Digital Commons Network^™

Targeting Of Triacylglycerol Synthase Gene For Tuberculosis Treatment (Con), Pappachan Kolattukudy, Jaiyanth Daniel, Vinod Dubey, Tatiana Sirakova

UCF Patents

Disclosed herein are novel methods for screening for compounds useful in treating or preventing tuberculosis. In exemplary embodiments, screening methods are based on the implementation or manipulation of triacylglycerol synthase like polypeptides or polynucleotides encoding the same. The methods are useful in identifying agents active against TB infection.

Association Between T Cells-Related Gene Expression And Fibrosis Progression In Hcv Recurrence Disease., Alexander Philip

Theses and Dissertations

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is the major cause of chronic hepatitis worldwide and a leading cause for liver transplant. Unfortunately, graft HCV infection is a universal phenomenon despite of pre-transplant prophylactic strategies. Acute HCV infection and innate immune responses elicit an inflammatory scenario that triggers the recruitment of adaptive immune response cells. Of those chronically infected, 30% experience accelerated fibrosis with concomitant cirrhosis development within 5 years post-LT and require re-transplant. With many patients responding unfavorably to antivirals and ineffective vaccines, much attention is now placed on T cell immunity in controlling HCV infection. This study represents a retrospective analysis …

A Genre-Specific Study Of English And Persian Newspaper Editorials / Alireza Bonyadi Babaee, Alireza Bonyadi Babaee

Student Works (2010-2019)

Newspaper editorials constitute a part of media discourse, which is an extremely important field of research in intercultural rhetoric analysis. The interface between the linguistic analysis of newspaper editorials and teaching of English as a foreign/second language is also a relevant issue in language teaching. Thus, drawing on the theory of inter-cultural rhetoric analysis and considering the important role of newspaper editorials in shaping public opinions, the present study aimed at conducting a genre-specific analysis of newspaper editorials culled from the editorials of the English newspaper, The New York Times, and those of Persian newspaper, Tehran Times. Addressing different discourse …

Amalan Penyoalan Lisan Guru Kimia Dalam Pengajaran Dan Pembelajaran Elektrokimia / Zanaton Haji Iksan, Iksan Zanaton

Student Works (2010-2019)

Previous studies have revealed that students' understanding of various concepts of science is not always exact. Previous studies have also showed that teachers’ oral questioning practices are able to guide students' thinking and understanding of a scientific concept. Therefore, ineffective oral questioning could be one of the possible reasons for flawed understanding among students. Based on this, this study aims to explore the oral questioning practices of teachers in the teaching and learning of electrochemistry which is considered as a difficult topic. This study focused on the types of oral questions, strategies of oral questioning as well as to describe …

Kindergartens' Landscape : The Effect Of Outdoor Play Space On Children's Play And Performances / Wan Azlina Wan Ismail, Wan Ismail Wan Azlina

Student Works (2010-2019)

Playing and moving are central in young children’s lives. Allowing the children to experience the natural and man-made elements in their school environment would develop their cognitive, physical, and social abilities. This study investigates the impact of playing in outdoor play space on physical skills or motor development of kindergarten children. The outdoor play spaces of four kindergartens’ playground were selected to be evaluated in the case study afterwards. The research aim is to identify the landscape features (natural and man-made) in the playground areas that offer challenge in children play. Data of the children performances were elicited using a …

A Pre And Post Exercise Comparison Of Three Assessment Tools Commonly Employed To Assess Vascular Function, Lorena Salom

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Endothelial dysfunction (ED) is one of the earliest subclinical indicators of impaired cardiovascular health and several non-invasive tools have been developed to evaluate vascular function, including strain gauge plethysmography (SGP), brachial artery flow-mediated dilation (FMD) via ultrasound, and peripheral artery tonometry (PAT). While these tools have extensively been studied during a resting condition, the responses following acute exercise are not as well characterized. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to compare the pre- and post-exercise vascular function values obtained with SGP, FMD, and PAT. Relationships among the primary outcome variables obtained with each assessment tool were also evaluated. …

Rerooting The Evolutionary Tree Of Malaria Parasites, Diana C. Outlaw, Robert E. Ricklefs

Harold W. Manter Laboratory of Parasitology: Library Materials

Malaria parasites (Plasmodium spp.) have plagued humans for millennia. Less well known are related parasites (Haemosporida), with diverse life cycles and dipteran vectors that infect other vertebrates. Understanding the evolution of parasite life histories, including switches between hosts and vectors, depends on knowledge of evolutionary relationships among parasite lineages. In particular, inferences concerning time of origin and trait evolution require correct placement of the root of the evolutionary tree. Phylogenetic reconstructions of the diversification of malaria parasites from DNA sequences have suffered from uncertainty concerning outgroup taxa, limited taxon sampling, and selection on genes used to assess relationships. As …

Cyanobacteria In Soils From A Mojave Desert Ecosystem, Hend Alwathnani, Jeffrey R. Johansen

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

The Fort Irwin National Training Center in the Mojave Desert of California contains soils that represent a diversity of disturbance regimes, including some soil sites that have been protected from anthropogenic disturbance for many years. Previous studies of the soils of this military installation discussed biogeography and ecology of the crusts but did not conduct detailed study of the species present. In this study, we selected 6 sites in and around the Fort Irwin Training Center to be the subject of intensive isolation efforts. These sites contained at least some development of microbiotic soil crust. Out of the more than …

Front Matter, Vol. 5

Monographs of the Western North American Naturalist

No abstract provided.

Florida Sentinel Bulletin, August 9, 2011, Gwen Hayes

Florida Sentinel Bulletin Collection

The August 9, 2011, issue of the Florida Sentinel Bulletin.

Compact Hyperspectrals, Luca Maresi, Semen Grabarnik, Matteo Taccola, Vincent Moreau, Coralie De Clercq, Bavo Delauré, Stephanie Delalieux, Els Knaeps, Wouter Dierckx, Cees Coolen, Mathieu Breukers, Lieve De Vos

Small Satellite Conference

Numerous Hyperspectral Imagers have been launched or are being built for resource management, monitoring anthropogenic effects on the troposphere gases, and for defense applications. Payloads such as Hyperion, EnMAP, HyspIRI, and SCHYAMACHY are instruments with mass in excess of 100 Kg. Technologies recently developed in precision manufacturing of aspherical mirrors, detectors, and spectral filters allow to shrink a hyperspectral instrument in an envelope that will fit on a small satellite, or even in a CubeSat. The reduction of mass, volume, and power is not the only problems to be solved to successfully use a hyperspectral on board of a small …

Study Abroad And The International Curriculum: Assessing Changes In Intercultural Competence, Susan G. Sample

McGeorge School of Law Global Center for Business and Development Annual Symposium

No abstract provided.

Population Intervention Causal Effects Based On Stochastic Interventions, Ivan Diaz Munoz, Mark J. Van Der Laan

U.C. Berkeley Division of Biostatistics Working Paper Series

Estimating the causal effect of an intervention on a population typically involves defining parameters in a nonparametric structural equation model (Pearl, 2000, NPSEM) in which the treatment or exposure is deter- ministically assigned in a static or dynamic way. We define a new causal parameter that takes into account the fact that intervention policies can result in stochastically assigned exposures. The statistical parameter that identifies the causal parameter of interest is established. Inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), augmented IPTW (A-IPTW), and targeted maximum likelihood estimators (TMLE) are developed. A simulation study is performed to demonstrate the properties of these …

Method And Apparatus For In Vivo Collection Of Circulating Biological Components, Dave S B Hoon, Bret Taback, Samuel Shaolian

Technology Transfer - Patents

The invention relates generally to in vivo collection of circulating molecules, tumor cells and other biological markers using a collecting probe. The probe is configured for placement within a living organism for an extended period of time to provide sufficient yield of biological marker for analysis. In some embodiments of the invention, active attraction of biological markers are provided. A partial or complete analytic/detection assembly may also be integrated with the probe.

Group 11 Metal Compounds With Tripodal Bis(Imidazole) Thioether Ligands. Applications As Catalysts In The Oxidation Of Alkenes And As Antimicrobial Agents, Fangwei Liu, Reema Anis, Eunmi Hwang, Rafael Ovalle, Armando Varela-Ramírez, Renato J. Aguilera, María Contel

Publications and Research

New group 11 metal complexes have been prepared using the previously described tripodal bis(imidazole) thioether ligand (N-methyl-4,5-diphenyl-2- imidazolyl)2C(OMe)C(CH3)2S(tert-Bu) ({BITOMe,StBu}, 2). The pincer ligand offers a N2S donor atom set that can be used to coordinate the group 11 metals in different oxidation states [AuI , AuIII, AgI , CuI and CuII]. Thus the new compounds [Au{BITOMe,StBu}Cl][AuCl4]2 (3), [Au{BITOMe,StBu}Cl] (4), [Ag{BITOMe,StBu}X] (X = OSO2CF3 - 5, PF6 - 6) and [Cu{BITOMe,StBu}Cl2] (7) have been synthesized from reaction of 2 with the appropriate metal precursors, and characterized in solution. While attempting characterization in the solid state of 3, single crystals of the …

The Possibility Of Buddhist Virtue: A Christian Response, Jonathan Royce Pruitt

Masters Theses

The heart of Buddhism is ethics. This is evident even in the legendary accounts of the Buddha's life. The Buddha first encountered the problem of suffering after he finally escaped the isolation of the palace he had grown up in. His father, a powerful ruler, wanted to force his son into a life of politics and war. He had been warned that if his son was exposed to the kind of life people experience every day, a life marked by suffering, that his son would likely become a great teacher instead of a ruler. However, despite his father's best efforts, …

August 8, 2011 Reporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Differential Gene Expression In Male And Female Rainbow Trout Embryos Prior To The Onset Of Gross Morphological Differentiation Of The Gonads, Matthew C. Hale, Peng Xu, Julie Scardina, Paul A. Wheeler, Gary H. Thorgaard, Krista M. Nichols

Department of Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: There are large differences between the sexes at the genetic level; these differences include heterogametic sex chromosomes and/or differences in expression of genes between the sexes. In rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) qRT-PCR studies have found significant differences in expression of several candidate sex determining genes. However, these genes represent a very small fraction of the genome and research in other species suggests there are large portions of the transcriptome that are differentially expressed between the sexes. These differences are especially noticeable once gonad differentiation and maturation has occurred, but less is known at earlier stages of development. Here we …

Managing The Healthcare Needs Of Adolescents With Autism Spectrum Disorder: The Parents' Experience, Julie Strunk

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe the experiences of parents who manage the health needs of an adolescent with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Qualitative interviews were conducted with parents from 10 families of adolescents with ASD residing in Virginia. Data were analyzed using Clark Moustakas’ method of analysis of data in which the phenomenologist asks the following questions: What are the individual’s experiences, and in what context did they experience them? This study maximized credibility by using three strategies: prolonged engagement, peer debriefing, and member checking. “Parents needing help” emerged as the essence of the parents’ experiences. …

Impact Of Marina Construction On Scleractinian Corals In Kampung Tekek, Tioman Island, Malaysia / Nikoo Cheheltani, Nikoo Cheheltani

Student Works (2010-2019)

This study was conducted to determine the impacts of newly constructed marina on the adjacent coral reefs in Kampung Tekek, Tioman Island. Two study sites were chosen, consisting of the fringing coral reef adjacent to the constructed marina and a control site 3 nm south which was the fringing coral reef around Pulau Renggis (Pulau=Island). Acute and chronic impacts in two depths (shallow, <6 m and deep, 6-12 m) at the Marina site were studied. To document impacts of the construction, substrate cover percentage and environmental parameters such as sedimentation rate and sediment type were measured. In addition, changes in physiological aspects were monitored on four different coral growth forms. The acute impact study using modified Reef Check showed that there were some negative changes such as coral breakage and increased sand cover (from 6.88% to 22.50 %) and silt cover (from 0% to 16.25%). Differences in substrate cover before and after construction were detected in deep water with higher Recently Killed Corals (%) and shallow water with higher Rubble (%). The chronic impacts study showed that there was a significant difference (F: 6.735, p<0.05) in sedimentation rate between Marina site (up to mean of 23.37 mg/cm²day in Marina Shallow) and control site at Renggis (mean of 0.59 mg/cm²day). The higher sedimentation rate recorded in Marina site significantly decreased the light intensity to a daily mean of 275.15 Lux. Coral cover % was lower in Marina site (with the lowest average of 24.74 %) compared to control site (53.27 %). Comparison between shallow and deep areas in Marina site showed that Marina Deep was the most affected due to high sedimentation and its lower light intensity. Changes in zooxanthellae density and chlorophyll content of the selected scleractinian coral growth forms indicated that the corals had been under stress due to smothering by sediments in Marina site. Foliose growth form showed more changes in their physiological aspects compared to other iv growth forms. Results of this study demonstrated some negative acute and chronic impacts of the marina construction to the adjacent coral reef. Therefore management programs should be improved so as to prevent or at least reduce the impacts of similar constructions at the vicinity of sensitive habitats in the future.

A Population Study Of Nypa Fruticans (Arecaceae) On Carey Island, Malaysia / Nasrin Asle Zaeim, Nasrin Asle Zaeim

Student Works (2010-2019)

Nypa fruticans (Arecaceae) is distributed in mangrove forests of South Asia especially in islands and the coastal area around Malaysia. It is one of the most versatile palms in terms of usage. A population study of N. fruticans at two sites using 3 plots was conducted in Carey Island, Malaysia. Aspects of demographic study of N. fruticans such as population structure, life stages of individuals, spatial distribution, reproductive phenology, growth rate, survivorship and environmental parameters such as water and soil quality were investigated in this study. Using the growth information, estimation of age would be possible. Four life developmental stages: …

Molecular Pathways Involved In Calcineurin Inhibitor Nephrotoxicity In Kidney Allograft Transplants, Huong Nguyen

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT MOLECULAR MECHANISMS AND GENE SIGNATURES INVOVLED IN CALCINEURIN INHIBITOR NEPHROTOXICITY IN KIDNEY ALLOGRAFT By Huong Le Diem Nguyen, M.S. A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Physiology at Virginia Commonwealth University. Virginia Commonwealth University, 2011. Major Director: Valeria Mas, Ph.D. Associate Professor, Department of Surgery and Pathology Director of Molecular Transplant Research Laboratory, Division of Transplant Calcineurin inhibitors (CNI), cyclosporin A and tacrolimus, are potent immunosuppressive agents but induce toxicities causing damages and graft dysfunction, and have been suggested to contribute to late-term loss of graft in kidney transplant …

The “Found” World Of Genesis 1 Part Ii: How Does Science Inform Theology, Nicholas Miller

Memory, Meaning & Faith

No abstract provided.

Mechanisms Of Prenatal High-Salt "Fetal Programming" Resulting In Stress Hyperresponsiveness In The Adult Female Offspring In The Sprague Dawley Rat., Clinton L. Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Female offspring of Sprague-Dawley rats fed a high-salt diet (HS) during pregnancy show an enhancement of mean arterial pressure (MAP) and heart rate (HR) response to acute stress in adulthood compared to offspring whose mothers were fed a normal-salt diet (NS) [1]. In the present study, we first examined the expression of soluble epoxide hydrolase (SEH) protein in brain tissue. Whole brains were collected and SEH gene (EPHX2) mRNA and SEH protein expression were analyzed using RT-PCR and Western blot, respectively. mRNA levels were relatively decreased in high-salt rats (1.0 ± 0.32 NS vs 0.39 ± 0.07 HS, n=6). However, …

Characterizing The Distribution Of Planktonic Fecal Bacteria In The James River, Richmond, Virginia, John Furry

Theses and Dissertations

Surface waters containing fecal bacteria present significant public health risks. Understanding the sources of and factors affecting the distribution of fecal-indicating bacteria is necessary to predict potential illnesses more effectively. This thesis presents two studies on the distribution of fecal bacteria in the James River through Richmond, Virginia. Chapter 1 describes nearly 11 years of water quality, climate, and hydrologic data that occurred with changes in Escherichia coli concentrations, concluding that Richmond contributes significant quantities of fecal bacteria to the James River, and that the distribution of these bacteria varies seasonally. Chapter 2 details the development of Polymerase Chain Reaction …

Acer Research Conference Proceedings (2011)

2009 - 2019 ACER Research Conferences

The papers are also available individually from the session listing.

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - August 7, 2011, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the August 7, 2011 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include

• 38th Annual Medical Student Research Day Features Dr. Talmadge King

• USA College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. R. Brian Bettencourt

• USA Alum, Former Faculty Member Chosen as President of Liberal Arts College

• Mark Your Calendar: Webinar

• USA College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. Jon Simmons

Development Of Lps Antagonistic Therapeutics: Synthesis And Evaluation Of Glucopyranoside-Spacer-Amino Acid Motifs, Sophon Kaeothip, Geeta Paranjape, Shana E. Terrill, Aileen F.G. Bongat, Maria L.D. Udan, Teerada Kamkhachorn, Hope L. Johnson, Michael R. Nichols, Alexei V. Demchenko

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

Sepsis is a serious medical condition characterized by bacterial infection and a subsequent massive systemic inflammatory response. The release of proinflammatory products and mediators from responding innate immune cells, such as mononuclear phagocytes, directly contributes to the pathogenesis of sepsis. The primary bacterial trigger of inflammation is lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which interacts with the germline-encoded macrophage receptor cluster of differentiation 14 (CD14) via its Lipid A moiety. In an effort to identify compounds that block LPS-induced inflammation we investigated a series of Lipid A analogs that lack a disaccharide core yet still possess potent antagonistic activity against LPS. We found it …

Lgbt 101: Liaisons & Safe Spaces 60 Min Trainer Booklet 2011, Joseph A. Santiago

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

LGBT 101: Liaisons & Safe Spaces 60 Min Trainer Booklet was designed to be a introduction to LGBT trainings that could be used at breakout sessions for orientation, RA trainings, or in hall meetings.

Towards An Understanding Of The Evolution Of Violaceae From An Anatomical And Morphological Perspective, Saul Ernesto Hoyos

Theses

Few comprehensive empirical studies have ever been published on Violaceae, and the basal part of the family, particularly Fusispermum spp. and Rinorea spp. In this research morphology and anatomy of stem, node, leaf, flower, and seeds of Fusispermum spp., Rinorea spp., and Goupia glabra were studied to understand the basal evolution of Violaceae from an anatomical and morphological perspective. This study reflects the value of anatomical studies when related to phylogenetic work. Nodal, petiole, flower and seed morphology and anatomy is a good example. The trilacunar nodes of G. glabra found are consistent with the movement of Goupia from Celastraceae …