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Hypercholesterolemia And Microvascular Dysfunction: Altered Mechanisms And Interventional Strategies, Phoebe Stapleton

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cardiovascular disease has a number of risk factors and confounding variables associated with the development and progression of the condition. Hypercholesterolemia is one of the few independent risk factors of peripheral vascular disease (PVD) and coronary artery disease (CAD) with causes stemming from a genetic predisposition and lifestyle management. The primary symptom of these diseases can be described as an endothelial cell dysfunction, which hypercholesterolemia can exacerbate, leading to a pro-inflammatory state of elevated oxidant stress and significant reduction in nitric oxide (NO) bioavailability, a key mediator of endothelium-dependent dilation. This environment can culminate into an impairment of the vascular …

A Component Based Model For The Prediction Of The Product Yields Of The Pyrolysis Of A Biomass Particle, Brian C. Eberly

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Pyrolysis of biomass can produce several useful, renewable products: biochar for soil amendment and long-term carbon sequestration; tars for chemicals and biofuels; and syngas as an energy and biofuel production feedstock. The ability to predict the relative yields of gas, tar and char from the pyrolysis process of various biomasses will enable optimization of pyrolysis process for specific yield ratios. Component based kinetic and 1-D pyrolysis models are developed wherein the woody biomass is characterized by the mass percentage of its three primary components: cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin. Using dual stage mechanisms for primary component pyrolysis and tar cracking reactions, …

Teacher Knowledge About Educating Children Of African Descent In Urban Schools, Susan Goodwin

Education Doctoral

Teacher Knowledge about Educating Children of African Descent in Urban Schools was a quantitative study that examined what a sample of teachers knew about effective teaching in urban schools in order to inform professional development in the urban district where this study was conducted. This research proceeded from the idea that having knowledge about African descent people is a requisite for teaching them, and that absence of this cultural knowledge has served as a barrier to effective education. A quantitative instrument, Teaching in Urban Schools Scale, was used to identify teachers’ knowledge about effective teaching in urban schools, and a …

Quality Of Life In The Nursing Home: An Outcome That Matters, Carol Dumond

Education Doctoral

This quantitative study collected information to determine how elders living at the nursing home studied perceived their quality of life, determined if there are differences in quality of life among neighborhoods, and if there are differences experienced by those living in private rooms compared to shared rooms. A descriptive, correlational, and cross-sectional design was applied. An instrument that focused on enhanced quality of life, the Quality of Life Scales for Nursing Home Residents, was used to guide 155 structured interviews. Data collected provided information on eleven domains of quality of life including safety, physical comfort, food enjoyment, meaningful activities, relationships, …

Feminism, Imperialism, Utopianism, And Science Fiction In Margaret Cavendish's “Blazing World", Terina Garza Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Margaret Lucas Cavendish (1623-1673), the Duchess of Newcastle, was a woman writer in seventeenth-century England who was the first woman in history to be allowed within the halls of the Royal Society. She was also the first woman to write what should be considered the first work of science fiction by a woman titled The Description of a New World Called, The Blazing World, or simply The Blazing World. This thesis focuses on The Blazing World which offers a proto-feminist critique of imperialism and of gender relations in seventeenth-century England and of England’s emergent imperialist culture and points to a …

The Uncivil War Waged Against Unionists In Texas 1860-1890, Randall Herman Adrian

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Texas was a log cabin frontier in 1860; nomadic Indian tribes still occupied half of the state and frequently raided settlements. Additional fear sprang from rumors that Kansas Jayhawkers planned to devastate Texas the way they already had wreaked havoc on the people of Kansas. During the Civil War, fear-inspired hysteria caused vigilantes to commit numerous atrocities across the State of Texas. During Reconstruction, hatred from past traumas carried forward generating more barbarity between Texans of different loyalties.

The diversity of the Texas population resulted in similarly divergent political beliefs and economic interests. The population of Texas exploded as Gotterdammerung …

Playback Surveys And Breeding Habitat Characteristics Of Golden-Winged Warblers (Vermivora Chrysoptera) On High-Elevation Pasturelands On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Kyle Ray Aldinger

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Across the breeding range of the Golden-winged Warbler (Vermivora chrysoptera), significant population declines have been documented even before the implementation of the North American Breeding Bird Survey (BBS) and continue as such today. The plight of this species has been blamed on the loss and degradation of early successional habitat, interactions with the closely related Blue-winged Warbler (Vermivora pinus), and Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater) brood parasitism. Most breeding Golden-winged Warblers are found in the upper Midwest and Great Lakes regions of the United States, but there are considerable populations persisting at higher elevations (>600 m) in the central Appalachian …

Insectivorous Bat Assemblages In Relation To Spatial Aspects Of Virgin Jungle Reserves In Peninsular Malaysia., Joann Christine Luruthusamy

Student Works (2010-2019)

The tropical region supports the highest diversity of bat fauna known. Reasons for their success are mainly due to their large geographical ranges, the diversity of habitats, various foraging strategies and the tendency to exhibit a variety of roosting behaviour. This study addresses the issue of insectivorous bat distribution in relation to spatial aspects such as geography, size, distance and topography. This information was gathered from the 958 individuals and 27 insectivorous bat species that were captured and identified over a span of 18 months. This study which included six virgin jungle reserves of various sizes across Peninsular Malaysia revealed …

Patrilocal Exogamy As A Monitoring Mechanism: How Inheritance And Residence Patterns Co-Evolve, Brishti Guha

Research Collection School Of Economics

Economists have modeled inheritance norms assuming the pattern of post-marital residence is exogenous. We model the co-evolution of these two institutions, examining how patrilineal inheritance and patrilocal exogamy reinforced each other in a patrilineal-patrilocal equilibrium. We also derive conditions for a matrilineal-matrilocal equilibrium. The endogenous choice of the old to monitor the sexual behavior of the young women who reside with them, thereby affecting the paternity confidence of the young women’s husbands and hence their incentives, is crucial. Our model fits the data on the relationship between inheritance, residence patterns and paternity confidence, and on the importance of paternity uncertainty.

The Taifa Of Denia And The Medieval Mediterranean, Travis Bruce

Dissertations

This dissertation treats the Muslim kingdom of Denia on the Spanish Mediterranean coast. Through a singular political program, the eleventh-century rulers of Denia created a maritime kingdom based on the resources and networks of the Mediterranean. Denia played a unique role as a Mediterranean polity, developing economic links with Christian Barcelona, Sardinia, Pisa and Genoa that would connect Muslim and Christian populations over several centuries. The dissertation demonstrates the importance of economics in the Muslim-Christian relations of the western Mediterranean using Latin archival documents, Latin and Arabic narrative sources, and archaeological and numismatic evidence. It explores the extent to which …

The 71f Advantage: Applying Army Research Psychology For Health And Performance Gains, Paul T. Bartone, Ross H. Pastel, Mark A. Vaitkus

Books

This book grew out of paper presentations and discussions at the Army Research Psychology Biennial Conference held April 24–25, 2008, in Bethesda, Maryland. It provides a snapshot of groundbreaking research currently being done by Army research psychologists around the globe. The book illuminates the many contributions of Army research psychologists to supporting Soldiers and their families, as well as enhancing their performance and wellbeing.

A Hubel Wiesel Model For Hierarchical Representation Of Concepts In Textual Documents, Kiruthika Ramanathan, Luping Shi, Chong Chong Tow

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Hubel Weisel models of the cortex describe visual processing as a hierarchy of increasingly sophisticated representations. While several models exist for image processing, little work has been done with Hubel Weisel models out of the domain of object recognition. In this paper, we describe how such models can be extended to the representation of concepts, resulting in a model that shares several properties with the PDP model of semantic cognition. The model that we propose is also capable of incremental learning, in which the knowledge is stored in the strength of the neuron connections. Degradation of old knowledge occurs as …

Betty Foy Sanders Department Of Art Newsletter, Georgia Southern University

Art: News & Publications (2008-2023)

• The Circus, Greatest Show on Earth Opens August 16, 2010

• Georgia Southern University’s Center for Art & Theatre Welcomes New Gallery Director

Transgenic Manipulation In Zebra Fish By Combination Of Cre-Loxp Recombinant System, Tol2 Transposon System, And Rnai Technique, Yang Bai

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this research is to make precisely controlled transgene constructs to target genes in zebrafish and facilitate their functional studies. Many of the previous transgenic techniques (e.g. morpholino) can only produce transient gene expression or inhibition, which is not good for long-term studies. Also, transgenes that randomly integrate into the chromosomes are typically difficult to control and are poorly regulated. Thus, it would be of great benefit to develop a reversibly controlled transgenic tool to help study gene function. Here, we propose to combine three distinct techniques to generate a stable transgenic tool to facilitate gene functional …

Study Of The Efficacy, Biodistribution, And Safety Profile Of Therapeutic Gutless Adenovirus Vectors As A Prelude To A Phase I Clinical Trial For Glioblastoma, Akm Ghulam Muhammad, Mariana Puntel, Marianela Candolfi, A Salem, Kader Yagiz, C Farrokhi, Kurt Kroeger, Weidong Xiong, James Curtin, Chunyan Liu, K Lawrence, Niyati Bondale, Jonathan Lerner, G Baker, David Foulad, Robert Pechnick, Donna Palmer, Philip Ng, Pedro Lowenstein, Maria Castro

Articles

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is the most common and most aggressive primary brain tumor in humans. Systemic immunity against gene therapy vectors has been shown to hamper therapeutic efficacy; however, helper-dependent high-capacity adenovirus (HC-Ad) vectors elicit sustained transgene expression, even in the presence of systemic anti-adenoviral immunity. We engineered HC-Ads encoding the conditional cytotoxic herpes simplex type 1 thymidine kinase (TK) and the immunostimulatory cytokine fms-like tyrosine kinase ligand 3 (Flt3L). Flt3L expression is under the control of the regulatable Tet-ON system. In anticipation of a phase I clinical trial for GBM, we assessed the therapeutic efficacy, biodistribution, and clinical and …

Information Acquisition And Sociality Among Migratory Birds, Zoltán Németh

Dissertations

Information use is a key feature of adaptive behavior: the better informed an individual, the better it is able to adjust its behavior to meet the demands of a variable world. Therefore, most animals attempt to reduce environmental uncertainty by gathering information when it is available. However, tracking unpredictable ecological factors may carry costs as individuals invest valuable time and energy in the process of information acquisition. Social learning (i.e., use of social information inadvertently produced by other individuals) enables the individual to gain rapid and more complete assessment of its novel environment. This process may be particularly important for …

The Holiness And Other Stories, Leslie Michelle Nichols

Dissertations

This dissertation is a collection of an introductory essay and ten original short stories written and submitted to fiction workshops in the PhD program at The University of Southern Mississippi’s Center for Writers.

Patterns Of Diversity, Zoogeography, And Ecological Gradients In Honduran Freshwater Fishes, Wilfredo Antonio Matamoros

Dissertations

Nineteen major river drainages across Honduras were sampled from 2005-2009 in order to understand Honduran geographical patterns of freshwater fish distribution, to delineate the Honduran freshwater fishes ichthyographical provinces, and to understand patterns of species assemblage at the drainage level. A total of 166 species of freshwater fishes were sampled, a 64% increase over previously published reports. Eight species belong to primary freshwater families, 47 to secondary, and 111 to peripherals. In order to understand the species-drainages relationships, a presence-absence matrix was built for the 19 major drainages and 55 primary and secondary freshwater fishes. Correspondence and cluster analysis clearly …

Increasing Readiness To Change Anger: A Motivational Group Intervention, Gregory Lee Futral

Dissertations

The conceptualization and treatment of problematic anger has received increased attention in the literature in recent years. Among the challenges in working with persons experiencing anger-related difficulties, barriers in forming the therapeutic alliance (Tafrate & Kassinove, 2003), resistance behaviors (DiGiuseppe, 1995), and/or low motivation to change (DiGiuseppe & Tafrate, 2007) have been commonly identified as having the potential to derail the treatment process. Strategies developed to increase treatment motivation and readiness to change, such as those found in the literature on the transtheoretical model (TTM; Prochaska & DiClemente, 1982) and motivational interviewing (MI; Miller & Rollnick, 2002), have been proposed …

Daimon, Miranda Foster Merklein

Dissertations

The following creative dissertation is a book of 57 poems.

Illinois State Alumni Magazine, August 2010, Illinois State University, University Marketing And Communications

State: The Magazine of Illinois State University (1999-present)

Illinois State University alumni magazine

Bugs Don't Bug Me Coloring And Activity Book, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Coloring and Activity Book

Bugs Don't Bug Me Lesson Plan: Build-A-Bug, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plan: Build-A-Blug

Bugs Don't Bug Me Lesson Plan: If Bugs Could Talk, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plan: If Bugs Could Talk

Bugs Don't Bug Me Lesson Plan: Macroinvertebrate Investigation, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plan: Macroinvertebrate Investigation

Bugs Don't Bug Me Lesson Plan: Macroinvertebrate Mix And Match, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plan: Macroinvertebrate Imix and Match

Bugs Don't Bug Me Lesson Plan: Water Pollution Graphing, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plan: Water Pollution Graphing

Bugs Don't Bug Me: Lesson Plans And Hands-On Activities About Aquatic Macroinvertebrates And Water Quality For K-6 Students, Usu Extension

All Current Publications

Bugs Don’t Bug Me Lesson Plans and Hands-On Activities about Aquatic Macroinvertebrates and Water Quality for K-6 Students

Swimsmart: An Interactive And Instructional Multimedia Application, Rebecca Berent

Theses

The thesis project, SwimSmart, created by Rebecca Natalie Berent, is an instructional CD-ROM designed for coaches and intermediate to advanced swimmers seeking to improve upon their swimming skills. It is designed for use on both a projector for group training and on a personal computer as an individual teaching aid, and it runs by inserting it into a computer. The CD includes videos depicting proper swimming technique and is organized within a graphical interface broken down by stroke technique, coach advice, and tips, exercises, and downloadable practice routines. There are two additional sections devoted to credits and an explanation of …

Methylglyoxal Increases Cardiomyocyte Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury Via Glycative Inhibition Of Thioredoxin Activity., Xiaoliang Wang, Wayne B. Lau, Yue-Xing Yuan, Ya-Jing Wang, Wei Yi, Theodore A. Christopher, Bernard L. Lopez, Hui-Rong Liu, Xin-Liang Ma

Department of Emergency Medicine Faculty Papers

Diabetes mellitus (DM) is closely related to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality, but the specific molecular basis linking DM with increased vulnerability to cardiovascular injury remains incompletely understood. Methylglyoxal (MG), a precursor to advanced glycation end products (AGEs), is increased in diabetic patient plasma, but its role in diabetic cardiovascular complications is unclear. Thioredoxin (Trx), a cytoprotective molecule with antiapoptotic function, has been demonstrated to be vulnerable to glycative inhibition, but whether Trx is glycatively inhibited by MG, thus contributing to increased cardiac injury, has never been investigated. Cultured H9c2 cardiomyocytes were treated with MG (200 muM) for 6 days. The …