Digital Commons Network^™

Serials Solutions Subject Search Report 2011-2012, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Statistics on the total number of Serials Solutions subject searches at the University of Rhode Island Libraries by month for 2011-2012. Shows how many times the A-Z full text electronic journal list (at http://zu4tq4pb5v.search.serialssolutions.com/) was browsed by specific subjects.

Ebsco Historical Price Analysis Report 2012, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

This report lists all periodicals subscribed to in 2012 through EBSCO Subscription Services by the University Libraries, University of Rhode Island. This report analyzes prices over a five-year period. Information provided includes title, frequency, price in each of the last five years, and percent changes in price over five years. The list is sorted by LC Classification to better show the price changes in each discipline/subject area. The associated spreadsheet includes additional information such as ISSN, Library of Congress Classification number, country of origin, publisher name, and title format (print or online). The spreadsheet may be downloaded and sorted by …

A Confidence-Prioritization Approach To Data Processing In Noisy Data Sets And Resulting Estimation Models For Predicting Streamflow Diel Signals In The Pacific Northwest, Nathaniel Lee Gustafson

Theses and Dissertations

Streams in small watersheds are often known to exhibit diel fluctuations, in which streamflow oscillates on a 24-hour cycle. Streamflow diel fluctuations, which we investigate in this study, are an informative indicator of environmental processes. However, in Environmental Data sets, as well as many others, there is a range of noise associated with individual data points. Some points are extracted under relatively clear and defined conditions, while others may include a range of known or unknown confounding factors, which may decrease those points' validity. These points may or may not remain useful for training, depending on how much uncertainty they …

Supporting Stem Education In Secondary Science Contexts, Anila Asghar, Roni Ellington, Eric Rice, Francine Johnson, Glenda M. Prime

Interdisciplinary Journal of Problem-Based Learning

Science education scholars emphasize the significance of an integrative, interdisciplinary STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education that encourages students to learn about the natural world through exploration, inquiry, and problem-solving experiences. This article reports on a professional development program aimed at improving a group of secondary science and mathematics teachers’ competence in using a problem-based approach in the teaching of STEM. Through surveys, qualitative interviews and focus groups, the study investigated the teachers’ understanding and perceptions of problem-based learning (PBL) as an approach to interdisciplinary STEM education as well as their perceptions of the personal and systemic challenges in …

Book Review: Elders On Trial: Age And Ageism In The American Legal System, Olivia M. Wong

Marquette Elder's Advisor

In the first part of the book Howard Eglit discusses ageism and the changing of attitudes toward citizens as they age. The second part explores aging as it relates to the legal system, including issues of particular importance to seniors, increasing litigation involving the elderly, lawyer/elderly client issues, possible discrimination in jury selection, and the issues of competence of elderly judges.

Introduction To Medicare For People With Multiple Sclerosis, Judith Stein

Marquette Elder's Advisor

Stein explains what criteria are necessary for Medicare parts A, B, C, and D coverage, and why eligible recipients with Multiple Sclerosis are often erroneously denied coverage. Recent changes in applicable Medicare regulations are explored, as are some of the differences between Medicare and Medicaid. Various ways attorneys can help their clients through the application maze are discussed.

Mitochondrial Involvement In Neurodegeneration And Aging, Alicia M. Pickrell

Open Access Dissertations

Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) damage and oxidative phosphorylation deficiency have been associated with neurodegenerative disease and aging. I hypothesized that different neuronal populations handle the respiratory chain dysfunctions differently and that different cell types also mediate different responses to mtDNA damage. We used a transgenic mouse model under the tetracycline response system to temporally and spatially control the expression of a mitochondrial-targeted restriction endonuclease, mito-PstI. Using different neuronal drivers to induce the expression of mito-PstI, we were able to elicit mtDNA double strand break damage causing an OXPHOS deficiency in vivo (Chapter 2 and 3). We then were able to follow …

Agenda And Attachments, August 8, 2012

Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

Γ-Synuclein Interacts With Phospholipase Cβ2 To Modulate G Protein Activation, Urszula Golebiewska, Yuanjian Guo, Narindra Khalikaprasad, Cassandra Zurawsky, V. Siddhartha Yerramilli, Suzanne Scarlata

Publications and Research

Phospholipase Cβ2 (PLC β2) is activated by G proteins and generates calcium signals in cells. PLCβ2 is absent in normal breast tissue, but is highly expressed in breast tumors where its expression is correlated with the progression and migration of the tumor. This pattern of expression parallels the expression of the breast cancer specific gene protein 1 which is also known as γ-synuclein. The cellular function of γ-synuclein and the role it plays in proliferation are unknown. Here, we determined whether γ-synuclein can interact with PLCβ2 and affect its activity. Using co-immunprecitation and co-immunofluorescence, we find that in both benign …

Want A Good Reference Letter? Do Something To Deserve It, Linda Walters

UCF Forum

Each August, the entire UCF community anticipates the start of the fall semester. As we all laze through the final days of summer, we reminisce about the highs and lows of previous school years and strategize how we can avoid those same lows this fall.

Schmidtea Mediterranea Planaris As A Novel Animal Model For Investigating The Dynamics Of Nervous System Development In Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder, Jesse Lowe

Theses and Dissertations

Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) is a prevalent developmental disease that is caused by excess in utero exposure to ethanol. The importance of timing and dosage of ethanol has been elucidated by previous investigations conducted with humans, rodents, and other model organisms, but challenges associated with determining functional deficiencies have necessitated the introduction of a novel animal model for investigating the dynamics of FASD. In this thesis, we propose that the freshwater flatworm planarian species, Schmidtea mediterranea, has the capability to fulfill this need. Planaria have the ability to completely regenerate fragments into intact, functional animals, and in these studies, …

Breast Tumour Initiating Cell Fate Is Regulated By Microenvironmental Cues From An Extracellular Matrix, Sharmistha Saha, Pang-Kuo Lo, Xinrui Duan, Hexin Chen, Qian Wang

Faculty Publications

Cancer stem cells, also known as tumour-initiating cells (TICs), are identified as highly tumorigenic population within tumours and hypothesized to be main regulators in tumour growth, metastasis and relapse. Evidence also suggests that a tumour microenvironment plays a critical role in the development and progression of cancer, by constantly modulating cell–matrix interactions. Scientists have tried to characterize and identify the TIC population but the actual combination of extracellular components in deciphering the fate of TICs has not been explored. The basic unanswered question is the phenotypic stability of this TIC population in a tissue extracellular matrix setting. The in vivo …

Volume 49, Number 51: August 08, 2012, University Of North Dakota

University Letter Archive

No abstract provided.

Ebsco Library Of Congress Classification Report 2012, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

This report lists all periodicals subscribed to in 2012 through EBSCO Subscription Services by the University Libraries, University of Rhode Island. Information provided includes title, ISSN, Library of Congress Classification number and name, and account number (for URI, Pell, or CCE). The list is sorted by LC Classification to better show the journals that support each discipline/subject area. Not included here are titles available through online journal packages and reference databases, which now comprise the majority of the Libraries' subscriptions. The journals listed here are those to which the Libraries subscribe to individually, title-by-title, through EBSCO.

Acquisitions Unit Annual Report 2011-2012, Andrée J. Rathemacher

Technical Services Reports and Statistics

Annual Report of the Acquisitions Unit, University Libraries, University of Rhode Island for FY12. Covers personnel, work flow, special projects, serial and monograph acquisitions, and goals for the coming year. Supplemental files include data on library materials expenditures by a number of variables as well as important working documents from the year.

Discovery And Biophysical Characterization Of Allosteric Inhibitors Of Factor Xia (Fxia), Malaika Argade

Theses and Dissertations

Thrombosis is one of the leading causes of mortality and morbidity that is associated with myocardial infarction, stroke and pulmonary embolism. Anti-thrombotic agents which intend to reduce the occurrence and severity of thrombosis usually target the enzymes of the coagulation cascade. FXIa, a 160 kDa homodimer is gaining popularity of late as a potential target for anti-thrombotic agents due to its relative safety. A number of inhibitors which target the active site of FXIa have been reported but to our knowledge there have been no inhibitors which act via an allosteric mechanism. The aim of this project was to screen …

Methylene Blue Modulates Huntingtin Aggregation Intermediates And Is Protective In Huntington's Disease Models, Emily M. Sontag, Gregor P. Lotz, Namita Agrawal, Andrew Tran, Rebecca Aron, Guocheng Yang, Mihaela Necula, Alice Lau, Steven Finkbeiner, Charles G. Glabe, J. Lawrence Marsh, Paul J. Muchowski, Leslie M. Thompson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder with no disease-modifying treatments available. The disease is caused by expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat and manifests with progressive motor abnormalities, psychiatric symptoms, and cognitive decline. Expression of an expanded polyglutamine repeat within the Huntingtin (Htt) protein impacts numerous cellular processes, including protein folding and clearance. A hallmark of the disease is the progressive formation of inclusions that represent the culmination of a complex aggregation process. Methylene blue (MB), has been shown to modulate aggregation of amyloidogenic disease proteins. We investigated whether MB could impact mutant Htt-mediated aggregation and neurotoxicity. MB …

Fluorescene Imaging Of Mouse Sperm / Noorain H., H. Nooraain

Student Works (2010-2019)

The protocol for detecting acrosome in mouse sperm was developed by using two types of fluorescent dyes namely fluorescein conjugated Pisum sativum agglutinin (FITC-PSA) and rhodamine conjugated Lens culinaris agglutinin (TRITC-LCA). The results showed that mean percentages of acrosome intact sperm incubated in vitro were considerably low. After one-hour incubation there were 43.20±2.83%, 31.81±8.44% and 30.90±4.15% for ICR, C57/6J and F1 sperm, respectively. Intact acrosome in ICR sperm was significantly reduced (p<0.05) to 16.95±4.23% after two-hour incubation, however, insignificant reduction (p>0.05) was found for C57BL/6J and F1 sperm, which were 30.03±2.06% and 20.93±3.81%, respectively. The results showed that both dyes FITC-PSA and TRITC-LCA suitably stained the mouse sperm …

Synthesis, Reaction And Structural Studies Of Triorganotin Carboxylates / Thong Pui Yee, Yee Thong Pui

Student Works (2010-2019)

iiiC6H4CH(Br)CH(OCH3)COOH was obtained as the major product. The triorganotin diorganodithiocarbamylacetate were found to be inert towards any brominating agents. The bromination products were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as 1H, 13C NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies. The X-ray structures of four bromination products namely 2,3-dibromo-3-phenylpropionic acid (A6), 2-bromo-3-methoxy-3-(p-methoxyphenyl)propionic acid (A7), bis(4,4-dimethyl-aminopyridinium)-2,3-dibromo-3-(p-chlorophenyl)propionate (A9) and tricyclohexyltin 2,3-dibromo-3-phenylprionate (P4) were also determined.In addition, ten selected triorganotin carboxylates, C4–C10, C14, P4–P6 were investigated for their cytotoxic activities against the human leukemia HL60 cells. In general, the triorganotin carboxylates exhibit comparable cytotoxic activities to that of cisplatin.

Preliminary Assessment Of The Effect Of Plant Protease Inhibitors On The Expression Of Heterologous Genes In Plant Cells / Nassim Khalighi, Nassim Khalighi

Student Works (2010-2019)

Despite the successful development of pant-based expression systems for the production of a wide range of recombinant proteins in recent years, there remain serious limitations in the final yield accumulation of the foreign protein in the plant cells used. Plant protease activity represents a significant barrier to efficient and hence economical recombinant protein production. Inadequate information is available on specific plant proteases and its role in foreign protein degradation. Some strategies have been reported recently to overcome endogenous plant protease effects on foreign protein integrity and activity in plants including the co-expression of recombinant proteases to reduce the endogenous protease …

Cognitive And Metacognitive Strategies In Reading Scientific Texts Among Esl Science Undergraduates / Samsiah Abdul Hamid, Samsiah Abdul Hamid

Student Works (2010-2019)

The present study employed both quantitative and qualitative data collection techniques to investigate the pattern of strategy use of high and low English proficiency science learners and the impact of metacognition, English proficiency and scientific prior knowledge on strategy use and reading comprehension of two scientific texts. Research instruments used include Metacognitive Awareness inventory (Schraw and Dennison, 1994), an 80-item Scientific Text Academic Reading Strategy (STARS) inventory, Scientific Prior Knowledge inventory, two scientific texts of different syntactic difficulty and topic familiarity, and three different measures of reading comprehension of scientific texts. Think-aloud methods and retrospective interviews were utilized to collect …

Evaluating The Consistency Of Gene Sets Used In The Analysis Of Bacterial Gene Expression Data, Nathan L. Tintle, Alexandra Sitarik, Benjamin Boerema, Kylie Young, Aaron Best, Matthew Dejongh

Faculty Work Comprehensive List

Background

Statistical analyses of whole genome expression data require functional information about genes in order to yield meaningful biological conclusions. The Gene Ontology (GO) and Kyoto Encyclopedia of Genes and Genomes (KEGG) are common sources of functionally grouped gene sets. For bacteria, the SEED and MicrobesOnline provide alternative, complementary sources of gene sets. To date, no comprehensive evaluation of the data obtained from these resources has been performed.

Results

We define a series of gene set consistency metrics directly related to the most common classes of statistical analyses for gene expression data, and then perform a comprehensive analysis of 3581 …

Characterizing The Role Of Hspb2 In Cardiac Metabolism And Muscle Structure Using Yeast And Mammalian Systems, Jonathan Paul Neubert

Theses and Dissertations

HspB2 is a small heat shock protein encoded on human chromosome 11. Less than 1000 base pairs away from HSPB2 and situated in a head-to-head orientation lies the gene encoding another small heat shock protein, CRYAB. Because they are uncommonly close to one another they share regulatory elements. In addition, they share protein homology as sHSPs, suggesting that they perhaps perform aimilar functions. SHSPs such as HspB2 and CryAB are traditionally thought to provide protective effects to cells in response to a variety of stress inducers. In response to stress they form complexes around misfolded proteins or proteins in danger …

Gas Phase Characterization Of Supramolecules Using Cross-Sectional Areas By Fticr And Sustained Off-Resonance Irradiation Collision Induced Dissociation Techniques In A Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer, Fan Yang

Theses and Dissertations

In my dissertation, I use a Fourier Transform Ion Cyclotron Resonance Mass Spectrometer (FTICR-MS) to investigate supramolecules. Cross-sectional areas by Fourier transform ICR (CRAFTI), a novel technique for measurements of collision cross sections by FTICR, is demonstrated for the first time. The CRAFTI method measures the total "dephasing cross section" for removal of the ions from the coherent packet in the FTICR cell, including contributions not only from momentum transfer but also from reactive collisions including those leading to collisional dissociation. Experimental CRAFTI collision cross sections correlate linearly with theoretically computed results and with results obtained using ion mobility measurements. …

Α2-Adrenoceptor And 5-Ht3 Serotonin Receptor Ligands As Potential Analgesic Adjuvants, Genevieve Alley

Theses and Dissertations

There continues to be a need for more effective analgesics. The α2-adrenoceptor (AR) agonist clonidine is an analgesic whose use is severely limited by undesirable side effects. meta-Chlorophenylguanidine (MD-354), an agent developed in our laboratory, selectively potentiates the antinociceptive effects of clonidine in a biphasic manner. Mechanistic studies suggest that both 5-HT3 receptor and α2-AR mechanisms are involved. To further evaluate mechanisms underlying the analgesia-potentiating effect of clonidine by MD-354, pharmacological studies using more established 5-HT3 receptor agonists: meta-chlorophenylbiguanide (mCPBG) and centrally-acting SR57227A, and non-selective α2-adrenoceptor ligand TDIQ, administered alone and in combination with clonidine, were conducted in mouse antinociceptive …

Interactions Of An Additive Manufacturing Program With Society, Frank W. Liou, Ming-Chuan Leu, Robert G. Landers

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has shown considerable promise for the future but also proposes some challenges. Many AM barriers tend to be non-technical and instead are human-centric issues such as lack of education of practitioners in AM capabilities, cultural differences, vested interests, and potentially lack of imagination. It is highly desirable for all research and educational institutions to help address these issues. This paper summarizes the additive manufacturing research and education program at the Missouri University of Science and Technology (Missouri S&T) and its interactions with various constituents, including K-12 students, undergraduate and graduate students, distance students, and industry.

Predicting Decadal Trends And Transient Responses Of Radiocarbon Storage And Fluxes In A Temperate Forest Soil, C. A. Sierra, S. E. Trumbore, E. A. Davidson, Serita D. Frey, K. E. Savage, F. M. Hopkins

Faculty Publications

Representing the response of soil carbon dynamics to global environmental change requires the incorporation of multiple tools in the development of predictive models. An important tool to construct and test models is the incorporation of bomb radiocarbon in soil organic matter during the past decades. In this manuscript, we combined radiocarbon data and a previously developed empirical model to explore decade-scale soil carbon dynamics in a temperate forest ecosystem at the Harvard Forest, Massachusetts, USA. We evaluated the contribution of different soil C fractions to both total soil CO2 efflux and microbially respired C. We tested the performance of the …

Investigating Synergy Between Ribonucleotide Reductase Inhibitors And Cmv Antivirals, Sukhada Bhave

Theses and Dissertations

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infections remain a significant problem in congenitally infected infants and immunocompromised individuals. Modest antiviral activities of currently approved drugs coupled with dose-limiting toxicities restrict effectiveness and promote development of resistance. The potential for ribonucleotide reductase (RR) inhibitors hydroxyurea (HU), Didox, and Trimidox to synergize, through reduction of nucleotide pools, with the deoxynucleotide analog Ganciclovir (GCV) was examined. A yield reduction assay that utilizes luciferase expressed by a recombinant virus as a surrogate measure of viral infectious units was developed and used to determine effective dose ranges for each drug. RR inhibitors exhibited intrinsic anti-CMV activities on their own …

Mass Spectroscopic Identification And Quantification Of Protein Carbonyls, Zafer Ugur

Theses and Dissertations

It is well established that free radical mediated oxidative stress plays a critical role in aging and age-related diseases. Among the post-translational protein modifications, carbonylation has attracted a great deal of attention due to its irreversible and irreparable nature. Despite the fact that protein carbonylation is associated with a series of physiological and pathological processes, there are still issues to be clarified such as why certain proteins are more vulnerable to modification, what are the locations of the protein modifications, and how does the nature of the oxidant affect the preferred site of modification. In this study, we will seek …

Translocation Mortality And Local, Regional, And Continental Diet Of The Northern River Otter (Lontra Canadensis), Casey Craig Day

Theses and Dissertations

The northern river otter (Lontra canadensis) is a semi-aquatic carnivore whose range extends throughout most of the United States and Canada. The northern river otter experienced a severe range contraction post-European settlement, but due to widespread management has in recent decades begun to recover much of its former range and habitat. We translocated 27 river otters from Utah and Idaho to the Provo River, Utah from November 2009 through January 2012 in a reintroduction effort to restore the northern river otter to its native range. Of these 27 otters, 6 died as a result of effects related to the translocation. …