Digital Commons Network^™

Survey Of Gastrointestinal Parasite Infection In African Lion (Panthera Leo), African Wild Dog (Lycaon Pictus) And Spotted Hyaena (Crocuta Crocuta) In The Luangwa Valley, Zambia, Are R. Berentsen, Matthew S. Becker, Heather Stockdale-Walden, Wigganson Matandiko, Rachel Mcrobb, Mike R. Dunbar

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Little is known about gastrointestinal parasite infections in large carnivores in Africa and what is available is largely from East Africa. We collected faecal samples from nine spotted hyaenas (Crocuta crocuta), 15 lions (Panthera leo) and 13 African wild dog (Lycaon pictus) from Luangwa Valley, Zambia. The most common gastrointestinal parasites found were Isospora spp., Spirometra sp., Taeniidae and Sarcosystis spp. Twenty-eight percent of all samples were co-infected with Spirometra sp. and Taeniidae, with co-infection rates highest among lions (67%). Thirty-three per cent (3/9) of spotted hyaenas were infected with Isospora sp. Ninety-two per …

Efficacy, Effort, And Cost Comparisons Of Trapping And Acetaminophen-Baiting For Control Of Brown Treesnakes On Guam, Larry Clark, Peter J. Savarie, John A. Shivik, Stewart W. Breck, Brian S. Dorr

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Brown treesnakes (Boiga irregularis) are an invasive species to the island of Guam. Because they have extirpated the native forest avifauna on Guam and are a threat to other Pacific islands, the development of efficient and cost-effective methods to control them is desired. We compared the efficacy, cost, and effort required to remove brown treesnakes on 6-ha plots in forest scrub on Guam, using 2 methods: trapping and poison baiting. Toxic baits consisted of dead neonatal mice adulterated with 80-mg acetaminophen. To assess efficacy, we used mark-recapture methods to estimate snake abundance on plots 12 days before and …

Efficacy Of Aerial Broadcast Baiting In Reducing Brown Treesnake Numbers, Larry Clark, Peter J. Savarie

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

The brown treesnake (Boiga irregularis) is an invasive predator that was introduced on Guam as a stowaway in cargo after World War II. Since then, the population has exploded, attaining 50 to 100 snakes per ha in some areas. The snake has caused the extirpation of ten of the 12 native forest bird species on Guam. The U.S. Department of Agriculture, Wildlife Services, has a program to deter the spread of snakes from Guam to other islands. Hand capture from fences, trapping, toxic bait stations, and canine inspection of outbound cargo methods are used in the control program …

Cholecystectomy And The Risk Of Esophageal And Gastric Cancer, Zhenming Ge, Chengjin Zhao, Yamin Wang, Junbo Qian

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To conduct a meta-analysis of observational studies to explore the relationships between cholecystectomy and the risk of esophageal and gastric cancer (GC). METHODS: The study design was retrospective, and carried out in the First People9s Hospital of Nantong, Jiangsu, China from January 2012 to April 2012. Studies were identified by a literature search of MEDLINE and EMBASE through March 31, 2012, and by manually searching the reference lists of pertinent articles. The summary relative risks (SRRs) with their 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated with a random-effects model. RESULTS: A total of 12 estimates from 6 independent studies (including …

The Application Of Ultrasound B-Flow Imaging In Detection Of Carotid Atherosclerotic Micro-Vessel With Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease, Ying H. Wang, Qi C. Zheng, Gong X. Yuan, Jiang H. Ren

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the detection and characterization of micro-vessels within the carotid atherosclerotic plaque using B-flow imaging (BFI) ultrasound with contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEU) as the reference standard. METHODS: Between August 2008 and July 2011, 78 patients with carotid atherosclerosis that were admitted at the Department of Ultrasonography in ZhongNan Hospital of Wuhan University, Wuhan, China underwent standard and BFI examination. Fifty-one patients received both BFI and CEU. We evaluated the relationship between BFI findings, and clinical symptoms in ischemic stroke, or transient ischemic attack patients. The correlation of cerebrovascular symptoms, stenosis, and plaque type on the detection of neovessels by …

Radiate Ligament Shortening And Idiopathic Scoliosis, Hasem H. Darwish, Khalid I. Khoshhal, Abdulmonen M. Al-Siddiky, Abdullah M. Aldahmash, Muhammad Atteya, Mohammad S. Vohra

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the possible role of radiate ligament in idiopathic scoliosis. METHODS: This study was designed as a case-control study adapted to cadavers. Eighteen human cadavers, 12 males and 6 females of Caucasian race, with a mean age of 55 years were studied at the Department of Anatomy, College of Medicine, King Saud University, Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia from November 2010 to February 2012. Among the studied subjects, 15 were with normal spines, and 3 were scoliotic. The upper and lower bands of radiate ligaments were identified and measured. All cadavers were examined grossly. Scoliotic cadavers were also …

Pharmaceutical And Biomedical Applications Of Affinity Chromatography: Recent Trends And Developments, David S. Hage, Jeanethe A. Anguizola, Cong Bi, Rong Li, Ryan Matsuda, Efthimia Papastavros, John Vargas-Badilla, Xiwei Zheng

David Hage Publications

Affinity chromatography is a separation technique that has become increasingly important in work with biological samples and pharmaceutical agents. This method is based on the use of a biologically-related agent as a stationary phase to selectively retain analytes or to study biological interactions. This review discusses the basic principles behind affinity chromatography and examines recent developments that have occurred in the use of this method for biomedical and pharmaceutical analysis. Techniques based on traditional affinity supports are discussed, but an emphasis is placed on methods in which affinity columns are used as part of HPLC systems or in combination with …

Modification Of Net Configurations Of The Coda Netlauncher® To Enhance Bird Capture, Amanda M. Prisock, Brian S. Dorr, James C. Cumbee

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

We modified and evaluated capture nets fi red from the Coda Netlauncher^® as a tool for capturing various avian species. We modified the netlauncher by using customized nets to maximize the area of the capture zone. We captured 137 birds, comprising 12 species, in 23 attempts between July 2008 and October 2009 using this method. Capture success rates varied from 25 to 69% were comparable to success rates reported for other capture methods for these species. However, individual capture success for different net configurations varied greatly from 3 to 65%. Minimal injuries and 2 bird fatalities were reported. The …

Prion Remains Infectious After Passage Through Digestive System Of American Crows (Corvus Brachyrhynchos), Kurt C. Vercauteren, John L. Pilon, Paul B. Nash, Gregory E. Phillips, Justin W. Fischer

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Avian scavengers, such as American crows (Corvus brachyrhynchos), have potential to translocate infectious agents (prions) of transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diseases including chronic wasting disease, scrapie, and bovine spongiform encephalopathy. We inoculated mice with fecal extracts obtained from 20 American crows that were force-fed material infected with RML-strain scrapie prions. These mice all evinced severe neurological dysfunction 196–231 d postinoculation (x̅ = 198; 95% CI: 210–216) and tested positive for prion disease. Our results suggest a large proportion of crows that consume prion-positive tissue are capable of passing infectious prions in their feces (p = 1.0; …

Practicing The Four Seasons Of Ethnography Methodology While Searching For Identity In Mexico, Margaret Jane Pitts

The Qualitative Report

This narrative is an account of my field experiences and challenges practicing González’s (2000) Four Seasons of Ethnography methodology in Mexico City. I describe the complexities and tensions inherent in managing two scientific paradigms: Western scientific logic vs. a more organic ontology. The experiential knowledge produced in this text is useful to ethnographers who face questions of identity and ethics in the field. To evoke a sense of experience, I represent the ethnography for the reader in the way it unfolded for me—sometimes painful, other times insightful, oftentimes both. This dual text exposes my struggles as emergent ethnographer grappling with …

Javascript Game Engine For Mobile Using Html5, Nakul Vishwas Natu

Master's Projects

The goal of this project was to develop an HTML5-based mobile JavaScript game engine. Developers can use this game engine to create platform independent mobile games. It provides support for sprite animation, physics, event handling, orientation handling, collision detection and entity management. HTML5 local storage was used to achieve game persistence. The games created using this game engine can be stored on the home screen of the device as a data URL. When the user launches the data URL, the game opens up in a browser and the entire process is similar to launching a native application. HTML5 has many …

Homelessness: Causes, Culture And Community Development As A Solution, Kaitlin Philipps

Pell Scholars and Senior Theses

This thesis seeks to explain the reasons that homelessness occurs, and how it is currently being dealt with in public policy. Triggers and predictors of homelessness are explored and it is shown that triggers are almost always compounded, indicating a multitude of factors that lead to homelessness. The culture and community surrounding the homeless lifestyle is seen as playing a significant role in how the individual copes with their homelessness. The norms and values of their culture are investigated and its role in rehabilitation is explored. Current institutions for helping the homeless are analyzed for different success rates. Additionally, initiatives …

Rat Brain Pro-Oxidant Effects Of Peripherally Administered 5 Nm Ceria 30 Days After Exposure, Sarita S. Hardas, Rukhsana Sultana, Govind Warrier, Mo Dan, Rebecca L. Florence, Peng Wu, Eric A. Grulke, Michael T. Tseng, Jason M. Unrine, Uschi M. Graham, Robert A. Yokel, D. Allan Butterfield

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The objective of this study was to determine the residual pro-or anti-oxidant effects in rat brain 30 days after systemic administration of a 5 nm citrate-stabilized ceria dispersion. A ∼4% aqueous ceria dispersion was iv-infused (0 or 85 mg/kg) into rats which were terminated 30 days later. Ceria concentration, localization, and chemical speciation in the brain was assessed by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), light and electron microscopy (EM), and electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS), respectively. Pro- or anti-oxidant effects were evaluated by measuring levels of protein carbonyls (PC), 3-nitrotyrosine (3NT), and protein-bound-4-hydroxy-2-trans-nonenal (HNE) in the hippocampus, cortex, and …

Food Fortification Improves The Intake Of All Fortified Nutrients, But Fails To Meet The Estimated Dietary Requirements For Vitamins A And B6, In Lactating South African Women, Peggy C. Papathakis, Kerry E. Pearson

Food Science and Nutrition

Objective To investigate the impact of fortification by comparing food records and selected biochemical indicators of nutritional status pre- and post-fortification.

Design Mean intake from 24 h recalls (n 142) was compared with the Estimated Average Requirement (EAR) to determine the proportion with inadequate intake. In a subsample (n 34), diet and serum retinol, folate, ferritin and Zn were compared pre- and post-fortification for fortified nutrients vitamin A, thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, folic acid, Fe and Zn.

Setting South Africa.

Subjects Breast-feeding women (ninety-four HIV-infected, forty eight HIV-uninfected) measured at ∼6, 14, 24 weeks, and 9 and 12 months …

Neurosteroid-Mediated Regulation Of Brain Innate Immunity In Hiv/Aids: Dhea-S Suppresses Neurovirulence, Amber Paul, Ferdinand G. Maingat, Maria J. Polyak, Pornpun Vivithanaporn, Farshid Noorbakhsh, Samir Ahboucha, Glen B. Baker, Keir Pearson, Christopher Power

Publications

Neurosteroids are cholesterol-derived molecules synthesized within the brain, which exert trophic and protective actions. Infection by human and feline immunodeficiency viruses (HIV and FIV, respectively) causes neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration, leading to neurological deficits. Secretion of neuroinflammatory host and viral factors by glia and infiltrating leukocytes mediates the principal neuropathogenic mechanisms during, although the effect of neurosteroids on these processes is unknown. We investigated the interactions between neurosteroid mediated effects and lentivirus infection outcomes. Analyses of HIV-infected uninfected human brains disclosed a reduction in neurosteroid synthesis enzyme expression. Human neurons exposed to supernatants from HIV macrophages exhibited suppressed enzyme expression without …

A Holey Cause: Sharia As A Cultural Defense, Raman Singh

Penn State Law Review (2003 - Present)

No abstract provided.

A Science-Based Endeavor: Interpreting Contamination Prevention In The Food Safety Modernization Act, Shauna Manion

Penn State Law Review (2003 - Present)

No abstract provided.

2012 Fall Vol. 29 No. 2, Alumni Affairs School Of Medicine

Medicinews

No abstract provided.

Applying Crawford's Confrontation Right In A Digital Age, Jeffrey Bellin

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Much of the recent commentary on the Confrontation Clause focuses on the past. Commentators (and Supreme Court Justices) evaluate the evolving jurisprudence by comparing the confrontation right articulated in Crawford v. Washington and its progeny to the right that existed in 1791. This Essay shifts the focus to the future, exploring how the Supreme Court's new Confrontation Clause jurisprudence will operate in a world where communication is increasingly informal and electronic.

A large and increasing portion of our social discourse takes place electronically, through email and texting, as well as on social media Internet

sites such as Facebook and Twitter. …

A Theory Of Representative Shareholder Suits And Its Application To Multijurisdictional Litigation, Randall Thomas, Robert B. Thompson

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

We develop a theory to explain the uses and abuses of representative shareholder litigation based on its two most important underlying characteristics: the multiple sources of the legal rights being redressed (creating dynamic opportunities for arbitrage) and the ability of multiple shareholders to seek to represent the collective group in such litigation (creating increased risk of litigation agency costs by those representatives and their attorneys). Placed against the backdrop of controlling managerial agency costs, our theory predicts that: (1) the relative strength of the different forms of shareholder litigation will shift over time; (2) these shifts can result in new …

Confronting Supreme Court Fact Finding, Allison Orr Larsen

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Perceptions, Problems, And Possibilities Of Cameroonians With Mental Disabilities: A Case Study Of Le Centre National De Réhabilitation Des Personnes Handicapées De Yaoundé, Lauren Miller

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

For my study, I focused on the state of persons with mental disabilities in Yaoundé, Cameroon, a discriminated and marginalized population. I completed an internship at Le Centre National de Réhabilitation des Personnes Handicapées in the special education school as a case study. There, through participant observation, simple observation and interviews as well as outside research, I gathered information regarding my research questions and hypothesis:

1. Who is responsible for the majority of persons with mental disabilities?
2. What are the affects of perceptions of persons with mental disabilities?
3. What are some possibilities for a better life and through what means?

Hypothesis: …

Jefferson Alumni Bulletin – Volume 61, Number 4, Fall 2012

The Bulletin (formerly the Jefferson Medical College Alumni Bulletin)

Features:

• Melanoma: Personalized Medicine's Latest Poster Child
• Getting a Head Start on Treating Migraines

Departments:

• Dean's Column
• Findings: Breast Cancer Tumors Lacking RB Protein Function Respond Better to Neoadjuvant Chemotherapy
• Faculty Profile: Aaron Dumont: Unraveling the Mysteries of Neuroscience
• On Campus
• Alumni Weekend 2012
• Alumnus Profile: Joseph M. Giordano, MD '67: Revolutionizing Trauma Care - and Saving an American President
• Class Notes and In Memoriam (login to view)
• Alumni Giving

Identity Problems (An Interview With John B. Davis), Thomas Wells, John B. Davis

Economics Faculty Research and Publications

In this interview, Professor Davis discusses the evolution of his career and research interests as a philosopher-economist and gives his perspective on a number of important issues in the field. He argues that historians and methodologists of economics should be engaged in the practice of economics, and that historians should be more open to philosophical analysis of the content of economic ideas. He suggests that the history of recent economics is a particularly fruitful and important area for research exactly because it is an open-ended story that is very relevant to understanding the underlying concerns and concepts of contemporary economics. …

Development Of A Supervisory Control Unit For A Series Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicle, Brian Neal Harries

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

A Series PHEV was chosen, as ERAU's entry into EcoCAR2 through a multidisciplinary architecture selection process. The series architecture was chosen for its mechanical feasibility, consumer acceptability and its performance on energy consumption simulations. The Series PHEV architecture was modeled using Matlab, Simulink, and dSPACE ASM tools, to create a plant model for controller development. A supervisory controller was developed to safely control the interactions between powertrain components. The supervisory control unit was tested using SIL and HIL methodologies. The supervisory controller was developed with an emphasis on fault detection and mitigation for safety critical systems. A power management control …

Structural Damage Classification Using Support Vector Machines, Xiang Li

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

In this research, a methodology to classify crack and corrosion metallic damages using a time-frequency representation method and support vector machines is investigated. Piezoelectric ceramic actuators are utilized to generate guided wave signals on a set of aluminum beam coupons with different damage features, such as types, locations, and thicknesses. The short-time Fourier transform is applied to analyze the measured signals. For damage classification, the spectrograms obtained from finite element models are employed to train a two-class support vector machine learning classifier. The classifier is able to correctly classify different types of damages based upon the measured signals collected from …

Hyperspectral Imaging For Non-Contact Analysis Of Forensic Traces, Patrick J. Cullen, G. Edelman, T. Van Leeuwen, M. Aalders, E. Gaston

Articles

Hyperspectral imaging (HSI) integrates conventional imaging and spectroscopy, to obtain both spatial and spectral information from a specimen. This technique enables investigators to analyze the chemical composition of traces and simultaneously visualize their spatial distribution. HSI offers significant potential for the detection, visualization, identification and age estimation of forensic traces. The rapid, non-destructive and non-contact features of HSI mark its suitability as an analytical tool for forensic science. This paper provides an overview of the principles, instrumentation and analytical techniques involved in hyperspectral imaging. We describe recent advances in HSI technology motivating forensic science applications, e.g. the development of portable …

Anastasia Philippa Scrutton, Thinking Through Feeling: God, Emotion And Passibility, Richard E. Creel

Faith and Philosophy: Journal of the Society of Christian Philosophers

No abstract provided.

Group Mapping In A 4-H Camp Mixed-Methods Evaluation, Vikram Koundinya, Jenna Klink, Joanna Skluzacek, Claire Barrett

Journal of Youth Development

A week-long residential 4-H Agri-science youth camp had the goal of increasing understanding of agriculture as a system, however evaluating such a complex construct is difficult by adopting any one data-collection method. This paper presents the methods used in the evaluation of the camp and how these methods enhanced the overall program evaluation. The camp introduced 28 students, who were about 12 years of age from rural and urban counties of Wisconsin to the different aspects of the agricultural system, and promoted understanding of the connections among the various system components. The study utilized a mixed-methods triangulation design with group …

Table Of Contents, Depaul College Of Law

DePaul Business & Commercial Law Journal

No abstract provided.