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Zoometric Measures In Llamas (Lama Glama) Of Rural Families In The T'Olar And Pajonal Natural Grazing Fields Of The Municipality Santiago De Machaca - Department Of La Paz, Eloy Tuco Cano

Theses and Dissertations

Llamas have provided, and continue to provide, fiber, meat, skins, fertilizer and transport for the Andean people. In addition, they are part of the traditional and religious culture of the Aymara and the Quechua. Both are currently unaware of the productive qualities of llamas, especially those related to meat production, which is the principle product responsible for generating greater income for farmers. For this reason, 554 llamas were evaluated from a total of 3,693 in 2005. The llamas came from T’olar and Pajonal grasslands in the Santiago de Machaca region of La Paz, Bolivia and represented males and females from …

Survey Of Digenea For Neorickettsial Dna And Phylogenetic Analysis Based On Partial 16s Rrna Gene Sequences, Jay A. Schroeder

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Problems In Reading Ammianus Marcellinus, Matthew C. H Work

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Activities Of Lower Mass Hyaluronan Fragments In Cartilage Degeneration, Chang Liu

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Precautionary Principle As Emvironmental Policy : Is The U.S. Media Undermining Ecological Health And Environmental Sustainability, Kristine Mattis

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Expression Of Human Keratins In Bladder Cancer And Possible Implications For Use As Biomarkers, Aaron A. Mehus

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Novel Source Of Influenza A Vaccine Production And West Nile Virus Therapeutics Antibodies, Sarah Rae Konschak

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Pit : A New Low-Level Language, Leif Pedersen

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Chokecherries, Eric Lyle Haagenson

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Invertebrate Colonization And Plant Architecture: The Influence Of Two Non-Native Milfoil Species, Elizabeth W. Rielly

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the complexity and surface area of a macrophyte’s

structure has an influence on invertebrate colonization, and to determine the influence of two non-native species on invertebrate colonization. Three plant architectures were compared. Floating leaved plants were represented by the following species: Nuphar lutea, Nymphaea odorata, and Brasenia schreberi. Moderately dissected leaved plants were represented by Potamogeton natans, and highly dissected leaved plants were represented by two non-native species, Myriophyllum spicatum and Myriophyllum heterophyllum. The number of invertebrates/g dry biomass and the number of individuals/m², diversity, evenness, and richness were calculated for …

Surgical Smoke Evacuation Guidelines: Compliance Among Perioperative Nurses, Kay A. Ball

Theses and Dissertations

Smoke (plume) is produced when tissue is cut or coagulated with lasers or electrosurgery devices during surgery. Research has documented that surgical smoke creates a serious workplace hazard for over 500,000 healthcare workers. Toxic gases create an offensive odor, small particulate matter causes respiratory complications, and pathogens may be transmitted within the surgical smoke to the surgical team. Previous research notes that smoke evacuation recommendations are not being consistently followed by perioperative nurses.

The purpose of this study is to determine key indicators that are associated with compliance with smoke evacuation recommendations by perioperative nurses. The Diffusion of Innovation theory …

Identification And Characterization Of Prevotella Intermedia 17 Toll-Like Receptor 2 Ligands, Jamie Feng-Hsia Yuan

Theses and Dissertations

Periodontal disease is one of the most prevalent human diseases affecting millions of individuals. Bacteria are the trigger of the host response that then results in initiation and progression of periodontal disease. The interactions between the host and the bacteria, although very complex and intricate, are not well understood. Species of gram-negative anaerobic bacteria implicated in the development of periodontal disease include Porphyromonas gingivalis and Prevotella intermedia. The goal of our study was to identify P. intermedia surface proteins interacting with TLR2 receptor. Using Cy5-labeled surface proteins we identified multiple proteins using our capture assay. The interaction of three …

The Bird, Katherine Ann Kisicki

Theses and Dissertations

I have always approached my paintings with confidence. Mark making has always been my strength, particularly in drawing, and I feel this comes through in my gestural use of the paint. I also believe I approach paintings in a trial and error manner, where experimentation has precedence over concept. To remain in the moment and focused on what I am doing at that moment is a fundamental base of both my process and, interestingly what the resulting image translates to the viewer. To know this, and to remain suspended in this moment requires a foundation of trust within my capabilities …

Media To Medium: Representations Of Violence, War & Women In Pop Culture, Althea Georgelas

Theses and Dissertations

My work is inspired by the mass Media and how it affects the world around me. I am interested in how violence, war and women are represented in popular culture and how this has trickled down into social behavior. I also wonder how much entertainment media reflects deep social ideals. I define mass media as the viral proliferation of ideas using television, cinema, video gaming and the Internet. I am concerned about the social and psychological affects of violent media and how it impacts the lives of women and girls. This is of particular interest to me because I am …

Pulmonary Delivery Of Anorectic Gut Secreted Peptides For Appetite Suppression In Rats, Priya Nadkarni

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation project aimed to demonstrate that pulmonary delivery of two anorectic gut secreted peptides, peptide YY (PYY) and oxyntomodulin (OXM) enabled food intake suppression and reduced body weight gain in rats via their systemic absorption from the lung and interaction with the brain. After PYY and OXM were administered to the lungs at varying doses, food intake and body weight gain were monitored in freely feeding rats. Significant 30-35 % food intake suppression was achieved for 4-6 h following pulmonary administration of endogenously active PYY3-36 and OXM1-37 at 0.80 and 0.50 mg/kg, respectively. Moreover, when administered daily for 7 …

Spatial And Temporal Variability Of Macroinvertyebrate Communities In Vernal Pools On The Coastal Plain Of Virginia, Shrijeeta Ganguly

Theses and Dissertations

Vernal pools are often defined as seasonal pools that typically are inundated beginning in the winter and then drying out completely in summer. Though evidence of spatial and temporal variability in the macroinvertebrate communities of vernal pools has been found in previous studies, it has not been studied extensively. The primary objective of this study was to determine the extent of variability in the macroinvertebrate communities within vernal pools closely situated in a forested landscape. An effort was made to explain this variability with respect to certain physiochemical environmental variables of the pools. Significant variability was observed in the macroinvertebrate …

Identification Of Camk-Ii Protein Targets In Tissue Culture And Zebrafish Embryos Using Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Alexandra Myers

Theses and Dissertations

Calcium (Ca2+)/calmodulin-dependent kinase 2 (CaMK-II) is one member of a family of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinases that responds to intracellular Ca2+ signals (Hudmon, A. and H. Schulman (2002)). CaMK-II is a multifunctional regulator of transcription, cell cycle progression, cell motility and neuronal development. (Wang, C., et al. (2008), Easley, C. A. IV, et al. (2008), Osterhoff, M., et al. (2003), Faison, M. O., et al. (2002)). Recently, CaMK-II has been shown to be important in the early development of vertebrates. In developing zebrafish, disruption of CaMK-II expression has been shown to induce phenotypes similar to those documented in several human diseases. …

Molecular Modeling Studies Of Heparin And Heparin Mimetics Binding To Coagulation Proteins, Chandravel Krishnasamy

Theses and Dissertations

Heparin, a glycosaminoglycan (GAG), is a complex biopolymer of varying chain length and consisting of uronic acid and glucosamine residues, which are sulfated at various positions. The interaction of heparin with antithrombin is the basis for anticoagulation therapy. Heparin accelerates the antithrombin mediated inhibition of factor Xa and thrombin by a conformational activation mechansism and bridging mechanism, respectively. The sequence specific pentasaccharide DEFGH in full length heparin is the most important fragment for high affinity and activation of antithrombin, without which the heparin is incapable of binding to antithrombin. Although heparin is a commonly used anticoagulant, it suffers from serious …

Student Perceptions Of Streaming-Media Effectiveness, Sara Floyd Baber

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate cognitive-load theory as applied to the design of streaming media. In this study, student learning preferences and cognitive style were measured on a visualizer-verbalizer scale to determine the perceived importance of visual and audio components of streaming media used to supplement classroom instruction. Additionally, this study investigated cognitive-load theory by assessing attitudes regarding the importance of learner control when accessing streaming media files. The writer used 4 existing visualizer-verbalizer instruments in combination with 1 original survey that was designed to gather student perceptions and attitudes regarding the effectiveness of streaming media …

Ensemble Of Classifiers Based Data Fusion Of Eeg And Mri For Diagnosis Of Neurodegenerative Disorders, Tejash Patel

Theses and Dissertations

The prevalence of Alzheimer's disease (AD), Parkinson's disease (PD), and mild cognitive impairment (MCI) are rising at an alarming rate as the average age of the population increases, especially in developing nations. The efficacy of the new medical treatments critically depends on the ability to diagnose these diseases at the earliest stages. To facilitate the availability of early diagnosis in community hospitals, an accurate, inexpensive, and noninvasive diagnostic tool must be made available. As biomarkers, the event related potentials (ERP) of the electroencephalogram (EEG) - which has previously shown promise in automated diagnosis - in addition to volumetric magnetic resonance …

Exploration Of Multiple Pathways For The Development Of Immersive Virtual Reality Environments, Kevin Laurence Garrison

Theses and Dissertations

The focus of this thesis is the study and recommendation of optimal techniques for developing immersive virtual environments for generic applications. The overarching objective is to ensure that virtual environments can be created and deployed, rapidly and accurately, using commercial off-the-shelf software. Specific subjective and objective criteria have been employed to determine trade-offs between multiple pathways for designing such environments and specific recommendations are made for the applicability of each. The efficacy of the techniques developed as part of this research work has been demonstrated by applying them to three widely differing areas - visualizing arbitrary 2D surface data, synthesis …

Data Fusion Based Optimal Eeg Electrode Selection For Early Diagnosis Of Alzheimer's Disease, Brian Balut

Theses and Dissertations

As medicinal and technological advances lengthen the average human life span, diseases affecting the elderly such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease are seeing increasingly growing numbers, especially in developed countries. As a result, the necessity for an accurate, inexpensive, noninvasive means of diagnosis becomes particularly important, since such a method is not readily available to the general population. One biomarker that has recently showed promise is the analysis of the electroencephalogram (EEG).

Over the course of two studies, more than 130 subjects have been recruited providing information from 16-19 EEG electrodes for each subject. These signals have been decomposed …

Community Capitals: Examining The Socioeconomics Of A Rural Community, Margaret R. Tweten

Theses and Dissertations

This research project study centered on the examination of community capitals that exist within a thriving rural community located in the upper Great Plains region. Grounded theory helped in the analysis of the data to understand how community capitals contributed to the socioeconomic growth and well-being of a thriving rural community. Interview data were collected from key informants and questionnaire results from business owners showed there were a number of factors that contributed to the community's ability to thrive. The main contributing factor to the growth of the community was a change to a positive mindset among rural community leaders. …

Lipid Raft Mediated Lyn Kinase Activation Regulates Host Innate Immune Response Against Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Lung Infection, Shibichakravarthy Kannan

Theses and Dissertations

Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PA) is a common opportunistic pathogen that invades the susceptible host. Alveolar macrophages (AM) play a pivotal role in defending against invading pathogens in the lungs. The effectiveness of AM in combating PA infection has not been studied in detail. The goal was to identify the key components involved in mounting an effective innate immune response using the murine lung infection as a model to understand the host - pathogen interactions. Our most important finding was the involvement of Lyn tyrosine kinase, a member of Src family tyrosine kinases, in orchestrating the host cell response to PA invasion. …

Effects Of Culture Methods And Simulated Microgravity Conditions On Development Of Bovine Embryos Produced In Vitro, Songi Jung

Theses and Dissertations

The objectives of this study were (1) to determine the optimum in vitro culture conditions for in vitro fertilized bovine embryos among culture methods and (2) to investigate whether bovine fertilization and embryo development would occur in simulated microgravity conditions in vitro. In the first part of this study, the result showed that the microdrop method was the optimum culture method among groups; however, FBS supplementation did not significantly affect the bovine preimplantation embryo development in vitro. In the second part of this study, the result showed that bovine in vitro fertilization did not occur in simulated microgravity conditions. Moreover, …

Developmental Evolution Of Genetic Regulation And Signaling Of The Dorsoventral Axis Of Protostomes And Deuterostomes, Tammy Lynne Malachowski

Theses and Dissertations

The placement of Metazoan species into correct clades has become of prime concern to the study of evolutionary development, since the most recent phylogeny of Metazoans indicates embryological divergence. Genetic regulatory networks have been extensively described for some species but not for others. This study examines possible divergence of bilaterians at the protostome-deuterostome divide by examining dorsoventral patterning genes. A specific maternally active gene, dorsal/rela, the final element in the maternal pathway, was found to be a driving force behind this divergence and was co-opted from genes already existing in the Metazoan ancestor.

Antimicrobial Effect Of Yogurt Lactic Acid Bacteria And Muscadine Products On Enterobacter Sakazakii, Weiien Weng

Theses and Dissertations

Enterobacter sakazakii has been associated with powdered infant formula outbreaks which caused high mortality rate illnesses in infants in recent years. Current research was mainly focused on searching for natural antimicrobial agents which may be incorporated into baby foods to control this emerging pathogen. Yogurt and muscadine products were used in this study. The antimicrobial effects of yogurt were evaluated on agar plates and in a simulated gastrointestinal model. In the agar spot tests, diluted yogurt sample containing lactic acid bacteria at 106 CFU/mL was antagonistic toward E. sakazakii. However, the antimicrobial effect of yogurt on E. sakazakii in the …

Protocols For Preconditioning Of Patellar Tendon For Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction, Richard Lee Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

The ACL is one of the major ligaments in the knee connecting the femur to the tibia which provides stability by resisting shear in sagittal plane. ACL tears occur in 1 out of 3000, and due to inability to heal, reconstructive surgeries are performed at a rate of 200,000/year. Final graft fixation tension during surgery has been shown to wane due to stress-relaxation which has been correlated with negative clinical outcomes. Therefore, preconditioning, which currently is an isometric load (88N), is performed to remove stress-relaxation after the final tension has been applied in vivo. Three preconditioning protocols, creep, stress relaxation, …

The Effect Of Policy And Land Use Change On Water Quality In A Coastal Watershed City: An Analysis Of Covington, Louisiana, Kenneth Tyler Langley

Theses and Dissertations

There is currently a great need to expand the understanding of land use policy’s impact on water quality. The purpose of this thesis is to examine local policy in place in Covington, Louisiana in order to find out if it is having an impact on land use, which then has an impact on water quality. Methods used included reclassification of land use categories within a Geographical Information System and analysis of changes in the city over a four year period. Policy was assessed using a pre-existing evaluation method from The Center for Watershed Protection as well as by a more …

The Effect Of Used Broiler Litter On The Growth And Persistence Of Campylobacter, Zachary Thomas Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Litter is a possible source of Campylobacter colonization for broilers as well as contamination of crops when used as fertilizer. A survey of Arkansas broiler litter indicated that Campylobacter recovery rates were higher in pine shavings and rice hulls than sand. Two experiments utilized three types of litter, which were artificially contaminated with Campylobacter. After 24 hours no Campylobacter could be recovered from any sample. Campylobacter growth was also examined for used pine shaving litter in varying conditions: aerobic atmosphere, micro aerobic atmosphere (6% O2), and moisture content. Campylobacter was recovered for all treatments at the initial sampling, and by …