Digital Commons Network^™

Engaging The Community Through An Undergraduate Biomedical Physics Course, Grace Van Ness, Ralf Widenhorn

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

We report on the development of an undergraduate biomedical physics course at Portland State University, motivated by both student interest and the desire of the university?s Physics Department to provide an interdisciplinary intermediate-level physics course. The course was developed through the community engagement of physicians, clinical researchers, and basic science researchers. Class meetings were a combination of regular and guest lectures, hands-on exercises, web-based activities, class discussions, and a student poster information session for patrons at a local science museum. The course inspired students to engage in research projects in biomedical physics that enhance their understanding of science and education …

I Laughed Until I Cried: The Tragicomedy Of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming , Kesha Garner

All Theses

There appears to be a disconnect between the actual events of Harold Pinter's The Homecoming and the scholarly work devoted to the play--while each of the main characters are morally problematic, it is only the play's sole female character, Ruth, whose morality is questioned. This schism in which Ruth is questioned but others are not stems primarily from the time in which most of this criticism occurred: before post-structuralist understandings of gender undermined our presuppositions about the sexes. The Homecoming was written on the cusp of second-wave feminism, the movement focusing mainly on the legal and social equality of women, …

Cole Train | V.10, No.1 (Fall 2012), Houston Cole Library

Library Annual Reports & Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Dental Safety Net In Montgomery County: A Status Report, Sequoia Y. Butcher

Master of Public Health Program Student Publications

Background: Adult oral health has been identified as a major public health problem by the United States Surgeon General. A substantial number of adults between the ages of 20 and 64 have untreated tooth decay. There are limited treatment options for adults without dental insurance. Low-income adults must turn to free/low cost clinics, or private dentists that accept Medicaid to receive dental care. However, these resources are often limited. When the resources are not available these adults are left to deal with untreated tooth decay which can lead to worsening conditions and other health issues.

Methods: Eleven key-informant interviews were …

Silica Nanoparticle-Based Coatings With Superhydrophilic And Superhydrophobic Properties, Robert Andrew Fleming

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces have potential for implementation into a variety of fields, including self-cleaning surfaces, anti-fogging transparent materials, and biomedical applications. In this study, sandblasting, oxygen plasma treatments, silica nanoparticle films, and a low surface energy fluorocarbon film were employed to change the natural surface wettability of titanium, glass, and polyethylene terephthalate (PET) substrates, with an aim to produce superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic behavior. The effects of these surface modifications are characterized by water contact angles (WCAs), surface wetting stability, surface morphology and roughness, surface elemental composition, and optical transmittance measurements. The results show that stable superhydrophilic and superhydrophobic surfaces …

Prehistoric Human Ecodynamics In The Rub Al-Khali Desert: Results Of Remote Sensing And Excavations In Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Jason T. Herrmann

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Archaeological investigations in the Emirate of Dubai, UAE conducted by the Dubai Department of Archaeology and the University of Arkansas demonstrate that the desert inland of the Oman Peninsula was occupied not only during the Arabian Neolithic (8000-4400 BC), when the region experienced a moist period referred to as the Holocene Climatic Optimum (HCO), but also during the more arid millennia following the decline of the HCO into the Christian Era. During this period, desert settlement clustered near a band of oases, in contrast to the more widespread spatial distribution of remains of nomadic pastoralists from the Neolithic. Excavations at …

Design, Fabrication, Testing Of Cnt Based Isfet And Characterization Of Nano/Bio Materials Using Afm, Zhuxin Dong

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A combination of Carbon Nanotubes (CNTs) and Ion Selective Field Effect Transistor (ISFET) is designed and experimentally verified in order to develop the next generation ion concentration sensing system. Micro Electro-Mechanical System (MEMS) fabrication techniques, such as photolithography, diffusion, evaporation, lift-off, packaging, etc., are required in the fabrication of the CNT-ISFET structure on p-type silicon wafers. In addition, Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) based surface nanomachining is investigated and used for creating nanochannels on silicon surfaces. Since AFM based nanomanipulation and nanomachining is highly controllable, nanochannels are precisely scratched in the area between the source and drain of the FET where …

Comprehensive Drainage Study Of The Upper Reach Of College Branch In Fayetteville, Arkansas, Kathryn Lea Mccoy

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College Branch is a stream with headwaters located on the University of Arkansas campus. The stream flows through much of the west side of campus, gaining discharge and enlarging its channel as it meanders to the south. College Branch has experienced erosion and flooding issues in recent years due to increased urbanization of its watershed and increased runoff volume.

The purpose of this project was to develop a comprehensive drainage study of College Branch on the University of Arkansas campus. Storm runoff and flood flow patterns were evaluated in order to understand the hydraulics and hydrology of the watershed and …

Resistance Screening And Control Options For Glyphosate-Resistant Palmer Amaranth (Amaranthus Palmeri) In Cotton (Gossypium Hirsutum), Ryan Christopher Doherty

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In the mid-2000's, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth biotypes began to emerge in many southern states. In 2006, glyphosate-resistant Palmer amaranth was identified in a field in Mississippi County, Arkansas. A greenhouse experiment was conducted in 2008 to screen Palmer amaranth accessions, collected in this survey, for glyphosate resistance. Inflorescence were collected from a total of 276 plants from fields were glyphosate failure occurred, representing 74 accessions in 14 counties, including Clay, Craighead, Crittenden, Greene, Jackson, Jefferson, Lawrence, Lee, Mississippi, Phillips, Poinsett, Randolph, St. Francis, and White Counties. Eight of the 74 accessions did not produce viable seed. In the greenhouse, 32 …

Lno Network Sites Data Training Needs, Long Term Ecological Research Network

Long Term Ecological Research Network

Partial memo answering the following questions.

Does your site have any training needs that are not being covered by the training activities organized by the LNO?

Do you have any questions about the All Scientists Meeting?

Compared to the other 25 LTER sites, how prepared will you be by December 31, 2012 to provide site data to the Network Information System via PASTA, top quarter of all sites, second quarter; third quarter; bottom quarter?

Protein Nano-Object Integrator (Pronoi) For Generating Atomic Style Objects For Molecular Modeling, Nicholas Smith, Brandon Campbell, Lin Li, Chuan Li, Emil Alexov

Publications

Background

With the progress of nanotechnology, one frequently has to model biological macromolecules simultaneously with nano-objects. However, the atomic structures of the nano objects are typically not available or they are solid state entities. Because of that, the researchers have to investigate such nano systems by generating models of the nano objects in a manner that the existing software be able to carry the simulations. In addition, it should allow generating composite objects with complex shape by combining basic geometrical figures and embedding biological macromolecules within the system.

Results

Here we report the Protein Nano-Object Integrator (ProNOI) which allows for …

Family And Marital Satisfaction And The Use Of Social Network Technologies, Iryna Sharaievska

Publications

The popularity of social network sites (SNS) is increasing among all age groups. Since shared leisure is considered to be one of the key factors that contribute to the stability and quality of marriage and family and life satisfaction, the interplay between the use of SNS by family members, their leisure and their marital and family satisfaction should be examined. The objectives of this study were to: (1) Explore how the use of SNSs by family members influences and is influenced by family leisure and family satisfaction; (2) Examine how the use of SNSs by couples influences and is influenced …

Mechanical Contributors To Sex Differences In Idiopathic Knee Osteoarthritis, Daniel P. Nicolella, Mary I. O'Connor, Roger M. Enoka, Barbara D. Boyan, David A. Hart, Eileen Resnick, Karen J. Berkeley, Kathleen A. Sluka, C. Kent Kwoh, Laura L. Tosi, Richard D. Coutts, Wendy M. Kohrt

Orthopaedic Surgery Faculty Publications

The occurrence of knee osteoarthritis (OA) increases with age and is more common in women compared with men, especially after the age of 50 years. Recent work suggests that contact stress in the knee cartilage is a significant predictor of the risk for developing knee OA. Significant gaps in knowledge remain, however, as to how changes in musculoskeletal traits disturb the normal mechanical environment of the knee and contribute to sex differences in the initiation and progression of idiopathic knee OA. To illustrate this knowledge deficit, we summarize what is known about the influence of limb alignment, muscle function, and …

Twice-Daily Application Of Hiv Microbicides Alters The Vaginal Microbiota, Jacques Ravel, Pawel Gajer, Li Fu, Christine K. Mauck, Sara S.K. Koenig, Joyce Sakamoto, Alison A. Motsinger-Reif, Gustavo F. Doncel, Steven L. Zeichner

Pediatrics Faculty Publications

Vaginal HIV microbicides offer great promise in preventing HIV transmission, but failures of phase 3 clinical trials, in which microbicide-treated subjects had an increased risk of HIV transmission, raised concerns about endpoints used to evaluate microbicide safety. A possible explanation for the increased transmission risk is that the agents shifted the vaginal bacterial community, resulting in loss of natural protection and enhanced HIV transmission susceptibility. We characterized vaginal microbiota, using pyrosequencing of bar-coded 16S rRNA gene fragments, in samples from 35 healthy, sexually abstinent female volunteer subjects (ages 18 to 50 years) with regular menses in a repeat phase 1 …

A Symbiotic View Of Life: We Have Never Been Individuals, Scott F. Gilbert, J. Sapp, A. I. Tauber

Biology Faculty Works

The notion of the "biological individual" is crucial to studies of genetics, immunology, evolution, development, anatomy, and physiology. Each of these biological subdisciplines has a specific conception of individuality, which has historically provided conceptual contexts for integrating newly acquired data. During the past decade, nucleic acid analysis, especially genomic sequencing and high-throughput RNA techniques, has challenged each of these disciplinary definitions by finding significant interactions of animals and plants with symbiotic microorganisms that disrupt the boundaries that heretofore had characterized the biological individual. Animals cannot be considered individuals by anatomical or physiological criteria because a diversity of symbionts are both …

Review Of "Fifty Animals That Changed The Course Of History" By E. Chaline, John B. Jenkins

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

A Realistic View Of Returning To The Classroom After Cancer Survival: A Double Entendré, Heidi Suzanne Zimmer

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

Returning to work after cancer treatment provides its own set of challenges. The purpose of this research paper is to inform cancer survivors of the reality of returning to work after treatment. From personal experience and hearing others’ stories; I am convinced that getting back to a “normal” life is a large part of the recovery from cancer. Returning to work can be the conclusion to a very long battle and reassures survivors, that they truly have beaten the beast. The literature revealed that it takes time for the body to follow the head and heart when it comes to …

Characterization Of Novel Extracellular Matrix (Ecm) Proteins (Mgp And Lumican) And Their Implications In Vascular Development, Angiogenesis, And Cancer, Bikram Sharma

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Cd4+ Regulatory And Effector/Memory T Cell Subsets Profile Motor Dysfunction In Parkinson’S Disease, Jessica A. Hutter Saunders, Katherine A. Estes, Lisa M. Kosloski, Heather E. Allen, Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Diego R. Torres-Russotto, Jane L. Meza, Pamela M. Santamaria, John M. Bertoni, Daniel L. Murman, Hesham Ali, David G. Standaert, R. Lee Mosley, Howard E. Gendelman

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

Animal models and clinical studies have linked the innate and adaptive immune system to the pathology of Parkinson’s disease (PD). Despite such progress, the specific immune responses that influence disease progression have eluded investigators. Herein, we assessed relationships between T cell phenotype and function with PD progression. Peripheral blood lymphocytes from two separate cohorts, a discovery cohort and a validation cohort, totaling 113 PD patients and 96 age- and environment-matched caregivers were examined by flow cytometric analysis and T cell proliferation assays. Increased effector/memory T cells (Tem), defined as CD45RO+ and FAS+ CD4+ T cells and decreased CD31+ and α4β7+ …

Pagkababae At Pagkalalake (Femininity And Masculinity): Developing A Filipino Gender Trait Inventory And Predicting Self-Esteem And Sexism, Vivienne Velez Valledor-Lukey

Child and Family Studies - Dissertations

This study focused on the construction of a gender trait inventory from a Filipino perspective, guided by social constructionist, symbolic interactionist, and feminist theories. Traits that were identified as being typical of Filipino men and women were grouped into positive (i.e., socially desirable) and negative (i.e., socially undesirable) subscales. Development and validity testing were conducted using data from 296 Filipino university students. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to develop the subscales of the instrument. The Filipino femininity subscale included positive traits such as being caring and supportive and negative traits such as being timid or keeping things to one's …

Attachment Security Among Toddlers: The Impacts Of Supportive Coparenting And Father Engagement, Sangita Pudasainee-Kapri

Child and Family Studies - Theses

The present study examined the longitudinal associations among supportive coparenting and father engagement during infancy and mother-child attachment at age three within an at-risk sample (N= 1371), using secondary data from Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing (FFCW) study. Mothers reported on coparenting and father engagement during the one-year phone interview and mother-child attachment was assessed using the Toddler Attachment Sort-39 (TAS-39) at age three during the three-year in-home interview. Findings suggest that supportive coparenting was significantly associated with higher levels of father engagement and more secure mother-child attachment relationship across three racial/ethnic groups including white, African American, and Hispanic. Interestingly, …

Early Permian Seawater From The Delta18o Record Of Fossil Bivalves: Seasonality And A Latitudinal Gradient, James Andrew Beard

Earth & Environmental Sciences - Theses

The transition from a glaciated world to one that was ice-free makes the early Permian a time interval that in many ways mirrors the present, and hence there is great interest in constraining paleoclimate conditions over that transition. A common method for estimating ancient temperatures uses the oxygen isotope composition of marine carbonate, but this approach becomes significantly more complicated prior to the Cretaceous due to uncertainties about diagenesis and the isotopic composition of seawater, which has been hypothesized to be more depleted than during the Cenozoic. I use stable isotope compositions of sequentially microsampled accretionary calcite from fossil bivalves …

Ecology Of Zoonoses: Natural And Unnatural Histories, William B. Karesh, Andy Dobson, James O. Lloyd-Smith, Juan Lubroth, Matthew A. Dixon, Malcolm Bennett, Stephen Aldrich, Todd Harrington, Pierre Formenty, Elizabeth H. Loh, Catherine C. Machalaba, Mathew Jason Thomas, David L. Heymann

United States Public Health Resources

More than 60% of human infectious diseases are caused by pathogens shared with wild or domestic animals. Zoonotic disease organisms include those that are endemic in human populations or enzootic in animal populations with frequent cross-species transmission to people. Some of these diseases have only emerged recently. Together, these organisms are responsible for a substantial burden of disease, with endemic and enzootic zoonoses causing about a billion cases of illness in people and millions of deaths every year. Emerging zoonoses are a growing threat to global health and have caused hundreds of billions of US dollars of economic damage in …

Supramolecular Sensor For Cancer-Associated Nitrosamines, Tsuyoshi Minami, Nina A. Esipenko, Ben Zhang, Maria E. Kozelkova, Lyle Isaacs, Ryuhei Nishiyabu, Yuji Kubo, Pavel Anzenbacher Jr.

Chemistry Faculty Publications

A supramolecular assay based on two fluorescent cucurbit[n]uril probes enables the recognition and quantification of nitrosamines, including cancer-associated nitrosamines, compounds that are difficult to recognize. The cross-reactive sensor leverages weak interactions and competition among the probe, metal, and guest, yielding high information density in the signal output (variance) and enabling the recognition of structurally similar guests.

Application Of Response Surface Methodology And Central Composite Design For 5p12-Rantes Expression In The Pichia Pastoris System, Frank M. Fabian

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Pichia pastoris has demonstrated the ability to express high levels of recombinant heterologous proteins. Protein expression is enhanced during fermentation at high cell density. However, the level of expression is mainly regulated by fermentation operation factors. This research is directed to investigate the effect of methanol growth rate, temperature and pH in the expression of the total 5P12-Rantes concentration, expression of active 5P12-Rantes and Specific yield using the response surface methodology and central composite design.

The response surface methodology, RSM, has been used successfully used by Zhang, W. and Ian, M. to optimize the cell density and fermentation process. The …

Legal And Policy Implications Of The Perception Of Property Rights In Catch Shares, Mark Fina, Tyson Kade

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

Catch shares are a fishery management strategy under which persons are allocated exclusive access to specific portions of the total allowable catch of a fishery. Proponents of catch share management argue that these programs allow for more efficient management of annual catch limits and mitigate the negative biological and economic impacts associated with other management programs. Because of the exclusivity of their allocations, catch share programs have been characterized by their opponents as privatizing the public fisheries resource and granting catch share holders a property right to fish. However, case law suggests that a court is unlikely to conclude that …

Leopold's Last Talk, Eric T. Freyfogle

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

During the last decade of his life, Aldo Leopold (1887–1948) delivered more than 100 conservation talks to various popular, professional, and student audiences. In them, he set forth plainly the central elements of his conservation thought. By studying the extensive archival records of these talks one sees clearly the core elements of Leopold’s mature thinking, which centered not on specific land-use practices (good or bad), but instead on what he saw as deep flaws in American culture. Leopold’s sharp cultural criticism—more clear in these talks than in his lyrical, muted classic, A Sand County Almanac—called into question not just …

Oil Development In Anwr: The Precautionary Principle Is Compatible With The Fish And Wildlife Service's Statutory Mandate, Trisna Tanus

Washington Journal of Environmental Law & Policy

The potential for oil production in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) coastal plain, otherwise known as the 1002 Area, is significant, with a current value of $770 billion. Yet, there are considerable knowledge gaps and disagreements over the environmental impacts of oil development in ANWR. The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) manages ANWR and is tasked with advancing the refuge’s mission of ecological conservation. Before it can approve oil development in ANWR, the FWS is statutorily required to ensure that oil development is compatible with ANWR’s mission. This Comment argues that the precautionary principle is embedded within the laws …

Tennessee Forestry Commission Fy 2012 Annual Report, Tennessee. Department Of Agriculture.

Forestry Commission Annual Report

No abstract provided.

Causes And Effects Of Epithelial Morphogenesis In Pancreatitis And Pancreatic Cancer, Kathleen Elizabeth Delgiorno

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is a highly lethal disease due to lack of early detection, making the study of initiating events, intrinsic and extrinsic, invaluable. An aberrant epithelial structure consistently associated with PDAC development is the metaplastic ductal lesion (MDL), formed as a result of acinar to ductal metaplasia (ADM) and hypothesized to be pre-neoplastic. Through lineage tracing and immunohistochemistry I have determined that MDLs derive from acinar cells that have converted to structures resembling the developmentally related biliary duct gland. Consistent with this process, MDLs co-express the transcription factors PDX1 and SOX17, a molecular signature reserved for pancreatobiliary progenitor …