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Preprofessional Curriculum In Preparation For Doctor Of Pharmacy Educational Programs, Eric G. Boyce, Lisa A. Lawson

School of Pharmacy Faculty Articles

The preprofessional pharmacy curriculum provides the foundation for the professional curriculum. Basic requirements are noted in the ACPE Standards and Guidelines, but there is considerable variation in the preprofessional curriculum requirements for entry into doctor of pharmacy programs in the United States. Changes in higher education, pharmacy practice, and health care continue to drive the need to evaluate the preprofessional curriculum. The objectives of this white paper were to create model preprofessional curricula that would enable students to be successful during and after entry into the professional curriculum. Using an evidence-based approach where possible, a number of factors were found …

Crowning Glory: A Sociological Study Of Gender In The Beauty Pageant System, Lee Taylor

Honors Theses

This thesis provides a sociological examination of the personal experiences of beauty pageant participants in the South. By deconstructing the ideal view of women in beauty pageants, I attempted to answer how pageant contestants view their individual participation in the oppressive framework of the beauty pageant contest. In order to provide an in-depth analysis on the role of gender in beauty pageants, I conducted personal interviews and field study observations. Additionally, I researched current online sources and scholarly publications concerning gender and beauty pageants. The beauty pageant system demands that young women alter their bodies and personalities in order to …

Vico And Imagination: An Ingenious Approach To Educating Lawyers With Semiotic Sensibility, Francis J. Mootz Iii

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

Law is a specialized semiotic realm, but lawyers generally are ignorant of this fact. Lawyers may manage meaning, but they also are managed by meaning. Seemingly trapped by the weight of pre-existing signs, their attempts to manage these meanings generally are limited to technical interventions and instrumentalist strategies. Signs have power over lawyers because they are embedded in narratives, a semiotic economy that confronts the lawyer as ‘‘given’’ even though it is dynamic and constantly under construction. Most lawyers do not make meaning through legal narratives; rather, they parrot bits of the controlling narratives in response to certain problems. Because …

Acceptance Of Evolution Increases With Student Academic Level: A Comparison Between A Secular And A Religious College, Guillermo Paz-Y-Mino C., Avelina Espinosa

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Acceptance of evolution among the general public, high schools, teachers, and scientists has been documented in the USA; little is known about college students’ views on evolution; this population is relevant since it transits from a high-school/parent-protective environment to an independent role in societal decisions. Here we compare perspectives about evolution, creationism, and intelligent design (ID) between a secular (S) and a religious (R) college in the Northeastern USA. Interinstitutional comparisons showed that 64% (mean S + R) biology majors vs. 42/62% (S/R) nonmajors supported the exclusive teaching of evolution in science classes; 24/29% (S/R) biology majors vs. 26/38% (S/R) …

Scratching The Surface And Digging Deeper: Exploring Ecological Theories In Urban Soils, Mitchell A. Pavao-Zuckerman, Loren B. Byrne

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Numerical Comparison Of Flow Patterns And Propulsive Performances For The Hydromedusae Sarsia Tubulosa And Aequorea Victoria, Mehmet Sahin, Kamran Mohseni, Sean Colin

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

The thrust-generating mechanism of a prolate hydromedusa Sarsia tubulosa and an oblate hydromedusa Aequorea victoria was investigated by solving the incompressible Navier–Stokes equations in the swirl-free cylindrical coordinates. The calculations clearly show the vortex dynamics related to the thrust-generating mechanism, which is very important for understanding the underlying propulsion mechanism. The calculations for the prolate jetting hydromedusa S. tubulosa indicate the formation of a single starting vortex ring for each pulse cycle with a relatively high vortex formation number. However, the calculations for the oblate jet-paddling hydromedusa A. victoria indicate shedding of the opposite-signed vortex rings very close to each …

Crawling To Collapse: Ecologically Unsound Ornamental Invertebrate Fisheries, Andrew L. Rhyne, Randi Rotjan, Andrew Bruckner, Michael Tlusty

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Fishery management has historically been an inexact and reactionary discipline, often taking action only after a critical stock suffers overfishing or collapse. The invertebrate ornamental fishery in the State of Florida, with increasing catches over a more diverse array of species, is poised for collapse. Current management is static and the lack of an adaptive strategy will not allow for adequate responses associated with managing this multi-species fishery. The last decade has seen aquarium hobbyists shift their display preference from fish-only tanks to miniature reef ecosystems that include many invertebrate species, creating increased demand without proper oversight. The once …

The Role Of Resilience And Purpose In Life In Habituation To Heat And Cold Pain, Bruce W. Smith, Erin M. Tooley

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

This study examined the role of resilience in habituation to heat and cold pain in healthy women (n = 47). Heat and cold pain thresholds were each assessed across 5 equally spaced trials. Re- silience, purpose in life, optimism, social support, and neuroticism were assessed using self-report measures. The hypothesis was that the resilience and the associated resilience factors would be pos- itively related to habituation to heat and cold pain while controlling for neuroticism. Multilevel mod- eling was used to test the hypothesis. When considering each characteristic separately, resilience and purpose in life predicted greater habituation to heat pain …

Warming Of The Antarctic Ice-Sheet Surface Since The 1957 International Geophysical Year, Eric J. Steig, David P. Schneider, Scott Rutherford, Michael E. E. Mann, Josefino C. Comiso, Drew T. Shindell

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Assessments of Antarctic temperature change have emphasized the contrast between strong warming of the Antarctic Peninsula and slight cooling of the Antarctic continental interior in recent decades. This pattern of temperature change has been attributed to the increased strength of the circumpolar westerlies, largely in response to changes in stratospheric ozone. This picture, however, is substantially incomplete owing to the sparseness and short duration of the observations. Here we show that significant warming extends well beyond the Antarctic Peninsula to cover most of West Antarctica, an area of warming much larger than previously reported. West Antarctic warming exceeds 0.1 °C …

The Palaeoceanography Of The Leeuwin Current : Implications For A Future World, Karl-Heinz Wyrwoll, Benjamin J. Greenstein, George Kendrick

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Long-term progressive changes of the Leeuwin Current are linked to plate and ocean basin ‘geography’ and Cenozoic global climates and palaeoceanography. Suggestions of the presence of a proto-Leeuwin Current as early as late Middle to Late Eocene times (c. 35–42 Ma) cannot be verified by the fossil record of the western margin of Australia. “Leeuwin Current style” circulation around Australia was certainly established by the early Oligocene, in response to palaeogeographic changes in the Tasman Strait. This, followed by tectonic eorganisation of the Indonesian Archipelago throughout the Miocene, provided a palaeogeographic setting, which by the Pliocene was essentially that of …

Response To Michael Sandel, Stephen F. Smith

Journal Articles

Professor Michael J. Sandel has treated us to an elegant argument against efforts by athletes to use medicine to "enhance" their bodies or by parents, in effect, to genetically engineer their children. I cannot agree with him more that "playing God" (my phrase, not his) in these ways is fundamentally an exercise in hubris, a rejection of the gifts that we have been given. I cannot improve on Professor Sandel's presentation of his argument. Unlike some Supreme Court Justices, I know that I am not a philosopher. Having said that, one of the joys of being a law professor is …

Sampling Edge Covers, William August Rummler

Theses

The random generation or sampling of combinatorial objects has important applications to statistical analyses in various domains, including physics and evolutionary biology. Some objects whose sampling has been well-studied are contingency tables, matchings, and independent sets. Edge covers are related to matchings in graph theory; however, their association does not appear to be of the sort where results for sampling matchings imply results for sampling edge covers. Consequently, we investigate the sampling of edge covers and prove that efficiently sampling so-called (1,2)-edge covers is possible under reasonable restrictions.

The Continuity Of High-Permeability Zones In Sedimentary Deposits, Arijit Guin

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Cubic lattice models were used to represent sedimentary deposits and their role as georeservoirs. The percolation of high-permeability zones was studied using both analytical and simulation approaches. The analytical approach was developed for single-scale sedimentary architecture. The approach showed that percolation is affected by cluster spatial correlation and by lattice size. It showed that correlation affects both high-permeability and low-permeability clusters equally, and thus correlation does not likely affect the percolation threshold for infinite lattices. On finite lattices, the analysis showed that the effect of correlation on lowering the percolation threshold can be understood through the truncation of low-permeability cluster-size …

Due-B, A New Human Dna Replication Protein, Is The Functional Homolog Of S. Cerevisiae Sld3, Jianhong Yao

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DNA unwinding elements (DUEs) are commonly found at DNA replication origins. The DUE binding protein (DUE-B) is crucial for the initiation of DNA replication in eukaryotes. The unique 59 amino acid C-terminal part of DUE-B shares nearly 50% similarity with yeast the C-terminus of Sld3. DUE-B plays a key role in eukaryotic DNA replication because it is required for the loading of Cdc45, the MCM helicase activator, on chromatin. Here we show that DUE-B, just like yeast Sld3, binds to Cdc45 and TopBP1 through its C-terminus in Sf9 cells and in vitro. We also show that DUE-B, Cdc45 and TopBP1 …

The Effects Of Coaching Strategies For Primary Prevention Of Coronary Heart Disease Involving Asymptomatic Hospital Employees, Gabriel Mario Moreno

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Introduction: An effective coronary heart disease (CHD) prevention program is needed. Currently, prevention of CHD is being sought through pre-CHD risk stratification of patients using office-based screening tools such as the Framingham risk model (Greenland, Smith, and Grundy, 2001). However, patients who are given recommendations for lifestyle behavior modification find difficulty employing and sustaining the changes. The recent popularity of coaching for health behavior change has prompted the question of whether coaching is an effective method to produce a higher success rate for lowering cardiovascular disease following risk stratification.

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness …

Computational Analysis Of Metabolomic Toxicological Data Derived From Nmr Spectroscopy, Benjamin J. Kelly

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Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is a non-invasive method of acquiring metabolic profiles from biofluids. The most informative metabolomic features, or biomarkers, may provide keys to the early detection of changes within an organism such as those that result from exposure to a toxin. One major difficulty with typical NMR data, whether it come from a toxicological, medical or other source, is that it features a low sample size relative to the number of variables measured. Thus, traditional pattern recognition techniques are not always feasible. The "curse of dimensionality" is an important consideration in selecting appropriate statistical and pattern recognition …

Dose-Dependent Effects Of Oxygen On Metabolism In Rat Cortico-Hippocampal Brain Tissue Slices, Jennifer Lynne Hollyfield

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Studies have shown that 95% oxygen increases neuronal excitability and ROS production. We wanted to investigate the dose-dependent effects of oxygen on brain slice metabolism. We exposed rat brain cortico-hippocampal tissue slices to 0.40, 0.95, and 4.50 ATA O2 for 60 minutes, made dual-phase tissue extracts, and used multi-nuclear NMR experiments to elucidate the slice metabolism. We found that low doses of oxygen may shift metabolism toward anaerobic glycolysis. Elevated lactate suggests this shift, along with elevated ratios of NAD+/NADH which may drive the reactions toward the production of lactate. The results also suggest that high doses of oxygen may …

Separation And Vorticity Transport In Massively-Unsteady Low Reynolds Number Flows, Charles Webb

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There is no doubt that nature has existed as the very inspiration for many of technological achievements of today. Flight is no exception though our conventional methods of flight seem to be completely devoid of any flapping modes commonly seen in insects and birds. This is because the unsteady characteristics of natures keen flight capabilities is very difficult to study. However, as our computational and experimental methods of investigation have improved, our imagination again begins to turn to this one aspect of flight that has eluded man thus far. Birds and more specifically insects are capable of flying at such …

Effects Of Chlorpyrifos-Oxon On Prohormone Convertase Enzyme Activity, Sean William Harshman

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Organophosphate (OP) compounds have been synthesized for various applications including medicine, pest control and weapons of terror. OPs irreversibly phosphorylate the active site of acetylcholinesterase, the primary target of toxicity, rendering it inactive causing a hypercholinergic state in the post synaptic cleft. However, very little is known about the effects of OPs on secondary targets of toxicity i.e. other serine hydrolases. The prohormone convertase (PC) enzymes, specifically PC1/3 and PC2, are serine hydrolases which are responsible for the processing of pro-opiomelanocortin in the anterior and intermediate lobes of the pituitary. To test the direct interaction between OPs and the PC …

Investigation And Quantification Of Codon Usage Bias Trends In Prokaryotes, Amanda L. Hanes

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Organisms construct proteins out of individual amino acids using instructions encoded in the nucleotide sequence of a DNA molecule. The genetic code associates combinations of three nucleotides, called codons, with every amino acid. Most amino acids are associated with multiple synonymous codons, but although they result in the same amino acid and thus have no effect on the final protein, synonymous codons are not present in equal amounts in the genomes of most organisms. This phenomenon is known as codon usage bias, and the literature has shown that all organisms display a unique pattern of codon usage. Research also suggests …

Cellular Function Of The Ia-Motoneuron Circuit Following Peripheral Nerve Regeneration, Katie Leigh Bullinger

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Successful regeneration of a severed peripheral nerve is insufficient to restore the stretch reflex. This deficit occurs despite successful muscle reinnervation and functional restoration of the circuit components. For example, Ia afferents encode muscle stretch, Ia-motoneuron synapses reform to the extent of restoring low frequency transmission, and activation of motoneurons results in muscle force output. However, when recording intracellularly from reinnervated rat motoneurons during ramp hold and release muscle stretch, no excitatory synaptic potentials are detected in 2/3 motoneurons (Haftel et al., 2005), a clear sign that the synapses connecting Ia afferents with motoneurons are physiologically disrupted. This thesis examines …

Eco-Epidemiological Analysis For Screening-Level Ecological Risk Assessment: A Geographic Information Systems Approach, Katherine E. Kapo

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The identification and prioritization of multiple watershed stressors and the corresponding development of optimal management strategies remains a challenge in ecological risk assessment. Eco-epidemiological analysis of archival environmental spatial databases integrates available biological, physical and chemical information to generate hypotheses based on stressor-response data relationships. A geographic information systems-based technique incorporating Bayesian weights-of-evidence analysis and weighted logistic regression (WOE/WLR) developed for and currently utilized in minerals exploration was extrapolated to the eco-epidemiological analysis of aquatic ecosystem data. Case studies within state of Ohio (USA) and England and Wales were conducted to demonstrate a method proof-of-concept in the context of various …

Visual Contributions To Spatial Perception During A Remote Navigation Task, Candace Lee Eshelman-Haynes

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The purpose of this study was to explore the implications of perception and action coupling for the design of control and display interfaces in remotely piloted vehicles. Three experiments were conducted: spatial arrangement, path perception, and remote navigation. The results showed that panning independent of forward motion gives observers a greater sense of depth in a scene and aides in efficient navigation while rotation during forward motion results in ambiguities during passive observation. This research has implications for the design of control and visualization interfaces for remote navigation.

Ischemic Stroke In Type Ii Diabetic Mice: Deregulation Of Sdf-1a/Cxcr4 Axis, Avik Das

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Type 2 diabetes mellitus is a major risk factor for ischemic stroke. Also diabetes is associated with poor outcome after stroke. Underlying mechanisms are however not fully understood. Alteration in the expression of the SDF-1a/CXCR4 axis, which is important for ischemic tissue repair, can be a probable cause. In this study, we have determined the expression of SDF-1a/CXCR4 in the brains of type II diabetic mice at basal and in response to ischemic stroke and have investigated a method for overexpression of SDF-1a in the brains of the diabetic mice. Adult male C57BLKS/J mice (db/db) of age 8 weeks were …

The Presynaptic Regulation Of Isolated Neonatal Rat Carotid Body Type I Cells By Histamine, Drew C. Burlon

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It has been previously shown that Carotid Body Type I cells have the ability to synthesize, package and release histamine in response to hypoxia, thereby contributing to the modulation of respiration within the rat. Here, isolated neonatal rat carotid body type I cells were used to identify the presynaptic effects of histamine and the specific receptor subtypes that modulate them. Although all four histamine receptor subtypes are expressed on the type I cells, and preliminary data showed promising results, further data proved that the activation of these receptors with histamine or selective agonists caused no rise in intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) …

Ion Transport Mechanisms During Hyposmotic Regulatory And Isosmotic Apoptotic Volume Decreases In A Human Lens Epithelial Cells Line, Ameet Ajit Chimote

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Living cells maintain constant volume in response to physiological stresses by altering trans-membrane ion, solute and water flow. In the present study, early and late membrane transport changes in human lens epithelial (HLE-B3) cells under hyposmotic and apoptotic stress were compared. Cell potassium (Ki), rubidium (Rbi)-uptake and water content were measured by atomic absorption spectrophotometry and gravimetry, respectively. Intracellular chloride concentration [Cl]i was determined with the fluorescence dye N- (ethoxycarbonylmethyl)-6-methoxyquinolinium bromide (MQAE), during regulatory volume decrease (RVD) after hyposmotic stress and apoptotic volume decrease (AVD) induced by staurosporine (STP), a protein-kinase inhibitor. Cell water increased in hyposmotic balanced salt solution …

Conductance Modulation In Bilayer Graphene Nanoribbons, Kirti Kant Paulla

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Graphene nanoribbons are among the recently discovered carbon nanostructures, with unique characteristics for novel applications. One of the most important features of graphene nanoribbons, from both basic science and application points of view, is their electrical conductivity. In this research, we study the electrical conductance of single and double layer nanoribbons of specified widths and edge geometries. The calculations are carried out using ab initio quantum mechanical simulations for obtaining the optimized atomic configurations of the nanoribbons and their electronic structures. These results are then used to calculate the conductance characteristics via Green's function approach to the Landauer's formalism. We …

Risk-Sensitive Foraging Facilitates Species-Level Trophic Cascades Among Terrestrial Mammals: A Meta-Analysis, Bryan David Murray

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The widespread removal of large carnivores from terrestrial ecosystems may be contributing to plant species loss and biotic homogenization through trophic cascades. A few plants not preferred by ungulates are increasing in abundance while the majority of preferred plants are in decline. A meta-analysis of recruitment gaps in browse-sensitive tree species demonstrated that failed recruitment coincided in time with carnivore loss. In all studies recruitment continued in nearby browsing refugia. A second meta-analysis revealed that the mechanism of mammalian herbivore-mediated trophic cascades contains a behavioral component. Foraging mammals exhibited higher giving-up densities (GUDs) when under higher predation risk. GUDs were …

Impact Of Diabetes On Ace/Ace2 Balance And Angiotensin Ii Type 1 Receptor Expression In Db/Db Diabetic Mice, Malav Navinchandra Madhu

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Alterations in the renin-angiotensin system (RAS) are considered to be crucial for the development of diabetic complications like hypertension and nephropathy. Our previous work demonstrated role of AT1 receptors (AT1R) in the development of hypertension in db/db diabetic mice. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is upregulation of renal AT1R and imbalance in renal ACE/ACE2 homeostasis in db/db mice. In addition, we hypothesize that treatment with an anti-hyperglycemic or an AT1R blocker will correct this imbalance. Five week old control and db/db mice were housed in metabolic cages for 24 hour collection of urine. …

Layered Sensing Using Master-Slave Cameras, Donald Rodney Mclemore Jr.

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The objective of this thesis is to demonstrate the layered sensing concept using Master-Slave cameras. The process of 2D camera calibration and several key factors that can present error during such calibration are described. The analysis and results are based on calibration of a pinhole model camera system. The calibration is accomplished using OpenCV software and the results are analyzed using MATLAB software. These results are divided into intrinsic and extrinsic camera parameters. These parameters are then used to determine the position and orientation of the object in the camera coordinate system. This thesis also explores the use of two …