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Ethanol Production From Grain, Department Of Agriculture And Food, Western Australia

All other publications

Two methods are currently used to produce ethanol from grain: wet milling and dry milling. The adjectives ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ describe the method, not the product. The different methods affect both the profitability and logistics. Dry mills produce ethanol, distillers' grain and carbon dioxide (Figure 1). The carbon dioxide is a co-product of the fermentation, and the distillers’ dried grain with solubles (DDGS) is a non-animal based, high protein livestock feed supplement, produced from the distillation and dehydration process. If distillers' grains are not dried, they are referred to as distillers' wet grain (DWG). Wet mill facilities are ‘bio-refineries’ producing …

Dynamics Of A Two Serotype Disease With Antibody Dependent Enhancement, Amy Fiorillo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

The dengue virus is a serious infectious disease that can be found in many regions of Southeast Asia. There exist four serotypes of the virus. Recovery from one serotype produces a natural immunity from that serotype. However, it also creates complexes with a second infection and will increase viral production. This process is know as antibody dependent enhancement (ADE). As a result, it is very difficult to vaccinate against the disease. An optimal vaccination would have to cover all four serotypes at once. To understand the dynamics of the disease, we will study a mathematical model for two coexisting serotypes …

Induction Of Experimental Autoimmune Thyroiditis (Eat) In Sprague-Dawley Rats And Measurements Of Severity Of Eat Using Scanning Electron Microscopy, Claudio Miguel Fernandez

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

As early as the 1950’s it was shown that animals as mice, rats, guinea pigs, and monkeys that received one injection of xenogeneic thyroglobulin emulsified in Complete Freund’s Adjuvant (CFA) developed Experimental Autoimmune Thyroiditis (EAT) (Voller et al., 1980). The damage reported was destruction of the thyroid follicles, and infiltration of the thyroid by macrophages, neutrophils, and lymphocytes. An injection of Bordetella pertussis proved to enhance the incidence and severity of EAT in animal models. Bordetella pertussis is no longer manufactured in large quantities, and it is extremely difficult to purchase. Therefore, a different procedure had to be developed that …

A Survey Of The Methods To Find Probability Density Functions, Nancy Picinic Ricca

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Various methods are described in this thesis that will approximate probability density functions (PDF), also known as invariant measures for chaotic maps. When studying discrete dynamical systems, the measure of a map is important in describing its behavior because it captures the statistics of long term simulations. Being invariant means that this distribution remains the same, no matter when you observe it. The main goal is to understand how to obtain these PDFs for various one-dimensional maps using alternative methods to time series data.

The methods studied in this thesis include the Z-matrix and the Frobenius-Perron Operator, which are analytic …

A Preliminary Benthic Invertebrate Study Of Jun Jaegyu Volcano : An Undersea Volcano In Antarctic Sound, Antarctica, Gina QuiñOnes

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Jun Jaegyu volcano, an Antarctic submarine volcano, was dredged in May 2004 for sediment and marine macroinvertebrates. The objectives of this study were to examine the benthic assemblages and biodiversity present on the newly discovered volcano. The volcano is located on the continental shelf of the northeastern Antarctic Peninsula, where recent changes in surface temperature and ice shelf stability have been observed. This volcano was swath-mapped during cruise 01 -07 of the Research Vessel-Ice Breaker Nathaniel B. Palmer. The volcano was studied using a SCUD video camera and a dredge along the flanks and crest. Results indicate a seafloor surface …

A Habitat Suitability Index Model For Black Bear Living Within The Kittatinny Mountain Range In New Jersey, Brett Callanan

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Throughout the past decade, an increase in urbanization and the population of black bear (Ursus americanus) in New Jersey have caused an overlap of bear habitat and areas of residential and commercial development (Eriksen 1999). Consequently, the close proximity of humans to black bear has resulted in a variety of conflicts (Carr and Burguess 2003). Strategies traditionally used to regulate the numbers and interactions with bear, such as capture and relocation, euthanization, and the utilization of game hunts can be limited by their efficiency and predictability of results. New tools are needed to address the issues of habitat loss, bear …

Evaluation Of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy Measurements Of Glucose And Xylose In Biomass Hydrolyzate, Czarena L. Crofcheck, Michael D. Montross

Biosystems and Agricultural Engineering Faculty Publications

Measurement of sugars using traditional spectroscopic (UV/Vis) assays or high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) can be time consuming and expensive. Alternative methods for measuring sugars after enzymatic hydrolysis of biomass would be convenient for screening potential biomass feedstocks and pretreatment methods. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has been utilized for measuring composition of various aqueous solutions and is evaluated here as an alternative to UV/Vis and HPLC assays. Solutions of glucose and xylose with concentrations between 0 and 1.5% w/v (total sugar content between 0 and 3.0% w/v) were used to build calibration curves for all three methods. A validation …

Art Therapy With Adults With Autism, Kimberly Dennler

EVMS School of Health Professions Theses & Dissertations

Research regarding art therapy with adults with autism is limited. The objective of this study was to understand the effect of a specific art therapy intervention upon social interaction and communication of the adults with autism. The hypothesis was that by participating in this intervention, the participants’ communication and socialization would increase and their maladaptive behaviors would decrease. Over a series of nine sessions, the five participants from Bittersweet Farms were introduced to basic techniques for working with clay.

Results were based on qualitative analysis of data from staff surveys, through the use of pre and post questionnaires; observations made …

Water Current, Volume 38, No. 2. Spring 2006

Water Current Newsletter

Contents

• July Water and Natural Resources Tour To Look at Missouri River and Northeast Nebraska by Steve Ress

• Adaptive Management Sees Resilience, Uncertainty as Allies; Third Annual Conference Looks at Innovation in Water Management by Charles Flowerday

• From the Director

• Meet the Faculty

• Great Plains CESU Funding Assistance For UNL Nears $1 Million by Steve Ress

• Two Join Staff of Water Center and Water Resources Research Initiative

• Water Quality Improvement Grant for Papillion Creek Watershed by Steve Ress

• Managing Drought and Water Scarcity in Vulnerable Environments: Creating a Roadmap for Change in …

La Loca And Manicomio: Representations Of Women Insanity During The Golden Age Of Mexican Films, Andrés Ríos Molina

Journal of International Women's Studies

This essay analyzes two films produced during the Golden Age of Mexican Films (1931-1960) in order to explore the social structuring of women’s insanity. Both films deal with the scientific knowledge—the advice of psychiatrists was part of the productions—as well as with the symbolic references pervading Mexican society to understand the causes, symptoms and treatment of women’s insanity. These social imaginaries of women’s psychopathologies were marked by gender references which delimited what a woman should or should not be. In order to know how women’s insanity was taken into the big screen in Mexico during the middle of the Twentieth …

Using Expressing Sequence Tags To Improve Gene Structure Annotation, Chaochun Wei, Michael R. Brent

All Computer Science and Engineering Research

Finding all gene structures is a crucial step in obtaining valuable information from genomic sequences. It is still a challenging problem, especially for vertebrate genomes, such as the human genome. Expressed Sequence Tags (ESTs) provide a tremendous resource for determining intron-exon structures. However, they are short and error prone, which prevents existing methods from exploiting EST information efficiently. This dissertation addresses three aspects of using ESTs for gene structure annotation. The first aspect is using ESTs to improve de novo gene prediction. Probability models are introduced for EST alignments to genomic sequence in exons, introns, interknit regions, splice sites and …

Impacts Of Human Disturbance On The Behavior Of Sanderlings On The Georgia Coast, Amy Catherine Gray

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Habitat loss has a serious impact on wildlife. However, even when humans do not destroy habitat, their activity can have negative impacts on behavior. The purpose of my study was (1) to test whether the presence of humans altered the behavior of Sanderlings (Calidris alba), (2) to quantify the impacts of staged human encounters on Sanderlings, and (3) to assess whether Sanderlings on high-disturbance beaches habituate to the presence of humans. The study was conducted on two Georgia barrier islands with varying levels of human disturbances, Tybee Island and Sapelo Island. I found that Sanderlings on a high-disturbance beach had …

Diesel Fuel Extender From Animal Waste, Laura S. Eddy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

An increase in the quantity of food is required to meet the demand of an increasing in the population. The agricultural industry continues to grow to meet this demand. This thesis focuses on a new method to deal with the increasing amount of animal waste that is produced as a result of the increasing food demand. By reacting animal waste with an aqueous solution and diesel fuel, a major fraction of the waste becomes a diesel fuel extender. The extended diesel fuel contains no ash and has a viscosity similar to conventional diesel fuel. The extended diesel fuel contains 20% …

Knowledge And Attitudes Of West Virginia Extension Agents And High School Agricultural Educators With Regard To Meat Goats And The Meat Goat Industry, Angela L. Kirk

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to determine the knowledge and attitudes on meat goats and the meat goat industry in West Virginia by West Virginia Extension agents and high school agricultural teachers. A descriptive research design was selected for the study. A mailed questionnaire was sent to 51 Extension agents and 88 agriculture teachers who were the accessible population. Of the 139 agriculture educators 99 responded to the survey, for a response rate of 71.2%. A majority (67.1%) of Extension agents and high school agricultural teachers have noticed an increase in the meat goat industry in their areas and …

Colorectal Cancer: Cost-Effectiveness Of Screening And Chemoprevention In Average Risk Males, Jarrett W. Coffindaffer

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study is an economic evaluation of currently recommended colorectal cancer (CRC) screening procedures, and strategies that incorporate chemopreventive options such as aspirin or a cycooxygenase-2 inhibitor. A decision analysis model was constructed to compare alternative CRC screening strategies. A Markov model was employed to simulate the natural history of CRC. Quality adjusted life years were used as the primary outcome measure. The base case analysis represents the overall cost and effectiveness associated with each screening strategy. Incremental cost-effectiveness ratios (ICERs) were calculated for each screening strategy. One-way sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the factors that have the greatest …

Women's Livelihood Strategies In Diverse Contexts: Constructing Feminist Topographies In Appalachia And South Africa, Amy Danielle Pratt

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation investigates the livelihoods of women heading households in rural parts of Appalachia and South Africa and develops a conceptual and methodological framework for transnational, comparative feminist research. Situated within a feminist geographical framework that is informed by feminist materialism and livelihoods analyses, it focuses on both historical and contemporary socioeconomic, cultural, and political forces at various scales of analysis that either enable or restrict women's ways of 'making due' in the two regions. The study focuses on five counties in northern West Virginia in the Appalachian region and Limpopo, including the former bantustan of Venda, in South Africa …

Workforce Competencies And Work -Based Learning In Maryland Community College Nursing Programs, Richard F. Ammon

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study assessed whether Maryland community college students who participated in the first semester of a nursing work-based learning clinical experience during the fall 2004 semester perceived that they developed basic workplace competencies necessary to work effectively in the workplace. The total population of the study consisted of 264 nursing students from eight Maryland Community Colleges. The research questions guiding this study were answered using descriptive statistics, t-tests, and an analysis of variance (ANOVA).;Major findings indicated that contrary to the hypothesis of the study, instead of showing a gain in competency scores, eight of nine workplace competencies decreased and three …

The Use Of Hierarchical Ancova In Curriculum Studies, Show-Mann Liou, Chao-Ying Joanne Peng

Journal of Modern Applied Statistical Methods

Many educational studies are carried out in intact settings, such as classrooms or groups in which individual data were collected before and after a treatment. Researchers advocate either the use of individual scores as the unit of analysis or class means. Both approaches suffer from conceptual and methodological limitations. In this article, the use of hierarchical ANCOVA for analyzing quasiexperimental data including baseline measures is designed and promoted. It is illustrated with a realworld data set collected from a curriculum study. Results showed that the hierarchical ANCOVA is a conceptually and methodologically sound approach, and is better than ANCOVA based …

Merck Kgaa V. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd.: Does The Breadth Of Safe Harbor Protection Toll The Death Knell For Biotech Research Companies?, Tiffany L. Williams

Mercer Law Review

In Merck KGaA v. Integra Lifesciences I, Ltd., the United States Supreme Court held that use of patented inventions during research where there was a reasonable basis for believing that the experiments would produce information relevant to Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approval was protected from patent infringement lawsuits under 35 U.S.C. § 271(e)(1), commonly referred to as the "safe harbor" provision. This decision affirmed almost two decades of judicial decisions affording broad interpretation to the safe harbor provision and reversed the Federal Circuit's creation of a bright-line test limiting the scope of section 271(e)(1).

Title Iii Of The Americans With Disabilities Act Applies To Foreign Cruise Ships; But What Exactly Is Required?, Samantha Allison Dipolito

Mercer Law Review

In Spector v. Norwegian Cruise Line, the United States Supreme Court held that Title III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (the "ADA") applies to foreign-flag cruise ships in American waters insofar as the requirements of Title III do not interfere with the internal order of the cruise ships. Additionally, the Court held that the provision of the ADA requiring barrier removal, which is "readily achievable" does not apply if the removal would bring a ship into noncompliance with international legal obligations. The dissenting opinion argues that Title III of the ADA does not apply to foreign cruise ships …

Forensic Nursing: Death Investigation, Lauren Palazzo

Senior Honors Projects

Forensic Nursing is a fairly new exciting nursing specialty. Television shows such as CSI portray forensic nurses and investigators in a less than realistic manner. Forensic nursing and investigation are exciting fields to specialize in, but the role of the forensic nurse and investigator are often misunderstood. For my project I wrote a research paper on forensic nursing, joined the international association of Forensic nurses, attended the international conference in washington dc and set in on a few meetings with a board, including lawyers, represenatives from the rape crisis center, clinical managers from W&I ED, nurses, NP’s, etc. in discussing …

Exploring Spaces: A Series Of Video Experiments, Nicholas R. Kinling

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

My overall intention of this project was use the Honors Thesis Project to apply what I have learned while studying art video to create a collection of successful videos that allow me to work above and beyond the art video curriculum. I was eager to work independently on a long-term project, and the Honors Thesis Project provided me with both an exciting and challenging opportunity to display my academic initiative and creative drive.

Upon completion of the thesis project, I selected six video art pieces that I felt were most successful and relevant to the project theme. The theme of …

A Sensitive Subject: Haploinsufficiency Of The Yeast Vma13 Gene In Simple And Compound Heterozygotes, Jason Michael Rizzo

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Vacuolar-proton translocating-ATPases (V-ATPases) are the membranebound transporters responsible for controlling pH levels in intracellular compartments. The V-ATPase enzyme is a multi-subunit complex consisting of two distinct domains, a cytosolic V1 region and a membrane-bound Vo domain. While the interface between V1 and Vo is not as well understood, studies suggest the possibility of multiple peripheral stalks tethering the complex. In response to glucose deprivation, the V1 and Vo sectors of the enzyme are capable of dissociating into separate, and inactive, domains as a means of regulation. At least 4 V1 subunits (C, H, E, and G) are believed to form …

The Role Of Trailerhitch In Mouse Germ Cell Development, Ashley L. O'Hara

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

During oogenesis in the Drosophila ovary, a 16-cell cyst develops in which one cell grows to become the oocyte. The surrounding nurse cells transport mRNAs, proteins, and organelles to the oocyte during development and must be localized properly within the oocyte. A complex of proteins is responsible for mRNA localization, including the recently discovered protein Trailerhitch. Homologs of Trailerhitch exist in other species including C. elegans, yeast, mice, and humans, but the function is unknown. We are interested in studying the function of Trailerhitch in mouse germ cell development. Mice with a nonfunctional Trailerhitch gene were synthesized using a gene …

Possibilities Of Glutamate-Mediated Synaptic Like Activity In Somatosensory Mechanoreceptors Such As Pacinian Corpuscles?, Kevin Kopko

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Pacinian Corpuscles (PCs) are somatosensory mechanoreceptors, composed of a central neurite, surrounded by layers of lamellae that make up the inner core, which are specialized glial cells, and fibroblast derived outer-core lamellae of the surrounding capsule. Several components specific to a chemical synapse (Vglut1, Vamp1, SNAP-23) were localized to both the neurite and the inner-core cells in feline mesenteric PCs using immunocytochemistry. However, it has long been postulated that the first synapse of the PC occurs at the dorsal column nuclei, or spinal cord, and that no classical synapse is present in the distal ending of the capsulated receptor. While …

Predictive Measures Of Tooth/Tooth Contact In Mastication, Elizabeth Klodd

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Understanding the process of mastication, or chewing, is very important in humans. Understanding the way people chew can help craniofacial repair to victims of accidents or other conditions. Stages of chewing and swallowing have been categorized; however, it is currently unknown when exactly the teeth meet during mastication. Vertical motion data were obtained from seven subjects while chewing food of different consistencies. A videofluorograph collected the data and they were manipulated in Excel to be plotted as time vs. vertical displacement for the upper incisor tooth. The first and second derivatives of these motion-time charts were taken in order to …

Intracellular Signaling: How Do Cells Respond To Single And Multiple Inputs, Latoya Crayton

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

One important biological question is how the cell processes input information and decides what to respond. The cell can integrate the multiple inputs using linear and nonlinear dynamics to generate an appropriate output. This study focuses on the computerized recording of phototaxis (movement in relation to light direction) of Chlamydomonas cell populations response to green light, which activates the rhodopsin photoreceptor at their eyespots. The inputs are light stimulation of various wavelengths and intensities; and chemicals (IBMX, a PDE inhibitor; 2'5'-dideoxyadenosine, an adenylate cyclase inhibitor, 8-Br-cAMP-Na and Dibutyryl cAMP, cAMP analogs) affecting an important intracellular messenger, cAMP. The quantified output …

Total Synthesis Of Pumiliotoxin 341a, Lydia Choi

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Pumiliotoxin 341 A differs from all other pumiliotoxins in that its alkylidene side chain has been cyclized to form a pyranose ring, providing another quaternary center in its indolizidine ring. Although the gross structure of this natural product has been determined, the absolute and relative stereochemistry of the tertiary alcohol on C14 is still unknown. As a result, we want to synthesize this alkaloid to prove its stereochemistry and to prepare material for further biological analysis. A rhodium-catalyzed alkyne addition reaction currently being developed in our group is employed as the key reaction in our synthesis of the indolizidine core. …

Gene Deletion In Yeast That Affects Mitochondrial Dna Stability, Function And Maintenance, Rachel Charron

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The study of genomic analysis of deletion mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae associated with mitochondrial genome stability has produced both genetic and biochemical findings to be applied to the study of many mitochondrial genetic disorders in humans. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has approximately 6,200 ORFs in its genome. Of the 6,200 ORFs, 4,878 are non-essential. The EuroScarf deletion project removed all the non-essential ORFs, of the 4,878 viable haploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and replaced them with the G418 resistance cassette. A subset of 700 deletion mutants that were previously identified as important for mitochondrial function and biogenesis was compiled from the …

Do Children's Hospitals Have Lower Mortality Rates? Evidence From The 2003 Kids' Inpatient Database, Christiane Labonte

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Objective: To compare mortality rates at children’s hospitals and non-children’s hospitals.

Data Source: I used the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Kids’ Inpatient Database (KID) released by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003. Thirty-six states participated in the HCUP in 2003, which included 3,438 hospitals, and 2,984,129 pediatric discharges.

Study Design: I hypothesized that mortality rates at children’s hospitals would be lower than mortality rates at non-children’s hospital because children’s hospitals have more specialized inputs, from the clinical training of sub-specialists and nurses to advanced machines and diagnostic tools, and may use these inputs more productively. To …