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Small Molecules As Negative Allosteric Modulators Of Alpha7 Nachrs, Osama Alwassil Jul 2012

Small Molecules As Negative Allosteric Modulators Of Alpha7 Nachrs, Osama Alwassil

Theses and Dissertations

Alpha7 Neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are involved in essential physiological functions and play a role in disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease. MD-354 (3-chlorophenylguanidine; 21), the first small–molecule negative allosteric modulator (NAM) at alpha7 nAChRs, served as a lead in developing structure–activity relationships for NAMs at a7 nAChRs. MD-354 (21) also binds at 5-HT3 receptors. Analogs of MD-354 with structural features detrimental to 5-HT3 receptor affinity were evaluated in patch-clamp recordings and an aniline N-methyl analog resulted in a more potent and selective NAM than MD-354. A new N-methyl series of compounds was synthesized in which the 3-position was replaced …


Energetic Costs Of Thermoregulation And Population Life-History Characterization In Eastern Collared Lizards, Casey Lee Brewster Jul 2012

Energetic Costs Of Thermoregulation And Population Life-History Characterization In Eastern Collared Lizards, Casey Lee Brewster

Theses and Dissertations

Thermoregulation theory makes distinct predictions as to the optimal level of thermoregulation when the costs associated with the thermal habitat are less favorable. I designed a manipulative experiment to test the hypothesis that thermal constraints reduce growth rates in hatchling-collared lizards by imposing high and low cost thermoregulation treatments. Lizards thermoregulated similarly between treatments, but grew more slowly in the high cost thermoregulation treatment. My results suggest that the decrement to growth in the high cost treatment is primarily the result of energy diverted from growth to locomotion shuttling between suitable micro- habitats. I combined this experiment with a field …


Writing Across The Curriculum: A Study Of Possibilities For Ualr, Mia Phillips Jul 2012

Writing Across The Curriculum: A Study Of Possibilities For Ualr, Mia Phillips

Theses and Dissertations

This study seeks to determine the feasibility of implementing writing across the curriculum (WAC) at UALR. For the purposes of this study, WAC will be defined as a methodology of instruction for undergraduate students attending a college or university that emphasizes writing in any discipline or major offered at that university. In other words, writing assignments and activities occur in classes that typically do not focus on writing like English and writing courses typically do. By utilizing a survey of best practices at four other universities, as well as a survey of attitudes of UALR faculty, this paper will provide …


Canopy Effects On Tropical Leaf Litter Arthropods, Theodore Peter Sumnicht Jul 2012

Canopy Effects On Tropical Leaf Litter Arthropods, Theodore Peter Sumnicht

Theses and Dissertations

Changes in canopy structure, which are likely to occur at faster rates due to climate change, affect leaf litter structure and the ecology of litter-dwelling organisms. One such change is the increased abundance of lianas in tropical forest canopies. Here, I quantify effects of these changes on tropical leaf litter arthropod communities by surveying patches of Panamanian forest where lianas have been removed, and experimentally isolating two aspects of the litter environment affected by canopy structure: incident light and litter depth. Increased litter produced by liana cutting resulted in increases in ant species richness and arthropod abundance. Structural complexity was …


Canopy Ants Of Central Arkansas And The Atlantic Forest Of Brazil: Community Patterns, Petrus Fauaze Moreira Jul 2012

Canopy Ants Of Central Arkansas And The Atlantic Forest Of Brazil: Community Patterns, Petrus Fauaze Moreira

Theses and Dissertations

Ants in the forest canopy are of special ecological interest due to their high diversity and ecological importance in this relatively inaccessible system. I explored the ecology of ants of temperate and tropical arboreal settings in Central Arkansas and Brazil respectively. I tested the hypothesis that biotic (e.g., tree identity) and abiotic (e.g., spatial distribution) factors regulate the diversity and composition of ants in the forest canopy, as well as the potential conservation benefits of agroforests in the tropics. In Arkansas, tree identity influenced ant species richness in tree crowns, in Brazil, ant species richness was significantly different between primary …


Evaluating The Performance Of Computational Approaches For Identifying Critical Sites In Protein-Coding Dna Sequences, Matthew Lewis Bendall Jul 2012

Evaluating The Performance Of Computational Approaches For Identifying Critical Sites In Protein-Coding Dna Sequences, Matthew Lewis Bendall

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to link a particular phenotype to its causative genotype is one of the most challenging objectives for biological research. Although the genetic code provides an explicit formula for determining the sequence of amino acid phenotypes produced by a given nucleotide sequence, identifying specific residues that are functionally important remains problematic. Many computational approaches have been developed that use patterns observed in DNA sequences to identify these critical sites. However, very few research studies have used empirical data to test whether these approaches are truly able to identify sites of interest.In most empirical studies, the actual protein function and …


Nonprofit Ethos And Identity: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals' Websites, Jessica Marie Kokinos-Havel Jul 2012

Nonprofit Ethos And Identity: An Interdisciplinary Analysis Of People For The Ethical Treatment Of Animals' Websites, Jessica Marie Kokinos-Havel

Theses and Dissertations

Research in the field of nonprofit studies tells us that nonprofit organizations have the inherent ability to provide communities with a distinctive kind of social capital in the form of collective identity and group participation. This identity function is one of the defining characteristics of the nonprofit sector. This study involves a rhetorical analysis of four websites maintained by the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA). Each website (PETA.org, PETA Prime, peta2, and PETAKiDS) is aimed at reaching different age groups. This provides us with a unique rhetorical perspective into how the ethos of a nonprofit organization can …


Foraging And Digestive Energetics In Montane And Lowland Salamanders, Cody Lund Barnes Jul 2012

Foraging And Digestive Energetics In Montane And Lowland Salamanders, Cody Lund Barnes

Theses and Dissertations

Thermal physiology substantially limits the distributions of organisms across landscapes. Specifically, the thermal sensitivity of foraging and digestive energetics influence the quantity of energy available for allocating to specific life functions. I hypothesized that foraging and Specific Dynamic Action (SDA) performances would differ between montane endemic and lowland salamander species. I found that foraging energetics differed between the montane endemics, Plethodon ouachitae and P. caddoensis, in comparison to the lowland P. albagula. Differences in foraging energetics were particularly pronounced at the warmest temperature and the montane endemics were more thermally sensitive, suggesting that constraints in foraging energetics influence the elevational …


Osh6 Extends Replicative Lifespan By Transporting Sterols To The Vacuolar Membrane And Promoting Vacuole Fusion, Senetibeb Gebre Jul 2012

Osh6 Extends Replicative Lifespan By Transporting Sterols To The Vacuolar Membrane And Promoting Vacuole Fusion, Senetibeb Gebre

Theses and Dissertations

Families of oxysterol-binding proteins (OSBP) are proposed to be involved in sterol metabolism. The unique sterol composition of eukaryotic membranes requires proteins such as OSBPs that contribute to sterol homeostasis. This thesis explores the role of Osh proteins (OSBP homologues) in membranes of yeast vacuoles in light of lifespan extension. The results show that over-expression of OSH6 promoted vacuole fusion, an ergosterol-requiring process, and extended the replicative lifespan. It is found that the level of Osh6 decreased with age. This decrease is slowed in a mutant expressing elevated OSH6 levels. It is also found that the sterol-binding domain of Osh6 …


Physiological And Morphological Variation In A Stream Salamander, Desmognathus Brimleyorum, Vanessa K Hilliard Young Jul 2012

Physiological And Morphological Variation In A Stream Salamander, Desmognathus Brimleyorum, Vanessa K Hilliard Young

Theses and Dissertations

Habitats vary in their biotic and abiotic components across space and time. Variability can introduce challenges for organisms unless they have the ability to alter their physiology in a way that maximizes fitness in a variable habitat. My thesis investigated the physiological and morphological responses of the stream salamander Desmignathus brimleyorum to variations in thermal and physical habitat characteristics. Chapter one concentrates on changes in metabolic response and swimming performance of salamanders exposed to differing thermal treatments and tests the predictions of the optimal acclimation theory. Chapter two investigates differences in swimming performance with respect to tail morphology, as well …


Homogeneous Viologens For Use As Catalysts In Direct Carbohydrate Fuel Cells, Dane C. Hansen Jul 2012

Homogeneous Viologens For Use As Catalysts In Direct Carbohydrate Fuel Cells, Dane C. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

Deriving electrical energy from glucose and other carbohydrates under mild conditions is an important research objective because these biomolecules are abundant, renewable, and can provide 12 to 24 electrons per molecule, yielding substantial electrical power. It was previously observed that disubstituted viologens, salts of N,N'-disubstituted 4,4'-bipyridine, are able to oxidize glucose under alkaline conditions. Building on that initial result, the objective of this work was to understand and quantify the effectiveness and utility of viologens as catalysts for use in direct carbohydrate fuel cells.The extent that viologens oxidize carbohydrates, the conditions under which that oxidation occurs, and the mechanism for …


The Urban Garden Discourse Community: An Organic Form Of Technical Writing, Adrea Etta Coley Jul 2012

The Urban Garden Discourse Community: An Organic Form Of Technical Writing, Adrea Etta Coley

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project is to inform the audience about the methods used to process food in America and the importance of urban gardening. Technical writing skills were used to create a manual and a storyboard for a video game to teach novices how to create a home or community garden. The Basic Foundations for Organic Gardening is a manual produced from the journal notes during the author's first year of training in the garden. This project also explores the theory of video games as a tool for teaching. A storyboard was developed for a future interactive video game, …


Stoneflies Of Unusual Size: Population Genetics And Systematics Within Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera), John S. Sproul Jul 2012

Stoneflies Of Unusual Size: Population Genetics And Systematics Within Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera), John S. Sproul

Theses and Dissertations

Chapter 1. The family Pteronarcyidae (Plecoptera) is a highly studied group of stoneflies and very important to a wide variety of aquatic studies. Several phylogenies have been proposed for this group recent decades, however there is little congruence between the various topologies. The present study revises the phylogeny of the group by combining molecular data from mitochondrial cytochrome oxidase subunit II, ribosomal subunit 12S, ribosomal subunit 16S, and nuclear loci ribosomal subinit 18S and Histone H3, with published morphological data in a parsimony-based total evidence analysis. The analysis produced a well-supported phylogeny with novel relationships within the genus Pteronarcys. …


Comparative Psychotherapy Outcomes Of Sexual Minority Clients And Controls, Sasha A. Mondragon Jul 2012

Comparative Psychotherapy Outcomes Of Sexual Minority Clients And Controls, Sasha A. Mondragon

Theses and Dissertations

Research examining the psychotherapy outcomes of sexual minority clients seen in routine clinical care is lacking. No studies could be identified in which sexual minority client outcomes were examined with a standardized measure. The pre-treatment mental health functioning of 600 sexual minority clients was compared with that of a randomly selected group matched to the minority group on male/female ratio. The post-treatment mental health functioning of 596 sexual minority clients was also examined and compared to a control group matched on female/male ratio, initial levels of mental health functioning, age, and marital status. Results indicated that sexual minority clients who …


Effect Of A Humanoid Robot During Therapy On Responding To Joint Attention With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Lowe Jul 2012

Effect Of A Humanoid Robot During Therapy On Responding To Joint Attention With Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Katherine Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the use of a humanoid robot to engage two children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) on responding language behaviors including language, affect, imitation, and eye contact. The robot was integrated into each child's regular intervention in low-doses (10 min of a 50 min session). The goal was to increase responding language behaviors in the children with their conversational partners. The two children participated in pre and post assessment sessions as well as 16 intervention sessions. The data from these sessions were coded into two main categories including how the children interacted (Initiating Engagement, Responding to …


Resolving Disulfide Bond Patterns In Snap25b Cysteine-Rich Region Using Lc Mass Spectrometry, Nozomi Ogawa Jul 2012

Resolving Disulfide Bond Patterns In Snap25b Cysteine-Rich Region Using Lc Mass Spectrometry, Nozomi Ogawa

Theses and Dissertations

A global analysis of the human proteome demonstrates that there are ~5500 tryptic fragments that contain four cysteines in close proximity. Elucidating whether they form disulfide bonds in vivo under different conditions is particularly important because cysteines are known to be a vital cellular redox sensor as well as a catalytic site for important biochemical reactions. However, currently there are no methods that can resolve disulfide patterns in closely-packed cysteine residues from a complex sample. In order to address this problem, we have developed a novel mass-spectrometry-based method to identify the different disulfide bonding patterns possible, using SNAP25B cysteine-rich region …


Angiogenesis In Response To Varying Fiber Size In An Electrospun Scaffold In Vivo., Damien Brown Jul 2012

Angiogenesis In Response To Varying Fiber Size In An Electrospun Scaffold In Vivo., Damien Brown

Theses and Dissertations

Injury to the spinal cord results in partial or complete loss of sensory perception and motor function. After spinal cord injury (SCI), damaged tissue dies and a cavity will form. This cavity prevents the regeneration of tissue and any functional recovery. One way to address the cavity is the insertion of an electrospun scaffold that our lab has created. This provides a substrate for regenerating tissue to grow on, and it is thought that reestablishing the blood supply within the scaffold will allow cells necessary for regeneration to thrive. This could ultimately lead to meaningful recovery for patients who have …


Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Workshop/Support Group For Parents Raising Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Christina Marie Yazzie Jul 2012

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of A Workshop/Support Group For Parents Raising Children With Type 1 Diabetes, Christina Marie Yazzie

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of a workshop/support group for parents raising children with type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM). Diagnosis of a chronic disease in a child generally arouses acute anxiety and stress in parents. Parental stress when raising a child with type 1 diabetes is often centered on worry about their child's health and parents' ability to maintain the care activities needed by these children. Parents are the primary caregivers of children with Type 1 diabetes, and the effect of stress on parents can impact the health of both children and parents. The present …


The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Katrina Duncan Jul 2012

The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Katrina Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world. This study identified the proportion of our NHOPI sample in each body mass index (BMI) category and explored relationships between demographic characteristics and BMI. Design: This descriptive correlational study included 364 NHOPI caregiver adults in Utah (n=155) and Hawaii (n=209). We gathered demographic information with a questionnaire. Height and weight were measured for BMI calculations. Results: According to the CDC's BMI categories, 84.3% of our sample was overweight (BMI=25.0-29.9) or obese (BMI ≥30). Participants in Utah had significantly higher BMIs than …


Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk Jul 2012

Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk

Theses and Dissertations

Native fishes have become an increasingly important concern when designing fish passable culverts. Many operational culverts constrict waterways which increase velocities and prevent upstream passage of small fish species. The current method to ensure fish passage is to match the average cross sectional velocity to the sustained swim speed of the fish. This study investigates the passage rates of leatherside chub (Lepidomeda aliciae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) at three sites (an arch culvert with substrate bottom, box culvert with bare bottom, and a stream section with no culvert) located on Salina Creek near Salina, UT. It was found that …


Design And Optimization Of A Miniature Radiation Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna For 2.4 Ghz Band And A Dual Tuned Birdcage Coil For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Manoj Adhikari Jul 2012

Design And Optimization Of A Miniature Radiation Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna For 2.4 Ghz Band And A Dual Tuned Birdcage Coil For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Manoj Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes development of a miniature reconfigurable antenna and optimization of a dual tuned birdcage coil. The design goals for the miniature reconfigurable antennas are resonance center frequency of 2.44 GHz, bandwidth of 2.4 GHz - 2.48 GHz, size of 0.8 cm x 1.2 cm, radiation efficiency of 70%, pattern correlation coefficient of 0.3 and input impedance of 50 Ω. The main goals to be achieved from the birdcage coil are the better homogeneity and higher signal to noise ratio than the existing coil. The design and optimization of both antenna and birdcage coil were done using simulation software …


Characterization And Preliminary Demonstration Of Microcantilever Array Integrated Sensors, Ryan R. Anderson Jul 2012

Characterization And Preliminary Demonstration Of Microcantilever Array Integrated Sensors, Ryan R. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

I characterize the behavior of microcantilever arrays which utilize the in-plane photonic transduction that I've previously developed and evaluate the performance of the microcantilever arrays in simple sensing scenarios with integrated microfluidics. First the thermal responses of microcantilevers with a variety of patterns of deposited gold films are compared. Using a scanning electron microscope, I observe the deflection thermal sensitivities of 300 µm long microcantilevers to be -170.82 nm/K for a full gold coating and -1.93 nm/K for no gold coating. Using the photonic transduction method I measure a thermal sensitivity of -1.46 nm/K for a microcantilever array with no …


Textbook Bling: An Evaluation Of Textbook Quality And Usability In Open Educational Resources Versus Traditionally Published Textbooks, Jennifer Lynn Price Jul 2012

Textbook Bling: An Evaluation Of Textbook Quality And Usability In Open Educational Resources Versus Traditionally Published Textbooks, Jennifer Lynn Price

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study evaluated quality, usage, and perceptions of open educational resources compared to traditionally published textbooks. Because textbooks and other related materials make up a significant portion of educational costs, open educational resources have been explored for potential cost savings at all levels of education. These resources use public domain or open-licensed materials as the content component of free eTextbooks or low-cost printed textbooks. This evaluation explores how teachers and students use textbook resources both in and out of the classroom and the degree to which the content and design of open textbooks compares in quality and value to …


Plant Establishment And Soil Microenvironments In Utah Juniper Masticated Woodlands, Kert R. Young Jul 2012

Plant Establishment And Soil Microenvironments In Utah Juniper Masticated Woodlands, Kert R. Young

Theses and Dissertations

Juniper (Juniperus spp.) encroachment into sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and bunchgrass communities has reduced understory plant cover and allowed juniper trees to dominate millions of hectares of semiarid rangelands. Trees are mechanically masticated or shredded to decrease wildfire potential and increase desirable understory plant cover. When trees are masticated after a major increase in tree population density and associated decrease in perennial understory cover, there is a risk that invasive annual grasses will dominate because they are highly responsive to the increased resource availability that commonly follows removal of the main resource user. To determine if tree mastication increases …


Liquid Dielectric Spectroscopy And Protein Simulation, Brett Lee Mellor Jul 2012

Liquid Dielectric Spectroscopy And Protein Simulation, Brett Lee Mellor

Theses and Dissertations

Protein electrical properties have been studied using dielectric relaxation measurements throughout the past century. These measurements have advanced both the theory and practice of liquid dielectric spectroscopy and have contributed to understanding of protein structure and function. In this dissertation, the relationship between permittivity measurements and underlying molecular mechanisms is explored. Also presented is a method to take molecular structures from the Protein Data Bank and subsequently estimate the charge distribution and dielectric relaxation properties of the proteins in solution. This process enables screening of target compounds for analysis by dielectric spectroscopy as well as better interpretation of protein relaxation …


Investigation Of Internal Wave Spectra Due To Observed Interactions, Benjamin Lee Hillyard Jul 2012

Investigation Of Internal Wave Spectra Due To Observed Interactions, Benjamin Lee Hillyard

Theses and Dissertations

Observational data are analyzed and decomposed to reveal internal ocean waves and their interactions with one another. Particularly, the interaction of small-scale internal waves with a large inertia wave packet is examined. Using the governing internal wave equations, an analysis is made of the energy propagation of a small scale internal wave with a large-scale inertia wave. With that, an assessment is made of the frequency of occurrence of various encounter types. Next, the possibility of energy transfer during an interaction is explored. The relative energy of the small wave before interacting with the large-scale inertia wave is calculated and …


Three Dimensional Characterization Of Vocal Fold Fluid Structure Interactions, Joseph R. Nielson Jul 2012

Three Dimensional Characterization Of Vocal Fold Fluid Structure Interactions, Joseph R. Nielson

Theses and Dissertations

Voice quality is strongly linked to quality of life; those who suffer from voice disorders are adversely affected in their social, family, and professional relationships. An effort has been made to more fully understand the physics behind how the voice is created, specifically the fluid structure interactions that occur during vocal fold vibration. Many techniques have been developed and implemented to study both the motion of the vocal folds and the airflow that creates the motion. Until recently these techniques have sought to understand a highly three-dimensional phenomenon with 1D or 2D perspectives.This research focuses on the development and implementation …


Tissue Specific Porcupine Deletion Reveals A Novel Role For Ectodermal Wnts In Musculotendon Development, Aaron P. Smith Jul 2012

Tissue Specific Porcupine Deletion Reveals A Novel Role For Ectodermal Wnts In Musculotendon Development, Aaron P. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The Wnt family of secreted proteins consists of 19 family members (in the mouse) and is known to signal through multiple pathways that regulate crucial processes in the development of almost all tissues. Dissecting the roles of individual Wnts has been hampered due to functional redundancy that exists between family members. We made use of a conditional allele of the acyltransferase, Porcupine (Porcn), that is required for the secretion of all Wnt ligands, and the Msx2Cre deleter to eliminate the secretion of all Wnt ligands from the ventral limb ectoderm, ventral abdominal ectoderm, and urogenital ectoderm. Phenotypically the …


The Synthesis And Structural Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Having Catalytic Applications, Stacey Janel Smith Jul 2012

The Synthesis And Structural Characterization Of Metal Oxide Nanoparticles Having Catalytic Applications, Stacey Janel Smith

Theses and Dissertations

Nanotechnology is blossoming into one of the premiere technologies of this century, but the key to its progress lies in developing more efficient nanosynthesis methods. Variations in synthetic technique, however, can cause variations in size, structure, and surface characteristics, thereby altering the physical properties and functionality of the particles. Careful structural characterizations are thus essential for understanding the properties and appropriate applications for particles produced by new synthetic techniques.In this work, a new ‘solvent-deficient’ method is presented for the synthesis of an unprecedentedly wide range of metal oxide nanomaterials including at least one metal oxide from each group in Groups …


Science Self-Efficacy And School Transitions: Elementary School To Middle School And Middle School To High School, Brandi Lue Lofgran Jul 2012

Science Self-Efficacy And School Transitions: Elementary School To Middle School And Middle School To High School, Brandi Lue Lofgran

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the science self-efficacy beliefs of students before and after transitions from elementary to middle school and middle school to high school. The purpose was to explore whether those beliefs changed with grade level, gender, and ethnicity. Data were collected through a modified Self-Efficacy Questionnaire for Children (Muris, 2001), which was adapted to focus on science self-efficacy. Multiple ordinary least squares regression was used to analyze the data. All grade levels showed a clear decline in science self-efficacy after sixth grade with females, Hispanic students, and ninth graders showing the greatest decline in science self-efficacy.