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Statistical Methods In Microarray Data Analysis, Liping Huang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation includes three topics. First topic: Regularized estimation in the AFT model with high dimensional covariates. Second topic: A novel application of quantile regression for identification of biomarkers exemplified by equine cartilage microarray data. Third topic: Normalization and analysis of cDNA microarray using linear contrasts.

Ecn 3450 : Game Theory, Economics

Approved Course Proposals

No abstract provided.

Cs 684 Bioethics: Evolution And Creation, James R. Thobaben

Syllabi

Collins, Francis, The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for Belief Moreland, J.P. & Reynolds, J., editors Three Views on Creation and Evolution

Relationship Between Discipline Referrals In Career And Technical Education As Compared To Core Classes, Kim Genge

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

A study to determine whether there was a relationship between discipline referrals in career and technical education as compared to academic classes for determining factors that could be used to reduce referrals in eighth grade. Determine the number of referrals written by career and technical education and academic teachers. Determine if career and technical education classes provided environments and instructional strategies which reduced discipline referrals.

Effects Of 4-H Hand-On School Enrichment Lessons On Science Test Scores, Wendy Herdman

OTS Master's Level Projects & Papers

The problem of this study was to determine whether participation in 4-H hands-on in-school SOL enrichment lessons improved science SOL test scores for third and fifth graders.

Peripheral Dendritic Cells Are Essential For Both The Innate And Adaptive Antiviral Immune Responses In The Central Nervous System, Christina D. Steel, Suzanna M. Hahto, Richard P. Ciavarra

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Intranasal application of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) causes acute infection of the central nervous system (CNS). However, VSV encephalitis is not invariably fatal, suggesting that the CNS may contain a professional antigen-presenting cell (APC) capable of inducing or propagating a protective antiviral immune response. To examine this possibility, we first characterized the cellular elements that infiltrate the brain as well as the activation status of resident microglia in the brains of normal and transgenic mice acutely ablated of peripheral dendritic cells (DCs) in vivo. VSV encephalitis was characterized by a pronounced infiltrate of myeloid cells (CD45^highCD11b^{+ …}

Culture And The Social Context Of Health Inequalities, Carol Leler Mansyur, Benjamin C. Amick Iii, Luisa Franzini, Robert E. Roberts

Community & Environmental Health Faculty Publications

There is a great deal of recent interest and debate concerning the linkages between inequality and health cross-nationally. The U.S. National Institutes of Health recommended in 2001 that any new research on health disparities should include social and cultural systems as units of analysis. Nevertheless, many public health interventions and policies continue to decontextualize risk factors from the social environment. Exposures to social and health inequalities probably vary as a consequence of different cultural contexts. To identify the processes that cause social and health inequalities, it is important to understand culture's influence. Navarro's research on political institutions and inequality illustrates …

Probing The Urea Dependence Of Residual Structure In Denatured Human Α-Lactalbumin, Victoria A. Higman, Heike I. Rösner, Raffaella Ugolini, Lesley H. Greene, Christina Redfield, Lorna J. Smith

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Backbone ¹⁵N relaxation parameters and ¹⁵N–¹H^N residual dipolar couplings (RDCs) have been measured for a variant of human α-lactalbumin (α-LA) in 4, 6, 8 and 10 M urea. In the α-LA variant, the eight cysteine residues in the protein have been replaced by alanines (all-Ala α-LA). This protein is a partially folded molten globule at pH 2 and has been shown previously to unfold in a stepwise non-cooperative manner on the addition of urea. ¹⁵N R₂ values in some regions of all-Ala α-LA show significant exchange broadening which is reduced as the urea …

Electrospray And Photoionization Mass Spectrometry For The Characterization Of Organic Matter In Natural Waters: A Qualitative Assessment, William C. Hockaday, Jeremiah M. Pucell, Alan G. Marshall, Jeffery A. Baldock, Patrick G. Hatcher

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Publications

Fourier-transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry (MS) has demonstrated potential to revolutionize the fields of limnology and chemical oceanography by identifying the individual molecular components of organic matter in natural waters. The use of MS for this purpose is made possible by the electrospray technique which successfully ionizes polar, nonvolatile organic molecules. Another recently developed ion source, atmospheric pressure photoionization (APPI), extends MS capabilities to less polar molecules. This article presents early results on the application of APPI MS to natural organic matter. We compare APPI MS and electrospray MS data for dissolved organic matter from Lake Drummond (Virginia, USA). …

Consequences Of Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Activation In Dendritic Cells, Jaishree Bankoti

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

TCDD (dioxin) causes immunosuppression via activation of the Aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR). Dendritic cells (DCs), the professional antigen-presenting cells in the immune system, are adversely affected by TCDD. However, limited information exists regarding the effects of AhR activation on DCs. We evaluated the consequences of AhR activation by TCDD on both steady-state and inflammatory DCs using in vivo and in vitro approaches, respectively. We hypothesized that AhR activation alters DC homeostasis and differentiation leading to generation of immunosuppression. C57Bl/6 mice gavaged with an immunosuppressive dose of TCDD (15 ug/kg) displayed decreased frequency and number of splenic CD11c^high DCs on …

Effects Of A Yeast Β-Glucan Supplement On Symptoms Of Upper Respiratory Tract Infection In Free-Living College-Aged Males, Casey E. Gorham

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

The focus of previous research has demonstrated that both oat and yeast ß-glucan benefits immunosuppressed populations. However, previous research has not, to our knowledge, investigated the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on the ummune functioning of healthy, free-living human populations. PURPOSE: The goal of this research was to evaluate the effects of a yeast ß-glucan on symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection in healthy, free-living, college-aged males. METHODOLOGY: The WURSS-44, a reliable, validated survey used for determining symptoms of upper respiratory tract infection was filled out online daily by 79 male subjects between the ages of 18 and 40. Subjects …

Enhancing Motivation To Change In Clients With Alcohol Use Disorders: Video Feedback As A Brief Intervention, Wendy M. Rothman

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This research examined whether videotaped self-observation of drinking behavior combined with a one-session motivationally-based interview resulted in higher levels of motivation to change drinking behavior, lower levels of quantity and frequency of alcohol consumption, decreases in alcohol-related problem behaviors, and expectations of the positive effects of alcohol for individuals mandated to treatment for alcohol-use disorders. DUI offenders (n = 8) and heavy drinking college students (n = 13) mandated to treatment were randomly assigned to receive treatment as usual at their respective agencies or an experimental video intervention in addition to their regular treatment requirements. Participants were assessed at baseline …

Genetic Population Structure And Dispersal Of Two North American Woodpeckers In Ephemeral Habitats, Jennifer Christy Pierson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Disturbance-dependent species regularly colonize ephemeral habitat patches. In this research, I used patterns of genetic variation to estimate the dispersal dynamics of black-backed woodpeckers (Picoides arcticus), a fire specialist, and compared these patterns to hairy woodpeckers (Picoides villosus), a generalist. I then examined how frequent colonization of ephemeral habitat patches versus stable migration among static habitat patches shapes the genetic structure of species.

I examined patterns of genetic variation in mtDNA and microsatellites in both black-backed and hairy woodpeckers to determine large-scale spatial structure. Black-backed woodpeckers have high genetic connectivity across the boreal forest and lower genetic connectivity among sites …

Monitoring Noxious Weeds Invasions In Riparian Areas Following Livestock Exclusion Of The Upper Big Hole River Valley: Adaptive Management Under The Candidate Conservation Agreement With Assurances Project, Ana Ingrid Pederson

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

As a 2008 summer intern working for the Nature Conservancy, I arrived in the Big Hole Valley and was introduced to an innovative federal land management program initiated to benefit government land managers, local ranchers, and the general public while increasing ecological integrity in the valley and recovering the fluvial Arctic grayling species. The government program offered funding assistance to local ranchers for conservation projects that would help recover the species, but the landowner had to agree to a few stipulations; among them are riparian enclosures fenced for 5 years to exclude all domestic grazing. The goal of this project …

On The Road: Struggling, Searching And Opportunities Young Asians In Missoula Seek Their Cultural Identities, Suhan Chen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Where are you from? When do you use ¡°we?¡± The answers to these two questions are easy for people from a single cultural background, but may not be so simple for those young Asians who have grown up and lived in the U.S. but aren¡¯t sure where they belong. This project includes two stories of two young women from Missoula. They have been searching for their cultural identities and have found that the searching will never end. They will probably always be on the road back and forth between the U.S. and their ancestry countries.

Sage-Grouse And The Human Footprint: Implications For Conservation Of Small And Declining Populations, Jason Duane Tack

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Implementing conservation in the face of unprecedented landscape change requires an understanding of processes and scales that limit wildlife populations. We assessed landscape-level processes influencing sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), to a migratory population in the Milk River Basin (MRB), northeast Montana, USA, and south-central Saskatchewan, Canada. A regional analysis of leks (e.g., communal breeding sites) documented that populations impacted by the increasing extent of agricultural tillage, roads, and energy development out to spatial scales larger than previously known. Using bird abundance as a novel way to evaluate human impacts revealed relationships that would have been missed had we not incorporated lek …

Scale Dependent Genetic Structure Of Idaho Giant Salamanders (Dicamptodon Aterrimus) In Stream Networks, Lindy Beth Mullen

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Stream network structure constrains population processes of freshwater organisms, with individual, population and community level consequences. This consistent structure provides a framework in which examination of life-history influences on population genetic structure may provide general insight. I examined how stream network structure affects gene flow and genetic structure of the facultatively paedomorphic Idaho Giant salamander, Dicamptodon aterrimus in Idaho and Montana, USA. I used microsatellite data to test population structure models by (i) examining hierarchical partitioning of genetic variation in stream networks and (ii) testing for genetic isolation by distance along stream corridors versus overland pathways. Replicated sampling of streams …

State-Wide Assessment Of Status, Predicted Distribution, And Landscape-Level Habitat Suitability Of Amphibians And Reptiles In Montana, Bryce Alan Maxell

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

Beginning in the late 1980s herpetologists began to realize that amphibians around the world had undergone, and were continuing to undergo, declines, extirpations, and extinctions. In most cases, detections of declines and determinations of the underlying causes has been hampered by a lack of available baseline information on distribution and status. This project was a cooperative effort to address these data deficiencies for amphibians and reptiles in Montana. Watersheds with greater than 30 percent federal or state land ownership were randomly selected for survey in each of 11 geographic strata. Visual encounter and dipnet surveys of all standing water bodies …

An Examination Of Error In The Application Of Pubic Aging Techniques, Ellery Kate Lungmus

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

This study examined six methods of skeletal age-at-death estimation from the pubic symphysis in order to determine the significance of sex as a contributing source of error to the inaccuracy of each method. These six methods included Todd (1920), McKern-Stewart (1957), Gilbert-McKern (1973), Hanihara-Suzuki (1978), Suchey-Brooks female-specific (Brooks and Suchey 1990), Suchey-Brooks male-specific (Brooks and Suchey 1990), and the Berg female-specific Suchey-Brooks 7th phase addition (2008). Three hundred and ninety-six individuals were randomly selected from the William M. Bass (WMB) Donated Skeletal Collection housed at The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, and were evaluated without knowledge of actual age for age-at-death …

Heber Light And Power Company V. Utah Public Service Commission, Rocky Mountain Power : Brief Of Appellee, Utah Supreme Court

Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000–2020)

Petition for Review of Order of the Utah Public Service Commission

Francis V. Utah : Brief Of Appellant, Utah Supreme Court

Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000–2020)

No abstract provided.

Miguel Carranza Amelia Sanchez V. United States : Brief Of Appellee, Utah Supreme Court

Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000–2020)

ON CERTIFICATION FROM THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT DISTRICT OF UTAH, CENTRAL DIVISION HONORABLE DALE A. KIMBALL

Migual Carranza And Amelia Sanchez V. United States : Brief Of Appellant, Utah Supreme Court

Utah Supreme Court Briefs (2000–2020)

CERTIFICATION OF QUESTION OF STATE LAW TO UTAH SUPREME COURT BY THE UNITED STATES DIS f RICT COURT, DISTRICT OF UTAH-CENTRAL DIVISION JUDGE DALE A. KIMBALL

Tumor Necrosis Factor Induced Oxidative Stress In The Central Nervous System Contributes To Sympathoexcitation In Heart Failure, Anuradha Guggilam

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Despite advanced therapeutic strategies for post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients, many ultimately develop congestive heart failure (CHF), rendering the disease a major cause of death in the United States. MI is associated with an acute increase in sympathetic nervous system activity, becoming persistent in CHF patients. Increased pro-inflammatory cytokines (PICs) following MI are implicated in the pathogenesis of CHF. The increase in tumor necrosis factor (TNF), a primary PIC, correlates closely with heart disease severity. Moreover, central PIC production increases post-MI, and can affect the brain’s cardiovascular regulatory regions that control sympathoexcitation. Therefore, understanding how PICs modulate sympathoexcitation is important for …

On-Line Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry, Damien A. Narcisse

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Interfaces for on-line laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry are presented in this dissertation. An on line laser desorption interface allows samples to be introduced directly into the mass spectrometer for high-throughput applications. For this research, a linear time of flight mass spectrometer was constructed with an ionization source designed to accept various laser desorption interfaces. A ball inlet interface was used for continuous analyte deposition at atmospheric pressure and vacuum ionization. A solvent-based cleaning system and a separate capillary for MALDI matrix delivery was utilized for continuous on line sampling with the ball inlet interface. Microfluidic devices were brought into contact …

Matrix Metalloproteinases In The Equine Systemic Inflammatory Response: Implications For Equine Laminitis, Lee Ann Fugler

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Laminitis is a crippling and often life-threatening disease of the equine foot. Soft tissue damage characteristic of this disease has been associated with increased MMP activity. Therefore, it seems likely that MMPIs could be potential therapeutic agents for laminitis. Further characterization of equine MMPs and evaluation of the effectiveness of MMPIs in the horse are needed. Equine MMP-9 was harvested from neutrophils, purified by affinity chromatography, and evaluated using western blotting and gelatin zymography. The Biotrak MMP-9 Activity Assay was evaluated for use with equine samples using equine neutrophil MMP-9 as a standard, and was determined to have insufficient sensitivity …

Dna Methylation Analysis And Identification Of A Novel Antisense Transcript In The Peg3 Imprinted Domain, Jennifer Marian Huang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Genomic imprinting is a process that leads to the silencing of one allele of a gene in a parent of origin specific manner. Genes that are involved in this process are often regulated in clusters, one of which is the Peg3 (Paternally expressed gene 3) imprinted domain. We investigated this region for both CpG islands and long antisense transcripts, two common features of imprinted gene clusters. First, we performed a systematic survey of DNA methylation status of the CpG islands in this region of the mouse, cow, and human genomes. We identified two previously unreported differentially methylated regions (DMR): one …

Applying Scanning Probe Microscopy For The Investigation Of Molecular Self-Assembly Mechanisms And Properties Of Designed Nanomaterials, Algernon Tremayne Kelley

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Scanning probe microscopy (SPM) for conducting surface characterizations of nanomaterials and molecular self-assembly processes is emerging as an important contribution in nanotechnology, especially towards the design of molecular electronic devices. Another area of importance is the characterization of the properties of nanomaterials for fundamental understanding of structure-function inter-relationships. Understanding the properties and behavior of molecules and finding approaches to control surface self-organization through nanolithography provides essential information for the development of workable applications for nanotechnology. This dissertation describes the methodologies of AFM for characterizing molecules and nanostructures produced with scanning probe lithography (SPL). Automated software for nanografting and nanoshaving produce …

Sedimentation On A Mixed Siliciclastic/Carbonate Continental Margin Over Decadal To Millennial Timescales: Gulf Of Papua, Zahid Muhammad

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Sediments from the Gulf of Papua were examined to estimate particle flux and sediment mass accumulation rates on multiple timescales. Patterns of sediment mass accumulation and inventory-derived 210Pb fluxes display regional variations, decreasing seaward, and along isobaths seaward from the northeastern shelf edge. The amount of terrigenous sediment load being discharged annually from the shelf and accumulating in Pandora Trough is approximately 7-14×106 tonnes. The existence of possible turbidity-current transport and deposition have been documented in deeper parts of the Gulf of Papua. High excess 210Pb fluxes estimated from seabed inventories at the shelf edge and upper slope are consistent …

Dna Structural Selectivity Of Binding By The Pol I Dna Polymerases From Escherichia Coli And Thermus Aquaticus, Andy James Budiman Wowor

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Understanding the thermodynamics of substrate selection by DNA Polymerase I is important for characterizing the balance between replication and repair for this enzyme in vivo. Due to their sequence and structural similarities, Klenow and Klentaq, the “large fragments” of the Pol I DNA polymerases from Escherichia coli and Thermus aquaticus, are considered functional homologues. Klentaq, however, does not have a functional proofreading site. Examination of the DNA binding thermodynamics of Klenow and Klentaq to different DNA structures: single-stranded DNA (ss-DNA), primer-template DNA (pt-DNA), and blunt-end double-stranded DNA (ds-DNA) show that the binding selectivity pattern is similar when examined …