Digital Commons Network^™

Working For The "Working River": Willamette River Water Pollution, 1926 To 1962, James Vincent Hillegas

Dissertations and Theses

Efforts to abate Willamette River pollution between 1926 and 1962 centered on a struggle between abatement advocates and the two primary polluters in the watershed, the City of Portland and the pulp and paper industry. Throughout the twentieth century, the Willamette was by far the most heavily populated and industrialized watershed in Oregon. Like many other of the world's rivers, the Willamette was an integral part of municipal and industrial waste removal systems. As such, the main stem of the river carried the combined wastes from sewage outfalls serving hundreds of thousands of people and millions of gallons daily of …

Cultural Responses To Climate Change In The Holocene, Richard Prentice

Anthós

Variable Holocene climate conditions have caused cultures to thrive, adapt or fail. The invention of agriculture and the domestication of plants and animals allowed sedentary societies to develop and are the result of the climate becoming warmer after the last glaciation. The subsequent cooling of the Younger Dryas forced humans to concentrate into geographic areas that had an abundant water supply and ultimately favorable conditions for the use of agriculture and widespread domestication of plants and animals. Population densities would have reached a threshold and forced a return to foraging, however the end of the Younger Dryas at 10,000 BP …

A Greener Vertical Habitat: Creating A Naturally Cohesive Sense Of Community In A Vertical Multi-Family Housing Structure, Justin Onorati

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Throughout multiple dense, tropical, urban contexts, high rise residential environments have created a sense of social detachment, where public and private green spaces do not often exist. It is through these varieties of green spaces that social interaction is encouraged, and without these social activities taking place, this vertical community becomes almost a meaningless entity within the urban realm. The issue being addressed within this thesis is the scarcity of public and private green spaces within our high density tropical urban fabrics that help to create a sense of community. The majority of dense urban settings that we inhabit today …

Prion Protein Glycosylation Is Not Required For Strain-Specific Neurotropism, Justin R. Piro, Brent T. Harris, Koren Nishina, Claudio Soto, Rodrigo Morales, Judy R. Rees, Surachai Supattapone

Dartmouth Scholarship

In this study, we tested the hypothesis that the glycosylation of the pathogenic isoform of the prion protein (PrP^Sc) might encode the selective neurotropism of prion strains. We prepared unglycosylated cellular prion protein (PrP^C) substrate molecules from normal mouse brain by treatment with PNGase F and used reconstituted serial protein cyclic misfolding amplification reactions to produce RML and 301C mouse prions containing unglycosylated PrP^Sc molecules. Both RML- and 301C-derived prions containing unglycosylated PrP^Sc molecules were infectious to wild-type mice, and neuropathological analysis showed that mice inoculated with these samples maintained strain-specific patterns of PrP …

Phylogeographic And Phylogenetic Exploration Of Plethodon (Plethodontidae, Caudata) Salamanders In The Pacific Northwest, Tara Anne Pelletier

Dissertations and Theses

Genetic studies of amphibians often reveal substantial population structure due to either historical demographics from changing climate and geographic features over varying timeframes. Eight species of terrestrial salamanders (Family: Plethodontidae, Genus: Plethodon) reside in forests of the Pacific Northwest (PNW). Plethodon vehiculum is the most widespread and abundant terrestrial salamander in the PNW yet evolutionary studies are lacking. Using mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) sequence data (D-loop and cytb) questions regarding the phylogeography of P. vehiculum and phylogenetics of western Plethodons are explored. Two major clades were defined in P. vehiculum, a southern clade in the Klamath-Siskiyou region and a …

Machine Annotation Of Traditional Irish Dance Music, Bryan Duggan

Doctoral

The work presented in this thesis is validated in experiments using 130 realworld field recordings of traditional music from sessions, classes, concerts and commercial recordings. Test audio includes solo and ensemble playing on a variety of instruments recorded in real-world settings such as noisy public sessions. Results are reported using standard measures from the field of information retrieval (IR) including accuracy, error, precision and recall and the system is compared to alternative approaches for CBMIR common in the literature.

Intravenous Inoculation Of A Bat-Associated Rabies Virus Causes Lethal Encephalopathy In Mice Through Invasion Of The Brain Via Neurosecretory Hypothalamic Fibers., Mirjam A R Preuss, Marie-Luise Faber, Gene S Tan, Michael Bette, Bernhard Dietzschold, Eberhard Weihe, Matthias J Schnell

Department of Microbiology and Immunology Faculty Papers

The majority of rabies virus (RV) infections are caused by bites or scratches from rabid carnivores or bats. Usually, RV utilizes the retrograde transport within the neuronal network to spread from the infection site to the central nervous system (CNS) where it replicates in neuronal somata and infects other neurons via trans-synaptic spread. We speculate that in addition to the neuronal transport of the virus, hematogenous spread from the site of infection directly to the brain after accidental spill over into the vascular system might represent an alternative way for RV to invade the CNS. So far, it is unknown …

Interaction With Lc8 Is Required For Pak1 Nuclear Import And Is Indispensable For Zebrafish Development., Christine M Lightcap, Gabor Kari, Luis E Arias-Romero, Jonathan Chernoff, Ulrich Rodeck, John C Williams

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Pak1 (p21 activated kinase 1) is a serine/threonine kinase implicated in regulation of cell motility and survival and in malignant transformation of mammary epithelial cells. In addition, the dynein light chain, LC8, has been described to cooperate with Pak1 in malignant transformation of breast cancer cells. Pak1 itself may aid breast cancer development by phosphorylating nuclear proteins, including estrogen receptor alpha. Recently, we showed that the LC8 binding site on Pak1 is adjacent to the nuclear localization sequence (NLS) required for Pak1 nuclear import. Here, we demonstrate that the LC8-Pak1 interaction is necessary for epidermal growth factor (EGF)-induced nuclear import …

Meeting The Extension Needs Of Women Farmers: A Perspective From Pennsylvania, Mary Barbercheck, Kathryn J. Braiser, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, Carolyn Sachs, Amy Trauger, Jill Findeis, Ann Stone, Linda Stewart Moist

Journal of Extension

According to the 2002 Census of Agriculture, women comprised 11% of principal farm operators and 27% of all farm operators. Here we report findings from a needs assessment conducted to understand the educational needs of women farmers in Pennsylvania. We describe the characteristics of the women who responded to the needs assessment, the problems they face in making their farm operation successful, and the program topics and formats they prefer. Finally, we provide recommendations to increase Extension engagement with this growing clientele.

Extension Educators' Perceptions Of The Educational Needs Of Women Farmers In Pennsylvania, Kathryn Braiser, Mary Barbercheck, Nancy Ellen Kiernan, Carolyn Sachs, Audrey Schwartzberg, Amy Trauger

Journal of Extension

The number of women farm operators has steadily increased in the United States, comprising 30% of all farm operators (2007 Census of Agriculture). The increasing diversity of farmers presents new audiences for Extension and for whom programs should be developed according to their educational needs. We report results from a survey of Extension educators in Pennsylvania. We identify how Extension educators perceive women farmers, the factors that influence these perceptions, and how these perceptions influence educational programming. We recommend ways to reach women farmers with programs that are appropriate in both content and delivery.

5/28/09: Chai Ling’S Last Will And Testament, Philip J. Cunningham

China Beat Blog: Archive 2008-2012

This piece is excerpted from the manuscript of Philip J. Cunningham’s forthcoming book, Tiananmen Moon, part of an on-going China Beat feature of excerpts from Cunningham’s book, and describes the set-up for one of the most famous interviews of the final days of the student movement. Interested readers can see more at Cunningham’s website.

A petite sun-bronzed woman wearing a stained white tennis shirt and dusty beige trousers sits next to me in the back of the taxi, grimacing as if in pain, weeping quietly to herself. Named to the police blacklist, she says she fears imminent arrest. Up front …

Predictive Decoding Of Neural Data, Yaroslav O. Halchenko

Dissertations

In the last five decades the number of techniques available for non-invasive functional imaging has increased dramatically. Researchers today can choose from a variety of imaging modalities that include EEG, MEG, PET, SPECT, MRI, and fMRI.

This doctoral dissertation offers a methodology for the reliable analysis of neural data at different levels of investigation. By using statistical learning algorithms the proposed approach allows single-trial analysis of various neural data by decoding them into variables of interest. Unbiased testing of the decoder on new samples of the data provides a generalization assessment of decoding performance reliability. Through consecutive analysis of the …

Discreet Dynamical Population Models : Higher Dimensional Pioneer-Climax Models, Yogesh Joshi

Dissertations

There are many population models in the literature for both continuous and discrete systems. This investigation begins with a general discrete model that subsumes almost all of the discrete population models currently in use. Some results related to the existence of fixed points are proved. Before launching into a mathematical analysis of the primary discrete dynamical model investigated in this dissertation, the basic elements of the model - pioneer and climax species - are described and discussed from an ecological as well as a dynamical systems perspective. An attempt is made to explain why the chosen hierarchical form of the …

Nucleus 2009: Are You In?, New Jersey Institute Of Technology

Yearbooks

This is a digitized, downloadable version of the New Jersey Institute of Technology Nucleus.

Clustered Wireless Sensor Networks, Renita Margaret Machado

Dissertations

The study of topology in randomly deployed wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is important in addressing the fundamental issue of stochastic coverage resulting from randomness in the deployment procedure and power management algorithms. This dissertation defines and studies clustered WSNs, WSNs whose topology due to the deployment procedure and the application requirements results in the phenomenon of clustering or clumping of nodes. The first part of this dissertation analyzes a range of topologies of clustered WSNs and their impact on the primary sensing objectives of coverage and connectivity. By exploiting the inherent advantages of clustered topologies of nodes, this dissertation presents …

Reliability Of Resting Brain Networks Using Fmri, Suril Rajeshkumar Gohel

Theses

Resting state FMRI studies on human subjects are primarily focused on elaborating effects of resting state brain networks on task induced paradigm and to check consistency of these networks between different groups of populations. Recent studies have shown consistency of RSFC networks within same subjects with intra-site and intra-session variation.

The primary objective of this study was to check consistency of resting state networks between sites and between different groups of people in spite of change in scanning parameters and population. A total of 437 subjects resting state FMRI data from six different sites were collected varying in age group …

An In Vitro Study To Characterize A New Automated High Throughput Neuronal Stretch Injury System, Nicolae Valerian Hususan

Theses

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is one of the most prevalent long-term neurological conditions and its overall economic consequences rival that of stroke. Considering the importance of the topic, new models for studying TBI are often designed and created. Based on a model developed by the University of Pennsylvania, NJIT constructed a fully automated version, which injures neuronal cell cultures in uniaxial regime and provides the high experimental yield required in pharmaceutical and neuroscience studies.

In this investigation, a new methodology for culturing primary cortical neurons of rat origin was established. Viable cell cultures developed for the first time in NJIT …

Constructivist Learning Verses Explicit Teaching: A Personal Discovery Of Balance, Tara N. Tetzlaff

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

This synthesis reflects my exploration of the theories of constructivist learning, explicit teaching, and social learning in the context of my work as instructor at Children's Technology Workshop- a company that runs creative technology programs for children. I provide a description of each theory with examples based on my experience at CTWorkshop and claim that while constructivist learning and explicit teaching do have some noticeable differences, they share the common element of social learning opportunities. Additionally, I argue that constructivist learning and explicit teaching are not necessarily incompatible approaches to education, but can be effectively combined to minimize the deficits …

In Vitro Comparison Of A New Stand-Alone Anterior Lumbar Interbody Cage Device With Established Fixation Techniques, Nitin Chawla

Theses

Around 70% of the population in the United States experience low back pain at some point of their lives, of these 4% underwent surgical intervention on the lumbar spine to relieve the pain. Spinal arthrodesis, i.e. joint fusion, is beneficial in many cases as the final option for patients suffering from certain types of low back pain (LBP). In order to promote solid fusion across a decompressed spinal segment, interbody spacers/cages are used with and without posterior instrumentation to provide an initial "rigid" fixation of the segment.

In this study three fresh/frozen human cadaveric lumbar spines were used. Each lumbar …

Development Of An Experimental System To Determine The Contribution Of Titin And Collagen To Passive Stiffness Of Myocardium, Saurin Bharat Shah

Theses

Diastolic dysfunction is known to be a major factor for congestive heart failure in aged humans and other mammals. The main contributors to increase in the myocardial stiffness, hindering the cardiac mechanics, are alterations in intracellular titin and extracellular collagen matrix. Titin is a giant extensible protein, the third filament of striated muscle after actin and myosin, which provides elasticity to passive sarcomeres. The aim of this study is to develop an efficient experimental system that will prove to be instrumental in comparing the contribution of titin against collagen to the passive stiffness of cardiac muscle extracted from experimental animals …

Education In The Environment: A Strategy For Continued Interagency Outdoor Education Programming: Fourth Quarter Progress Report With Annual Report: Period Ending May 31,2009, Margaret N. Rees

Reports (PLI Education)

Highlights of the university 's focused efforts during the past three months include the following:

• Twenty-four people from the Summer and Fall 2008 cohorts have successfully graduated from the Nevada State Certification in Environmental and Interpretation Program.
• Planning continues for the mobile exhibit program to support and deliver SNAP messages.
• Fifty people have participated in each of two SNAP Families & Nature events, and will participate in an educational field trip to the Spring Mountains on June 20, 2009
• Forever Earth was scheduled on 53 days involving 1985 individuals.
• Discover Mojave Outdoor World conducted 17 events for 329 participants.
• A …

Forming Process : Design Through Layered Visual Systems And Multiple Collection Methods : A Thesis, Jen Magathan

Masters Theses

"Do not hide the structure, celebrate it in the form" ; "Approach design from multiple points of view."

These adages, so important in my architectural training, reverberate with intricate practicality in my work as a graphic designer, both as a way of building my design and as a means of developing a design process which explores multiple ways of organizing content through visual systems. Forming Process is defined by three conditions: celebrating the visual systems which organize the design, archiving content from multiple ways of collecting, and creating work by which the process of design is implicit in the design …

The Murray Ledger And Times, May 29, 2009, The Murray Ledger And Times

The Murray Ledger & Times

No abstract provided.

2009-05-29, Board Of Regents, Murray State University

Board of Regents Meeting Minutes

No abstract provided.

Molecular Signatures Of Prostate Stem Cells Reveal Novel Signaling Pathways And Provide Insights Into Prostate Cancer, Roy Blum, Rashmi Gupta, Patricia E. Burger, Christopher S. Ontiveros, Sarah N. Salm, Xiaozhong Xiong, Alexander Kamb, Holger Wesche, Lisa Marshall, Gene Cutler, Xiangyun Wang, Jiri Zavadil, David Moscatelli, E. Lynette Wilson

Publications and Research

Background The global gene expression profiles of adult and fetal murine prostate stem cells were determined to define common and unique regulators whose misexpression might play a role in the development of prostate cancer. Methodology/Principal Findings A distinctive core of transcriptional regulators common to both fetal and adult primitive prostate cells was identified as well as molecules that are exclusive to each population. Elements common to fetal and adult prostate stem cells include expression profiles of Wnt, Shh and other pathways identified in stem cells of other organs, signatures of the aryl-hydrocarbon receptor, and up-regulation of components of the aldehyde …

Effects Of Experience On Maternal Behavior In Belding’S Ground Squirrels (Spermophilus Beldingi): Older And Wiser?, Mikael Langner

Master's Theses

Maternal behavior is an important behavior because it influences whether or not raising one’s offspring is successful. Maternal experience is positively correlated with successful maternal behavior. This association is evident when comparing first-time mothers with mothers who have prior experience raising young. Life experience not related to raising young can also positively influence maternal behavior. In this work, the hypothesis that is tested is whether or not maternal experience enhances the ability of a female to assess the threat level of a situation. The model species used to conduct the study is the Belding ground squirrel (Spermophilus beldingi), …

Prospects For Developing Odour Baits To Control Glossina Fuscipes Spp., The Major Vector Of Human African Trypanosomiasis, Maurice O. Omolo, Ahmed Hassanali, Serge Mpiana, Johan Esterhuizen, Jenny Lindh, Mike J. Lehane, Philippe Solano, Jean Baptiste Rayaisse, Glyn A. Vale, Steve J. Torr, Inaki Tirados

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We are attempting to develop cost-effective control methods for the important vector of sleeping sickness, Glossina fuscipes spp. Responses of the tsetse flies Glossina fuscipes fuscipes (in Kenya) and G. f. quanzensis (in Democratic Republic of Congo) to natural host odours are reported. Arrangements of electric nets were used to assess the effect of cattle-, human- and pig-odour on (1) the numbers of tsetse attracted to the odour source and (2) the proportion of flies that landed on a black target (1 × 1 m). In addition responses to monitor lizard (Varanus niloticus) were assessed in Kenya. The effects of …

Temporal Shifts In Demography And Life History Of An Anadromous Alewife Population In Connecticut, Justin P. Davis, Eric T. Schultz

EEB Articles

Populations of anadromous alewives (Alosa pseudoharengus) are declining throughout much of their range, particularly in southern New England where fishery moratoriums have recently been instituted in three states. The alewife run at Bride Brook, a coastal stream in East Lyme, Connecticut, was studied from 2003-06 to assess shifts in demography and life history. Annual censuses of abundance, along with sampling for size, age, and spawning history structure were conducted. These data were compared to similar data in 1966-67 at this site. Recent alewife runs at Bride Brook featured lower abundance and younger, smaller fish that were less likely to be …

Daily Eastern News: May 28, 2009, Eastern Illinois University

May

No abstract provided.

Esquivel V. State Respondent's Brief Dckt. 35792

Idaho Supreme Court Records & Briefs, All

No abstract provided.