Digital Commons Network^™

Modeling Of Oversaturated Conditions On Arterial Networks, Abhishek Acharya

All ETDs from UAB

Oversaturated conditions on arterial networks are a concern for both transportation agencies and the traveling public. The cost of construction, right-of-way constraints, and a variety of environmental, political, and other social issues often prohibit facility expansion and place extra emphasis on optimizing the operations of existing facilities. One of the options available to urban planners and transportation professionals for handling recurring and non-recurring oversaturation conditions in arterial networks is traffic signal optimization. The objective of this study is to develop a better understanding of traffic signal system performance in oversaturated conditions. The case study reported in this research focuses on …

Detection Of Total And Pathogenic Salmonella In Oysters Using Real-Time Pcr With Internal Amplification Control And Study Of Their Antibiotic Resistance Profile, Maulshree Gangwar

All ETDs from UAB

Salmonella is a causative agent for food and water borne gastroenteritis in humans. A multiplex PCR-based detection revealing total and potentially virulent strains of Salmonellae was developed using oligonucleotide primers. These primers targeted chromosomally located invA gene generating a 274 bp and Salmonella virulence plasmid-borne spvB gene generating 561 bp amplified DNA fragments. The invA gene product brings about the invasion of the cells on the intestinal epithelium and is used as the marker for total Salmonella detection. The occurrence and distribution of these genes in 90 strains exhibited 100% amplification of invA gene whereas only 22% of spvB gene …

Variability Of Two Sampling Methods In Plaque Samples, Kuei C. Hsu

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: Dental caries remain the most common infectious disease in children, and is in fact, on the rise in the U.S. among 2 to 5 year olds. Among hundreds of oral bacteria, mutans streptococci (MS) are considered the major species associated with dental caries. Studies have shown that increased MS in saliva or plaque is an important indicator for caries. The use of standard plate count (SPC) from plaque samples particularly yield variable quantitative results because of complexities of sample collection and processing. Objectives: This study was undertaken to determine collection reproducibility in plaque samples from permanent first molars using …

A Rhetoric Of Resolution: The Limits Of Competition, Michael Schandorf

All ETDs from UAB

The idea of competition underlies most all Western cultural practices making conflict inevitable, but understanding the world in terms of constant, perpetual competition limits the development of lasting, adaptive, and constructive solutions to human problems and conflicts. While competition serves the vital functions of quality control and the identification of best practices, the function of “Competition” as a god term betrays a misunderstanding of both the value and process of competition as an instrument, and demonstrates how human conceptualization, mediated by language, can direct the development and acquisition of knowledge into narrow channels and exclude ways of understanding that are …

Traffic Responsive Signal Systems To Address Rain-Related Congestion, Suman Reddy Surabhi

All ETDs from UAB

Rainy conditions typically have an impact on the behavior of drivers and in turn can affect traffic flow characteristics in transportation networks. As a result, signal timing plans developed for dry conditions may be unsuitable or sub-optimal during periods of rain, and changes in such plans may be desirable to account for changes in environmental conditions. Current technology in the field of traffic signal control and communications make it possible to change the signal controller settings remotely, a capability that offers opportunities for signal timing adjustments during rain conditions. This study explores the feasibility and benefits of implementing alternative signal-timing …

Developmentally Appropriate Practice And No Child Left Behind: A Phenomenological Study Of Teachers' Experiences, Linda Marie Hogue

All ETDs from UAB

The authorization of The Elementary and Secondary Act—No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2001 provided new federal guidelines for accountability in the United States. As a result, schools are required to provide statistical data through standardized test scores to measure adequate yearly progress benchmarks set by each state. The agenda of the federal government was to force school equity for all children. Since the inception of NCLB, teachers have begun the struggle of meeting the demands of federal, state, and local guidelines that impose harsh penalties if benchmarks are not attained by their students. The National Association for the …

Techniques For Context-Free Grammar Induction And Applications, Faizan Javed

All ETDs from UAB

Grammar Inference is the process of learning a grammar from examples, either positive (i.e., the grammar generates the string) and/or negative (i.e., the grammar does not generate the string). Although grammar inference has been successfully applied to many diverse domains such as speech recognition and robotics, its application to software engineering has been limited. This research investigates the applicability of grammar inference to software engineering and programming language development challenge problems, where grammar inference offers an innovative solution to the problem, while remaining tractable and within the scope of that problem. Specifically, the following challenges are addressed in this research: …

Air Pollution And Preterm Births In Atlanta, Georgia, Corey Masuca

All ETDs from UAB

Exposure to ambient outdoor air pollution exposure is one of the many extraneous factors associated with preterm births. Many epidemiological studies involving preterm births and ambient air pollution have repeatedly indicated positive associations. However, for many such studies, results may be statistically significant but weakly associated or inconclusive. Such results may be primarily attributable to the fact that most studies include only single or multiple criteria air pollutants but not the total air pollution mixture of criteria air pollutants and air toxic pollutants (e.g., PAHs) to which people are actually exposed. This study assessed associations between pollutant classes, including criteria …

Expression Patterns Of Arabidopsis Drg Genes: Promoter-Gus Fusions, Quantitative Rt-Pcr And Patterns Of Protein Accumulation In Response To Environmental Stresses, Joel P. Stafstrom

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

DRGs are very highly conserved GTP-binding proteins. All eukaryotes contain DRG1 and DRG2 orthologs. Arabidopsis has three DRGs: AtDRG1 (At4g39520), AtDRG2 (At1g17470), and AtDRG3 (At1g72660). DRG2 and DRG3 encode proteins that are 95% identical; identity between DRG1 and DRG2/3 is 55%. The focus of this article is expression of Arabidopsis DRGs. DRG1 and DRG2 promoter-GUS constructs showed similar spatial expression in seedlings and mature organs, but gene-specific differences were noted. Quantitative real-time PCR experiments indicated similar levels of DRG1 and DRG2 mRNA accumulation in most tissues. DRG3 transcripts were very low in all tissues. Heat stress at 37 C led …

Concurrent Cloud-To-Ground Lightning And Precipitation Enhancement In The Atlanta, Georgia (Usa) Urban Region, M.L. Bentley, L.S. Rose, J.A. Stallins

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This study explores how the Atlanta, Georgia (United States), urban region influences warm-season (May through September) cloud-toground lightning flashes and precipitation. Eight years (1995–2003) of flashes from the National Lightning Detection Network and mean accumulated precipitation from the North American Regional Reanalysis model were mapped under seven different wind speed and direction combinations derived from cluster analysis. Overlays of these data affirmed a consistent coupling of lightning and precipitation enhancement around Atlanta. Maxima in precipitation and lightning shifted in response to changes in wind direction. Differences in the patterns of flash metrics (flash counts versus thunderstorm counts), the absence of …

Ex Parte Domestic Violence Orders Of Protection: How Easing Access To Judicial Process Has Eased The Possibility For Abuse Of The Process, David H. Taylor

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

This article explores how state domestic violence statutory schemes that grant temporary ex parte orders have inadvertently lead to the abuse of orders of protection. Part I introduces how domestic violence statutes came to be, and describes how the typical statutory scheme works when it comes to granting ex parte orders. Part II examines the problems that occur when ex parte relief is easily obtained. Part III looks at the factors that contribute to the ability to misuse orders of protection. Part IV discusses due process and ex parte orders of protection. Part V is a survey of the state …

Mozart Effect: Exploring The Relationship Between Classical Music And Improvement In The Spatial-Temporal Cognitive Abilities Of Elementary School Children, Michael J. Ader

Graduate Student Dissertations, Theses, Capstones, and Portfolios

The purpose of this study was to learn if classical music stimuli can be used to enhance the thinking abilities of children as measured by a cognitive testing instrument. A comparison of classical music exposure and student achievement was conducted to specifically ascertain if music of varying types had an effect on measurable intelligences (especially spatial-temporal intelligence), as measured by the Naglieri Nonverbal Ability Test (NNAT). An exploration of the theoretical and empirical literature regarding the improvement of cognitive abilities of elementary school aged children was examined to identify if exposure to arts education produced measurable gains which could facilitate …

Growth Hormone Signaling And Action In Osteoblasts, Douglas J. Digirolamo

All ETDs from UAB

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) exert profound growth promoting actions during pre- and post-natal skeletal development. GH and IGF- 1 appear to cause these anabolic actions by influencing a variety of effects on osteoblast proliferation, differentiation, and survival. However, because GH stimulates the production of IGF-1 from the liver and other GH-responsive peripheral tissues, including bone, the individual contributions of these two molecules to anabolic responses in bone remains poorly defined. In this dissertation research, I sought to distinguish the direct and indirect (IGF-1 dependent) GH actions on osteoblasts. In the first section of this thesis, I …

Effects Of Aerobic Exercise On The Asthmatic Lung, Matthew M. Hewitt

All ETDs from UAB

Asthma is identified by the clinical symptoms of wheezing, chest tightness, dyspnea and cough, and by the presence of airway hyperresponsiveness (AHR) to inhaled stimuli. We have reported previously that repeated bouts of moderate intensity aerobic exercise attenuate airway inflammatory responses in a mouse model of atopic asthma. Because the effects of exercise on physiological responses are dependent upon several variables, including total exercise duration, the hypothesis of the current work was that differing amounts of moderate intensity aerobic exercise exert dissimilar effects on AHR and airway inflammation. The aims to test this hypothesis included: 1) determine the effect of …

Mapks Regulate Nuclear Import Of Human Papillomavirus Type 11 Replicative Helicase E1, Jei-Hwa Yu

All ETDs from UAB

Papillomaviruses (PV) are prevalent pathogens that infect human or animal squamous epithelia. Its genome is a double strand circular DNA of approximately 7.9 kb. It contains origin of replication (ori) and encodes early viral proteins for viral DNA amplication, and late capsid proteins for packaging viron. The viral DNA replicates as extrachromosomal nuclear plasmid in the host cell. Infections by low risk virus, such as HPV-6 and -11, can result in benign papillomas, condylomata, and low grade squamous intraepithelial dysplasias (SIL), whereas infection by high risk virus, such as HPV-16 and -18, can progress to high grade SIL, carcinoma in …

On The Satirical Counter-Discourse Of Processed Cheese, Lara Ryazanova-Clarke

Russian Language Journal

The post-Soviet period presents an illuminating picture of competition taking place between different public discourses for meaning construction and articulation. It has been observed that after an initial period when the public narrative of the nation experienced fragmentation, and, using Pierre Bourdieu’s term, went through a period of heterodoxy during the last decade―roughly corresponding with the presidency of Vladimir Putin―it has displayed the growing characteristics of orthodoxy, with its centrally produced “common sense” meanings and assumptions.

The Uniform Trust Code: An Analysis Of Ohio's Version, Alan Newman

Akron Law Faculty Publications

THE UNIFORM TRUST CODE: AN ANALYSIS OF OHIO'S VERSION

The Uniform Trust Code (UTC), which was promulgated in 2000, is the first national codification of the law of trusts. It has been adopted, with modifications, in 19 jurisdictions and is under consideration for adoption in many others. The Ohio Trust Code (OTC), which includes many significant modifications from the UTC, was enacted in June 2006, with an effective date of January 1, 2007.

The OTC is the product of extensive study of the UTC by a joint committee of members of the Estate Planning, Trust, and Probate Law Section of …

Lsuhsc Facilities Biweekly Update: January 2008, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates: 2008

LSUHSC Facilities Biweekly Updates from January 4 and 18, 2008.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Faculty Publications 2007, Lsu Health Sciences Center New Orleans

Historical Faculty Publications

This Faculty bibliography contains 623 publications.

The Effect Of Social Pressure On Eating Habits Of College Students, Dawn Wilcox

Masters Theses

Food consumption is affected by a variety of factors including social pressure. A quasi-experimental design was used to determine the relationship between social pressure and food consumption in a restaurant environment. The study addressed the specific effect of one person’s decision to order or decline a second portion on fellow diners' consumption of beverages, salads, side dishes, entrées, and desserts. The research protocol was approved by the Institutional Review Board. A convenience sample of male and female college students (n=65) participated in a one hour dining experience in a restaurant setting. Subjects were randomly assigned to the control or treatment …

Word Retrieval Treatment Using Collaborative Referencing, Cassie (Shuemaker) Flack

Masters Theses

The use of collaborative referencing tasks as a supplement to traditional speech therapy for two individuals ( one male and one female) with non:fluent aphasia due to cerebrovascular accident (CVA) was investigated. The participants' spouses served as communication partners for the collaborative referencing task. Stimuli consisted of three sets of ten pictures of individuals performing actions. Participants and spouses alternated serving as director and matcher for six trials each session. Each picture set was targeted until participants reached 80% accuracy across two trials at identifying pictures. Analysis of transcripts showed that participants and communication partners followed the three phases of …

Lsuhsc Facilities Daily Update: January 2008, Lsuhsc Property And Facilities Management

LSUHSC Facilities Daily Updates: 2008

LSUHSC Dailly Facilities Updates from January 2008.

These updates describe damage and a timeline of repairs at the LSU Health Sciences Center - New Orleans campus due to Hurricane Katrina which made landfall August 29, 2005.

Foraging Site Selection In Prairie Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis C. Calligaster): An Experimental Approach, Angela M. Fornell

Masters Theses

A critical component to a predator’s survival is the choice of foraging sites that yield enough predatory success to meet energetic demands. To elucidate cues used to select foraging sites, I examined foraging site selection in Prairie Kingsnakes (Lampropeltis c. calligaster), a generalist species whose foraging mode is flexible. My objectives were to determine: the pattern of foraging site selection; the importance of certain cues that kingsnakes use when selecting foraging sites; and, whether or not kingsnakes adjust their foraging patterns in response to alterations in the microhabitat. I tested subjects in a large experimental arena under several treatment conditions …

Terrestrial Macrofungi Of Old-Growth Prairie Groves, Vincent P. Hustad

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to evaluate and contrast the communities of terrestrial macrofungi of Brownfield and Trelease Woods, Champaign Co., IL; old-growth prairie groves isolated for> 120 years. This study represents the first known analysis of fungal communities in old-growth prairie grove ecosystems in the Midwestern United States, and provides an excellent opportunity to characterize the fungal biodiversity of established old-growth reference communities for comparisons with other sites, both local and distant. Fungal communities were sampled during the fall fruiting seasons of 2006 and 2007 using a plot frequency study of fungal abundance. Several estimators of species richness …

Amending Trips: A New Hope For Increased Access To Essential Medicines, Tina S. Bhatt

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Prisoner Transfer Between Hong Kong And Mainland China: A Preliminary Assessment, Choy Dick Wan

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Adam Smith And His Sources: The Evil Of Independence, Sandra J. Peart, David M. Levy

Jepson School of Leadership Studies articles, book chapters and other publications

This paper explores the foundations of Adam Smith’s view that the philosopher is the same as the street porter. Despite their innate similarity, Smith recognized that the role of the philosopher, someone who provides useful instruction to fellow humans, is not that of the street porter (Pear and Levy 2005; Schliesser 2005, 2006). He also saw that this potentially useful employment may entail a biased perspective on human conduct. Motivated by matters too distant for ordinary people to notice, the philosopher may come to believe that he is better than those he studies and to regard himself as independent form …

Leptodactylus Cunicularius Sazima And Bokermann Rabbit-Burrow Frog, W. R. Heyer, M. M. Heyer, Rafael O. De Sá

Biology Faculty Publications

Adult Leptodactylus cunicularius are moderately small. The head is longer than wide and the hind limbs are long (Table 1; Heyer and Thompson 2000 provided definitions of adult size and leg length categories for Leptodactylus). Male vocal sacs are internal, not externally expanded. The snout is protruding, not sexually dimorphic. Male forearms are not hypertrophied and males lack asperities on the thumbs and chest. The dorsum is variegated with small, often confluent, spots and blotches. There is a very thin interrupted mid-dorsal light stripe (pinstripe). Usually, there is a noticeable light, irregular, elongate, mid-dorsal blotch in the scapular region. …

The (Futile) Search For A Common Law Right Of Confrontation: Beyond Brasier'S Irrelevance To (Perhaps) Relevant American Cases, Randolph N. Jonakait

Journal of Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Do We Even Need A Test? A Reevaluation Of Assessing Substantial Similarity In A Copyright Infringement Case, Nicole K. Roodhuyzen

Journal of Law and Policy

No abstract provided.