Digital Commons Network^™

The Challenges Of Urban Development Case Study – Prizren, Besa Jagxhiu

Theses and Dissertations

Prizren, what was, what it is now and what is going to be? The city with rich values of cultural and historical heritage, civilization and various religions and ethnicities used to be an important center of culture, trade and diplomacy, during the history, since the antiquity, which was known also as a “City Museum”. Nowadays, unfortunately there are no efforts for preserving and promoting these rich values, and with this trend in which is going, it cannot be seen the bright future for it. Prizren historic center is the best example of urban heritage in Kosovo, which has valuable traces …

Teacher Bullies: A Factorial Analysis Of Perceptions Of Teachers’ Bullying Behaviors, Sally Walter Davies

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Bullying in schools is a global phenomenon that can infringe upon the rights of students to learn and grow in a secure and fostering environment. Most of the past and current research on school bullying focuses on peer bullying, but there is a gap in the understanding of types and characteristics of bullying behaviors. This study centered on a type of abusive behavior that has received very limited attention: teachers bullying students. For the purpose of this study, the definition of teacher bullying behavior is a repeated pattern of conduct used to punish, manipulate, or disparage a student, rooted in …

Biomedical Signal Transceivers, Reza Fazel-Rezai, Noah Root, Ahmed Rabbi, Duckhee Lee, Waqas Ahmad

Electrical Engineering Faculty Publications

With the growing costs of healthcare, the need for mobile health monitoring devices is critical. A wireless transceiver provides a cost effective way to transmit biomedical signals to the various personal electronic devices, such as computers, cellular devices, and other mobile devices. Different kinds of biomedical signals can be processed and transmitted by these devices, including electroencephalograph (EEG), electrocardiograph (ECG), and electromyography (EMG). By utilizing wireless transmission, the user gains freedom to connect with fewer constraints to their personal devices to view and monitor their health condition.

In this chapter, in the first few sections, we will introduce the reader …

Perceptual Scale Expansion: An Efficient Angular Coding Strategy For Locomotor Space, Frank H. Durgin, Z. Li

Psychology Faculty Works

Whereas most sensory information is coded on a logarithmic scale, linear expansion of a limited range may provide a more efficient coding for the angular variables important to precise motor control. In four experiments, we show that the perceived declination of gaze, like the perceived orientation of surfaces, is coded on a distorted scale. The distortion seems to arise from a nearly linear expansion of the angular range close to horizontal/straight ahead and is evident in explicit verbal and nonverbal measures (Experiments 1 and 2), as well as in implicit measures of perceived gaze direction (Experiment 4). The theory is …

Creation Of Post Ap Chemistry Class, Julian Medrano

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The creation of a Post AP Chemistry Class to be taught at the high school level for grade 12 students is discussed. The class is to be taught under the supervision of the University of Texas Pan American professors and taught by an MS Chemistry teacher, in order to better transition students into upper level chemistry courses beyond Chemistry 1401 and 1402.

A Genetically Anchored Physical Framework For Theobroma Cacao Cv. Matina 1-6, Christopher Saski, Frank Feltus, Margaret Staton, Barbara Blackmon, Stephen Ficklin, David Kuhn, Raymond Schnell, Howard Shapiro, Juan Carlos Motamayor

Publications

The fermented dried seeds of Theobroma cacao (cacao tree) are the main ingredient in chocolate. World cocoa production was estimated to be 3 million tons in 2010 with an annual estimated average growth rate of 2.2%. The cacao bean production industry is currently under threat from a rise in fungal diseases including black pod, frosty pod, and witches' broom. In order to address these issues, genome-sequencing efforts have been initiated recently to facilitate identification of genetic markers and genes that could be utilized to accelerate the release of robust T. cacao cultivars. However, problems inherent with assembly and resolution of …

Changes In Geologic Time Understanding In A Class For Preservice Teachers, Rebecca Teed, William Slattery

Earth and Environmental Sciences Faculty Publications

The paradigm of geologic time is built on complex concepts, and students master it in multiple steps. Concepts in Geology is an inquiry-based geology class for preservice teachers at Wright State University. The instructors used the Geoscience Concept Inventory (GCI) to determine if students' understanding of key ideas about geologic time and Earth history changed between the first and last day of the course. For three of the four GCI questions analyzed in this study, the number of correct student responses increased significantly between the pretest and the post-test, indicating that many of the students were learning the concepts being …

Undergraduate And Graduate Course Descriptions, 2011 Fall, Wright State University

Course Descriptions

Wright State University undergraduate and graduate course descriptions from Fall 2011.

Usf Women's Club Yearbook, 2011–2012, Usf Women's Club

USF Women’s Club Collection

Yearbook of the USF Women's Club. Inside is a list of past presidents, officers, committee chairmen, and members for 2011–2012. The booklet also includes a tribute to Grace Allen, interest groups, calendar of events, and a copy of the constitution and by-laws from the handbook.

Determination Of Freshwater Algal Biomass And Sulfolipid Content As Functions Of Inorganic Carbon Treatment, Melissa Morella

All Theses

Cultures of mixed freshwater algae were grown in open batch reactors made up of modified BG-11 media that contained 0, 25, 50 or 100% of the suggested inorganic carbon content (0, 0.5, 0.1 and 0.2 g/L Na₂CO₃) to assess the subsequent production of the high-value product, sulfoquinovosyl diacylglycerol (SQDG). After 25 days of growth, the reactors were composed of primarily Oscillatoria growth. All four reactors exhibited a trend of increasing biomass and alkalinity with time, and an initial increase then decrease in pH. The total inorganic carbon (TIC) in all reactors exhibited a mirrored, opposite trend …

Influence Of Environmental Conditions On Biofilm Formation Of Listeria Monocytogenes, Jing Li

All Theses

L. monocytogenes is a Gram-positive bacterium, ubiquitously distributed in the environment. It is the etiologic agent of listeriosis, a food-borne disease affecting humans and a variety of vertebrates. L. monocytogenes can form biofilm which is a multi-cellular layer of adherent bacteria surrounded by an extracellular polysaccharide matrix. Biofilm bacteria are extremely resistant to sanitizers and are difficult to be eradicated, therefore posing a big challenge to food processing industry and food service department.
In this work, we tested the biofilm formation in a number of L. monocytogenes serotypes under different environmental conditions, such as temperatures, pH and media (BHI, LB, …

Altered Toll-Like Receptor 2-Mediated Endotoxin Tolerance Is Related To Diminished Interferon Β Production, Ss Zaric, Wa Coulter, Ce Shelburne, Cr Fulton, Et Al

Peninsula Dental School

Induction of endotoxin tolerance leads to a reduced inflammatory response after repeated challenge by LPS and is important for resolution of inflammation and prevention of tissue damage. Enterobacterial LPS is recognized by the TLR4 signaling complex, whereas LPS of some non-enterobacterial organisms is capable of signaling independently of TLR4 utilizing TLR2-mediated signal transduction instead. In this study we report that Porphyromonas gingivalis LPS, a TLR2 agonist, fails to induce a fully endotoxin tolerant state in a human monocytic cell line (THP-1) and mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages. In contrast to significantly decreased production of human IL-8 and TNF-α and, in mice, …

The Miami University Natural Areas Bird Blind, Hardy Eshbaugh

Ohio Cardinal

No abstract provided.

Predator Recognition In The Brown Mouse Lemur (Microcebus Rufus): Experiments In Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, Anja M. Deppe

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

It is well established that predator avoidance is an important selective force shaping animal behavior. Much has been written on predation in diurnal primates, but almost nothing is known about predator-prey interactions in nocturnal primates. Even though there has been evidence to the contrary, it is widely accepted that nocturnal primates, in contrast to diurnal species, are limited to indirect anti-predation strategies. To investigate whether nocturnal primates make risk assessments based on direct predator cues, I conducted field and laboratory experiments with wild brown mouse lemurs (Microcebus rufus) in the rainforest of Ranomafana National Park, Madagascar, over a four year …

Medically-Derived I-131 As A Tracer In Aquatic Environments, Paula S. Rose

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Medically-derived 131I (half-life = 8.04 d) has been measured in aquatic environments receiving sewage effluent discharges, yet few published data exist for the radioisotope in sewage effluent; most work has focused on sewage sludge. This work presents 131I concentrations detected in sewage effluent from a small water pollution control plant (WPCP) serving a regional thyroid cancer treatment facility in Stony Brook, NY, USA. The concentrations detected in the Stony Brook WPCP ranged from 1.8 ± 0.3 to 227 ± 2 Bq L-1 in sewage effluent and 61 ± 12 to 2801 ± 32 Bq g-1 in suspended solids > 0.7 Μm …

Settlement And Site Location In The Middle And Upper Paleolithic Of The Vç¸Zçùre Valley, France, Matthew L. Sisk

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Human settlement is guided by a suite of economic and social decisions. Hunter- gatherer populations are not restricted by extensive ownership and often focus settlement on important resources. Analysis of settlement patterns left by these groups reveals key information about subsistence and sociality. Patterning among modern groups is extremely varied and represents a dynamic and adaptable land-use strategy. The antiquity of this adaptability is unknown, but comparisons with the patterns left by other hominin species often show it as a derived trait of Homo sapiens However, most of these settlement models are built at a species-level resolution and encompass great …

Development Of A Simultaneous Pet-Mri Breast Scanner, Bosky Ravindranath

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Imaging techniques have played a major role in the diagnosis, treatment and management of breast cancer. A signicant drop in mortality rates among breast cancer patients was observed over the past decade and this has been attributed primarily to widespread screening programs using X-ray mammography. As we advance our knowledge of this disease and move towards more tailored treatment options, it has become apparent that there is a need for more advanced and dedicated imaging techniques that will allow for more thorough evaluation of the disease non-invasively. To address this need, a simultaneous PET-MRI breast scanner was built. Positron emission …

Characterizing Nerve Fiber Activation By Varying Fiber Diameter And Depth Within A Conductive Medium: A Finite Element Approach, Nathan Daniel Soto

Master's Theses

In some instances neuropathies can be diagnosed through a conduction velocity test. However, not all neuropathies can be classified using this method. Gaining an understanding of how the stimulus level varies for different fiber sizes at different fiber depths within a conductive medium will provide useful information for simulation studies.

Following a two-step approach using COMSOL and MATLAB, a simulation was implemented to investigate the stimulus necessary to activate different sized fibers at different depths. In this two-step approach, COMSOL was used to describe the voltage profile that would be present within a conductive medium after a stimulus was applied. …

Alcohol And Tobacco Use Among Monteverde Youth: A Preventative Approach, August 2011, Hannah Bose, Danielle Grams, Joshua Vollstaedt

Monteverde Institute: Culture, Community, and Health

This study investigates adolescent alcohol and tobacco consumption in the Monteverde zone of Costa Rica, addressing who engages in alcohol and tobacco use, what are the motivations to consume or not consume alcohol and tobacco, what protective and risk factors are acting on Monteverde youth, and what activities are desired by Monteverde youth.

Fisheries Occasional Publication No.99 - Review Of The Western Australian Rock Lobster Stock Assessment, Andre E. Punt, Department Of Fisheries Western Australia

Fisheries Occasional Publications

In 2000, the West Australian Rock Lobster (WRL) fishery became the first fishery in the world to be certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC). At the annual audit in December 2010, the MSC’s independent certifying body, Scientific Certification Systems, set a number of conditions for ongoing certification. The most important condition under Principle 1, Stock Assessment, was to have an international stock assessment and modelling expert undertake a review of the latest version of the WRL Stock Assessment Report that has been used to provide advice for the management of the fishery, and 2010 stock assessment and 2010/11 management …

Escherichia Coli Topoisomerase I Is An Iron And Zinc Binding Protein, Jianxin Lu, Wu Wang, Guoqiang Tan, Aaron P. Landry, Peng Yi, Fan Si, Yaguang Ren, Huangen Ding

Faculty Publications

Escherichia coli topoisomerase I (TopA) cleaves and rejoins one strand of double-stranded DNA to relax the negatively supercoiled DNA. Structurally, TopA contains an N-terminal catalytic fragment and a C-terminal zinc-binding region that is required for relaxation of the negatively supercoiled DNA. Here we report that E. coli TopA is an iron and zinc binding protein. The UV-Vis absorption measurements and metal content analyses reveal that TopA purified from E. coli cells grown in the rich LB medium contains both iron and zinc. However, TopA purified from E. coli cells grown in the M9 minimal medium has negligible amounts of zinc …

Detection Of Environmentally Persistent Free Radicals At A Superfund Wood Treating Site, Albert Leo N. Dela Cruz, William Gehling, Slawomir Lomnicki, Robert Cook, Barry Dellinger

Faculty Publications

Environmentally persistent free radicals (EPFRs) have previously been observed in association with combustion-generated particles and airborne PM 2.5 (particulate matter, d < 2.5um). The purpose of this study was to determine if similar radicals were present in soils and sediments at Superfund sites. The site was a former wood treating facility containing pentachlorophenol (PCP) as a major contaminant. Both contaminated and noncontaminated (just outside the contaminated area) soil samples were collected. The samples were subjected to the conventional humic substances (HS) extraction procedure. Electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy was used to measure the EPFR concentrations and determine their structure for each sample fraction. Analyses revealed a ∼30× higher EPFR concentration in the PCP contaminated soils (20.2 × 10 17 spins/g) than in the noncontaminated soil (0.7 × 10 17 spins/g). Almost 90% of the EPFR signal originated from the minerals/clays/humins fraction. GC-MS analyses revealed ∼6500 ppm of PCP in the contaminated soil samples and none detected in the background samples. Inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrophotometry (ICP-AES) analyses revealed ∼7× higher concentrations of redox-active transition metals, in the contaminated soils than the noncontaminated soil. Vapor phase and liquid phase dosing of the clays/minerals/humins fraction of the soil with PCP resulted in an EPR signal identical to that observed in the contaminated soil, strongly suggesting the observed EPFR is pentachlorophenoxyl radical. Chemisorption and electron transfer from PCP to transition metals and other electron sinks in the soil are proposed to be responsible for EPFR formation. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

A Comprehensive Map Of Mobile Element Insertion Polymorphisms In Humans, Chip Stewart, Deniz Kural, Michael P. Strömberg, Jerilyn A. Walker, Miriam K. Konkel, Adrian M. Stütz, Alexander E. Urban, Fabian Grubert, Hugo Y.K. Lam, Wan Ping Lee, Michele Busby, Amit R. Indap, Erik Garrison, Chad Huff, Jinchuan Xing, Michael P. Snyder, Lynn B. Jorde, Mark A. Batzer, Jan O. Korbel, Gabor T. Marth

Faculty Publications

As a consequence of the accumulation of insertion events over evolutionary time, mobile elements now comprise nearly half of the human genome. The Alu, L1, and SVA mobile element families are still duplicating, generating variation between individual genomes. Mobile element insertions (MEI) have been identified as causes for genetic diseases, including hemophilia, neurofibromatosis, and various cancers. Here we present a comprehensive map of 7,380 MEI polymorphisms from the 1000 Genomes Project whole-genome sequencing data of 185 samples in three major populations detected with two detection methods. This catalog enables us to systematically study mutation rates, population segregation, genomic distribution, and …

Iron Limitation Of A Springtime Bacterial And Phytoplankton Community In The Ross Sea: Implications For Vitamin B12 Nutrition, Erin M. Bertrand, Mak A. Saito, Peter A. Lee, Robert B. Dunbar, Peter N. Sedwick, Giacomo R. Ditullio

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea is home to some of the largest phytoplankton blooms in the Southern Ocean. Primary production in this system has previously been shown to be iron limited in the summer and periodically iron and vitamin B-12 colimited. In this study, we examined trace metal limitation of biological activity in the Ross Sea in the austral spring and considered possible implications for vitamin B-12 nutrition. Bottle incubation experiments demonstrated that iron limited phytoplankton growth in the austral spring while B-12, cobalt, and zinc did not. This is the first demonstration of iron limitation in a Phaeocystis antarctica-dominated, early …

’’The Synergistic Effects Of Modified Green Tea Polyphenols [Gtp], Epigallocatechin-3-Gallate [Egcg], Lipid-Based Tea Polyphenol [Ltp], Curcuminoids, And Red Algae Polysaccharides On Antibiotics Against Potentially Pathogenic Bacteria.”, Bobak Haghjoo

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Green tea leaves contain many polyphenolic compounds such as (-)-epicatechin, (-)- epicatechin-3-gallate, (-)-epigallocatechin, and (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate(EGCG). Green tea polyphenols (GTPs) have been implicated to have distinct properties that combat the harmful effects of cell proliferation. These compounds contain certain anti-viral and antimicrobial mechanisms that inhibit growth and perhaps reverse the process in which replication occurs. In this study, varied concentrations of GTP, Lipophilic Tea Polyphenol (LTP), Curcumin, and Red Algae Polysaccharides were used separately and in synergism with the most commonly used antiseptics and antibiotics to study the effect on different species of gram positive and gram negative bacteria. The antiseptic …

Visionary Fall 2011, College Of Optometry

Visionary

No abstract provided.

Coping Skills For Students With Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder: A Meta-Synthesis, David Brighton

Special Education Masters Program Theses

Students diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are often seen as problem students with little hope for academic success. It is common for these students to be medicated with a daily dosage of stimulants to help them function more appropriately in the classroom. This meta-synthesis identifies multiple ways to work with students with ADHD; effective interventions can help students with ADHD cope with their disorder and become more successful students.

Origin Of Amphibian And Avian Chromosomes By Fission, Fusion, And Retention Of Ancestral Chromosomes, Stephen R. Voss, D. Kevin Kump, Srikrishna Putta, Nathan Pauly, Anna Reynolds, Rema J. Henry, Saritha Basa, John A. Walker, Jeramiah J. Smith

Biology Faculty Publications

Amphibian genomes differ greatly in DNA content and chromosome size, morphology, and number. Investigations of this diversity are needed to identify mechanisms that have shaped the evolution of vertebrate genomes. We used comparative mapping to investigate the organization of genes in the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum), a species that presents relatively few chromosomes (n = 14) and a gigantic genome (>20 pg/N). We show extensive conservation of synteny between Ambystoma, chicken, and human, and a positive correlation between the length of conserved segments and genome size. Ambystoma segments are estimated to be four to 51 times longer than homologous …

Risky Curves: From Unobservable Utility To Observable Opportunity Sets, Daniel Friedman, Shyam Sunder

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

Most theories of risky choice postulate that a decision maker maximizes the expectation of a Bernoulli (or utility or similar) function. We tour 60 years of empirical search and conclude that no such functions have yet been found that are useful for out-of-sample prediction. Nor do we find practical applications of Bernoulli functions in major risk-based industries such as finance, insurance and gambling. We sketch an alternative approach to modeling risky choice that focuses on potentially observable opportunities rather than on unobservable Bernoulli functions.

Inhibition Of Neutrophil Apoptosis By Pai-1, Jaroslaw W. Zmijewski, Hong Beom Bae, Jessy S. Deshane, Cynthia B. Peterson, David D. Chaplin, Edward Abraham

Faculty Publications

Increased circulating and tissue levels of plasminogen activator inhibitor 1 (PAI-1) are often present in severe inflammatory states associated with neutrophil activation and accumulation and correlate with poor clinical outcome from many of these conditions. The mechanisms by which PAI-1 contributes to inflammation have not been fully delineated. In the present experiments, we found that addition of PAI-1 to neutrophil cultures diminished the rate of spontaneous and TNFrelated apoptosis-inducing ligand-induced apoptotic cell death. The effects of PAI-1 on cell viability were associated with activation of antiapoptotic signaling pathways, including upregulation of PKB/Akt, Mcl-1, and Bcl-xL. Although urokinase-plasminogen activator receptor, lipoprotein …