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2009

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The Role Of Foster Care Placement In Later Problem Behavior, Sangmoo Lee Jan 2009

The Role Of Foster Care Placement In Later Problem Behavior, Sangmoo Lee

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Foster care placement is an important child welfare service to protect children from further maltreatment. However, high problem behavior rates among foster youth have been a great concern. Significant limitations in the current knowledge examining the role of foster care placement in later problem behavior exist. This study seeks to increase knowledge about the potential role of foster care placement in problem behavior: juvenile delinquency, runaway, teen pregnancy, and truancy) among foster care youth, based on ecological problem solving model. Research questions are: 1) does foster care placement predict problem behavior among children who received foster care compared to those …

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Modeling And Identification Of Differentially Regulated Genes Using Transcriptomics And Proteomics Data, Thanura Elvitigala Jan 2009

Modeling And Identification Of Differentially Regulated Genes Using Transcriptomics And Proteomics Data, Thanura Elvitigala

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Photosynthetic organisms are complex dynamical systems, showing a remarkable ability to adapt to different environmental conditions for their survival. Mechanisms underlying the coordination between different cellular processes in these organisms are still poorly understood. In this dissertation we utilize various computational and modeling techniques to analyze transcriptomics and proteomics data sets from several photosynthetic organisms. We try to use changes in expression levels of genes to study responses of these organisms to various environmental conditions such as availability of nutrients, concentrations of chemicals in growth media, and temperature. Three specific problems studied here are transcriptomics modifications in photosynthetic organisms under …

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Essays On The Role Of Law In Judicial Decision Making, Ryan Black Jan 2009

Essays On The Role Of Law In Judicial Decision Making, Ryan Black

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Forty years ago C. Herman Prichett: 1969) observed that "[P]olitical scientists who have done so much to put the `political' in `political jurisprudence' need to emphasize that it is still `jurisprudence.'" In this dissertation project I seek to help correct this imbalance by providing three fresh approaches to understanding how legal factors influence the choices judges and justices make. Essay 1 focuses on the U.S. Supreme Court's agenda setting decisions. Drawing from the archival papers of Justice Harry A. Blackmun, I analyze the extent to which considerations such as legal conflict among the circuit courts motivate justices to deviate from …

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John Locke On Obligation: Sensation, Reflection, And The Natural Duty To Consent, Emily Crookston Jan 2009

John Locke On Obligation: Sensation, Reflection, And The Natural Duty To Consent, Emily Crookston

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DISSERTATION ABSTRACT: John Locke on Obligation: Sensation, Reflection, and the Natural Duty to Consent By Emily Marie Crookston Doctor of Philosophy in Philosophy Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor Larry May, Chairperson Locke's theories of moral and political obligation are instructive both in their successes and in their failures. Writing during a time in which previous assumptions were being widely challenged, Locke judiciously accepts the wisdom of his predecessors as a firm foundation upon which to build his own arguments. Of course, Locke also was not immune to criticism. On the moral obligation side, Locke faces the charge of …

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Mammalian Postcranial Evolution And Primate Extinction In The Middle Eocene Of North America, Rachel Dunn Jan 2009

Mammalian Postcranial Evolution And Primate Extinction In The Middle Eocene Of North America, Rachel Dunn

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Primates constituted a dominant part of the mammalian faunas of North America during the early and middle parts of the Eocene: 55-46 ma). Beginning in the Uintan North American Land Mammal Age: 46-42 ma) primates declined in diversity and abundance in the Rocky Mountain region. This decline has been linked to the recession of tropical rain forests out of northern latitudes at that time. Climatic change of this magnitude would presumably have an impact on the contemporary mammalian faunas, with reduction or extinction of forest groups like primates, but perhaps radiation of mammals that preferred more open habitats such as …

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Scheduling Policy Design Using Stochastic Dynamic Programming, Robert Glaubius Jan 2009

Scheduling Policy Design Using Stochastic Dynamic Programming, Robert Glaubius

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Scheduling policies for open soft real-time systems must be able to balance the competing concerns of meeting their objectives under exceptional conditions while achieving good performance in the average case. Balancing these concerns requires modeling strategies that represent the range of possible task behaviors, and solution techniques that are capable of effectively managing uncertainty in order to discover scheduling policies that are effective across the range of system modes. We develop methods for solving a particular class of task scheduling problems in an open soft real-time setting involving repeating, non-preemptable tasks that contend for a single shared resource. We enforce …

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Systemic Levels Of G-Csf And Il-6 Determine The Angiogenic Potential Of Bone Marrow Resident Monocytes, Alyssa Gregory Jan 2009

Systemic Levels Of G-Csf And Il-6 Determine The Angiogenic Potential Of Bone Marrow Resident Monocytes, Alyssa Gregory

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Recent studies have demonstrated the efficacy of hematopoietic cell-based therapies in promoting therapeutic angiogenesis for a wide variety of vascular syndromes, however the cell populations responsible and the mechanisms involved are poorly understood. Using a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia, we previously showed that an adoptive transfer of donor monocytes significantly enhanced revascularization. Monocytes are a widely heterogeneous cell population and differences in the ability of various monocyte subsets to mediate revascularization have not been previously investigated. Using the hindlimb ischemia model we demonstrate that an adoptive transfer of inflammatory: CX3CR loGr-1+), but not resident: CX3CR1hiGr-1-) monocytes, significantly enhances revascularization …

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Temporal Discounting: A Comparison Of Adjusting-Amount And Adjusting-Delay Procedures, Daniel Holt Jan 2009

Temporal Discounting: A Comparison Of Adjusting-Amount And Adjusting-Delay Procedures, Daniel Holt

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Several experimental procedures: e.g., adjusting amount, adjusting delay) have been used to study the effect that changes in amount of and delay to a reward have on the reward's subjective value. The present series of three experiments sought to test the implicit assumption that the underlying decision-making process: discounting) is identical regardless of the procedure used, and that all would converge on similar indifference points. For each of the experiments, participants were initially tested on one of the adjusting tasks: Adjusting Immediate Amount, Adjusting Delayed Amount, or Adjusting Delay) and returned a week later to complete each of the remaining …

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Solar Wind Helium, Neon, And Argon In Genesis Aluminum Collectors, Jennifer Mabry Jan 2009

Solar Wind Helium, Neon, And Argon In Genesis Aluminum Collectors, Jennifer Mabry

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The Genesis mission collected samples of solar wind: SW) for 853 days and returned them to Earth for analysis. There are several processes that have the potential to significantly alter the composition between the time when SW ions are accelerated away from the sun, to the time the laboratory measurements are made. This work attempts to constrain these sources of fractionation and present the best estimate of the isotopic composition of SW helium, neon, and argon implanted into two different aluminum SW collectors on board the Genesis Mission. We have conducted a diffusion experiment on a similar time scale as …

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The Role Of Knowledge Accessibility In Episodic Future Thought, Karl Szpunar Jan 2009

The Role Of Knowledge Accessibility In Episodic Future Thought, Karl Szpunar

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The capacity to think about specific events that one might encounter in the future--episodic future thought--involves the flexible: re)organization of knowledge. However, little is known about the cognitive mechanisms that guide this process. The reported studies demonstrate evidence for the role of knowledge accessibility as one such mechanism. First, comparisons were drawn between episodic future thought and other cognitive tasks that similarly require participants to produce open-ended responses and for which the role of knowledge accessibility is well established. Second, three experiments: N = 270) provided direct tests of whether accessible knowledge becomes incorporated into episodic future thought. In Experiments …

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Electrocardiographic Consequences Of Electrical And Anatomical Remodeling In Diabetic And Obese Humans, Shuli Wang Jan 2009

Electrocardiographic Consequences Of Electrical And Anatomical Remodeling In Diabetic And Obese Humans, Shuli Wang

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Background. Diabetes and obesity are two major risk factors for cardiovascular disease. Both can cause changes due to cardiac sources in body-surface potentials: BSPs), that is, in electrocardiograms: ECGs). By identifying the major effects of diabetes and obesity on BSPs, we hope to reveal the electrical phenotype of diabetes in body-surface ECGs in the presence of obesity. Methods. A Bidomain Platform was constructed to link heart-surface transmembrane potentials: TMPs) and BSPs. The Forward-Problem Module of the platform calculates BSPs from a bidomain-model of myocyte TMPs and torso anatomy. The platform also contains a Cardio-myocyte TMP Estimation Module in which an …

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A Comparison Of Natural And Synthetic Speech: With And Without Simultaneous Reading, Krista Taake Jan 2009

A Comparison Of Natural And Synthetic Speech: With And Without Simultaneous Reading, Krista Taake

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No abstract provided.

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The Applicability Of Simulated Network Attack Results On Small, Terrorist Networks, Stephanie Young Jan 2009

The Applicability Of Simulated Network Attack Results On Small, Terrorist Networks, Stephanie Young

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No abstract provided.

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Evolution Of Endosperm Starch Synthesis Pathway Genes In The Context Of Rice: Oryza Sativa) Domestication, Guoqin Yu Jan 2009

Evolution Of Endosperm Starch Synthesis Pathway Genes In The Context Of Rice: Oryza Sativa) Domestication, Guoqin Yu

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The evolution of metabolic pathways is a fundamental but poorly understood aspect of evolutionary change. The rice endosperm starch biosynthetic pathway is one of the most thoroughly characterized biosynthesis pathways in plants, and starch is a trait that has evolved in response to strong selection during rice domestication and subsequent crop improvement. In this study, I have examined six key genes in the rice endosperm starch biosynthesis pathway to investigate the evolution of this pathway before rice domestication and during rice domestication. Oryza rufipogon is the wild ancestor of cultivated rice: Oryza sativa). Oryza sativa has five variety groups: aus, …

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Some Thoughts On Judicial Review And Collaborative Governance, Michael Herz Jan 2009

Some Thoughts On Judicial Review And Collaborative Governance, Michael Herz

Articles

No abstract provided.

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Accurate Docking Is Achieved By Decoupling Systematic Sampling From Scoring, Jianwen Feng Jan 2009

Accurate Docking Is Achieved By Decoupling Systematic Sampling From Scoring, Jianwen Feng

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This dissertation discusses two main projects from my thesis work. The first project focuses on the development of a small molecule docking program, SKATE, for drug discovery. The second project focuses on the critical analysis of the thermal stability of a mini-protein, FSD-1. SKATE is a novel approach to small molecule docking. It removes any inter-dependence between sampling and scoring to improve docking accuracy. SKATE systematically and exhaustively samples a ligand's conformational, rotational and translational degrees of freedom, as constrained by a receptor pocket, to find sterically allowed poses. A total of 266 ligands were re-docked to their respective receptors …

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Using Repeated Testing And Variable Encoding To Promote Transfer Of Learning, Andrew Butler Jan 2009

Using Repeated Testing And Variable Encoding To Promote Transfer Of Learning, Andrew Butler

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Within the literature on transfer of learning, relatively few studies have investigated how the conditions of initial learning can be arranged to increase the likelihood of successful transfer. The present research investigated whether test-enhanced learning can be used to promote transfer. More specifically, four experiments examined how repeated testing and repeated studying affected retention and transfer of facts and concepts. Subjects studied prose passages and then either repeatedly re-studied or took tests on the material. One week later, they took a final test that either had the same questions: Experiment 1), new inferential questions within the same knowledge domain: Experiments …

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Properties Of Neutron Star Critical Collapses, Mew-Bing Wan Jan 2009

Properties Of Neutron Star Critical Collapses, Mew-Bing Wan

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Critical phenomena in gravitational collapse opened a new mathematical vista into the theory of general relativity and may ultimately entail fundamental physical implication in the astrophysical realm, especially in gravitational collapse scenarios. However, at present, the dynamics of critical phenomena in realistic astrophysical gravitational collapse scenarios are still largely unknown. My thesis seeks to understand the properties of the neutron star critical solution, understand the properties of the threshold in the solution space of the Einstein field equations between the black hole and a neutron star phases, and clarify the implication these results on realistic astrophysical scenarios. We develop a …

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An Oversampled Analog To Digital Converter For Acquiring Neural Signals, Grant Williams Jan 2009

An Oversampled Analog To Digital Converter For Acquiring Neural Signals, Grant Williams

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A third order delta-sigma modulator and associated low-pass digital filter is designed for an analog to digital converter: ADC) for sensing bioelectric phenomena. The third order noise shaping reduces the quantization noise in the baseband and the digital lowpass filter greatly attenuates the out of band quantization noise, increasing the effective number of bits. As part of a neural signal acquisition system designed by The BrainScope Company to capture Electro-Encephalogram: EEG) and Automated Brainstem Response: ABR) signals, this paper describes the design of a third order Delta-Sigma modulator which meets or exceeds the low noise specifications mandated by previous BrainScope …

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The Role Of Astrocyte Activation In Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, Shannon Macauley-Rambach Jan 2009

The Role Of Astrocyte Activation In Infantile Neuronal Ceroid Lipofuscinosis, Shannon Macauley-Rambach

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinoses: INCLs), or Batten Disease, is an inherited neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder affecting the central nervous system: CNS) during infancy or childhood. Hallmark pathological changes include accumulation of autofluorescent material, neuronal loss, cortical thinning, and brain atrophy, which ultimately lead to cognitive deficits, motor dysfunction, seizure activity, and blindness. INCL is the result of mutations in the CLN1 gene leading to a deficiency in the lysosomal enzyme, palmitoyl protein thioesterase 1: PPT1). A mouse model of INCL, the PPT1-deficient: PPT1-/-) mouse, was recently created by a targeted disruption in the CLN1 gene. The phenotype of the PPT1-/- …

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In The Voices Of Men, Beasts, And Gods: Unmasking The Abject Persona In Postwar And Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry, Lee Friederich Jan 2009

In The Voices Of Men, Beasts, And Gods: Unmasking The Abject Persona In Postwar And Contemporary Japanese Women's Poetry, Lee Friederich

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This dissertation examines the dramatic use of personae of abjection in the works of contemporary and postwar Japanese women poets Ishigaki Rin: 1920-2004), Tomioka Taeko: b. 1935), Yoshihara Sachiko: 1932-2002), It├┤ Hiromi: b. 1955), and Isaka Yok├┤: b. 1949). Recognizing the strong sense of abjection that permeates postwar and contemporary Japanese poetry in general, I explore the ways in which women poets embody the abject--the fantastically grotesque, the deviant and the mortally wounded--in their poetry. Turning away from the dictates of twentieth century critics that women poets write in a transparently autobiographical mode: primarily about their experiences as wives and …

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Interval Estimation Of Excess Risk Related Effective Doses In Tobit Models, Jia Wang Jan 2009

Interval Estimation Of Excess Risk Related Effective Doses In Tobit Models, Jia Wang

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No abstract provided.

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Aerosol Filtration And Separation, Tachih Hsiao Jan 2009

Aerosol Filtration And Separation, Tachih Hsiao

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ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Aerosol Filtration and Separation by Ta-Chih Hsiao Doctor of Philosophy in Energy, Environmental, & Chemical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor Da-Ren Chen, Advisor Particle control technologies are essential in many manufacturing industries: chemical, electronic, mineral, and food and beverages) as well as in pollution abatement and environmental control: for example, clean rooms and post processing of power plant emissions). A variety of particle control technologies using different physical forces and various collection substrates have been developed over the last 100 or so years. Among these technologies, filtration is known as the most economical …

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Optical Measurements In Gas-Liquid Stirred Tanks, Sean Mueller Jan 2009

Optical Measurements In Gas-Liquid Stirred Tanks, Sean Mueller

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This dissertation outlines the development of novel, in-situ and relatively inexpensive optical measurement techniques for use in opaque multiphase reactors at elevated temperature: 350 ┬░C) and pressure: 180 bar) environments where conventional measurement techniques either cannot be used or are difficult or expensive to implement. Important parameters: such as gas holdup, specific interfacial area, bubble velocity, bubble chord lengths, liquid level, and phase transition) in opaque, multiphase reactors at industrially relevant conditions are lacking in the literature. A miniaturized 4-point probe is developed and methodology outlined that can simultaneously capture local gas holdup, interfacial area, size, and velocities of bubbles …

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Contributions To The Methodology Of Electrocardiographic Imaging (Ecgi) And Application Of Ecgi To Study Mechanisms Of Atrial Arrhythmia, Post Myocardial Infarction Electrophysiological Substrate, And Ventricular Tachycardia In Patients, Yong Wang Jan 2009

Contributions To The Methodology Of Electrocardiographic Imaging (Ecgi) And Application Of Ecgi To Study Mechanisms Of Atrial Arrhythmia, Post Myocardial Infarction Electrophysiological Substrate, And Ventricular Tachycardia In Patients, Yong Wang

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ABSTRACT OF THE DISSERTATION Contributions to the Methodology of Electrocardiographic Imaging: ECGI) and Application of ECGI to Study Mechanisms of Atrial Arrhythmia, Post Myocardial Infarction Electrophysiological Substrate, and Ventricular Tachycardia in Patients by Yong Wang Doctor of Philosophy in Biomedical Engineering Washington University in St. Louis, 2009 Professor Yoram Rudy, Chair Electrocardiographic Imaging: ECGI) is a noninvasive imaging modality for cardiac electrophysiology and arrhythmia. ECGI reconstructs epicardial potentials, electrograms and isochrones from body-surface electrocardiograms combined with heart-torso geometry from computed tomography: CT). The application of a new meshless method, the Method of Fundamental Solutions: MFS) is introduced to ECGI with …

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Targeting The Dimerization Of Erbb Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Rob Yang Jan 2009

Targeting The Dimerization Of Erbb Receptor Tyrosine Kinases, Rob Yang

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The epidermal growth factor receptor: EGFR) is a membrane receptor tyrosine kinase whose over-activation has been implicated to cause many human cancers. Novel strategies to inhibit the activation of EGF receptors other than the conventional antibody-based and tyrosine kinase inhibitors are virtually non-existent but could provide benefits both in the laboratory and clinical settings. In an effort to expand the current approaches, this thesis focused on targeting the homodimerization of the EGF receptors themselves and the heterodimerization of EGF receptors with the related ErbB2 receptor. Three sub-projects were completed in the process. The first project explored the feasibility of inhibiting …

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A Phenotypic And Genetic Characterization Of The Cell Adhesion Molecules Echinoid And Friend-Of-Echinoid In The Directed Cell Movements Of Ommatidial Rotation During Drosophila Eye Development., Jennifer Fetting Jan 2009

A Phenotypic And Genetic Characterization Of The Cell Adhesion Molecules Echinoid And Friend-Of-Echinoid In The Directed Cell Movements Of Ommatidial Rotation During Drosophila Eye Development., Jennifer Fetting

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Correct development of multicellular organisms relies on the precise patterning of cells, which must respond to and interpret specific cues that instruct the cells to differentiate and often undergo directed cell movements and rearrangements to give rise to functional tissues and organs. Differential adhesion between the stationary and mobile cells permits and promotes these cellular movements, effecting patterning of cells and tissues. During Drosophila eye development, groups of cells, the ommatidial precursors, undergo a 90° rotational movement within a matrix of stationary cells, providing the cell motility readout of tissue polarity. The mechanisms that regulate ommatidial rotation are not well …

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Examining The Longitudinal Impact Of Assets And Income On Immigrant Health Behaviors, Jacqueline Kagotho Jan 2009

Examining The Longitudinal Impact Of Assets And Income On Immigrant Health Behaviors, Jacqueline Kagotho

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The foreign born population is an integral part of U.S. society and continues to experience a steady numerical increase. This study uses longitudinal data to determine the effects of culture and acculturation on the health behaviors of the foreign born. Drawing from the behavioral model of health service utilization for vulnerable populations: Gelberg, Andersen, & Leake, 2000), the assets effects model: Schreiner & Sherraden, 2007; Sherraden, 1991), and acculturation models and using generalized linear, latent, and mixed models: GLLAMM), the study constructs longitudinal models to establish the determinants of health behaviors: recreational physical activity, alcohol consumption, and cigarette smoking) through …

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Structually Diverse Cu-64-Labeled Rgd Peptide Conjugates For Pet Imaging Of Αvβ3 Expression, Ashley Fiamengo Jan 2009

Structually Diverse Cu-64-Labeled Rgd Peptide Conjugates For Pet Imaging Of Αvβ3 Expression, Ashley Fiamengo

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Radiolabeled receptor-binding peptides have emerged as an important class of radiopharmaceuticals for diagnostic imaging and cancer therapy. Following radionuclide labeling, the specific receptor-binding properties of the ligand can be exploited to guide the radioactivity to tissues expressing a particular receptor. This dissertation reports on the development of integrin αvβ3-targeting radiopharmaceuticals for medical imaging applications from the perspective of both the radiometal-labeled chelator as well as the targeting peptide. Several macrocyclic copper(II) chelators have been studied with the goal of improving kinetic and in vivo stability. Structurally diverse bifunctional RGD: arginine-glycine-aspartic acid) peptides were investigated for α …

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Phase Formation, Liquid Structure, And Physical Properties Of Amorphous- And Quasicrystal-Forming Alloys, Victor Wessels Jan 2009

Phase Formation, Liquid Structure, And Physical Properties Of Amorphous- And Quasicrystal-Forming Alloys, Victor Wessels

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Since the discovery of quasicrystals in 1985 and the development of commercially viable bulk metallic glasses: BMGs) in the mid 1990's a great deal of attention has been given to the characterization of new alloys with desirable properties, such as larger amorphous casting thickness, higher mechanical strength, or hydrogen storage capacity. Here, the results of a number of investigations into the structures and properties of some noncrystalline solid alloys will be presented and analyzed. Beamline electrostatic levitation: BESL), a method for determining supercooled liquid structure and phase formation insitu, was used. Using BESL, the development of structural and chemical inhomogeneity …

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