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2011

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Proper Orthogonal Decomposition For Parameter Estimation In Oscillating Biological Networks, Amanda Marie Rehm Jan 2011

Proper Orthogonal Decomposition For Parameter Estimation In Oscillating Biological Networks, Amanda Marie Rehm

All ETDs from UAB

Proper orthogonal decomposition (POD) is frequently applied to estimate parameters of partial differential equations. This study examines the application of the POD method in estimating the parameters of an Ordinary Differential Equation (ODE) model of stable oscillating biological networks. The model is related to the Lotka-Volterra equations. The findings reveal that POD generates accurate estimates of the parameters; furthermore, extrapolating biologically measured data points to a number of oscillations improves the curve fits, C1 approximations, and parameter estimations. KEYWORDS: Proper Orthogonal Decomposition, Ordinary Differential Equations, Biological Networks, Oscillations, Parameters.

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Parental Influences On Late Adolescents' Autonomous Motivation And Sexual Risk Knowledge And Behavior, Bettina Hornbuckle Riley Jan 2011

Parental Influences On Late Adolescents' Autonomous Motivation And Sexual Risk Knowledge And Behavior, Bettina Hornbuckle Riley

All ETDs from UAB

Adolescent risky sexual behavior is associated with unprotected sex, unplanned pregnancy, abortion, and contraction of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as chlamydia, syphilis, gonorrhea, and HIV/AIDS. During their time of transition to adulthood, late adolescents make decisions about their sexual health that may or may not be motivated by parental (mother and father) sexual risk communication and autonomy support. While the adolescent may be physically independent or semi-independent from his/her parents, parents continue to influence their adolescents through past and present endorsement of certain behaviors. This research examined how parent-sexual risk communication and parental autonomy support may individually and collectively …

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Exploring Parental Involvement Strategies Utilized By Middle School Interdisciplinary Teams, Christopher Clayton Robbins Jan 2011

Exploring Parental Involvement Strategies Utilized By Middle School Interdisciplinary Teams, Christopher Clayton Robbins

All ETDs from UAB

Adolescents present a unique collection of characteristics and challenges for which middle school interdisciplinary teams were designed to address. Current research focuses on teacher-specific strategies which can be utilized in order to increase parental involvement. However, there is little literature addressing how an interdisciplinary team approach to involving parents alters the face of parent-teacher communication. The central research question for this study was, "What are the strategies utilized by interdisciplinary middle school teams to effectively involve the parents of their students in the educational process?" The researcher utilized a multiple-case study approach with three central Alabama middle school interdisciplinary teams: …

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Design Space Decomposition Using Concept Maps, David E. Robbins Jan 2011

Design Space Decomposition Using Concept Maps, David E. Robbins

All ETDs from UAB

Decomposition of engineering design spaces has been performed primarily through statistical and system identification techniques. However, no approach has yet attempted to capture the semantics of a design through decomposition. This thesis presents graphical techniques for capturing the semantics of a design by developing an information architecture through design space decomposition using concept maps. In particular, concept maps are used to begin identifying the top layers of the information architecture of a problem, which has the dual effects of performing an initial decomposition of the design space and refining the parameters that will define more detailed design spaces for further …

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Survival Analysis With Censored Outcomes, Henry T. Robertson Jan 2011

Survival Analysis With Censored Outcomes, Henry T. Robertson

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation is arranged in the three-paper format. The unifying theme of the dissertation is estimating longevity in terms of years of life lost (YLL). The papers are presented in order of increasing methodological focus. The first paper, No compelling evidence that sibutramine prolongs life in rodents despite providing a dose-dependent reduction in body weight, was published in the International Journal of Obesity in 2010. Although sibutramine reduced food intake and body weight, it had no association with longevity. The conclusions were based on data from a 2-year toxicology trial required by the FDA. Although this paper was largely applied …

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Increased Cutting Efficacy Of Diamond Burs With Biochemical Solution Spraying, Ramtin Sadid Zadeh Jan 2011

Increased Cutting Efficacy Of Diamond Burs With Biochemical Solution Spraying, Ramtin Sadid Zadeh

All ETDs from UAB

CAD/CAM units are becoming increasingly popular for milling all ceramic restorations from ceramic blocks. The solution used to spray the diamond cutting instrument also improves cutting effectiveness and also lubricates the diamond, which may not only prolong the cutting life of the diamond instrument but also provide smoother cuts on the ceramic block. The purpose of this study is to evaluate cutting efficacy of diamond burs with three solutions and to compare roughness produced by each solution on the glass-ceramic block. Material and methods: 15 Empress CAD blocks, 30 fine diamond burs, two solutions and distilled water were used. Each …

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Factor Structure Of The Functional Activities Questionnaire In Cognitively Normal And Cognitively Impaired Older Adults, Janice Camille Marceaux Jan 2011

Factor Structure Of The Functional Activities Questionnaire In Cognitively Normal And Cognitively Impaired Older Adults, Janice Camille Marceaux

All ETDs from UAB

The Pfeffer Functional Activities Questionnaire (FAQ) was developed to assess instrumental activities of daily living involving higher level functional skills. The FAQ is included in the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center's (NACC) Uniform Data Set (UDS) battery, to assess declines in functional abilities that may be related to cognitive decline. Previous studies have suggested that functional measures similar to the FAQ have multidimensional properties related to physical or cognitive demands. In this study, exploratory factor analyses (EFA) were conducted utilizing polychoric correlation matrices, a technique that is appropriate for ordinal data. EFAs were conducted for the entire NACC sample as well …

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Gabaergic Signaling To Adult-Generated Neurons In Hippocampus, Sean Markwardt Jan 2011

Gabaergic Signaling To Adult-Generated Neurons In Hippocampus, Sean Markwardt

All ETDs from UAB

In the central nervous system of adult mammals, new neurons are produced throughout life in at least two regions, the subventricular zone and dentate gyrus of the hippocampus. New neurons in the SVZ migrate via the rostral migratory stream and eventually participate in adaptive olfactory processes. In the dentate gyrus, a variety of physiological functions for continued addition of neurons have been proposed, but its role in normal or pathological conditions remains largely unclear. Neurogenesis in the dentate gyrus consists of the stepwise process of generating fully functional granule cells (GCs) from adult neural stem cells. Regulation of neurogenesis can …

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Role Of Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels In Glioblastoma Volume Regulation, Michael Bryan Mcferrin Jan 2011

Role Of Calcium-Activated Potassium Channels In Glioblastoma Volume Regulation, Michael Bryan Mcferrin

All ETDs from UAB

The most common and most malignant gliomas are the Grade IV Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM), characterized by a highly proliferative tumor mass and extremely invasive phenotype that allows for profuse dispersal of tumor cells throughout the brain. GBM cells must specifically regulate their cell volume to thrive within the edematous tumor mass and infiltrate throughout the tortuous extracellular spaces of the brain. These rapid and directed volume changes are governed by the controlled flux of potassium and chloride ions across the cell membrane, which move osmotically obliged water. The goal of this dissertation was to investigate the role of calcium-activated potassium …

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Alcoholic Women In Recovery: A Phenomenological Inquiry Of Spirituality And Recidivism Prevention, Jennifer Irene Mcleod Jan 2011

Alcoholic Women In Recovery: A Phenomenological Inquiry Of Spirituality And Recidivism Prevention, Jennifer Irene Mcleod

All ETDs from UAB

In the United States, 7-12% of women compared to 20% of men, abuse alcohol, yet the social and medical consequences impact women much harder and faster than men. Women aggrieved by alcoholism have unique health and social consequences which are not well understood because women have been marginalized in studies of alcoholism. Little is known about the nature of the lived experience of the recovery process in women who have achieved a stable recovery and prevented recidivism. The aim of this study was to describe the lived experiences of alcoholic women in a stable recovery, defined as sustained abstinence for …

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I'M Still Here--But Can You Hear Me?, Jared Everett Meals Jan 2011

I'M Still Here--But Can You Hear Me?, Jared Everett Meals

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT I'm Still Here--Can You Hear Me? contains both non-fiction and fiction pieces. The focus of these pieces is on different kinds of relationships--with writing, with family, with dating, with life itself, with Julie Andrews. Another dominant trait that runs heavily throughout the pieces is self-obsessed, almost solipsistic narrators.

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Supporting Autonomy In Early Childhood: A Case Study Of Educators Offering Choice, Jann Montgomery Jan 2011

Supporting Autonomy In Early Childhood: A Case Study Of Educators Offering Choice, Jann Montgomery

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this study was to explore the behaviors of early childhood educators that support their students' autonomy. Researchers have shown that the most prevalent style of teaching is an autonomy-suppressive style that has been determined to undermine student functioning and achievement (Assor, Kaplan, & Roth, 2002; Reeve, 2009). Teachers are often unaware of the atmosphere they create in their classroom (DeVries & Zan, 1994) and this can result in learning environments that are coercive which has been found to impede children's autonomous thinking (Reeve, 2009). This study sought to explore autonomy-supportive teacher behaviors in the early childhood classroom. …

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Legal Challenges To Public Education Finance: Equity V. Adequacy, James Michael Munger Jan 2011

Legal Challenges To Public Education Finance: Equity V. Adequacy, James Michael Munger

All ETDs from UAB

LEGAL CHALLENGES TO PUBLIC EDUCATION FINANCE: EQUITY V. ADEQUACY J. MICHAEL MUNGER DEPARTMENT OF GOVERNMENT -- PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT This research examines the nature of public education financing in the United States. When education became a cornerstone of public policy in America, federalism dictated that the responsibility of implementation be delegated to the states, and from the states to the constituent school districts. Oftentimes these districts came to be divided--accidentally or on purpose--along lines of race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status; this led to wide variations in education outcomes. Such after effects have come under greater scrutiny over the past few decades. …

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Development And Characterization Of Thermal Diffusion Doped Fe2+:Znse/Zns Polycrystalline Gain Media For Room Temperature Mid-Ir Lasing, Nosoung Myoung Jan 2011

Development And Characterization Of Thermal Diffusion Doped Fe2+:Znse/Zns Polycrystalline Gain Media For Room Temperature Mid-Ir Lasing, Nosoung Myoung

All ETDs from UAB

The dissertation is focused on thermo-diffusion doping of Fe2+:ZnSe, Fe2+:ZnS, Fe2+:Co2+:ZnSe, and Fe2+:Co2+:ZnS polycrystals and their laser-spectroscopic characterization. Most materials absorb infrared (IR) light at specific patterns of frequencies directly related to their structure. IR spectra can therefore be used to identify and quantify the constituents of an unknown material, making detection of chemicals by their absorption of IR light an important analytical tool. For instance, Mid-infrared lasers (ë = 3 to 5µm) are widely used for an environmental monitoring, remote sensing of atmosphere and defense-related applications. Tunable middle infrared lasers are essential for highly sensitive detection of organic molecules …

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Language Difference In Writing : Toward A Translingual Approach., Bruce Horner, Min-Zhan Lu, Jacqueline Jones Royster, John Trimbur Jan 2011

Language Difference In Writing : Toward A Translingual Approach., Bruce Horner, Min-Zhan Lu, Jacqueline Jones Royster, John Trimbur

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Arguing against the emphasis of traditional U.S. composition classes on linguistically homogeneous situations, the authors contend that this focus is at odds with actual language use today. They call for a translingual approach, which they define as seeing difference in language not as a barrier to overcome or as a problem to manage, but as a resource for producing meaning in writing, speaking, reading, and listening.

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The Influence Of Teaming On The Academic Achievement Of Ninth Grade Students In A Comprehensive Suburban High School, Martin Nalls Jan 2011

The Influence Of Teaming On The Academic Achievement Of Ninth Grade Students In A Comprehensive Suburban High School, Martin Nalls

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT The purpose of this study was to examine the impact ninth grade interdisciplinary teaming had on academic achievement of ninth grade students in English, reading and mathematics. As more schools adopt the interdisciplinary teaming approach with ninth grade students, this study sought to investigate the dynamics of interdisciplinary teaming and traditional non-teaming instruction in an effort to educate high school and district administrators who are attempting to compose an appropriate educational model that will contribute to the success of ninth grade students. This quantitative study's quasi-experimental design examined ninth grade student achievement in math, English, and reading for students …

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How Do Principals Retain Teachers In Urban Secondary Schools In Central Alabama: A Grounded Theory Study, Evelyn L. Nettles Jan 2011

How Do Principals Retain Teachers In Urban Secondary Schools In Central Alabama: A Grounded Theory Study, Evelyn L. Nettles

All ETDs from UAB

This qualitative grounded theory study explored how principals' retain teachers in urban schools. The retention of teachers in urban school is a critical part of the process to improve academic achievement. Only minimal research appears to be directed toward the principal's role in recruiting, training, or supporting urban teachers. Principals under-stand retaining a stable teaching staff is vital to student achievement. Urban schools are plagued with challenges that make the retention of highly qualified effective teachers a major concern. As urban school districts seek to retain its best teachers the achievement gap for the students attending these schools continues to …

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Sensitization Of Glioma To Death Receptor 5-Mediated Apoptosis Through Genotoxic Stress And Cell Cycle Disruption: A Study Of Mechanism, Michael L. Belenky Jan 2011

Sensitization Of Glioma To Death Receptor 5-Mediated Apoptosis Through Genotoxic Stress And Cell Cycle Disruption: A Study Of Mechanism, Michael L. Belenky

All ETDs from UAB

Our laboratory reported that a combination of ionizing radiation (IR) or temozolomide (Tmz), a DNA methylating agent clinically approved against glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), a type of human brain cancer, and TRA-8, an anti-DR5 monoclonal antibody produced synergistic cytotoxicity in GBM cells in culture and in mouse xenograft models through an yet unknown mechanism. I hypothesized that understanding of the synergy phenomenon can offer an insight into the nature of GBM vulnerability. The goals of this investigation were two-fold - to elucidate the mechanism of this enhancement in cytotoxicity, and to improve understanding of DR5 mediated apoptosis toward improvement of current …

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Mechanisms And Consequences Of Thy-1 Shedding, John Edwin Bradley Jan 2011

Mechanisms And Consequences Of Thy-1 Shedding, John Edwin Bradley

All ETDs from UAB

Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by chronic fibrosis in the lung interstitium of unknown etiology, and causes death within 2 to 4 years after diagnosis. There are no clinical interventions save for lung transplantation that give any survival benefit. Aberrant collagen deposition and aggregates of proliferating fibroblasts and myofibroblasts called fibroblastic foci (FF) are the classic features of IPF. Therefore, the cell type most often implicated as pathogenic in IPF is the fibroblast, especially its differentiated phenotype, the myofibroblast. Fibroblasts are a remarkably heterogeneous cell type. Expression of the cell surface glycoprotein Thy-1 (Thymocyte differentiation antigen 1) delineates a …

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Estrogen Increases Stress Resilience And Hippocampal Synaptic Physiology In The Learned Helplessness Model Of Depression In Female Rats, Teruko Michelle Bredemann Jan 2011

Estrogen Increases Stress Resilience And Hippocampal Synaptic Physiology In The Learned Helplessness Model Of Depression In Female Rats, Teruko Michelle Bredemann

All ETDs from UAB

A recent focus of psychiatric research is estrogen related mood disorders such as postpartum depression and major depressive disorder in women. It is now clear that women are more susceptible to depression in response to stress during reproductive events when ovarian hormones are low or fluctuating. Depressive episodes are characterized by feelings of helplessness and despair as well as learning and memory impairments that have been linked to the hippocampus. Thus, decreased functioning of hippocampal circuits likely contributes to the cognitive symptoms associated with depression. Preclinical research shows that stress, which triggers depressive episodes, decreases the ability of excitatory synapses …

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The Predictability Of C-Reactive Protein, Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2, And Depression On Later Health Outcomes In Patients Experiencing A First-Time Stroke, Mary King Brethour Jan 2011

The Predictability Of C-Reactive Protein, Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2, And Depression On Later Health Outcomes In Patients Experiencing A First-Time Stroke, Mary King Brethour

All ETDs from UAB

Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the most common cause of neurologic disability for adults in developed nations. Strokes trigger an acute inflammatory response prompted by brain tissue injury at the infarct site and the surrounding ischemic penumbra raising plasma levels of inflammatory markers. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute-phase inflammatory marker, has been significantly correlated with infarct size and post-stroke complications. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) may also predict long-term cardiovascular risk in the stroke population. In addition to physiologic changes, up to 60% of all stroke survivors are known to experience depression, which may contribute to decreased …

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The Marriage Proposal In The Nineteenth-Century British Novel, Kimberly Ann Broughton Jan 2011

The Marriage Proposal In The Nineteenth-Century British Novel, Kimberly Ann Broughton

All ETDs from UAB

The proposal scene, as utilized by Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Charles Dickens, is a volatile and instrumental moment in the course of the marriage plot. Entering the marriage conversation through the narrow window of the proposal scene provides a new understanding of the nineteenth-century British author's working commentary on marriage. In the nineteenth-century British novel, the marriage proposal becomes a finite moment that the author uses to encapsulate a couple's central challenge and/or crystallize one of the novel's prevailing tensions. Total bliss and contentment rarely appear in the proposal scene; in fact, more often than not, the proposal uncovers …

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Responses Of Two Heterokonts (Classes Phaeophyceae And Bacillariophyceae) To Environmental Variables Throughout Their Microenvironments, Anthony Philip Bucolo Jan 2011

Responses Of Two Heterokonts (Classes Phaeophyceae And Bacillariophyceae) To Environmental Variables Throughout Their Microenvironments, Anthony Philip Bucolo

All ETDs from UAB

Behavioral responses to variations in the microenvironments of motile spores of the Antarctic epiphyte E. antarctica and the motile epiphytic diatom, Navicula sp. were investigated. Most macroalgal species along the Western Antarctic Peninsula are chemically defended against predation and are also mostly devoid of free living filamentous algal epiphytes. However, one endo/epiphyte, Elachista antarctica, is found growing exclusively out of the palatable rhodophyte Palmaria decipiens. Choice and no choice feeding assays with tissues of epiphyte and host were conducted in three different trials with four amphipods commonly found on P. decipiens to test whether meso-grazers prefer the host over the …

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Neighborhood Context As A Predictor Of Nursing Home Placement Among Older Adults, David Russell Buys Jan 2011

Neighborhood Context As A Predictor Of Nursing Home Placement Among Older Adults, David Russell Buys

All ETDs from UAB

Persons who are aging face an increased risk of adverse health events and decreased levels of personal competencies, potentially inhibiting their ability to age in place. Sometimes, nursing home placement (NHP) may be imperative, especially if persons experience environmental docility-- an incongruence of their physical capacity with their environment. This study links the neighborhood disadvantage literature with Lawton's environmental press and environmental docility theories to examine how the environment interacts with individual level variables to impact likelihood of NHP. Findings suggest that there is not a direct link between living in a disadvantaged context and likelihood of NHP, but that …

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The Federalization Of The Duty Of Loyalty Governing Charity Fiduciaries Under United States Tax Law, Johnny Rex Buckles Jan 2011

The Federalization Of The Duty Of Loyalty Governing Charity Fiduciaries Under United States Tax Law, Johnny Rex Buckles

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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The "Federalization" Problem And Nonprofit Self- Regulation: Some Initial Thoughts, Mark Sidel Jan 2011

The "Federalization" Problem And Nonprofit Self- Regulation: Some Initial Thoughts, Mark Sidel

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Federal Regulation Of Nonprofit Board Independence: Focus On Independent Stakeholders As A "Middle Way", Benjamin Moses Leff Jan 2011

Federal Regulation Of Nonprofit Board Independence: Focus On Independent Stakeholders As A "Middle Way", Benjamin Moses Leff

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Spare The Rod, Spoil The Litigator? The Varying Degrees Of Culpability Required For An Adverse Inference Sanction Regarding Spoliation Of Electronic Discovery, Lauren R. Nichols Jan 2011

Spare The Rod, Spoil The Litigator? The Varying Degrees Of Culpability Required For An Adverse Inference Sanction Regarding Spoliation Of Electronic Discovery, Lauren R. Nichols

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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Racial Cartels And The Thirteenth Amendment Enforcement Power, Darrell A. H. Miller Jan 2011

Racial Cartels And The Thirteenth Amendment Enforcement Power, Darrell A. H. Miller

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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The Sophistic Method?: Dialectic And Eristic In Legal Pedagogy, Thomas Cothran Jan 2011

The Sophistic Method?: Dialectic And Eristic In Legal Pedagogy, Thomas Cothran

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

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