Digital Commons Network^™

Brain Fiber Tract Plasticity In Experimental Spinal Cord Injury: Diffusion Tensor Imaging, Jaivijay Ramu, Juan Herrera, Raymond Grill, Tobias Bockhorst, Ponnada Narayana

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) and immunohistochemistry were performed in spinal cord injured rats to understand the basis for activation of multiple regions in the brain observed in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies. The measured fractional anisotropy (FA), a scalar measure of diffusion anisotropy, along the region encompassing corticospinal tracts (CST) indicates significant differences between control and injured groups in the 3 to 4 mm area posterior to bregma that correspond to internal capsule and cerebral peduncle. Additionally, DTI-based tractography in injured animals showed increased number of fibers that extend towards the cortex terminating in the regions that were activated …

The Temporal Relationship Between The Coronavirus Disease 2019 (Covid-19) Pandemic And Preterm Birth, Harold E Bedell, Mahalakshmi Ramamurthy, Saumil S Patel, Shobana Subramaniam, Lan-Phuong Vu-Yu, Jianliang Tong

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

Despite rapid to-and-fro motion of the retinal image that results from their incessant involuntary eye movements, persons with infantile nystagmus (IN) rarely report the perception of motion smear. We performed two experiments to determine if the reduction of perceived motion smear in persons with IN is associated with an increase in the speed of the temporal impulse response. In Experiment 1, increment thresholds were determined for pairs of successively presented flashes of a long horizontal line, presented on a 65-cd/m2 background field. The stimulus-onset asynchrony (SOA) between the first and second flash varied from 5.9 to 234 ms. In experiment …

A Review Of Fibroblast Populated Collagen Lattices, J. C. Dallon, Paul H. Ehrlich

Faculty Publications

Bellaes introduction of the fibroblast populated collagen lattice (FPCL) (1) has facilitated the study of collagen-cell interactions. As a result of the numerous modifications of the casting of FPCL's, the in vivo applications of these in vitro findings has been confusing. Here experimental FPCL contraction findings are viewed in regard to three proposed mechanisms responsible for lattice contraction. The cellular mechanisms responsible for generating FPCL contraction are: cell contraction, cell tractional forces related to cell locomotion, and initial cell elongation and spreading.

Judicial Review And American Constitutional Exceptionalism, Miguel Schor

Osgoode Hall Law Journal

This article challenges the conventional view of the pervasiveness of American-style judicial review. It questions why social movements contest constitutional meaning by fighting over judicial appointments in the United States, and why this strategy makes little sense in democracies that constitutionalized rights in the late twentieth century. The United States has been both a model and an anti-model in the global spread of judicial review, as the hope of Marbury (constitutionalized rights) has been tempered by the fear of Lochner [courts run amok). In reconciling Marbury and Lochner, other polities have adopted stronger mechanisms of judicial accountability that make it …

Data-Driven Programming And Behavior For Autonomous Virtual Characters, Jonathan Dinerstein, Parris K. Egbert, Michael A. Goodrich, Dan A. Ventura

Faculty Publications

In the creation of autonomous virtual characters, two levels of autonomy are common. They are often called motion synthesis (low-level autonomy) and behavior synthesis (high-level autonomy), where an action (i.e. motion) achieves a short-term goal and a behavior is a sequence of actions that achieves a long-term goal. There exists a rich literature addressing many aspects of this general problem (and it is discussed in the full paper). In this paper we present a novel technique for behavior (high-level) autonomy and utilize existing motion synthesis techniques. Creating an autonomous virtual character with behavior synthesis abilities frequently includes three stages: forming …

Spirituality And Symptom Self Management Of Osteoarthritis, Lois M. Kannan Phd

Dissertations

Healthcare providers need to identify holistic self-care techniques that are endorsed by patients as effective strategies for symptom management of osteoarthritis, which is the single most common cause of disability in older adults. Research in this area may direct the development of interventions to ensure that older adults are afforded every opportunity to remain active and productive, with an improved health related quality of life, despite age related musculoskeletal conditions. The purpose of this study was to describe the relationships among symptom experience, symptom management, and symptom outcome based on spiritual well-being. A quantitative, descriptive, correlational, and noninterventional study design, …

Explaining The Spatial Organization Of Creative Industries: The Case Of The U.S. Videogames Industry, F. Ted Tschang, Jan Vang

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

The paper presents a picture of the spatial location of the U.S. videogames industry as a broad range of clusters of different sizes, none of them dominant, then uses a variety of qualitative evidence (including interview and ethnographic) to illustrate a theory of how these variegated clusters have emerged and continue to persist, each in their own right. In effect, our main findings are that videogame clusters do not operate as other creative industry clusters, as described by the recent theories of buzz applied to other creative industries, nor by conventional linkage arguments (either to suppliers or financier-distributors). Rather, the …

Genetic Engineering In Agriculture: New Approaches For Risk Management Through Sustainability Reporting, Philip J. Vergragt, Halina Szejnwald Brown

Sustainability and Social Justice

Genetically modified crops and foodstuff have been highly controversial for environmental, health, and ethical reasons. The controversies have been worldwide, but most prominent in the European Union, for reasons that include distrust of the regulatory authorities, scientists and technocratic decision making. An informal moratorium in the EU came recently to an end, without solving the underlying problems. In response to the criticisms, the European governments have attempted to improve the risk assessment methods and their scientific basis, and to tailor public policies to the growing demand for transparency, accountability, and public participation. This paper proposes a novel approach to including …

Effect Of Matriarchs On Group Interactions, Kinship Fitness, And Differences In Chemosensory Behavior Of African Elephants (Loxodonta Africana), Rhea Marie Esposito

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Female African elephants exhibit multiple levels of social organization with the family as the functional social unit. Families consist of related females and the oldest female is the matriarch. Related family groups that frequently fuse are termed kinship groups, led by the grand matriarch. I examined matriarch communication behavior across social context and their role in interactions between families at waterholes in Addo Elephant National Park, South Africa. I analyzed three hypotheses for matriarchal effects on group fitness: a) older matriarchs provide greater access to resources, b) older matriarchs lead more social groups, or c) there is no behavior-fitness relationship …

Using Scholarly Research In Course Redesign: Teaching To Engage Students With Authentic Disciplinary Practices, Rachel G. Ragland

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This action research study describes a course redesign using scholarly research in two ways. Traditional disciplinary research was used to inform the design of the curriculum, and SoTL was used to measure the success of the course design in achieving its objectives for student learning. The objective of the course redesign was to better engage students in applying the authentic disciplinary practices of the field. Research was then conducted on the pedagogical process to determine the success of the new course design in achieving its objectives. The research project documented: how the authentic disciplinary practices were taught to students; student …

Superhero As Metaphor: Using Creative Pedagogies To Engage, Christie H. Burton

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Video case studies of realistic scenarios have long been used to illustrate course concepts and provide variety in the classroom. The growing popularity of superheroes in film suggests an openness to experience beyond the traditional fare. This qualitative study uses content analysis to explore how students’ understanding of ethics concepts changed over time after viewing a superhero film and writing with metaphor. A pre-test post-test design was used, where students in an undergraduate management course completed a writing assignment before and after experiencing the film. Results suggest that after students were exposed to the treatment, they had a deeper understanding …

Using Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning (Sotl) To Inquire Into Pre-Service Teachers’ Science Lesson Planning Considerations, Geeta Verma

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper shares my experiences with the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) framework in my university science methods course. Incorporating SoTL not only enabled me to inquire into my own teaching as a scholarly activity but also engaged my students in critical reflections. I used the principles and characteristics of SoTL to design this inquiry by; a) creating a new instructional framework for lesson planning; b) facilitating students’ reflections on their experiences with the new framework; and c) documenting and presenting this inquiry as a scholarly activity. Forty-eight pre service teachers (N = 48), 43 women and 5 men …

Compartmentalizing The Other: Nineteenth-Century Englishwomen, Travel, And English Identity, Amanda E. Williams

History Theses & Dissertations

The nineteenth century was an age of travel. The English traveled the globe for a variety of reasons. When not traveling for military, political, religious, or scientific reasons, they also traveled a great deal simply for pleasure. Regardless of reason, travel brought the English into contact with the Other. As a construction, the Other became an important part of English identity.

Englishwomen were particularly famous for travel. Although they were disenfranchised Others themselves in English society, Englishwomen did not identify with the Other they encountered in travels, but rather chose enfranchisement in an elite "imagined" England. This community (or the …

Italy And Italians Through American Eyes, 1861-1881, Dennis M. Bench

History Theses & Dissertations

American perceptions of Italy and Italians between 1861 and 1881 were characterized by competing and conflicting images. These two decades in the late­ nineteenth century demonstrated the transitional nature of American attitudes towards Italians as contact between the two peoples increased. American travelers went to Italy initially to recreate the journeys of educated Europeans of the Grand Tours of the eighteenth century. By the 1860s this style of travel was on the decline to be replaced by traveling based on exploring the "real" Italy. However, the two styles overlapped and resulted in conflicting and complementary images. In part this was …

Water-Soluble Fullerene (C60) Derivatives As Nonviral Gene-Delivery Vectors, Balaji Sitharaman, Tatiana Y Zakharian, Anita Saraf, Preeti Misra, Jared Ashcroft, Su Pan, Quynh P Pham, Antonios G Mikos, Lon J Wilson, David A Engler

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

A new class of water-soluble C60 transfecting agents has been prepared using Hirsch-Bingel chemistry and assessed for their ability to act as gene-delivery vectors in vitro. In an effort to elucidate the relationship between the hydrophobicity of the fullerene core, the hydrophilicity of the water-solubilizing groups, and the overall charge state of the C60 vectors in gene delivery and expression, several different C60 derivatives were synthesized to yield either positively charged, negatively charged, or neutral chemical functionalities under physiological conditions. These fullerene derivatives were then tested for their ability to transfect cells grown in culture with DNA carrying the green …

Synaptotagmin-2 Controls Regulated Exocytosis But Not Other Secretory Responses Of Mast Cells*, Qun-Fang Wan, Alejandro Vila, Zhen-Yu Zhou, Ruth Heidelberger

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

To better understand synaptic signaling at the mammalian rod bipolar cell terminal and pave the way for applying genetic approaches to the study of visual information processing in the mammalian retina, synaptic vesicle dynamics and intraterminal calcium were monitored in terminals of acutely isolated mouse rod bipolar cells and the number of ribbon-style active zones quantified. We identified a releasable pool, corresponding to a maximum of 7 s. The presence of a smaller, rapidly releasing pool and a small, fast component of refilling was also suggested. Following calcium channel closure, membrane surface area was restored to baseline with a time …

Obesity And Cardiac Metabolism In Women, Heinrich Taegtmeyer, Mohamed F Algahim

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

No abstract provided.

Illinois State Alumni Magazine, Summer 2008, Illinois State University, University Marketing And Communications

State: The Magazine of Illinois State University (1999-present)

Illinois State University alumni magazine

Pseudoscorpions, Erin W. Hodgson, Alan H. Roe, Brooke Lambert

All Current Publications

Pseudoscorpions, also known as false scorpions or book scorpions, are arachnids in the order Pseudoscorpionida. There are more than 3,300 different species of pseudoscorpions throughout the world, with the most dense populations found in the tropics and subtropics. They can be found throughout Utah.

Living The Law, Melissa Birks

Illinois Wesleyan University Magazine, 2002-2017

In a career spanning four decades, Bill Roberts '64 remains as comfortable at a country fair as he is in the nation's corridors of power.

Seeking A Usable Past: Review Of Feeling Backward: Loss And The Politics Of Queer History By Heather Love., Meryl Altman

English Faculty publications

No abstract provided.

Crossroads Confessions & Other Configurations, Rebecca Recce Winsor

English Theses & Dissertations

My thesis is a memoir about my life as a dancer from my early teens through my early thirties, roughly the years 1964-1987. This time frame also chronicles both physical and emotional journeys during those years. There are nine chapters which chronicle dreams shattered and dreams reborn.

A River Entrenched In Rock, Myrna Amelia Mesa

English Theses & Dissertations

This thesis centers on my Afro-Cuban culture (specifically addressing the experience of being a Black Cuban Woman in America). While the general objective of writing poems address my ancestry, the subject matter of this work can also be seen to alternate between identity and human relationships, between the experiences of being Black and being a woman. The poems are written to resemble the tone and narrative bent of a memoir and serve to make a connection to a larger or more universal experience.

Situated in the geography of this work is a composite of two languages; poems are written in …

Integrating Preservation Functions Into The Web Server, Joan A. Smith

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Digital preservation of theWorldWideWeb poses unique challenges, different fromthe preservation issues facing professional Digital Libraries. The complete list of a website’s resources cannot be cited with confidence, and the descriptive metadata available for the resources is so minimal that it is sometimes insufficient for a browser to recognize. In short, the Web suffers from a counting problem and a representation problem. Refreshing the bits, migrating from an obsolete file format to a newer format, and other classic digital preservation problems also affect the Web. As digital collections devise solutions to these problems, the Web will also benefit. But the core …

Bisphenol A Blood And Saliva Levels Prior To And After Dental Sealant Placement In Adults, Joyce Marie Downs

Dental Hygiene Theses & Dissertations

Placement of pit and fissure dental sealants is an effective therapy for tooth decay prevention and is widely accepted as a standard of care throughout the United States. Pit and fissure dental sealants (sealants) are manufactured using the resin component of composite dental materials, formed by reacting glycidyl methacrylate with bisphenol A. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a hormonally active, synthetic chemical that is part of a broad group of chemicals known as endocrine disrupting compounds, xenoestrogens, which mimic bioactivity of estrogen. This study measured BP A in saliva and blood after the placement of a widely used, pit and fissure …

Integer Ratio Logarithm Based Edge Detection For Runway Hazard Detection, Sri Satya Vardhan Gogineni

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

As air traffic is growing in leaps and bounds every day, flying safe has been a major concern in day to day life. Aviation safety is always dependent on the performance of the pilot and air traffic controllers. The very involvement of human discretion introduces judgment as a component of a safe takeoff and landing. A convenient and immediate alternative would be the use of technology to alleviate the problem. Several algorithms have been developed to solve this problem. However, most computer vision algorithms leave the task of interpreting the end data unaddressed. Juggling the myriad tasks during landing and …

Medical Image Modeling And Processing, Ramu Pedada

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

During the last few decades of the twentieth century, medical imaging has been playing a prominent role in many fields of biomedical research and clinical practice. Image modalities such as x-rays, computed tomography (CT), and magnetic resonance images (MRI) have all been valuable additions to the radiologist's arsenal of imaging tools. Medical images assure quality diagnosis and patient safety by gathering valuable information without invading the human body. Apart from clinical diagnosis, medical images are used as tools for education where they are used for training individuals before operating on a patient. Many medical educators tum to simulation based training …

Immersive Active Learning For Virtual Laboratory Experiments, Swetha Punnandla

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

A Laboratory Immersive Interactive Virtual Environment (LIIVE) for scientific experiments is developed using MAY A and Virtools. The LIIVE is used as a pre-lab practice module to familiarize the students with the equipment, procedure and parameters involved in a laboratory experiment. The system has been assessed for its effectiveness as a learning tool by administering a project and a quiz to each participant and conducting a structured observation during the actual laboratory experiment on the real equipment. The learning effect achieved by the LIIVE is compared to the learning effects obtained by the less immersive 2D virtual environment and the …

In Vivo Murine Melanoma Tumor Responses To Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field Treatment, Xinhua Chen

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

High intensity nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEF) were applied to melanoma tumors to observe functional and structural biological changes and to investigate the possible molecular mechanisms responsible. An animal model was set up by injecting B16F10 mouse melanoma cells into SKH-1 mice. A treatment (Tx) of 100 pulses: 300 nanosecond duration; 40 kV/cm field strength; at 0.5 Hz rate were delivered to melanoma tumors in 120 mice. The nsPEF Txcaused tumor self-destruction with sharply decreased cell volumes and shrunken nuclei. The apoptotic biochemical tests confirmed nsPEF Tx induced apoptosis in a time-dependent manner. Examination of gross vessel and micro-vessel density …

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields Induce A Mitochondria-Independent Apoptosis In B16f10 Melanoma Cells In Vitro, Wentia Elissa Ford

Theses and Dissertations in Biomedical Sciences

Nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) are ultra-short pulses that induce direct electric field and biological effects that initiate apoptosis. Here the application of ten 300ns pulses ranging in electric fields from 12kV/cm-60kV/cm was administered to determine the effects on B16F10 melanoma cells evaluated by in vitro studies. Initial application of nsPEFs demonstrated apoptosis induction in an electric field- and pulse number-dependent manner measured by caspase activation that correlated with decrease in cell viability 24hr post pulse. In addition caspase activity was shown to be independent of calcium mobilization though ions may play a part in other aspects of apoptosis. The …