Digital Commons Network^™

Becoming Isis: Myth, Magic, Medicine, And Reproduction In Ancient Egypt, Chrystal Elaine Goudsouzian

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

In ancient Egypt, sexuality, fertility, and the conception of children was of central importance not just to personal identity, but also to family and social structure. Because of the significance of birth in both the physical world and in the spiritual realm, references to reproduction, including fertility, conception, pregnancy, and childbirth, can be found in a wide variety of textual sources. Specifically, mythic events and scenarios, including those in magical spells, medico-magical spells, and funerary texts, reflected Egyptian reproductive conceptions and practices. Further, the Egyptians employed and called on these mythic episodes and archetypes to create divinely charged myth-mirroring space, …

P-N Junction Oxide Nanoparticle As A Novel Photocatalyst For Solar Applications, Bedanga B T Sapkota

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Due to the spectral limitation of popular photocatalysts (PC) TiO2 and ZnO, there is quest for modification of the existing PC to enhance their photocatalytic performance. It has been demonstrated that the coupled nanostructured semiconductors in the form of nanocomposites (NC) enhance the performance by the mutual charge transfer of carriers between each semiconductor components with compatible chemical and electrical properties. ZnO (Bg: 3.37 eV) n-type semiconductor, is most important PC because of its high photosensitivity and stability. CuO (Bg: 1.85 eV), a p-type semiconductor, can be used in conjunction with ZnO to further improve its photocatalytic activity (PCA). Herein, …

Design And Validation Of A Cyclic Strain Bioreactor To Condition Spatially-Selective Scaffolds In Dual Strain Regimes, John Matthew Goodhart

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Goodhart, John Matthew. M.S. The University of Memphis. August 2012. Design and Validation of a Cyclic Strain Bioreactor to Condition Spatially-Selective Scaffolds in Dual Strain Regimes. Major Professor: Dr. Joel Bumgardner. The objective of this study was to design and validate a unique bioreactor design for applying spatially-selective, linear, cyclic strain to degradable polymeric fabric scaffolds. Image analysis of polyethylene terephthalate (PET) scaffolds subjected to 3% mechanical stretch showed that the stretched and unstretched portions of the scaffolds experienced 2.97±0.13% and 0.02±0.18% strain respectively. NIH-3T3 fibroblast cells were cultured on PET scaffolds and half of each scaffold was stretched 5% …

Efficacy Of Three Biodegradable Polymer Coatings Loaded With Tobramycin For Bone Screws, Zane Mckinley Hartsell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Biodegradable polymers have a potential for use in medical applications due to their tailorable mechanical properties and their biocompatibility.Polymers have been used in applications ranging from sutures to dialysis filters and even for intraocular lenses.The purpose of this research was to evaluate the potential use of the following biodegradable polymers: chitosan, poly l-lactic acid, and polyurethane, for potential use as a local antibiotic carrier through their use as coatings for orthopaedic fixation screws.Testing of the coatings included mechanical testing of the adhesion strength as well as biological testing using zone of inhibition, activity, and elution testing.The results of this study …

Conditioning Channel Catfish Fingerlings Ictalurus Punctatus To Acute Low-Water Stress And Comparison Of Metomidate And Ms-222 In Modulating The Short-Term Stress Response, Miriah Shiloh Mertell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

The efficacy of the anesthetics Metomidate and MS-222 to modulate the cortisol response of channel catfish during a 10 min confinement stress was compared, in preparation for evaluating whether or not previous conditioning increases resistance to Edwardsiella ictaluri. Fingerlings anesthetized in Metomidate maintained baseline levels of cortisol concentrations throughout the study (P< 0.05), whereas levels increased correspondingly in fish anesthetized in MS-222and controls. Metomidateis useful for long periods of anesthetization, but MS-222 suppressed cortisolsecretion for only the first 5 min of sedation. During the conditioning study, the cortisol response among disturbed fingerlings decreased over time, indicating conditioning occurred. However, cortisolconcentrations of conditioned fingerlings increasedwhen subjected to a disease challenge, although their responsewas significantly lower compared to unconditioned controls.This indicates a possibleadvantage in conditioningfish, although differential susceptibility to a disease challenge has not yetbeen demonstrated.

Early Human Vocalization Development: A Collection Of Studies Utilizing Automated Analysis Of Naturalistic Recordings And Neural Network Modeling, Anne Sanda Warlaumont

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Understanding early human vocalization development is a key part of understanding the origins of human communication. What are the characteristics of early human vocalizations and how do they change over time? What mechanisms underlie these changes? This dissertation is a collection of three papers that take a computational approach to addressing these questions, using neural network simulation and automated analysis of naturalistic data.The first paper uses a self-organizing neural network to automatically derive holistic acoustic features characteristic of prelinguistic vocalizations. A supervised neural network is used to classify vocalizations into human-judged categories and to predict the age of the child …

Genetic Structure And Mating System Of Wild Cowpea Populations In West Africa, Eric B. Kouam, Remy S. Pasquet, Pascal Campagne, Jean Baptiste Tignegre, Kevin Thoen, Remi Gaudin, Jeremy T. Ouedraogo, Abdulai B. Salifu, Geoffrey M. Muluvi, Paul Gepts

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

Background: Cowpea is a highly inbred crop. It is part of a crop-weed complex, whose origin and dynamics is unknown, which is distributed across the African continent. This study examined outcrossing rates and genetic structures in 35 wild cowpea (Vigna unguiculata ssp. unguiculata var. spontanea) populations from West Africa, using 21 isozyme loci, 9 of them showing polymorphism.Results: Outcrossing rates ranged from 1% to 9.5% (mean 3.4%), which classifies the wild cowpea breeding system as primarily selfing, though rare outcrossing events were detected in each population studied. Furthermore, the analyses of both the genetic structure of populations and the relationships …

Materials And Methods For Treating Oncological Disorders, William S. Dalton, Lori Hazlehurst, Qing Chen

USF Patents

The subject invention pertains to materials and methods for treating oncological disorders. The subject invention also pertains to materials and methods for preventing or reducing the development by cancer cells of resistance to an anticancer therapy, such as chemotherapy, radiotherapy and/or immunotherapy. In one embodiment, a patient is treated with an agent that inhibits cholesterol synthesis or that prevents or reduces the increase in cholesterol synthesis observed in therapy-resistant cancer cells. In another embodiment, a patient is treated with an agent that increases the expression, activity, or amount of a Bim protein in a cell. In another embodiment, a patient …

Life History Switch Point Plasticy In Response To Pond Drying Alyers Metamorph Allometry And Jumping Performance, Julie Charbonnier

Theses and Dissertations

Animals with complex life cycles can cope with environmental uncertainty by altering life history switch points through developmental plasticity. Pond drying is an important factor which may alter life history switch points in aquatic organisms. Many amphibians can plastically respond to changes in pond drying by emerging earlier, but few studies have examined the post-metamorphic consequences for performance. To investigate the potential carry-over effects of plasticity to pond drying, we studied the túngara frog, Physalaemus pustulosus, a tropical anuran that breeds in highly ephemeral habitats. We conducted a field study with three different water depth treatments in 60 L mesocosms …

July 24, 2012, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

Specimen, Mary Richardson

Theses

Ideas of human interaction and levels of physical construction touched upon in geometry and physics have saturated my practice for many years. Having come from a small town in Virginia and moving to a big city like Chicago, I was confronted with massive amounts of people, ideas, cultures, and stimuli of which I had never before conceived. I realized that how we interact as people is a similar dynamic found in molecular interaction. This same interaction takes place in celestial formation, plant growth, decomposition, and even emotion. As I came to terms with my own presence in the world, my …

User Assisted Tree Reconstruction From Point Clouds, William P. Leavenworth Ii

Department of Computer Graphics Technology Degree Theses

LIDAR is a useful tool for quickly digitalizing real world objects, but it usually takes some effort to produce a recognizable object from the raw input. When the object is a tree, the challenge is to create a three‐dimensional model that represents its general shape, while avoiding the influence of undersampling and noise. In the method developed for this research, the user creates a sketch overlaying a display of the raw input data. Each node in the sketch creates an estimated slice of the tree skeleton at that point, and the slices are connected according to the connectivity of the …

Take Pride In America Phase Iii: Quarterly Progress Report, Period Covering April 25, 2012-July 24, 2012, Margaret N. Rees

Anti-littering Programs

• The GIS database continued to be populated with data.
• Hector’s Helpers added an additional youth group.
• The new website launched and social media efforts began.
• The pilot testing of the litter monitoring program continued.

The University of Nevada Las Vegas Public Lands Institute (PLI) designed the Take Pride in America (TPIA) Phase III work plan based on the strategic plan developed by the Southern Nevada Agency Partnership (SNAP) anti-litter and desert dumping team during Phase II of the program.

Secreted Semaphorin 5a Suppressed Pancreatic Tumour Burden But Increased Metastasis And Endothelial Cell Proliferation., A Sadanandam, S S. Sidhu, S Wullschleger, S Singh, M L. Varney, C-S Yang, A E. Ashour, Surinder K. Batra, Rakesh Singh

Journal Articles: Biochemistry & Molecular Biology

BACKGROUND: Our earlier reports demonstrated that membrane-bound semaphorin 5A (SEMA5A) is expressed in aggressive pancreatic cancer cells and tumours, and promotes tumour growth and metastasis. In this study, we examine whether (1) pancreatic cancer cells secrete SEMA5A and (2) that secreted SEMA5A modulates certain phenotypes associated with tumour progression, angiogenesis and metastasis through various other molecular factors and signalling proteins.

METHODS AND RESULTS: In this study, we show that human pancreatic cancer cell lines secrete the extracellular domain (ECD) of SEMA5A (SEMA5A-ECD) and overexpression of mouse Sema5A-ECD in Panc1 cells (not expressing SEMA5A; Panc1-Sema5A-ECD; control cells - Panc1-control) significantly increases …

Technology In The Classroom: A Deweyan Perspective, Heather E. Davis

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

Approximately one hundred years ago, John Dewey responded to societal changes brought about by the Industrial Revolution by writing a philosophy of education that encouraged experiential learning. Like the Industrial Revolution, the Information Revolution has created similar need for an adjusted philosophy of education. This article explores the educational and pedagogical issues created by the Information Revolution through a Deweyan lens.

Plant Lectin Can Target Receptors Containing Sialic Acid, Exemplified By Podoplanin, To Inhibit Transformed Cell Growth And Migration, Jhon Ochoa-Alvarez, Harini Krishnan, Yongquan Shen, Nimish Acharya, Min Han, Dean Mcnulty, Hitoki Hasegawa

Rowan-Virtua School of Osteopathic Medicine Departmental Research

Cancer is a leading cause of death of men and women worldwide. Tumor cell motility contributes to metastatic invasion that causes the vast majority of cancer deaths. Extracellular receptors modified by α2,3-sialic acids that promote this motility can serve as ideal chemotherapeutic targets. For example, the extracellular domain of the mucin receptor podoplanin (PDPN) is highly O-glycosylated with α2,3-sialic acid linked to galactose. PDPN is activated by endogenous ligands to induce tumor cell motility and metastasis. Dietary lectins that target proteins containing α2,3-sialic acid inhibit tumor cell growth. However, anti-cancer lectins that have been examined thus far target receptors …

Effects Of Precipitation Increase On Soil Respiration: A Three-Year Field Experiment In Subtropical Forests In China, Qi Deng, Dafeng Hui, Deqiang Zhang, Guoyi Zhou, Juxiu Liu, Shizhong Liu, Guowei Chu, Jiong Li

Biology Faculty Research

Background

The aim of this study was to determine response patterns and mechanisms of soil respiration to precipitation increases in subtropical regions.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Field plots in three typical forests [i.e. pine forest (PF), broadleaf forest (BF), and pine and broadleaf mixed forest (MF)] in subtropical China were exposed under either Double Precipitation (DP) treatment or Ambient Precipitation (AP). Soil respiration, soil temperature, soil moisture, soil microbial biomass and fine root biomass were measured over three years. We tested whether precipitation treatments influenced the relationship of soil respiration rate (R) with soil temperature (T) and soil …

Oxidative Status And Life History Trade-Offs In The Cooperatively Breeding Florida Scrub-Jay, Rebecca Suzanne Heiss

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Oxidative damage has been linked to several degenerative diseases and, as such, the oxidative status of an organism has been widely used as a proxy for health state. Organisms able to resist attack by reactive oxygen species, or those with high levels of antioxidants, are typically assumed to be in better condition (i.e., better able to withstand oxidative damage to biomolecules). Little work, however, has focused on whether the oxidative status of an organism (particularly oxidative damage in free-living species) influences life history decisions. My research examined the interplay between oxidative status and life history characteristics in a free-living bird, …

After The Burning: Excerpts And Stories, Pamala Rachel Ewing

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This collection features short stories and two novel excerpts all dealing with flawed characters struggling to build and maintain meaningful connections with the people around them. Some of these characters fail while others succeed, although this success often takes a different form than the character anticipated. The stories take place in Mississippi and Tennessee and are infused with the troubled relationship with the past that so often marks literature set in the American south. While the individual pieces deal with a wide variety of situations and circumstances, the collection is united by a pervasive theme of loneliness, exploring the danger …

The Anti-Tumorigenic Mushroom Agaricus Blazei Murill Enhances Il-1Β Production And Activates The Nlrp3 Inflammasome In Human Macrophages, Tsung-Teng Huang, David M. Ojcius, John Ding-E. Young, Yi-Hui Wu, Yun-Fei Ko, Tsui-Yin Wong, Cheng-Yeu Wu, Chia-Chen Lu, Hsin-Chih Lai

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

Agaricus blazei Murill (AbM) has been reported to possess immune activity against tumors and infections through stimulation of mononuclear phagocytes. Recently, AbM extract was shown to induce the production of the pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1β (IL-1β), in human monocytes. IL-1β is a key pro-inflammatory cytokine produced by activated macrophages and monocytes and its secretion is strictly controlled by the inflammasome. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effect of AbM water extracts on the regulation of IL-1β production and activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in human THP-1 macrophages. The NLRP3 inflammasome consists of an NLRP3 receptor, an adaptor protein …

Role Of Fyn And Lyn In Igg-Mediate Immune Responses, Yves Falanga

Theses and Dissertations

Anaphylaxis is a rapid, life-threatening hypersensitivity reaction. Until recently, it was mainly attributed to histamine released by mast cells activated by allergen crosslinking (XL) of FcεRI-bound allergen-specific IgE. However, recent reports established that anaphylaxis could also be triggered by basophil, macrophage and neutrophil secretion of platelet activating factor subsequent to FcγR stimulation by IgG/Ag complexes. I have investigated the contribution of Fyn and Lyn tyrosine kinases to FcγRIIb and FcγRIII signaling in the context of IgG-mediated passive systemic anaphylaxis (PSA). I found that mast cell IgG XL induced Fyn, Lyn, Akt, Erk, p38 and JNK phosphorylation. Additionally, IgG XL of …

Abstinence Mission At Odds With Evidence: Sticky Shame And Forbidden Pleasures, Lynn Koller

Humanities & Communication - Daytona Beach

Abstinence-only-until-marriage (AOUM) programs made prevalent over the last decade remain widespread in U.S. public schools, despite failure to demonstrate effectiveness at reducing the onset of teenage sexual activity or decreasing unplanned pregnancies or the transmission of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) (Kirby, 2007; Trenholm, et al., 2007). These programs remain popular in the face of The Personal Responsibility and Education Program (PREP) (2010), which created a funding stream for medically-accurate sexuality education programs that have demonstrated evidence of success at meeting program goals. Long-standing objections about the efficacy and ethics of AOUM programs are valid and compelling; however opponents often fail …

When Language Lies: Truth, Silence, And Codes Of Deception, Tammy C. Cline

The Qualitative Report

What does an autoethnography look like? How do you conduct reliable qualitative research when you are both the researcher and the researched? Where do you find truth as an adult when you discover your life as a child was full of secrets? In his book "A Need to Know: The Clandestine History of a CIA Family”, author H. J. Goodall (2006), tells the story of his personal journey investigating his own life growing up with a father who was a counter-intelligence offer in the cold-war era. While this narrative is an engaging and readable account, it is also a work …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - July 22, 2012, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the July 22, 2012 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. John Gosche
• High School Students Visit USA Hospitals During Summer Scrubs Program
• Dr. David Robertson to Speak at Medical Student Research Day
• Scientific Discovery at USA College of Medicine Leads to Formation of Biotech Company
• Dr. Allen Perkins Elected President of the Alabama Academy of Family Physicians

Correlation Of Trpgly And Glytrp Rotamer Structure With W7 And W10 Uv Resonance Raman Modes And Fluorescence Emission Shifts, Azaria Solomon Eisenberg, Laura J. Juszczak

Publications and Research

Tryptophyl glycine (TrpGly) and glycyl tryptophan (GlyTrp) dipeptides at pH 5.5 and pH 9.3 show a pattern of fluorescence emission shifts with the TrpGly zwitterion emission solely blue shifted. This pattern is matched by shifts in the UV resonance Raman (UVRR) W10 band position and the W7 Fermi doublet band ratio. Ab initio calculations show that the 1340 cm−1 band of the W7 doublet is composed of three modes, two of which determine the W7 band ratios for the dipeptides. Molecular dynamics simulations show that the dipeptides take on two conformations: one with the peptide backbone extended; one with the …

Seasonal Regulation Of Reproduction: Mechanisms Regulating The Rfamides, Kisspeptin And Gonadotropin Inhibitory Hormone In Siberian Hamsters, Jerad Richard Henson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Siberian hamsters exhibit seasonal rhythms in reproductive driven by melatonin secretion. Tissues that mediate Mel-dependent alterations in reproduction include the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) and the nucleus reuniens (NRe). Several neuroendocrine factors are implicated in the control of reproduction by melatonin, including two RFamides, kisspeptin and gonadotropin-inhibitory hormone (GnIH), as well as triiodothyronine (T3). Melatonin implants localized to the SCN or NRe tested the hypothesis that separate melatonin target tissues regulate RFamide expression. We also hypothesized that T3 and the RFamides are part of a single circuit. The results of chapter 2 indicate that melatonin acting at the SCN reduces the …

The Effect Of Testosterone Administration On Physical Characteristics And Muscle Function In Men With Low To Low-Normal Testosterone Concentrations, Michael G. Oliver

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Objective: This meta-analysis uses data from clincial studies of older men with low to low-normal concentrations of testosterone (T) that were treated with exogenous T to assess treatment efficacy on: lean body mass, fat mass, strength, and mobility. Methods: The data investigated are from published and referred journals. The Cohen's d was used to compute effect sizes from both pre-treatment and post-treatment scores. Results: The analysis revealed that T resulted in an overall significant (p = 0.037) improvement in physical characteristics and muscle function. After accounting for the variance, significance wa strengthened (p = 0.006) for the overall effect. When …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Multifunctional Chitosan Microspheres And Their Incorporation Into Composite Scaffolds For Enhanced Bone Regeneration, Benjamin Taylor Reves

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Insufficient fracture healing affects hundreds of thousands of people every year in the United States, resulting in devestating economic and social impacts. To treat these severe fractures, our laboratory has developed chitosan-nano-hydroxyapatite microspheres and scaffolds. The purpose of this research was to improve these scaffolds by increasing their degradation rate to allow better bone ingrowth and to increase and extend the elution of bone morphogenetic protein-2 (BMP-2) from the constructs. We hypothesized that a composite approach combining chitosan and carboxymethylchitosan microspheres would result in scaffolds with improved degradation and elution properties while maintaining good cytocompatibility and sufficient mechanical properties. The …

Amelioration Of Oral Mucositis Pain By Nasa Near Infra Red Light Emitting Diodes In Bone Marrow Transplant Patients, Brian D. Hodgson, David Margolis, Donna E. Salzman, Dan C. Eastwood, Sergey Tarima, Lisa D. Williams, Jane E. Sande, William P. Vaughan, Harry T. Whelan

School of Dentistry Faculty Research and Publications

PURPOSE: To investigate the use of extra-orally applied near infra-red (NIR) phototherapy for the reduction of oral pain secondary to chemo- and radiation-therapy induced mucositis in adult and pediatric hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) patients.

METHODS: 80 HSCT were divided into regular (R) and low (L) risk groups, then to experimental (E) and placebo (P) groups, resulting in 4 groups (ER, EL, PR, PL). Experimental subjects received (670 (+/- 10) nm gallium-aluminum-arsinide light emitting diode (LED) device for 80 sec at an ~50mW/cm2 energy density and power exposure of 4J/cm2. Placebo patients received the same procedures, but with a placebo …

Monocarboxylate Transporter 4 And Caveolin-1 Expression In Squamous Cell Carcinoma Of The Oral Cavity, Julie A. Ames, Md, Aileen Butera, Md, Joseph Curry, Md, Madalina Tuluc, Md, Ubaldo E. Martinez-Outshoorn, Md, Diana Whitaker-Menezes, Phd, Federica Sotgia, Phd, Michael P. Lisanti, Md, Phd

Department of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery Faculty Papers

Poster presented at: 8th International Conference on Head and Neck Cancer in Toronto Canada, July 21-25, 2012.

Objective: To determine the significance of caveolin-1 (cav-1) and monocarboxylate transporter 4 (MCT4) in squamous cell carcinoma of the oral cavity. We hypothesized that high stromal MCT4 would predict a worse prognosis and correlate with low stromal Cav-1.