Digital Commons Network^™

Deserts Will Bloom: Atomic Agriculture And The Promise Of Radioactive Redemption, Chris Fite

Theses and Dissertations

This paper examines the rhetorical and visual strategies used in marketing atomic agriculture to the American public from the 1940s to the 1960s. The term “atomic agriculture” refers to various agricultural research programs that used radioactive materials, particularly radioisotope tracing and mutation breeding. In print and on screen, atomic boosters from government and industry offered the promise of a better world made possible by applying atomic energy to agriculture. I argue that the proponents of atomic agriculture combined futurism and nostalgia to create a techno-pastoral vision. They hearkened back to the nineteenth century while simultaneously imagining a bright postwar future. …

Biodegradation Of Highly Weathered Deepwater Horizon Oil, Joel T. Bostic

Theses and Dissertations

Oil from the Deepwater Horizon (DwH) spill continues to be found on beaches five years post-spill. Understanding the role of microbes in removing DwH oil from sandy beaches is necessary to elucidate the fate of DwH oil in the coastal zone. Oiled sand patties and non-oiled sand were collected from affected beaches five years post- DwH. Biomarkers in oiled sand indicated that sand patties originated from the DwH spill, however the oil was heavily weathered and dominated by oxygenated hydrocarbons. Microbial communities, as measured by phospholipid fatty acids (PLFA), were present on oiled sand patties and distinct from microbes on …

Measurements Of Electrostatic Double Layer Potentials With Atomic Force Microscopy, Jason Giamberardino

Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this thesis is to provide a thorough description of the development of theory and experiment pertaining to the electrostatic double layer (EDL) in aqueous electrolytic systems. The EDL is an important physical element of many systems and its behavior has been of interest to scientists for many decades. Because many areas of science and engineering move to test, build, and understand systems at smaller and smaller scales, this work focuses on nanoscopic experimental investigations of the EDL. In that vein, atomic force microscopy (AFM) will be introduced and discussed as a tool for making high spatial resolution …

Development Of Reactions And Methods For Labeling Biomolecules In Cells, Enoch Agbesi Adogla

Theses and Dissertations

The complexity of cellular environments presents a challenge to efforts at studying and elucidating biomolecules in cells. Covalent ligation of biomolecules with fluorescent molecules that have a reactive functional group that can react with a complementary functional group on biomolecules is one way that has been utilized to study biomolecules. It enables visualization and tracking of ligation and transportation of molecules within the cell. However, the myriad of functional groups within the cell makes achieving selectivity difficult. To circumvent this problem, reactions that do not interfere with biology have been developed. These reactions, referred to as bioorthogonal reactions must be …

Investigating The Function Of Aintegumenta-Like6 (Ail6) In Arabidopsis Flower Development, Han Han

Theses and Dissertations

AINTEGUMENTA (ANT) and AINTEGUMENTA-LIKE6 (AIL6) encode related transcription factors with partially overlapping roles in floral organ development in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana. ANT and AIL6 do not make equivalent contributions to these processes. Loss of ANT function by itself results in smaller flowers, demonstrating that the role of ANT in organ size control cannot be provided by AIL6. Loss of AIL6 function on its own has no phenotypic consequences indicating that all of its roles in flower development can be provided by ANT or some other genes. To further probe the function of AIL6 in flower development, we investigated …

The Development Of A Miniature Spatial Heterodyne Raman Spectrometer For Applications In Planetary Exploration And Other Extreme Environments, Patrick Doyle Barnett

Theses and Dissertations

Space exploration is arguably one of the most important endeavors our species has ever undertaken. Rapid advances in rocketry and robotics in recent years has allowed for positioning of complex scientific instruments on other planets with a precision that was previously thought impossible. This, along with the need for more sophisticated chemical measurements to achieve the goals of new, more ambitious missions and recent advances in in-situ and remote spectroscopic techniques, has led to a boom in the use of spectroscopic instruments for space exploration. However, future missions to the moons of Jupiter and Saturn, along with other planetary bodies …

High-Throughput Sequencing-Based Approaches For The Identification And Development Of Molecular Targets For Cancer Therapy, David Joel Oliver

Theses and Dissertations

Effective cancer treatment depends on the development of therapeutics that efficiently eliminate the disease without significant reduction to quality of life. Targeted therapeutics achieve these goals, but their long-term efficacy is limited by the ability of cancers to become resistant to these therapies over time. The identification of new therapeutic targets is crucial for the future of cancer treatment. In this work we present functional identification and characterization of novel targets for cancer therapy.

Loss-of-function screens are a well-founded approach for the functional identification of new therapeutic targets, and, in combination with high-throughput sequencing technology, can now be performed at …

Relationships Of Chronotype, Social Jetlag, Sleep, Physical Activity And Diet With Mood, Perceived Stress, Obesity, Blood Pressure And Prostate Cancer, Daria M. Mcmahon

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Chronotype, social jetlag, poor sleep, proinflammatory diet, and low physical activity have been associated with increased risk of chronic diseases: obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, depression and cancer. Yet the relationships between these factors have not been extensively investigated in prospective studies.

Methods: Two studies were conducted. The first study followed 390 healthy men and women ages 21-35 for two years. Social jetlag [SJL] and sleep measures (total sleep time [TST], sleep onset latency [SOL], wake after sleep onset [WASO]), sleep efficiency [SE]), were derived from physical activity personal (armband) monitoring. The participants wore the armband for 4-10 …

Ndt And Shm Methods Of Damage Detection In Welded Structures, Saad Mohammed

Theses and Dissertations

There has been an increasing demand for Nondestructive Testing (NDT) and Structural Health Monitoring (SHM) techniques to continuously monitor during all processes of a structure to prevent catastrophic failure and reduce maintenance costs. NDT and SHM are inspection processes which form part of the quality assurance/quality control (QA/QC) scheme. Among NDT and SHM methods, ultrasonic and guided wave techniques are the most commonly and widely used in industry. Ultrasonic methods provide the advantage of accurately locating and dimensioning defects within structures. Most of these structures consist of welded joints because welding is an economical and efficient method for obtaining a …

Using Synthetic Lectins To Investigate Metastatic Potential In Colon Cancer, Erin E. Gatrone

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is a disease that affects millions of people each year and it is well established that early diagnosis is a key factor towards improving survival rate, with that in mind there is a great need for better diagnostics. From the earliest onset of cancer, changes can be detected in the type and amount of carbohydrates expressed by the cancer cells, i.e., aberrant glycosylation. This process results in differing glycosylation patterns that can be used to detect cancer. Aberrant glycosylation can also greatly affect the potential of cancer cells to metastasize and can be used to stage the disease as …

The Relationship Between Peer-Self Concept And Academic Self-Concept In Elementary Students: A Person-Oriented Perspective, Catherine Jorgensen Snyder

Theses and Dissertations

Self-concept is one of the most researched constructs in educational psychology (Marsh, Xu, & Martin, 2012). It has been established that there are different domains of self-concept which fall into two main categories, academic and non-academic (Shavelson, Hubner, & Stanton, 1976). Unfortunately, little research has been conducted on the non-academic areas of self-concept and little is known about how social self-concept interrelates with academic self-concept. The focus of this study was to contribute to the research base by investigating the relationship between a facet of nonacademic self-concept, namely peer self-concept, and achievement self-concept among elementary students.

The current research utilized …

Teachers’ Influence On Black/White Biracial Student Identity Development, Dawn M. Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to report on what teachers and parents see as significant factors affecting Black-White biracial student identity development. Through a qualitative case study using individual interviews with parents and grandparents of a Black/White biracial child and the child’s teachers, various factors affecting Black/White biracial identity development emerged. Historical laws, court cases, U.S. Census reports, theoretical data, and identity models were examined and explored to provide a clear argument that Black/White biracial individuals have historically been marginalized and that this marginalization within society has carried over into our current curricular and instructional practices within schools. This …

Semiparametric Estimation Methods For Complex Accelerated Failure Time Model, Yinding Wang

Theses and Dissertations

The proportional hazards (PH) model and the accelerated failure time (AFT) model are the two most popular survival models in fitting the right-censored data. The AFT model is a useful alternative to the PH model, particularly when the PH assumption is not satisfied. Usually, the linear association is assumed with logarithm of survival time in the AFT model. However, the nonlinear association may exist in practice. The first project aims to handle the nonlinear component in the AFT model, which is called the semiparametric additive partial accelerated failure time (AP-AFT) model. Two estimation methods based on the rank-smooth method and …

Contextualizing Multilayered Sexual Subjectivities Of Heterosexual Black Female Undergraduate Students At A Predominantly White Institution In The South, Amarachi Rossana Anakaraonye

Theses and Dissertations

This study uses an intersectional theoretical framework to examine Black college women’s sexual health by focusing on how they engage in sexual decision making within their social contexts. This qualitative study analyzed 20 individual in-depth interviews of Black female undergraduate students, ages 18-22, who attend a predominantly white institution (PWI) in the Southeastern United States. The themes that emerged from qualitative data analysis include Black female undergraduate students’ perceptions of the sexual culture of their campus and the protective strategies they employ to navigate the sexual culture in order to achieve and/or maintain physical, emotional, and social well-being. Key findings …

Interest Detection In Image, Video And Multiple Videos: Model And Applications, Yuewei Lin

Theses and Dissertations

Interest detection is detecting an object, event, or process that draws attention. In this dissertation, we focus on interest detection in images, video and multiple videos. Interest detection in an image or a video is closely related to visual attention. However, the interest detection in multiple videos needs to consider all the videos as a whole rather than considering the attention in each single video independently.

Visual attention is an important mechanism of human vision. The computational model of visual attention has recently attracted a lot of interest in the computer vision community mainly because it helps find the objects …

A Phenomenological Analysis Of Social Justice/Injustice On The Lives Of African-American High School Males, Michael R. Harris

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to analyze what high school African-American males perceive as significant influences that directly impact their academic achievement while attending a predominantly White suburban high school. This qualitative research study will utilize semi-structured case interviews to collect and analyze data gathered from among a criteria-based subgroup of African-American high school males. An examination of archival data such as student course selections, a review of high school Carnegie units earned and attempted, the availability of support resources and interventions, as well discipline and attendance reports will each provide evidence of the probable obstacles impacting the achievement …

Development Of Protein-Polymer Core-Shell Nanoparticles (Ppcs-Nps) As Efficient Vehicles To Deliver Therapeutic Agents Across Blood Brain Barrier (Bbb), Napat Tandikul

Theses and Dissertations

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) plays a main role as selective barrier which controls and limits access of chemicals, molecules and therapeutic agents from blood to brain. The BBB endothelial cells are connected by Tight Junctions (TJs) which close intracellular spaces between the endothelial cells and block the free diffusion of substances, therefore many potential drugs for treating human brain diseases cannot reach the brain in sufficient concentration. Recently, many studies have thrown an interest in development of nanoparticles for delivering drugs and imaging agents across BBB. Our research group has developed protein-polymer core-shell nanoparticles (PPCS-NPs) which demonstrate great potential for …

Some Extremal And Structural Problems In Graph Theory, Taylor Mitchell Short

Theses and Dissertations

This work considers three main topics. In Chapter 2, we deal with König-Egerváry graphs. We will give two new characterizations of König-Egerváry graphs as well as prove a related lower bound for the independence number of a graph. In Chapter 3, we study joint degree vectors (JDV). A problem arising from statistics is to determine the maximum number of non-zero elements of a JDV. We provide reasonable lower and upper bounds for this maximum number. Lastly, in Chapter 4 we study a problem in chemical graph theory. In particular, we characterize extremal cases for the number of maximal matchings in …

Influence Of Built Environment On Physical Activity Outcomes Among African Americans In Community-Based Obesity Intervention Studies, Amanda Sue Thomas

Theses and Dissertations

More than sixty-five percent of people in the U.S. are considered overweight or obese. African-Americans in the U.S. have a higher risk of obesity than any other racial group. One way to reduce this statistic is physical activity. Recreational green spaces (parks) can serve as an avenue to complete the 150 min/wk of recommended physical activity for adults by the ACSM. Data from SISTAS and HEALS interventions, that recruited overweight/obese African-Americans from Columbia and Florence, SC, was used to assess the association of recreational green space (parks) around a residence and physical activity. Physical activity measures of RAPA questionnaire (self-report), …

Iv Prenatal Nicotine Exposure Modulates Α6, Α7, And Α4Β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholinergic Receptor Subunit Expression In Male And Female Neonatal And Adolescent Rat Offspring: An Autoradiographical Analysis, Amanda Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

Maternal smoke exposure produces long-term adverse cognitive and behavioral outcomes in offspring, including an increased likelihood of attention problems (e.g., attention deficit hyperactivity disorder; ADHD) and drug abuse. Preclinical research shows that gestational exposure to nicotine, the primary psychoactive compound in tobacco smoke, influences the neurodevelopment of attention and reward neuronal circuits. This study investigated hypotheses about five brain regions, to determine if prenatal nicotine (PN) exposure altered expression of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). A low dose, intravenous nicotine (IV) exposure method was used to administer nicotine (0.05 mg/kg/injection) or saline, 3x/day on gestational days 8–21 (Treatment). Brain tissue was …

Utilization Of Satellite-Derived Salinity For Enso Studies And Climate Indices, Caroline Mary Corbett

Theses and Dissertations

Conventionally, El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO) is studied using sea surface temperature (SST) observations in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean. Recently, sea surface salinity (SSS) in the equatorial Pacific has been studied in relation to the phases of ENSO. Previously, SSS was observed in the equatorial Pacific using the Tropical Ocean Global Atmosphere (TOGA) / Tropical Atmosphere Ocean (TOA), the Argo float network, and Oceanic General Circulation Models (OGCM). The launch of NASA’s Aquarius Salinity Mission and ESA’s Soil Moisture Ocean Salinity (SMOS) opened a new era in which high resolution global near real-time SSS observations are readily available. …

Physical Property Control In Core/Shell Inorganic Nanostructures For Fluorescence And Magnetic Targeting Applications, Stephen K. Roberts

Theses and Dissertations

Nanomaterials show immense promise for the future in numerous areas of application. Properties that are unique from the bulk material and are tunable allow for innovation in material design. This thesis will focus on controlling the physical properties of core/shell nanostructures to enhance the utility of the materials.

The first focus is on the impact of different solvent mixtures during the shell growth phase of SILAR based core/shell quantum dot synthesis is studied. Gaining insight into the mechanism for SILAR growth of core/shell nanoparticles allows improved synthetic yields and precursor binding, providing enhanced control to synthesis of core/shell nanoparticles. The …

A Mechanical Approach To The Characterization Of Material Failure Of Atherosclerotic Lesions, Lindsey A. Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Failure of atherosclerotic plaques can lead to potentially life threatening clinical events such as myocardial infarction (MI), stroke, or transient ischemic attack (TIA). The most frequently described plaque failure mechanism is tensile rupture of the fibrous cap; however, often during angioplasty another plaque failure mechanism occurs in which the atherosclerotic plaque separates from the internal elastic lamina (IEL). This study aims assess the material strength of atherosclerotic lesions using mechanical concepts.

To assess likelihood of plaque dissection at the vessel wall, adhesion strength was assessed in both mouse and human specimens using plaque delamination experiments. Measuring plaque adhesion in transgenic …

A Theoretical Study Of Polymer Based Drug Delivery Systems, Ebtisam Abdullatif Aldaais

Theses and Dissertations

Polymer nanostructured materials for drug delivery applications have witnessed tremendous progress in recent years due to their vast potential. One-end-grafted polymers can form grafted micelles with specific mechanical properties. Biological conditions can alter these properties resulting in the protection or release of drugs. Charged surfactants can also form micelles in an aqueous solution, which can also be manipulated through special conditions. On the micellar surface, self-organized polyelectrolytes can be stimulated to extend their attached ligands and thus increase the probability of binding to targeted receptors. This thesis focuses on modeling polymer-based drug delivery systems by studying the physical interactions between …

Understanding The Problem Solving Approaches Of Special Educators Through The Lens Of Adaptive Expertise, Serra T. De Arment

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate special educators’ problem solving approaches through the lens of adaptive expertise. An explanatory sequential mixed methods design was used with participants of varying experience levels and teaching contexts from one Mid-Atlantic state. Participants responded to a researcher-developed survey about their orientations to problem solving (N = 162), then a purposive sample completed semi-structured interviews (N = 8). Following survey measure refinement and validation, quantitative data were analyzed through descriptive statistics, z-scores, correlation, and chi-square test of independence. Subsequently, qualitative data were analyzed through iterative cycles of hypothesis and open coding. …

The Role Of N-Acetyl-L-Cysteine (Nac) As An Adjuvant To Opioid Treatment In Patients With Inadequately Controlled Chronic Neuropathic Pain, Thomas B. Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. While opioid medications are commonly prescribed for management of neuropathic pain (NP), long-term use has been associated with increased risk for overdose, drug interactions and addiction. New strategies are necessary to better manage chronic pain, thereby reducing need for opioid medications and their associated adverse consequences. N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC), an over-the-counter supplement, has shown promise in the treatment of psychiatric and addictive disorders. In addition, NAC has shown promise for reducing physiological signs of NP in laboratory rat models, prompting this study.

Purpose. The present study was an open-label clinical trial of NAC as an adjuvant to opioid treatment for …

Radioprotective Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles: Molecular Imaging Investigations Of Conps’ Pharmacokinetics, Efficacy, And Mechanisms Of Action, Philip R. Mcdonagh Iii

Theses and Dissertations

Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CONPs) are being investigated for several anti-oxidant applications in medicine. One of their most promising applications is as a radioprotective drug, an area of research in need due to the severe side effects from radiation therapy. In this work, the potential of CONPs as a radioprotective drug is examined using four criteria: favorable biodistribution/pharmacokinetics, low toxicity, ability to protect normal tissue from radiation damage, and lack of protection of tumor. The mechanisms of action of CONPs are also studied. Biodistribution was determined in radiolabeled CONPs with surface coatings including citrate, dextran T10-amine (DT10-NH₂), dextran T10-polyethylene …

Dynamic Regulation Of Mitochondrial Stat3 And Its Association With Cypd, Jeremy A. Meier

Theses and Dissertations

In recent years, a number of nuclear transcription factors have been shown to be present in the mitochondria where they have distinct roles in regulating mitochondrial function. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 3 (STAT3), classically activated by the JAK family of receptor associated tyrosine kinases to drive nuclear gene expression, is one such transcription factor with a unique mitochondrial role. There, it has been shown to support oxidative phosphorylation, regulate mitochondrial-encoded transcripts, and be key for the transformation and growth of a number of different cancers. Despite its well-characterized functional importance at the level of the mitochondria, the mechanism …

Substrate Recognition And Mechanistic Studies Of Protein N-Terminal Methyltransferase 1, Yunfei Mao

Theses and Dissertations

The methylation at the α-N-terminal amines of proteins that start with a canonical motif X-P-K (X=A/P/S) has been a known modification for nearly four decades. In 2010, protein α-N-terminal methyltransferase 1 (NTMT1/NRMT1) was identified as the first enzyme responsible for this modification. NTMT2 was discovered as a second member belonging to this family, but it was reported as a mono-methylase. The identification of RCC1, retinoblastoma (Rb) protein, centromere protein-A/B (CENP-A/B), and DNA damaged-binding protein 2 (DDB2) as new NTMT1 substrates revealed NTMT1’s biological significance in mitosis, cell-cycle regulation, centromere formation, and damaged DNA repair, respectively. Although significant progress had been …

Irreversible Zinc Block Of The Swelling-Activated Chloride Current In Di Tnc1 Astrocytes, Noah Belkhayat

Theses and Dissertations

The swelling-activated chloride current, commonly referred to as ICl,swell, is an outwardly-rectifying anion current that plays an important role in cell volume regulation, among other capacities. Despite several decades of research, the molecular identity of the channel responsible for this chloride current remains controversial. Recent indications that key endogenous sulfhydryl groups are capable of modifying the current led us to assess the effects of several divalent cations, including zinc, on ICl,swell. Zinc is known to tightly associate with sulfhydryl groups such as in zinc finger proteins. We found that extracellular zinc irreversibly inhibited ICl,swell at a site downstream in the …