Digital Commons Network^™

Elongation Factor 1 Alpha Interacts With Phospho-Akt In Breast Cancer Cells And Regulates Their Proliferation, Survival And Motility., Luisa Pecorari, Oriano Marin, Chiara Silvestri, Olivia Candini, Elena Rossi, Clara Guerzoni, Sara Cattelani, Samanta A Mariani, Francesca Corradini, Giovanna Ferrari-Amorotti, Laura Cortesi, Rita Bussolari, Giuseppe Raschellà, Massimo R Federico, Bruno Calabretta

Kimmel Cancer Center Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: Akt/PKB is a serine/threonine kinase that has attracted much attention because of its central role in regulating cell proliferation, survival, motility and angiogenesis. Activation of Akt in breast cancer portends aggressive tumour behaviour, resistance to hormone-, chemo-, and radiotherapy-induced apoptosis and it is correlated with decreased overall survival. Recent studies have identified novel tumor-specific substrates of Akt that may provide new diagnostic and prognostic markers and serve as therapeutic targets. This study was undertaken to identify pAkt-interacting proteins and to assess their biological roles in breast cancer cells. RESULTS: We confirmed that one of the pAkt interacting proteins is …

Regulation Of Survivin Gene Expression In The Human Endometrium And Endometrial Cancer, Nancy H. Nabilsi

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

In the United States, endometrial cancer is the leading cancer of the female reproductive tract. There are 40,100 new cases and 7,470 deaths from endometrial cancer estimated for 2008 (47). The average five year survival rate for endometrial cancer is 84% however, this figure is substantially lower in patients diagnosed with late stage, advanced disease and much higher for patients diagnosed in early stage disease (47). Endometrial cancer (EC) has been associated with several risk factors including obesity, diabetes, hypertension, previously documented occurrence of hereditary non-polyposis colorectal cancer (HNPCC), and heightened exposure to estrogen (25). As of yet, there has …

Unf Raises The Roof On Osprey Fountains, University Of North Florida Alumni Association

Alumni Association

New sheet: Information from UNF Alumni Association regarding "UNF Happenings". Date: 2009

Our Day In Their Shadow: Critical Remembrance, Feminist Science And The Women Of The Manhattan Project, Lee-Anne Broadhead

Peace and Conflict Studies

Inspired by the publication of a book celebrating the role of the women in the Manhattan Project, this paper seeks to demonstrate that such an effort – to the extent it accepts and endorses the historical, political and scientific legitimacy of the Project – is both misguided and dangerous. An alternative feminist critique is presented: one respecting the views of those scientists (men and women) who refused to participate or who have sought to challenge the reductionist Western scientific paradigm from which the Bomb emerged. Illumination of the repressive and hierarchal structures requisite for the “birth” of the nuclear age …

Identification Des Bactéries Cultivables, Geneviève Marchand, Marie-Claude Barrette, Jacques Lesage

Microbiologiques

Cette méthode est utilisée pour identifier des bactéries cultivées à partir d’échantillons d’air, de surface ou provenant de procédés solides ou liquides. Après avoir isolé une souche bactérienne en culture pure, les caractères macroscopiques et microscopiques des colonies bactériennes sont observés et des tests biochimiques simples sont réalisés. L’identification finale pourra être réalisée en utilisant une ou plusieurs de ces techniques : par spectrométrie de masse utilisant la technologie MALDI-ToF, par séquençage de type Sanger du gène codant pour l’ARNr 16S ou en fonction des caractéristiques phénotypiques de la souche par le système Biolog (tests biochimiques).

Abstract

This method is …

Genomic Instability And Dna Damage Responses In Progeria Arising From Defective Maturation Of Prelamin A., Phillip R. Musich, Yue Zou

ETSU Faculty Works

Progeria syndromes have in common a premature aging phenotype and increased genome instability. The susceptibility to DNA damage arises from a compromised repair system, either in the repair proteins themselves or in the DNA damage response pathways. The most severe progerias stem from mutations affecting lamin A production, a filamentous protein of the nuclear lamina. Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (HGPS) patients are heterozygous for aLMNA gene mutation while Restrictive Dermopathy (RD) individuals have a homozygous deficiency in the processing protease Zmpste24. These mutations generate the mutant lamin A proteins progerin and FC-lamina A, respectively, which cause nuclear deformations and chromatin perturbations. …

Surface Mining And Reclamation Effects On Flood Response Of Watersheds In The Central Appalachian Plateau Region, Todd R. Lookingbill, Joseph R. Ferrari, B. Mccormick, P. A. Townsend, K. N. Eshleman

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

Surface mining of coal and subsequent reclamation represent the dominant land use change in the central Appalachian Plateau (CAP) region of the United States. Hydrologic impacts of surface mining have been studied at the plot scale, but effects at broader scales have not been explored adequately. Broad-scale classification of reclaimed sites is difficult because standing vegetation makes them nearly indistinguishable from alternate land uses. We used a land cover data set that accurately maps surface mines for a 187-km2 watershed within the CAP. These land cover data, as well as plot-level data from within the watershed, are used with HSPF …

Altered Ecological Flows Blur Boundaries In Urbanizing Watersheds, Todd R. Lookingbill, Sujay S. Kaushal, Andrew J. Elmore, Robert Gardner, Keith N. Eshleman, Robert H. Hilderbrand, Raymond P. Morgan, Walter R. Boynton, Margaret A. Palmer, William C. Dennison

Geography and the Environment Faculty Publications

The relevance of the boundary concept to ecological processes has been recently questioned. Humans in the post-industrial era have created novel lateral transport fluxes that have not been sufficiently considered in watershed studies. We describe patterns of land-use change within the Potomac River basin and demonstrate how these changes have blurred traditional ecosystem boundaries by increasing the movement of people, materials, and energy into and within the basin. We argue that this expansion of ecological commerce requires new science, monitoring, and management strategies focused on large rivers and suggest that traditional geopolitical and economic boundaries for environmental decision making be …

Adrenergic Receptor Expression On Raw264.7 Macrophages, Lindsay Ward

Honors Theses

In this study, AR surface expression patterns and regulation via AR-catecholamine interactions were characterized. Macrophage function was shown to be regulated by catecholamines through both Alpha- and Beta-ARs, as evidenced by corresponding alterations in cytokine production. Treatment of activated macrophages with NE, a general catecholamine, or fomoterol, a P-AR agonist, produced significant decreases in TNF and IL-6 secretion. The effecis of clonidine, an Alpha-AR agonist, produced less consistent results, but clonidine-mediated enhancement of cytokine secretion appears to be mediated by Alpha-AR signaling. LPS was shown to noticeably change the surface expression ofboth types of ARs in RAW264.7 macrophages. However, NE …

Can She Ever Be "The Man"? : The Effect Of Gender On Implicit Perceptions Of Leadership Ability In An Applied Hiring Task, Rebecca S. Frazier

Honors Theses

Despite numerous advances in the eld of women's rights and a general decline in explicit discrimination, there still exists a dramatic lack of women in leadership positions across America. This research seeks to expand upon past studies suggesting that there is a basic cognitive incongruency between traditional male and leadership roles which leads ordinarily "unbiased" individuals to perceive women as less suited r leadership positions than men. Thus, this experiment investigates the implicit biases against women leaders by asking if the subtle addition of gender information alters individuals' initial impressions of leadership capability in an applied hiring task involving resumes, …

An Ounce Of Prevention: Why The Innocence Movement Should Focus On Proscriptive Pre-Conviction Measures Instead Of Abolition Of The Death Penalty, Rhiannon M. Hartman

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

When eyewitnesses identify defendants as perpetrators during criminal trials, juries almost always return a guilty verdict. Unfortunately, researchers consistently find that eyewitness identification is inherently inaccurate and unreliable. The Supreme Court of the United States acknowledged the broad scope of the problem as early as 1967, when it referenced Edwin M. Borchard's famous study of wrongful convictions, stating, "the vagaries of eyewitness identification are well-known; the annals of criminal law are rife with instances of mistaken identification."' Since Borchard's 1932 study, there has been no remedy for the problem of wrongful conviction based on mistaken identification. In Samuel Gross's study …

Adopting A New Approach To Medical Information For Adoptees, Jessica Marie Yoke

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

Some estimates indicate that at least six million adoptees lived in the United States in 1997. "After factoring in birth parents and adoptive parents for each adoptee, the number of persons directly affected by the adoption process grows to over [twenty-four million] persons." States conducted many of these adoptions privately, particularly those that did not occur recently, so the parties remain anonymous to one another. Thus, an enormous number of Americans are now struggling in a system built on antiquated law that is not very useful, and in fact might be harmful. This Comment proposes a solution to this overlooked …

Schools, Mandates, And Money: Education In The 2009 Session Of The Virginia General Assembly, Angela A. Ciolf, Sarah A. Geddes

Richmond Journal of Law and the Public Interest

This article will recount the development of this year's revisions to the 2008-2010 budget, examine the long-term implications of budgetary decisions affecting public education, and review notable pieces of substantive education legislation. It will also highlight the major features of the new Standards of Accreditation-implementing graduation rate accountability-and special education regulations. Finally, this article will offer a framework for analyzing the critical education-funding decisions likely to come before the 2010 General Assembly as Virginia continues to feel the effects of a global economic crisis.

Hydroxyl Radical Is Produced Via The Fenton Reaction In Submitochondrial Particles Under Oxidative Stress: Implications For Diseases Associated With Iron Accumulation, Carin Thomas, Melissa M. Mackey, Amy A. Diaz, David P. Cox

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

Mitochondrial dysfunction and reactive oxygen species (ROS) are often implicated in diseases involving oxidative stress and elevated iron. As mitochondria produce ATP by oxidative phosphorylation, ROS by-products are generated from the electron transport chain. Although superoxide and hydrogen peroxide have been thoroughly investigated, little evidence documents hydroxyl radical (HO•) production in mitochondria. In order to determine whether HO• is generated under oxidative stress conditions by a Fenton-type mechanism, bovine heart submitochondrial particles were examined for HO• in the presence and absence of iron ligands, antioxidant enzymes and HO• scavengers. HO• was measured as 2,3- and 2,5-dihydroxybenzoic acid (DHBA), using HPLC …

Sequences Of Tibetan Macaque (Macaca Thibetana) And Tourist Behaviors At Mt. Huangshan, China, Maureen S. Mccarthy, Megan D. Matheson, Jack D. Lester, Lori K. Sheeran, Jin-Hua Li

Biology Faculty Scholarship

Previous research on Tibetan macaques (Macaca thibetana) at Mt. Huangshan, China, suggested that ecotourism can have detrimental consequences. This study identified sequences of behaviors that typically occur in macaque-tourist interactions to examine whether particular tourist behaviors precipitate monkey responses. Focal sampling was used to record relevant behaviors from tourists and 10 macaques over 28 data collection sessions in August 2006. Data collectors recorded whether each behavior occurred as part of a sequence. Sequences were defined as two or more behaviors in which each behavior occurred within five seconds of the previous behavior. Of 3,129 total behaviors, 2,539 (81.1%) …

Biofuels: Potentials, Problems & Solutions, Richard L. Ottinger

Elisabeth Haub School of Law Faculty Publications

Biofuels have the exciting potential of mitigating the grave threats of global warming, reducing the world's dependence on imported oil from insecure sources and of reducing the skyrocketing costs of oil that are threatening to undermine the world's economies and devastating the people in non-oil producing, developing countries. For the people in these countries, biofuel offer a promising road to enhance development since they use local materials, can provide local jobs, and do not require the import of expensive equipment and expertise. Brazil has been the pioneer in the use of biofuel, allowing it to eliminate its oil imports, becoming …

Sfa Gardens Scrapbook 2005-2009, Sfa Gardens, Stephen F. Austin State University

SFA Gardens Scrapbooks

No abstract provided.

Gordie News, January 2009, West Chester University Of Pennsylvania

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

No abstract provided.

Gordon Natural Area (Gna) - (2009) - An Ecological Treasure Island In A Sea Of Development, Gerard Hertel

Gordon Natural Area History & Strategic Plan Documents

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Lesion Border Segmentation Using Watershed Algorithm, Hanzheng Wang

Masters Theses

"Automatic lesion segmentation is an important part of computer-based skin cancer detection. A watershed algorithm was introduced and tested on benign and melanoma images. The average of three dermatologists' manually drawn borders was compared as the benchmark. Hair removing, black border removing and vignette removing methods were introduced in preprocessing steps. A new lesion ratio estimate was added to the merging method, which was determined by the outer bounding box ratio. In postprocessing, small blob removing and border smoothing using a peninsula removing method as well as a second order B-Spline smoothing method were included. A novel threshold was developed …

Automated Offspring Sizing In Evolutionary Algorithms, André Chidi Nwamba

Masters Theses

"Evolutionary Algorithms (EAs) are a class of algorithms inspired by biological evolution. EAs are applicable to a wide range of problems; however, there are a number of parameters to set in order to use an EA. The performance of an EA is extremely sensitive to these parameter values; setting these parameters often requires expert knowledge of EAs. This prevents EAs from being more widely adopted by nonexperts. Parameter control, the automation of dynamic parameter value selection, has the potential to not only alleviate the burden of parameter tuning, but also to improve performance of EAs on a variety of problem …

Time-Weighted Average Solid-Phase Microextraction (Twa-Spme) For In-Planta Detection Of Chlorinated Solvents, Emily Moore Sheehan

Masters Theses

"Recent interest in the use of phyto-mapping for plume delineation at contaminated sites has promoted a need for new and innovative sampling techniques. Solid-phase micro-extraction (SPME) methods have been developed as a chemical analysis tool offering fast, simple, non-invasive sampling without the use of solvents. In this study SPME devices were tested for applicability for in-planta detection of chlorinated solvents. To evaluate the use of SPME for VOCs in-planta a number of integrated studies were undertaken. Uptake profiles were developed for nine chlorinated solvents in a liquid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) matrix with 100 µm Carboxene SPME fibers. Timeweighted average (TWA) sampling …

Electricity Generation And Ethanol Production Using Iron-Reducing, Haloalkaliphilic Bacteria, Varun Paul

Masters Theses

"Microbial life in extreme environments has been studied primarily for their metabolic activities. Very few commercial or industrial applications have been known from these systems. In this study, the metabolic pathways and properties of bacteria from a haloalkaliphilic environment of Soap Lake, Washington were employed in two research applications related to energy production. In the first study, the bacterial cultures that were known to reduce iron (III) were used in a Microbial Fuel Cell (MFC) reactor. Iron reducing bacteria have shown to shunt their electrons on to the surface of a carbon electrode of an MFC, and the electrons can …

Exploring The Use Of A Commercial Game Engine For The Development Of Educational Software, Hussain Alafaireet

Masters Theses

"Three-dimensional visualization and simulation environments are becoming increasingly important in both industrial and educational environments. However, developing these simulations can be a difficult and expensive task. Herein we explore the use of a commercial game engine to develop a 3-D, interactive computer game designed to teach players about the anatomy of a frog. The goal of this project is threefold: 1) to develop high-fidelity virtual reality educational software with a limited budget and limited personnel, 2) to define a software development process by which similar simulations can be developed, and 3) to explore the benefits that these simulations provide to …

Development And Evaluation Of An Effective Process For The Recovery Of Oil And Detoxification Of Meal From Jatropha Curcas, Sarthak Gaur

Masters Theses

"There has been significant research on biofuels to ensure national security and economic stability of the US. Jatropha curcas, a hardy plant, holds tremendous potential as a biodiesel source and cattle feed-stock largely due to its high triglyceride and crude protein content. However, its viable economic utilization is limited due to the presence of important toxic compounds, phorbol esters. A novel and efficient process has been developed that obtains high yields of jatropha oil and detoxifies the defatted (oil free) jatropha meal. Principles of solid-liquid extraction were utilized to detoxify the meal and then liquid chromatography was employed to analyze …

Fault Detection And Prediction With Application To Rotating Machinery, Gary R. Halligan

Masters Theses

"In this thesis, the detection and prediction of faults in rotating machinery is undertaken and presented in two papers. In the first paper, Principal Component Analysis (PCA), a well known data-driven dimension reduction technique, is applied to data for normal operation and four fault conditions from a one-half horsepower centrifugal water pump. Fault isolation in this scheme is done by observing the location of the data points in the Principal Component domain, and the time to failure (TTF) is calculated by applying statistical regression on the resulting PC scores. The application of the proposed scheme demonstrated that PCA was able …

Nona-Arginine Peptides Facilitate Cellular Entry Of Semiconductor Nanocrystals: Mechanisms Of Uptake, Yi Xu

Masters Theses

"Luminescent semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) have recently been used for delivering and monitoring biomolecules, such as drugs and proteins. However, QDs alone have a very low efficiency of transport across the plasma membrane. In order to increase the efficiency of QD delivery, synthetic nona-arginine (sR9) was used, a cell penetrating peptide, to facilitate uptake. Data demonstrated that sR9 could significantly increase the cellular uptake of QDs by noncovalent binding between QDs and sR9. Furthermore, the mechanisms of QD/sR9 cellular internalization were investigated. Low temperature and metabolic inhibitors markedly inhibited the uptake of QD/sR9, indicating that internalization is an energy-dependent process. …

Misunderstood Symbolism: Rereading The Subjective Objects Of Robert De Montesquiou’S First Maison D’Un Artiste, Elizabeth Emery

Department of World Languages and Cultures Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

This essay seeks to return Robert de Montesquiou-Fezensac to his rightful place as an important but misunderstood innovator whose aesthetic experimentation of the 1880s exerted a profound influence on those who would come to be known as ‘Symbolists’. I juxtapose Montesquiou's written descriptions of his interior decorations at an apartment at 41, Quai d’Orsay in Paris with the little-discussed photographs he had taken of this residence, probably in 1887 or 1888, in order to illuminate the originality of his vision.

Oxidative Stress, Calcium Homeostasis, And Altered Gene Expression In Human Lung Epithelial Cells Exposed To Zno Nanoparticles, Chuan-Chin Huang

Masters Theses

"The influence of 20 nm ZnO nanoparticles on oxidative stress, intracellular calcium homeostasis, and gene expression was studied in human bronchial epithelial cells (BEAS-2B). ZnO caused a concentration- and time-dependent cytotoxicity while elevating oxidative stress and causing membrane damage (cellular LDH release). There was a remarkably steep relationship between concentration and toxicity at concentrations from 5 to 10 μg/ml. Exposure to ZnO increased intracellular calcium levels in a concentration- and time-dependent manner. Treatment with the antioxidant N-acetylcysteine prevented cell loss and diminished the increase in intracellular calcium concentration, suggesting oxidative stress mediated cytotoxicity. Exposure to a sublethal concentration of ZnO …

Environmental Geochemistry Of Metal Contaminated Sediments From The Big River System Of Southeastern Missouri, Helen Carrie Bender

Masters Theses

"Geochemical analysis of stream sediments from the Big River Watershed of southeastern Missouri indicates that they contain elevated concentrations of contaminant metals such as Pb. Zn, Cu. Co, Ni and Cd. The elevated concentrations are derived from natural exposures of metal enriched strata and the numerous mine tailings piles and water seeps created as a result of about 300 years of lead-zinc mining in the “Old Lead Belt”. Galena (PbS), sphalerite (ZnS), and pyrite (FeS₂) are the primary sulfides found in the tailings piles and Scanning Electron Microscopy analysis of individual metallic sediment particles collected at intervals downstream …