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2009

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Development Of A Focused Broadband Ultrasonic Transducer For High Resolution Fundamental And Harmonic Intravascular Imaging, Chaitanya K. Chandrana Jan 2009

Development Of A Focused Broadband Ultrasonic Transducer For High Resolution Fundamental And Harmonic Intravascular Imaging, Chaitanya K. Chandrana

ETD Archive

Intravascular ultrasound (IVUS) is increasingly employed for detection and evaluation of coronary artery diseases. Tissue Harmonic Imaging provides different tissue information that could additionally be used to improve diagnostic accuracy. However, current IVUS systems, with their unfocussed transducers, may not be capable of operating in harmonic imaging mode. Thus, there is a need to develop suitable transducers and appropriate techniques to allow imaging in multi modes for complementary diagnostic information. Focused PVDF TrFE transducers were developed using MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical-Systems) compatible protocols. The transducers were characterized using pulse-echo techniques and exhibited broad bandwidth (110 at -6dB) with axial resolutions of Such …

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Imaging Of Tyramine-Substituted Hydrogels For Tissue Replacement, Ediuska V. Laurens Jan 2009

Imaging Of Tyramine-Substituted Hydrogels For Tissue Replacement, Ediuska V. Laurens

ETD Archive

Novel tyramine-based hyaluronan (HA) and collagen hydrogels have been developed in which cross-linking is accomplished via peroxidase-mediated dityramine linkages allowing direct cross-linking in vivo. These TB hydrogels possess advantageous physical properties, which include excellent biocompatibility and the ability to mimic the biological, structural and mechanical properties of normal, healthy tissues, including cartilage, and thus provide for synthetic, implantable biomaterials suitable for a wide range of tissue types. The efficacy of these TB-hydrogels has been previously tested in a number of clinically relevant animal models, which have evaluated their applicability for the repair/replacement of various tissues, including cartilage. Nevertheless, there exists …

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Hemoprotein-Mediated Activation Of Nitroalkanes, Ling Li Jan 2009

Hemoprotein-Mediated Activation Of Nitroalkanes, Ling Li

ETD Archive

Chemicals and drugs are known to be metabolized mostly by Cytochrome P450 xenobiotic metabolizing enzymes. However, the detailed mechanism of nitro-compounds metabolism is still unclear. The activation of nitro-xenobiotics by heme-P450 enzymes is a potential explanation for the origin of nitro-compound carcinogenesis. Investigating the interaction of simple nitro-compounds with redox activity of heme enzymes is therefore critical to explore the mechanism and products of activation. In this study, multiple analytical methods and instrumentations are employed and graphic and simulation software such as Origin┬« and Digisim┬« are utilized to quantitatively derive parameters from experimental raw data. This study shows that myoglobin, …

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The Utility Of The Child And Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (Cafas) In Identifying Outcomes Of Students With Emotional Disturbance Served In A Day Treatment Program, Mitchell D. Moisio Jan 2009

The Utility Of The Child And Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (Cafas) In Identifying Outcomes Of Students With Emotional Disturbance Served In A Day Treatment Program, Mitchell D. Moisio

ETD Archive

This study investigated student outcomes by analyzing archival PEP client data from the Child and Adolescent Functional Assessment Scale (CAFAS Hodges, 2000). Participants were students with severe emotional and behavioral problems, being served by the Positive Education Program's (PEP) Day Treatment Centers in a midwestern urban center. The CAFAS is a multidimensional rating scale that measures degree of behavioral and emotional impairment across domains in children and adolescents. In addition to subscale and total score analysis, the CAFAS permits analysis of subscale score results in terms of CAFAS Tiers that represent different client types (Hodges, 2004). Hodges (2004) indicated that …

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Student Nurses' Perception Of Death And Dying, Joan E. Niederriter Jan 2009

Student Nurses' Perception Of Death And Dying, Joan E. Niederriter

ETD Archive

Student nurses are involved in caring for patients who are actively dying or who have been told they have a terminal illness and are faced with the process of dying. Students encounter these patients in hospitals, nursing homes, at home or in hospice care settings. According to Robinson (2004), "nurses are the healthcare providers that are most often with individuals at the end of their lives" (p. 89). Nurses should be knowledgeable about end-of-life care. Studies show that only 0.41 of nurses are certified in palliative care (Means to a better end, 2004). Nursing students often have a difficult time …

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Overcoming Barriers To Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (Notes), Steve J. Schomisch Jan 2009

Overcoming Barriers To Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (Notes), Steve J. Schomisch

ETD Archive

Natural Orifice Translumenal Endoscopic Surgery (NOTES) avoids skin incisions by accessing the abdominal cavity through natural orifices. Benefits include less pain, fewer complications and no scars. The aims of this study were to evaluate safety and efficacy of access techniques for natural orifice surgery, to investigate safety and efficacy of closure methodologies and to compare the inflammatory response induced by NOTES with that following conventional surgery. Access techniques were evaluated for safety and efficacy by measuring resultant injury and time required to access the peritoneal cavity in an acute porcine model. Four different gastrotomy closure modalities were evaluated for safety …

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Two Approaches For Cell Retention In Perfusion Culture Systems, Zhaowei Wang Jan 2009

Two Approaches For Cell Retention In Perfusion Culture Systems, Zhaowei Wang

ETD Archive

A lack of efficient, economical, and reliable cell retention devices has limited the application of perfusion culture systems in the biopharmaceutical industry. Two types of cell retention devices were developed in this work for long-term perfusion culture systems: a modification of an inclined gravity settler and a variation of an ultrasonic filter. Both bench-top and large-scale tests showed that the gravity settler can effectively retain viable cells and preferentially remove nonviable cells in perfusion culture systems. The viable cell retention rate can be maintained well above 90 during long-term perfusion culture period while the nonviable cell retention rate is 20-30 …

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Combined Pharmacotherapy For The Treatment Of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation And Recovery Of Function Following Prefrontal Cortex Controlled Cortical Impact In Rats, Abby Nicole Kyser Jan 2009

Combined Pharmacotherapy For The Treatment Of Traumatic Brain Injury Rehabilitation And Recovery Of Function Following Prefrontal Cortex Controlled Cortical Impact In Rats, Abby Nicole Kyser

ETD Archive

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is common among military personnel, resulting from bomb blasts and explosions. The secretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines following TBI has been linked to cerebral edema and neuronal loss. The use of lovastatin for TBI has been suggested to be neuroprotective by combating cytokines and inflammation. Fluoxetine has been suggested to aid in the prevention of edema during secondary injury processes, as well as having a relationship to neural plasticity. Seventy-six Long-Evans rats were randomly assigned to CCI (controlled cortical impact) or sham-operated as well as one of the following drug conditions: no treatment, vehicle, Fluoxetine only, Lovastatin …

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Young Voters And The Power Of Political Internet Culture: An Exploration Of Political Websites And Political Engagement, Amanda H. Zima Jan 2009

Young Voters And The Power Of Political Internet Culture: An Exploration Of Political Websites And Political Engagement, Amanda H. Zima

ETD Archive

This thesis examines how far the use of online political information like political news websites, social networking sites, and online political humor websites relate to young adults' intention to vote, political knowledge, political efficacy, and having political discussions with parents and friends. To better understand these relationships the O-S-O-R model (e.g., Cho, Shah, Mcleod, McLeod, Scholl, Gotlieb, 2009 McLeod, Kosicki, and McLeod, 1994) will be used as the theoretical framework. The survey data for this study was collected during the exciting and noteworthy 2008 Presidential Primary elections. Young adults between the ages of 18 and 29 years of age were …

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Biological Treatment Of Dietary Supplement Wastewater, Erick Benjamin Butler Jan 2009

Biological Treatment Of Dietary Supplement Wastewater, Erick Benjamin Butler

ETD Archive

Dietary supplement wastewater contains higher order polysaccharides such as the complex sugars maltodextrin and low fat milk. These complex sugars contain a significant amount of organic carbon therefore, presence of these sugars can pose threats to the environment if discharged without treatment. While many food processing plants are required to send their waste through wastewater treatment, legislation may require preliminary treatment of these wastes in order to satisfy the effluent discharge requirements. Because of the high organic carbon presence, it would be preferable to use biological treatment methods to reduce the organics present within the system. Microorganisms are capable of …

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Genre And Gender In Charles Bukowski's Notes Of A Dirty Old Man, Kallisto J. Vimr Jan 2009

Genre And Gender In Charles Bukowski's Notes Of A Dirty Old Man, Kallisto J. Vimr

ETD Archive

Charles Bukowski's notes of a dirty old man is a genre-blurring, gender-blending "start" to the perpetual "work-in-progress" that constitutes his oeuvre. Bukowski's genre heterogeneity provides a literal shape-shifting that allows the Bukowski-character to experiment with his a fluid, indeterminate subjectivity, helping unravel the tight myth that binds him as a "dirty old man." Examining one of the vignettes in the book, the column recounting Bukowski meeting Neal Cassady, showcases Bukowski's engagement with autobiography and creative nonfiction in order to respond to constructions of verisimilitude this is inextricably linked to other organized constructions Bukowski must work in--or out from--namely the hierarchy …

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Multicultural Music Education: Second-Grade Students' Responses To Unfamiliar Musics, Lisa M. Heinrich Jan 2009

Multicultural Music Education: Second-Grade Students' Responses To Unfamiliar Musics, Lisa M. Heinrich

ETD Archive

The purpose of this study is to investigate students' grouping and responses to unfamiliar non-Western musics. Eighty-five second-grade student participants from nine intact classrooms in an elementary school in rural Ohio received four consecutive 35-minute lessons over a two-week period on Japanese Gagaku ensemble. The four lessons included guided listening, performing kakko drum patterns, moving appropriately to music, and participating in discussions about Japanese culture. Following four lessons on Japanese Gagaku ensemble, students spent two weeks (four lessons) developing singing and rhythm skills in western music. After the four western music lessons were completed, the students listened to a recording …

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The Examination Of Threat And Affiliative Tendencies Through Pronoun Usage In Relation To Consumer Evaluations, Sarah M. Digioia Jan 2009

The Examination Of Threat And Affiliative Tendencies Through Pronoun Usage In Relation To Consumer Evaluations, Sarah M. Digioia

ETD Archive

This study further examines the relationship between threat and affiliative tendencies. Under threat, there is a tendency to embrace others in efforts to reduce threat and uncertainty. This study explores whether product advertisements that use inclusive pronouns (e.g., we, our) lead products to be perceived as more attractive/valuable under threat (compared to low threat). Therefore, this study employs a 2 (threat: low vs. high) X 2 (ad reference frame: inclusive pronouns vs. 3rd person) between-subjects design. Data from 145 university student participants were collected. To manipulate threat, participants were told they would be taking part in a learning exercise and …

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Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R): Incorporating A Dimensional Model In The Assessment Of Dependent Personality Disorder, Laura A. Gluszik Jan 2009

Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R): Incorporating A Dimensional Model In The Assessment Of Dependent Personality Disorder, Laura A. Gluszik

ETD Archive

the Present Study Was Designed to Assess the Reliability and Validity of the Dependent Personality Inventory-Revised (Dpi-R Poreh & Huber, 2007). One-Hundred and One Students at a Midwestern University Were Administered the Scale in Addition to the Dependent Personality Questionnaire (Dpq Hyler, 1994) and Interpersonal Dependence Inventory (Idi Hirschfeld, Klerman, Gouch, Barrett, Korchin, Chodoff, 1977). Following the Screening, 11 Students Who Scored the Highest on the Scale and 13 Students Who Scored in the Average Range Were Identified and Asked to Participate in the Second Phase of the Study. These Students Were Then Blindly Interviewed by the Co-Investigator Using the …

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Biogeography-Based Optimization: Synergies With Evolutionary Strategies, Immigration Refusal, And Kalman Filters, Dawei Du Jan 2009

Biogeography-Based Optimization: Synergies With Evolutionary Strategies, Immigration Refusal, And Kalman Filters, Dawei Du

ETD Archive

Biogeography-based optimization (BBO) is a recently developed heuristic algorithm which has shown impressive performance on many well known benchmarks. The aim of this thesis is to modify BBO in different ways. First, in order to improve BBO, this thesis incorporates distinctive techniques from other successful heuristic algorithms into BBO. The techniques from evolutionary strategy (ES) are used for BBO modification. Second, the traveling salesman problem (TSP) is a widely used benchmark in heuristic algorithms, and it is considered as a standard benchmark in heuristic computations. Therefore the main task in this part of the thesis is to modify BBO to …

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The Power Of Society In The Red Badge Of Courage, Hmoud Alotaibi Jan 2009

The Power Of Society In The Red Badge Of Courage, Hmoud Alotaibi

ETD Archive

Stephen Crane's work the Red badge of courage has often been cited by literary critics as an example of the author's philosophy. The main debate around this philosophy often surrounds the question of Crane's naturalism. Critics not only argue over the individual beliefs that make up Crane's supposedly naturalistic philosophy, but many also argue simply over whether or not he is a naturalist. In this thesis, we step away from the back-and-forth argument that deals only with Crane's fitment into the general label of "naturalist." Rather, we look at aspects that connect Crane to traditional understandings of naturalism - such …

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On The Brink Of The Waters Of Life And Truth, We Are Miserably Dying: Ralph Waldo Emerson As A Predecessor To Deconstruction And Postmodernism, Michael A. Deery Jan 2009

On The Brink Of The Waters Of Life And Truth, We Are Miserably Dying: Ralph Waldo Emerson As A Predecessor To Deconstruction And Postmodernism, Michael A. Deery

ETD Archive

Between his pivotal essays "Nature" in 1836 and "The Poet" in 1844, Ralph Waldo Emerson's increasingly negative and distrustful view of language can best be described as a precursor to deconstruction and postmodernism. Contemporary critics are too quick to dismiss a deconstructionist Emerson. There is evidence within his major essays that Emerson's understanding of language not only leads him to public and private displays of pessimism, but also to feelings of internal solipsism, agnosticism, and epistemological anxiety. Emerson demanded that mankind should utilize nature and aesthetics to experience the sublime and an immediate and original relationship with God. Yet, Emerson's …

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Myf5 Does Not Induce Apoptosis In Skeletal Myoblasts But Is Regulated By Oncogenic Ras Expression, Alexander Phillip Talarico Jan 2009

Myf5 Does Not Induce Apoptosis In Skeletal Myoblasts But Is Regulated By Oncogenic Ras Expression, Alexander Phillip Talarico

ETD Archive

Skeletal myogenesis is initiated by a family of muscle regulatory factors (MRFs) composed of the transcription factors MyoD, Myf5, MRF4, and myogenin. Of these, MyoD was the first discovered, is the most studied, and plays a well-characterized role in skeletal myoblast determination and differentiation. Our laboratory has also discovered that MyoD plays an important role in the apoptotic process that occurs in a subpopulation of myoblasts induced to differentiate. Expression of oncogenic Ras is known to inhibit myoblast differentiation and to decrease the expression of MyoD mRNA and protein. Our laboratory was the first to report that expression of oncogenic …

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Prep Year In Review, Prep Jan 2009

Prep Year In Review, Prep

PREP Reports & Publications

No abstract provided.

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State Of Our Estuaries 2009, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership Jan 2009

State Of Our Estuaries 2009, Piscataqua Region Estuaries Partnership

PREP Reports & Publications

The 2009 State of the Estuaries Report describes the status and trends of 12 primary indicators tracked by PREP. For each key indicator, the report provides the monitoring question and answer, PREP management goal, information on relevance, and an explanation of data analysis and interpretation. Additional information from other related indicators is presented to provide context or further explain trends. In total data from 28 different indicators are included in this report. About half of the indicators presented include data for Maine. Future reports will fully integrate the Maine portion of the PREP focus area.

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Rat Population Assessment And Control In Eastern Suburbs Of Cleveland, Ohio, James W. Coates Jan 2009

Rat Population Assessment And Control In Eastern Suburbs Of Cleveland, Ohio, James W. Coates

ETD Archive

The Norway rat (Rattus norvegicus) is found to inhabit many urbanized areas needs to be controlled, given that it is a carrier of diseases and a source of economic damages. As harborage areas in suburbs, the rat prefers compost piles, cesspits, sewer systems, and basements that are near water. Norway rats prefer food sources such as waste disposal sites, unclean yards with trashcans, gardens, and slaughterhouses (Traweger and Slotta-Bachmayr 2004). The typical range for this species in an urban setting is 25-150 meters (27-164 yards). The research for this thesis was done in conjunction with the Cuyahoga County Board of …

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Under The Big Sky: A Biography Of A. B. Guthrie Jr., Jackson J. Benson Jan 2009

Under The Big Sky: A Biography Of A. B. Guthrie Jr., Jackson J. Benson

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

Author of The Big Sky series, The Way West, and the screenplay for the classic Shane, among many other timeless stories of frontier mountain men, icon of Western literature A. B. “Bud” Guthrie Jr. brought a blazing realism to the story of the West. That realism, which astounded and even shocked some readers, came out of the depth of Guthrie’s historical research and an acuity that had seldom been seen in the work of Western novelists. In Under the Big Sky, the latest in his celebrated series of biographies of Western writers, Jackson J. Benson details the …

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Border Crossings: Transnational Americanist Anthopology, Kathleen S. Fine-Dare, Steven L. Rubenstein Jan 2009

Border Crossings: Transnational Americanist Anthopology, Kathleen S. Fine-Dare, Steven L. Rubenstein

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

For anthropologists and social scientists working in North and South America, the past few decades have brought considerable change as issues such as repatriation, cultural jurisdiction, and revitalization movements have swept across the hemisphere. Today scholars are rethinking both how and why they study culture as they gain a new appreciation for the impact they have on the people they study. Key to this reassessment of the social sciences is a rethinking of the concept of borders: not only between cultures and nations but between disciplines such as archaeology and cultural anthropology, between past and present, and between anthropologists and …

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All Our Stories Are Here: Critical Perspectives On Montana Literature, Brady Harrison Jan 2009

All Our Stories Are Here: Critical Perspectives On Montana Literature, Brady Harrison

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

This wide-ranging collection of essays addresses a diverse and expanded vision of Montana literature, offering new readings of both canonical and overlooked texts. Although a handful of Montana writers such as Richard Hugo, A. B. Guthrie Jr., D’Arcy McNickle, and James Welch have received considerable critical attention, sizable gaps remain in the analysis of the state’s ever-growing and ever-evolving canon. The twelve essays in All Our Stories Are Here not only build on the exemplary, foundational work of other writers but also open further interpretative and critical conversations. Expanding on the critical paradigms of the past and bringing to bear …

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Bourdieu In Algeria: Colonial Politics, Ethnographic Practices, Theoretical Developments, Jane E. Goodman, Paul A. Silverstein Jan 2009

Bourdieu In Algeria: Colonial Politics, Ethnographic Practices, Theoretical Developments, Jane E. Goodman, Paul A. Silverstein

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

The shadow cast by Pierre Bourdieu’s theory is large and well documented, but his early ethnographic work in Algeria is less well known and often overlooked. This volume, the first critical examination of Bourdieu’s early fieldwork and its impact on his larger body of social theory, represents an original and much-needed contribution to the field. Its six essays reappraise Bourdieu’s original research in light of contemporary processes and make substantial contributions to the ethnography of North Africa. The contributors are scholars of North Africa and France, and each is actively engaged with Bourdieu’s work. Bourdieu in Algeria offers a unique …

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How To Cook A Tapir: A Memoir Of Belize, Joan Fry Jan 2009

How To Cook A Tapir: A Memoir Of Belize, Joan Fry

University of Nebraska Press: Sample Books and Chapters

In 1962 Joan Fry was a college sophomore recently married to a dashing anthropologist. Naively consenting to a year-long “working honeymoon” in British Honduras (now Belize), she soon found herself living in a remote Kekchi village deep in the rainforest. Because Fry had no cooking or housekeeping experience, the romance of living in a hut and learning to cook on a makeshift stove quickly faded. Guided by the village women and their children, this twenty-year-old American who had never made more than instant coffee came eventually to love the people and the food that at first had seemed so foreign. …

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Spring Home Ranges Of White Bass In Irrigation Reservoirs Of The Republican River Basin, Nebraska, D. R. Martin, Larkin A. Powell, K. L. Pope Jan 2009

Spring Home Ranges Of White Bass In Irrigation Reservoirs Of The Republican River Basin, Nebraska, D. R. Martin, Larkin A. Powell, K. L. Pope

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Fishery biologists have documented small home ranges, relative to available habitat, for many littoral freshwater fishes. Home ranges for pelagic species, such as white bass Morone chrysops, are generally not well described, yet are thought to be large. We studied white bass movement using acoustic telemetry in two irrigation reservoirs of the Republican River basin in south-western Nebraska. Acoustic transmitters were implanted in fall of the previous year and tracking occurred a minimum of once per week throughout spring (mid-March to May) 2007 and 2008. Linear home ranges were calculated from observed locations of individual fish. Twelve of the …

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Long-Range Surveillance Unit Operations, United States Army Jan 2009

Long-Range Surveillance Unit Operations, United States Army

United States Army: Field Manuals

Long-Range Surveillance Unit Operations, United States Army Field Manual FM 3-55.93

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Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Tbsv), A Versatile Platform For Polyvalent Display Of Antigenic Epitopes And Vaccine Design, Shantanu Kumar, Wendy Ochoa, Pratik Singh, Catherine Hsu, Anette Schneemann, Marianne Manchester, Mark Olson, Vijay Reddy Jan 2009

Tomato Bushy Stunt Virus (Tbsv), A Versatile Platform For Polyvalent Display Of Antigenic Epitopes And Vaccine Design, Shantanu Kumar, Wendy Ochoa, Pratik Singh, Catherine Hsu, Anette Schneemann, Marianne Manchester, Mark Olson, Vijay Reddy

United States Army: Publications

Viruses-like particles (VLPs) are frequently being used as platforms for polyvalent display of foreign epitopes of interest on their capsid surface to improve their presentation enhancing the antigenicity and host immune response. In the present study, we used the VLPs of Tomato bushy stunt virus (TBSV), an icosahedral plant virus, as a platform to display 180 copies of 16 amino acid epitopes of ricin toxin fused to the C-terminal end of a modified TBSV capsid protein (NΔ52). Expression of the chimeric recombinant protein in insect cells resulted in spontaneous assembly of VLPs displaying the ricin epitope. Cryo-electron microscopy and image …

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Selecting And Conserving Lands For Biodiversity: The Role Of Remote Sensing, John Wiens, Robert Sutter, Mark Anderson, Jon Blanchard, Analie Barnett, Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Chadwick Avery, Stephen Laine Jan 2009

Selecting And Conserving Lands For Biodiversity: The Role Of Remote Sensing, John Wiens, Robert Sutter, Mark Anderson, Jon Blanchard, Analie Barnett, Naikoa Aguilar-Amuchastegui, Chadwick Avery, Stephen Laine

United States Air Force: Publications

A major focus of conservation is on protecting areas to ensure the persistence of biological diversity. Because such areas may be large, not easily accessible, subject to change, and sensitive to the surrounding landscape, remote sensing can be a valuable tool in establishing and managing protected areas. We describe three case studies to illustrate how remote sensing can contribute to setting priorities for conservation actions, monitoring the status of conservation targets, and evaluating the effectiveness of conservation strategies. In the Connecticut River watershed, remote sensing has been used to assess flood regimes and identify key areas of floodplain forests and …

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