Digital Commons Network^™

Electrospray Depositing System For Biological Materials, Rudiger Schlaf, Daniel V. Lim, Marianne F. Brannon, Anthony J. Cascio

USF Patents

An electrospray (ES)-based deposition system enabling the coating an impervious substrate, such as a glass slide, with biological materials in a vacuum. Distilled water or a buffer is used as the solvent; no other solvents are used thereby eliminating hazardous waste from the process. Movement across differential pumping stages causes evaporation of the solvent occurs resulting in shrinkage of the remaining constituents with an increase of the charge density. The resulting ion beam enters a vacuum chamber and the beam impinges on the substrate, whereby a thin layer is deposited thereon. The spray can be focused to a specific area …

Platinum Complexes And Methods Of Use, Heidi Kay, Jay W. Palmer, Joseph A. Stanko

USF Patents

The subject invention concerns platinum complexes that exhibit antitumor cell and/or antiparasitic activity. The subject invention also concerns the use of platinum complexes of the invention to treat oncological and inflammatory disorders. The platinum complexes of the invention can also be used to treat or prevent infection by a virus or a bacterial or parasitic organism in vivo or in vitro.

July 20, 2010, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Enteroaggregative Escherichia Coli: An Emerging Enteric Food Borne Pathogen, A. Asea, P. Kaur, A. Chakraborti

ETSU Faculty Works

Enteroaggregative Escherichia coli (EAEC) are quite heterogeneous category of an emerging enteric pathogen associated with cases of acute or persistent diarrhea worldwide in children and adults, and over the past decade has received increasing attention as a cause of watery diarrhea, which is often persistent. EAEC infection is an important cause of diarrhea in outbreak and non-outbreak settings in developing and developed countries. Recently, EAEC has been implicated in the development of irritable bowel syndrome, but this remains to be confirmed. EAEC is defined as a diarrheal pathogen based on its characteristic aggregative adherence (AA) to HEp-2 cells in culture …

Memory Box, An Interactive Teaching Application For Young Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Itai Shperber

Theses

This thesis presents an outline and fundamental design for the development of an interactive teaching application for young students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder or (ADHD). The project proposes a visual teaching aid used by sixth to ninth grade middle school students with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorders. The author argues that the combination of various modern instructional methods, focusing on user experience and interactivity, can improve the learning experience for students with ADHD. He also argues that students can achieve higher marks and improve their overall educational experiences by adding visual and interactive elements to the written educational material. The …

The Role Of Microrna-155 In Human Breast Cancer, William Kong

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Recent statistics reveal breast cancer as the most common cancer among women and accounts for approximately 41,000 mortalities per year. In diagnosis, features such as stage, grade, lymph node metastasis are important prognostic indicators that help guide physicians and oncologist towards optimal patient care. Presence of established pathological markers such as ER, PR, and Her2/neu status would indicate ideal adjuvant therapy situation. Although treatment of these types of breast cancer is well established, cancer that lack all three receptors, “triple negatives” or “basal like” do not respond to adjuvant therapy and are considered more aggressive in that patients tend to …

The Development And Use Of A Geographic Information System For Evaluating The Association Between Pesticide Exposure And Prostate Cancer, Kristen Wells

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract 1 – A Geographic Information System for Evaluating Residential Pesticide Exposure and Prostate Cancer Incidence Agricultural pesticide exposure is hypothesized to be a risk factor for prostate cancer, and such exposures are of particular concern for men living in farming communities where large-scale pesticide applications occur. Prostate cancer incidence data were obtained from the State Health Registry of Iowa for the years 1996 through 2006, and county and census tract level age-adjusted incidence rates were calculated. Historical crop-specific land use records and pesticide sales data for the state of Iowa during 1990 were integrated into a geographic information system …

Principled Sure Independence Screening For Cox Models With Ultra-High-Dimensional Covariates, Sihai Dave Zhao, Yi Li

Harvard University Biostatistics Working Paper Series

No abstract provided.

The Transcriptional Regulation Of Hla-E By Interferon-Gamma In Tumor Cells, Quintesia Grant

Theses and Dissertations

The human Class Ib gene, HLA-E inhibits both Natural Killer Cells and a subset of CD8+ cytotoxic T lymphocytes by engaging the CD94/NKG2A inhibitory receptor. IFN-γ induces the expression of HLA-E as well as Class Ia molecules, which are required for the killing of target cells. Since HLA-E has negative effects on immune killing of target cells, we have sought to identify locus specific mechanisms of IFN-γ induction in order to identify molecular targets for selective activation of Class Ia genes, but not HLA-E. We have previously identified a unique upstream IFN-γ response region in the HLA-E promoter and showed …

A New Lysozyme From The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, And A Possible Evolutionary Pathway For I-Type Lysozymes In Bivalves From Host Defense To Digestion, Qinggang Xue, Michael E. Hellberg, Kevin L. Schey, Naoki Itoh, Ron I. Eytan, Richard K. Cooper, Jerome F. La Peyre

Faculty Publications

Background. Lysozymes are enzymes that lyse bacterial cell walls, an activity widely used for host defense but also modified in some instances for digestion. The biochemical and evolutionary changes between these different functional forms has been well-studied in the c-type lysozymes of vertebrates, but less so in the i-type lysozymes prevalent in most invertebrate animals. Some bivalve molluscs possess both defensive and digestive lysozymes. Results. We report a third lysozyme from the oyster Crassostrea virginica, cv-lysozyme 3. The chemical properties of cv-lysozyme 3 (including molecular weight, isoelectric point, basic amino acid residue number, and predicted protease cutting sites) suggest it …

A New Lysozyme From The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, And A Possible Evolutionary Pathway For I-Type Lysozymes In Bivalves From Host Defense To Digestion, Qinggang Xue, Michael E. Hellberg, Kevin L. Schey, Naoki Itoh, Ron I. Eytan, Richard K. Cooper, Jerome F. La Peyre

Faculty Publications

Background. Lysozymes are enzymes that lyse bacterial cell walls, an activity widely used for host defense but also modified in some instances for digestion. The biochemical and evolutionary changes between these different functional forms has been well-studied in the c-type lysozymes of vertebrates, but less so in the i-type lysozymes prevalent in most invertebrate animals. Some bivalve molluscs possess both defensive and digestive lysozymes. Results. We report a third lysozyme from the oyster Crassostrea virginica, cv-lysozyme 3. The chemical properties of cv-lysozyme 3 (including molecular weight, isoelectric point, basic amino acid residue number, and predicted protease cutting sites) suggest it …

A New Lysozyme From The Eastern Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, And A Possible Evolutionary Pathway For I-Type Lysozymes In Bivalves From Host Defense To Digestion, Qinggang Xue, Michael E. Hellberg, Kevin L. Schey, Naoki Itoh, Ron I. Eytan, Richard K. Cooper, Jerome F. La Peyre

Faculty Publications

Background. Lysozymes are enzymes that lyse bacterial cell walls, an activity widely used for host defense but also modified in some instances for digestion. The biochemical and evolutionary changes between these different functional forms has been well-studied in the c-type lysozymes of vertebrates, but less so in the i-type lysozymes prevalent in most invertebrate animals. Some bivalve molluscs possess both defensive and digestive lysozymes. Results. We report a third lysozyme from the oyster Crassostrea virginica, cv-lysozyme 3. The chemical properties of cv-lysozyme 3 (including molecular weight, isoelectric point, basic amino acid residue number, and predicted protease cutting sites) suggest it …

Monitor Newsletter July 19, 2010, Bowling Green State University

Monitor

Official Publication of Bowling Green State University for Faculty and Staff

Bjc Today

BJC Today

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Accuracy Of Total Hemoglobin Recovery Using Contrast-Detail Analysis In 3d Image-Guided Near Infrared Spectroscopy With The Boundary Element Method, Hamid R. Ghadyani, Subhadra Srinivasan, Brian W. Pogue, Keith D. Paulsen

Dartmouth Scholarship

The quantification of total hemoglobin concentration (HbT) obtained from multi-modality image-guided near infrared spectroscopy (IG-NIRS) was characterized using the boundary element method (BEM) for 3D image reconstruction. Multi-modality IG-NIRS systems use a priori information to guide the reconstruction process. While this has been shown to improve resolution, the effect on quantitative accuracy is unclear. Here, through systematic contrast-detail analysis, the fidelity of IG-NIRS in quantifying HbT was examined using 3D simulations. These simulations show that HbT could be recovered for medium sized (20mm in 100mm total diameter) spherical inclusions with an average error of 15%, for the physiologically …

Pyridoxal Kinase: Its Role In Vitamin B6 Metabolism, Jigarkumar Desai

Theses and Dissertations

Pyridoxal kinase (PL kinase) and pyridoxine 5’-phosphate oxidase (PNP oxidase) are the two vitamin B6 salvage enzymes involved in metabolism of the primary inactive vitamin B6 (pyridoxal, pyridoxine and pyridoxamine) into the active cofactor form, pyridoxal 5’-phosphate (PLP). PLP, arguably the most important vitamin, is required by numerous vitamin B6 (PLP-dependent) enzymes as a co-factor. These enzymes serve vital roles in the metabolism of glucose, lipids, amino acids, heme, DNA/RNA and many neurotransmitters. High levels of vitamin B6 are linked to neurotoxicity, due to the non-specific interactions of PLP with non-B6 proteins. This problem is controlled, in part, by maintaining …

Central Florida Future, Vol. 42 No. 46, July 19, 2010

Central Florida Future

SGA Senate impeaches Pozin; A red carpet event; Volunteers garden life at UCF; Biomed students find work post-UCF; NASA changes leave future uncertain.

Walter Williams Oral History, Walter Williams

Writing Our Story

Mr. Williams begins his oral history by describing the high school he attended and the extracurricular activities he was involved in. He discusses his decision to apply to and attend Denison, and how one of his high school guidance counselors played a likely role in his being admitted. Mr Williams describes how he initially felt behind his peers at Denison academically, but that two faculty took him under their wings, designed a course of study for him, and helped him develop as a student. He talks of coming from a poor, blue-collar family, and what a degree from Denison would …

Designing Thematic Instruction With Authentic Resources: Science And Technology, Brian G. Kennelly

World Languages and Cultures

No abstract provided.

Peace Parks For Mountain Forests: The Law And Policy Of Transforming Conflict To Stewardship, Elaine C. Hsiao

Dissertations & Theses

Peace parks provide a land ethic that transcends borders and seeks to stabilize tensions between bordering States, honoring the unity of biosphere systems in its efforts to achieve peace, conservation and cooperation. In theory, peace parks recognize that humans and the biosphere are one and that natural resources, just as cultural resources, must be collaboratively protected. In the cases of inhabited border regions, peace park principles of holistic conservation, cooperation and peace require that local communities be incorporated into park management. I posit that this is all the more true for frontier communities in regions of conflict, weak governance or …

Ethical Considerations Of Nonmedical Preconception Gender Selection Research, Lisa Marie Sternke Phd(C), Msn, Rn

Journal of Health Ethics

Technological advances in reproductive science now afford prospective parents the ability to potentially choose the gender of their infant prior to conception; however, the bioethical considerations of preconception gender selection (PGS) research remain an ongoing debate in the scientific community. Opponents of PGS research argue it is unethical as it has the potential to cause a sex ratio imbalance, its availability is restricted to those with financial means, it promotes gender discrimination, and it may lead to further genetic discrimination based on desired traits (eugenics). Proponents of PGS research argue it is a parental right to choose the sex of …

Pitfalls Of Legal Regulation To Improve End-Of-Life Care. The Example Of Artificial Nutrition And Hydration, Jos V.M. Welie Ma, Mmeds, Jd, Ph.D.

Journal of Health Ethics

Biomedical advances nowadays enable physicians to keep patients hovering at the brink of death for many years. These new technologies have evoked challenging ethical dilemmas that test society’s moral resources. But some have been unwilling to patiently search for new moral wisdom, believing a bold stance is required and they are using legal means to achieve their goal. Attempts to legalize physician assisted suicide and euthanasia are one example, and the literature is replete with analyses of these practices. Far less attention has been paid to opposite attempts at legally enforcing life-sustaining medical interventions. In the mid 1990s, a group …

Plasticity In Cavitation Resistance And Mechanical Strength Of Stem Xylem In Heteromeles Arbutifolia, Adults Versus Post-Fire Resprouts, Iolana N. Kaneakua, B. A. Bergman, F. W. Ewers, S. D. Davis

Biology

Background/Questions/Methods

Many species of chaparral shrubs of California undergo vigorous resprout success after wildfire. We hypothesized that the water transport properties of resprouts, as well as their biomechanical strength would differ from adults. In addition, we hypothesized that irrigated and shaded resprouts would display reduced cavitation resistance and biomechanical strength in comparison to controls and adults. We tested these hypotheses by using a centrifuge method to compare the vulnerability of xylem to water stress induced cavitation. We used 50% loss in hydraulic conductivity due to water stress (PLC₅₀) as our estimate of vulnerability to cavitation. A Universal Materials …

A Feature-Based Approach For Processing Nanoscale Images, Gregory Roughton, Aparna Varde, Stefan Robila, Jianyu Liang

Department of Computer Science Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works

Nanotechnology is a rapidly emerging field in which the material structures are of the size 100 nanometers or smaller. Thus, analyzing images at the nanoscale level is a challenging task. Users in this field are interested in image analysis and processing to draw conclusions such as the impact of various experimental conditions on the nature of the image and consequently their usefulness in several applications. This motivates our work that involves designing a system that will not only recognize similarities and differences among images, but do so efficiently and accurately. Features are representative of the manner in which images are …

The Role Of Multilevel Selection In The Evolution Of Sexual Conflict In The Water Strider Aquarius Remigis, Omar Tonsi Eldakar, David Sloan Wilson, Michael J. Dlugos, John W. Pepper

Biology Faculty Articles

In evolution, exploitative strategies often create a paradox in which the most successful individual strategy “within” the group is also the most detrimental strategy “for” the group, potentially resulting in extinction. With regard to sexual conflict, the overexploitation of females by harmful males can yield similar consequences. Despite these evolutionary implications, little research has addressed why sexual conflict does not ultimately drive populations to extinction. One possibility is that groups experiencing less sexual conflict are more productive than groups with greater conflict. However, most studies of sexual conflict are conducted in a single isolated group, disregarding the potential for selection …

Estimating The Reliability Of Concept Map Ratings Using A Scoring Rubric Based On Three Attributes, Laura Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

Concept maps provide a way to assess how well students have developed an organized understanding of how the concepts taught in a unit are interrelated and fit together. However, concept maps are challenging to score because of the idiosyncratic ways in which students organize their knowledge (McClure, Sonak, & Suen, 1999). The construct a map or C-mapping" task has been shown to capture students' organized understanding. This "C-mapping" task involves giving students a list of concepts and asking them to produce a map showing how these concepts are interrelated. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine to …

Fusing Small-Footprint Waveform Lidar And Hyperspectral Data For Canopy-Level Species Classification And Herbaceous Biomass Modeling In Savanna Ecosystems, Diane Sarrazin

Theses

The study of ecosystem structure, function, and composition has become increasingly important in order to gain a better understanding of how impacts wrought by natural disturbances, climate, and human activity can alter ecosystem services provided to a population. Research groups at Rochester Institute of Technology and Carnegie Institution for Science are focusing on characterization of savanna ecosystems and are using data from the Carnegie Airborne Observatory (CAO), which integrates advanced imaging spectroscopy and waveform light detection and ranging (wLiDAR) data. This component of the larger ecosystem project has as a goal the fusion of imaging spectroscopy and small-footprint wLiDAR data …

Double-Strand Break Repair Mechanisms In Human Embryonic Stem Cells, Bret Adams

Theses and Dissertations

Central to the progression of all organisms is the maintenance of a stable genome despite continuous insults arising from genotoxic and environmental stresses. Embryonic stem cells show promise for treatment of a variety of diseases as well as for providing normal human tissue to conduct scientific research. A major obstacle for their application is that genomic instability arises in stem cells after prolonged cell culture. The most detrimental form of DNA damage is the DNA double-strand break (DSB), which is managed by cells through complex mechanisms, designated the DNA damage response. There are two major types of DSB repair; homologous …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Zinc Oxide Complex Nanostructures, Dinghao Tang

Theses

Zinc Oxide nanostructures are important for many applications, specifically for developing novel catalysts and sensors which our research group has been working on. The objectives of this thesis are: (1) synthesis and characterization of complex ZnO nanostructures; (2) development of synthesis protocols for high-yield and reliable synthesis of nanostructures. In this thesis, chapter 1 introduces the background of nanoscience and nanotechnology, with a focus on nanomaterials. In chapter 2, the fundamental knowledge of ZnO and relevant characterization techniques are introduced, specifically the crystallography of ZnO wurtzite structure and the scanning (transmission) electron microscopy. Several goals have been achieved and they …

Determination And Analysis Of Curriculum Content For A Degree Program In Construction Management, Jason Stepp

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Jason Stepp on April 23, 2010.