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Interfacial Force Field Parameterization Using The Dual Force Field Charmm Program For The Accurate Simulation Of Peptide-Surface Interaction, Nadeem Vellore

All Dissertations

Protein adsorption to solid material surfaces is a complex phenomenon and various factors play a role in controlling these processes. Inherent limitations to understand these biological interactions using experimental approaches alone have led to the possibility of exploring these systems using computational molecular simulation methodologies. Before confidence can be placed on these computational protocols, however, rigorous validation of the applicability of these methods to accurately represent protein adsorption processes is needed. In this research, we evaluated the use of all-atom empirical force field (FF) based simulations using the CHARMM simulation program and FF for the study of peptide adsorption processes …

Does Faith Matter? A Comparison Of Faith-Based And Secular International Nongovernmental Organizations Engaged In Humanitarian Assistance, Jill Mcleigh

All Dissertations

Over the past three decades, there has been a significant increase in international nongovernmental organizations (INGOs) participating in humanitarian assistance, and thus, an increase in the study of these organizations. In part because of former President George W. Bush's faith-based initiative, interest in a particular subset of INGOs - religious INGOs (ROs) - has been on the rise. Among the gaps in this literature is a quantitative approach to understanding the types of activities and funding opportunities INGOs pursue based on whether they are religious and what makes an organization religious. To address these omissions, this dissertation examines the religious …

Issues In The Care Of Farm Animals: Current History Of The Movement In Selected States, Jennifer N. Dunn

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Many animal care practices commonly accepted as a regular part of the agricultural industry are being questioned by organizations advocating for the care of farm and companion animals. The use of gestation crates for pregnant sows, veal crates for veal calves, and battery cages for egg-laying hens are being banned in some states in the United States. While appearing to be a modern phenomenon, animal rights/animal welfare issues actually can be found throughout history. The purpose of the study was to trace the history of the care of farm and companion animals movement in the United States. This included the …

Mine Safety Impoundment Inspection And Verification Tool: Mining And Industrial Safety Technology And Training Innovation, Eric W. Baker

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this investigation primarily focuses on coal impoundment safety and early hazard potential awareness as well as addressing the need for adapting a field hardened computer so that its more advanced technology may be applied to the mining industry. The purpose was to develop a protocol based on West Virginia State and federal laws and regulations and use a mobile field computer into the inspection system for coal waste impoundments. The inspection template was constructed using paper forms presently used by MSHA and the West Virginia Water Research Institute and iterated after conducting a number of field trials. …

Response Elimination, Reinforcement Rate And Resurgence Of Operant Behavior, Carlos Renato Xavier Cancado

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The effects of reinforcement rates of alternative responding on resurgence were studied in six experiments with pigeons. In Experiment 1A, key pecking was maintained on a multiple variable-interval (VI) VI schedule during the first, Training, phase. In the second, Response-Elimination, phase, variable differential-reinforcement-of-other-behavior (DRO) schedules were in effect in each component and reinforcement rates were equal and then, higher in one (rich) component, and lower in the other (lean), than in the Training phase. In the third, Resurgence, phase, reinforcers were discontinued and more resurgence occurred in the lean than in the rich component. Differences in Training-phase response rates between …

Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis Methods For Prediction Of Brook Trout Salvelinus Fontinalis Percent Dry Weight, Andrew William Hafs

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Reliable fish condition estimates are valued by fisheries ecologists and managers. Fish condition is used as an indicator of ecosystem health or to assess the population status for a species of interest. In aquaculture, proximate composition estimates are often wanted because of their relationship to fillet quality. Past researchers have used bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) to provide nonlethal mass based estimates of proximate composition for fish. Percent dry weight (PDW) of a fish is highly correlated to proximate composition values and energy density, therefore reliable predictions of PDW would eliminate the need for costly and laboratory analyses lethal to the …

Restoration Of Forested Ecosystems On The Monongahela National Forest, West Virginia, Melissa A. Thomas-Van Gundy

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The focus of resource management on National Forests is slowly changing to restoration of ecosystems and habitats. In West Virginia, the revised Land and Resource Management Plan for the Monongahela National Forest (MNF) guides resource management on the MNF. The MNF revised Forest Plan restructured management areas and goals toward restoration of red spruce dominated forests and oak and oak-pine forests in two separate management prescriptions that cover approximately 48% of the MNF. Incorporating ecosystem restoration in forest management may be guided by goals and objectives based on known previous conditions and the range of natural variability of those conditions. …

Repression Of Phlpp By Mir-190 Contributes To Arsenic-Induced Akt Activation And Carcinogenesis, Kevin John Beezhold

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arsenic is a well-studied human carcinogen. The mechanism by which arsenic induces cancer, however, is not fully understood. It is known that as a general stress inducer, arsenic can activate kinases, such as mitogen-activated protein kinases, leading to over activation of transcription factors. These transcription factors, including AP-1, NF-kB and Myc, are known to regulate the expression of early response genes, and likely to regulate miRNAs. The expression of miRNAs is often altered in cancer and other proliferative disorders. It is highly probable that miRNAs whose expressions are altered by arsenic will play a significant role in carcinogenesis. To test …

The Arts-Integrated Curriculum (Aic) And Its Possible Impact On The Self-Concepts Of Adolescent Girls And Their Perceptions Of Beauty: A Phenomenological Study, Miriam Roth Douglas

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study examines what phenomena may be associated with the self-concept and perceptions of beauty of adolescent girls who completed an Arts-Integrated Curriculum (AIC) in Elementary School. It is designed to add to the descriptive data on the perceptions of beauty that students, teachers, and parents have, especially with regard to girls' concept of self in relation to the AIC learning experiences. This work is driven by a qualitative research method known as phenomenology, which describes the lived experiences of a phenomenon for a group of people (Patton, 2005). The main research data were collected from interviews with ten participants: …

The Lived Experience: Stories From Those Who Have Encountered Catastrophic Loss From Flood, Margaret R. Rateau

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Natural disasters including flood affect thousands of people all over the world each year. As a direct result, millions of dollars in widespread damage occur in the regions directly impacted by such disasters. Analyzing stories from those who have suffered catastrophic loss from flood may offer a means to better understand what is important to the survivor from their perspective and may assist in the recovery process. The purpose of this research was to examine the lived experience of those who have experienced catastrophic loss from flood. The importance of this research and its impact on nursing knowledge development, research, …

Differentiating Faking-Good Parents From Non-Faking Parents On The Child Abuse Potential Inventory, Amanda H. Costello

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Parental fitness evaluations remain common during child abuse investigations, as evidenced by the 19% of victims of maltreatment receiving an evaluation in 2007 in the United States (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2009). A "best practice" approach to parental fitness evaluations consists of using a comprehensive assessment including clinical interviews, risk assessment measures, and behavioral observation (Budd, 2001; 2005). The Child Abuse Potential Inventory (CAP; Milner, 1986) is one risk assessment measure that is often used during evaluations. Unfortunately, abuse risk at pre- and post-treatment as measured by the CAP may be confounded by faking-good responding from the …

Mothers' Accuracy And Bias In Predicting Their Toddlers Performance On The Bayley Scales Of Infant Development, Darcey N. Powell

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study evaluated mothers' specific knowledge of their own toddlers' development. Mothers' predictions of their toddlers' performance on the Bayley Scales of Infant Development, Second Edition (BSID-II) were compared to their toddlers' performance on each task. In addition, mothers' accuracy in their predictions and toddlers' performance was compared to the toddlers' display of emotional behaviors during the assessment. Mothers (N = 68, Mage = 31.31 years) with toddlers between the ages of 19 and 26 months (M age = 21.76 months) completed demographic questionnaires, measures assessing their perceived parenting self-efficacy, their knowledge of developmental norms, and their expectation for their …

Multi Agent System Based Fault Location In A Smart Microgrid System, Seetaram Alwala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The electric power grid is inherently a huge network that has been going through a lot of transformation because of its restructuring and increase in the deployment of Distributed Generation. The steep increase in electricity demand and the large financial losses caused by the blackouts has initiated research towards increasing the security and robustness of the electric grid and making it a Smart Grid. Smart Grids might incorporate MicroGrids, which can be defined as low to medium voltage networks that contain aggregation of certain loads and Distribution Generation units that can operate in either grid-connected or islanded mode. One of …

Efficient Design Of Biological Experiments For Dose-Response Modeling In Nanomaterial Toxicology Studies, Kai Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis is concerned with developing two-stage Bayesian optimum design procedure in nanotoxicology with simulation experiments. The proposed design method adopts suitable nonlinear dose response curve and non-constant variance model in experimental modeling, which more adequately represents the desirable properties of bioassay-experiment. A multiple objective genetic algorithm were used to select best set of non-dominated experiments on Pareto front. The proposed approach has been shown to provide better design than traditional experiment method in terms of D-optimum design and A-optimum design.

Hardware Prototype For A Multi Agent Grid Management System, Jerry Lee Thompson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There is great effort in the power industry to incorporate Smart Grid functionalities to existing power systems. Distributed generation and the hardware necessary to interface the existing grid, as well as control algorithms to efficiently couple and operate these systems are being researched and implemented extensively. However, the added complexity of such components results in greater opportunities for failure in a system which is already challenging to protect.;There is great effort in the power industry to incorporate Smart Grid functionalities to existing power systems. Distributed generation and the hardware necessary to interface the existing grid, as well as control algorithms …

Development Of Soil Lead And Tree-Ring Methods For Characterizing Atmospheric Deposition Gradients And Subsequent Tree Growth Responses, Bradley P. Breslow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Atmospheric deposition of pollutants and nutrients can have a range of effects on aquatic and terrestrial ecosystems. Despite its ecological importance, it remains a challenge to model patterns of deposition across complex terrain and also to assess how forest ecosystems are reacting to chronic inputs of atmospheric deposition. I measured the lead (Pb) content of forest soils adjacent to atmospheric deposition monitoring stations throughout the central Appalachian Mountains to examine how well patterns of soil Pb relate to regional patterns of inorganic nitrogen (N) deposition. While I found no significant relationship between organic soil Pb content and N deposition, I …

Relationships Among The Personal Fable, Drug Use And Parental Monitoring In Adolescents And Young Adults, Xin Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Relationships among the personal fable, drug use and parental monitoring in adolescents and young adults were tested in this study. Participants were 56 students, with 25 from a small, suburban area in southern Michigan, and 32 from West Virginia University (87.5 % female, 94.6% Caucasian). Participants completed questionnaires about demographics, the personal fable, parental monitoring and drug use in an online survey. Results showed that there was a negative correlation between parental monitoring and youth drug use, but no correlation between the personal fable and drug use. There was some evidence that the personal fable had a moderated effect on …

Identity And Self -Efficacy Development Of Adolescents In An Adult Sponsored Volunteer Program, Amanda Webster

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study was to fill a current gap in the literature on the impacts of adolescents' participation in adult sponsored volunteer programs on identity formation and self-efficacy. Data were collected from 28 adolescents in grades 7-12 enrolled in an 11-week summer adult sponsored volunteer program. Participants completed pre-and posttest measures that included the Identity Style Inventory-Grade 6 (ISI-6G), the fidelity subscale of the Psychosocial Inventory of Ego Strength (PIES), and the General Self-Efficacy Scale. The current study proposed five hypotheses: (1) adolescents who participate in an adult sponsored volunteer program will have higher levels of the informational …

Gendered Violence And The Ethics Of Social Science Research, Sameena A. Mulla, Heather R. Hlavka

Social and Cultural Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The issue of ethical conduct in research settings is important and complex. As tenure-track researchers who study gendered violence, we found Clark and Walker’s discussion provocative, thoughtful, and interesting. They urge researchers to attend both to the structural dynamics of research carried out under the pressures of tenure and promotion while advocating an ethical frame that draws attention to the limited definition of risk or harm that animates typical human subjects research. Victims of violence, they argue, should not be subjected to a standardized understanding of risk. A broader framework is needed, one that brings into conversation virtue ethics with …

Dispositions In Teacher Education, Lisa Simpson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The assessment of educator dispositions has created numerous challenges for teacher education institutions. Many of the issues surrounding dispositions assessment relates to the uncertainty in determining the dispositions that are most important to address in all teacher education programs. Additionally little consideration has been given to the possibility that some dispositions may be more important to some fields of education than to others. This research is an investigation into the importance and efficacy of identified clusters of dispositions, as well as the identification of dispositions important to Health and Physical Education in comparison with those important to all areas of …

The Role Of Verbal Working Memory In New Word Learning In Toddlers 24 To 30 Months Old, France Weill

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

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Ethnic Disparity In 21 Hydroxylase Gene Mutations Identified In Pakistanicongenital Adrenal Hyperplasia Patient, Aysha Habib Khan, Muniba Aban, Jamal Raza, Naeem Ul Haq, Abdul Jabbar, Tariq Moatter

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

Background: Congenital adrenal hyperplasia (CAH) is a group of autosomal recessive disorders caused by defects in the steroid 21 hydroxylase gene (CYP21A2). We studied the spectrum of mutations in CYP21A2 gene in a multi-ethnic population in Pakistan to explore the genetics of CAH.

Methods: A cross sectional study was conducted for the identification of mutations CYP21A2 and their phenotypic associations in CAH using ARMS-PCR assay.

Results: Overall, 29 patients were analyzed for nine different mutations. The group consisted of two major forms of CAH including 17 salt wasters and 12 simple virilizers. There were 14 phenotypic males and 15 females …

Ultrasonic Instrumentation Instruction In Dental Hygiene Programs In The United States, Sharon Lee Stemple Hinchman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this study is to determine the existence and extent of ultrasonic scaling instrumentation instruction in dental hygiene programs nationally. Currently, there is no research available defining a consensus of instruction for ultrasonic instrumentation in dental hygiene programs. An email survey was sent to all directors of dental hygiene programs in the United States (n=323). The response rate was 45%. No significant differences in methods or extent of instruction were found between associate and baccalaureate degree granting programs. Eighty-nine percent of programs introduce hand scaling prior to ultrasonic scaling instrumentation instruction. Students in 96% of the programs are …

Ambulatory Blood Pressure Monitoring In Stroke Survivors: What Do We Add To The Care Of Our Patients?, Shaista Anwar Sidddiqi, Ayeesha Kamran Kamal

Section of Neurology

No abstract provided.

Sex, Privacy And Public Health In A Casual Encounters Culture, Mary D. Fan

Articles

The regulation of sex and disease is a cultural and political flashpoint and recurring challenge that law's antiquated arsenal has been hard- pressed to effectively address. Compelling data demonstrate the need for attention—for example, one in four women aged fourteen to nineteen is infected with at least one sexually transmitted disease ("STD"); managing STDs costs an estimated $15.9 billion annually; and syphilis, once near eradication, is on the rise again, as are the rates of HIV diagnosis among people aged fifteen to twenty-four. Public health officials on the front lines have called for paradigm changes to tackle the enormous challenge. …

Aquatic Plant Surveys In The Bureau Of Land Management, Medford District, 2010-2011, Mark D. Sytsma, Rich Miller, Vanessa Morgan

Center for Lakes and Reservoirs Publications and Presentations

The introduction of invasive aquatic plant species (IAPS) can cause significant ecological and economic harm. IAPS can displace native aquatic plant species, impair recreation, and degrade water quality. Early detection of new invasions can improve chances for successful eradication or containment to reduce the risk of IAPS spread. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) lists the most egregious offenders as “Noxious Weeds” which are defined as plants classified by the Oregon State Weed Board that are injurious to public health, agriculture, recreation, wildlife, or any public or private property (ODA 2011).

Several IAPS classified as noxious have been detected within …

Characterization Of Palmitic Acid Induced Lipotoxicity In Schwann Cells, Amelia Padilla

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Lipotoxicity is a response to lipid overload that has been associated with cellular dysfunction leading to cellular death. The mechanism of lipotoxicity and its impact on the nervous system is critical as it can lead to debilitating neurological conditions. This study examines key cellular events induced by palmitic acid lipotoxicity (PA-LTx) in Schwann cells cultured in euglycemic and hyperglycemic conditions. The data show that immortalized Schwann cell (iSC), as well as primary Schwann cell (pSC) cultures exposed to elevated levels of PA induced an apoptotic cell death that is dose and time-dependent. The earliest indication of cellular dysfunction was a …

Effects Of Neck Muscle Fatigue On The Vestibulo-Ocular Reflex, Amer Al Saif

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In order to maintain balance, the brain receives and processes input from multiple sensory systems including the visual, vestibular, and somatosensory systems. The information from these systems is sent to the brain where the information is then combined, organized and interpreted. This results in the output of reflexes (vestibulo-ocular reflex [VOR] and vestibulospinal reflex [VSR]). The VOR and the VSR work together with other motor systems to control gaze stability and control whole body equilibrium. Impairment in any of these sensory systems can result in dizziness, loss of balance, and visual instability. While the contributions of the visual, vestibular, and …

Living Cities: The Integration Initiative In Cleveland, Ohio - Greater University Circle Community Wealth Building Initiative: Year One Formative And Summative Evaluation Report, Ziona Austrian, Kathryn W. Hexter, Candi Clouse, Matt Hrubey

All Maxine Goodman Levin School of Urban Affairs Publications

No abstract provided.

Lanthorn, Vol. 46, No. 28, December 1, 2011, Grand Valley State University

Volume 46, July 14, 2011 - June 18, 2012

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.