Digital Commons Network^™

Effects Of Nicotine On Content Of Corticotropin Releasing Factor (Crf) In Rat Amygdala, Hypothalamus And Brain Stem, Sibonisiwe Ntini Masilela

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Effects of 1.0 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg intraperitoneal nicotine on hypothalamic and extra hypothalamic levels of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) were examined in 104 rats. CRF, a 41-amino acid peptide involved in responses to stress, fear and anxiety, influences the same neurotransmitter systems as nicotine, a psychoactive component of tobacco. Radioimmunoassays revealed that in macro-dissected hypothalami, 15 minutes treatment with 1.0 mg/kg nicotine significantly increased CRF content compared to no treatment. The 1.0 mg/kg dose did not elicit effects in macro-dissected amygdala and brain stem. With 0.4 mg/kg nicotine, no significant effects were observed in micro-dissected hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, amygdaloid …

Generalizability Of Cardiovascular Reactivity To Stress Among Doctoral Students Between Laboratory And Natural Settings, James P. Davig

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study extends previous work investigating the generalizability of cardiovascular reactivity to stress obtained in response to laboratory-based tasks to cardiovascular reactivity measured in response to a natural occurring event. Cardiovascular reactivity (HR, SBP, DBP) to stress was measured with ambulatory monitoring equipment in 6 male and 16 female healthy Caucasian graduate students in two settings: during five standardized laboratory stressors, and during the proposal or defense of a thesis or dissertation. Results indicate that for all cardiovascular parameters, the magnitude of change was greatest in response to the natural event, and that among the laboratory tasks, the greatest degree …

Androgen-Induced Norepinephrine Release In Male Accessory Sex Organ Smooth Muscle Growth And Differentiation, Julie M. Kim

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The goal of this research was to determine the role of norepinephrine (NE) in androgen-dependent pubertal proliferation and adult terminal differentiation in normal male accessory sex organ smooth muscle. The guinea pig seminal vesicle served as a model as its unique anatomy allowed clean harvest of smooth muscle without epithelium.;Androgen significantly increased in vivo DNA synthesis, total DNA, and NE release and down-regulated protein kinase C (PKC) in prepubertal seminal vesicle smooth muscle (SVSM) relative to prepubertal orchiectomized controls. High performance liquid chromotography quantified NE release as an increased concentration of (1) endogenous NE-metabolite, 3,4-dihydroxyphenolglycol per NE, and (2) NE …

Preference Between Predictable And Unpredictable Administrations Of Carbon Dioxide-Enriched Air, Carl Wilbourne Lejuez

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Predictability of panic attacks has been identified as an important factor in the development, maintenance, and treatment of panic disorder. Although animal studies typically have found a preference for signaled (predictable) over unsignaled (unpredictable) aversive events, results with human participants have been less clear. Because preference for predictability has a wide range of clinical implications, we examined human preference for predictability in a biological challenge paradigm. Further, we examined the differential effects of predictability as a function of anxiety sensitivity and gender. In general, females showed a significantly greater preference for predictability compared to males, as did high anxious participants …

Assessing The *Discriminative Properties Of Response -Reinforcer Relations Using Concurrent Schedules Of Reinforcement, Josue P. Keely

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The discriminative properties of schedules of reinforcement have been assessed by making a choice response conditional upon some aspect of the schedule that produced the choice component. The discriminative properties of concurrent schedules of reinforcement and the effect of disruptions in the response-reinforcer relation were investigated using conditional-discrimination procedures. In the first experiment, choice components were produced by responding to one of two variable-interval (VI) schedules. Disruptions in the temporal contiguity between a VI response and a choice component were introduced by arranging a percentage of choice components according to a variable-time schedule. Choice responding was a function of the …

Alterations In Intrinsic Heart Rate In Endotoxemia, Peter Drew Wearden

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

After much early debate, it is now well recognized that the origin of the heart beat is myogenic, or intrinsic, to the heart. It has been felt that the intrinsic heart rate (IHR) is constant and that the observed heart rate is controlled by tonal alterations in the activity of the autonomic nervous system in response to various stimuli. Some investigators have recognized, however, that the intrinsic heart rate (IHR) can be altered in certain conditions. Sepsis, or the host response to bacterial infection, is recognized as a stress to the host that results in decreased myocardial contractility and tachycardia. …

"Billy Yank" On The Northern Plains: The Lives Of Union Soldiers On The Minnesota-Dakota Frontier From The Great Sioux Uprising To 1866, Darrin F. Boehm

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis will tell the generally forgotten story of the Civil War era soldiers on the Minnesota-Dakota frontier who fought in the Great Sioux Uprising from 1862 to 1865. It will also compare the frontier soldiers’ campaign experience with the experiences of Bell Irvin Wiley’s Civil War ‘'Billy Yanks.”

This thesis covers enlistment procedures, food, clothing, shelter, discipline, disease, boredom, combat, the “galvanized” Yankees, the Dakota landscape, and the role of the cavalry. This story of the frontier soldiers’ expeditions against the Sioux on the northern plains is told using direct quotations from frontier soldiers’ diaries and manuscripts, along with …

The Effects Of Thought Suppression On Later Recall Of Valenced, Self-Referenced Adjectives, Danial S. Sturgill

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effects of thought suppression on later recall of valenced material. According to Wegner's (1994) theory of ironic mental processes, effortful attempts at thought suppression result in an increased accessibility of the to-be-suppressed thought under conditions of high cognitive load. Participants (N = 180) received an induced-sadness manipulation before being asked to concentrate on associations between visual images (either a white bear or an brown rabbit) and 28 adjectives (14 positively-valenced, 14 negatively-valenced). After a five minute period of suppressing thoughts of one of the visual images, participants were asked to remember as many of the 28 …

Monuments To The Past In A Leveling Wind, Benjamin Means

Michigan Law Review

Early in the twentieth century, the Emperor Franz Joseph sponsored a monument to Hungary's history - a Millennium Monument containing statues of the country's heroes, as well as statues of the proud sponsor and his family (p. 5). When the communists took over in 1919, the statues of Franz Joseph and the rest of the Hapsburgs were dragged out of the Millennium Monument and replaced with more politically correct statuary (p. 8). Counterrevolutionaries, though, retook the country and reinstated the Hapsburg Statues in the Millennium Monument - until a later regime once again reshuffled the millennial display (pp. 9-10). Professor …

The Public Dream: A Jungian Interpretation Of "The Waste Land", Obed Sanchez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

A Jungian interpretation of The Waste Land was undertaken in this thesis. The symbolic underpinnings of the poem were found to resonate with archetypal significance. A comparative study of key ideas developed by C. G. Jung and T. S. Eliot was adopted in order to illuminate the psychological aspects of the poem. The theme of individuation and the archetypes which accompany it were revealed in the symbolic imagery of The Waste Land. The emotional tenor of Eliot's disposition and the philosophical direction of his thinking at the time The Waste Land was written were found to correlate with and parallel …

The Ecology And Life History Of The Mexican Tetra, Astyanax Mexicanus, (Teleostei: Characidae) In The Lower Rio Grande Valley, Texas, Mario Estrada

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Mexican tetra has been found to migrate from shallow waters in the spring and summer months into deeper waters during the winter months when temperatures are too cold for their survival. This fish is omnivorous with insect material being the major source of food. Its food types include green algae, nematoceran larvae, hemipterans, coleopterans, hymenopterans, dipterans, ostracods, fish eggs and amphipods. Furthermore, size classes showed that the Mexican tetras reached their largest size at the River site and smaller sizes at the Bridge and Gate sites and apparently breed year round. They are capable of producing from 300 to …

The 10 Commandments For Minimally Invasive Removal Of Nonmalignant Intracardiac Tumors, J Chin, A Angers, L J. Cleary, A Eskin, J H. Byrne

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Exogenous recombinant human transforming growth factor beta-1 (TGF-beta1) induced long-term facilitation of Aplysia sensory-motor synapses. In addition, 5-HT-induced facilitation was blocked by application of a soluble fragment of the extracellular portion of the TGF-beta1 type II receptor (TbetaR-II), which presumably acted by scavenging an endogenous TGF-beta1-like molecule. Because TbetaR-II is essential for transmembrane signaling by TGF-beta, we sought to determine whether Aplysia tissues contained TbetaR-II and specifically, whether neurons expressed the receptor. Western blot analysis of Aplysia tissue extracts demonstrated the presence of a TbetaR-II-immunoreactive protein in several tissue types. The expression and distribution of TbetaR-II-immunoreactive proteins in the central …

Management Of Emissions At Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company, Abdul Aziz R Al Nuaimi

Theses

Gas industries in the United Arab Emirates are vastly growing in order to mainly cope with the increasing demand for energy productions as well as for the wise utilization of gas associate with the crude oil. Environmental problems coupled with gas employment necessitates the development of a management techniques that can lead to better control of emissions from gas processing companies since some of these emissions are unavoidable for safety reasons.

This study suggests a framework to be used to control emissions from Abu Dhabi Gas Liquefaction Company (ADGAS) in Das Island, which represents a typical major gas processing company …

Regulation Of Heme Biosynthesis Targets The Key Enzyme Hema By A Mechanism Of Protein Stabilization In Salmonella Typhimurium, Liying Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Heme serves as a cofactor of cytochromes and catalases. It is essential for energy generation and in defense against toxic hydrogen peroxide in nearly all cells including Salmonella typhimurium and Escherichia coli. Indirect evidence has suggested that heme synthesis is a regulated process. Little is known about how heme synthesis is regulated in enteric bacteria even though the heme synthetic pathway is genetically well-defined. This research represents the first report that heme synthetic regulation affects the first committed heme pathway enzyme, glutamyl-tRNA reductase (HemA), by an unusual mechanism.;HemA, encoded by hemA gene, catalyzes the rate-limiting step of heme biosynthesis. This …

Paramaterized Beams As Effective Human Lip Models, Ron Dufort

Theses

There are numerous mathematical equations used by animators and modelers to describe the curves of the human face and, specifically, the human lip. Physically-based polynomial models, b-splines, and other arbitrarily parameterized equations are used to describe facial and lip contours, though with varied degrees of complexity and resolution. This study examined the constraints and conditions necessary to utilize a standard Euler-Bernoulli beam as an effective model for the human lip. Through this analysis it was determined that general beam theories are flexible enough to create models that can generate curves comparable to actual lip shapes, though no single model studied …

Outdone, Daniel Pejril

Theses

Discusses all the elements needed to create the film "Outdone," from pre-production to post-production. The film is a "warped version of the Three Little Pigs meets Red Hot Riding Hood."

A Cruel Nature, Dylan Gottlieb

Theses

Discusses the artist's animated film.

Ultrasonic Enhancement Of Antibiotic Action On Escherichia Coli Biofilms: An In Vivo Model, Andrea M. Rediske, Beverly L. Roeder, Maren K. Brown, Jared L. Nelson, Rachel L. Robison, David O. Draper, G. Bruce Schaalje, Richard A. Robison, William G. Pitt

Faculty Publications

Biofilm infections are a common complication of prosthetic devices in humans. Previous in vitro research has determined that low-frequency ultrasound combined with aminoglycoside antibiotics is an effective method of killing biofilms. We report the development of an in vivo model to determine if ultrasound enhances antibiotic action. Two 24-h-old Escherichia coli (ATCC 10798) biofilms grown on polyethylene disks were implanted subcutaneously on the backs of New Zealand White female rabbits, one on each side of the spine. Low-frequency (28.48-kHz) and low-power-density (100- and 300-mW/cm2) continuous ultrasound treatment was applied for 24 h with and without systemic administration of gentamicin. The …

Up The Tree, Glenn Ehlers

Theses

Discusses the production of the artist's computer animated movie. "Up the tree" is a four and a half minute animated movie about courage, self-empowerment, the exaggeration of fears, making dreams reality, and the hero within.

Lost Eyes, Chris O'Connell

Theses

This paper explains the production of my thesis "Lost Eyes" which is a 3D computer generated short animation. I will explain the process I went through in completing my thesis. There were many challenges and obstacles to overcome, however it is complete and I am very satisfied with the final product. To make things organized I broke the paper down into six topics, story development, character development and design, environment development and design, development and design of animation, development and design of sound and review of thesis completion.

"Being Human": Cloning And The Challenges For Public Policy, Karen H. Rothenberg

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

The Accuracy Of Nitrous Oxide Passive Dosimeters As Compared With An Infra-Red Spectrographic Reference Method, Susan Allen

Community & Environmental Health Theses & Dissertations

Nitrous oxide is a gas often used in dental, surgical and veterinary operations as an anesthetic agent. Employees stationed in proximity of fugitive gas emissions may potentially suffer adverse health effects from chronic exposure to this agent. Passive dosimeters can be worn in the breathing zone of potentially affected personnel during exposure periods, then later analyzed to quantify nitrous oxide exposure. This study sought to establish the accuracy of several commercially available passive monitoring devices for nitrous oxide by comparison against an infra-red spectrophotometric reference method.

Typeface Design For A Thai Context: An English Typface With Thai Stylistic Considerations, Napawan Sawasdichai

Theses

This thesis involves the design of a new English typeface which reflects the aesthetic values of Thai culture. It incorporates Thai stylistic considerations, including the unique appearances and forms of Thai artifacts, into the design of English letterforms. A primary purpose of this new typeface would be for use as a display typeface in printed or digital applications regarding Thai subjects, which are distributed inside and outside Thailand.

La Pipistrello, Maria Rosini

Theses

A descriptive narration of a project to create a 3D animation movie. Steps included creating and animating images, adding a soundtrack, and integrating both into the finished movie.

A Trip To The Building, Zachary Margolis

Theses

None provided.

Philosophy Made Visual, Kirk Gustafson

Theses

Focuses on how graphic design can be implemented as an educational tool to help visually-oriented college-aged students learn a particular philosophical concept. Plato's Divided Line and Allegory of the Cave were chosen as the content for the thesis study

Typography On The Web: Direct Movement As An Element Of Information Structuring, Yueh-Fang Wu

Theses

None provided.

Dance As Medicine, Eileen D'Esterno

Theses

The purpose of this thesis project has been to express in a sculptural dimension the joy and healing qualities of movement. Movement is our primal language. The very first thing we do upon leaving the womb is to move, to reach for our mother. Movement allows us to express our feelings regardless of the ability to make sound. Infants and toddlers explore the three dimensional world as they reach out to touch, to feel, to experience textures and shapes. They gain confidence as physical beings through ever increasing skills and mobility of the body.

Image Fusion Using Autoassociative-Heteroassociative Neural Networks, Claudia V. Kropas-Hughes

Theses and Dissertations

Images are easily recognized, classified, and segmented; in short, analyzed by humans. The human brain/nervous system; the biological computer, performs rapid and accurate image processing. In the current research the concepts of the biological neural system provide the impetus for developing a computational means of fusing image data. Accomplishing this automatic image processing requires features be extracted from each image data set, and the information content fused. Biologically inspired computational models are examined for extracting features by transformations such as Fourier, Gabor, and wavelets, and for processing and fusing the information from multiple images through evaluation of autoassociative neural networks …

Portland State Magazine, Portland State University. Office Of University Communications

Portland State Magazine

PSU’s alumni magazine, published 2-3 times a year. In this issue: Adventurous theater from around the globe comes to Portland each summer through PIP Fest; a long-forgotten burial ground in New York City is providing new clues into 18th-century slavery; dependable, dedicated and loud, Vern Schultz is always there for the Vikings; former governor Barbara Roberts is on faculty sharing what she knows best—leading in times of change; broken homes, collapsed tunnels, washed-out roads, and eroded beaches—PSU geologists say this is just the beginning; and more.