromosome of 4,829,781 base pairs and encodes 4,350 predicted ORFs. In order to identify MAP specific proteins for subsequent incorporation within a mucosal based vaccine development, a …

Investigation Of Drinking Water/Beverage Contaminants Within The Beverage Industry, Elizabeth Hobbs

Theses

The impact of water resource quality has influenced the community worldwide. It is an on-going target for water suppliers to produce suitable drinking water and the beverage industry to provide suitable water for the production of beverages. This diligence will ensure the consumer is provided with a product safe for consumption. The research and analytical techniques explored in this thesis may be of benefit to the beverage industry for the monitoring of inorganic contaminants present in water and carbonated soft drinks. The occurrence of certain contaminants in drinking water has become a major issue in the water industry in recent …

Investigation Into The Measure, Correlate And Predict Methodologies Used In Wind Farm Design Software, Brendan O'Sullivan

Theses

This paper is focused on the Measure Correlate and Predict (MCP) methodologies used to estimate long term wind resource at a prospective site. The first common step in all MCP methodologies is a successful wind measurement campaign at the prospective site. This campaign involves the erection of a wind measurement mast (ideally to the hub height of the proposed turbine) and careful selection of booms, mountings and anemometers. The wind measurement campaign is a vital part of the process as the correlation and prediction analysis is only as accurate as the measured wind data. Correlation is a measure of the …

Historical Remedies Versus Current Pathogens : Laboratory Investigation Of The Efficacy Of Traditional Herbal Remedies Against Present-Day Common Causes Of Bacterial Pneumonia, Eibhlin Mccarthy

Theses

Despite the medical advances of recent years, pneumonia is still a common disease in Ireland, accounting for approximately 7% of deaths in this country'. While national databases such as those run by CIDR and SARI ensure that incidences of systemic and notifiable infections such as tuberculosis are recorded, there are currently no available statistics on commonplace respiratory isolates within Ireland. This study analysed the available data on bacterial pathogens isolated from respiratory samples at a 355 bed Irish hospital over a one year period. Seasonal variations and resistance patterns were noted. The most frequently isolated pathogens were Staphylococcus aureus (27%), …

The Association Of Blood Lipid Levels With The Epigenetic Regulation Of The Cpt1a Gene, Nikita Patel

Theses

DNA methylation directly influences gene expression. Previous studies showed that diet and genetics influence blood lipid levels. However, the association between DNA methylation and lipid levels is unknown. This study demonstrates a link between epigenetic variation and fasting blood lipid levels, particularly in triglycerides and VLDL-C. Approximately 470,000 CpGs were evaluated in 995 individuals to find epigenome-wide associations between methylation and lipid levels. Two CpGs sites located within theCPT1A gene showed strong association with fasting triglyceride and VLDC-C levels. Furthermore there was an inverse relationship between methylation levels at the most significant CpG within CPT1Aand its fold expression levels. CPT1 …

Response Of Clostridium Pasteurianum Atcc 6013 To The Presence Of Solvents For Extractive Butanol Fermentation, Mar Piernavieja Hermida

Theses

Butanol is of particular interest as a renewable biofuel. This research investigated the butanol extraction by converting purified glycerol into butanol using C. pasteurianum. The effects of three organic extractive reagents were studied to assess their use in extractive fermentation of butanol. High toxicity was shown by octanol, inhibiting cell growth. Oleyl alcohol not only appeared to be non-toxic but also yielded high butanol concentrations. Methyl oleate seemed to be corrosive to the flasks used in the fermentation process. The maximum butanol yield produced using oleyl alcohol as extractive solvent was 0.436 g/g; this value was higher than any other …

Genome Wide Search For Positive Selection On Protein-Coding Genes Between Cactus Host Races Of Drosophila Mojavensis, Carson W. Allan

Theses

Relationships between an organism and its environment are important in understanding how species evolve. One way of looking at this relationship is by examining what genes show evidence of positive selection. This study analyses the changes on protein-coding genes in response to host adaptation. Drosophila mojavensis is a cactophilic fly in that both larval and adult forms develop or feed in necrotic cactus. Four populations of this species each specialize on a different cactus host species. Illumina sequencing was performed on three populations and template assembled to the reference genome of the fourth. Rates of protein evolution were determined for …

Ecosystem Disturbance And Recovery In Shelta Cave, Christopher Miller

Theses

The ecosystem of Shelta Cave in northern Alabama was observed after the removal of gating in the cave entrances--an apparent long-term disturbance to the resident bat population. It is believed that the loss of bats led to a loss of many other organisms, and with the removal of the gate the ecosystem is now recovering. Many biotic and abiotic factors were measured within the cave to try to estimate the current health and better estimate the future of the ecosystem. The cave environment was found to be very stable, while the number of organisms within the cave, most notably bats, …

Characterization Of Phd Degradation By Clpxp, Nikki Mertz

Theses

Proteolysis of Phd is required for the addictive response. ClpXP recognizes and degrades the Phd protein of the P1 plasmid addiction operon, however its mechanism of degradation is currently unknown. The RssB and SspB proteins aid ClpXP in degrading other substrates, so these might also play a role in the proteolysis of Phd. A temperature sensitive plasmid was introduced with and without the P1 plasmid addiction operon to strains containing knockout mutants of the rssB and sspB genes. An addiction assay was performed using these constructs by incubating cells at restrictive and permissive temperatures for plasmid replication. Mutations in rssB …

A Gas Chromatographic/Mass Spectral Analysis Of Aromatic Medicinal Plants From Tajikistan, Hanjing Zhang

Theses

Tajikistan is a small country located in central Asia which is rich in Aromatic medicinal plants. A large number of locally available plants species are used in the preparation of traditional medicines. However, research on essential oils of medicinal and aromatic plants from Tajikistan is still limited, and only a small number of species have been investigated. In coordination with a chemist from Tajik Academy of Sciences in Dushanbe, six aromatic medicinal plants were collected and their essential oils were extracted for analysis. The targeted plants are Bunium persicum B. Fedtsch., Anethum graveolens L., Galagania frangrantissima Lipsky, Melissa officinalis L., …

Development Of An Enzymatic Assay For Nitrification Inhibitors, Christopher A. James

Theses

According to the United Nations, the world population reached the 7 billion mark in 2011 and is anticipated to climb to 8 billion by 2025. All of these people need food, but many do not get enough. To resolve this critical issue, there is a great need to increase food production. The use of fertilizers is one of the more feasible ways to achieve this; however, nitrogen efficiency is notoriously low, with nitrification--the conversion of ammonium to nitrate--being one reason. Nitrification occurs naturally in the soil; and, once nitrate is formed, the probability for losses increases greatly. Among these losses …

Separation Of Superparamagnetic Beads With Dual Magnetic Fields, Diana C. Lechuga

Theses

The purpose of the research was to construct a working lab-on-a-chip device constructed from polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) in a Y-channel design that consisted of two generated magnetic fields: one localized below the channel, and an external field outside of the device generated through two rare earth magnets. The external field provided a method to attract the superparamagnetic beads while the localize field influenced attractive and repulsive forces in the channel. The localized magnetic field allowed for controlling the direction the superparamagnetic beads in the channel to a predetermined well. The localized magnetic field generated a field of 5.7 x 10-3 mT. …

Greedy Hierarchical Binary Classifiers For Multi-Class Classification Of Biological Data, Salma Begum

Theses

Multi-class classification is an important and challenging problem for biological data classification as biological datasets may generate data that may belong to multiple classes not just due to the presence of different classes but also due to the evolutionary phases of biological experiments. Typical methods for dealing with multi-class classification use a powerful single classifier such as neural networks to classify the data into one of many classes. Alternatively, the binary classifiers are used in one-versus-one (OVO) and one-versus-all (OVA) classifier schemes for multi-class classification. However, it is not clear whether OVO or OVA yield good performance results. In this …