Digital Commons Network^™

Visualizing The Inner Structure Of N-Body Data, Edward Dale

Theses

N-body simulations produce a large amount of data that must be visualized in order to extract interesting features. This data consists of thousands of particles, each with a number of properties such as velocity, mass, and acceleration, that are persisted across hundreds of time steps. Rendering these points using traditional means quickly leads to a image that is satu- rated because the number of particles is greater than the number of pixels available. Volume rendering, and particularly splatting, seeks to remedy this and allows one to see inside the volume and discern the inner structure. The definition of inner structure …

Progress On Probabilistic Encryption Schemes, Kert Richardson

Theses

The purpose of this master's project is to study different probabilistic cryptography schemes. The older probabilistic schemes, Goldwasser-Micali and Blum-Goldwasser, will only be covered briefly for a historical perspective. Several new and promising schemes have appeared in the last 7 years, generating interest. I will be examining the Paillier and Damgard-Jurik schemes in depth. This report explains the mathematics behind the schemes along with their inherent benefits, while also suggesting some potential uses. Details are given on how I optimized the algorithms, with special emphasis on using the Chinese Remainder Theorem (CRT) in the Damgard-Jurik algorithm as well as the …

Symmetric Private Information Retrieval Via Additive Homomorphic Probabilistic Encryption, Laura Lincoln

Theses

Suppose there is a movie you would be interested in watching via pay-per-view, but you refuse to purchase the feed because you believe that the supplier will sell your information to groups paying for the contact information of all the people who purchased that movie, and the association of your name to that purchase could hinder career, relationships, or increase the amount of time you spend cleaning SPAM out of your mailbox. Private Information Retrieval (PIR) will allow you to retrieve a particular feed without the supplier knowing which feed you actually got, and Symmetric Private Information Retrieval (SPIR) will …

Initial Assessment Of The "Compressible Poor Man's Navier{Stokes (Cpmns) Equation" For Subgrid-Scale Models In Large-Eddy Simulation, Chetan Babu Velkur

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Large-eddy simulation is rapidly becoming the preferred method for calculations involving turbulent phenomena. However, filtering equations as performed in traditional LES procedures leads to significant problems. In this work we present some key components in the construction of a novel LES solver for compressible turbulent flow, designed to overcome most of the problems faced by traditional LES procedures. We describe the construction of the large-scale algorithm, which employs fairly standard numerical techniques to solve the Navier{Stokes equations. We validate the algorithm for both transonic and supersonic ow scenarios. We further explicitly show that the solver is capable of capturing boundary …

Process Optimization And Validation Of An Assay For High-Throughput Screening, Padma Priya Ravindranath

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

A biological assay is designed to set up a rapid and robust drug-screening system on a small scale. An assay is considered as a single unit of a platform to screen various compounds for aiding in drug discovery. Each assay is carried out in a 96-well plate, each of whose wells consists of the biological component called the Spheroids. The value of each assay lies in it facilitating for versatile screening applications. The spheroid is considered as a micro-structural product. And the addition of various compounds for testing is performed in each well (consisting of the spheroids). The focus has …

Hepatic Cytochrome P450 Reductase-Null Mice As An Animal Model To Study Electron Transfer Pathways In Cholesterol Synthesis And Cyp2e1-Mediated Drug Metabolism, Li Li

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

NADPH-cytochrome P450 reductase (CPR) is a flavoprotein containing both FAD and FMN and functions as the electron donor protein for several oxygenase enzymes found on the endoplasmic reticulum of eukaryotic cells, including cytochrome P450s involved in drug metabolism and cholesterol biosynthesis. As many as three enzymes in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway have been demonstrated, or proposed, to use CPR as a redox partner: squalene monooxygenase, which converts squalene to 2,3-oxidosqualene; lanosterol demethylase, a cytochrome P450 (CYP51); and 7-dehydrocholesterol reductase, the final step in cholesterol synthesis. In yeast CPR can be replaced by the NADH-cytochrome b5 pathway, but this has not …

Pharmaceutically Engineered Nanoparticles For Enhancing Immune Responses To Hiv-1 Tat And Gag P24 Proteins, Jigna D. Patel

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

These studies were aimed at investigating the potential application of nanoparticles engineered from oil-in-water microemulsion precursors for enhancing immune responses to HIV-1 Tat and Gag p24 proteins. Both of the HIV-1 proteins have been reported to be critical in the virus life cycle and are being evaluated in clinical trials as vaccine candidates. Anionic nanoparticles were prepared using emulsifying wax as the oil phase and Brij 78 and sodium dodecyl sulfate as the surfactants. The resulting nanoparticles were coated with Tat and were demonstrated to produce superior immune responses after administration to BALB/c mice compared to Tat adjuvanted with Alum. …

Manipulation Of Thinness And Restricting Expectancies: Further Evidence For A Causal Role Of Thinness And Restricting Expectancies In The Etiology Of Eating Disorders, Agnes M. Annus

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Eating disorder expectancy theory proposes a causal role for expectancies for reinforcement from thinness. The authors conducted an experimental test of that hypothesis. Undergraduate college women (N = 154) were randomized to either a psychoeducational control of proven effectiveness or an experimental manipulation of thinness and restricting expectancies. Participants in each condition attended three experimental sessions and one, follow-up session, each one week apart. For both groups, body dissatisfaction, disordered eating, purging frequency, and binge eating frequency declined over the course of the study. In addition, the thinness expectancy manipulation produced greater declines in thinness expectancies, body dissatisfaction, and purging …

Adversity Politics: The Effect Of Structure And Ideology On American Politcal Outcomes, Jeffrey Allen Fine

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Divided government has been studied at length in the political science literature, much of which has focused on the effect of this phenomenon on various legislative outcomes. Despite this high level of attention, the literature has employed a narrow definition of divided government that equates the phenomenon with divided party control. This dissertation demonstrates that divided government is comprised of several distinct components, of which party control is only part. To determine whether government is truly divided, one must include measures of both party (party control and the strength of party majorities) and ideology (in terms of the ideological distance …

Timing Of Campaign Contributions In State Legislatures: An Examination Of The Motives And Strategies Of Contributors, David W. Prince

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

There is a great deal of work on campaign finance at the national level, however, state level research is sparse. My dissertation fills this void in the literature by examining the motivations of contributors to state legislators. The literature discusses two major motivations of contributors universalistic contributors, who hope to influence election outcomes, and particularistic contributors who hope to influence legislative votes. The primary hypothesis is that proximity to the general election is the primary factor in explaining contribution patterns in state legislatures; however, proximity to a legislative vote of interest to the contributor will also be significant in explaining …

Ecological Weed Management For Organic Farming Systems, Derek M. Law

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Two field studies examining direct ecological weed control practices were conducted in Lexington, Kentucky. The first evaluated weed control efficacy and influence on yields of several mulches in two organically-managed bell pepper (Capsicum annum) production systems for two years. Peppers were planted in double rows in flat, bare ground or on black polyethylene-covered raised beds with drip irrigation, and four mulches (straw, compost, wood chips, and undersown white dutch clover (Trifolium repens L.) living mulch) were applied to the two production systems. In both years, polyethylene-covered raised beds produced higher yields than the flat, bare ground system. In the second …

Peptide Deformylase: A Modeling Study Of The Active Sites Of Plants And Bacteria And The Design, Synthesis, And Biological Activity Analysis Of Peptide-Based Inhibitors, Jonathan C. Barnes

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

All nascent polypeptides synthesized in bacteria, mitochondria, or chloroplastsstart with a N-formylmethionine. Peptide deformylase (PDF) is a mononuclear metal ionprotein that is responsible for removing the N-formyl group of nascent proteins found inbacteria and chloroplasts in order for them to become mature proteins. It is possible, asseen from the literature with actinonin, to chelate the enzyme's metal ion and inhibit thefunction of protein production essentially resulting in death of the bacteria, or plant. Thisstudy examines the active site of Arabidopsis thaliana (At) types of PDF (AtDEF1 andAtDEF2, respectively) as well as bacterial DEF2 using sequence alignments andcomputational modeling. This work …

Neurochemical Studies Of Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder Medications In The Striatum And Nucleus Accumbens Of The Fischer 344 Rat, Barry Matthew Joyce

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Stimulant medications such as D-amphetamine, mixed-salts (75% D- and25% L-) amphetamine; Adderall®, and methylphenidate are first-line treatmentsfor Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). In vivo studies havepredominantly focused on these stimulants in the context of drug abuse, andtheir therapeutic mechanistic properties are only theoretical. Previously, in vivotechniques have been limited by poor temporal and spatial resolution, andcharacterizations of these medications in rodent models have not been possibleat low, clinically relevant levels. In order to address these issues, our laboratoryused in vivo high speed chronoamperometric microelectrodes to characterize theeffects of local applications of D-amphetamine, L-amphetamine, D,Lamphetamine,and Adderall® at low levels in the striatum and …

Structural And Functional Studies Of Synaptic Enzymes, Eun Jeong Lim

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Thimet oligopeptidase (TOP, EC 3.4.24.15) and neurolysin (EC 3.4.24.16) are zincdependent metallopeptidases that metabolize small bioactive peptides. The two enzymes share60 % sequence identity and their crystal structures demonstrate that they adopt nearly identicalfolds. They generally cleave at the same sites, but they recognize different positions on somepeptides, including neurotensin, a 13-residue peptide involved in modulation of dopaminergiccircuits, pain perception, and thermoregulation.On the basis of crystal structures and previous mapping studies, four residues(E469/R470, M490/R491, H495/N496, and R498/T499, TOP residues listed first) in thesubstrate-binding channel appear positioned to account for differences in specificity. TOPmutated to the neurolysin residues at all four …

The Universal Media Book, Shilpi Gupta

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

We explore the integration of projected imagery with a physical book that acts as a tangible interface to multimedia data. Using a camera and projector pair, a tracking framework is presented wherein the 3D position of planar pages are monitored as they are turned back and forth by a user, and data is correctly warped and projected onto each page at interactive rates to provide the user with an intuitive mixed-reality experience. The book pages are blank, so traditional camera-based approaches to tracking physical features on the display surface do not apply. Instead, in each frame, feature points are independently …

Solution And Solid State Interactions Between Ionic Π-Systems, Jing Chen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Although attractive interactions between π systems (π-π interaction) have been known for many years, understanding of its origin is still incomplete. Quantitative measuring of π-stacking is challenging due to the weak nature of the π-π interaction. This dissertation aims at elucidating a quantitative conformational analysis by NMR ring current anisotropy of an organic compound capable of intramolecular π-stacking in solution and studying charge effects on the stacking of π-systems. This dissertation offers four contributions to the area. (1) A general approach to four-state, conformational analysis based on the magnetic anisotropy of molecules undergoing fast dynamic exchange is described. (2) Study …

Cd(Ii)-, Pb(Ii)- And Hg(Ii)-2-Aminoethanethiolates, Mohan Singh Bharara

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This theses presents the synthesis and characterization of Cd(II)-, Pb(II)- and Hg(II)-aminoethanethiolates in aqueous media. 2-Aminoethanethiolate, a versatile sulfur andnitrogen (S/N) based ligand was used due to its resemblance to the naturally occurringamino acid, cysteine. The work is presented in four major parts: first, backgroundinformation on the versatile structural chemistry of Cd, Pb and Hg-thiolates with S/Ncontaining ligands; second, synthesis and characterization of Cd(II) with 2-aminoethanethiolates; third, synthesis and characterization and structural chemistry ofPb(II) with 2-aminoethanethiolates; and fourth, synthesis and characterization of Hg(II)-2-aminoethanethiolates in solution- and solid-state with emphasis on the mechanisticpathways for the formation of clusters.The compounds reported here …

Intergenerational Communication About African American Women's Health: The Sharing Of Health Messages Between Diabetic Mothers And Their Non-Diabetic Adult Daughters, Angela F. Cooke-Jackson

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The prevalence of type II diabetes is high among African-American women but research that emphasizes black mothers and their adult daughters is rarely studied in social sciences or communication research. Though existing research addresses various domains of the mother-daughter relationship scant information addresses the significance of talk or the transmission of health information between African-American diabetic mothers and their non-diabetic adult daughters. For that reason, this dissertation investigates information sharing among a sample of African-American mothers with type II diabetes and their non-diabetic adult daughters.This study's two primary research objectives were to: 1. describe whether and how African-American type II …

The Integration Of The Theory Of Planned Behavior, Altruism, And Self-Construal: Implications For Designing Recycling Campaigns In Individualistic And Collectivistic Societies, Rungrat Chaisamrej

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This study was an effort to uncover four major facts: (a) the predictive power ofthe proposed integrated model, which posits the influence of attitudes (ATT), subjectivenorms (SN), perceived behavior control (PBC), altruism, self-construal, and paperrecyclingknowledge on behavioral intentions; (b) the moderating effects ofindividualism-collectivism (I-C) on the attitudes-intentions relationship and thesubjective norms-intentions relationship; (c) the comparison of the predictive power ofthe TPB model and the proposed integrated model; and (d) the relationship between twointentions measures: behavioral intentions and implementation intentions.This cross-sectional research consisted of two phases: the TPB elicitation researchand the main study. Participants were undergraduate students recruited from two majorpublic …

Suspended Sediment And Pathogen Transport In Two Inner Bluegrass Karst Ground-Water Basins, Woodford County, Kentucky, Thomas M. Reed

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Multiple parameters were monitored during an 18-month period in two karst groundwater basins in Woodford County, Kentucky, in order to assess the effects of land use on water quality. Blue Hole Spring drains a primarily urban area, whereas spring SP-2 drains an agricultural area. Water-quality parameters were monitored manually weekly or biweekly, as well as more frequently during storms. Discharge (Q), temperature (T), specific conductance (SC), and turbidity were continuously monitored and logged at 15-minute intervals. It is hypothesized that pathogen and sediment concentrations would be lower at SP-2 than at Blue Hole Spring due to differences in land use …

Shear-Wave Velocities And Derivative Mapping For The Upper Mississippi Embayment, David M. Vance

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

During the past two decades, University of Kentucky researchers have been acquiring seismic refraction/reflection data, as well as seismic downhole data, for characterizing the seismic velocity models of the soil/sediment overburden in the central United States. The dataset includes densely spaced measurements for urban microzonation studies and coarsely spaced measurements for regional assessments. The 519 measurements and their derivative products often were not in an organized electronic form, however, limiting their accessibility for use by other researchers. In order to make these data more accessible, this project constructed a database using the ArcGIS 9.1 software. The data have been formatted …

Citizens On Patrol: Community Policing And The Territorialization Of Public Space In Seattle, Washington, Marcia Rae England

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation shows how organizations, including local government and police, and residents within Seattle, Washingtons East Precinct define and police the contours of community, neighborhoods and public space. Under the rubric of public safety, these players create territorial geographies that seek to include only those who fit the narrowly conceived idea of a neighbor. Territoriality is exercised against the social Other in an attempt to build a cohesive community while at the same time excluding those who are seen as different or as non-conformant to acceptable behaviors in the neighborhood. This research provides a framework through which to examine how …

The Politics Of Garbage: Municipal Solid Waste In Oaxaca, Mexico, Sarah Anne Moore

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This dissertation analyzes the politics of garbage in Oaxaca, Mexico. In particular, it explores the tactics used by a marginalized colonia near the dump to affect waste management and local development. This colonia provokes garbage crises by blocking the metropolitan areas access to its dump. As a result, garbage builds up in the city and public officials are forced to negotiate with colonia residents. I argue that two prior processes are essential to the success of this strategy. First, the mid-sized city in southern Mexico implemented many new waste management practices during the latter half of the 20th century and …

A Political Ecology Of The Chipko Movement, Sya Kedzior

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The Indian Chipko movement is analyzed as a case study employing a geographically-informed political ecology approach. Political ecology as a framework for the study of environmental movements provides insight into the complex issues surrounding the structure of Indian society, with particular attention to its ecological and political dimensions. This framework, with its focus on social structure and ecology, is distinct from the more traditional approaches to the study of social movements, which tend to essentialize their purpose and membership, often by focusing on a single dimension of the movement and its context. Using Chipko as a case-study, the author demonstrates …

Not White: Diversity In Beginning Design Education, Shannon Chance

Research Outputs: 2025-Present

No abstract provided.

Africana Resources In Four Selected U.S. Academic Research Libraries, Afeworki Paulos, Robert P. Holley

School of Information Sciences Faculty Research Publications

Purpose – To explore the relationship between the importance of African Studies programs and the acquisition of African imprint titles in four selected American academic libraries.

Design/methodology/approach – The paper examines the characteristics of the African Studies programs in four universities in comparison with library holdings including the percentage of holdings from four major English-language African publishers.

Finding -- The four research libraries acquire substantial numbers of African monographs in keeping with the importance of their African Studies programs.

Originality/value – The paper provides information on major four African Studies programs and the library holdings that support them.

The World Trade Law Of Censorship And Internet Filtering, Tim Wu

Faculty Scholarship

Consider the following events, all from the last five years: (1) An American newsmagazine, Barron's, posts an unflattering profile of an Australian billionaire named Joseph Gutnick on its web site – the publisher, Dow Jones, Inc., is sued in Australia and forced to settle; (2) Mexico's incumbent telephone company, Telmex, blocks Mexicans from reaching the web site of the Voice-over-IP firm Skype; (3) the United States begins a major crackdown on web gambling services, causing serious economic damage to several small Caribbean economies; (4) the Chinese government prevents its citizens from using various foreign Internet services, including foreign e-mail and …

Optimizing Consumer Credit Markets And Bankruptcy Policy, Ronald J. Mann

Faculty Scholarship

This Article explores the relationship between consumer credit markets and bankruptcy policy. In general, I argue that the causative relationships running between borrowing and bankruptcy compel a new strategy for policing the conduct of lenders and borrowers in modern consumer credit markets. The strategy must be sensitive to the role of the credit card in lending markets and must recognize that both issuers and cardholders are well placed to respond to the increased levels of spending and indebtedness. In the latter parts of the Article, I recommend mandatory minimum payment requirements, a tax on distressed credit card debt, and the …

Analysis Of Effective Mechanical Properties Of Thin Films Used In Microelectromechanical Systems, Ajay Pasupuleti

Theses

This research aims at analyzing the effective mechanical properties of thin film materials that are used in MEMS. Using the effective mechanical properties, reliable simulations of new or slightly altered designs can be performed successfully. The main reason for investigating effective material properties of MEMS devices is that the existing techniques can not provide consistent prediction of the mechanical properties without time-consuming and costly physical prototyping if the device or the fabrication recipe is slightly altered. To achieve this goal, two approaches were investigated: soft computing and analytical. In the soft computing approach, the effective material properties are empirically modeled …

High-Dynamic-Range Photography: Image Display And Perception, Jiangtao Kuang

Theses

Current desktop and hard copy display media are capable of only a limited dynamic range in luminance. Hence, high dynamic range (HDR) images require tone-mapping operators for rendering on these media to adequately reproduce their perceptual qualities. Furthermore, the development of these operators requires a methodology for their evaluation in terms of perceptual attributes. To this end, a series of psychophysical experiments was conducted to evaluate a wide-variety of previously published, HDR tone-mapping operators. The evaluations were conducted in terms of rendering accuracy and image preference, and from them, a general methodology for evaluating tonemapping operators was proposed. A next …