Digital Commons Network^™

Bio-Functionalized Clay Nanoparticles For Wound Healing Applications, Christopher Anthony Vaiana

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Wound healing is a complex, multi-step process that can be summarized into three stages, namely hemostasis and inflammation, proliferation, and finally tissue remodeling. Battlefield wound healing demands rapid hemostasis using clotting or cauterizing agents to immediately limit blood loss, but this occurs at the expense of proper tissue repair beyond hemostasis. Layered silicate clays such as kaolin and montmorillonite (MMT) have been previously shown to induce blood clotting due to their ability to form charged interactions with clotting factors. The charge characteristics of sodium MMT (Na-MMT) also enable functionalization with active biomolecules. Herein we first functionalize three types of alumoinosilicate …

Interrogation Of The Distal Gut Microbiota Of Healthy Adolescents And Those With Irritable Bowel Syndrome, Laura J. Rigsbee

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The human-associated microbiota has been the focus of much current research, with the microbiota inhabiting the gastrointestinal tract of particular interest. These organisms play many roles in human health and well-being. However, shifts in the composition of the intestinal microbiota have been associated with diseases such as irritable bowel syndrome, inflammatory bowel disease, and colon cancer. Several recent studies have reported on the distal gut microbiota composition of healthy adults and those with IBS, while there is a lack of studies devoted to adolescents. This study utilized a custom-designed Affymetrix Microbiota Array capable of detecting 775 phylo-species of intestinal bacteria …

Aquaporin 4 Expression And Distribution During Osmotic Brain Edema And Following Chronic Treatment Of Desipramine, Sergei Alexander Robinson

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Osmotic brain edema or chronic treatment with desipramine alters brain water permeability. In this study we investigated aquaporin 4 expression and distribution in these two conditions. Brain edema development was induced by intraperitoneal water injection. Blood serum osmolality decreased from 296 ± 1 mOsm to 278 ± 2 mOsm within 15 min. Cerebral cortex water content increased from 79.8 ± 0.2 % to 81.3 ± 0.5% during 120 min of this hyposmotic exposure. Aquaporin 4 immunostaining intensity at the astrocytic endfeet increased in water injected animals from 2.6 ± 0.04 intensity unites (IU) to 3.2 ± 0.21 IU, while total …

Response Of Monovalent Cation Transporters To Pro-Apoptotic Protein Kinase C Modulators In Human Lens Epithelial Cells, Michael Anthony Lepera

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Protein kinase inhibition by staurosporine causes apoptotic volume decrease involving potassium (K) channels in immortalized human B3 lens epithelial cells (LECs). Here, the effect of two pro-apoptotic protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors [12-O-tetradecanoyl-phorbol-13-acetate (TPA) and chelerythrine (CET)] were studied on membrane K transport in a fetal human LEC line (FHL124) by western blotting, immunofluorescence, ion flux, ATP, apoptosis, and biotinylation assays. Long term TPA exposure (0-6 h) inhibited 75% of Na-K-2Cl cotransport (NKCC). In contrast, short term (0-20 min) exposure to 50 μM CET reduced Na/K pump and NKCC by >90% and >70%, respectively, without retrieval from the membrane into …

Parallel Sorting On Multi-Core Architecture, Wei Wang

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With the limitations given by the power consumption (power wall), memory wall and the instruction level parallelism, the computing industry has turned its direction to multi-core architectures. Nowadays, the multi-core and many-core architectures are becoming the trend of the processor design. But how to exploit these architectures is the primary challenge for the research community. To take advantage of the multi-core architectures, the software design has undergone fundamental changes.

Sorting is a fundamental, important problem in computer science. It is utilized in many applications such as databases and search engines. In this thesis, we will investigate and auto-tune two parallel …

Process Sequencing For Fatigue Life Extension Of Large Scale Laser Peened Components, Thomas Joshua Spradlin

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Mechanical surface enhancement techniques have been used to successfully increase the fatigue life of metallic components. These techniques impart compressive surface residual stresses that reduce the tensile stresses experienced during service loading. Laser Peening (LP) is a surface enhancement technique that uses high intensity, short duration laser pulses to create plastic shockwaves in metallic components. Experimental investigations and limited simulation studies have been conducted to determine the effects on the fatigue life of simple coupons when key LP parameters are varied. Used primarily in the aerospace and biomedical engineering fields, LP has been limited to industries that can afford its …

Optimizing Memory Cost With Loop Transformations, Hailong Shi

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Embedded systems are usually constrained in terms of timing, power, and memory. Many embedded applications, especially in the multi-media and telecom domains, are inherently data dominant. These embedded DSP applications usually exhibit intensive computations in the form of multi-level loops. The performance of these embedded DSP applications mainly depends on the code quality of the loops and the memory hierarchy design. During the design phase of the embedded system, it is important to estimate the overall storage requirement to guide the memory system design and take advantage of the memory system by program transformations and loop transformations.

Loop transformations including …

Near Equilibrium Dissolution Of Calcite Using A Flow-Through Reactor (Ftr), Michael Mante

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In mineral dissolution reactions, surface morphologies play important roles particularly in near equilibrium fluids where generation of new sites of reactivity (e.g., pit nuclei) is thermodynamically disfavored. Following CO₂ injection in geologic formations, dissolution of primary carbonate minerals and crack-sealing cements will occur. The impact of these reactions on fluid chemistry requires better understanding of the reaction kinetics of major minerals at close-to-equilibrium conditions. Initial investigations have focused on quantifying calcite dissolution using short residence time (~ 10 min) flow through reactors to obtain dissolution rates at 60°C, pH = 8.33 and Pco₂ = 3.8 x 10^{-4 …}

Synthesis Of Isatin Derivatives Used For The Inhibition Of Pro-Apoptotic Jurkat T Cells, Charles Michael Clay

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A range of substituted 1H-indole-2,3-diones (isatins) was synthesized to assess their capability to inhibit caspases and prevent apoptosis in Jurkat T cells. The key steps in the synthesis of such molecules involved electrophilic substitution of the C-5 position of the isatin nucleus (if necessary), N-alkylation, Wolff-Kishner reduction of the C-3 carbonyl group and finally, Knoevenagel condensation. The design and synthesis of such potential inhibitors was guided by SAR studies of peptide based inhibitors such as "Q-VD-O-Ph", as well as small-molecule inhibitors based upon the isatins scaffold. Previously, 3-(2,6-difluorobenzylidene)-5-nitroindolin-2-one has been shown to inhibit apoptosis in human Jurkat T cells at …

Lithium-Ion Battery Anodes Of Randomly Dispersed Carbon Nanotubes, Nanofibers, And Tin-Oxide Nanoparticles, Gerard Klint Simon

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Lithium-ion battery anodes with a nanostructure of randomly dispersed carbon nanofibers (CNFs), carbon nanotubes (CNTs), and nanoparticles of tin-oxide or silicon were fabricated and tested in order to develop high capacity, easily manufactured anodes. In these anodes, a mesh of CNTs and CNFs form a conductive network within which the nanoparticles of tin-oxide are suspended. The CNT network directs electron flow to and from the nanoparticles while accommodating their volume changes. The CNFs were intended to aid electron transport by serving as conduction channels between the CNTs and the current collector. Secondarily, the CNFs reinforce the physical structure of the …

Cetyltrimethylammonium Halide-Coated Electrodes For The Detection Of Dopamine In The Presence Of Interferents, Amber J. Yeary

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Specially constructed carbon paste electrodes were coated with 10 mM cetyltrimethylammonium halide (CTAX) solutions, bromide and chloride being the counter anions. These surfactant modified electrodes were used to detect the catecholamine neurotransmitter dopamine using cyclic voltammetry. The coated electrodes gave reproducible quasi-reversible behavior for the analyte dopamine over a range of concentrations from 1 mM to 200 mM. When combined in solution with common interferents ascorbic acid (1 mM) and uric acid (300 μM), all cathodic and anodic current peaks maintained resolution at the biological pH of 7.4. When the coating solutions were below the critical micelle concentration (0.5 mM), …

Distribution Of Cellular Interferon Beta (Ifn-Β) In Murine Fibroblast Cell Lines Upon Infection Of Hsv-1, Rachael E. Curtis

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The hypothesis for this study was: IFN-β expression differs between murine fibroblasts (A2R1 and L929) of different mouse strains upon infection of HSV-1. Fluorescent microscopy was used to examine localization of IFN-β in the different murine fibroblast and keratinocyte cell lines after 6 hours of infection with herpes simplex virus type-1 (HSV-1). Because keratinocytes cell lines HEL-30 and PAM-212 grew in clusters, staining patterns in individual cells could not be determined. A notable difference in localization of IFN-β immune staining was seen between the two cell lines when infected with HSV-1. The A2R1 cell line showed perinuclear (PN) localization, while …

Real Time Semantic Analysis Of Streaming Sensor Data, Harshal Kamlesh Patni

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The emergence of dynamic information sources - like social, mobile and sensors, has led to ginormous streams of real time data on the web also called, the era of Big Data [1]. Research studies suggest, these dynamic networks have created more data in the last three years than in the entire history of civilization, and this trend will only increase in the coming years [1]. Gigaom article on Big data shows, how the total information generated by these dynamic information sources has completely surpassed the total storage capacity. Thus keeping in mind the problem of ever-increasing data, this thesis focuses …

The Effect Of Mycorrhizal Inoculation Prior To Transplantation On Wetland Restoration Success In Sites Of Different Land Use Histories, Brett Joseph Fisher

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One factor used to determine wetland mitigation success is the establishment of native wetland plant species. Although mycorrhizal associations are known to be present in 70 to 95% of all plant species and have been linked to seedling establishment as well as nutrient and carbon flux within plant communities, the presence or absence of mycorrhizal fungi are not assessed or addressed during wetland mitigation work. Three experiments were devised to examine the effects of mycorrhizal fungi on the germination and growth of native wetland plant species in soils and field sites from natural, restored, and created wetlands.

Greenhouse experiment I …

Synthesis, Characterization And Manipulation Of Creighton Silver Nanoparticles For Future Cytotoxicity Studies, Sesha Lakshmi Paluri

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Nowadays, 24% of the nanomaterial-based consumer products contain silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) and exploit the well-known antimicrobial properties of silver. Although AgNPs have a wide range of biomedical research and industrial applications, very little is known about their toxicity. The main goal of this study is to synthesize, characterize and manipulate Creighton colloidal AgNPs for future cytotoxicity studies. These "naked" AgNPs were free from chemically aggressive capping/stabilizing agents, reaction byproducts or organic solvents. To achieve this goal, colloidal AgNPs were successfully: a) synthesized in large volumes (5L) using a slightly modified Creighton method by the reduction of silver nitrate with sodium …

Routes To Acylated Sydnone Esters, Amanda Marie Balaguer

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Various 4-acyl-3-[2'-(carboalkoxy)phenyl]sydnones were synthesized by reaction of the parent sydnone with the corresponding anhydrides and Montmorillonite K-10. In the Q-tube, the acylation using acetic anhydride, which normally took 1.5 days for complete conversion thermally, was complete in 8.5 hours. Use of bismuth triflate as catalyst reduced the reaction time to 5 hours and, in the microwave, reactions were complete in 30 minutes and provided comparable yields. New sydnones were synthesized with acetic, propionic, butyric, and isobutyric anhydrides. Extension to various homogeneous metal triflates (lanthanum, yttrium, scandium, hafnium, gadolinium, and indium) was explored. Reactions were performed with 3-phenylsydnone as reactant, initially …

Placing Agency In Neoliberalism: Contested Citizenship In Spaces Of Migrant Organizing, Joseph Rasmussen

Geography Honors Projects

The presence of millions of immigrants without recognition from the federal government presents serious challenges to American democracy and its legitimacy. By analyzing immigration activism in Austin, Texas, this paper will consider how those excluded from formal citizenship seek full membership, or at least its associated rights and protections, and how institutions at a variety of scales responds to these efforts. This activism challenges prevalent notions of what citizenship means, expanding the lines of who deserve rights and protection, and constructs participatory citizenship at the city level rather than relying on the more passive, exclusionary model of federal politics.

Shanghai Cooperation Organization As A Counterbalance Against The United States, Bakhtiyar T. Dauekeev

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According to the balance of power concept, nations tend to unite for opposing a hegemon with an equal force. Therefore, for the leading position of the US and its ability to project power globally, there should be an opposite and equal reaction from the other emerging power centers.

Since the collapse of the USSR, the hegemonic position of the United States has been unchallenged. However, there is a possibility that it might be counterbalanced in future by the growing political influence of emerging powers like Russia and China, which have already succeeded in countering the US influence in some parts …

Aural Landscapes, Brandi Price

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Music and design draw upon innate parallels concerned with the creation and existence of space. By acknowledging the roles of both the visual and the aural in my design process as input and output, I attempt to achieve a deeper understanding of my intuition as a visual communicator. I believe that the visual and aural are linked—existing harmoniously together. The collected works present ever-evolving ideas on visualizing the experience of sound.

The Development Of Silver Nanoparticles As Antiviral Agents, John Christopher Trefry

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Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) have received tremendous attention for their antimicrobial properties; however, many gaps in knowledge exist. To address these issues, three research objectives were examined. The first objective hypothesized AgNPs can be size selected and concentrated via tangential flow ultrafiltration. The second objective hypothesized a high-throughput method could be developed to screen nanoparticle antiviral-activity and cytotoxicity simultaneously. The third objective hypothesized AgNPs inhibit viruses by preventing viral entry.

For objective one, a tangential flow ultrafiltration scheme was tested on AgNPs synthesized via the Creighton Colloid method. AgNPs were analyzed via transmission electron microscopy. In objective two, an HIV-1 vector …

Optimization Of Scientific Computation For Multicore Systems, Andrew B. Mcclain

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With the rapid growth of semiconductor technology, chip density has increased significantly. As the power exponent is setting hard limits to frequency increases, multi-core and chip level multi-processors have become prevalent in recent years to take advantage of the increasing chip density. In the new generation of processors, multi-core architecture design is becoming the major trend: IBM/SONY/Toshiba's Cell Broadband Engine processors contain nine cores; NVIDIA graphics processors contain more than 30 cores.

One of the biggest challenges is to efficiently utilize the computational power provided by multi-core systems. The second challenge to achieving high performance in a computer system is …

Cognitively Sensitive User Interface For Command And Control Applications, Michael James Findler

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While there are broad guidelines for display or user interface design, creating effective human-computer interfaces for complex, dynamic systems control is challenging. Ad hoc approaches which consider the human as an afterthought are limiting. This research proposed a systematic approach to human / computer interface design that focuses on both the semantic and syntactic aspects of display design in the context of human-in-the-loop supervisory control of intelligent, autonomous multi-agent simulated unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). A systematic way to understand what needs to be displayed, how it should be displayed, and how the integrated system needs to be assessed is outlined …

Ab Initio Simulations Of Graphene-Based Nanosensor For Detecting No2 And Li, Ahmed Jama Hassan

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Nanosensors, i.e., sensors based on nanomaterials, have the potential of superior performance owing to their size effect, and can have significant effects on detection of pollutants in the environment. Various nanowires have been used in this context. Here we investigate the possibility of NO2 and Li detection using the quantum conductance change in graphene nanoribbon. Quantum conductance modification in graphene nanoribbon upon NO2/Li adsorption was calculated using ab initio methods. The optimized structures of the adsorbed NO2 indicated two different geometries where either nitrogen or oxygen was closer to the graphene lattice. The former resulted in charge transfer from NO2 …

The Molecular Basis Of The Interaction Between The Coxsackievirus And Adenovirus Receptor (Car) And Magi-1, Abimbola Olayinka Kolawole

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A major factor in virus entry into cells is localization and abundance of the primary receptor. The Coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) is the primary receptor for group B coxsackievirus and many serotypes of adenovirus. In most epithelia, a seven exon isoform of CAR (CAR^Ex7) is exclusively localized at the basolateral surface where it behaves as a homophilic adhesion protein and is inaccessible for viral infection. However, in well-differentiated human airway epithelia, we recently discovered an alternatively spliced, low abundance isoform of CAR (CAR^Ex8) that is apically localized where it may initiate apical viral infection. The …

When Prohibition And Violence Collide: The Case Of Mexico, Kyleigh M. Clark

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Some theorists have found a positive correlation between increased drug prohibition enforcement and a rise in violence. These studies focus on the United States and Colombia, arguing that prohibition amplifies violence, rather than decreasing it. Much like the United States and Colombia earlier in their histories, Mexico has recently experienced an escalation in violence. Since beginning a democratic transition in 2000, the Mexican government has intensified a war on drugs by strengthening the rule of law, battling corruption, and cooperating with the United States' drug war. This study, using a congruence method with process-tracing, will analyze the Mexican case in …

Structural And Functional Alteration Of Full Length Pparα And Lxrα By Fatty Acids And Their Thioesters, Madhumitha Balanarasimha

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Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptors (PPAR) and liver X receptors (LXR) are known to play important roles in fatty acid metabolism, interact with each other, and function as heterodimeric partners. Although previous studies indicate that PPARα is activated by long chain fatty acyl-CoA thioesters (LCFA-CoA) and polyunsaturated fatty acids, little is known about the effects of these ligands on the function or interaction of PPARα and LXRα. In this study, hPPARα and hLXRα were shown to directly interact by circular dichroism, fluorescent binding assays, and co-immunoprecipitation. Further experiments suggested that although fatty acids resulted in small structural changes, they significantly altered binding …

Reconstructing Autism: A Phenomenological Study Of The Relationship Between Parents And Their Children Diagnosed With An Autism Spectrum Disorder, Laura Elizabeth Solomon

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This study aims to serve as a deconstruction of the experience of parenting a child with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD). The increasing number of families with children affected by ASDs has led to many questions about the impact of ASDs on the family unit; however, the voice of parents is sorely missing in the extant research. The history of ASDs and disability in general continues to impact the ways families, society, and professionals treat families affected by ASDs, and particularly the ways they view and value the parent-child relationship. Six mothers of children with ASDs were interviewed about their …

Sexual Satisfaction In Women With Physical Disabilities: Results Of An Online Survey, Jessica Rose Heschel

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The study of sexual satisfaction and pleasure in Women with Disabilities (WwD) represents a significant gap in the current literature. The present study, using a Participatory Action Research (PAR) approach, attempted to explore several areas of the sexual satisfaction of WwD. An internet-based survey was used to gather information in five specific areas: the messages WwD had received about sexuality and disability, their personal feelings about sexuality and disability, the specific elements that contribute to their sexual satisfaction, the amount of useful education and information they had received from mental and physical healthcare providers regarding their sexuality as WwD, and …

Growth Attenuation, Sterilization, And Cochlear Implants: Ethical, Legal And Social Themes, Jenna Nicole Mercadante

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Individuals with disabilities have been the subject of invasive medical procedures throughout history, violating their bodily rights and integrity. Because of a history of abuse, medical procedures performed on individuals with disabilities, especially those who cannot consent, require close scrutiny and analysis. This paper explores three controversial medical procedures performed on individuals with disabilities, which include sterilization, cochlear implants, and growth attenuation. Embedded in each medical procedure mentioned above are social, legal, ethical, and psychological variables that influenced the emergence of each procedure and the receptiveness of society. This project explores each of these variables in detail as it relates …

The Power To Promote Justice Program: A Train-The-Trainer Model For The Development Of Culturally Competent Teaching Practices Among Secondary Educators, Patrece Gabrielle Hairston

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As the United States population becomes increasingly diverse, the need for multicultural training is greater than ever. Due to this tremendous shift in societal demographics, today's classrooms require teachers to educate students varying in culture, language, abilities, and many other characteristics. The Power to Promote Justice program is intended to provide educators with in-depth training in multicultural education. There is evidence to suggest that many teacher education programs provide minimal training in this area, leaving teachers ill equipped to manage the difficulties associated with working with diverse populations. The Power to Promote Justice Program is a five-session train-the-trainer program that …