Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Adjunct Faculty About Their Experiences At Selected Universities In The Upper Midwest Of The United States, Penelope Simons

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Tracking Floral Visitation Using Dna Barcodes, Ivan Ray Shoemaker

Theses and Dissertations

Floral visitation resulting in interspecific pollen transfer (IPT) from non-native or invasive plant species can affect the reproductive fitness of native plant species through pollen allelopathy, stigma clogging, stylar clogging, and ovule (seed) discounting. The prevalence of IPT and the importance of pollinators in mediating its impacts, however, remain poorly understood. Although most traditional methods for examining visitor movement are insufficient for determining rates of potential IPT, one promising alternative is the use of DNA barcoding. Because floral visitors eat, collect or unknowingly obtain pollen, nectar and other floral tissues, plant DNA should be recoverable from their bodies, permitting molecular …

Depth And Time Related Variations Of Microbial Communiites In An Emergent Freshwater Wetland, Amy Jenkins

Theses and Dissertations

Soils, and the microbial communities contained within them, are vital for most chemical, physical, and biological processes. This study investigated how microbial community structure responded to environmental changes, such as hydrology, across vertical space (depth) and time in an emergent fresh water wetland. Research was conducted in a non-tidal freshwater wetland along the James River (Charles City County, Virginia) by establishing plots in two areas that experienced different hydrologic regimes and plant communities. Soil cores (30 cm) were collected monthly from January 2008 to February 2009, and then every two to three months thereafter until October 2009, for a total …

Utility Of The General Validity Scale Model: Development Of Validity Scales For The Co-Parenting Behavior Questionnaire, Kimberly Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Validity scales for child-report measures are necessary tools in clinical and forensic settings in which major decisions affecting the child and family are in question. Currently there is no standard model for the development and testing of such validity scales. The present study focused on 1) creating the General Validity Scale (GVS) Model to serve as a guide in validity scale development and 2) applying this model in the development of validity scales for the Co-parenting Behavior Questionnaire (CBQ), a child-report measure of parenting and co-parenting behaviors for children whose parents are divorced. Study 1 used the newly developed GVS …

High Flow Air Sampling For Field Detection Using Gas Chromatography-Mass Spectrometry, Jacolin Ann Murray

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to rapidly detect and identify hazardous analytes in the field has become increasingly important. One of the most important analytical detection methods in the field is gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). In this work, a hand-portable GC-MS system is described that contains a miniature toroidal ion trap mass analyzer and a low thermal mass GC. The system is self-contained within the dimensions of 47 x 36 x 18 cm and weighs less than 13 kg. Because the instrument has a small footprint, it was used as the detector for an automated near-real-time permeation testing system. In permeation testing, materials …

Integrative Health And Healing: An Appraisal Of Research For An Evidence-Based Public Health Nursing Practice, Raeann E. Mayer

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Approaches To Identify Surface Proteins Of Anaplasma Phagocytophilum Dense-Cored Organisms As Adhesins To Human P-Selectin Glycoprotein Ligand-1, Matthew Troese

Theses and Dissertations

Anaplasma phagocytophilum is an obligatory intracellular bacterium that infects neutrophils to cause human granulocytic anaplasmosis. Sialyl Lewis x (sLex)-modified P-selectin glycoprotein ligand-1 (PSGL-1) is the confirmed receptor utilized by A. phagocytophilum to bind and invade human neutrophils and myeloid cell lines. As an obligate intracellular pathogen, the binding of A. phagocytophilum to a host cell receptor is a prerequisite step for entry and replication, and thus its survival. However, the bacterial adhesins mediating this process have yet to be identified. In this study, we sought to identify surface proteins of A. phagocytophilum as putative adhesins. A. phagocytophilum undergoes a biphasic …

Out Of The Blue: A Mother's Memoir Of Our Family's Transgender Experience, Roxanne Moore

Theses and Dissertations

OUT OF THE BLUE: A MOTHER'S MEMOIR OF OUR FAMILY'S TRANSGENDER EXPERIENCE is a memoir about what it has been like to discover that the baby girl I gave birth to almost forty years ago, now identifies as a female to male transgender person. He began his transformation both physically and legally over five years ago. Though it is a story about our entire family's transformation, it focuses mainly on what this has been like for me as a mother and the relationship I have with my first-born child.

Noted psychologist, Arlene Ishtar Lev states in Transgender Emergence: Therapeutic Guidelines …

Minimizing Base Column Demands In Multi-Story Buckling Restrained Braced Frames Using Genetic Algorithms, Christopher Hiroshi Yeates

Theses and Dissertations

Most structural optimization procedures focus on minimizing the total volume of steel in an attempt to reduce overall costs. However, many other factors can have an effect on the overall cost of a structure. Base column demands in particular, can affect base plate sizes, anchorage, and foundation design. Researchers have found that present methods for estimating column demands are too conservative. Nonlinear time history analyzes were conducted on buckling-restrained braced frames of six heights. Optimized results were found considering three ductility constraints and two optimization objectives. The two optimization objectives were minimized total brace area and minimized base column demands. …

Phytoremediation Of Copper Contaminated Waste Water Using Lemna Minor, Mark Apelt

Theses and Dissertations

The use of natural remediation methods to remove contaminants from waste water is becoming more popular. Plants have been used for several decades, yet their use for municipal waste water contaminated by heavy metals is limited to a few studies which focus on the Mercury and Chromium (Bennicelli, et.al, 2004). This study specifically attempted to determine the viability for using Lemna minor to remediate municipally generated wastewater contaminated with copper. The study used 100 ml samples of wastewater, artificially spiked with 8 mg/L of copper sulfate and seeded with approximately 100 Lemna minor fronds. Each treatment was repeated 15 times …

Humphry Davy: Science, Authorship, And The Changing Romantic, Marianne Lind Baker

Theses and Dissertations

In the mid to late 1700s, men of letters became more and more interested in the natural world. From studies in astronomy to biology, chemistry, and medicine, these "philosophers" pioneered what would become our current scientific categories. While the significance of their contributions to these fields has been widely appreciated historically, the interconnection between these men and their literary counterparts has not. A study of the "Romantic man of science" reveals how much that figure has in common with the traditional "Romantic" literary figure embodied by poets like William Wordsworth and Samuel Taylor Coleridge. This thesis interrogates connections between Romantic …

Inferential Methods For High-Throughput Methylation Data, Maria Capparuccini

Theses and Dissertations

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

Pyaline: Automatically Growing Language Family Trees Using The Aline Distance, Paul A. Huff

Theses and Dissertations

Several methods for determining a numerical distance between languages have been proposed in the literature. In this thesis I implement one of them, the ALINE distance, and develop a methodology for comparing its results with other language distance metrics. I then compare it with a leading distance metric, the LDND distance, proposed by the ASJP project.

Parental Involvement And Academic Achievement Among Children Of Immigrants, Wade Clinton Jacobsen

Theses and Dissertations

Using Bourdieu's model of social and cultural reproduction, I examine student achievement and parental involvement levels across seven immigrant nationalities: Cambodian, Cuban, Filipino, Laotian, Mexican, Nicaraguan, and Vietnamese. I then analyze the relationships between five parental involvement types and GPA, while controlling for student, family, and school characteristics. Finally, I test for interaction effects to examine variations across groups. Results point to parent expectations as a strong predictor of student success, especially among Cubans, Filipinos, and Vietnamese, while other dimensions of parental involvement have little or no effect. Bourdieu's model may not be adequate among immigrant parents and their children …

Proteoliposome Proton Flux Assays Establish Net Conductance, Ph-Sensitivity, And Functional Integrity Of A Novel Truncate Of The M2 Ion "Channel" Of Influenza A, Emily Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

A novel truncate of Influenza A M2 protein (residues 22-62), incorporated into a uniquely tailored proteoliposome proton uptake assay, demonstrated proton flux more characteristic of an ion transporter than a traditional ion "channel." The liposome paradigm was essential for testing the conductance activity of this M2 truncate at a range of extraphysiological pHs appropriate for channel vs. transport function determination. In addition to transporter-typical proton flux, M2(22-62) showed the key characteristics of functional integrity: selective proton uptake into liposomes and block of uptake by amantadine. Two sets of proteoliposome proton flux assays were carried out, Set 1 at pH values …

Antimicrobial And Anticancer Activity Of Essential Oils From Guatemalan Medicinal Plants, Andrew B. Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Guatemalan medicinal plants were collected and screened for the presence of essential oils using steam distillation. Oil was found in 63 species from 24 families and was tested in tube dilution assays for activity against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus mutans, Lactobacillus acidophilus and Candida albicans. Several essential oils were highly active with 20 instances of oils inhibiting the microbes at an MIC of 0.31 µl/ml. Oils were also tested against cancerous and established cell lines using a 15% (v/v) agar-media which was developed to improve essential oil solubility. Assays were performed against three cancer lines: …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Work Towards The Isolation And Characterization Of The Muscle Isoform Of Glucose 1,6-Bisphosphatase, Caleb J. Hiller

Theses and Dissertations

Glucose 1,6-bisphosphate is an important small molecule involved in the regulation of glycolysis. Four enzymes synthesize this compound. One enzyme is known to degrade it, glucose 1,6-bisphosphatase. Other groups have produced work that indicates that there are two isoforms of this enzyme, one predominant in the brain and one in the muscle. This thesis contains the work performed in attempts to isolate and characterize the muscle isoform of glucose 1,6-bisphosphatase. While this enzyme was not isolated, much was learned about it and the results from this work may help in the future identification of this enzyme.

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Genetic Evaluation Of American Shad Alosa Sapidissima Restoration Success In James River, Virginia, Aaron Aunins

Theses and Dissertations

The American shad Alosa sapidissima has experienced severe declines throughout its native range due to habitat degradation, fragmentation, and over-fishing. Hatchery supplementation is often used for stock restoration, but the effects of supplementation on population structure and genetic diversity are rarely assessed. This study employed molecular markers to evaluate how supplementation of the James River American shad population with Pamunkey River origin larvae since 1994 has impacted genetic diversity and population structure. Population genetic parameters of other major Chesapeake Bay tributaries (Susquehanna, Rappahannock, Potomac, and Nanticoke) also were characterized. Prior to stocking, the James and Pamunkey populations exhibited subtle genetic …

Halo Ion Trap Mass Spectrometry: Design, Instrumentation, And Performance, Miao Wang

Theses and Dissertations

New ion trap mass spectrometry (ITMS) instrumentation, the toroidal IT and halo IT, were developed to meet the significant growth in on-site analysis applications. The miniature toroidal IT mass analyzer was operated with radio frequency (RF) trapping voltages of 3 kVp-p or less. Despite its reduced dimensions, it has roughly the same ion trapping capacity as conventional 3D quadrupole ITs. Unit-mass resolved spectra for n-butylbenzene, xenon, and naphthalene were obtained. The desired linear mass scale was obtained using conventional mass-selective instability scan combined with resonance ejection. The halo IT was also based on toroidal trapping geometry and microfabrication technology, consisting …

Packing Virtual Machines Onto Servers, David Luke Wilcox

Theses and Dissertations

Data centers consume a significant amount of energy. This problem is aggravated by the fact that most servers and desktops are underutilized when powered on, and still consume a majority of the energy of a fully utilized computer even when idle This problem would be much worse were it not for the growing use of virtual machines. Virtual machines allow system administrators to more fully utilize hardware capabilities by putting more than one virtual system on the same physical server. Many times, virtual machines are placed onto physical servers inefficiently. To address this inefficiency, I developed a new family of …

Determination Of Structure Of Hepatitis B Virus E Antigen, Asheel Patel

Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis B virus is a member of the hepadnavirus family. The hepatitis B virus core gene codes for two proteins viz. core protein and pre-core protein. These proteins assemble to form particles viz. HBcAg and HBeAg respectively. The structure of the HBcAg has been widely studied but very little is known about the structure of HBeAg. Therefore, the aim of this study was to identify the disulfide bonding patterns in HBeAg. Recombinant HBeAg was isolated from E.coli and used for this study along with various mutants of HBeAg. There are four cysteines present in HBeAg each at position -7, 48, …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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

Assessment Of Acgh Clustering Methodologies, Serena F. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Array comparative genomic hybridization (aCGH) is a technique for identifying duplications and deletions of DNA at specific locations across a genome. Potential objectives of aCGH analysis are the identification of (1) altered regions for a given subject, (2) altered regions across a set of individuals, and (3) clinically relevant clusters of hybridizations. aCGH analysis can be particularly useful when it identifies previously unknown clusters with clinical relevance. This project focuses on the assessment of existing aCGH clustering methodologies. Three methodologies are considered: hierarchical clustering, weighted clustering of called aCGH data, and clustering based on probabilistic recurrent regions of alteration within …

Functionalization Of Diamond And Its Application In High Performance Liquid Chromatography And Solid Phase Extraction, Gaurav Saini

Theses and Dissertations

The primary focus of my work was to chemically functionalize diamond as normal and reversed phases for solid phase extraction (SPE) and high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Diamond was functionalized with -NH2 groups via self-limiting adsorption of an amine-containing polymer, polyallylamine (PAAm), onto oxidized diamond particles. The chemical stability of these particles was improved by thermal curing or chemical crosslinking with 1,2,5,6-diepoxycyclooctane. The reversed phase material for SPE was synthesized by reacting amine-functionalized diamond particles with long chain alkyl and a perfluorinated isocyanate. Unlike commercially available silica, functionalized diamond particles were stable under extreme pH conditions (pH 0-14). Functionalized diamond …

Brachytherapy Seed And Applicator Localization Via Iterative Forward Projection Matching Algorithm Using Digital X-Ray Projections, Damodar Pokhrel

Theses and Dissertations

Interstitial and intracavitary brachytherapy plays an essential role in management of several malignancies. However, the achievable accuracy of brachytherapy treatment for prostate and cervical cancer is limited due to the lack of intraoperative planning and adaptive replanning. A major problem in implementing TRUS-based intraoperative planning is an inability of TRUS to accurately localize individual seed poses (positions and orientations) relative to the prostate volume during or after the implantation. For the locally advanced cervical cancer patient, manual drawing of the source positions on orthogonal films can not localize the full 3D intracavitary brachytherapy (ICB) applicator geometry. A new iterative forward …

Application Of An Inverse-Hysteresis Iterative Control Algorithm For Afm Fabrication, Seth Ashley

Theses and Dissertations

An iterative control algorithm (ICA) which uses an approximate inverse-hysteresis model is implemented to compensate for hysteresis to precisely fabricate features on a soft polymer substrate using an atomic force microscope (AFM). The AFM is an important instrument in micro/nanotechnology because of its ability to interrogate, manipulate, and fabricate objects at the micro/nanoscale. The AFM uses a piezoelectric actuator to position an AFM-probe tip relative to the sample surface in three dimensions. In particular, precision lateral control of the AFM-probe tip relative to the sample surface is needed to ensure high-performance operation of the AFM. However, precision lateral positioning of …

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

Theses and Dissertations

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