Digital Commons Network^™

A Thesis On Sketch-Based Techniques For Mesh Deformation And Editing, Raquel Bujans

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

The goal of this research is to develop new and more intuitive ways for editing a mesh from a static camera angle. I present two ways to edit a mesh via a simple sketching system. The first method is a gray-scale editor which allows the user to specify a fall off function for the region being deformed. The second method is a profile editor in which the user can re-sketch a mesh’s profile. Lastly, the types of edits possible will be discussed and our results will be presented.

Use Of Gene Expression Profiling And Machine Learning To Understand And Predict Primary Graft Dysfunction, Monika Ray, Sekhar Dharmarajan, Johannes Freudenberg, Weixiong Zhang, Alexander G. Patterson

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

No abstract provided.

Biol 4013 Microbiology Syllabus, Steelman Library, B W. Mcconchie Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

Foraging Behavior And Success Of Herons And Egrets In Natural And Artificial Wetlands, Henry Dewayne Mincey

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The southeastern United States has approximately 13.2 million hectares of wetland habitat, but these sensitive areas are subject to loss and degradation from draining and development. The effects, both positive and negative, that manipulation of these wetlands have on wildlife is still under study. In particular, there is a need to know whether artificial (mitigated) wetlands can serve as an appropriate substitute for the loss of natural wetlands. Therefore, I quantified the foraging behavior of herons and egrets (species that are dependent on wetlands for food) in natural and artificial wetlands in southeastern coastal Georgia and southern coastal South Carolina. …

The Winter Ecology Of The Piping Plover (Charadrius Melodus) In Coastal Georgia, Brandon Lennon Noel

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Author's abstract: The Piping Plover (Charadrius melodus) is a federally listed species with three distinct breeding populations, including Great Plains (threatened), Great Lakes (endangered), and Atlantic Coast (threatened), all of which winter along the Atlnatic and Gulf coasts of the United States. I studied the winter ecology of the Piping Plovers on Little St. Simons Island (LSSI), Georgia, from 2003-2006, with emphasis on the conservation significance of this site for the endangered Great Lakes population. During 2003-2004 and 2004-2005, LSSI supported up to 100 Piping Plovers during peak migration, and approximately 40 birds wintered at this site. All populations had …

Shape Based Automated Mapping Of Histological Mouse Brain Sections, Manasa Danda

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In the development of an automatic image mapping system for mouse brain images, we focus on obtaining the best match in the two dimensional atlas images for the query image of a mouse brain section. The matching issue has to deal with the tissue distortions and tears, which are routinely encountered and possible scale, rotation and shear changes. With the goal to achieve high performance for image matching, a dual-stage approach is proposed which is based on radial distributions and region-based template matching.;Our main challenge is identifying shape features and corresponding distance metrics that produce effective characterization of 2D sections …

Signaling Pathways Involved In Regulation Of Glucose -6 -Phosphate Dehydrogenase (G6pd) By Arachidonic Acid, Indrani Talukdar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) is the rate-limiting enzyme of pentose phosphate pathway and provides NADPH for de novo fatty acid biosynthesis. For the later reason, G6PD is known as a lipogenic enzyme. Insulin induces expression of G6PD mRNA via activating the PI3 kinase pathway in primary rat hepatocytes. Addition of arachidonic acid, a polyunsaturated fatty acid, in the medium interferes with the PI3 kinase pathway, and thus inhibits the insulin-mediated induction of G6PD. Arachidonic acid in the presence of insulin induces p38 MAP kinase pathway over insulin treatment alone. Activation of p38 MAP kinase by arachidonic acid interferes with the insulin …

Depression, Volition, And Death: The Effect Of Depressive Disorders On The Autonomous Choice To Forgo Medical Treatment, Matthew Butkus

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many contemporary models of medical ethics champion patient autonomy to counterbalance historically paternalistic decision-making processes. These models tend to suggest an autonomous agent free from cognitive bias and systematic distortion (e.g., Kantian or Cartesian rational agents). Evidence is emerging from the fields of cognitive psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience that fundamentally challenge this cognitive model, demonstrating the dependence of cognition on deeper, avolitional structures (e.g., backstage cognition, cognitive heuristics and biases, automaticity, emotionally-valenced memory, etc.), and hence, shifting the cognitive model towards reductionistic and deterministic philosophies and psychologies. Medical ethics models must adapt their sense of autonomy in light of …

Telementoring And Computer Mediated Discussions: A Description Of Online Instructors' Support, Mary Sue Cicciarelli

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate online instructors' characteristics and preferences concerning telementors' characteristics and role during a computer mediated discussion. In addition, this work looked for relationships between online instructors' characteristics in correlation to their support for the utilization of telementoring. Two thousand online instructors from a convenience sample received a request to participate email that contained a link to an anonymous contingency survey. Of those contacted, 323 instructors responded to the survey. Online instructors responded to questions about their characteristics, level of support for telementoring, and perceptions on a telementor's characteristics and roles. Spearman rho tests …

Model Validation For Aqua Ammonia Scrubber Process And Exploratory Research Into Alkyltin Pollutants: Alkyltin Method Evaluations, Kathleen Stutz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

NETL Project Abstract: This study constitutes an application of electrospray ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry (ESI/TOF-MS) for the analysis of aqueous ammonia chemical species produced in a model reactor developed by The National Energy Technology Laboratory (NETL) of the US Department of Energy. The reactor is the result of experimental research performed by NETL on applying aqueous ammonia solution for the simultaneous reduction of acidic gaseous emission from fossil fuel-fired utility plants. The goal of using ESI/TOF-MS was to evaluate NETL process efficiency through analysis of the aqueous ammonia species present at various points aqua ammonia scrubber process, and to validate …

Introduction To 3d Programming Software: Alice, Anthony Clark

Senior Seminars

This paper presents two separate topics, computer hardware parts to make a fully functioning custom-built tower, and an in-depth introduction to a 3D programming tool called Alice.

The Digital Age Of Television And Film, Jason Yeary

Senior Seminars

No abstract provided.

Microbial Transformation Of Arsenic And The Characterization Of Clostridium Sp. Strain Ohilas, Edward Fisher

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The impact of electron donor (acetate, pyruvate, lactate, formate, and hydrogen) and arsenate concentration (1, 5, 10, and 20 mM) on microbial arsenate reduction in freshwater sediments from the Ohio River, Pittsburgh PA was investigated. Hydrogen (with acetate as the carbon source) appeared to be the best electron donor and 5 mM sodium arsenate the most effective for both growth and orpiment (As2S3) production. A mesophilic, spore-forming, motile, low-mole %GC gram-positive bacterium was isolated from Ohio River sediments on medium with 20 mM lactate and 10 mM arsenate. Although pH 8 was optimal for growth, 16S rRNA gene sequence analysis …

Solid-Phase Induction Of Xenopus Laevis Animal Caps By Fgf-2: A Novel Developmental Approach, Peter Maropis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cells become different in development due to induction, a ligand-mediated cell interaction. This type of interaction is an area of intense research for developmental biologists studying the effects of different growth factors (during development). The conventional approach to induction with Xenopus Laevis, African Clawed Frog, employs placing cells or tissues in a growth factor solution. This design reveals an enormous amount of information and insight into developmental processes, but it is not an accurate approach to simulate in vivo conditions. Here, I use a novel approach, termed solid-phase induction, as a more realistic and controllable approach. I utilize a glass …

Nietzsche's Dialogic Ethic After Illusion: Rhetoric And Difference, John Prellwitz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

What is the nature of the relationship between communication ethics and rhetoric? How may study of the interplay between dialogue as a communication ethic and ground of rhetoric contribute to greater understanding and constructive meeting of the narrative and virtue contention that characterizes the contemporary postmodern historical moment? A prominent alleged source of postmodern value contention and a neglected source for advancing the study of the interpenetration of ethics and rhetoric, Friedrich Nietzsche, as a novel hermeneutic entry to engage these questions and demarcates the fields of inquiry this study addresses.

The present work begins with meeting the contemporary historical …

A Mechanistic Evaluation Of How Melatonin Enhances Alkaline Phosphatase Activity In Human Adult Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Nicholas Radio

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Current osteoporosis therapy is directed toward inhibiting the activity of bone-resorbing osteoclasts. Decreased bone producing osteoblast efficiency however, is largely responsible for osteoporosis development. Therefore, novel osteoporosis treatments should stimulate osteoblast formation and activity. Accordingly, the purpose of this study was to determine melatonin's role and subsequent mechanism(s) involved in differentiating human adult mesenchymal stem cells (hAMSCs) into osteoblasts as assessed by alkaline phosphatase activity (ALP) and determine whether receptor compartmentalization facilitates these signaling mechanisms. Melatonin significantly increased osteogenic medium-induced alkaline phosphatase activity, an enzyme associated with functional osteoblasts, indicating melatonin enhances osteoblast differentiation. The mitogen activated protein kinase signaling …

The Effects Of Sex And Reproductive Condition On Chemosensory Communication In The Terrestrial Salamander, Plethodon Shermani, Stephanie Schubert

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Non-volatile chemosensory cues may be detected by sensory neurons of the vomeronasal organ (VNO) and elicit changes in reproductive behavior and physiology of conspecifics. In the terrestrial salamander, Plethodon shermani, the VNO of males is larger than that of females, despite males' smaller overall body size. I hypothesized that a larger VNO reflects an enhanced ability to detect chemosensory cues, and that animals with elevated levels of steroid levels would be more sensitive to cues from the opposite sex.

Chemo-investigatory behavior was both sexually dimorphic and hormonally modulated. In contrast, responsiveness of the VNO (as measured by agmatine uptake, a …

Authentic Dasein As Pathway To Heideggerianism As A Political Philosophy - A Political Vibration Of Being And Time, Thomas Akpen

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the history of Western philosophy, Martin Heidegger is the only philosopher after Plato and Aristotle to have seriously investigated the question of being. Instead of dwelling on particulars as previous philosophers did, Heidegger probes the question of being by investigating the being of the investigator of being. This being is Dasein, understood as human existence. Dasein is not just a thinking thing (res cogitans) or a political animal (politicus animalus), but essentially a being-in-the-world. Dasein has two modes of existence in its being-in-the-world -- inauthentic existence and authentic existence.

To exist inauthentically is to reject the clarion call of …

A Comparison Of Quality Of Life In Adult Patients With Heart Failure In Two Medical Settings: A Heart Failure Clinic And A Physician Practice, Janet Bischof

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Heart Failure (HF), a major chronic disease that affects 4.8 million Americans, traditionally is medically managed by a primary care physician, with acute treatment at hospital emergency rooms often followed by inpatient admission. Ongoing support (prevention, diagnosis, treatment, intervention, symptom management, and end of life care), education, and intervention over the continuum are important to manage HF. The Modeling Role Modeling theory (Erickson, Tomlin, and Swain), is the study's conceptual framework. When an individual knows about their illness, they mobilize internal/external resources to gain, maintain, or promote equilibrium. These resources affect daily activities. The purpose of this descriptive study is …

An Historical Study: The Translation Of The Mission And Vision Of The School Of Education Of Duquesne University Into Action Through The Major Pursuits And Achievements Of The Deans In Response To The Needs Of The Profession 1929 To 2004, Fred Webb

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Translation of the Mission and Vision of the School of Education of Duquesne University into Action Through the Major Pursuits and Achievements of the Deans in Response to the Needs of the Profession from 1929 to 2004, is an historical qualitative study based upon a document analysis of the public archive records at Duquesne University. This study traces the mission of the School of Education from its founding, the translation of the mission into visions by the Deans and their resulting actions, pursuits and major accomplishments. The purpose of the study is to document the translation of the mission …

German Culture As Reflected Through The Developments Of Two Children's Educational Television Programs, Tracy L. Case

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Global And Local Processing In Adult Humans (Homo Sapiens), 5-Year Old Children (Homo Sapiens), And Adult Cotton Top Tamarins (Saguinus Oedipus), Julie J. Neiworth, Amy J. Gleichman, Anne S. Olinick, Kristen E. Lamb

Psychology Faculty Work

This study compared adults (Homo sapiens), young children (Homo sapiens), and adult tamarins (Saguinus oedipus) while they discriminated global and local properties of stimuli. Subjects were trained to discriminate a circle made of circle elements from a square made of square elements and were tested with circles made of squares and squares made of circles. Adult humans showed a global bias in testing that was unaffected by the density of the elements in the stimuli. Children showed a global bias with dense displays but discriminated by both local and global properties with sparse displays. Adult tamarins’ biases matched those of …

Generalized Geologic Map For Land-Use Planning: Clay County, Kentucky, Oscar B. Davidson, Daniel I. Carey, John Storm

Map and Chart--KGS

This map is not intended to be used for selecting individual sites. Its purpose is to inform land-use planners, government officials, and the public in a general way about geologic bedrock conditions that affect the selection of sites for various purposes. The properties of thick soils may supercede those of the underlying bedrock and should be considered on a site-to-site basis. At any site, it is important to understand the characteristics of both the soils and the underlying rock.

The Argonaut, 2006, University Of Lynchburg

The Argonaut (Yearbook)

The Argonaut from 2006.

A Non-Indigenous Wading Bird Breeding In The Florida Everglades: The Sacred Ibis, Garth Herring, Erynn M. Call, Mark D. Johnston

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Beached Bird Surveys On Shell Key, Pinellas County, Florida, Gabriel A. Vargo, Karen Atwood, Michelle Van Deventer, Rebecca Harris

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Killing Of Tufted Titmouse Nestlings By A Red-Bellied Woodpecker, Christine Brown, Richard Poole

Florida Field Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Expression Profiling Of The Spermidine Synthase3 (Spds3) And Spermine Synthase ( Spms) Genes During The Life Of Arabidopsis, Charles F. Rice

Master's Theses and Capstones

Polyamines are low molecular weight nitrogenous compounds found in all living organisms. These omnipresent molecules have been extensively studied in plant systems and have been implicated in a number of physiological responses including growth, development, and stress response. The proposed role of polyamines in vital processes such as cell division and differentiation has sparked enthusiasm in further investigation of this relatively small biosynthetic pathway. Very little is known about the regulation of polyamine biosynthetic genes, an aspect that can elucidate further functions of these ubiquitous compounds. In the following study, the expression profiles of two of these genes, spermidine synthase3 …

Early Identification Of Children With Asperger Syndrome: Communication Characteristics, Lynda D. Chouinard

Master's Theses and Capstones

Diagnosis of children within the Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) category varies significantly but children with Asperger Syndrome (AS) are typically diagnosed at a much older age than those with Autism (AD). The late childhood diagnosis of AS means a possible lapse in years that the child receives appropriate intervention and support. The purpose of this retrospective study was to gain further insight into what early communication and behavior characteristics can be identified in children from birth to three years who are later diagnosed with AS.

Parents of ten children with AS and under nineteen-years old were identified to participate in …

Activation Of Microglia In Mice Spinal Cords Following Passive Transfer Of Purified Igg From Patients With Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Nura H. Alkali, Anthony H. Pullen

Neurosciences

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether IgG from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) patients could cause activation of microglia, proliferation of astrocytes, and infiltration by lymphocytes within mice spinal cords. METHODS: A group of 5 mice received injections of IgG purified from sera of patients with ALS. A control group of 5 mice received IgG from healthy humans, whilst a third group of 2 mice served as non-injected controls. One mouse served as a positive control and was injected with lipopolysaccharide, a known activator of microglia. Mice were culled after one week, for immunocytochemistry of spinal cord sections to localize the complement receptor …