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Inferential Methods For High-Throughput Methylation Data, Maria Capparuccini Nov 2010

Inferential Methods For High-Throughput Methylation Data, Maria Capparuccini

Theses and Dissertations

The role of abnormal DNA methylation in the progression of disease is a growing area of research that relies upon the establishment of sound statistical methods. The common method for declaring there is differential methylation between two groups at a given CpG site, as summarized by the difference between proportions methylated db=b1-b2, has been through use of a Filtered Two Sample t-test, using the recommended filter of 0.17 (Bibikova et al., 2006b). In this dissertation, we performed a re-analysis of the data used in recommending the threshold by fitting a mixed-effects ANOVA model. It was determined that the 0.17 filter …


The Stockbridge-Munsee Tote At The National Museum Of The American Indian, Corinne Mcveigh Nov 2010

The Stockbridge-Munsee Tote At The National Museum Of The American Indian, Corinne Mcveigh

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis constructs the cultural biography of the National Museum of the American Indian’s Stockbridge-Munsee tote, a twentieth-century souvenir craft, in order to examine the tote’s cultural and cross-cultural associated meanings and how these associated meanings shift from one context to another. It follows the tote’s history including its production, purchase, and transfer. This thesis briefly recounts the Stockbridge-Munsee Indians’ history and focuses on a few examples of craft objects produced prior to the 1960s, when the Stockbridge-Munsee tote was made. Wisconsin Indian Craft, a craft cooperative formed in the 1960s, produced objects such as the Stockbridge-Munsee tote. This tote, …


Characterization Of The Lkb1-Mo25-Strad Ampkk Complex In Adult Mouse Skeletal Muscle, Cody Don Smith Nov 2010

Characterization Of The Lkb1-Mo25-Strad Ampkk Complex In Adult Mouse Skeletal Muscle, Cody Don Smith

Theses and Dissertations

In liver tissue, the AMP-activated protein kinase kinase (AMPKK) complex was identified as the association of LKB1, MO25α/β, and STRADα/β proteins; however, this complex has yet to be characterized in skeletal muscle. In this report, we demonstrate the expression of the LKB1-MO25-STRAD AMPKK complex in adult skeletal muscle, confirm the absence of mRNA splice variants, and report the relative mRNA expression levels of these complex-forming proteins. To facilitate this characterization we used control (ctrl) and muscle-specific LKB1 knockout (LKB1-/-) mice. LKB1 detection in untreated ctrl and LKB1-/- muscle lysates revealed two protein bands at approximately 50 and 60 kDa; although, …


Effects Of Diabetic State And Gender On Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion By Human Macrophages Infected With Burkholderia Pseudomallei, Annette J. Blam Nov 2010

Effects Of Diabetic State And Gender On Pro-Inflammatory Cytokine Secretion By Human Macrophages Infected With Burkholderia Pseudomallei, Annette J. Blam

Theses and Dissertations

Burkholderia pseudomallei is a gram-negative opportunistic soil pathogen that causes the life-threatening disease melioidosis. It is endemic in Northern Australia and Southeast Asia but can be found throughout many other regions in the world. Diabetes mellitus is a predisposing risk factor for infection with this organism and it has been demonstrated that diabetic males are particularly susceptible to severe infection. Previous research suggested that monocytes isolated from the whole blood of diabetic males demonstrated a decreased ability to produce the proinflammatory cytokines IL-1β and IL-8. We hypothesized that monocyte-derived macrophages from diabetic males would also secrete lower levels of pro-inflammatory …


Network Analysis And Comparative Phylogenomics Of Micrornas And Their Respective Messenger Rna Targets Using Twelve Drosophila Species, M Ryan Woodcock Nov 2010

Network Analysis And Comparative Phylogenomics Of Micrornas And Their Respective Messenger Rna Targets Using Twelve Drosophila Species, M Ryan Woodcock

Theses and Dissertations

MicroRNAs represent a special class of small (~21–25 nucleotides) non-coding RNA molecules which exert powerful post-transcriptional control over gene expression in eukaryotes. Indeed microRNAs likely represent the most abundant class of regulators in animal gene regulatory networks. This study describes the recovery and network analyses of a suite of homologous microRNA targets recovered through two different prediction methods for whole gene regions across twelve Drosophila species. Phylogenetic criteria under an accepted tree topology were used as a reference frame to 1) make inference into microRNA-target predictions, 2) study mathematical properties of microRNA-gene regulatory networks, 3) and conduct novel phylogenetic analyses …


Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938): Early Female Nudes In Landscapes, Kathryn Rogge Nov 2010

Ernst Ludwig Kirchner (1880-1938): Early Female Nudes In Landscapes, Kathryn Rogge

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines how Ernst Ludwig Kirchner reconceived the female nude within the two contexts of Expressionism and the German nudist movement. In particular, it looks to Kirchner’s early paintings, executed between 1909 and 1914, of female nudes in landscape settings to determine how Kirchner operated within and departed from the conventions of the female nude. This thesis challenges the feminist critique of Expressionist painting and Kirchner’s female nudes. It also examines how Kirchner’s female nudes in landscapes are complicated by the early twentieth-century development of German nudism. While these paintings are often categorized as bathers following nineteenth-century French precedent, …


A Framework For Resistance: Violence, Hope, And Rebellion In The Novels Of Manuel Zapata Olivella, Steven Curtis Clark Nov 2010

A Framework For Resistance: Violence, Hope, And Rebellion In The Novels Of Manuel Zapata Olivella, Steven Curtis Clark

Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to analyze the circular nature of violence and its relation to hope and rebellion in two of Manuel Zapata Olivella's earliest and most important novels: La Calle 10 and Chambacú, corral de negros. These works explore the themes of institutional violence and racial and cultural marginalization within the context of early twentieth century Colombian society. They also present the themes of hope and rebellion in varying ways. By presenting the topic of violence I explore important similarities and differences between the protagonists of the novels and demonstrate how the novels are interconnected thematically and historically.


Queening: Chess And Women In Medieval And Renaissance France, Regina L. O'Shea Nov 2010

Queening: Chess And Women In Medieval And Renaissance France, Regina L. O'Shea

Theses and Dissertations

This work explores the correlation between the game of chess and social conditions for women in both medieval and Renaissance France. Beginning with an introduction to the importance and symbolism of the game in European society and the teaching of the game to European nobility, this study theorizes how chess relates to gender politics in early modern France and how the game's evolution reflects the changing role of women. I propose that modifications to increase the directional and quantitative abilities of the Queen piece made at the close of the fifteenth century reflect changing attitudes towards women of the period, …


Reading Holiness: Agnes Grey, Ælfric, And The Augustinian Hermeneutic, Jessica Caroline Brown Nov 2010

Reading Holiness: Agnes Grey, Ælfric, And The Augustinian Hermeneutic, Jessica Caroline Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Although Anne Brontë's first novel, Agnes Grey, presents itself as a didactic treatise, Brontë's work departs from many accepted Evangelical tropes in the portrayal of its moral protagonist. These departures create an exemplary figure whose flaws potentially subvert the novel's didactic purposes. The character of Agnes is not necessarily meant to be directly emulated, yet Brontë's governess is presented as a tool of moral instruction. The conflict between the novel's self-proclaimed didactic purpose and the form in which it presents that purpose raises a number of interpretive questions. I argue that many of these questions can be answered through …


Making Authenticity: Polk Miller And The Evolution Of American Popular Culture, Jacques Vest Nov 2010

Making Authenticity: Polk Miller And The Evolution Of American Popular Culture, Jacques Vest

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines the life and musical career of James "Polk" Miller of Richmond Virginia, a Confederate veteran, and successful pharmacist. Miller claimed to offer the only authentic version of antebellum slave music, and was renowned as a convincing "negro delineator." In his focus on race, performance, and authenticity, Miller straddled a number of cultural currents linking him to his nineteenth century predecessors as well as the cultural milieu of the twentieth century. About the turn of the century, he added a black quartet to his act in order to more fully capture his conception of the "authentic" slave music …


Characterization And Development Of A Stroke-Induced Model Of Acquired Epilepsy In Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures: Role Of The Cannabinoid Cb1 Receptors In Modulation Of Neuronal Excitation And Inhibition, Julie Ziobro Nov 2010

Characterization And Development Of A Stroke-Induced Model Of Acquired Epilepsy In Organotypic Hippocampal Slice Cultures: Role Of The Cannabinoid Cb1 Receptors In Modulation Of Neuronal Excitation And Inhibition, Julie Ziobro

Theses and Dissertations

Stroke is the most common cause of acquired epilepsy in persons 35 and older. The massive increase in extracellular glutamate during stroke causes a cascade of intracellular events that can lead to cell death or the molecular changes that initiate the development of epilepsy. In addition, many studies point to a modulatory role of the endocannabinoid system in controlling seizures. Animal models of stroke induced acquired epilepsy have been difficult to develop. Therefore, this dissertation was initiated to develop an organotypic hippocampal slice culture model of acquired epilepsy and examine the changes in distribution and function of the endogenous CB1 …


Adenovirus-5 Infection Affects Lipid Metabolism In Hepatic And Adipose Tissues, Marianna Sukholutsky Oct 2010

Adenovirus-5 Infection Affects Lipid Metabolism In Hepatic And Adipose Tissues, Marianna Sukholutsky

Theses and Dissertations

Our recent studies have shown a link between Adenovirus-5 (Ad-5) and elevated lipids, which prompted the hypothesis that Ad-5 infection might augment hepatic and/or adipose tissue lipid metabolism. To test our hypothesis, mice were infected with Ad-5 and screened for changes in lipogenesis and plasma markers associated with the metabolic syndrome. We observed increased expression of sterol regulatory element binding protein 1 (SREBP-1) in infected liver tissues, but not in adipose tissues and this correlated with elevated plasma and hepatic triglyceride levels. Elevated expression of adiponectin was seen in Ad-5 infected adipose tissues and this correlated with phosphorylated AMPK in …


Perpetual Exploration Of Relational Information And Enhanced Star Glyphs For Multi-Source Data Visualization, Andrew Crowell Oct 2010

Perpetual Exploration Of Relational Information And Enhanced Star Glyphs For Multi-Source Data Visualization, Andrew Crowell

Theses and Dissertations

Information Visualization is an area of research concerned with the presentation of abstract data in a visual format. It has many diverse applications in fields of software engineering, information sciences, biology, chemistry, and medical, among others. This thesis is primarily concerned with the application of information visualization to the display of directed graphs and to the display of multivariate data for analysis. Two novel applications will be presented that are both advancements in the field of information visualization. The first application applies to the visualization and navigation of large or infinite graphs and networks. The quality of a graph drawing …


Magic, Monsters, And Merlin: An Exploration Of The Fantasy Genre In A Fifth Grade Setting, Traci Bowles Oct 2010

Magic, Monsters, And Merlin: An Exploration Of The Fantasy Genre In A Fifth Grade Setting, Traci Bowles

Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this exploratory investigation were to determine how fantasy literature helps children explore, process, and discuss real world issues and topics and what other applications the genre had in the classroom. This study was conducted by implementing a genre study in a fifth grade classroom. Seventeen students participated in the research model. Data collected included audiotaped discussions, student projects and artifacts, and my personal teacher research journal. The data was analyzed recursively across all data sets to determine patterns and themes. Data was coded according to the four main patterns and counted across data sets. If the pattern …


Energy Efficiency In The Buildings Of Kosovo, Maljetë Hoxha Oct 2010

Energy Efficiency In The Buildings Of Kosovo, Maljetë Hoxha

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis is basically interview based thesis. The aim of the project is to explore the actual situation of energy efficient buildings of Kosovo. The thesis by exploring the current situation, tries to identify which are the next steps that should be taken in to account in order to have a better performance of energy efficiency in the buildings. Although, there are mentioned some public buildings, the thesis are mainly focused on the residential sector which is considered the most energy consumption sector.


“Sustainable Design – A Holistic Approach To Sustainable Planning And Living”, Nexhmije Kryeziu Oct 2010

“Sustainable Design – A Holistic Approach To Sustainable Planning And Living”, Nexhmije Kryeziu

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.


"Macabre Parables: The 'Slasher' Film As Morality Play", Brad Scott Pierce Sep 2010

"Macabre Parables: The 'Slasher' Film As Morality Play", Brad Scott Pierce

Theses and Dissertations

Many film genres have experienced their periods of popularity and eventual fallout, some to their demise. The horror genre, on the other hand, has never lost its audience. Many times, critics have declared horror "dead" and yet have been amazed to see its resurgence again. What makes terror so much fun for America? This project seeks to understand the continual popularity of the often maligned genre known as "horror" and asks if there are rhetorical implications in these films that reach far beyond exploitation. Does horror tap into certain religious paradigms that have spiritual resonance within our American culture? Do …


The Expression Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 And -2 In Olfactory Injury And Recovery, Stephen Bakos Sep 2010

The Expression Of Matrix Metalloproteinase-9 And -2 In Olfactory Injury And Recovery, Stephen Bakos

Theses and Dissertations

The olfactory system has the remarkable capacity for neurogenesis following injury. However, the molecular mechanisms important for reinnervation of the olfactory bulb (OB) remain unknown. The matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are important components in many central nervous system (CNS) injury paradigms, yet remain unexplored in olfactory injury and recovery. To address the role of MMPs, the temporal expressions of MMP-9 and MMP-2 were examined in 3 olfactory injury models: nerve transection (NTx), methyl bromide gas (MeBr) exposure, and nerve transection with Teflon barrier (NTx-TB). Each injury model represents a different degree of olfactory injury and neuronal recovery. In NTx, sensory axons …


The Regulation Of The Alternative Splicing Of Caspase 9, Rachel Goehe Sep 2010

The Regulation Of The Alternative Splicing Of Caspase 9, Rachel Goehe

Theses and Dissertations

The pro-apoptotic, caspase 9a, and the anti-apoptotic, caspase 9b, are derived from the caspase 9 gene by alternative splicing. This study demonstrates that the alternative splicing of caspase 9 is dysregulated in a large percentage of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) tumors of the adenocarcinoma type. Furthermore, modulation of the levels of splice variants of caspase 9 had dramatic effects on the anchorage-independent growth and tumorigenic capacity of NSCLC cells. Due to these findings, the molecular mechanisms regulating the post-transcriptional processing of caspase 9 were therefore examined and an exonic splicing silencer (ESS) regulating the pre-mRNA processing of caspase 9 …


The Dream Is Alive: A Study Of Selected African American Males' Success At Rowan University, Cory Boone Sep 2010

The Dream Is Alive: A Study Of Selected African American Males' Success At Rowan University, Cory Boone

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand why African American males struggle to obtain a four-year college degree. A secondary purpose was to analyze the Black male college students' perceptions of success in college and the roles educational leaders played in their attendance and achievement in college. This study also looked at the behavior of the African American males in college. Purposive sampling was used to select participants. Selection criteria included male, African American undergraduate and graduate students attending Rowan University during the 2009/2010 academic year who were student leaders, and doing well in the classroom. Also, selected …


Untargeted Metabolite Profiling Using A Multi-Way Decomposition Method, Minho Chae Sep 2010

Untargeted Metabolite Profiling Using A Multi-Way Decomposition Method, Minho Chae

Theses and Dissertations

Although gas chromatograpy-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) is a mature technology for profiling primary metabolites, analyzing those datasets in a large-scale and high-throughput manner is a great challenge because of the complex nature of the data. There is often non-linear inter-run variance in the retention time between runs, making it difficult to identify corresponding peaks among multiple runs. Moreover, peaks are rarely homogeneous. They often contain systematic signals, i.e., background, or non-systematic signals, i.e., noise, and many peaks comprise multiple co-eluting or overlapping components. Thus, identifying all the pure components in all of the peaks from the entire dataset, and comparing them …


Fetal Breathing Movement And Its Distinctive Characteristics In Bio-Magnetic Data, Umit Deniz Ulusar Sep 2010

Fetal Breathing Movement And Its Distinctive Characteristics In Bio-Magnetic Data, Umit Deniz Ulusar

Theses and Dissertations

Magnetoencephalography (MEG) is widely used to study magnetic fields generated by the electrical activity of the human brain and can also be applied for fetal neurological health assessment. The fetal MEG (fMEG) signals are often contaminated with other bio-magnetic signals such as fetal breathing movement (FBM), which acts as an interfering factor for fetal neurological signals. This study was carried out to identify the bio-magnetic signals pertinent to the FBM. The fMEG signals were captured using superconducting quantum interference devices (SQUIDs) and the FBMs were recorded by an ultrasound-based video technique. The simultaneous recording is challenging since SQUIDs are extremely …


B Cell Adam10 Activity Is Increased By Kainate Receptor Activation: Potential Role Of This Pathway In Th2 Immunity And Cancer, Jamie Sturgill Sep 2010

B Cell Adam10 Activity Is Increased By Kainate Receptor Activation: Potential Role Of This Pathway In Th2 Immunity And Cancer, Jamie Sturgill

Theses and Dissertations

CD23 has long been appreciated to be a natural, negative regulator of IgE synthesis. This understanding is due in part to animal models in which CD23 deficient or CD23 transgenic animals display exacerbated or reduced IgE levels respectively. Interestingly, CD23 is susceptible to proteolytic cleavage from the cell surface. When this occurs, CD23 loses its regulatory capability and the solubilized form can lead to pro-inflammatory events through its cytokinergic activity on macrophages. Thus, targeting this specific cleavage would be beneficial to the control of allergic disease by stabilizing CD23 at the cell surface. Inhibitor studies performed by our group as …


Finding Ms. Gladden: A Writing Teacher's Confessional Journey To Self-Discovery, Julie Mccown Gladden Sep 2010

Finding Ms. Gladden: A Writing Teacher's Confessional Journey To Self-Discovery, Julie Mccown Gladden

Theses and Dissertations

"Finding Ms. Gladden: A Writing Teacher's Confessional Journey to Self-Discovery" is a collection of stories detailing my journey to develop the "teacher's persona." The beginning stories detail my experiences in the substitute teaching classroom, the University Writing Center, and the teaching assistant training workshop. The stories at the end of the journey deal with my adventures on the first day of class as a first time college-level writing instructor. The exploration of the development of my "teaching persona" ends with the discovery of my true teaching self.


Twenty-Seven Authentically-Based Esl Grammar Supplements: Shifting From Form To Function, Kelly Phillip Sep 2010

Twenty-Seven Authentically-Based Esl Grammar Supplements: Shifting From Form To Function, Kelly Phillip

Theses and Dissertations

The language teaching profession has seen many changes in how to teach grammar in the language classroom. The pendulum has swung widely from a grammar only approach to an almost complete omission of its teaching. In general, teaching grammar can be a very daunting endeavor even for the most skilled educator. In addition, some language teachers do not have authentic materials or are using books that have sentence-based grammar exercises. The focus of this thesis is to determine the importance of grammar and communicative activities in the language classroom and to design authentically-based grammar supplements that are grammar-based but still …


Tangles: Conversations About My Life, Patricia M. Hornbeck Sep 2010

Tangles: Conversations About My Life, Patricia M. Hornbeck

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a collection of nonfiction narrative essays. It reveals an examination of my life from childhood through several crises, recounting episodes within a dysfunctional nuclear family, marriage at an early age, and serious illness in my twenties. The autobiographical pieces reveal my journey out of childhood poverty, to becoming a successful parent, eventually divorcing, and entering college as an adult student. Each piece tells part of my story in coming closer to self-actualization and independence. It begins with a brief introduction followed by seven chapters. The final, concluding chapter explores my thoughts, memories, teachers, and theories that have …


Gender Bias As Evidenced On Political Blogs In The 2008 Presidential Election, Lori Ann Gardner Sep 2010

Gender Bias As Evidenced On Political Blogs In The 2008 Presidential Election, Lori Ann Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

Political blogs played a significant role in the 2008 presidential election serving not only as news sources on the latest political coverage, but also as communities where people expressed political opinions, interacted with others who shared similar beliefs, as well as attempt to persuade and influence the audience members, often making calls to action. A rhetorical analysis, drawing from gendered mediation and frame theory, of 183 political blog posts revealed that gendered mediation was quite common on blog posts in the 2008 presidential election. Further, the mediation was often followed by gendered discourse that was much more blatant in content …


Caught Between Two Paradigms: Changes In The Community Foundation Field And The Rhetoric Of Community Foundation Websites, Sarah Elizabeth Kinser Sep 2010

Caught Between Two Paradigms: Changes In The Community Foundation Field And The Rhetoric Of Community Foundation Websites, Sarah Elizabeth Kinser

Theses and Dissertations

In this investigation, I analyzed the websites of three community foundations and interviewed communications personnel from each foundation to determine how and to what extent their websites address the rhetorical challenges implied by ongoing changes in the field that necessitate a more collaborative, community-oriented approach. The stated key messages of the personnel I interviewed emphasize community involvement and partnership, yet their comments indicate that they view their websites as tools for informing rather than interacting. The sites' structure and functionality foreground institutional information and push community-oriented and interactive content to the periphery. Additionally, the sites' formal language and use of …


Site Fidelity And Population Structure Of A Solitary Subterranean Rodent, Geomys Breviceps, In Southwestern Arkansas., Kimberly Nicole King Sep 2010

Site Fidelity And Population Structure Of A Solitary Subterranean Rodent, Geomys Breviceps, In Southwestern Arkansas., Kimberly Nicole King

Theses and Dissertations

From October 2007 to April 2010, 87 Geomys breviceps were captured a total of 156 times on a 2-ha plot in southwestern Arkansas. Individuals were captured using the Sikes-Finley pocket gopher trap and all new captures were marked with passive integrated transponder (PIT) tags. Spatial distribution and movement patterns were examined using ArcGIS. The population was female biased. Average duration between initial capture and final recapture of individuals was 8 months. An individual male and female captured at the onset of the study were recaptured after 29 months and remained within 46 m of their initial capture site. Males were …


The Griffin "Use Of Force" Policy For Correction Departments, Ronnie Dewayne Griffin Sep 2010

The Griffin "Use Of Force" Policy For Correction Departments, Ronnie Dewayne Griffin

Theses and Dissertations

There is a critical need for committed leadership in state departments of corrections concerning use of force by correctional officers. There are specific measures that can make a big difference in reducing excessive and unnecessary force by correctional officers. The Griffin "Use of Force" Policy and Use of Force Training Curriculum for Correction Departments has identified those specific measures. The Policy and Training Curriculum were established to reduce the occurring problem of excessive and unnecessary force by correction officers as well as to reduce legal issues. In order to create the Griffin "Use of Force" Policy and Use of Force …