Digital Commons Network^™

Hybrid Adult Neuron Culture Systems For Use In Pharmacological Testing, Darin Keay Edwards

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Neuronal culture systems have many applications, such as basic research into neuronal structure, function, and connectivity as well as research into diseases, conditions, and injuries affecting the brain and its components. In vitro dissociated neuronal systems have typically been derived from embryonic brain tissue, most commonly from the hippocampus of E18 rats. This practice has been motivated by difficulties in supporting regeneration, functional recovery and long-term survival of adult neurons in vitro. The overall focus of this dissertation research was to develop a dissociated neuronal culture system from human and animal adult brain tissue, one more functionally and developmentally correlative …

Discovery And Optimization Of Novel Small-Molecular Inhibitors Suppressing Stat3-Dependent Tumor Process, Xiaolei Zhang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

With the critical role of aberrantly active Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription (Stat) 3 protein in many human cancers, selective small-molecule inhibitors targeting the dimerization event which is required for stat3 activation, would be valuable as therapeutic agents. And the inhibitors will be useful chemical probes to clarify the complex biological functions of Stat3. By computational and structural analyses of the interaction between Stat3 and the lead dimerization disruptor, S3I-201, we have designed a diverse set of analogs. One of the most active analogs, S3I-201.1066 is derived to contain a cyclo-hexyl benzyl moiety on the amide nitrogen, which increases …

The Shaky Political Economy Foundation Of A National Renewable Electricity Requirement, Jim Rossi

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article argues that a national renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for electric power is not likely to advance its purported goals, nor is it likely to be adopted by Congress in its present proposed form. For one, a national RPS would have geographically disproportionate costs - those costs would be focused on a few, mostly natural resource-poor states, whereas the benefits of job growth and technological adoption in infant industries will be elsewhere. Second, the ability of firms to use operational flexibility regarding their nonrenewable fuel mix to substitute other nonrenewable energy sources for traditional fossil fuels undermines the purported …

To Transfer Or Not To Transfer: Identifying And Protecting Relevant Human Rights Interests In Non-Refoulement, Vijay Padmanabhan

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Human rights law imposes upon States an absolute duty not to transfer an individual to another State where there are substantial grounds for believing he or she will be tortured or subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. This protection, called non-refoulement, emanates from a theory of human rights that recognizes rights fulfillment requires States to protect those within their jurisdiction from rights violations perpetrated by third parties, including other States. Generally human rights law recognizes that resource constraints and/or competing rights restrict protection duties. But such limitations have not been recognized in the non-refoulement context with limited theorization as …

Organizational Apologies: Bp As A Case Study, Erin O'Connor

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

This Article examines the conduct of BP executives in the weeks following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to illuminate the use of apology by organizations. After briefly describing the value of apology and its nuances from an evolutionary perspective, the Article describes how apology and other responsibility-accepting behaviors can be mobilized by organizations to avoid the costs of its apparently careless conduct. In particular, organizations can designate particular agents as spokespersons who possess the ability to portray a sense of sincerity and regret. Moreover, reconciliation by ingroup members appears to be more common than is reconciliation by outgroup members, likely …

Ant Colony Optimization Approach For Stacking Configurations, Yijun Chen

Lingnan Theses

In data mining, classifiers are generated to predict the class labels of the instances. An ensemble is a decision making system which applies certain strategies to combine the predictions of different classifiers and generate a collective decision. Previous research has empirically and theoretically demonstrated that an ensemble classifier can be more accurate and stable than its component classifiers in most cases. Stacking is a well-known ensemble which adopts a two-level structure: the base-level classifiers to generate predictions and the meta-level classifier to make collective decisions. A consequential problem is: what learning algorithms should be used to generate the base-level and …

Evaluation Of An Emergency Preparedness Exercise Using Hseep Format, Kelly A. Lawall Ms, Bsn, Phrn, Michael Wargo Bsn, Mba, Phrn, Cmte

Department of Emergency Medicine

No abstract provided.

Symbionts As An Epigenetic Source Of Heritable Variation, Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Land Management On House Mice And Red Imported Fire Ants, Jesse R. Abelson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding of mechanisms that limit the abundance and distribution of species is central to ecology. The failure of mechanisms to regulate populations can result in population outbreaks. There have been two outbreaks of house mice in the past decade in central Florida. In my study, I examine the efficacy of landscape management in the form of mowing and plowed soil barriers to limit or prevent outbreaks of house mice in a former agricultural area. House mouse populations were highly variable, but were unaffected by mowing or plowed soil barriers. Red imported fire ants were ubiquitous in the study area regardless …

The Application Of Two-Photon Absorbing Probes In Lysosomal, Zinc Ion Sensing And Folate Receptor-Targeted Bioimaging, Xuhua Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Two-photon fluorescence microscopy (2PFM) has become a powerful technique for bioimaging in non-invasive cancer diagnosis and also investigating the mechanization and original of a variety of diseases by tracking various biological processes. Because the fluorescence emission by two photon absorbing (2PA) is directly proportional to the square of the intensity of excitation light, this intrinsic property of 2PA provides 2PFM great advantages over traditional one-photon fluorescence microscopy (1PFM), including high 3D spatial localization, less photodamage and interference from biological tissue because of using longer wavelength excitation (700-1300 nm). However, most 2PA probes are hydrophobic and their photostabilities are questionable, severely …

Rulemaking In 140 Characters Or Less: Social Networking And Public Participation In Rulemaking, Cynthia R. Farina, Paul Miller, Mary J. Newhart, Claire Cardie, Dan Cosley, Rebecca Vernon

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

Rulemaking—the process by which administrative agencies make new regulations—has long been a target for egovernment efforts. The process is now one of the most important ways the federal government makes public policy.  Moreover, transparency and participation rights are already part of its legal structure. The first generation of federal erulemaking involved putting the conventional process online by creating an e-docket of rulemaking materials and allowing online submission of public comments. Now the Obama administration is urging agencies to embark on the second generation of technology-assisted rulemaking, by bringing social media into the process.

In this Article we describe the initial …

Rulemaking 2.0, Cynthia R. Farina, Mary J. Newhart, Claire Cardie, Dan Cosley, Cornell Erulemaking Initiative

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

In response to President Obama's Memorandum on Transparency and Open Government, federal agencies are on the verge of a new generation in online rulemaking. However, unless we recognize the several barriers to making rulemaking a more broadly participatory process, and purposefully adapt Web 2.0 technologies and methods to lower those barriers, Rulemaking 2.0 is likely to disappoint agencies and open-government advocates alike.

This article describes the design, operation, and initial results of Regulation Room, a pilot public rulemaking participation platform created by a cross-disciplinary group of Cornell researchers in collaboration with the Department of Transportation. Regulation Room uses selected live …

Defending Disclosure In Software Licensing, Robert A. Hillman, Maureen O'Rourke

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

This Article surveys prominent kinds of disclosures in contract law-of facts, contract terms, and performance intentions. We show why the disclosure tool, although subject to substantial criticism, promotes important social values and goals, including efficiency, autonomy, corrective justice, fairness, and the legitimacy of the contract process. Further, proposals to replace disclosure with other alternatives are unrealistic because they are too expensive or complex. Our working example is the American Law Institute's Principles of the Law of Software Contracts.

Protecting The Human Rights Of Lgbt People In Uganda In The Wake Of Uganda's "Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009", Daniel Englander

Emory International Law Review

A bill pending before the Ugandan Parliament from October 2009 to May 2011 sought to punish anyone who engages in 'homosexuality' with life imprisonment and prescribed the death penalty for a variety of activities deemed 'aggravated homosexuality.' Many commentators saw the 'Anti Homosexuality Bill, 2009' ('Bill' or 'Anti-homosexuality Bill') as the most pernicious legislative proposal aimed at gays and lesbians anywhere in the world and feared the death penalty provision could signal a 'looming gay genocide' in Uganda. This Comment seeks to begin the conversation on legal solutions to vindicate the rights of LGBT people in Uganda in the wake …

International Law, Religious Limitations, And Cultural Sensitivity: The Park51 Mosque At Ground Zero, Heather Greenfield

Emory International Law Review

In the summer of 2010, a controversy erupted after news surfaced of a planned mosque two blocks from New York City's Ground Zero. The proposed location of the mosque, now named Park51, inflamed the passions of many Americans who believed that the Muslim institution would threaten both the memories of September 11, 2001, and the respect for those killed by the terrorist attacks. The Park51 mosque quickly attracted international attention, and the question of whether the state could restrict the mosque became entangled in a web of legal and 'cultural sensitivity' arguments. This Comment advocates an international human rights framework …

The Burqa Ban: An Unreasonable Limitation On Religious Freedom Or A Justifiable Restriction?, Shaira Nanwani

Emory International Law Review

In the spring of 2011, France enacted a law banning the concealment of the face in public spaces (the 'burqa ban'). The burqa ban creates two new punishable offenses in France. First, wearing clothing designed to conceal one's face in a public space is punishable by either a maximum of a €150 fine or by being required to take a class on the meaning of citizenship, or both. Second, forcing a woman to wear a face-covering veil is punishable by one year of imprisonment or a €30,000 fine. The burqa ban, which was first introduced by the French National Assembly …

Try As They Might, Just Can't Get It Right: Shortcomings Of The International Megan's Law Of 2010, Danielle Viera

Emory International Law Review

This Comment argues that future legislation closely resembling House Bill 5138, the International Megan's Law of 2010, should not become law. Further, this Comment encourages future drafts of such a law to account for the inherent weaknesses of House Bill 5138. This Comment proposes two alternative solutions for Congress to consider in light of the problems discussed: Congress should either change the language in its next attempt or decline to pass any law until it can analyze the successes and failures of the British Parliament's similarly drafted Sarah's Law.

The Unsuspected Pathway Of The Allosteric Transition In Hemoglobin, Stefan Fischer, Kenneth W. Olsen, Kwangho Nam, Martin Karplus

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Large conformational transitions play an essential role in the function of many proteins, but experiments do not provide the atomic details of the path followed in going from one end structure to the other. For the hemoglobin tetramer, the transition path between the unliganded (T) and tetraoxygenated (R) structures is not known, which limits our understanding of the cooperative mechanism in this classic allosteric system, where both tertiary and quaternary changes are involved. The conjugate peak refinement algorithm is used to compute an unbiased minimum energy path at atomic detail between the two end states. Although the results confirm some …

Who Let The Dog Out? Implementing A Successful Therapy Dog Program In An Academic Law Library, Femi Cadmus, Julian Aiken

Cornell Law Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Doctor Of Nursing Practice Students Advocating For Health Care Access, Quality, And Reform: From The Virtual Classroom To Capitol Hill., Mary Lou Manning, Dolores Grosso

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

The potential for doctor of nursing practice students to inform and influence the national health care reform movement inspired faculty teaching an online Health and Social Policy course to create an assignment combining comparative effectiveness research with a trip to Capitol Hill to meet with congressional representatives. Preparing for and participating in such an assignment can present challenges for online doctoral students already busy with family and professional responsibilities. However, from both faculty and student perspectives, the lasting value and professional growth are immeasurable. Course details and the theoretical concepts of experiential education are presented, as well as trip logistics …

Assessment Of “Gene-Environment” Interaction In Cases Of Familial & Sporadic Pancreatic Cancer, Theresa Yeo, Ralph Hruban, Kieran Brune, Alison Klein, Shiela Fitzgerald, Charles Yeo

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Background: Pancreatic cancer (PC) is the fourth leading cause of cancer death in the United States. Reported risk factors for PC include: advancing age, a family history of PC, high-risk inherited syndromes, cigarette smoking, exposure to occupational and environmental carcinogens, African-American race, high fat/high cholesterol diet, obesity, chronic pancreatitis, and diabetes mellitus.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to characterize one of the largest national registries of familial PC (FPC) and sporadic PC (SPC), focusing on demographics, clinical factors, self-reported environmental and occupational lifetime exposures and survival status.

Methods: Retrospective cross-sectional, case-only analysis of FPC cases (n …

Incivility In Healthcare Settings: Manifestations, Root Causes, And Downstream Effects On Patient Care And Productivity, Theresa P. Yeo, Anne Belcher, Charles J. Yeo

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

PURPOSE: To investigate the prevalence and effects of incivility in healthcare and educational settings

METHODS: Review of the literature

SEARCH STRATEGY: CINAHL, PubMed, Joint Commission sites searched using terms: incivility, workplace violence, disruptive behavior, bullying

An Innovative Nurse Practitioner Model For Hospitalist Care, Melissa A. Diehl, Msn, Crnp, Mary Devry, Msn, Crnp, Kimberly Covington, Msn, Crnp, Beth Ann Swan, Phd, Crnp, Faan

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Purpose Statement:

The purpose of this poster presentation is to describe a hospitalist model of care developed and implemented by a collaborative care management team.

Human Milk Intake In Preterm Infants: Correlation Of The Preterm Infant Breastfeeding Behavior Scale (Pibbs) And Test Weighing, Ann Phalen

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Conclusions:

Direct observation and the use of the observational instruments are not clinically useful in predicting milk intake in preterm infants.

PHA, PNA, and BFE should not be used arbitrarily as predictor variables

Test weighing is the most reliable method to measure milk intake.

The PIBBS is a reliable instrument when used by trained lactation specialists but not predictive of milk intake in preterm infants for the volume of milk intake in preterm infants.

Parenting Foster Children With Chronic Illness And Complex Medical Needs, Lori S. Lauver Phd

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

Conclusions: Parenting foster children with complex health care needs is a life changing experience for the foster families as well as foster children. A multifaceted experience, it has implications not only for nursing but multiple disciplines.

Article: http://jdc.jefferson.edu/nursfp/17/

Global To Local: Apic Chapters Build Community Awareness For Iipw In Their Communities, Janiene Torch Bohannon, Mary Lou Manning, Louise Hesse, Patrice Fitzsimons, Linda Huddleston, Colleen Chapple, Leanne Mikielski, Diana Doughty, Ossama Rassian, Maha Fathy, Lamia Fouad, Mostafa Abdel Nasser

College of Nursing Faculty Papers & Presentations

No abstract provided.

Exposition Des Travailleurs De La Construction À La Silice Cristalline : Bilan Et Analyse De La Littérature, Charles Beaudry, Chantal Dion, Michel Gérin, Guy Perrault, Denis Bégin, Jérôme Lavoué

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

La silice est un des composés inorganiques les plus répandus dans la nature. Sous la forme cristalline du quartz on la retrouve abondamment dans divers minéraux, dont le granite et le sable. Lorsque des matériaux contenant de la silice cristalline sont manipulés, le quartz peut se retrouver sous forme de poussière en suspension dans l’air. L’inhalation de cette poussière par les travailleurs peut causer diverses maladies des voies respiratoires, dont les plus invalidantes sont la silicose et le cancer pulmonaire.

Dans le secteur de la construction, l’exposition professionnelle à la silice cristalline est fréquente dans plusieurs métiers, en raison de …

Distal Radioulnar Joint Biomechanics And Forearm Muscle Activity, Joseph Scott Bader

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Optimal management of fractures, post-traumatic arthritis and instability of the distal radioulnar joint (DRUJ) requires an understanding of the forces existing across this joint as a function of the activities of daily living. However, such knowledge is currently incomplete. The goal of this research was to quantify the loads that occur at the DRUJ during forearm rotation and to determine the effect that individual muscles have on those loads.

Human and cadaver studies were used to analyze the shear (A-P), transverse (M-L) and resultant forces at the DRUJ and to determine the role that 15 individual muscles had on those …

Ceo's Pay Differentials And The Location Of Ipos : An Empirical Study For Chinese A-Share And H-Share Companies, Yi Liu

Lingnan Theses

This thesis provides an empirical investigation on how different public listing locations affect the CEO (chief executive officer)’s pay of Chinese SOEs (State Owned Enterprises) and whether such a pay differential would in turn affect the listing location choice by those firms, which have not received much attention in the current literature. In particular, we focus on two stock markets, the mainland (including Shenzhen and Shanghai) A-share market and Hong Kong H-share market. Unlike what have been found in many other markets, where firms listed in the foreign markets can normally enjoy a price premium, Chinese firms listed in the …

The Effect Of Word-Of-Mouth On The Purchase Of Genuine And Counterfelt Luxury Brands : The Roles Of Attitude Functions, Wei Wang

Lingnan Theses

This research aims to investigate the effect of word-of-mouth (WOM) on the purchase of genuine and counterfeit luxury brands with a focus on the roles of attitude functions, product type, valence of WOM, and brand popularity. It consists of two experimental studies. Study 1 examines the effect of WOM on the purchase of luxury brands and attempts to investigate the mediating role of attitude functions in the relationship between WOM and purchase intentions for luxury brands, with regard to different product types and valence of WOM. Study 2 compares the effects of WOM communications with traditional advertising on the purchase …