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Applications And Potentials For Biogenic Methane Recovery Operations In Nebraska Agriculture, Industry, And Economic Development, David Micheal Dingman

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

ABSTRACT: This thesis report illustrates the applications and potentials of biogenic methane recovery in Nebraska’s agricultural and industrial sectors and as a means for increasing sustainable economic development in the state’s rural communities. As the nation moves toward a new green economy, biogenic methane recovery as a waste management strategy and renewable energy resource presents significant opportunities for Nebraska to be a national and world leader in agricultural and industrial innovation, advanced research and development of renewable energy technology, and generation of new product markets. Nebraska’s agricultural economy provides a distinct advantage to the state for supporting methane recovery operations …

Th2 Specific Immunity And Function Of Peripheral T-Cells Is Regulated By The P56lck Sh3 Domain, Margaret Mccoy

Theses and Dissertations

Proper T-cell activation and effector function are essential for effective immunity. T-cell antigen receptor (TCR) signals are known to regulate the outcome of differentiation, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Recent work from our lab demonstrates that the Src family protein tyrosine kinase, p56Lck, is able to specifically link TCR signals to activation of the Mitogen Activated Protein Kinase (MAPK) pathway through the function of its SH3 domain. The MAPK pathway is known to be involved in T-cell activation downstream of TCR ligation and has previously been implicated in T-helper type 2 (Th2) effector function. We have utilized an Lck SH3 …

Disability-Selective Abortion And The Americans With Disabilities Act, Dov Fox, Christopher L. Griffin Jr.

Faculty Publications

This Article examines the influence of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) on affective attitudes toward children with disabilities and on the incidence of disability-selective abortion. Applying regression analysis to U.S. natality data, we find that the birthrate of children with Down syndrome declined significantly in the years following the ADA’s passage. Controlling for technological, demographic, and cultural variables suggests that the ADA may have encouraged prospective parents to prevent the existence of the very class of people it was designed to protect. We explain this paradox by showing the way in which specific ADA provisions could have given rise …

The Karachi Intracranial Stenosis Study (Kiss) Protocol: An Urban Multicenter Case-Control Investigation Reporting The Clinical, Radiologic And Biochemical Associations Of Intracranial Stenosis In Pakistan., Ayeesha Kamran Kamal, Fawad Taj,, Babar Junaidi, Asif Rasheed, Moazzam Zaidi, Muhammed Murtaza, Naved Iqbal, Fahad Hashmat, Syed Vaqas Alam, Uzma Saleem, Shahan Waheed, Lajpat Bansari, Nabi Shah, Maria Samuel, Madiha Yameen, Sobia Naz, Farrukh Shahab Khan, Naveeduddin Ahmed, Khalid Mahmood, Niaz Sheikh, Karim Ullah Makki, Muhammad Masroor Ahmed, Abdul Rauf Memon, Mohammad Wasay, Nadir Ali Syed, Bhojo A Khealani, Philippe M. Frossard, Danish Saleheen

Department of Medicine

Background: Intracranial stenosis is the most common cause of stroke among Asians. It has a poor prognosis with a high rate of recurrence. No effective medical or surgical treatment modality has been developed for the treatment of stroke due to intracranial stenosis. We aim to identify risk factors and biomarkers for intracranial stenosis and to develop techniques such as use of transcranial doppler to help diagnose intracranial stenosis in a cost-effective manner.

Methods/Design: The Karachi Intracranial Stenosis Study (KISS) is a prospective, observational, case-control study to describe the clinical features and determine the risk factors of patients with stroke due …

Access Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions: Final Report, Abdul Mohsen Al Husseini, Luis Alvarez Sanchez, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Jeffrey (Johannes) Apeldoorn, Kenneth Lowell Ashford Jr., Kutay Deniz Atabay, Sara Langston, Et Al.

Publications

The human race has evolved, grown and expanded through the exploration of Earth. After initial steps on the Moon, our next challenge is to explore the solar system. Mars shows potential for both scientific discovery and future human settlement, and so is a prime candidate for the next leap of human exploration. Such a bold endeavor will be a driver for an unprecedented worldwide cooperative effort and the catalyst for a new era of international, intercultural and interdisciplinary human relations. Scientific and technological progress will also accelerate as mankind is ushered into a new era of space exploration.

Currently proposed …

Modelling Browning And Brown Spotting Of Mushrooms (Agaricus Bisporus) Stored In Controlled Environmental Conditions Using Image Analysis, Catherine Barry-Ryan, Jesus Maria Frias, Leixuri Aguirre, Helen Grogan

Articles

Mushrooms have a short postharvest shelf life compared to most vegetables, due to a very high metabolic activity and high water content, making them prone to microbial spoilage and to exhibit enzymatic browning. Storage conditions and natural product variability are both important factors that affect the management of mushrooms, and both of them can be managed using monitoring systems. In order to study the effect of the temperature and relative humidity on the whiteness decrease and appearance of brown spotting, an image analysis system was employed. Twenty five batches of mushrooms were subjected to combinations of three storage temperatures (T) …

The Influence Of Environmental Factors On The Activity And Movement Of Bufo Nebulifer (Coastal Plain Toad) In A Disturbed Area, Crystal Salinas

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Toads in the family Bufonidae are poorly studied in southern Texas. Bufo nebulifir, a native bufonid, has been studied in its northern and southern range limits (east Texas and northern Mexico). South Texas' sub-tropical climate could impact the length of the activity period for B. nebulifer in yet unrecorded ways. This study resolves whether environmental factors correlate to Bufo nebulifer's activity, presence, and movement, using a mark-recapture method. The study was conducted for one year during February 2008 to March 2009. Environmental factors, especially rainfall and temperature were significantly correlated (PB. nebulifer . The active period of B. …

Genetic And Phenotypic Characterization Of Plant Pathogen Inhibitory Streptomyces Isolates, Uylissa A. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Streptomyces are Gram-positive, filamentous bacteria that are readily isolated from soil and produce diverse secondary metabolites such as pigments and antibiotics. A survey of indigenous soil microbes from Rio Grande Valley agricultural soils revealed several isolates with broad inhibitory abilities against a range of soil-borne plant pathogens. The goal of this study was to characterize eleven of these potential biocontrol isolates both biochemically and genetically. Nutrient utilization profiles, 16S rDNA sequencing, and the presence of genes involved in antibiotic biosynthesis pathways (strBl, strR, strF, strN, strS and KS) on plasmids or the chromosome were investigated. Nutrient utilization profiling revealed that …

A Sophisticated Library Search Strategy Using Folksonomies And Similarity Matching, William Lund, Yiu-Kai D. Ng, Maria Soledad Pera

Faculty Publications

Libraries, private and public, offer valuable resources to library patrons. As of today the only way to locate information archived exclusively in libraries is through their catalogs. Library patrons, however, often find it difficult to formulate a proper query, which requires using specific keywords assigned to different fields of desired library catalog records, to obtain relevant results. These improperly formulated queries often yield irrelevant results or no results at all. This negative experience in dealing with existing library systems turn library patrons away from library catalogs; instead, they rely on Web search engines to perform their searches first and upon …

Openline Newsletter, July 2009, Civil Service Council

OpenLine Newsletter

A monthly newsletter for Civil Service employees, Volume XXXIV, Number 1, July 2009.

A Narrative Account Of The Wider Impact Of The 7 July 2005 London Bomb Attacks, Shahid Bux, Sarah M. Coyne

Faculty Publications

The London bombings on 7 July 2005 highlighted the prevailing terrorist threat to the UK. The present study addressed the psychological response of community (n=294) indirectly exposed to the attacks to discern he broader impact and effects of terrorism. Qualitative content analysis was used to develop a profile of emotions and responses to the attacks. This was supplemented by the use of linguistic analysis demonstrating the enormous heterogeneity and complexity of responses to terrorism. In light of previous work on the wider impact of terrorism, the present study highlighted a relatively restrained impact of terrorism. Notwithstanding this observation, responses were …

Time Valuation Of Risk: A Delayed-Bang Approach, Abhishek Pathak

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

The subject of this thesis is the combined use of engineering economics and survival analysis in estimating time-value of risk-related resources. The discussion includes (1) the need for sustainable risk management, (2) the importance of time-valuation of risk related resources in the allocation or selection among competing risk mitigation alternatives, (3) the convergence of deterministic engineering economics, survivability analysis, and probabilistic analysis, and (4) results and examples of application in the context of prevention of risk event or mitigation of its consequences.

The significance of this thesis is in how three topics: engineering economics, survivability analysis, and probability theory can …

Reverse Transcription Of 16s Rrna To Monitor Ribosome-Synthesizing Bacterial Populations In The Environment, Ting Lu, Peter George Stroot, Daniel B. Oerther

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Identification and quantification of phylogenetically defined bacterial populations in the environment are often performed using molecular tools targeting 16S rRNA. Fluorescence in situ hybridization has been used to monitor the expression and processing of rRNA by targeting the 3' tail of precursor 16S rRNA. To expand this approach, we employed reverse transcription of total RNA using primer S-D-Bact-0338-a-A-18. Length heterogeneity detected by slab gel analysis, denaturing high-performance liquid chromatography (DHPLC) was used to differentiate the 5' tail of the precursor from mature 16S rRNA, and the relative abundance of the precursor compared to the abundance of mature 16S rRNA was …

Report Of The Law Reform Committee On Ancillary Orders After Foreign Divorce Or Annulment, Aqbal Singh, Debbie Ong, Yock Lin Tan, Tiong Min Yeo

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

A matrimonial order of divorce, nullity or legal separation is often followed by ancillary orders relating to division of matrimonial property, custody of children and maintenance. Under Singapore law, many of the court’s powers in respect of these types of orders depend on the court having jurisdiction to pronounce on the status of the marriage. If an order made by a foreign court is recognised to have annulled or dissolved the marriage, then it is not possible for the Singapore court to assume jurisdiction in respect of the marriage; there is no marriage to speak of anymore. The legal consequence …

Transformative Education In The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning: An Analysis Of Sotl Literature, Lorraine S. Gilpin, Delores Liston

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) though in its youth, is perceived by many as transforming the academy. Will the transformation of the academy promised by SoTL be a mere shifting of priorities from research in the disciplines to research in pedagogy? Or will SoTL pursue transformation of the conception of teaching and learning whereby the commons influence our identities as knowers and actors engaged in scholarship for the purposes of transformation and growth on local and global scales? Our purpose is to explore whether the scholarship of teaching and learning, as represented in literature associated with SoTL, is …

Improvement In Writing And Reviewing Skills With Calibrated Peer Reviewtm, Adalet Baris Gunersel, Nancy Simpson

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study analyzed results of an NSF-funded project that used Calibrated Peer Review (CPR)TM to promote writing and reviewing skills. The specific focus of the study was whether students at different levels of performance showed improvement in writing and reviewing competency with repeated use of CPR. The study paid specific attention to progress made by initially lower performing students. The courses of nine instructors with a total of 789 students were included. Repeated measures analyses indicated that across different science disciplines and student levels, students showed improvement in writing skills and reviewer competency with repeated use of CPR. In addition, …

Effects Of Inquiry-Based Learning On Students’ Science Literacy Skills And Confidence, Cara Gormally, Peggy Brickman, Brittan Hallar, Norris Armstrong

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Calls for reform in university education have prompted a movement from teacher- to student-centered course design, and included developments such as peer-teaching, problem and inquiry-based learning. In the sciences, inquiry-based learning has been widely promoted to increase literacy and skill development, but there has been little comparison to more traditional curricula. In this study, we demonstrated greater improvements in students’ science literacy and research skills using inquiry lab instruction. We also found that inquiry students gained self-confidence in scientific abilities, but traditional students’ gain was greater –likely indicating that the traditional curriculum promoted over-confidence. Inquiry lab students valued more authentic …

Clickers In Large Classes: From Student Perceptions Towards An Understanding Of Best Practices, Marc Patry

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Handheld wireless transponders, commonly referred to as ‘clickers’, are similar to standard household remote controls. The present study advances a dialogue in the literature about the specific ways in which clickers may be effectively used in the classroom. The present study was a survey of 516 students who were using clickers in a university course in 2006 or 2007. Student perceptions related to the use of clickers were more favorable in 2007 than in 2006. In addition, responses were more positive among introductory psychology students compared to other participants. Almost half (46%) of the responses to an open-ended question about …

Communities, Voices And Portals Of Engagement, Kathy Takayama

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

What are the portals through which we uncover new perspectives, new approaches and new audiences for sharing our scholarship? The scholarship of teaching and learning creates opportunities for the emergence of new communities of practice across disciplines. Specific “portals of engagement” invite new partnerships for engagement, along with the emergence of “hybrid pedagogies” that evolve from Schulman’s (2005) signature pedagogies. How effective are these hybrids? What are the common elements that catalyze learning during the process of engagement? This essay explores these portals and their role in fostering scholarship across disciplinary and cultural pedagogies.

"Adoption Will Determine The Worthiest Successor": Roman Imperial Adoption, Stephen C. Hebert

History Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the process by which successors to the Roman Principate were chosen under the Julio-Claudians, Flavians, and Antonine dynasties. Rome extended its hegemony over the Mediterranean and Europe with citizen-farmer legionaries who were loyal to the senate and Roman state. Warfare necessitated the creation of a professional army in which loyalty shifted from that of the state and senate to their respective military commander. Generals such as Sulla and Caesar used their legions to gain power establishing new political precedence from which future ambitious generals built upon, ultimately leading to the end of the Republic and the birth …

Effect Of Pornography Exposure On Junior High School Teenagers Of Pontianak In 2008, Euis Supriati, Sandra Fikawati

Makara Human Behavior Studies in Asia

Adolescent is a vulnerable group in reproductive health area. This period is marked by strong desire to try and explore new things. Pornography is a medium which can influence adolescent toward high risk sexual behaviour. The exposure to pornographic materials is a serious problem among adolescent since it could have negative impacts such as unwanted pregnancy, unsafe abortion, sexually transmitted diseases and HIV-AIDS. This cross-sectional study was conducted to understand various types of pornographic exposures, effects of pornographic exposure, and factors influence the effect. Study was conducted at five state junior high schools in Pontianak District in 2008 with 395 …

Bs News

Building Services Engineering

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Athletic Training Educators' Knowledge And Calibration Of Evidence-Based Diagnostic Concepts, Cailee Elizabeth Welch

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Evidence-based practice (EBP) is a phenomenon that has transitioned into various medical and allied health professions over the past several decades. The purpose of this study was to assess knowledge and calibration levels of evidence-based concepts in athletic training educators, as well as determine the effectiveness of an EBP single-day workshop. All educators attending the 2009 Athletic Training Educators' Conference (N=498) were solicited to participate in this study; 62 male (41.32 ± 8.92) and 79 female (36.08 ± 7.91) responded for a response rate of 28.3% (years of AT teaching experience = 9.81 ± 7.19). A twenty question multiple choice …

Analysis Of Partial Discharge Pulse Height Distribution Parameters, Vinay N. Nimbole

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Partial Discharges (PD) have been traditionally used to assess the state of any insulation system and its remnant life. In earlier work, Perspex (PMMA) samples with a needle plane gap have been aged with AC voltage. Their tree growth was monitored simultaneously by collecting PD at regular intervals of time and taking microphotographs in real time without interrupting the aging voltage. The obtained partial discharge pulse amplitude records were clustered together into groups of class intervals. The sequence of PD pulse height records was quantified as a time series of shape (η), and scale (σ) parameters of a Weibull distribution. …

Design Development And Implementation Of A Resiliency-Based After-School Program For Sixth Grade Students Through Recreational Activities, Takeyra Collins

Human Movement Studies & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

Fostering youth development is the responsibility of caring adults who have the opportunity to provide support, opportunities, and services in a safe and enlightening environment. The purpose of the current study was to determine the benefits of a resiliency-based after-school program and to examine the design, development and implementation of recreational activities that were developed to instill resiliency traits in at-risk youth. The after-school program has resiliency-based activities for sixth graders that were facilitated by undergraduate college students at a public middle school in Norfolk, VA. A 40-item questionnaire, the Resiliency Attitudes and Skills Profile (RASP), was used to gather …

An Adaptive Method For Calculating Blow-Up Solutions, Charles F. Touron

Mathematics & Statistics Theses & Dissertations

Reactive-diffusive systems modeling physical phenomena in certain situations develop a singularity at a finite value of the independent variable referred to as "blow-up." The attempt to find the blow-up time analytically is most often impossible, thus requiring a numerical determination of the value. The numerical methods often use a priori knowledge of the blow-up solution such as monotonicity or self-similarity. For equations where such a priori knowledge is unavailable, ad hoc methods were constructed. The object of this research is to develop a simple and consistent approach to find numerically the blow-up solution without having a priori knowledge or resorting …

Prostate Cancer Biomarker Identification: A Comparative Study, Wenjuan Jiang

Computational Modeling & Simulation Engineering Theses & Dissertations

With the current development of proteomics techniques, the discovery of potential molecular biomarkers for early detection of prostate cancer has been greatly improved. In this thesis, we implemented five classifiers including the support vector machine (SVM), Bayesian Classifier, Decision Tree, Random Forest and the Multilayer perceptron (MLP) to test their effectiveness in prostate cancer biomarker identification using matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) tissue imaging data. The classifiers were utilized to discriminate cancer mass spectra from normal ones for the data collected at the Eastern Virginia Medical School (EVMS). There are 94 7 spectra from normal tissues and 27 from …

The Cognitive And Behavioral Effects Of Acute Ethanol Exposure And Acute Ethanol Withdrawal, Natasha Laverne Golden

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

Although ethanol, in the form of alcoholic beverages, is one of the most widely used and abused drugs, little research has focused on cognitive and behavioral impairments relating to acute ethanol withdrawal. The primary purpose of the current study was to determine the effects of acute ethanol withdrawal on cognition and behavior using the radial arm maze (RAM) and the elevated plus maze (EPM). The secondary purpose of the study was to explore the immediate effects of acute ethanol exposure using a repeated acquisition version of the RAM. Sixteen male, Long-Evans rats were used for the study. For acute ethanol …

Developing A Philosophical Profile Of The Individual For Complex Problem-Solving Through Agent-Based Modeling, Ipek Bozkurt

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Research that focuses on the emotional, mental, behavioral and cognitive capabilities of individuals has been abundant within disciplines such as psychology, sociology, and anthropology, among others. The main argument made in this dissertation, however, is that a different perspective is necessary in order to gain insight about individuals when facing the complex problems that are presented within engineering and management disciplines. This is done by developing the Philosophical Profile of the Individual (PPI) that uses epistemology, ontology and teleology as underlying dimensions of philosophical predispositions. The epistemology dimension considers whether an individual is an Empiricist or a Rationalist, the ontology …

The Verne School In France: Paul D'Ivoi's Voyages Excentriques, Arthur B. Evans

Global Language Studies Faculty publications

No abstract provided.