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Analysis Of The Nonlinear Vibrations Of Electrostatically Actuated Micro-Cantilevers In Harmonic Detection Of Resonance (Hdr), Jonathan Taylor

All Theses

Micro- and nano-cantilevers have the potential to revolutionize physical, chemical, and biological sensing; however, an accurate and scalable detection method is required. In this work, a fully electrical actuation and detection method is presented, known as the Harmonic Detection of Resonance (HDR). In HDR, harmonic components of the current are measured to determine the cantilever's resonance frequency. These harmonics exist as a result of nonlinearities in the system, principally in the electrostatic actuation force. In order to better understand this rich harmonic structure, a theoretical investigation of the micro-cantilever is undertaken. Both a lumped parameter model and a more accurate …

Molecular Anatomic Imaging: Pet-Ct And Spect-Ct Integrated Modality Imaging : 2nd Edition, 2007, Hadia Bererhi

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

An Experiment Analysis Of The Impact Of Advertising And Food Packaging On Women's Eating Behavior, Amy S. Collings

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Obesity is considered a national epidemic and is associated with increased eating behavior and decreased physical activity. Research has demonstrated biological underpinnings, but the dramatic increase in prevalence rates in recent decades (Flegal et al., 2002) suggests that environmental influences also contribute (Hill et al., 2008). This led researchers to speculate about the impact of our purported “Toxic Environment,” in which high-calorie, energy-dense foods are readily available for consumption and technological advances have decreased physical activity (Wadden et al., 2002). Most of the literature examining the theory of the Toxic Environment is correlational in nature, limiting causal inference. A pilot …

Genetic Services In The Sultanate Of Oman And Other Gulf Countries Progress Is Needed Now!, Sandy Raeburn

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Summer Mustang, July 31, 2008

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

Student newspaper of California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, CA.

Pedestrian Conspicuity: The Effects Of Retroreflector Placement And Retroreflectivity, Justin Graving

All Theses

One factor that has been causally linked to nighttime pedestrian-vehicle collisions is pedestrians being insufficiently conspicuous to drivers. Pedestrian conspicuity can be enhanced by use of retroreflective material, and this on-road experiment investigated the influence of retroreflector configuration, the coefficient of retroreflection (RsubA) of those retroreflectors, and pedestrian motion on conspicuity. There were two retroreflector configurations, three levels of RsubA, and the test pedestrian either walked or stood in place. Data from 121 participants are reported. The pedestrian was detected by more participants and at greater distances when the pedestrian was walking and wearing retroreflectors on the wrists and ankles …

Student Addresses Greek Life Problems At Leadership Conferences, Teresa A. Sherman

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Varied Presentations Of Acute Glomerulonephritis In Children Single Centre Experience From A Developing Country, Kalpana Malla, Moinak S. Sarma, Tejesh Thaplial, Anna

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

Objectives: The objective of this prospective study, carried out at Manipal Teaching Hospital, Pokhara, was to document the various clinical presentations of children with acute glomerulonephritis and compare them with the available biological parameters in Western Nepal. Methods: Clinical and laboratory parameters of children with oedema and microscopic/macroscopic haematuria. Results: For seven years (2000-2007), 92 cases of children were clinically diagnosed with acute glomerulonephritis (AGN). Other clinical and laboratory anaylses were also eventful. Conclusion: The present study highlights the varied presentations of AGN, atypical presentations or complications of glomerulonephritis being more common than the classical presentation in the Western Region …

Caring For Arab Patients A Biopsychosocial Approach, Samir Al Adawi

Sultan Qaboos University Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

Testing The Divergent Pathway Model For Melanoma, David Kunkel, Dan Tandberg, Marianne Berwick

Undergraduate Medical Student Research

Post hoc analysis of a large US population-based study of melanoma was carried out to test Whitemans divergent pathway model that suggests different etiologic pathways for melanoma based on (1) pattern of sun exposure, as characterized by anatomic site, and (2) host factors such as propensity for melanocyte proliferation, as characterized by nevus status. Study subjects consisted of 528 newly diagnosed cases of melanoma among Caucasian residents of Connecticut. Nurse-interviewers obtained information on age, gender, hair color, eye color, skin color, history of sun exposure, history of painful sunburns, anatomic site of melanoma, and number of nevi on both arms …

Prenatal Alcohol: Effect On Depression And Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor (Bdnf) Levels, Mary Laughlin, Andrea Allan

Undergraduate Medical Student Research

Fetal alcohol exposure poses a significant social problem. Conservative rates of Fetal alcohol syndrome and Alcohol-Related Neurodevelopmental Disorders (ARND) together have been estimated at 9.1/1000 live births (Sampson 1997). Prenatal ethanol exposure can produce subtle learning disabilities in children, which may not become apparent until a child is school-aged and can occur in the absence of other physical evidence of alcohol-related birth defects. Along with cognitive deficits, ARND has been associated with an increased risk of psychiatric disorders such as Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) has been linked to polymorphisms in the Brian Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) …

Knowledge, Attitudes, Beliefs And Behaviors Related To Health Among The Indigenous Peoples In Ecuador And The Potential Application Of Telehealth, Ming-Jai Liu, Erika Mendoza, Kevin Henry, Dale Alverson

Undergraduate Medical Student Research

There is much concern of health effects related to gas drilling in the provinces of Ecuador. Recent research has shown a possible correlation between oil drilling and a multitude of health problems (1). Cancer rates in particular may be elevated in populations exposed to the drilling pollutants; while intriguing, this research remains inconclusive in large partly because of difficulties in diagnosing cancer among other health problems in rural populations, but also due to local peoples perception of exposure. It has been determined that previous explorations between petroleum and cancer had not been approached directly in terms of taking indigenous peoples …

Systematics And Floral Evolution In The Plant Genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), Patrick Wayne Sweeney

Dissertations

The pantropical genus Garcinia (Clusiaceae), a group comprised of more than 250 species of dioecious, trees and shrubs, is a common component of lowland tropical forests and is best known by the highly prized fruit of mangosteen (G. mangostana). The genus exhibits as extreme diversity of floral form as is found anywhere in angiosperms and there are many unresolved taxonomic issues surrounding the genus. To understand patterns of floral evolution within the group and to evaluate morphology-based classification schemes involving Garcinia and its relatives, relationships among a broad sample of Garcinia and close relatives were inferred by conducting Bayesian, parsimony, …

The Horseshoe Crab Conundrum; Can We Harvest And Conserve?, Jennifer Mattei

Wrack Lines

Dr. Jennifer Mattei and Dr. Mark Beekey lead efforts to monitor and conserve horseshoe crabs by means of Project Limulus. The effort enlists volunteers to help document the movements and mating practices of horseshoe crabs.

Testicular Embryonal Carcinoma Cell Proliferation In Vitro: Effect Of B152, An Anti-Hyperglycosylated Hcg Monoclonal Antibody, Lawanda Jim, Laurence Cole

Undergraduate Medical Student Research

Hyperglycosylated human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG-H), a variant of hCG, has been shown to promote the growth and invasion of trophoblast cells in early pregnancy placental implantation, choriocarcinoma and testicular germ cell malignancies. In a previous study (15), hCG-H was found to have a significant effect on the growth of a choriocarcinoma cell line, JEG-3, and a testicular embroyonal carcinoma cell line, NTERA. It was also shown that, B152, an anti-hCG-H specific monoclonal antibody, significantly inhibited the growth of these cells in vitro and in vivo murine models. In this study, we quantified the amount of hCG-H produced by two embryonal …

A Population Survey And Foraging Analysis Of The Double-Crested Cormorant (Phalacrocorax Auritus) On The Santee Lakes, South Carolina, Adam Kelley

All Theses

This study was designed to determine whether Double-crested cormorants (Phalacrocorax auritus) were having an impact on the Santee lakes fishery for Striped bass (Morone saxatilis). I surveyed the lakes' population in the summer of 2007 and winter of 2008 to determine population levels and 76 birds were necropsied in order to determine foraging preferences. Summer populations were estimated at 203 birds and winter at 6000. Clupeids (primarily Gizzard, Threadfin, and American shads) made up the bulk of the diet in both seasons with an overall percentage of 86.19%. No bass of any size or species were found in the stomachs …

Prevalence And Infection Load Dynamics Of Rickettsia Felis In Actively Feeding Cat Fleas, Kathryn E. Reif, Rhett W. Stout, Gretchen C. Henry, Lane D. Foil, Kevin R. Macaluso

Faculty Publications

Background: Rickettsia felis is a flea-associated rickettsial pathogen recurrently identified in both colonized and wild-caught cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis. We hypothesized that within colonized fleas, the intimate relationship between R. felis and C. felis allows for the coordination of rickettsial replication and metabolically active periods during flea bloodmeal acquisition and oogenesis. Methodology/Principal Findings: a quantitative real-time PCR assay was developed to quantify R. felis in actively feeding R. felis-infected fleas. In three separate trials, fleas were allowed to feed on cats, and a mean of 3.9 × 106 R. felis 17-kDa gene copies was detected for each flea. A distinct …

Q-Dock: Low-Resolution Flexible Ligand Docking With Pocket-Specific Threading Restraints, Michal Brylinski, Jeffrey Skolnick

Faculty Publications

The rapidly growing number of theoretically predicted protein structures requires robust methods that can utilize low-quality receptor structures as targets for ligand docking. Typically, docking accuracy falls off dramatically when apo or modeled receptors are used in docking experiments. Low-resolution ligand docking techniques have been developed to deal with structural inaccuracies in predicted receptor models. In this spirit, we describe the development and optimization of a knowledge-based potential implemented in Q-Dock, a low-resolution flexible ligand docking approach. Self-docking experiments using crystal structures reveals satisfactory accuracy, comparable with all-atom docking. All-atom models reconstructed from Q-Dock's low-resolution models can be further refined …

Volume 45, Number 49: July 30, 2008, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

Spectroscopic Study Of Compressible Mobile Phase And Stationary Phase Behavior In Chromatography, Lawrence R. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

Raman spectroscopy, laser-induced fluorescence, and sum-frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy are used to investigate the behavior of compressible mobile phases and stationary phases under a variety of chromatographic conditions. Efforts to understand and optimize separations employing compressible mobile phases have been limited by a lack of understanding of the mobile phase density gradient. Mobile phase compressibility leads to gradients in linear velocity and solute retention and affects separation speed and efficiency, especially in packed columns. This work describes on-column density measurement of CO2, a common carrier fluid for SFC and SGC, in packed capillary columns using Raman microspectroscopy. On-column detection by …

2008 - 2009 University Catalog, Loma Linda University

University Catalog (2005 - present)

Volume 98, Number 1, July 30, 2008

Published once a year, July 30, 2008

Human Dispersal Of Trichinella Spiralis In Domesticated Pigs, Benjamin Rosenthal, Giuseppe Larosa, Dante Zarlenga, Detiger Dunams, Yao Chunyu, Liu Mingyuan, Edoardo Pozio

United States Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service / University of Nebraska-Lincoln: Faculty Publications

To investigate the human impact on the evolutionary ecology of animal pathogens, we compared genetic diversity of severe foodborne parasites contracted by eating infected pork or wild game. In particular, we characterized Trichinella spp. from twenty-eight countries and four continents by genotyping nine microsatellite loci and sequencing one-fifth of the mitochondrial genome. All specimens of Trichinella spiralis, a swine parasite that can infect many species of wildlife, were remarkably uniform across Europe, North Africa, and the Americas. Far greater diversity characterized a comparable sample of Trichinella britovi, which parasitizes various sylvatic mammals endemic to Eurasia and North-Western Africa. A limited …

The Alestle - Vol. 60 No. 67 - 07/30/2008, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville

The Alestle

Vol. 60 No. 67

Minding The 3 R'S: Response, Remediation And Restoration, Anthony Dvarskas

Wrack Lines

Working with CT DEP, the NOAA Office of Damage Assessment, Remediation and Restoration uses funds recovered from polluters to conduct restoration projects. Here in Connecticut, projects include the Jordan Brook Fishway in Waterford, the Remington Gun Club site at Lordship Point in Stratford, and more.

Spatial And Temporal Patterns In The Microbial Diversity Of A Meromictic Soda Lake In Washington State, Pedro A. Dimitriu, Holly C. Pinkart, Brent M. Peyton, Melanie R. Mormile

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The microbial community diversity and composition of meromictic Soap Lake were studied using culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches. The water column and sediments were sampled monthly for a year. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis of bacterial and archaeal 16S rRNA genes showed an increase in diversity with depth for both groups. Late-summer samples harbored the highest prokaryotic diversity, and the bacteria exhibited less seasonal variability than the archaea. Most-probable-number assays targeting anaerobic microbial guilds were performed to compare summer and fall samples. In both seasons, the anoxic samples appeared to be dominated by lactate-oxidizing sulfate-reducing prokaryotes. High numbers of lactate- and acetate-oxidizing …

The Daily Egyptian, July 29, 2008, Daily Egyptian Staff

July 2008

No abstract provided.

Technical Concepts Related To Conservation Of Irrigation And Rain Water In Agricultural Systems, A. J. Clemmens, R. G. Allen, Charles M. Burt

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

Forty percent of freshwater withdrawals in the United States are for irrigated agriculture, which contribute more than $50 billion to the economy. Increasing diversions of water for urban, environmental, and other uses will likely decrease water available to agriculture. Water conservation in agriculture is touted as a good method for minimizing the impact of reduced agricultural diversions on production. Because “wasted” water is often reused until it reaches the ocean, there are limitations to the true water savings that result from programs that aim to increase irrigation efficiency. True water savings can come from four areas: reduction of unnecessary evaporation …

Community Ecology And Phylogeography Of Bird Assemblages In Arid Zones Of Northern Venezuela: Implications For The Conservation Of Restricted-Range Birds, Adriana Rodriguez-Ferraro

Dissertations

Aridlands of northern Venezuela are important from an ornithological perspective because of the occurrence of habitat specialist birds that depend exclusively on desert scrubs and are endemic to this region. Currently, long-term survival of habitat specialists is threatened by ongoing changes in vegetation but the effects of such changes on bird assemblages are unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize bird assemblages found in six arid zones in northern Venezuela at both ecological and genetic levels, and to generate information relevant for conservation planning. The study involved assessments of patterns of avian species richness, abundance, community composition and …

Sex Offender Assessment: Clinical Utility And Predictive Validity, Kristopher Lueron Clounch

Dissertations

The research addressing sex offender assessment and treatment is an ever-evolving science. However, very little research has addressed psychological typologies associated with various types of sex offenders and treatment engagement. The current study examined assessment data of four sex offender groups, defined by victim type, to determine if a typological difference exists between groups of (N = 583) rapists (n = 129), statutory offenders (n = 140), intrafamilial/ incest perpetrators (n = 152), and extrafamilial (n = 162). Secondly, the study determined if a specific battery of psychological measures can predict treatment completion (n = 377). We also hypothesized there …

Towards Development Of A Fully Synthetic Conjugate Vaccine: Investigation Of Structural Analogs Of Streptococcus Pneumoniae Serogroup 6, Archana R. Parameswar

Dissertations

Involvement of complex glycostructures in a variety of damaging and healing processes has already been acknowledged by development of carbohydrate-based vaccines and therapeutics. The bacteria Streptococcus pneumoniae (SPn) have become one of the most frequent causes of pneumonia, bacteremia, and meningitis in the elderly, immunocompromised, and, especially, in young children. SPn has one of the largest public health and economic impacts amongst all bacterial infectious diseases. Over 2 million children die annually worldwide due to pneumonia, accounting for almost 20% of deaths under age five with more than half of these deaths attributed to SPn. Amongst over ninety elucidated SPn …