Digital Commons Network^™

The Application Of Systems Engineering Principles To Model Lithium Ion Battery Voltage, George Gibbs

Master's Theses

The objective of this project is to present a Lithium Ion battery voltage model derived using systems engineering principles. This paper will describe the details of the model and the implementation of the model in practical use in a power system. Additionally, the model code is described and results of the model output are compared to battery cell test data. Finally, recommendations for increased model fidelity and capability are summarized.

The modeling theory has been previously documented in the literature but detailed implementation and application of the modeling theory is shown. The detailed battery cell test voltage profiles are proprietary; …

Measuring Impedance Of Tissues Using A Microfabricated Microelectrode Array, Ashwini Bhat

Master's Theses

MEASURING IMPEDANCE OF TISSUES USING A MICROFABRICATED MICROELECTRODE ARRAY By Ashwini Bhat

This thesis looks at the possibility of using impedance spectroscopy for differentiating tissue, using a microelectrode array (MEA). The thesis first discusses the background and the motivation for this thesis. It covers the certain basic concepts of the human skin starting from the top epidermis layer all the way to the deep dermis layers of the skin. Then it discusses different types of skin cancer and how they occur, in humans. It also discusses various microfabrication techniques such as oxidation, wet etching, sputtering and photolithography for the creation …

A Case Study Considering Impacts Of Active Membership In The Young Professionals Networking Group On Sense Of Community And Social Capital, Casey Albert Fodness

Master's Theses

Sense of community, social capital, and emerging adulthood are all topics of increasing interest in multiple fields over the past three decades. Both sense of community and social capital are predictors of overall well-being for individuals and communities. As emerging adults begin to establish a sense of person and place, many have begun to look to young professionals groups as an outlet for networking and identity exploration. There is limited research on the impact of these organizations related to sense of community and social capital. This case study is meant to be a starting point to expand the research on …

Serving Youth Who Are Serving Time: A Study Of The Special Education Services For Incarcerated Youth In A Short-Term Care Facility, Sachiko Hoshide

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the communication between sending court and community schools of a County Office of Education’s (COE) Alternative Education program and the receiving juvenile detention facility of a county in a Western state and how the communication between the two facilities affected the level of special education services provided to incarcerated youth, specifically the occurrence of 30-day placement IEPs. The juvenile detention facility was selected as a site because it was a lighthouse program, one of the few chosen to pilot the juvenile detention alternatives initiative (JDAI). JDAI sought to lower the number of incarcerated youth through viable alternatives …

On Mormon Laughter, Shawn R. Tucker

BYU Studies

Shawn Tucker, an associate professor of fine arts, offers an interpretation on the scriptural injunctions against excessive and loud laughter found in Latter-day Saint scripture. Having grown up in a home with lots of joyous, good-natured laughter, the author recalls his confusion at such commands. His research explores the teachings of leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, sociologists, and great thinkers such as C. S. Lewis.

The article shows that laughter that is cold, cynical, and belittling is a perversion of a God-given faculty that should delightfully lift and edify. A good sense of humor can …

Knockout Of The 15 Kda Selenoprotein Protects Against Chemically-Induced Aberrant Crypt Formation In Mice, Petra A. Tsuji, Bradley A. Carlson, Salvador Naranjo-Suarez, Min-Hyuk Yoo, Xue-Ming Xu, Dmitri E. Fomenko, Vadim Gladyshev, Dolph L. Hatfield, Cindy D. Davis

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Evidence suggests that selenium has cancer preventive properties that are largely mediated through selenoproteins. Our previous observations demonstrated that targeted down-regulation of the 15 kDa selenoprotein (Sep15) in murine colon cancer cells resulted in the reversal of the cancer phenotype. The present study investigated the effect of Sep15 knockout in mice using a chemically-induced colon cancer model. Homozygous Sep15 knockout mice, and wild type littermate controls were given four weekly subcutaneous injections of azoxymethane (10 mg/kg). Sep15 knockout mice developed significantly (pGBP-1 in humans has been associated with a highly significant, increased five-year survival rate in colorectal cancer patients. In …

Understanding And Treating Smoking Among Individuals With A Mental Illness, Chizimuzo T.C. Okoli

Nursing Presentations

• Background and significance

• Reasons for smoking among individuals living with a mental illness

• Smoking cessation treatment for individuals living with a mental illness

Graduate Internship Report- Selma High School, Jalisca Jean Thomason

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship report addresses the quality criteria of an agricultural education program and includes the supporting documents to meet the requirements of the California Department of Education specific to Selma High School. This document and the supporting evidence is intended to meet the requirements to obtain maximum funding for the Ag Incentive Grant.

Leukemia And Lymphoma Society, Jeffrey S. Harrison, Patrick Desmarteau, Brittany Hamilton, Sarah Patthoff

Robins Case Network

The mission of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) is to “cure leukemia, lymphoma, Hodgkin’s disease and myeloma, and improve the quality of life of patients and their families.” As a not-for-profit organization, LLS is structured differently from most for-profit companies. It’s unique structure allows it to focus on its mission, but also puts the organization in direct competition with other charitable fundraising organizations, and especially the American Cancer Society and Susan B. Komen for the Cure. Economic problems have made fundraising more difficult for all companies in the industry. LLS is also in the position of partnering with big …

Jak/Stat3 Signaling Promotes Somatic Cell Reprogramming By Epigenetic Regulation, Yong Tang, Yan Luo, Zongliang Jiang, Yinghong Ma, Chih Jen Lin, Chul Kim, Mark G. Carter, Tomokazu Amano, Joonghong Park, Sharon Kish, Xiuchun Tian

Faculty Publications

Although leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) maintains the ground state pluripotency of mouse embryonic stem cells and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) by activating the Janus kinase/signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Jak/Stat3) pathway, the mechanism remained unclear. Stat3 has only been shown to promote complete reprogramming of epiblast and neural stem cells and partially reprogrammed cells (pre-iPSCs). We investigated if and how Jak/Stat3 activation promotes reprogramming of terminally differentiated mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs). We demonstrated that activated Stat3 not only promotes but also is essential for the pluripotency establishment of MEFs during reprogramming. We further demonstrated that during this …

Mathematical Institutional Economics, Martin Shubik

Cowles Foundation Discussion Papers

An overview is given of the utilization of strategic market games in the development of a game theory based theory of money and financial institutions.

Conservation Needs Of Nearshore Seabirds In The Southeastern U.S. Addressed Through Habitat Use Surveys And Assessments Of Health And Mercury Concentrations, Lisa Eggert

All Dissertations

Seabirds encounter a range of natural and anthropogenic stressors in the nearshore environment and are ideal candidate species for long-term monitoring of changes to coastal systems. The mitigation of threats to nearshore seabirds requires management of essential coastal habitat and monitoring population health and trends. In this dissertation, I first evaluated intertidal habitat use for a suite of coastal species as it relates to management practices at a seabird nesting island in South Carolina. Specifically, my objectives were (1) to determine intertidal areas of high bird abundance, (2) to examine course-scale habitat characteristics and human use of intertidal areas associated …

Preventing Misuse And Disuse Of Automated Systems: Effects Of System Confidence Display On Trust And Decision Performance, Margaux Price

All Dissertations

Complex decision-making may be aided by forms of automation known as decision-support systems (DSS). However, no DSS is completely reliable and so it is imperative that users know when they should and should not trust it (calibration of trust). Previous research has shown that providing users with information about the DSS's confidence in its own advice ('system confidence') can help improve the calibration of user's trust of automation and actual system reliability on a trial by trial basis. The current study examined how the nature of the presentation of system confidence information affected user's trust calibration. The first study examined …

Foliar Applied Urea Nitrogen Metabolism In Warm-Season Turfgrass Under Salinity Stress, Nicholas Menchyk

All Dissertations

The most widely used foliar nitrogen (N) source for warm-season turfgrass and agriculture is urea [(NH2)2CO], due to its low cost, high percentage of N (46% by mass), and completely soluble nature. Since urea is a soluble N source, it is commonly utilized as a foliar N source when tank mixed with pesticides in warm-season turfgrass management. The N in urea is not directly available to the plant until it is hydrolyzed into ammonia by the enzyme urease in the cytosol. Urease is a nickel (Ni2+) dependant enzyme that is ubiquitous in plants. Its main biochemical function is the hydrolysis …

Role Of Cytochrome P4501a1 In Vasoreactivity And Blood Pressure Regulation Mediated By Omega-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acids, Njotu Larry Agbor

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AHR) is a ligand-activated transcription factor involved in the metabolism of environmental pollutants including halogenated aromatic hydrocarbons, for example, 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-ρ-dioxin (TCDD). The AHR and its downstream target gene cytochrome P4501A1 (CYP1A1) are also involved in cardiovascular development. AHR knockout (KO) mice are hypotensive, with cardiac hypertrophy. Additionally, CYP1A1 is involved in the production of potent vasodilator metabolites from omega-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (n-3 PUFAs) metabolism. Thus, we hypothesize that the AHR and its downstream target gene, CYP1A1, both contribute to normal vascular reactivity of blood vessels and to blood pressure (BP) regulation. We generated mice with …

How Might Ecologists Make The World Safe For Biodiversity Without Getting Fired?, David Johns

Political Science Faculty Publications and Presentations

This essay raises the following questions: What if conservation success depends less on speaking truth to power than on organizing a political force that can bring more pressure to bear on decision makers than their opponents? But what if natural scientists, by virtue of their knowledge, passion, commitment, are pretty much the only group that can be trusted with the fate of biodiversity and leading humankind out of their destructive ways? What if begging policy makers to do the right thing means barren oceans, the end of many species, and the end of wild places (not to mention a more …

Checkup, Lehigh Valley Health Network

Checkup

No abstract provided.

Studies On Spreading Depolarization In Healthy And Metabolically Compromised Brain Tissues, Isamu Aiba

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Spreading depolarization (SD) is a slowly propagating wave of depolarization of neurons and glia. Since its original discovery in 1944, SD has been observed in various experimental settings, both in vitro and in vivo. SD has recently been detected in brains of human patients with various injuries, and a contribution of SD to deleterious consequences of acute brain injury is increasingly accepted. iv The present dissertation work focus mainly on the characterization of SD and cellular events associated with it. Main interests of these studies are on underlying mechanisms that convert non-injurious factors into mediators of acute neuronal injury. One …

Prenatal Alcohol Exposure Alters Histamine H3 Receptor Modulation Of Glutamate Release And Long-Term Potentiation In The Rat Dentate Gyrus, Rafael Koerich Varaschin

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Children with Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder exhibit long lasting behavioral impairments, such as learning disabilities, problems in executive functioning and memory deficits. Currently, there are no rationally designed, clinically available pharmacological tools to circumvent prenatal alcohol-induced cognitive deficits. Recently, using a rat model of voluntary drinking during pregnancy, Savage and collaborators (2010) showed that the inverse agonist of histamine H3 receptors reverses fetal ethanol-induced deficits in learning and memory, without further increasing cognition in control rats. These differential effects and the notion that H3 receptors reside in presynaptic nerve terminals to inhibit neurotransmitter release, led to the hypothesis that fetal …

Reframing The Mediation Lens: The Call For A Situational Style Of Mediation, Tanya M. Marcum, Charles R. Stoner, Sandra J. Perry

Southern Illinois University Law Journal

Child custody mediation can have a positive impact on the parties involved in mediation as well as on the process of settlement itself.  The process of mediation focuses the parties on the needs of the children and helps the parents to be realistic in their expectations regarding custody and visitation of the children.  Mediators realize the importance of listening carefully to the parties involved in the custody dispute.  This article looks at three distinct groups of mediators involved in child custody mediation in the state of Illinois, the mediators perceived mediation styles, and their actual mediation styles.  As a result, …

Competition Of Zinc Ion For The [2fe-2s] Cluster Binding Site In The Diabetes Drug Target Protein Mitoneet, Guoqiang Tan, Aaron P. Landry, Ruili Dai, Li Wang, Jianxin Lu, Huangen Ding

Faculty Publications

Human mitochondrial protein mitoNEET is a novel target of type II diabetes drug pioglitazone, and contains a redox active [2Fe-2S] cluster that is hosted by a unique ligand arrangement of three cysteine and one histidine residues. Here we report that zinc ion can compete for the [2Fe-2S] cluster binding site in human mitoNEET and potentially modulate the physiological function of mitoNEET. When recombinant mitoNEET is expressed in Escherichia coli cells grown in M9 minimal media, purified mitoNEET contains very little or no iron-sulfur clusters. Addition of exogenous iron or zinc ion in the media produces mitoNEET bound with a [2Fe-2S] …

Labrad : Vol 38, Issue 2 - December 2012, Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi

LABRAD - Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine and Radiology Archives

• Automation in Microbiology Specimen Processing and Inoculation
• Use of Automated Urine Analyzer for Urinanalysis
• Automation in Blood Culture
• Vitek 2 System: An Automated System for Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing
• TB Diagnosis-A New Horizon
• Serological and Molecular Diagnosis of Malaria
• Diagnosis of Leishmaniasis
• Rapid Detection of Dengue NS1 Antigen by ELISA in Suspected Dengue Patients
• Saline Infusion Hysterosonography to Evaluate Abnormal Uterine Bleeding
• Workshop on “Diagnosis of Fungal Infections in Clinical Laboratory”

Logistic Curves, Extraction Costs And Peak Oil, Robert J. Brecha

Physics Faculty Publications

Debates about the possibility of a near-term maximum in world oil production have become increasingly prominent over the past decade, with the focus often being on the quantification of geologically available and technologically recoverable amounts of oil in the ground. Economically, the important parameter is not a physical limit to resources in the ground, but whether market price signals and costs of extraction will indicate the efficiency of extracting conventional or nonconventional resources as opposed to making substitutions over time for other fuels and technologies. We present a hybrid approach to the peak-oil question with two models in which the …

Scopolamine-Induced Dry Eye Model In Female Rats, Ryan Alderson

Masters Theses

The objective of this study will be to establish, validate, and characterize a dry eye model in female rats induced by continuous systemic administration of scopolamine via Alzet® osmotic pumps for 28 days. This study will use female rats as a model for dry eye and will be implanted with osmotic pumps that will continuously distribute scopolamine or saline systemically over 28 days. Scopolamine will be used to induce the dry eye condition and saline will be used as a negative control. The clinical signs of dry eye will be evaluated by tear volume measurements with sterilized phenol-red thread (FCI …

Music Therapy And Quality Of Life: The Effects Of Musical Interventions On Self-Reported And Caregiver-Reported Quality Of Life In Older Adults With Symptoms Of Dementia, Alisha Snyder

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine the effects of music therapy on the quality of life of people with symptoms of dementia. Both self-reported and caregiver-reported quality of life scores were recorded before and after an eight-week treatment period. A control group of discussion and an experimental group of music therapy were included in the study, with a sample size of N = 13. Analysis of the data was done with t tests. No statistical significance was found when comparing the average quality of life scores in the discussion group or the music therapy group from pretest to …

Activity Of The Beta-Cyanoalanine Synthase Pathway Is Associated With The Response To Abiotic Stress By Arabidopsis Thaliana., Marylou Machingura

Dissertations

Cyanide is produced throughout a plant's life cycle alongside the hormone ethylene by oxidation of 1-aminocyclopropane-1-carboxylic acid. Production increases during certain developmental stages such as seed germination, seedling elongation, fruit ripening and senescence. Abiotic stresses increase ethylene production giving rise to `stress cyanide'. Cyanide also comes from metabolism of cyanogenic compounds. Cyanide is however, a toxic chemical which readily binds to metallo-enzymes inhibiting primary metabolic processes. Plants have mechanisms to maintain cyanide homeostasis such as the β-cyanoalanine pathway whereby cysteine reacts with cyanide forming β--cyanoalanine, mediated by β-cyanoalanine synthase and cysteine synthase. A dual nitrilase 4 enzyme then converts the …

Exercise Strengthens Circadian Clocks, Mary E. Harrington

Psychology: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Quantifying The Effect Of Nanoparticles On As(V) Ecotoxicity Exemplified By Nano-Fe2o3 (Magnetic) And Nano-Al2o3, Ji Hu, Demin Wang, Brett E. Forthaus, Jianmin Wang

Civil, Architectural and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Nano-Fe₂O₃ (magnetic) and nano-Al₂O₃ are increasingly used in biomedical fields for cellular labeling and drug delivery, and in the industry as catalysts. However, they may also serve as carriers of toxic contaminants and negatively impact the environment and human health. in the present study, Ceriodaphnia dubia was used to assess the toxicity of these nanoparticles (NPs) with and without the presence of background arsenic(V) (As[V]). the results showed that although these NPs alone did not exhibit significant toxicity in the experimental concentration range, they could significantly enhance the toxicity of As(V). the accumulation of …

Effects Of Slash Pile Burning After Restoring Conifer- Encroached Aspen, Christa M. Dagley, John-Pascal Berrill, Stephanie Coppeto, Kyle Jacobson

Aspen Bibliography

Removal of conifers encroaching aspen stands has been advocated and is being practiced in the Lake Tahoe Basin (EIP Project #10080: Aspen Community Restoration Projects). In remote and roadless areas, thinning of conifers is generating large volumes of wood and pile burning is currently being implemented to handle this biomass on site. However, the effects of pile burning on aspen are unknown, and there is an urgent need for guidelines to support design of thinning treatment prescriptions; specifically burn pile size and safe distances from live aspen trees of any size to prevent injury.

First Choice, December 2012, Wusf Public Media

First Choice Monthly Newsletter

The December 2012 issue of WUSF's newsletter "First Choice."