Digital Commons Network^™

The Collegian (2008-01-28), Isis Lopez

UTB/TSC Archives - The Collegian [Newspaper]

Vol. 60, No. 17

Ten Students Inducted Into Um Hall Of Fame For 2007-08, Rebecca Lauck Cleary

University of Mississippi News

OXFORD, Miss. - Ten University of Mississippi seniors have earned entry into the school's Hall of Fame, one of the university's highest honors.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, January 28, 2008, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Computational Prediction And Molecular Confirmation Of Helitron Transposons In The Maize Genome, Chunguang Du, Jason Caronna, Limei He, Hugo K. Dooner

Department of Biology Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Background: Helitrons represent a new class of transposable elements recently uncovered in plants and animals. One remarkable feature of Helitrons is their ability to capture gene sequences, which makes them of considerable potential evolutionary importance. However, because Helitrons lack the typical structural features of other DNA transposable elements, identifying them is a challenge. Currently, most researchers identify Helitrons manually by comparing sequences. With the maize whole genome sequencing project underway, an automated computational Helitron searching tool is needed. The characterization of Helitron activities in maize needs to be addressed in order to better understand the impact of Helitrons on the …

The Current: Volume 18: Issue 15, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

The Bg News January 28, 2008, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. January 28, 2008. Volume 98-Issue 91.

Review Of The Genus Microchilus Blanchard (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae: Rutelinae: Geniatini), Mary Liz Jameson

University of Nebraska State Museum: Entomology Papers

The Brazilian scarab beetle genus Microchilus Blanchard (Rutelinae: Geniatini) is reviewed. Based on examination of type specimens, Microchilus beckeri Martínez is transferred to the genus Leucothyreus becoming L. beckeri (Martínez), new combination; Leucothyreus bucki Machatschke is a new junior synonym of L. beckeri (Martínez). Microchilus is limited to two species, M. beckeri (Martínez) and a new species, Microchilus rodmani Jameson, here described. Characters that circumscribe the genus, biology, and species distribution are discussed.

The Dynastinae (Coleoptera: Scarabaeidae) Of The Bahamas With A Description Of A New Species Of Cyclocephala From Great Inagua Island, Brett C. Ratcliffe, Ronald D. Cave

University of Nebraska State Museum: Entomology Papers

The seven genera and 13 species of dynastine scarabs recorded from the Bahamas are reviewed. Two of those species are endemic, including Cyclocephala dolichotarsa Ratcliffe and Cave, new species, described from Great Inagua Island. Eleven species are also known to occur in the USA and/or Cuba. Six species are probably not established based on infrequency of collection.

Our Places To Tell Stories: Preliminary Program, Public Lands Institute

Our Places to Tell Stories

Our Places Tell Stories is an innovative conference for educators and others working at public lands, nature centers, museums, zoos, aquariums, and other nature- and heritage-rich places. By providing participants with successful educational strategies and techniques, this conference will meet the needs of those interested in learning how to effectively connect with audiences to create motivated stewards of the environment.

Evolution And Field Application Of A Plankton Imaging System, Andrew Walker Remsen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the processes controlling the distribution and abundance of zooplankton has been a primary concern of oceanographers and has driven the development of numerous technologies to more accurately quantify these parameters. This study investigates the potential of a new plankton imaging sensor, the shadowed image particle profiling and evaluation recorder (SIPPER), that I helped develop at the University of South Florida, to address that concern. In the first chapter, results from the SIPPER are compared against concurrently sampling plankton nets and the optical plankton counter (OPC), the most widely used optical zooplankton sampling sensor in the field. It was found …

Abstraction, Extension And Structural Auditing With The Umls Semantic Network, Yan Chen

Dissertations

The Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) is a two-level biomedical terminological knowledge base, consisting of the Metathesaurus (META) and the Semantic Network (SN), which is an upper-level ontology of broad categories called semantic types (STs). The two levels are related via assignments of one or more STs to each concept of the META.

Although the SN provides a high-level abstraction for the META, it is not compact enough. Various metaschemas, which are compact higher-level abstraction networks of the SN, have been derived. A methodology is presented to evaluate and compare two given metaschemas, based on their structural properties. A consolidation …

Mechanisms Of Ionic Current Changes Underlying Rhythmic Activity Recovery After Decentralization, Olga E. Khorkova Sherman

Dissertations

Neuronal networks capableof generating rhythmic output in the absence of patterned sensory or central inputs are widely represented in the nervous system where they support a variety of functions, from learning and memory to rhythmic motor activity such as breathing. To perfectly function in a living organism, rhythm-generating networks have to combine the capability of producing a stable output with the plasticity needed to adapt to the changing demands of the organism and environment. This dissertation used the pyloric network of the crab Cancer borealis to identify potential mechanisms that ensure stability and adaptation of rhythm generation by neuronal networks …

Design Of Three-Dimensional Axon Stretch Growth Device, Fayekah Assanah

Theses

Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) causes destruction and degeneration of axons in the white matter of the spinal cord, resulting in functional loss and paralysis. A successful treatment of SCI requires axons to regenerate across damaged regions. Current studies focus on identifying mechanisms to promote axon regeneration in lesions and have yet to be successful in preventing nerve degeneration due to scar tissue formation. Establishing axonal bridges over long distances of SCI lesions remains a challenge, resulting in poor functional recovery. Instead of relying on promoting axon regeneration into lesions, Pfister et al. has developed a transplantable nervous tissue construct spanned …

Pattern Recognition Of Brain Fmri Images For Various Physiological States, Priyanka Bhatt

Theses

The development of fMRI (functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging) has led many researchers to localize brain functions using different stimuli. The use of pattern recognition techniques have made it possible to predict the stimuli being presented from the corresponding brain images and activation patterns. The primary objective of the present study was to use pattern recognition methods to develop a model using available fMRJ images and then to use the model to identify the stimulus presented from a large number of unknown images. Two different experimental conditions were used involving both binary and multi-class classification. Bilateral finger tapping data which had …

Rna Genome Annotation With A Focus On T. Brucei, Brett Bucci

Theses

The goal of this project is to identify untranslated regions (UTRs) and UTR-indicating patterns in the genome of T. brucei. T. brucei is an interesting organism, and as the cause of African sleeping sickness -- which infects 300,000-500,000 people and a significant number of cattle annually -- is currently the subject of considerable research. Using existing algorithms, several patterns have been found that may lead to more complete UTR annotations in the T. brucei genome. The most encouraging sequence is the 11-base sequence GAGGGIICG]TGGGG, which appears in five hypothetical genes near the tail. Discovery of several such sequences could guide …

Multi Well Uni-Axial Stretch Injury Device, Mridusmita Choudhury

Theses

Most diffuse brain injury is the result of uni-axial stretch of brain axons in traumatic brain injury. Traumatic injury to axons throughout the brain and is believed to be a major cause for coma, and other complications. Diffuse axonal injury is mostly multi-focal and appears throughout the deep cortical and sub-cortical regions.

Several models have tried to replicate this phenomenon. Previous models, like the Penn model, have lower throughput as they conduct experiments on one well at a time, and it has lower reproducibility as well. The other problem with these models is that they are not very user friendly, …

Utr Prediction Programs For Trypanosoma Brucei, Maria Moutafis

Theses

In the past few years, the field of bioinformatics has seen a rapid increase in the need for use of various sequence analysis tools. As we advance in the fields of science and technology, new programs and software are constantly being developed in this field. Rapidly expanding gene sequence databases and rapidly evolving sequence analysis tools are providing researchers with ways to search for highly similar query sequences whether they are nucleotide, protein, or gene databases. This thesis will focus on sequence alignment tools, specifically concentrating on tools that help determine/predict non-coding regions of sequences also known as untranslated regions …

Mapping Inter-Subject And Inter-Regional Brain Connectivity During Free Viewing Of Novel Natural Scenes, Sheela Nagaraj

Theses

Traditional functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) studies have used controlled tasks such as finger tapping to isolate function in distinct cortical. Recent studies have examined the mechanisms involved during natural conditions by asking subjects to freely view the presentation of a movie. The objective of our study was to further observe the extent to which similarities are present between subjects during natural vision. It was hypothesized that there would be a linear relationship between the percentage of region-specific overlap, which is the percent of the anatomical region of interest which contains spatial activation exhibited by all six subjects, and corresponding …

Ultra-Fine Particle Formation Using Principle Of Rapid Expansion Of Supercritical Solutions`, Miraj Minesh Sheth

Theses

There are indications in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries that the reduction in size of a crystalline particle can lead to better performance of the drug compound, particularly for water insoluble drugs, in the final dosage form. Many particle formation techniques have been investigated in recent years by researchers to obtain desired particulate sizes and size distributions. Supercritical fluid technologies have been successfully investigated for particle formation due to its unique gas/liquid properties in the supereritical state. In this report, results of particle formation using the principles of Rapid Expansion of Supercritical Solutions (RESS) have been documented.

In the RESS …

The Extraction Of Type 1 Collagen And The Fabrication Of Multi-Filament Embedded Hydrogels For Guided Nerve Regeneration, Mevan Lakmal Siriwardane

Theses

Each year, there are approximately 11,000 new cases of spinal cord injury (SCI) in the United States [2]. There have been some success in pre-clinical studies to induce axonal generation, but the reconnection of axons over large distances remains the greatest challenge. Since the development of nerve conduit to facilitate general axonal regeneration, the primary focus has changed to directing the regeneration of axons while also promoting their outgrowth over very extensive lesions to ensure functional recovery of transected nerves during in vitro experiments by using natural materials such as type I collagen, which is the largest constituent of the …

Fracture Healing : The Effects Of Local Insulin Delivery Via Calcium Sulfate And Tricalcium Phosphate, Sarah Elizabeth Buchala

Theses

Previous studies have documented the major role played by insulin in osseous healing. This is the first study to examine local intramedullary insulin delivery to the fracture site and its effect upon the normal fracture healing process. Preceding results show that when administered at the fracture site of the impaired fracture healing model of the diabetic BB Wistar rat, insulin will regulate early cellular proliferation and chondrogenesis and late mineralized tissue, cartilage content and mechanical strength.

In this study, two novel delivery vehicles have been evaluated for sustained insulin release in the normal fracture model of the BB Wistar rat. …

Dexamethasone- And Age-Sensitive Genes In Neonatal Small Intestine, Carla Cerqueira

Theses

Regulation of GLUT5 is dependent on the presence of its substrate, fructose, but it is also correlated with the developmental (aging) process of the intestine. To identify fructose-responsive genes whose expression also changes with age, intestines of 10 and 20 d old pups were perfused, by Ferraris et al., with fructose and then compared by microarray analysis. From this, a gene clustering analysis revealed that some age- and fructose-specific genes are regulated by corticosterones, which normally increase in pups ≥ 14 d old. Subsequent work indicated that priming the gut with Dexamethasone (Dex, a glucocorticoid analog) allowed fructose to precociously …

Right-Handed 14-Helix In Β3-Peptides From L-Aspartic Acid Monomers, Kamaljit Kaur, Tara Sprules, Wael Soliman, Reem Beleid, Sahar Ahmed

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

β-Peptides made from L-aspartic acid monomers form a new class of β³-peptides. Here we report the first three-dimensional NMR solution structure of a β³-hexapeptide (1) from L-aspartic acid monomers in 2,2,2-trifluoroethanol (TFE). We show that 1 forms a right-handed 14-helical structure in TFE. α-peptides from naturally occurring L-amino acids adopt a right-handed α-helix whereas β³-peptides formed from β³-amino acids derived from naturally occurring L-amino acids form left-handed 14-helices. The right-handed 14-helical conformation of 1 is a better mimic of α-peptide conformations. Using the NMR structure of 1 in TFE, we …

Quarterly Meeting, Wku Board Of Regents

Board of Regents Documents

Minutes of WKU Board of Regents quarterly meeting. Agenda items include: 2007-08 operating budget, enrollment, personnel actions and salaries, President Gary Ransdell's evaluation, donations, purchase of property and legislative priorities.

Attachment to the minutes:

• Kentucky Attorney General ruling on College Heights Herald complaint re: open meetings
• Proclamation of WKU Day at the Capitol by Jody Richards in the Kentucky House of Representatives
• Resolution in honor of WKU Regents by Brett Guthrie in the Kentucky Senate
• Presentation to WKU Board of Regents by Bradford Cowgill of the Kentucky Council on Postsecondary Education
• 2007 I-A Football Transition

Comparative Analysis Of Selenocysteine Machinery And Selenoproteome Gene Expression In Mouse Brain Identifies Neurons As Key Functional Sites Of Selenium In Mammals, Yan Zhang, You Zhou, Ulrich Schweizer, Nicolai E. Savaskan, Deame Hua, Jonathan Kipnis, Dolph L. Hatfield, Vadim N. Gladyshev

Vadim Gladyshev Publications

Although dietary selenium (Se) deficiency results in phenotypes associated with selenoprotein depletion in various organs, the brain is protected from Se loss. To address the basis for the critical role of Se in brain function, we carried out comparative gene expression analyses for the complete selenoproteome and associated biosynthetic factors. Using the Allen Brain Atlas, we evaluated 159 regions of adult mouse brain and provided experimental analyses of selected selenoproteins. All 24 selenoprotein mRNAs were expressed in the mouse brain. Most strikingly, neurons in olfactory bulb, hippocampus, cerebral cortex, and cerebellar cortex were exceptionally rich in selenoprotein gene expression, in …

Mustang Daily, January 25, 2008

Cal Poly Student Newspaper

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

Semantics And Services Enabled Problem Solving Environment For Trypanosoma Cruzi, Amit P. Sheth, Rick L. Tarleton, Mark Musen, Satya S. Sahoo, Prashant Doshi, Natasha Noy

Kno.e.sis Publications

No abstract provided.

The Tiger Vol. 102 Issue 2 2008-01-25, Clemson University

Tiger Newspapers

No abstract provided.

A Dynamic Bayesian Network Approach To Protein Secondary Structure Prediction, Xin-Qiu Joe Yao, Huaigiu Zhu, Zhen-Su She

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Background

Protein secondary structure prediction method based on probabilistic models such as hidden Markov model (HMM) appeals to many because it provides meaningful information relevant to sequence-structure relationship. However, at present, the prediction accuracy of pure HMM-type methods is much lower than that of machine learning-based methods such as neural networks (NN) or support vector machines (SVM).

Results

In this paper, we report a new method of probabilistic nature for protein secondary structure prediction, based on dynamic Bayesian networks (DBN). The new method models the PSI-BLAST profile of a protein sequence using a multivariate Gaussian distribution, and simultaneously takes into …

Reporter - January 25th 2008, Rit Reporter Staff

University Publications

Editor's Note; Table of Contents; Christians vs. Skeptics; Brick Beat; Forecast; Student Government Weekly Update; Fiction; Reviews; At Your Leisure; Dr. Destler; Student Government; That Guy; Sports Desk; Hockey; Rings; Views