Digital Commons Network^™

Development Of 3-D Liver Model For Drug Screening Applications, Divya Rajendran

Theses

The need for a an in vitro drug screening system that mimics the structural organization of natural liver for multi-functionality and maintenance of hepatocytes has become vital in the drug development process. The objective of this study was to engineer a three-dimensional (3-D) liver model using chitosan-based nanofiber scaffolds and co-culture system (adult rat hepatocytes and 3T3-J2 fibroblasts) to mimic the natural liver and to justify its application for in vitro drug screening. Chitosan nanofiber scaffolds were fabricated by electrospinning technique. In order to promote cell adhesion on the chitosan scaffolds, the scaffolds were coated with a cell adhesion molecule, …

Temperature Elevations Due To Nir Exposure In The Brain Tissue, Ali Ersen

Theses

Near infrared (NIR) lasers have been used in medical applications both for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. Temperature elevation profile inside the tissue is a critical factor that needs to be better understood in these applications. The purpose of this study is to determine the temperature distribution due to a low power N I R laser irradiation in living neural tissue. Temperature measurements were made directly using a thermocouple probe inside the rat brain cortex within the sagittal plane. The spatial map indicates that N I R light penetrates more readily in the vertical directions than the spreading in the horizontal …

Soy Protein-Poly (L-Lactic Acid) Blend Nanofibers For Drug Delivery Of Nardostachys Jatamansi, Swetha Tiwari

Theses

Electrospun nanofibers when nanofi bers are impregnated with drugs play a significant role in drug delivery. Nanomedical approaches to drug delivery focus on developing nanoscale particles or molecules to improve the bioavailab ility of a drug.

Biodegradable nanofibers were developed using Poly (L – lactic acid) and Soy protein for the delivery of an ayurvedic drug, Nardostachys jatamansi. A weighed quantity of powdered drug – Nardostachys Jatamansi was subjected to Soxhlet extraction using water and ethanol in equal quantities. Various blends of the drug extract and soy protein solution are prepared and mixed in Poly (L-lactic acid). Nanofibers of …

Alendronate Treatment Elicits A Reduction In Fatigue-Life Of Canine Cortical Bone, Joseph Ryan Geissler

Theses

Bone serves contradictory needs; bone must be strong yet light, and stiff yet flexible. At the tissue level bone material withstands cyclic loading without failing by dissipating energy via the formation and accumulation of microdamage. Proper removal of this damage in exchange for fresh tissue is vital to bone maintenance, and is achieved through a remodeling process. Imbalanced remodeling leads to osteoporotic fractures. Bisphosphonate drugs are proven to reduce fracture risk. However, the long-term effects of bisphosphonates on tissue-level properties are unknown. This study characterized the fatigue-life of cortical bone tissue after bisphosphonate treatment with alendronate (Aln). 1 1th ribs …

Neural Differentiation Of Pluripotent Stem Cells And Applications To Micropatterned Agarose Hydrogel For Nerve Guidance, Jamila S. Gittens

Theses

Many central nervous system (CNS) disorders are attributable to damaged oligodendrocytes, the cells that form the myelin sheath of axons. An effective source of human oligodendrocytes is crucial, making pluripotent stem cells, such as embryonic stem (ES) cells, an attractive source for nerve tissue repair and regeneration due to their unlimited capacity for self-renewal and their ability to differentiate into all major cell lineages. Bioengineered 3-D hydrogel culture systems have the potential to elucidate mechanisms required for regeneration of CNS cells. The goals of this study are: (1) to investigate the effects of retinoic acid (RA), sonic hedgehog (shh) agonist, …

Confocal Characterization Of The Apical Testes And Ultrastructural Analysis Of The Seminal Visicles Of Drosophila Pseudoobscura, Michael W. Beaury

Theses

The Drosophila genus contains thousands of different species. Drosophila melanogaster is the most popular Drosophila species used in biological research. Drosophila pseudoobscura is the model Drosophila species used in our laboratory and is a distant relative to D. melanogaster. Both of these species' genetic codes have been completely sequenced and are very different from each other genetically and morphologically. One major morphological difference between these two species is their testes structure. The testes of D. melanogaster are long, coiled, thin tube-like structures; D. pseudoobscura testes are wide and ellipsoidaL The focus of the current work was to characterize the apical …

Pulsed Laser Deposition Of Magnesium Oxide Nanowires And Their Physical, Structural, And Biological Properties, Dang The Ninh

Theses

One-dimensional (1D) nanostructures, such as nanowire, nanorods, and nanotubes, have shown great promise in both fundamental and application studies due to their size, structure, and several other unique properties. In this study, magnesium oxide (MgO) nanowires (NWs) with varying diameter have been grown on magnesium oxide (100) single crystal substrates using a pulsed laser deposition (PLD) technique. Magnesium oxide was chosen due to its high melting point, high hardness, high tensile strength, excellence diffusion barrier, and good biocompatibility. In the fabrication of MgO nanowires, gold has been used as a catalyst. A systematic study has been carried out to identify …

Factors Affecting Minority Undergraduate Students' Enrollment In Agricultural Economics/Agribusiness, Sawde Salifou Labo

Theses

This study examines the factors that affect minority undergraduates' enrollment in agricultural economics/agribusiness at Land-grant institutions using a 2007 cross sectional demand model. Data for students enrolled in agribusiness, ethnicity, and sex were collected through Food and Agricultural Information Education Systems (FAIES). In-state tuition and financial aid were obtained via the Integrated Post Education Data System (IPEDS). The sample size is comprised of 53 land-grant institutions that offer undergraduate degree in agricultural economics/agribusiness. . Additionally, multiple regression models were used to identify factors that influence enrollment of minority. Results indicate that there are more males enrolled in agricultural economics/agribusiness than …

Characterization Of Coated Aluminum Particles For Combustion And Ignition Studies, Amanda Michele Breeden

Theses

The goal of the research was to contribute to the knowledge of the characteristics of aluminum particles used for thermobaric weapons (TBX). It was desired to continue the research efforts conducted to produce an effective coating process to improve the reactivity of aluminum flakes. This was done by coating the particles with magnesium and nickel in a modified Pulsed Laser Deposition (PLD) system. The effects of the laser deposition on the morphology and surface chemistry of the aluminum particles were studied. In this research, modifications were made to a PLD system and experiments conducted to determine the coating effectiveness of …

Artificial Neural Network Application In Environmental Engineering., Xiaojue Tao

Theses

The objective of this thesis research is to apply two artificial neural network (ANN) methods, back-propagation neural network (BPN) and radial basis function generalized regression neural network (RBFGRNN) in two environmental engineering case studies to explore their ability to modeling the complex environmental engineering systems. The traditional environmental engineering systems modeling are frequently using the physical-based modeling methods. . Their performance is decided by the quantity of samples and quality of sampling methods, and it is also based on the physical laws they obeyed and the system knowledge they explored. But ANN offers a unique and alternative solution to bridge …

Power System Load Modeling Using A Weighted Optimal Linear Associative Memory (Olam), Morlue Samukai Eesiah

Theses

Power system load models are very powerful tools, which have a wide range of applications in the electric power industry. These uses include scheduling system maintenance, monitoring load management policies, helping with the generator commitment problem by providing short-term forecasts, and aiding system planning [4]. Further, Power System Load Modeling is a technique used to model a power system and other essentials for the assessment of stability. In today's datacenters, power consumption is a major issue. Storage usually typically comprises a large percentage of a datacenter's power. Therefore, without mentioning that managing, understanding, and reducing storage, power consumption is an …

Use Of Controlled Release (Encapsulated Chemical Oxidant) Polymer For Remediation Of Contaminated Water Used For Intentional Biothreat Terrorism And Its Potential Application For Disinfection Of Agricultural Waste Pollution., Christopher Ross Jackson

Theses

The threat of biological agents being used to harm mass populations are of extreme importance in the 21st century. Pathogenic agents such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, protozoan, and helminthes are of major concern in the wake that they can be used to cause death to anyone exposed. Agents like these can be disseminated by air, through water, or from animal, food, or human-to-human transmission. Controlled release methods are extensively used in the medical and agricultural industry to release chemicals at controlled rates for drug delivery in the human body or pesticide treatments for farming. Few researchers have investigated the use …

Modeling And Analysis Of Cascading Effects Of Weapons Of Mass Destruction (Wmd) Events On Critical Infrastructure Systems, Sliman Amrani Joutei

Theses

This research studies how the global network behaves after a Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD) attack. The goal is to find a reliable model that will help capture the behavior of the network in the event of a WMD attack and then proceed to a systematic analysis of that model. We discuss a hierarchical model that visualizes how a WMD attack will impact different infrastructure systems. The second level of the Hierarchical Fault Model (HFM) illustrates the failure propagation from one Critical Infrastructure System (CIS) to another CIS. Next, we construct a stochastic Petri Net for HFM of which we …

Space Radiation Countermeasures In A Life Support System Of Extraterrestrial Environments, Candice Thompson Young

Theses

A Life Support System (LSS) sustains life for an extended period of time in a closed system that includes waste recycling as a functional method of support. For future space missions, the goal is to build extraterrestrial space bases which employ the concept design of a radiation free LSS environment. Effectively maintaining a LSS in an extraterrestrial space environment is difficult without protection from harmful space radiation such as galactic cosmic radiation (GCR) and solar radiation. Radiation produces high energy ions which penetrates tissue and destroys DNA. Without radiation protection, life in an extraterrestrial environment will perish. Therefore, it is …

Comparative Proteomic Analysis Of The Impact Of Management Programs On Porcine Airways, Chakia Joi Mcclendon

Theses

In North Carolina, swine are reared in confinement housing or pasture-based operations and air quality in confinement operations is known to contribute to health status. However, few if any reports investigate the impact of swine management operations on porcine airways; thus the goal of this project. The hypothesis was that airways of pigs reared indoors have morphological and proteome differences compared to pigs reared outdoors. Three experimental trials were conducted to observe airway morphology and proteomes. Trial I included three breed types raised indoors, Tamworth X Berkshire, Berkshire X Berkshire and Hertford X Berkshire (n = 4- 5 each). Trials …

Prototype And Analysis Of The Army's Titan Services, Mahesh Shivalingappa

Theses

The Tactical Information Technologies for Assured Net Operations (TITAN) Program is an Advanced Technology Objective (ATO) funded by the Army. The overall goal of this ATO is to demonstrate how emerging information technologies can significantly improve key areas of tactical operations, ultimately resulting in the transition of software developed under the ATO to existing battlefield systems. One such key area is Information Dissemination and management (ID&M). The key software that will be developed under the ID&M portion of the TITAN Program requires a collection of agent-based software services that will collaborate during tactical mission planning and execution. The agent framework …

Activity Of Soil Enzymes In Constructed Wetlands Treated With Swine Wastewater, Ramgopal Baddam

Theses

Increased swine production in North Carolina has resulted in higher waste production. Continuous application of swine wastewater from lagoons to agricultural land can pose surface and ground water pollution. Constructed wetland (CW) treatment is an alternate to the lagoon spray field system that reduces the nutrients concentration through physical, chemical and biological mechanisms. One of the biological processes in the CW is enzymatic activity which plays a major role in releasing nutrients from organic substances. The objectives of this research were to investigate the activity of soil enzymes at different depths of CW treated with swine wastewater and to assess …

A Study Of Biodegradable Ceramic Coatings For Magnesium-Based Implants, Erica L. Clinard

Theses

The objective of this study is develop some understanding of biodegradable, ceramic coatings that control the rate of corrosion of a magnesium-based implant by: optimizing parameters for fabricating metal oxides, determining surface roughness parameters, determining dependence of resorption time on coating thickness and determining the biological compatibility of aluminum oxide, ferric oxide and zinc oxide. Magnetron sputtering has been used to manufacture high quality ceramic coatings through pulsed direct current sputtering technique. Aluminum oxide, zinc oxide and iron oxide were characterized by an optical density method, x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. From this study, it was …

Biodegradation And Mushroom Cultivation Studies On Peanut Shells And Corn Stalks By Pleurotus Ostreatus Under Solid State Fermentation Conditions, Mansuru Usif

Theses

Peanut shells (PS) and corn stalks (CS) are abundant agro-industrial wastes that are mainly disposed of by burning or soil incorporation. The biodegradation of PS and CS in various substrate combinations (SCs) was studied under solid state fermentation with Pleurotus ostreatus. A two factorial experiment in a completely randomized design (CRD) was used in this study. The abilities of the selected SCs to support fruit body yield was also investigated as a one factorial experiment in a CRD. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to determine significant differences at 5% level of significance. The results from the biodegradation studies showed …

Development Of Emotional Health Monitoring And Feedback System Based On Facial Expression Recognition,Traditional Chinese Medicine Theory, And Regional Agriculture, Franshaun Latrice Hardy

Theses

An individual’s emotional, as well as physical state plays a valuable role in their overall productivity. If one has a balance of physical and emotional well being, the likelihood of their performance will increase towards their daily tasks and assignments. One’s nutritional diet plays a vital role in creating and producing balance into their lives. Studies have shown that the foods you eat have a significant effect on your physical, mental and emotional state.The objective of this research was to develop a system that will enable more research for emotion monitoring and feedback with the long term goal of developing …

Identification Of Pan-Ligands For Peroxisome Proliferator-Activated Receptors (Ppar) Using Computational Virtual Screening With Molecular Docking, Hamid Dafalla Ismail

Theses

Peroxisome Proliferator-activated Receptors (PPARs) are ligand-activated nuclear receptors known for their major role in metabolic syndrome (MS). Abdominal obesity, high blood pressure, increased glucose levels and low concentrations of high-density lipoprotein characterize MS. Numerous studies proposed developing pan-agonists as potent drug candidates for the treatment and control of metabolic syndrome. The objective of this study was to use virtual screening with molecular docking to identify potential pan-PPAR ligands from the ZINC database. The 3D structural files of the receptor ligand binding domains (LBD), obtained from the Protein Data Bank (PDB), were energetically minimized and the binding pockets on each LBD …

A Study On Thermal Stability Of Palladiumcomposite Membrane Fabricated By Surfactant Induced Electroless Plating (Siep), Syed Zahadul Islam

Theses

Thermal stability of the palladium membrane is a major challenge in hydrogen separation from mixture of gases at high temperature. To study the long term thermal stability of palladium membrane, thin, dense, and defect free Pd composite membranes on microporous stainless steel (MPSS) substrate were prepared by surfactant induced electroless plating (SIEP). Dodecyl trimethyl ammonium bromide (DTAB), a cationic surfactant was used in the Pd EP-bath. Permeability tests were carried out with hydrogen and nitrogen at temperatures and pressures in the range of 523 - 823 K and 20 - 100 psi respectively. The membranes showed good hydrogen flux and …

Cellular Analysis Of Hepg2 Cells On Gastrin Releasing Peptide (Grp) Nanostructure, Karshak Kosaraju

Theses

Artificial juxtacrine stimulation arises from the covalent attachment of growth factors onto biomaterials. Incorporation of growth factors onto cell culture substrates has been found to enhance the functionality of cells in vitro. In this study, we describe how the immobilization of Gastrin Releasing Peptide (GRP) enhances the viability of hepatocarcinoma cell line, HepG2 up to 4 days. The biomaterial for immobilization of GRP was prepared using indium tin oxide (ITO) sputtered on polyethylene terephthalate (PET). A self-assembled monolayer (SAM) of 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (3-APTES) on ITO was covalently attached to GRP. Characterization of the substrates before and after immobilization of GRP …

Soil And Water Remediation Using Controlled Release Polymer, Jerrine Theresa Foster

Theses

Water and soil treatment for the eradication of pathogens are important today and will forever be of importance in the future. It has been noted that poor water quality poses major threat to human health and is responsible for the deaths of 1.8 million people annually worldwide, with over 90% (1.6 million) of the reported cases being children under the age of five (United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund, 2005). Fresh water can be accessed for personal use and recreation through fresh water sources, such as rivers, lakes, groundwater and springs. These sources, especially surface water sources, are exposed to …

Examination Of Virulence-Associated Lipoproteins In Novel Strains Of Haemophilus Ducreyi, Quantil M. Melendez

Theses

Haemophilus ducreyi is a gram negative, sexually transmitted bacterial pathogen. This strict human pathogen causes the genital ulcer disease chancroid, which results in the formation of deep, painful ulcers. Chancroid infection has also been associated with high transmission rates of the Human Immunodeficiency Virus. H. ducreyi virulence has been attributed, in part, to the extracellular virulence factors large supernatant protein A (LspA) and large supernatant protein B (LspB). Recently, H. ducreyi strains were assigned to two classes, Class I (CI) and Class II (CII). Strains were grouped based on common DNA sequences, expression of several known virulence factors, and differences …

Computational Modeling Of Mucin 1 (Muc1) Peptide And Anti-Muc1 Aptamer Binding, Kristen Lorraine Rhinehardt

Theses

Biomarkers are molecules that indicate changes in a physiological state and are detected by biosensors. Aptamer based biosensors are highly efficient, with high specificity and reusability. An aptamer library for a 25-mer aptamer contains 1015 possible sequences. Experimentally, the procedure known as Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment (SELEX) is used. Selecting an aptamer from such a huge library is highly involved and time consuming. A single round of SELEX uses a few hundred aptamers and can take few hours to weeks. Use of computational modeling may simplify this aptamer selection process. Prior to computational modeling of the aptamer …

The Role Of Fra-1 And Cd44 In Malignant Brain Tumor Cell Migration Rasheena Decarroll Edmondson, Rasheena Decarroll Edmondson

Theses

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common form of primary brain tumors. It is a highly aggressive tumor, characterized by an increased proliferation rate and a high capacity to invade surrounding tissues. Currently, GBM treatment includes surgical resection followed by chemotherapy and radiation treatment. However, these therapeutic options often do not alter the infiltrative and migratory capacity of GBMs. The invasive migration of glioblastoma multiforme has been associated with CD44, a cell surface glycoprotein and the principle receptor for hyaluronic acid (HA). The molecular basis of CD44 regulation in GBM is not fully understood. However, CD44 regulation has been shown …

Development Of Mass Spectrometric Methods For The Analysis Of Serotonin And Related Compounds In Biological Matrices, Merisa Moriarty

Theses

Serotonin is a major neurotransmitter in the brain and affects various functions both in the brain and in the rest of the body. It has been linked to depression, migraines, and aggression, as well as many psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia, dementia and anorexia nervosa. It also has been associated with conditions like Alzheimer’s disease along with other neurotransmitters such as dopamine.

The aim of this research project is to develop various mass spectrometric methods for the analysis of serotonin, dopamine and similar indoles in both urine and serum matrices. This thesis provides extensive reviews detailing a general overview of serotonin …

The Effects Of Climate On The Growth Of Winter Wheat And Spring Barley In An Irish Context, Adrian Kennedy

Theses

The climate of earth is always changing due to natural events, however it is thought that the rapid warming period currently taking place is primarily due human activity to (environmental protection agency 2012). Climate change is altering the environment and this will have consequences for agriculture (Teagasc publications 2012). In this study we examine the relationship between weather and the yield of winter wheat and spring barley in an Irish context using data gathered from 2004-2010 at the Teagasc Oak Park research centre in Carlow. The data was analysed using a mixed effect model to test which if any weather …

Design Of A Distributed Hadoop Solution For The Multiple Sequence Alignment Algorithm: Clustal Omega, Jurate Daugelaite

Theses

Multiple Sequence Alignment (MSA) of DNA and protein sequences is one of the most essential techniques in the fields of molecular biology, computational biology and bioinformatics. It aids the identification and prediction of three dimensional structures, primary functions and evolutionary relatedness amongst groups of species, organisms, and genes. Since as the completion of the Human Genome Project and with the advent of sequencing initiatives such as the Genome 10K project, the rate of genome sequencing has increased exponentially, producing vast amounts of DNA and protein sequences. MSA algorithms, when applied to such sequence data, can identify common homology, structure and …