Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Theses and Dissertations

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication Year
File Type

Articles 10681 - 10710 of 14983

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Pictures With A Voice: Understanding The Everyday Lives Of Native Americans Of The Chickasaw Nation In Developing A Nutrition Social Marketing Campaign, Krystal Rebecca Bowen May 2009

Pictures With A Voice: Understanding The Everyday Lives Of Native Americans Of The Chickasaw Nation In Developing A Nutrition Social Marketing Campaign, Krystal Rebecca Bowen

Theses and Dissertations

Randomly selected Native American families eligible to receive commodity foods were provided cameras to take pictures of visual responses in the areas of: 1) primary food purchases, 2) family use of food, 3) family activities and information access, and 4) future goals of the family. Using a focus-group format, participants chose five pictures that represented the group’s consensual responses. Selected pictures and meaning were analyzed using thematic analysis procedures. Twelve families completed the project. There were four major themes: 1) the importance of family and the Native-American community, 2) health of individual and family including extended family as it pertains …


Determination Of Induction Of Nur77 (Nr4a1), Nor1 (Nr4a3), And Nurr1 (Nr4a2), Josiah Wilcots May 2009

Determination Of Induction Of Nur77 (Nr4a1), Nor1 (Nr4a3), And Nurr1 (Nr4a2), Josiah Wilcots

Theses and Dissertations

Previous data have implicated both neuronal activity and dopamine (DA) autoreceptor activation in the modulation of Nur receptor expression in dopamine neurons. Since dopamine receptor antagonists block the autoreceptors but also alter dopamine release and dopamine neuron activity, the mechanism responsible for gene expression is unclear. We hypothesized that blocking the stimulation of dopamine autoreceptors will be the mechanism that causes the induction of the nuclear receptor genes. To test this hypothesis, we treated 78 mice (1hr or 4hr incubation periods) with either a dopamine D2 receptor agonist (quinpirole), a D2 receptor antagonist (sulpiride or haloperidol) or γ-butyrolactone (GBL), a …


Campus Emergency Evacuation Traffic Management Plan, Di Wu May 2009

Campus Emergency Evacuation Traffic Management Plan, Di Wu

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis was motivated to simulate the evacuation traffic of Mississippi Stated University (MSU) main campus using the Path-Following logic of TSIS/CORSIM and to evaluate a set of traffic management plans. Three scenarios of traffic management plans were developed and tested. A NCT of 123 minutes was projected if evacuate without any plan. In comparison, under a pre-planned traffic management plan the NCT would decrease to 39 minutes. Further, if implement contra flow the NCT would reduce to 21 minutes. If even further adjust the signal timing plans at the university exits a NCT of 20 minutes would be achieved. …


Cho-Human Hybrid Cells As Models For Human Chromosome Non-Disjunction, Elizabeth Balconi Evans May 2009

Cho-Human Hybrid Cells As Models For Human Chromosome Non-Disjunction, Elizabeth Balconi Evans

Theses and Dissertations

We have used Chinese hamster ovary (CHO)-human hybrid cells containing chromosomes 16, 18, X, and 21 to test the ability of human kinetochores to successfully bind to spindle microtubules and to be distributed to the daughter cells. We have established the intrinsic rate of non-disjunction among these human chromosomes noted above and compared these rates with those in cells presented with mitotic challenges such as taxol, nocodazole, and mitosis with unreplicated genomes (MUG). Cells were grown on culture slides, fixed and processed for immunofluorescence and fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). Daughter pairs were identified by staining with anti-á-tubulin to identify …


Effect On Children's Eating Behavior And Self-Efficacy From Participation In Fun With Food Summer Camp, Alma Land Hill May 2009

Effect On Children's Eating Behavior And Self-Efficacy From Participation In Fun With Food Summer Camp, Alma Land Hill

Theses and Dissertations

Surface heterogeneities cause differential heating that can generate mesoscale convective boundaries, sometimes leading to cloud development and enhanced localized precipitation. A preferred cloud pattern has been identified across Maryland and the Delmarva Peninsula region from 1998-2006 through the detection of cumuliform clouds on days when synoptic-scale forcing is weak. Hourly visible Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) imagery data are used to identify convective cloud masses. This allows quantitative description of the frequency and spatiotemporal extent of the clouds, helping forecasters gain insight into when and where they are likely to develop. Despite the inability to determine the underlying causes of …


An Assessment Of The Inservice Training Needs Of Mississippi County Extension Directors In The Area Of Program Needs Assessment, Martha Jackson-Banks May 2009

An Assessment Of The Inservice Training Needs Of Mississippi County Extension Directors In The Area Of Program Needs Assessment, Martha Jackson-Banks

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to address in-service training needs of Mississippi County Extension Directors in the area of program needs assessment. The population consisted of the 80 County Extension Directors; 2 positions were vacant. Eighty percent of County Extension Directors responded. County Extension Directors that responded by program area: 38 Agriculture and Natural Resources, 12 Family and Consumer Sciences, 4 4-H Youth Development, and 10 County Extension Directors that are Generalists. Sixty-one percent were male and 39 percent were female. Eight percent completed a bachelor’s degree, 11% completed a bachelor’s degree plus graduate work towards master’s degree, 60% …


Stakeholder Salience In The Family Firm, John Kirk Ring May 2009

Stakeholder Salience In The Family Firm, John Kirk Ring

Theses and Dissertations

Family firms are replete with problems concerning family and business issues but they remain the most dominant form of business worldwide. Decisions about strategy, structure, and goals of the firm play an integral part in the distinction of family firms from nonamily firms (Chrisman, Chua & Sharma, 2005) and these decisions are further complicated in the family firm by the interaction of the family and business systems (Stafford, Duncan, Danes & Winter, 1999). Sharma (2000) and Chrisman and colleagues (2005) call for research of this interaction through the utilization of stakeholder theory because family firms involve a specific array of …


Long-Term Trend Analysis Of Climatic Factors Influencing Autumn-Winter Migration Of Mallards In The Mississippi Flyway, Christina Elizabeth Zimmerman May 2009

Long-Term Trend Analysis Of Climatic Factors Influencing Autumn-Winter Migration Of Mallards In The Mississippi Flyway, Christina Elizabeth Zimmerman

Theses and Dissertations

Anecdotal evidence suggests that increased numbers of waterfowl are remaining at northern latitudes throughout winter in the Mississippi Flyway. A calculated weather severity index (WSI), based on temperature and snow data, determined that local mallard abundance decreases when a WSI of 8 is reached. In mapping the WSI 8 line, mallard movement can be estimated. A fifty year trend analysis of the climatic factors driving duck migration for various locations within the Mississippi Flyway was used to determine whether climatic shifts have occurred, finding that although there are sinusoidal temperature trends throughout those years, the past decade has a longer …


Lysine And Threonine Responses In Ross X Ross Tp16 Male Broilers, Derrick Lashawn Everett May 2009

Lysine And Threonine Responses In Ross X Ross Tp16 Male Broilers, Derrick Lashawn Everett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the Lys and Thr responses of TP-16 male broilers. Experiment 1 (14-28 d of age) showed no significant live performance effects. In Experiment 2, Lys and Thr (P=0.021) interacted to affect 28 to 42 d body weight gain and (P=0.004) feed intake. Lys main effects improved body weight gain (P=0.002), and feed conversion (P=0.009). Thr fed at the 0.68% level improved body weight gain and feed conversion. Mortality did not differ among treatments and averaged 0.09% across all treatments. The study indicated the sensitivity of the Thr:Lys ratio when broilers are fed …


Flagellar Sensilla Of Females Of Selected Species Of Vespidae (Hymenoptera), Andrew Oliver Mccaskill May 2009

Flagellar Sensilla Of Females Of Selected Species Of Vespidae (Hymenoptera), Andrew Oliver Mccaskill

Theses and Dissertations

Little information regarding the flagellar sensilla of the Vespidae, particularly Polistes, exists in the literature. A variety of social behaviors in vespids, such as alarm pheromones and pheromone response, involve intraspecific communication. Therefore, an understanding of sensory receptors in social wasps would benefit further behavioral and neurological studies of wasps. The flagellar sensilla of female paper wasps Polistes dorsalis, Polistes metricus, and the solitary wasp Monobia quadridens were examined by scanning and transmission electron microscopy. A number of olfactory receptors, contact chemoreceptors, and mechanoreceptors were named and described. Possible functions of these receptors were proposed based on morphological and ultrastructural …


Hyperspectral Image Visualization Using Double And Multiple Layers, Shangshu Cai May 2009

Hyperspectral Image Visualization Using Double And Multiple Layers, Shangshu Cai

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation develops new approaches for hyperspectral image visualization. Double and multiple layers are proposed to effectively convey the abundant information contained in the original high-dimensional data for practical decision-making support. The contributions of this dissertation are as follows. 1.Development of new visualization algorithms for hyperspectral imagery. Double-layer technique can display mixed pixel composition and global material distribution simultaneously. The pie-chart layer, taking advantage of the properties of non-negativity and sum-to-one abundances from linear mixture analysis of hyperspectral pixels, can be fully integrated with the background layer. Such a synergy enhances the presentation at both macro and micro scales. 2.Design …


Preeclampsia And Future Cardiovascular Risk, Christine Lauzon May 2009

Preeclampsia And Future Cardiovascular Risk, Christine Lauzon

Theses and Dissertations

Several recent studies have shown that women with a history of preeclampsia or gestational hypertension are at increased risk of developing hypertension and cardiovascular disease later in life. It is unclear whether this increased risk is due to underlying conditions in the women that predispose them to preeclampsia, or to the long-term sequelae of the preeclampsia syndrome. It is clear though that cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in women. There is a lack of anticipatory guidance for women regarding their future risk of cardiovascular disease following pregnancy complicated by preeclampsia. Therefore, the purpose of this project was …


Investigation Of Learning In Science Museums: Why Museums Need To Change Their Educational Mission And Format, Herbert Wade Crissman May 2009

Investigation Of Learning In Science Museums: Why Museums Need To Change Their Educational Mission And Format, Herbert Wade Crissman

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.


Predator And Abiotic Effects On Hatching Phenotype And Survival Of Arboreal Frog Eggs With Implications For Phytoplankton, Jessica Hite May 2009

Predator And Abiotic Effects On Hatching Phenotype And Survival Of Arboreal Frog Eggs With Implications For Phytoplankton, Jessica Hite

Theses and Dissertations

Historically studies have focused on either the terrestrial or aquatic environments independently. However, these systems are inherently linked through numerous pathways including organisms with complex life cycles. Both abiotic factors and predators of these organisms can influence connections by changing the number of prey moving across habitat boundaries and by changing the phenotype of prey. When the focal organisms are primary consumers, these effects may have important implications for ecosystem processes. My study investigated how terrestrial predators and abiotic factors affect the number and phenotype of herbivorous tadpole inputs into a tropical forest pond. I found that predators and abiotic …


De-Masking The Silence - Drama Therapy: For Children With Asd, Joshua M. Galligan May 2009

De-Masking The Silence - Drama Therapy: For Children With Asd, Joshua M. Galligan

Theses and Dissertations

This dynamic form of pedagogy attempts to cross the interdisciplinary boundaries between theatre, psychology, and modern medicine. What I attempt to present in this thesis is a systematic developmental framework for the theoretical use of drama therapy with children suffering from Autism Spectrum Disorder. This approach has been based on in-depth interdisciplinary study which makes use of the most current research looking at the neurological makeup of the autistic brain. This systematic approach examines the mirror neuron system which has been labeled as a major defect in children with ASD. Through the use of theatrical techniques such as acting, movement, …


Novel Analogs Of M-Chlorophenylguanidine As 5-Ht3 Receptor Ligands, Katie Alix May 2009

Novel Analogs Of M-Chlorophenylguanidine As 5-Ht3 Receptor Ligands, Katie Alix

Theses and Dissertations

Serotonin receptors play a variety of functional roles in the body. Some indications and treatment claims for one of the classes of serotonin receptors, the 5-HT3 receptor family, include: anxiety, depression, chemotherapy- and radiation-induced emesis, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome, pain, drug addiction, and satiety control. A 5-HT3 receptor partial agonist, MD-354, served as a lead compound in the development of new 5-HT3 receptor ligands. Using halogenated analogs the study investigated their effect on binding to the 5-HT3 receptor. Conformationally-constrained analogs (quinazolines) were shown to be a novel class of 5-HT3 receptor antagonists. The log P values were determined for several …


Alterations Of High-Energy Brain Metabolites Across Multiple Neurodegenerative Disorders, Jeremy W. Gawryluk May 2009

Alterations Of High-Energy Brain Metabolites Across Multiple Neurodegenerative Disorders, Jeremy W. Gawryluk

Theses and Dissertations

Brain energy metabolism is vital for many cellular processes including homeostasis and thus disturbances to metabolism can be the cause or consequence of neurodegeneration. Metabolic discrepancies have been hypothesized to be involved but less frequently demonstrated to be manipulated by acute and chronic neurodegenerative disorders such as stroke, traumatic brain injury, and epilepsy. I hypothesized that cerebral energy levels are decreased in my model systems for Alzheimer's disease, Autism, Down syndrome, and HIV-1 dementia and that dietary treatments could enhance energy reserves and protect against neurodegenerative disease. For rodent studies, I utlilized a high-energy head focused microwave irradiation system to …


The Freedom Quilt, April Jones Apr 2009

The Freedom Quilt, April Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The Freedom Quilt is a play that I have written and adapted from Deborah Hokinson’s book, Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt. This story explores the historic and dramatic implications in the idea of coded quilts as a form of communication among African American slaves; specifically as coded maps to freedom. There is an ongoing scholarly debate challenging the existence of these quilts, let alone that they could have been used in such a complex manner. The Freedom Quilt however, is one girl’s unique and individual story, and does not in any way suggest that maps, encoded in quilts were …


Altruism, Activism, And The Moral Imperative In Craft, Gabriel Craig Apr 2009

Altruism, Activism, And The Moral Imperative In Craft, Gabriel Craig

Theses and Dissertations

I consider myself a metalsmith although my interest in materials and ideas extend beyond the boundaries of traditional practice. I approach my work thematically, meaning that I treat my discipline as a framework for a broad investigation rather than as a skill set or process. The outcomes of this approach are therefore varied and include jewelry, installation, performance, video, interactive community based projects, print and web based writing, and historical research. It is through humor or direct viewer interaction that I promote accessibility in my work. My ideas are layered and communicated in a way that allows viewers to engage …


An Agent Based Gene Flow Model, Erich Foster Apr 2009

An Agent Based Gene Flow Model, Erich Foster

Theses and Dissertations

The understanding of gene movement in plant species is critical to the management of both plant and animal species reliant on that plant. Pollen is the mechanism by which plants pass their genetic material from one generation to the next. Pollen dispersal studies have focused primarily on purely random diffusion processes, while this may be a good assumption for species pollinated mainly by abiotic means, such as wind, it is most likely an over simplification for species that are pollinated by biotic means, such as insects [3]. Correlated random walk (CRW) models are a model of animal movement [10] and …


Tacrolimus Is Not Neuroprotective Against Bilirubin Induced Auditory Impairment, Lori Walker Apr 2009

Tacrolimus Is Not Neuroprotective Against Bilirubin Induced Auditory Impairment, Lori Walker

Theses and Dissertations

In newborns, unconjugated bilirubin (UCB) is not readily excreted, and when bilirubin levels exceed the serum albumin binding capacity, pathological levels of UCB exist. Hyperbilirubinemia may lead to auditory damage and ultimately cause a hearing disorder called auditory neuropathy/dys-synchrony, characterized by absent or abnormal brainstem auditory evoked potentials (BAEPs) with evidence of normal inner ear function assessed by either otoacoustic emissions or cochlear microphonic responses. Phototherapy and double volume exchange transfusion are used as treatment methods for neonatal hyperbilirubinemia. Spontaneously jaundiced Gunn rat pups given sulfadimethoxine to displace bilirubin from serum albumin develop bilirubin encephalopathy and have abnormal BAEPs comparable …


The Politics Of Tea And Theatre: How Women’S Suffrage Groups Used Tea And Theatre To Influence Working And Middle Class Women To Become Politically Active, Lisa Kelly Apr 2009

The Politics Of Tea And Theatre: How Women’S Suffrage Groups Used Tea And Theatre To Influence Working And Middle Class Women To Become Politically Active, Lisa Kelly

Theses and Dissertations

In the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries the members of the woman’s suffrage movement in the United States and Britain looked to soften their hard masculine image given to them by the press and to increase participation in the cause. They found that by including theatrical performances and benefits at meetings, and hosting tea socials afterwards, they could motivate many women to join without alienating or threatening men. This study looks at how tea socials and theatrical performances were used subversively to recruit new members, to debate ideas, and to disseminate information about the cause. Playwrights wrote plays that …


The Second Generation Proteasome Inhibitor Carfilzomib Interacts Synergistically With Hdac Inhibitors In Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Cells Through Multiple Mechanisms And Circumvents Bortezomib Resistance, Dmitry Lembersky Apr 2009

The Second Generation Proteasome Inhibitor Carfilzomib Interacts Synergistically With Hdac Inhibitors In Diffuse Large B-Cell Lymphoma Cells Through Multiple Mechanisms And Circumvents Bortezomib Resistance, Dmitry Lembersky

Theses and Dissertations

Mechanisms underlying the interactions between the proteasome inhibitor carfilzomib and HDAC inhibitors were examined in both germinal center (GC) and activated B-cell (ABC) subtypes of human diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL). Simultaneous exposure to minimally toxic concentrations of carfilzomib and HDAC inhibitor vorinostat resulted in the release of mitochondrial pro-apoptotic proteins SMAC and cytochrome c, pro-apoptotic caspase activation, and synergistic induction in apoptosis in both ABC and GC DLBCL subtypes. These events were associated with a marked increase in the stress kinase JNK, ROS generation, G2-M cell cycle arrest, as well as induction of DNA damage. Genetic knockdown of JNK …


Guided Reading Instruction And Making Words, Amanda Cavaliere Apr 2009

Guided Reading Instruction And Making Words, Amanda Cavaliere

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine if the use of the Making Words strategy, when implemented during Guided Reading instruction in a first grade classroom, improves the decoding skills of first grade students with and without disabilities. The students were administered the Yopp-Singer Test of Phonemic Segmentation as a pretest and posttest of the study. The Making Words strategy was implemented at the conclusion of each guided reading lesson during a ten week period. There were 16 first grade students included in this study, four of whom had disabilities. The average number of words correctly segmented at the …


Paper Tricks, Edward Gardner Apr 2009

Paper Tricks, Edward Gardner

Theses and Dissertations

Prefabricated post disaster housing


Culture And A Connection, Chris Arias Apr 2009

Culture And A Connection, Chris Arias

Theses and Dissertations

Culture and a Connection In the Spanish province of Asturias, many homes built in the16th and 17th centuries are constructed of dry-stacked stone and large timbers for floor joists, rafters, decking. They are topped with large, irregularly shaped roof slates. Alongside many of these homes stands a rectangular granary called a cabazo. The cabazo, similarly constructed, is a stand-alone structure about twenty feet tall, six feet wide and twenty feet long. The main portion, (the storage area), stands ten feet off the ground atop two large, tapered columns. The upper level is typically separated form the lower level by a …


Legacy, Susana Almuiña Apr 2009

Legacy, Susana Almuiña

Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in family secrets and the rules and mores that may constrain family behavior or adversely affect a member’s destiny. I make work that looks askance at the efforts to hide from the world those events or secrets that reflect badly on a family. I look at the places where I have discovered some of them: family furniture and objects around the house, which can shed, metaphorically, the secrets and stories that are part of family tradition. I focus light on the lives of my uncelebrated ancestors and bring them, however briefly, into the collective consciousness.


A Comparison Of The Discriminative Stimulus Properties Of The Atypical Antipsychotic Clozapine And The Glutamate Agonist N-Methyl D-Aspartate In C57bl/6 Mice., Sarah A. Vunck Apr 2009

A Comparison Of The Discriminative Stimulus Properties Of The Atypical Antipsychotic Clozapine And The Glutamate Agonist N-Methyl D-Aspartate In C57bl/6 Mice., Sarah A. Vunck

Theses and Dissertations

The glutamate system dysfunctions present in schizophrenia raise new questions about possible glutamatergic actions of the atypical antipsychotic clozapine. While clozapine has been shown to partially substitute for the discriminative stimulus of the glutamate agonist N-methyl D-aspartate (NMDA) in rats, NMDA discrimination has not previously been established in mice. The present study was designed to explore the possible role of NMDA activity in clozapine’s discriminative stimulus. Two groups of C57BL/6 mice were trained to discriminate either 2.5 mg/kg CLZ from vehicle or 30 mg/kg NMDA from vehicle in a standard two-lever drug discrimination task. NMDA drug discrimination was successfully established …


Examination Of The Discriminative Stimulus And Cross-Tolerance Inducing Properties Of N-Desmethylclozapine In C57bl/6 Mice., Jason Wiebelhaus Apr 2009

Examination Of The Discriminative Stimulus And Cross-Tolerance Inducing Properties Of N-Desmethylclozapine In C57bl/6 Mice., Jason Wiebelhaus

Theses and Dissertations

Due to its unique receptor binding profile and its relationship to clozapine, N-desmethylclozapine (NDMC) has been examined as a possible antipsychotic drug (APD). Clozapine has been trained as discriminative stimulus in our lab, but NDMC has not yet been established as a discriminative stimulus. In experiment 1, 12 C57BL/6 mice were trained to discriminate 10.0 mg/kg NDMC from VEH using a standard-two lever operant procedure to assess antipsychotic substitution. The typical APD clozapine fully substituted for NDMC at 2 doses tested (2.5 and 5.0 mg/kg), while typical APD haloperidol failed to substitute for NDMC. In Experiment 2, 11 mice were …


Obesity, Adiposity, And Satiety In Mouse Models Of Smith-Magenis Syndrome And Dup(17)(P11.2) Syndrome, Brooke Burns Apr 2009

Obesity, Adiposity, And Satiety In Mouse Models Of Smith-Magenis Syndrome And Dup(17)(P11.2) Syndrome, Brooke Burns

Theses and Dissertations

Smith-Magenis syndrome (SMS) is a complex disorder caused by haploinsufficiency of RAI1 and characterized by sleep disturbances, behavioral abnormalities, mental retardation, and obesity in teens and adults. Rai1+/- mice are obese after 20 weeks. Dup(17)(p11.2) syndrome is a complex disorder associated with overexpression of RAI1. A transgenic mouse model of dup(17)(p11.2) syndrome overexpresses Rai1 and results in a mouse that is growth delayed. In order to characterize the obese phenotypes of mouse models of SMS and the role of RAI1 in obesity, daily food intake and serum levels of insulin, glucose, PPY, and leptin were measured; adiposity was studied by …