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Elucidating Transcription Factor Regulation By Tcdd Within The Hs1,2 Enhancer, Sharon D. Ochs

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Immunoglobulin heavy chain (IgH) expression and Ig secretion is inhibited by the environmental contaminant 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-ρ-dioxin (TCDD). Within the IgH gene, the 3' IgH regulatory region (3'IgH RR) has been identified as a transcriptional target of TCDD. The 3'IgH RR, which in part regulates transcription of the IgH gene, is composed of four enhancers in the mouse: hs3a; hs1,2; h3b; hs4 and three enhancers in the human: hs3a; hs1,2; hs4. In humans the hs1,2 enhancer has an invariant sequence (IS) containing a DRE, NF-κB, NF1 and AP-1 binding site. Also, the enhancer has an AP1.ETS and Oct …

Establishment Of A Quiescent Infection Of Hsv-1 In L929 Fibroblasts Using A Mitotic Inhibitor And Ifn-Γ, Neelam V. Shinde

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The goal for this study was to determine if a quiescent infection of HSV-1 could be induced in murine fibroblasts L929 by treating them with the anti-mitotic agent 5-fluoro 2'deoxy uridine (FUDR) alone and with interferon-γ. Since neurons are post-mitotic and exhibit a lower metabolic rate than other cells, fibroblasts were treated with FUDR to induce a post-mitotic state. The cell cycle arrest of fibroblasts would decrease the thymidylate metabolism and impair HSV-1 replication. An evaluation of cytopathic effects of FUDR was used to determine the optimal concentration which arrests cell growth and inhibits viral replication. Image J program developed …

Students With Felony Convictions In Higher Education: An Examination Of The Effects Of Special Admissions Policies On Applicants And On Campus Communities, Bradley Dean Custer

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There is limited research documenting the outcomes of college admission policies that screen applicants with prior felony convictions. Without this data, there is no evidence to support that these policies make college campuses safer. Additionally, there is no information available on the effects of special admissions policies on the applicants or on academic performance of students with prior felony convictions. This mixed-method study examined the applications of 54 undergraduate applicants with prior felony convictions at a mid-sized, public institution in the Midwest to reveal demographic trends among the population, to reveal themes from written narratives, and to examine the academic …

Impacts Of Land Use/Land Cover And Soil On Water Quality In The Upper Little Miami River Sub-Basin, Devendra Kumar Akshaya

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The Little Miami River Basin (LMRB) is increasingly becoming susceptible to the degradation of water quality due to various factors such as increase in urban landscape and agricultural runoff. This study is about understanding the impact of land use/land cover (LULC) and soil on water quality in LMRB. It was assumed that the major sources of solutes in the river mainly originated from the leaching of the land by precipitation and the composition of the leachate is influenced by the type LULC and soil. Least square method was modified to estimate the production coefficient for each of the types of …

Evaluation Of Cm-2,525 As A Neuroprotectant Against Sarin: A Comparison With 8-Oh-Dpat, Amanda R. Furman

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Exposure to the chemical warfare agent sarin produces long term neurological deficits. The long term medical consequences could be averted with the development of neuroprotectants to preserve brain function. In our mouse model, the combination of the carboxylesterase inhibitor 2-(o-cresyl)-4H-1:3:2-benzodioxaphosphorin-2-oxide (CBDP) with the organophosphorus (OP) nerve agent sarin was used to render mice more sensitive to poisoning and reduce the amount of hydrogen fluoride cleaved from sarin during binding to esterases. Since carboxylesterase acts as a scavenger, reducing the levels causes sarin to have a greater inhibition effect on acetylcholinesterase. These smaller doses permitted the use of doses similar to …

Smart Card Based User Authentication, Brandon James

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User authentication plays a very important role in building a secure computing system. In this thesis, we first studied and investigated existing user authentication schemes and some basic concepts of smart cards. We then proposed and implemented an improved user authentication scheme based on the smart card, specifically, Java card. We simulated a web server, and implemented the user authentication scheme with the Java card by programming a Java card applet and a Java program to send commands and receive responses from the card.

The proposed user authentication scheme has two phases: the registration phase and the user authentication phase. …

The College Experiences Of Transgender Students: Creating A Welcoming Environment On Campus, Roxanna Jessica-Dyan Patton

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The number of transgender students on college campuses has been increasing throughout the United States (Schneider,2010). Transgender students face unique concerns in nearly every aspect of campus life. The purpose of this research was to examine the college experiences of transgender students and recommend best practices for making college campuses more welcoming for transgender students. This phenomenological study was conducted using open ended interview questions to collect qualitative data from three transgender students at a large four year public institution in the Midwest. Respondents identified unwelcoming messages in the following areas of campus life: student activities, health services, and through …

The Antislavery Movement In Clermont County, Bethany Marie Pollitt

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The United States grappled with the question of slavery, that peculiar institution, for decades prior to the Civil War. One result of those debates was the antislavery movement. Gaining ground in the 1830s, the antislavery movement motivated people to respond to the issue of slavery in the way that suited their conscience. The Ohio River Valley is located on what once was the border line between North and South, and what to slaves meant the difference between freedom and a life of enslavement. Clermont County, located along the Ohio River, was no different than other communities along the border, such …

Hcn1 Immunoreactivity Of Α-Motoneurons Following Peripheral Nerve Injury, Saif Ahmed

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Peripheral axotomy causes significant alterations in intrinsic motoneuron activity and excitability. Despite successful reinnervation of peripheral targets after injury, the recovery of motor function is incomplete. Following axotomy in the adult cat, there is an increase in the afterhyperpolarization (AHP) of the action potential in specific motoneuron types. AHP duration can be inversely correlated with the amount of Ih or sag current and further shaped through SK (Small conductance calcium-activated potassium) channel currents (Gustafsson and Pinter, 1985; Kuno, Miyata, and Muñoz-Martinez, 1974a). Hyperpolarizing-cyclic nucleotide gated (HCN) channels underlie sag currents and are critical to neuronal function by their unique property …

Effects Of Elevated Glucocorticoid Levels On Dentate Gyrus Development, Zachary Dale Vallandingham

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Exogenous glucocorticoids are commonly used in modern medications and animal studies examining the effects of glucocorticoids on the developing brain report inconsistent results. Recent reports have questioned the reliability of available drug delivery methods in mice (Herrmann et al., 2009). In our laboratory, variable behavioral results using trace eyeblink conditioning (EBC) suggest that we may be having similar problems delivering glucoroticoids to developing rat pups (Claflin et al., 2005, 2011). Subcutaneous pellets and osmotic minipumps resulted in impaired learning during trace eyeblink conditioning whereas subcutaneous injection of corticosterone (CORT) resulted in facilitation of learning on the same task. One of …

The Role Of Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (Ace) 2 In A Murine Model Of Insulin Resistance And Albuminuria, Nathan Michael Weir

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Insulin resistance and kidney disease are intimately linked and both independently tied to dysregulation of the renin angiotensin system (RAS). The purpose of this research was to better investigate Angiotensin Converting Enzyme (ACE) 2 as a possible motif in the pathophysiology of these two disease processes. The project was divided into two parts. Part 1 investigated ACE2 KO mice as a model of albuminuria. Part 2 investigated how the lack of ACE2 enzyme affected glucose homeostasis and subsequent albuminuria.

Part 1: The Role of ACE2 in the Progression of Albuminuria. To determine if global loss of ACE2 leads to spontaneous …

Comparing Two Different Statins In A Delayed Pharmacological Treatment For Ischemic Stroke, Kailyn M. Hagerty

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Stroke is one of the leading causes of death and the top cause of long term disability. Currently there exists no standardized treatment of care for ischemic stroke patients during the days following stroke other than giving aspirin. A drug combination containing fluoxetine, one of two statins, and ascorbic acid was used to try and improve motor function following strokes in rats. Endothelin induced stroke survival surgery was performed on the right cortex of Long Evans and Sprague Dawley rats. Functional tests were completed pre- and post-surgery and immunohistochemistry was carried out to analyze infarct volume, angiogenesis, and the glial …

Mhc Class I Expression In Murine Fibroblast And Keratinocyte Cell Lines During The First Twenty-Four Hours Of Infection With Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (Hsv-1), Prasanthi Kumchala

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The hypothesis of this study is: HSV-1 infection of murine fibroblasts and keratinocytes inhibits expression of MHC class I molecules during first 24 hours of infection. IFN-γ pretreatment of fibroblasts protected the cells from virus-induced inhibition of MHC class I expression, but did not protect keratinocytes. Herpesviruses are known for their ability to establish persistent infections. Herpesviruses exert many different ways to suppress host defense mechanisms. One such way is by down regulating expression of the major histocompatibility complex I (MHC I) molecules in infected cells. Epidermal cells such as keratinocytes are the major sites for herpes simplex virus type …

Electrical Brain Stimulation And Depressive-Like Behavior In Guinea Pigs, Nadia Kardegar

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Maternal separation in guinea pigs produces a biphasic response consisting of an active behavior phase (vocalizations and locomotor activity) followed by a phase of passive depressive-like behavior (crouched stance, piloerection, and eye closure). The mechanism for the transition from the active to the passive phase is unknown. One suggestion is that continual activity of neural circuitry producing active behavior eventually leads to the expression of passive behaviors. The purpose of this study was to test this possibility. Guinea pigs were assigned to experimental and control groups. The experimental group received daily stimulation of the bed nucleus stria terminalis (BNST) to …

Characterization Of Ceramic Composite Materials Using Terahertz Non-Destructive Evaluation Techniques, Lindsay Owens

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The characterization of defects such as rust, voids, etc. on materials and the analysis and prediction of strain and stress induced breakdown are well known applications of non-destructive evaluation (NDE) techniques. THz radiation has been suggested as an effective NDE tool for use in the field of ceramics and ceramic matrix composite materials (CMC), via THz spectroscopy and imaging. The goal of this research is to monitor the progression of thermal and mechanical damage applied to the CMC materials using terahertz spectroscopic imaging in order to create a predictive model that will correlate THz imaging data of these materials to …

The Effects Of Chinese Petroleum Diplomacy On Us Energy Policy Objectives In Nigeria (1993-2010), Jennifer Lynn Leapley

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The United States and China have turned to Africa as an additional source of oil to ensure reliable, secure access to oil supplies in the future. While China stresses noninterventionist foreign policies, the US, at least rhetorically, if not in practice, links its energy policy in Africa to its foreign policy goals. China's petroleum diplomacy in Africa has raised concern among some scholars and policymakers about the effect an increased Chinese economic presence will have on American foreign policy objectives.

The question arises: What impact has Chinese petroleum diplomacy had on US foreign policy objectives? More specifically, how strongly, if …

Use Of Phage Display Libraries To Select For B-Cell Receptor-Specific Peptides Of Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia Cells, Richard M. Chou

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Peptides with high affinity to the B-cell receptor (BCR) fused to a toxin could be an effective therapy for Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia (CLL) patients. We screened captured BCR of a CLL patient with peptides from 7 and 12-mer phage display libraries, using two strategies. Lymphocytes from two patients diagnosed with CLL expressing two different unmutated VH genes (VH 1-3 and VH4-34, respectively) were used. Membrane BCRs were obtained from patient CLL cells by lysis, identified by western blot, semi-quantified and screened with phage libraries. The first strategy involved using patient VH4-34 BCRs which were captured using goat anti-human IgM to …

Quantitative Analysis Of Glycinergic Neurons Including Ia Inhibitory Interneurons In The Ventral Spinal Cord Using A Bac-Glyt2-Egfp Transgenic Mouse Model, Palak Rajeshkumar Painter

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We are interested in understanding the development of reciprocal inhibition, an important sensory-motor circuit that prevents co-contraction of antagonist muscles during locomotion. This effect is mediated by a subset of glycinergic neurons termed Ia inhibitory interneurons (IaINs). Transgenic mouse models are useful in helping to identify subsets of neurons in developing animals. In this thesis we first wanted to test the BAC-GlyT2-eGFP mice model by measuring GFP expression overlap in neurons with glycine in late-stage embryos (E17.5) and early postnatal animals (P0/P1). Our results suggest more than 98% of glycinergic neurons at these stages also express GFP in GlyT2-EGFP transgenic …

The Construction Of A Plasmid For Detecting The Pathway Of Arginine Metabolism In Human Macrophages: A Real-Time Assessment Of Macrophage Polarity, Benjamin A. Holmes

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Macrophages are "first responders", innate immune system cells which quickly arrive to a site of infection and injury, consuming cell debris and foreign matter and recruiting other immune system cells to the area. While historically they have been thought to react uniformly to all challenges, the discovery of toll-like receptors has shown that macrophages actually work closely with the adaptive immune system in fine-tuning the immune response. Furthermore, it has recently been discovered that macrophages can become polarized to one of two subtypes-M1 or M2.

M1 macrophages are efficient producers of reactive oxygen species, nitrogen intermediates, and inflammatory cytokines. They …

Managing Patient Test Data In Primary Care: Developing And Evaluating A System For Test Tracking To Enhance Processes, Safety, And Understanding Of Performance, Jennifer M. Cloud-Buckner

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Patient testing is vital for primary care and serves as a gateway to specialty healthcare. Patient safety is worsened when testing orders (e.g., laboratory, imaging orders) are not tracked, results are lost, or abnormal results lack patient notification and follow-up. Non-standardized testing management reduces resilience; affects clinical outcomes; and increases errors, costs, workload, and delays.

To address the need for testing management improvements, this research followed four phases in six objectives: (1) In Phase I initial survey, assess perceptions, attitudes, and behaviors of practicing healthcare clinicians and administrators about testing, safety, and technology; (2) In Phase II system design, design …

Influence Of Daily Electrical Stimulation Of Periaqueductal Grey On Vocalization And Depressive-Like Behavior During Separation In Guinea Pigs, Jennifer Dazey

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Maternal separation has been shown to promote the onset of depression. This early life stressor produces a biphasic response marked by an active "protest" phase followed by a passive "despair" phase in humans as well as several other species. In infant guinea pigs, active phase behaviors include increased locomotion and species-typical distress vocalizations, whereas the passive phase is marked by depressive-like behaviors including a crouched stance, eye-closure and extensive piloerection. The mechanism underlying the transition from one phase to the next is still unknown. The purpose of this study was to determine if daily stimulation of the neural pathway initiating …

An Evaluation Of Discharge Policies At A Generic Acute Care Hospital, Elizabeth A. Crawford

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One of the main issues faced within the U.S. healthcare continuum is ineffective care transition. Ineffective transitions from one area of care to the next can lead to a reduction in quality of care, an increased risk of readmission, and an increase in healthcare costs. According to the National Transitions of Care Coalition (NTOCC), as many as 42% of the hospitals surveyed reported that care transitions during coordinated care delivery do not go as planned. One of the primary reasons for ineffective care transition is poor discharge planning. The purpose of this research is to analyze the effect of various …

The Concurrent Validity Of The Shipley-2 And The Wais-Iv, John K. Lodge

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The recently developed Shipley-2 was compared to the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale, 4th edition (WAIS-IV) in order to determine the former's level of concurrent validity as a test of intellectual ability. A convenience sample of 25 clinical subjects were administered both measures at two participating outpatient clinics, and the sum results of this testing were tabulated and then correlated through the use of a statistical software package. Results showed very strong levels of correlation between the five Shipley-2 scores (Vocabulary, Abstraction, Block Patterns, Composite A, and Composite B) and the Full Scale IQ (FSIQ) of the WAIS-IV (r = .549 …

Exploring Infidelity: Developing The Gem Rim (Gemmer's Risk Of Infidelity Measure), Stephanie J. Gemmer

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Divorce rates in America have soared with many divorces in the United States caused by infidelity; it is the number one reason cited for divorce. Due to the severe consequences of infidelity, researchers have attempted to determine its causes. For example, researchers from evolutionary theory, socialization theory, attachment theory, and investment theory have attempted to explain infidelity from a theoretical perspective. Conversely, based on a literature review Blow and Hartnett (2005) provided numerous categorical findings for infidelity including attachment and infidelity, attitudes towards infidelity, types of infidelity, and numerous demographic variables related to infidelity. Given the vast amount of research …

Assessing The Drivers Of Adaptive Radiation In A Complex Of Gall Midges: A Multitrophic Perspective On Ecological Speciation, Jeremy J. Heath

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Natural enemies as selective forces maintaining and shaping morphological, physiological, and behavioral divergence in adaptive radiations have received very little attention. Until recently, the focus has been on primary resource competition as a major driver of trait divergence in adaptive radiations. Here I consider the role of natural enemies specifically in driving trait divergence in a complex of gall midges in the nominal species Asteromyia carbonifera (Diptera: Cecidomyiidae), which appears to be in the throes of an incipient adaptive radiation on its host plant, goldenrod (Solidago). This galler uses a symbiotic fungus (Botryosphaeria dothidae) as a …

Abstraction Driven Application And Data Portability In Cloud Computing, Ajith Harshana Ranabahu

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Cloud computing has changed the way organizations create, manage, and evolve their applications. While many organizations are eager to use the cloud, tempted by substantial cost savings and convenience, the implications of using clouds are still not well understood. One of the major concerns in cloud adoption is the vendor lock-in of applications, caused by the heterogeneity of the numerous cloud service offerings. Vendor locked applications are difficult, if not impossible to port from one cloud system to another, forcing cloud service consumers to use undesired or suboptimal solutions. This dissertation investigates a complete and comprehensive solution to address the …

Evaluation Of Interpolation And Registration Techniques In Magnetic Resonance Image For Orthogonal Plane Super Resolution Reconstruction, Amir Pasha Mahmoudzadeh

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Super resolution reconstruction (SRR) combines several perspectives of an image (typically low resolution) in order to reconstruct a more complete and comprehensive (higher resolution) image. The aim is to use this concept on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) data, for which the standard is to scan in several-plane orientation in a 2D fashion. As a result, clinical MRI, functional MRI (FMRI), diffusion weighted imaging (DWI)/diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and MR angiography (MRA) tend to have high in- plane resolution but low resolution in the slice-select direction. By combining the 2 scans of the orthogonal plane, new 3D images can be reconstructed. …

The Next Landsat Satellite: The Landsat Data Continuity Mission, James R. Irons, John L. Dwyer, Julia A. Barsi

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) and the Department of Interior United States Geological Survey (USGS) are developing the successor mission to Landsat 7 that is currently known as the Landsat Data Continuity Mission (LDCM). NASA is responsible for building and launching the LDCM satellite observatory. USGS is building the ground system and will assume responsibility for satellite operations and for collecting, archiving, and distributing data following launch. The observatory will consist of a spacecraft in low-Earth orbit with a two-sensor payload. One sensor, the Operational Land Imager (OLI), will collect image data for nine shortwave spectral bands over …

Integration Technologies For Silicon Carbide-Based Ceramics For Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems-Lean Direct Injector Fuel Injector Applications, Michael C. Halbig, Mrityunjay Singh, Hiroshi Tsuda

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

Advanced joining approaches are critically needed for the fabrication and integration of silicon carbide-based micro-electromechanical systems lean direct fuel injectors for jet engines. Diffusion bonding of silicon carbide with titanium interlayers offers advantages such as uniform application/surface coverage and no flow of the interlayer or the reaction formed phases during joint processing. The resulting joints were uniform, stable, leak free, and had high strength. Titanium interlayers with 10 and 20 µm thicknesses were obtained from physical vapor deposition (PVD) and pure metallic foils. The effects of the interlayer type and thickness and processing time on the resultant microstructures were investigated. …

Global Burned Area And Biomass Burning Emissions From Small Fires, J. T. Randerson, Y. Chen, G. R. Van Der Werf, B. M. Rogers, D. C. Morton

United States National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Publications

In several biomes, including croplands, wooded savannas, and tropical forests, many small fires occur each year that are well below the detection limit of the current generation of global burned area products derived from moderate resolution surface reflectance imagery. Although these fires often generate thermal anomalies that can be detected by satellites, their contributions to burned area and carbon fluxes have not been systematically quantified across different regions and continents. Here we developed a preliminary method for combining 1-km thermal anomalies (active fires) and 500 m burned area observations from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) to estimate the influence …