Digital Commons Network^™

Deep Tissue Swedish Massage Therapy As A Weight Loss Aid In Overweight And Obese Adult Clients, Corinne A. Rekart

Science and Social Sciences

Massage therapy has been claimed by doctors, spas, and estheticians as a powerful and effective weight-loss tool; however, many of these claims appear anecdotal.

There has been evidence of the biological effects that massage therapy has on the human body (Tunay, Akbayrak, Bakar, Kayihan & Ergun, 2009). This study will evaluate the effects and outcomes that these biological effects have relating to the participants’ weight by utilizing the massage therapy treatment plan.

Existing clients of the Kenton Family Wellness Center will be invited to participate. Each person will fill out a health history form to determine selection to participate, as …

Beta-Alanine Supplementation Can Buffer Muscle Fatigue In Humans, Alisa Peak

Science and Social Sciences

Intramuscular acidosis is one of the main causes of fatigue during intense exercise. Carnosine has been shown to play a significant role in muscle pH regulation by soaking up hydrogen ions that are released during exercise (Stout et al., 2008). Supplementing beta-alanine has been shown to boost carnosine concentrations, with the potential to increase physical performance during high intensity exercise (Hoffman et al., 2009). In this study, a randomized, double-blinded placebo-controlled design will be used to explore the effects of a pre-exercise supplementation, beta-alanine, combined with 60 days of high intensity aerobic performances and body composition. Following consumption of the …

Computational Studies Of Protein Folding, Andrew Cleland, Addison Wisthoff

Science and Social Sciences

Proteins are known to fold into tertiary structures that determine their functionality in living organisms. The goal of our research is to better understand the protein folding process. Using MATLAB, we created an algorithm that models the folding process via a Monte Carlo time step approach. Specifically, amino acids in the chain at each time step are allowed to fold to certain locations according to a set of rules. These rules are based on two main criteria: folds must maintain bond length and should be thermally and energetically favorable. One central goal of our research is to examine whether the …

Reducing Stigma Toward The Transgender Community: An Evaluation Of A Humanizing And Perspective-Taking Intervention, Kimberly Hillman, Fatemah Ordoubadi

Humanities and Creative Projects

Transgender (TG) individuals, or those whose gender identities, expressions and/or behaviors differ from their biological sex (Kirk & Kulkarni, 2006) feel there is a pervasive pattern of discrimination and prejudice directed toward them (Lombardi et al., 2001). In comparison to their heterosexual peers, LGBT youth and emerging adults are at increased risk for a host of adverse outcomes including: suicide, depression, harassment, and victimization (IOM, 2011).

Stigma has been characterized as encompassing several components: labeling, making an association between the label and a negative stereotype, separating those who are different as an “out-group” and discriminating. In a recent analysis of …

Organizing The World: Power Dynamics And “Civilization” In The British Museum, Katherine E. Steir

History Honors Projects

The British Museum has a long and complex relationship with the British Colonial project. Applying museum theory to case studies found in the museum, this paper explores the ways in which empire is reconstructed within the British Museum, and also investigates how public gallery spaces can engage with controversial history. In the 21^st century the museum struggles to reinvent itself as a universal institution presenting collections from around the world with sensitivity. However, the museum still expresses nostalgia for the imperial past, and presents a specific and homogenous image of the ideal British citizen.

Senior Spotlight: On A (Nasa) Mission To Teach Science, Public Affairs, Roger Williams University

Featured News Story

NASA names Class of 2012 graduate Nicole Monaco one of five aspiring STEM educators to its prestigious Endeavor Fellowship.

The Effect Of Photoperiod On Regulation Of Key Components Of The Life Cycle In The Bumble Bee Bombus Impatiens L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae)., Edgar Javier Hernandez

Dissertations

This study investigates how photoperiod affects internal characteristics of colonies of the temperate bumble bee Bombus impatiens particularly; development, reproduction, and social behavior. To answer this question I used an experimental approach using commercially obtained colonies of B. impatiens kept under controlled environmental conditions, and using the exposure to photoperiod as the only variable. Eight different photoperiod treatments were evaluated over the social phase of the colony’s life cycle. Colonies exposed to photoperiods that simulate the species natural temperate photoperiod exhibited larger growth rates, higher, oviposition rates, and higher brood survival than colonies exposed to constant photoperiods. Similarly, colonies exposed …

Exploring The Nature Of High School Student Engagement With Science And Technology As An Outcome Of Participation In Science Journalism, Jennifer M.G. Hope

Dissertations

In a mixed-methods study of high school student participants in the National Science Foundation-funded Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) project, the new Youth Engagement with Science & Technology (YEST) Survey and classroom case studies were used to determine program impact on participant engagement with science and technology as well as describe the experience of SciJourn students. Student engagement with science and technology is considered as a construct made up of three components: student action, interest, and identification. Analysis of quasi-experimental administration of the (YEST) Survey resulted in rejection of the hypotheses that SciJourn high school student participants would exhibit …

Gender: An Infinite And Evolving Theory, Julia Churchill Schoellkopf

Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer Center

Many perceive sex and gender to be the same concept or at least related to each other, but this is not the case. If they do perceive it as different concepts, it is usually understood simply as biological sex. For many people gender is part of daily routine and questioning it is absurd. In virtually all societies gender is defined by characteristics associated with one’s sex. This definition stems from the social construction of gender, meaning that gender is not based solely on physiological qualities. This paper explores the social construct of sex and gender.

2012 Commencement Program, Whittier College

Commencement Programs

Whittier College's One Hundred Ninth Commencement, May 11, 2012

Supplement files include Spring Honors Convocation, April 27, 2012 the One Hundred Ninth Baccalaureate, May 10, 2012.

2012 Commencement Program, State University Of New York College At Cortland

Commencement Programs

May commencement. Graduate ceremony.

Reduction Of Na/K-Atpase Potentiates Marinobufagenin-Induced Cardiac Dysfunction And Myocyte Apoptosis, Changxuan Liu, Yan Bai, Yiliang Chen, Yu Wang, Yoann Sottejeau, Lijun Liu, Xiaomei Li, Jerry B. Lingrel, Deepak Malhorta, Christopher Cooper, Joseph I. Shapiro M.D., Zi-Jian Xie, Jiang Tian

Biochemistry and Microbiology

Background: Na/K-ATPase decrease has been reported in patients with heart failure and is related to cardiac dysfunction.

Results: Reducing Na/K-ATPase activates caspase 9 and induces cardiac dilation when treated with marinobufagenin.

Conclusion: Reduction of Na/K-ATPase potentiates marinobufagenin-induced cardiac myocyte apoptosis.

Significance: Decreased Na/K-ATPase content together with increased cardiotonic steroids levels is a novel mechanism that may account for cardiac dysfunction.

Honors Day, May 11, 2012, Murray State University

Honors Day Programs

Honors Day Programs, Murray State University. (Digitization and metadata processed by Madison Erwin.)

Reporter - May 11th 2012, Rit Reporter Staff

University Publications

No abstract provided.

Signal Transducer And Activator Of Transcription-5 Mediates Neuronal Apoptosis Induced By Inhibition Of Rac Gtpase Activity., Trisha R Stankiewicz, F Alexandra Loucks, Emily K Schroeder, Marja T Nevalainen, Kenneth L Tyler, Klaus Aktories, Ron J Bouchard, Daniel A Linseman

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

In several neuronal cell types, the small GTPase Rac is essential for survival. We have shown previously that the Rho family GTPase inhibitor Clostridium difficile toxin B (ToxB) induces apoptosis in primary rat cerebellar granule neurons (CGNs) principally via inhibition of Rac GTPase function. In the present study, incubation with ToxB activated a proapoptotic Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) pathway, and a pan-JAK inhibitor protected CGNs from Rac inhibition. STAT1 expression was induced by ToxB; however, CGNs from STAT1 knock-out mice succumbed to ToxB-induced apoptosis as readily as wild-type CGNs. STAT3 displayed enhanced tyrosine phosphorylation following …

Assessing The Impact Participation In Science Journalism Activities Has On Scientific Literacy Among High School Students, Cathy Farrar

Dissertations

As part of the National Science Foundation Science Literacy through Science Journalism (SciJourn) initiative (http://www.scijourn.org; Polman, Saul, Newman, and Farrar, 2008) a quasi-experimental design was used to investigate what impact incorporating science journalism activities had on students’ scientific literacy. Over the course of a school year students participated in a variety of activities culminating in the production of science news articles for Scijourner (http://www.scijourner.org). Participating teachers and SciJourn team members collaboratively developed activities focused on five aspects of scientific literacy: contextualizing information, recognizing relevance, evaluating factual accuracy, use of multiple credible sources and information seeking processes. This study details the …

05-11-2012 Swosu Biology Students Win Awards, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2012

Southwestern Oklahoma State University’s Biological Sciences Department recently held its annual honors banquet on the Weatherford campus. Scholarships and awards were presented to outstanding biology students at the end-of-year ceremony.

Denitrification And Inference Of Nitrogen Sources In The Karstic Floridan Aquifer, J. B. Heffernan, A. R. Albertin, M. L. Fork, B. G. Katz, M. J. Cohen

KIP Articles

Aquifer denitrification is among the most poorly constrained fluxes in global and regional nitrogen budgets. The few direct measurements of denitrification in groundwaters provide limited information about its spatial and temporal variability, particularly at the scale of whole aquifers. Uncertainty in estimates of denitrification may also lead to underestimates of its effect on isotopic signatures of inorganic N, and thereby confound the inference of N source from these data. In this study, our objectives are to quantify the magnitude and variability of denitrification in the Upper Floridan Aquifer (UFA) and evaluate its effect on N isotopic signatures at the regional …

Volume Cxxix, Number 23, May 11, 2012, Lawrence University

The Lawrentian

No abstract provided.

May 11, 2012 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

The Story Of Taste: Using Eegs And Self-Reports To Understand Consumer Choice, Charnetta Brown, Adriane B. Randolph, Janée N. Burkhalter

The Kennesaw Journal of Undergraduate Research

The authors investigate consumers’ willingness to switch from a preferred manufacturer brand to an unfamiliar private-label brand if taste is perceived as identical. Consumer decisions are examined through recordings of electrical brain activity in the form of electroencephalograms (EEGs) and self-reported data captured in surveys. Results reveal a willingness of consumers to switch to a less-expensive brand when the quality is perceived to be the same as the more expensive counterpart. Cost saving options for consumers and advertising considerations for managers are discussed.

A Chemical Specialty Semantic Network For The Unified Medical Language System, C Paul Morrey, Yehoshua Perl, Michael Halper, Ling Chen, Huanying “Helen” Gu

Publications and Research

Background Terms representing chemical concepts found the Unified Medical Language System (UMLS) are used to derive an expanded semantic network with mutually exclusive semantic types. The UMLS Semantic Network (SN) is composed of a collection of broad categories called semantic types (STs) that are assigned to concepts. Within the UMLS’s coverage of the chemical domain, we find a great deal of concepts being assigned more than one ST. This leads to the situation where the extent of a given ST may contain concepts elaborating variegated semantics. A methodology for expanding the chemical subhierarchy of the SN into a finer-grained categorization …

Molecular And Functional Characterization Of Tick Salivary Vti Protein Family, Ashley Villarreal

Honors Theses

Tick salivary glands serves as the organ of osmoregulation in ticks and are critical to the biological success of ticks both during extended period off the host and also during the feeding periods on the host. The salivary glands are the sites of pathogen development and saliva is the route of transmission. The importance of multifunctional salivary glands to tick survival and vector competency makes the glands a potential target for intervention. The complex process by which tick salivary gland proteins exit the glands and enter the host has been extensively studied, in what is called the SNARE hypothesis, soluble …

A Phylogeny Of Samydaceae Based On Nuclear Gbssi And Emb2765 Dna Sequences, Chelsa Williams

Honors Theses

Samydaceae are a tropical family of woody flowering plants, poorly known because they were once included in the ‘dustbin’ family Flacourtiaceae and because there are few economically important species. The family has recently been studied using DNA sequence data, but most of the data were from plastid DNA and some relationships had low statistical support. For this study, two nuclear regions, EMB2765 and GBSSI, were sequenced in order to affirm or refute the relationships inferred from plastid DNA and in order to find stronger statistical support for relationships. The data collected mostly affirm previously collected data from plastid DNA.

The Effects Of Xanthigentm Supplementation On Body Composition, Serum Markers Of The Metabolic Syndrome, And Hepaptic Enzyme Levels In An Obese Population, Emily Buras

Honors Theses

XanthigenTM [100 mg brown seaweed extract (0.8 % fucoxanthin) and 100 mg pomegranate seed oil (70 % punicic acid)] has been shown to significantly reduce body fat, liver fat, and improve serum markers of liver function in obese females. Twenty-nine participants were matched for age, gender, and body fat percentage and randomized into either a XanthigenTM group or a placebo group. For 16-weeks, participants were asked to consume a reduced calorie diet while supplementing their diet with their respective pills three times per day. Data were analyzed using multivariate ANOVA with repeated measures and presented as mean ± standard deviation. …

So Please You: A Creative Project On Playing “Oswald” In King Lear, Darren Hayes

Honors Theses

This is a creative project displaying my process and journey through rehearsals—and eventually performances—as “Oswald” in the University of Southern Mississippi’s Theatre and Dance Department’s production of William Shakespeare’s King Lear. All of my research and preparation culminated in a final performance of the show which took place October 14th through the 23rd of 2011. This was the most important part of my creative project, as it showcased all of my hard work throughout the process. All of the documentation that follows was used to support my performance, as is the case in any particular role. If I did …

Exploring The Interaction Between Human Granulin-A (Hgrn-A) And Amyloid-Β (Aβ) Peptide, Michael Samel

Honors Theses

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting people over the age of 60, yet a detailed understanding of the molecular changes involved in AD remains a significant challenge to modern medicine. The hallmarks of an AD brain include the presence of senile plaques formed by a protein called amyloid-β (Aβ), along with inflammation of the brain. Aβ self-associates to form clumps of protein called “aggregates” which are known to be the primary toxic agents in AD pathology; however, several other proteins have also been implicated in this pathology. One such protein called progranulin (PGRN), which under …

An Investigation On The Interaction Of Various Natural Products With The Amyloid-Β Peptide; Betulinic Acid Causes Rapid Amyloid-Β Fibril Formation At The Expense Of Soluble Oligomers, Matthew Planchard

Honors Theses

In this report we investigate the interaction of the natural compounds asiatic acid (AA), asiaticoside (AS), umbelliferone (UM), and betulinic acid (BA) with the amyloid-β (Aβ) peptide, the aggregation of which is implicated to be the major pathogenic event in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). Screening of compounds for ability to affect Aβ aggregation was performed via ThT fluorescence. Only BA showed consistent deviation from controls, causing virtually instantaneous formation of large amounts of fibrils in a concentration-dependent fashion. Turbidity assays ensured the aggregation monitored via ThT was not experimental aberration. Kinetics utilizing ThT and turbidity indicated that BA causes immediate exponential …

Evaluating Child Routines As A Mediator Of Marital Conflict And Child Adjustment, Ashley Prine

Honors Theses

Many studies have examined the relationship between destructive marital conflict and child externalizing behavior, however there are several gaps in the literature about constructive marital conflict and internalizing child behaviors. Also, where many experiments have focused on parenting practices as the mediator of this relationship, no known studies have examined child routines as a mediator. Thus, the current study aims to test child routines as a mediator between both constructive and destructive marital conflict, and child internalizing and externalizing behavior. Participants included 121 married mothers with children from ages 6-12 (M = 8.59, SD = 1.93). Data about the parent’s …

Do Parenting Practices Mediate The Relation Between Maternal Depression And Child Adaptive Behaviors? An Examination Of Outcomes For Children From Varying Socioeconomic Status Groups, Stephanie Smith

Honors Theses

Through a moderated mediational model, the current study examined whether parenting practices mediate the relation between maternal depression and adaptive behaviors in preschoolers and whether that mediation is moderated by socioeconomic status (SES). Data were collected from parent and teacher report questionnaires on 117 preschool children [54 attending Head Start and 63 attending other (non-Head Start ) childcare centers]. It was hypothesized that parenting practices would mediate the relation between maternal depression and child adaptive behavior (positive parenting leading to higher adaptive behavior, negative parenting leading to lower adaptive behavior) and that the relation between parenting and adaptive behavior would …