Digital Commons Network^™

Investigation On A Gas-Solid Fluidized Bed Hydrodynamics Using A Non-Intrusive Technology To Visualize Flow Field, Md Rashedul Hasan Sarker

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The biggest challenge for 21st century is to fulfill global energy demand and at the same time reduce detrimental impact on environment. Gasification technology can meet the requirement and also reduce emission without compromising its performance. In coal gasification, instead of burning coal completely a partial combustion takes place with presence of steam and limited amount of oxygen. In this controlled environment a chemical reaction takes place and produces a mixture of clean synthetic gas. Gas-solid fluidized bed is one type of gasification technology. During gasification mixing behavior of solid (coal) and gas and their flow pattern very complicated to …

Propagation Of Interval And Probabilistic Uncertainty In Cyberinfrastructure-Related Data Processing And Data Fusion, Christian Servin

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Data uncertainty affects the results of data processing. So, it is necessary to find out how the data uncertainty propagates into the uncertainty of the results of data processing.

This problem is especially important when cyberinfrastructure enables us to process large amounts of heterogeneous data.

In the ideal world, we should have an accurate description of data

uncertainty, and well-justified efficient algorithms to propagate this uncertainty. In practice, we are often not yet in this ideal situation:

the description of uncertainty is often only approximate, and the algorithms for uncertainty propagation are often not well-justified and not very computationally efficient. …

Assessment Of Carbon Nanoparticle Exposure On Murine Macrophage Function, Raquel M. Suro

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

There is growing concern about the potential cytotoxicity of nanoparticles. Exposure to respirable ultrafine particles (2.5uM) can adversely affect human health and have been implicated with episodes of increased respiratory diseases such as asthma and allergies. Nanoparticles are of particular interest because of their ability to penetrate into the lung and potentially elicit health effects triggering immune responses. Nanoparticles are structures and devises with length scales in the 1 to 100-nanometer range. Black carbon (BC) nanoparticles have been observed to be products of combustion, especially flame combustion and multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) have been shown to be found in both …

A Study Of International Wastewater Challenges And Policy In The Tijuana River Watershed, Gloria Ann Villaverde

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Since the 1930s, untreated and undertreated sewage from Tijuana, Baja California, México has been released into the Tijuana River Watershed causing contamination of the water supply, crops, the Tijuana Estuary and California beaches. Passage of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) has exacerbated the problem by causing population and industrial growth explosions for which there have been insufficient services to meet the needs of the people. The waters of the Tijuana River flow (from México) north over the International Border, into the Tijuana Estuary, discharge out to the Pacific Ocean and often flow north, up the California Coast; therefore, …

Biological Effects Of Copper On Prosopis Pubescens (Screw Bean Mesquite), Marian Nicte Zappala

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Phytoremediation is an emerging technology for cleaning industrial and urban contamination (Peuke and Rennenberg, 2005). Many factors including germination rate, biomass changes, biochemical changes, and nutrient changes must be determined in order to utilize a plant for phytoremediation. Our results showed that Prosopis pubescens (Screw bean mesquite) is a hyperaccumulator of copper from copper sulfate and a feasible option to remediate fields with up to 200 ppm of copper sulfate.

Screw bean mesquite seeds are viable even after 30 years of storage. Both copper sulfate and copper nitrate decreased the germination rate of screw bean mesquite seeds. In soil grown …

Implementation Of Evolutionary Algorithms On The Power Industry And Aviation Security, Anuar Jesus Aguirre

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

The main objective of the power electric power grid is to supply reliable electricity to all the customers. Customers could be industrial, commercial, household, transportation and others. The power grid is a complex and large, and it formed by the conjunction of the generation, transmission and distribution system. The present research is focused in power distribution system. A new component replacement analysis method to solve component replacement problems for complex electricity distribution systems using Genetic Algorithms is developed. In the present model a Taylor series expansion is used to approximate the associated opportunity cost for each component in the system. …

Decorin Expression, Straw-Like Structure, And Differentiation Of Human Costal Cartilage, Michael W. Stacey, Janna Grubb, Anthony Asmar, Julie Pryor, Hani Elsayed-Ali, Ali Beskok, Diganta Dutta, Annie Fecteau, Alice Werner, Dennis A. Darby, Robert Kelly

Bioelectrics Publications

Costal cartilage is much understudied compared with the load-bearing cartilages. Abnormally grown costal cartilages are associated with the inherited chest wall deformities pectus excavatum and pectus carinatum resulting in sunken and pigeon chests, respectively. A lack of understanding of the ultrastructural and molecular biology of costal cartilage is a major confounder in predicting causes and outcomes of these disorders. This study analyzed the structure of marginal human costal cartilage (ribs 6-10) through scanning electron and atomic force microscopes and identified the presence of straw-like structures running longitudinally. We also demonstrated that chondrocytes tend to occur singly or as doublets and …

Facebook, Twitter, And The Uncertain Future Of Present Sense Impressions, Jeffrey Bellin

Faculty Publications

The intricate legal framework governing the admission of out-of-court statements in American trials is premised on increasingly outdated communication norms. Nowhere is this more apparent than with the hearsay exception for “present sense impressions.” Changing communication practices typified by interactions on social media websites like Facebook and Twitter herald the arrival of a previously uncontemplated—and uniquely unreliable—breed of present sense impressions. This Article contends that the indiscriminate admission of these electronic present sense impressions (e-PSIs) is both normatively undesirable and inconsistent with the traditional rationale for the present sense impression exception. It proposes a reform to the exception that would …

Progress Towards Heterocycles As Inhibitors Of Plasminogen Activator Inhibitor-1, Gregory Alan Abernathy

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

The Synthesis Of Amphiphilic Diblock Copolymers: An Investigation Into The Formation Of Micelles As A Function Of Hydrophobic Block Length, Kevin S. Kawchak

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Acrylate-based amphiphilic diblock copolymers show great potential for anti-cancer drug transport due to their ability to aggregate into protective core-shell micelles. Using RAFT polymerization, copolymers containing poly(acrylic acid) and poly(methyl acrylate) blocks were made with high monomer conversion and narrow distributions of molecular weight for eventual use in medicinal applications. Based on previous findings of copolymers with low weight hydrophobic blocks failing to micellize, it was hypothesized that increasing the poly(methyl acrylate) block length would allow for micelle formation. 1H-NMR experiments conducted in the presence of an aqueous solution yielded diminished and broadened resonances of the lengthened hydrophobic block, which …

Synthesis And Purification Of Potential Antimicrobial Peptides, Christopher Ryan Snyder

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Do You Have A Conscience?, Jeremy Bendik-Keymer

Faculty Scholarship

“Do you have a conscience?” There was a time when this would have been a question that was immediately intelligible to people, like asking whether a person holding a ball can throw it. For much of the history of philosophy—that ancient Greek invention—the name for what allows one to stay in touch with moral principles in the midst of particular decisions was “conscience” (Langston 2001). To ask whether I have a conscience was tantamount to asking whether I can keep my decisions moral, whether I was capable of being a mature human being. Since morality is the domain of duties …

Using Community Based Participatory Research To Study The Relationship Between Sources And Types Of Funding And Mental Health Outcomes For Children Served By The Child Welfare System In Ohio, Susan Vivian Mangold, Catherine Cerulli, Gregory Kapcar, Crystal Ward Allen, Kim Kaukeinen, Hua He

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Preventing Sex-Offender Recidivism Through Therapeutic Jurisprudence Approaches And Specialized Community Integration, Heather Cucolo, Michael L. Perlin

Articles & Chapters

The public’s panic about the fear of recidivism if adjudicated sex offenders are ever to be released to the community has not subsided, despite the growing amount of information and statistically-reliable data signifying a generally low risk of re-offense. The established case law upholding sex offender civil commitment and containment statutes has rejected challenges of unconstitutionality, and continues to be dominated by punitive undertones. We have come to learn that the tools used to assess offenders for risk and civil commitment are often inaccurate and that meaningful treatment for this population is often unavailable and ineffective. Yet, society continues to …

Lifelines Winter 2012, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Winter 2012 issue of Lifelines contains articles on Southern's ancient DNA project, the Pre-dental club, and a pictorial directory of the 2012 biology and allied health graduates.

Chocorua Lake, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Naticook Lake, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

North River Lake, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

Squam Lakes, Cooperative Extension

UNH Cooperative Extension

No abstract provided.

‘If It Be Love Indeed, Tell Me How Much’: Elizabeth Taylor, Richard Burton And White Pleasure After Empire, Gloria Shin

Reconstruction: Studies in Contemporary Culture

In this paper, I use the iconicity of 1960s Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton to theorize the visualization and formation of an ecstatic postcolonial whiteness.

To begin with, I adapt Edward Said’s formulation of orientalism to discuss Elizabeth Taylor’s exotic turn and emergence as a white oriental that buttresses the production of her film Cleopatra (1963). Through archival research, I map out Taylor’s orientalism, in this case the malleability of her image to exoticization evidenced by her enthusiastic conversion to Judaism in 1959, her influence as “Cleopatra” to set style trends in women’s makeup, hair and fashion in the 1960s, …

Neuroinflammation In The Aging Down Syndrome Brain; Lessons From Alzheimer's Disease, Donna M. Wilcock

Physiology Faculty Publications

Down syndrome (DS) is the most genetic cause of mental retardation and is caused by the triplication of chromosome 21. In addition to the disabilities caused early in life, DS is also noted as causing Alzheimer's-disease-like pathological changes in the brain, leading to 50-70% of DS patients showing dementia by 60-70 years of age. Inflammation is a complex process that has a key role to play in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. There is relatively little understood about inflammation in the DS brain and how the genetics of DS may alter this inflammatory response and change the course of disease …

A Changing Perspective On The Role Of Neuroinflammation In Alzheimer's Disease, Donna M. Wilcock

Physiology Faculty Publications

Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex, neurodegenerative disorder characterized by the presence of amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles in the brain. Glial cells, particularly microglial cells, react to the presence of the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles producing an inflammatory response. While once considered immunologically privileged due to the blood-brain barrier, it is now understood that the glial cells of the brain are capable of complex inflammatory responses. This paper will discuss the published literature regarding the diverse roles of neuroinflammation in the modulation of AD pathologies. These data will then be related to the well-characterized macrophage phenotypes. The conclusion …

Nutrition, Inflammation, And Infectious Disease, Helieh S. Oz, Sung-Ling Yeh

Physiology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Pegylated Arginine Deiminase Downregulates Colitis In Murine Models, Helieh S. Oz, Jian Zhong, Willem J. S. De Villiers

Physiology Faculty Publications

Arginine deiminase (ADI), an arginine-metabolizing enzyme involved in cell signaling, is dysregulated in multiple inflammatory diseases and cancers. We hypothesized that pegylated ADI (ADI-PEG) provide protection against colitis.

METHODS: Dextran sodium sulfate colitis was induced in IL-10-deficient and BALB/c (WT) mice. ADI-PEG was administered i.p., and inflammatory mediators and pathology were evaluated.

RESULTS: Acute colitis in mice was manifested by increases in inflammatory biomarkers, such as serum amyloid A (SAA, P < 0.001), IL-12 p40, and disease index (3-Fold). In contrast, ADI-PEG significantly decreased clinical disease index, SAA levels, and inflammatory cytokines in blood as well as in colonic explants. Animals developed moderate (2.2 ± 0.3 WT) to severe (3.6 ± 0.5 IL-10 deficient) colonic pathology; and ADI-PEG treatment significantly improved the severity of colitis (P < 0.05). Marked infiltration of CD68+ macrophages and iNOS expression were detected in colonic submucosa in colitic animals but not detected in ADI-PEG-treated animals.

CONCLUSION: ADI-PEG attenuated inflammatory responses by suppression of macrophage infiltration and iNOS expression in colitic animals. ADI-PEG can serve as a potential therapeutic value in IBD.

Neoliberal Land Conservation And Social Justice, Jessica Owley

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Who Should Protect The Forest: Conservation Easements In The Forest Legacy Program, Jessica Owley, Stephen J. Tulowiecki

Journal Articles

No abstract provided.

Birth Timing For Mountain Lions (Puma Concolor); Testing The Prey Availability Hypothesis, Brian D. Jansen

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

We investigated potential advantages in birth timing for mountain lion (Puma concolor) cubs. We examined cub body mass, survival, and age of natal dispersal in relation to specific timing of birth. We also investigated the role of maternal age relative to timing of births. We captured mountain lion cubs while in the natal den to determine birth date, which allowed for precise estimates of the population birth pulse and age of natal dispersal. A birth pulse occurred during June–August. Body mass of cubs was related to litter size and timing of birth; heaviest cubs occurred in litters of 2, and …

Evaluation Of Carbon Fluxes And Trends (2000e2008) In The Greater Platte River Basin: A Sustainability Study For Potential Biofuel Feedstock Development, Yingxin Gu, Bruce K. Wylie, Li Zhang, Tagir G. Gilmanov

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

This study evaluates the carbon fluxes and trends and examines the environmental sustainability (e.g., carbon budget, source or sink) of the potential biofuel feedstock sites identified in the Greater Platte River Basin (GPRB). A 9-year (2000e2008) time series of net ecosystem production (NEP), a measure of net carbon absorption or emission by ecosystems, was used to assess the historical trends and budgets of carbon flux for grasslands in the GPRB. The spatially averaged annual NEP (ANEP) for grassland areas that are possibly suitable for biofuel expansion (productive grasslands) was 71e169 g C m2 year1 during 2000e2008, indicating a carbon sink …

Net Ecosystem Production (Nep) Of The Great Plains, United States, Daniel Howard, Tagir Gilmanov, Yingxin Gu, Bruce Wylie, Li Zhang

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Gross primary production (GPP) and ecosystem respiration (Re) are the fundamental environmental characteristics that promote carbon exchanges with the atmosphere (Chapin and others, 2009), although other exchanges of carbon, such as direct oxidation (Lovett and others, 2006), can modify net ecosystem production (NEP). The accumulation of carbon in terrestrial ecosystems results in systems in which soil organic matter (SOM) carbon often exceeds biomass carbon (Post and Kwon, 2000). This SOM pool exists at a steady state between GPP and Re in ecosystems unless drivers change or the ecosystem endures environmental perturbations (for example, climatic). As indicated by Wilhelm and others …

Priority Effects Among Young-Of-The-Year Fish: Reduced Growth Of Bluegill Sunfish (Lepomis Macrochirus) Caused By Yellow Perch (Perca Flavescens)?, Mark A. Kaemingk, Jeffrey C. Jolley, David W. Willis, Steven R. Chipps

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

1. When available, Daphnia spp. are often preferred by age-0 yellow perch and bluegill sunfish because of energetic profitability. We hypothesised that predation by age-0 yellow perch could lead to a midsummer decline (MSD) of Daphnia spp. and that priority effects may favour yellow perch because they hatch before bluegill, allowing them to capitalise on Daphnia spp. prior to bluegill emergence. 2. Data were collected from 2004 to 2010 in Pelican Lake, Nebraska, U.S.A. The lake experienced a prolonged MSD in all but 1 year (2005), generally occurring within the first 2 weeks of June except in 2008 and 2010 …