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Synthesis And Characterization Of Macromolecular Layers Grafted To Polymer Surfaces, Oleksandr Burtovyy

All Dissertations

The composition and behavior of surfaces and interfaces play a pivotal role in dictating the overall efficiency of the majority of polymeric materials and devices. Surface properties of the materials can be altered using surface modification techniques. It is necessary to highlight that successful methods of surface modification should affect only the upper layer of the polymer material without changing bulk properties. The processes must introduce new functionalities to the surface, optimize surface roughness, lubrication, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, adhesion, conductivity, and/or biocompatibility.
Research presented in this dissertation is dedicated to the synthesis, characterization, and application of thin macromolecular layers anchored to …

Unveiling The Masculinity Of Science: A Journey Into The Reactions And Reflections Of Female Science Teachers To The Nature Of Science, Tina Marie Wilkins

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated how eight female science teachers in a Consciousness Raising focus group viewed science and how they responded to the message that the nature of science is a masculine, social construct. Using the framework of Feminist Standpoint Theory and Critical Race Feminism, I investigated the reactions and reflections of the participants to the video Asking Different Questions: Women in Science (1993). Prior to the video, the teachers completed a short questionnaire and discussed the nature of science. They viewed, discussed, and related the video's message to their lived experiences. I theorized that some teachers would become more aware …

Anthropod Community Associated With The Webs Of The Subsocial Spider Anelosimus Studiosus, Sarah Natalie Mock

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Anelosimus studiosus (Theridiidae) is a subsocial spider that has a diverse arthropod fauna associated with its webs. From south Georgia, I identified 1006 arthropods representing 105 species living with A. studiosus, and 40 species that were prey items from 250 webs. The arthropods seen in A. studiosus webs represented a distinct community from the arthropods on the tree. I found that Barronopsis barrowsi (Agelenidae) and Frontinella pyramitela was similar to A. studiosus in web structure and that B. barrowsi webs contained multiple arthropods. Also, previously known as asocial, B. barrowsi demonstrated sociality in having multiple adults per web. Lastly, the …

Seasonal Patterns Of Plasma Testosterone Levels, Bite Force, And Locomotor Performance In Non-Territorial Male Lizards, Aspidoscelis Sexlineata, Timothy Adam Gowan

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The ability to perform key behaviors associated with reproduction, such as biting and locomotion in male lizards, has been linked to social dominance and reproductive success. The underlying mechanisms that govern variation in performance capacity, however, remain unclear. The steroid hormone testosterone mediates numerous traits associated with reproduction in male vertebrates and has been hypothesized to mediate variation in performance. This study examined seasonal patterns of circulating testosterone, morphology, bite force, and locomotor performance in a non-territorial lizard species to address this hypothesis. Male Aspidoscelis sexlineata (n=133) were collected throughout the active season, and testosterone levels and performance capacities were …

Comparison Of Invasive And Non-Invasive Techniques For Measuring Fiddler Crab Density In A Salt Marsh, Charles Robert Hubbard

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Quantifying the density of burrowing crabs is challenging, and several techniques have been developed to accomplish it, including burrow counting, visual surveys of surface-active crabs, and substrate excavation. These techniques have been compared in mangrove forests but not in a salt marsh, nor has anyone attempted to excavate traps repeatedly for multiple days. Previous comparisons have not examined these techniques over the course of several months, nor considered the cost and precision associated with each technique. Therefore, from May of 2007 to April 2008, I conducted burrow, visual, single excavation, and repeated excavation surveys to estimate Uca pugnax density in …

Urban Catholic High Schools And Disadvantaged Females, Corinne R. Merrit

Journal of Catholic Education

The purpose of this study was to discover the life experiences of disadvantaged female graduates of urban Catholic high schools and what they say about the capacity of Catholic education to meet their academic, emotional, social, and spiritual needs. Based on narrative inquiry, this study was conducted using a series of in-depth, semistructured interviews to elicit the life experiences of 5 participants. Twelve common personal characteristics emerged directly from the narratives of the participants and provided the backdrop for two patterns: (a) the importance of education, and (b) the importance of relationships. This study found the high school experiences met …

Relationship Between Teacher Personality Type And Burnout In Rural Middle School Teachers, Melinda Mullis Dennis

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Personality type impacts so much of who an individual is and how he/she relates to various life situations and events. Teacher burnout is a contributing factor to ones stress, satisfaction, and continuation in the career of education. Because of the existing teacher shortage in the United States, administrators and policy makers need to understand the factors that contribute to burnout. Stressors that contribute to burnout in teaching include emotional exhaustion, a lack of professional guidance and peer support, and conflict with parents, peers, administrators, and students. Research into burnout suggests that some personality types may be more resilient to these …

"As-Yet-Still-Forgiven Past": Dylan Thomas And Nostalgia, David Bradley Bailey

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Dylan Thomas exhibited a variety of nostalgic influences within his poetry. A careful study of his life will reveal a nostalgia that evolved from adolescent musings upon an ideal past, to a self-destructive urge to return to innocence through death. Thomas incorporates a variety of historical influences within this nostalgia, but his primary influence is ultimately his own tormented past. This study not only focuses on the personal nostalgia of one man, but the variety of ways nostalgia can affect people, history and society as sociological force.

Lived Experiences Of Selected African-American Male Elementary Teachers In Georgia, Chequita Franchon Brady

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The supply and demand of teachers is constantly changing in the United States because they are steadily flowing in, through, and out of the educational profession (Ingersoll, 2002). Many educators and administrators are concerned about the shortage and underrepresentation of minority teachers in the profession such as African- Americans, Hispanics, Asians, Native Americans, and even males (Pytel, 2006). There is also an underrepresentation of African-American male elementary teachers. African- American male elementary teachers, a unique minority, are needed in the education profession to serve as role models earlier in the schooling process of young children, as well as to increase …

Modeling Physical-Chemical Properties Of High Dilutions: An Electrical Conductivity Study, Carla Holandino, Rafael Harduim, Venício Da Veiga, Sheila Garcia, Carlos Zacharias

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

The most common way to perform succussions is to place a liquid preparation inside a glass vessel and beat it vigorously against a hard elastic surface, either manually or using a mechanical apparatus. This procedure has been assumed able to transfer mechanical energy to the molecular level, where it becomes available to perform chemical work. Such interpretation has been enforced by observed changes in the electrical conductivity (EC) of High Dilutions (HD) due to succussion. In order to address this question, we compared the electrical conductivity changes of HD prepared from Vincristine sulfate (VCR) samples with those of an inert …

Immunological Studies On Rheumatoid Arthritis Treated With Homeopathic Drugs: Results Of The Pilot Study, Prakash Rao, M Prasanna

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Introduction & Objective: Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA), a systemic disease, is characterized by a chronic inflammatory reaction in the synovium of joints. The inflammation is mediated by inflammatory cytokines. The objective of the study was to evaluate efficacy of homeopathic drugs and changes in the cytokine profile of rheumatoid arthritis patients treated with homeopathic drugs. Materials and Methods: A total of 35 rheumatoid arthritis patients and 10 healthy controls completed this pilot study. The patients were treated with Rhus tox. (8), Pulsatilla (8) and Medorrhinum (9) according to totality of symptoms. The control group (10) received placebo. The patients were evaluated …

Simulation Of Nanostructured Electrodes For Polymer Electrolyte Membrane Fuel Cells, Sanjeev M. Rao, Yangchuan Xing

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Aligned carbon nanotubes (CNTs) with Pt uniformly deposited on them are being considered in fabricating the catalyst layer of polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cell electrodes. When coated with a proton conducting polymer (e.g., Nafion) on the Pt/CNTs, each Pt/CNT acts as a nanoelectrode and a collection of such nanoelectrodes constitutes the proposed nanostructured electrodes. Computer modeling was performed for the cathode side, in which both multicomponent and Knudsen diffusion were taken into account. the effect of the nanoelectrode lengths was also studied with catalyst layer thicknesses of 2, 4, 6, and 10 μm. It was observed that shorter lengths …

Translating Terms Of The Functional Basis Into Biologically Meaningful Keywords, Hyunmin Cheong, L. H. Shu, Robert B. Stone, Daniel A. Mcadams

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Biology has long been recognized as an excellent source of analogies and stimuli for engineering design. Previous work focused on the systematic identification of relevant biological analogies by searching for instances of functional keywords in biological information in natural language format. This past work revealed that engineering keywords couldn't always be used to identify the most relevant biological analogies, as the vocabularies between biology and engineering are sufficiently distinct. Therefore, a method of identifying biologically meaningful keywords that correspond to engineering keywords was developed. Here, we apply and refine this method by generating biologically meaningful keywords for the terms of …

2008 Tennessee Spring North American Migration Counts, Ron Hoff

The Migrant - Tennessee Ornithological Society

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Cave And Karst Studies, Volume 70, No. 3, December 2008, Table Of Contents, National Speleological Society

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

The Social Contract And Authorship: Allocating Entitlements In The Copyright System. , Alina Ng

Fordham Intellectual Property, Media and Entertainment Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Murine Hepatic And Splenic Response To Francisella Tularensis, John Wilson Rasmussen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

[to be added]

Bioflocculation For Control Of Wastewater Pond Microalgae, Daniel Thomas Frost

Master's Theses

Investigates several hypotheses regarding the use of bioflocculation as a harvesting method for wastewater pond microalgae. Research performed on pilot-scale high rate ponds (HRPs) on the California Central Coast.

Comparison Of Electrically Mediated And Liposome-Complexed Plasmid Dna Delivery To The Skin, Loree C. Heller, Mark J. Jaroszeski, Domenico Coppola, Richard Heller

Bioelectrics Publications

BACKGROUND: Electroporation is an established technique for enhancing plasmid delivery to many tissues in vivo, including the skin. We have previously demonstrated efficient delivery of plasmid DNA to the skin utilizing a custom-built four-plate electrode. The experiments described here further evaluate cutaneous plasmid delivery using in vivo electroporation. Plasmid expression levels are compared to those after liposome mediated delivery.

METHODS: Enhanced electrically-mediated delivery, and less extensively, liposome complexed delivery, of a plasmid encoding the reporter luciferase was tested in rodent skin. Expression kinetics and tissue damage were explored as well as testing in a second rodent model.

RESULTS: Experiments …

Monitoring Calcium, Phosphorous, And Vitamin D₃ Deficiencies In Starter, Growing, And Finishing Pigs, Chris Hostetler, Bob Thaler

SDSU Extension Extra Archives

Due to the increasing cost of dietary ingredients, many swine producers are looking for the most cost-effective ways to meet the nutritional needs of their animals. One of the most costly ingredients in swine diets is inorganic phosphorus, which is normally supple¬mented as dicalcium phosphate. Calcium, phosphorus, and vitamin D3 each play a major role in bone formation, and a deficiency in these nutrients can lead to depressed growth, rickets, broken bones, and, eventually, paralysis in the hind legs. A lesser-known symptom of calcium/phosphorus/vitamin D3 deficiency is the formation of large nodules, called rachitic rosaries, on the ribs of market …

Preventative Feeding Of The Dairy Cow In Transition, Alvaro Garcia, Arnold Hippen

SDSU Extension Extra Archives

The transition period in the lactating dairy cow is characterized by decreased feed intake that starts late in the close-up period and recovers several days after calving. This drop in intake results in an imbalance between required and absorbed nutrients. Other factors that are related to the volume and physical form of the feed can lead to problems frequently observed at calving time. In general, the veterinary diagnosis is based upon clinical symptoms of certain ailments. For greater chances of success and decreased treatment costs, it’s necessary to detect these ailments during their subclinical stage, or, better yet, to prevent …

Main Hall To Main Street, December 2008, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of University Relations

Main Hall to Main Street, 2005-2010

This is volume 14, number 12 of Main Hall to Main Street.

The Evolution Of Thermal Reaction Norms For Growth Rate: Is Hotter Better?, Dee Ann Asbury

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Several researchers have proposed that warm-adapted organisms should outperform cold-adapted organisms because of the greater rates ofreactions at higher temperatures. This hypothesis-commonly referred to as 'hotter is better'-predicts that maximal performance should increase as the thermal optimum increases. I used published thermal reaction norms for 23 species of fish to test the hypothesis that hotter is better for individual growth rate. These studies reported a wide range of thermal optima among species. Using a phylogenetic hypothesis derived from multiple published sources, I calculated independent contrasts of thermal optima and maximal growth rates. The maximal growth rate appears unrelated to the …

Escherichia Coli Ftna Acts As An Iron Buffer For Re-Assembly Of Iron-Sulfur Clusters In Response To Hydrogen Peroxide Stress, Jacob P. Bitoun, Genfu Wu, Huangen Ding

Faculty Publications

Iron-sulfur clusters are one of the most ubiquitous redox centers in biology. Ironically, iron-sulfur clusters are highly sensitive to reactive oxygen species. Disruption of iron-sulfur clusters will not only change the activity of proteins that host iron-sulfur clusters, the iron released from the disrupted iron-sulfur clusters will further promote the production of deleterious hydroxyl free radicals via the Fenton reaction. Here, we report that ferritin A (FtnA), a major iron-storage protein in Escherichia coli, is able to scavenge the iron released from the disrupted iron-sulfur clusters and alleviates the production of hydroxyl free radicals. Furthermore, we find that the iron …

Identification Of Two Genes, Sll0804 And Slr1306, As Putative Components Of The Co2-Concentrating Mechanism In The Cyanobacterium Synechocystis Sp. Strain Pcc 6803, Shulu Zhang, Kevin W. Spann, Laurie K. Frankel, James V. Moroney, Terry M. Bricker

Faculty Publications

Insertional transposon mutations in the sll0804 and slr1306 genes were found to lead to a loss of optimal photoautotrophy in the cyanobacterium Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803 grown under ambient CO2 concentrations (350 ppm). Mutants containing these insertions (4BA2 and 3ZA12, respectively) could grow photoheterotrophically on glucose or photoautotrophically at elevated CO2 concentrations (50,000 ppm). Both of these mutants exhibited an impaired affinity for inorganic carbon. Consequently, the Sll0804 and Slr1306 proteins appear to be putative components of the carbon-concentrating mechanism in Synechocystis sp. strain PCC 6803. Copyright © 2008, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Radiographic And Functional Analysis Of Movement Allowed By Four Wrist Immobilization Devices, Timothy M. Mullen

Dissertations

Immobilization of the wrist is a common practice throughout the healthcare industry. The main forms of wrist immobilization are short-arm casts, prefabricated wrist splints, custom volar wrist splints, and custom circumferential wrist splints. It is generally accepted, by the medical community, that each form of immobilization allows for some movement. The amount each device allows is unknown. Establishing data that accurately describe the amount of mobility in each immobilization device will allow clinicians to make an evidence-based decision each time they are confronted with the need to order an orthosis.

The purpose of this study was to identify the specific …

Construction Of A New Model System In Saccharomyces Cerevisa To Study Yopo And Identify Its Targets, Laura Nejedlik

Dissertations

Yersinia species use a type three secretion system (TTSS) to inject Yersinia outer proteins (Yops) into the target cell. The effector YopO is a serine/threonine kinase which upon association with actin becomes active. However, activation of the kinase is not required for actin disruption. YopO also contains a Rho/Rac binding domain, but it is unclear how it affects these proteins.

We have established an expression system in Saccharomyces cerevisiae to study YopO. The expression vector contains a GAL1 promoter for inducible expression of YopO as well as a V5 epitope used for visualization of each Yop. We have shown that …

Characterization Of The Ap-1 And Nf-Kappa B Transcription Factors In The U-87 Mg Astrocytoma Cell Line, Denise L. Smith

Dissertations

Growth factors, signaling molecules and transcription factors are frequently mutated in cancer and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been shown to be over-expressed in most gliomas. In the astrocytoma cell line U-87 MG, the over-expression of PDGF has been shown to lead to over-expression of transcription factors activator-protein-1 (AP-1) and nuclear factor-kappa B (NF-κB), and it is believed that the individual subunits of AP-1 (c-Jun, JunB, JunD, c-Fos, FosB, Fra-1, and Fra-2) and NF-κB (c-Rel, p50, p52, p65, and RelB) play different roles in proliferation, survival and differentiation in the U-87 MG cell line.

To assess these different roles, transient …

Evaluation Of Electron Donor Materials Used To Create Subsurface Permeable Reactive Barriers For Enhanced Reductive Dechlorination Of Chlorinated Ethenes, Elizabeth S. Semkiw

Dissertations

Chlorinated ethenes (CEs) are widespread ground water contaminants, apparently due to their extensive migration from numerous contamination source points. In this study, a long-term field investigation and aquifer microcosm experiments were combined to evaluate the effectiveness of electron donor materials used to create and maintain subsurface permeable reactive barriers (PRBs) for the enhanced in-situ biodegradation of CEs. The laboratory component includes the first side-by-side comparison of electron donor materials dairy whey, lactate syrup, and Hydrogen Release Compound® (HRC), in which dechlorination rates, fermentation product distributions, and H₂ production were monitored as measures of substrate efficiency. Field study allowed the …

Counselors Working In Integrated Primary Behavioral Health And The Influence On Professional Identity: A Phenomenological Study, Geniene Michelle Gersh

Dissertations

Over the past several years there has been a paradigm shift within the primary care delivery system from a traditional medical approach of providing behavioral health services to an integrated primary behavioral health model. This shift in patient care presents new opportunities for professional counselors to assume a role working in the health care arena. Currently there is a lack of research exploring the experiences of counselors working in this model. In addition, there is a deficit in the existing counseling literature specifically examining how working in this setting may potentially influence counselor identity. In an effort to inform counselors …