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Role Of Sox9 In Uterine Gland Development And Disease Initiation, Gabriel Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The female reproductive tract (FRT) develops midway through embryogenesis, and consists of oviducts, uterine horns, cervix and upper part of the vagina. The uterine horns are composed of an epithelial layer, luminal (LE) and glandular epithelium (GE), surrounded by a mesenchymal layer, the stroma and myometrium. Interestingly, in most mammals the GE forms after birth and it only becomes fully differentiated as the female reaches sexual maturity. Uterine glands (UG) are made up of GE and are present in all mammals. They secrete nutrients, cytokines and several other proteins, termed histotroph, that are necessary for embryo implantation and development. Experiments …

14-3-3 Zeta Overexpression Serves As A Novel Molecular Switch Turning Tgf-Beta From Tumor Suppressor To Tumor Promoter, Jia Xu

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

TGF-β plays an important role in differentiation and tissue morphogenesis as well as cancer progression. However, the role of TGF-β in cancer is complicate. TGF-β has primarily been recognized as tumor suppressor, because it can directly inhibit cell proliferation of normal and premalignant epithelial cell. However, in the last stage of tumor progression, TGF-β functions as tumor promoter to enhance tumor cells metastatic dissemination and expands metastatic colonies. Currently, the mechanism of how TGF-β switches its role from tumor suppressor to promoter still remains elusive. Here we identify that overexpression of 14-3-3ζ inhibits TGF-β’s cell cytostatic program through destabilizing p53 …

Identifying And Targeting Molecular Deregulations In Uterine Leiomyosarcoma: A Role For Mtor Inhibition-Based Combination Therapies, Kari Jo Brewer Savannah

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Uterine leiomyosarcoma (ULMS) is an aggressive malignancy characterized by marked chemoresistance, frequent relapses, and poor outcome. Despite efforts to improve survival over the past several decades, only minimal advances have been made. Hence, there is an urgent and unmet need for better understanding of the molecular deregulations that underlay ULMS and development of more effective therapeutic strategies.

This work identified several common deregulations in a large (n=208) tissue microarray of ULMS compared to GI smooth muscle, myometrium, and leiomyoma controls. Our results suggest that significant loss of smooth muscle and gynecological differentiation markers is common in ULMS, a finding that …

The Effect Of Weighting Development Indicators On Countries Eligibility For International Development Funding: The Case Of The Millennium Challenge Corporation (Mcc), Idrissa Noma

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) is a U.S. government agency whose purpose is to promote economic growth and reduce poverty in low and low middle-income countries. It uses indicators to endorse countries eligibilities for international development funding. These indicators are related to economic growth and are developed by independent third parties (e.g., United Nations, World Bank), to evaluate a country's policy performance in three specific areas: (1) Ruling Justly, (2) Investing in People, and (3) Encouraging Economic Freedom (MCC, 2011). The MCC weighs indicators equally regardless of their myopic in-country relevancy to economic development. The goal of this study is …

Teacher Internship Report - Madera South High School, Kristin A. Avinelis

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship/project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at Madera South High School, conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship included the development of a comprehensive program plan for Madera South High School. The plan includes information to receive state/local funding, an outline of the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Madera South High School, the agriculture program and community.

Aerial Dance: Under The Sea, Miranda Cooper

USF St. Petersburg campus Honors Program Theses (Undergraduate)

Aerial dance is an emerging form of circus arts with roots in modern dance, which has gained a large following. As this is a relatively new type of performance art, there is much need for new tricks, techniques, styles, and apparatus invention. In the creative process I designed a performance piece in the modern aerial dance style, as well as created original tricks, techniques, apparatus uses, and styles within each act. To showcase the results, I performed the final product with fellow aerial students and instructors to the theme of "Under the Sea", and produced the show via video recording. …

2012 Literary Review (No. 25), Sigma Tau Delta

The Greenleaf Review

No abstract provided.

Applications Of Voronoi Partitions In Particle Therapy, Daniel Riofrio

Computer Science ETDs

Treating cancer using charged particles heavier than electrons is becoming more and more popular in modern cancer management due to its increased dose to the targeted tumors and improved sparing of surrounding normal tissues and critical structures. Many challenging and interesting mathematical optimization problems arise in the planning of charged particle radiation therapy. In this thesis, we study three important optimization problems in particle therapy, which includes dose optimization, energy modulation change reduction, and LET (linear energy transfer) painting. Generally speaking the goal of treatment planning is to use computer based algorithms and software to find a therapeutic plan that …

Ecology And Integrated Pest Management Of Western Bean Cutworm Striacosta Albicosta (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae) In Field Corn, Silvana L. Vieira De Paula Moraes

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Western bean cutworm, Striacosta albicosta (Smith) (Lepidoptera: Noctuidae), is a native pest of dry beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) and corn (Zea mays L.), and historically distributed in the western United States. The insect’s recent expansion eastward is documented since 1999. The species is univoltine, the adults typically emerge in the middle of July, lay eggs on corn leaves, and the larvae feed on different corn tissues. In the fourth instar, larvae start colonization of the ear where they feed on kernels. There is a narrow window for management and early detection of the pest in the field is …

Cell-Mediated Immunity In Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus, Rajeshwari Parida

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus is a significant swine pathogen which exhibits considerable sequence diversity. In an attempt to identify highly conserved T-cell epitopes contained in proteins of this virus, we examined heptadecamer peptides spanning the sequence of the PRRSV nonstructural proteins 9, 10 and 11, all of them are highly conserved, for their ability to elicit a recall proliferative and interferon-gamma response in peripheral blood mononuclear cells obtained from pigs immunized against the type-II PRRSV strain FL-12. These studies led to the identification of seven peptides, two from each NSP 9 and NSP 10 and, three from NSP …

Nest And Brood Site Selection And Survival Of Greater Prairie-Chickens In The Eastern Sandhills Of Nebraska, Lars Anderson

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Greater prairie-chickens (Tympanuchus cupido pinnata) are a grassland bird species of conservation concern. Although greater prairie-chickens have declined over much of their range, the Nebraska Sandhills has the largest population in North America. However, the responses of nest and brood site selection and survival to vegetation characteristics are unknown. I studied prairie-chickens on private rangelands in Rock and Brown Counties from 2009-2011. I fitted 139 females with radio collars to locate nest and brood sites and to determine nest and brood survival rates. Females were trapped on leks during the breeding season and I monitored them throughout the …

Studies On The Small Ubiquitin-Like Modifier (Sumo) E2 Conjugases Of The Sumoylation System In Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii And Their Role In Stress Physiology, Amy R. Knobbe

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The eukaryotic protein post-translational modification by SUMOylation is involved in a diverse array of cellular processes, including various stress responses. A fully functional SUMOylation system is present in the unicellular green alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, and SUMOylation of multiple high molecular weight proteins is induced in response to abiotic stress in this organism. We report here the characterization of a SUMO E2 conjugase deletion mutant in C. reinhardtii, mut5. SUMO E2 conjugase enzymes are responsible for the conjugation of the protein SUMO to a lysine residue within a target protein. C. reinhardtii mutants in which the SUMO E2 …

Developing A High Throughput Protocol For Using Soil Molecular Biology As Trace Evidence, Sabreena A. Larson

Department of Biochemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The use of soil as trace evidence has changed significantly with the addition of new techniques. These techniques include using the biochemical molecules from soil microbial communities to make a fingerprint of the specific soil. This research examines the changes to the microbial community profile that take place during storage of a soil sample. To observe such changes both the DNA and fatty acid profiles will be examined.

The DNA profiles were made with capillary electrophoresis-single stranded conformation polymorphism (CE-SSCP). After statistical analysis using Bray-Curtis distances and ANOSIM (analysis of similarity) it was shown that storage of soil does not …

Conformational And Thermodynamic Properties Modulate The Nucleotide Excision Repair Of 2-Aminofluorene And 2-Acetylaminofluorene Dg Adducts In The Nari Sequence, Vipin Jain, Benjamin Hilton, Satyakam Patnaik, Yue Zou, M. Paul Chiarelli, Bongsup P. Cho

ETSU Faculty Works

Nucleotide excision repair (NER) is a major repair pathway that recognizes and corrects various lesions in cellular DNA. We hypothesize that damage recognition is an initial step in NER that senses conformational anomalies in the DNA caused by lesions. We prepared three DNA duplexes containing the carcinogen adduct N-(2′-deoxyguanosin-8-yl)-7-fluoro-2-acetylaminofluorene (FAAF) at G1, G2 or G3 of NarI sequence (5′-CCG1G2CG3CC-3′). Our 19F-NMR/ICD results showed that FAAF at G1 and G3 prefer syn S-and W-conformers, whereas anti B-conformer was predominant for G2. We found that the repair of FAAF occurs in a conformation-specific manner, i.e. the highly S/W-conformeric G3 and-G1 duplexes incised …

Β-Adrenergic Receptor Stimulation Induces Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress In Adult Cardiac Myocytes: Role In Apoptosis, Suman Dalal, Cerrone R. Foster, Bhudev C. Das, Mahipal Singh, Krishna Singh

ETSU Faculty Works

Accumulation of misfolded proteins and alterations in calcium homeostasis induces endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, leading to apoptosis. In this study, we tested the hypothesis that β-AR stimulation induces ER stress, and induction of ER stress plays a pro-apoptotic role in cardiac myocytes. Using thapsigargin and brefeldin A, we demonstrate that ER stress induces apoptosis in adult rat ventricular myocytes (ARVMs). β-AR-stimulation (isoproterenol; 3h) significantly increased expression of ER stress proteins, such as GRP-78, Gadd-153, and Gadd-34, while activating caspase-12 in ARVMs. In most parts, these effects were mimicked by thapsigargin. β-AR stimulation for 15 min increased PERK and eIF-2α phosphorylation. …

Genetic Variation In Field And Laboratory Populations Of The Spined Soldier Bug, Podisus Maculiventris, Kathleen Kneeland, Thomas A. Coudron, Erica Lindroth, David Stanley, John E. Foster

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

The predatory spined soldier bug, Podisus maculiventris (Say) (Heteroptera: Pentatomidae), is an economically important and highly valued biological control agent. There is substantial information on the biology, ecology, behavior, and rearing of this stink bug. However, virtually nothing is known of its genetic variation, in natural or domesticated populations. To address this lacuna, we used amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) to assess the genetic variability of field and laboratory populations. Four AFLP universal primer combinations yielded a total of 209 usable loci. The AFLP results showed greater genetic variability between populations from Missouri and Mississippi (both USA), and relatively low …

The Impact Of Gender And Pedagogy On The Development Of Self-Regulated Learning Strategies In Undergraduate Engineering Classrooms, Jennifer Walter

Master’s Theses

The purpose of this paper is to examine ways in which pedagogy and gender of instructor impact the development of self-regulated learning strategies as assessed by the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire (MSLQ) in male and female undergraduate engineering students. Pedagogy was operationalized as two general formats: lecture plus active learning techniques or problem-base/project-based learning. One hundred seventy-six students from four universities participated in the study. Within-group analyses found significant differences with regard to pedagogy, instructors’ gender, and student gender on the learning strategies and motivation subscales as operationalized by the MSLQ. Male and females students reported significant post-test differences …

Harry Potter And The Theory Of Things, Erica Maitland Lange

Master’s Theses

This thesis investigates the boundaries between body and object in J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series, seven children’s literature novels published between 1997 and 2007. Lord Voldemort, Rowling’s villain, creates Horcruxes—objects that contain fragments of his soul—in order to ensure his immortality. As vessels for human soul, these objects rupture the boundaries between body and object and become “things.” Using contemporary thing theorists including John Plotz and materialists Jean Baudrillard and Walter Benjamin, I look at Voldemort’s Horcruxes as transgressive, liminal, unclassifiable entities in the first chapter.

If objects can occupy the juncture between body and object, then bodies can as …

Sudden Increase And Regrowth Of Fecal Coliforms And Escherichia Coli In Wastewater Biosolids After High Solids Centrifugation, Gordon G. Araujo

Master’s Theses

Treatment plants that operate either thermophilic or mesophilic anaerobic digesters with centrifugal dewatering processes have consistently observed densities of fecal coliform and Escherichia coli, both indicator bacteria, that decrease during digestion but then increase after dewatering and storage. The increases have been characterized as two separate phenomena to explain this observation: 1) “Sudden Increase,” or SI, which is defined as the increase that occurs immediately after dewatering and 2) “regrowth,” which is defined as an increase during storage of cake samples over a period of hours or days. The SI observation appears to be more prevalent with biosolids that are …

Modeling The Combined Terrorist-Narcotics Trafficker Threat To National Security, Alexander Woodcock, Samuel Musa

Defense and Technology Papers

This modeling study demonstrated that model-generated data closely resembled actual reports about tons of disrupted narcotics substances in three consecutive years. the policy cycle model showed that increased rates of policy cycle activity increased the amount of narcotics disruption, while increased levels of corruption reduced those levels.

Arthritis – An Interactive Study Of Common Rheumatic Diseases, Giovanna Santoni

Theses

The purpose of this thesis was to develop an interactive educational tool about Arthritis for medical students at the University of Rochester School of Medicine (URMC). This consisted of an online tutorial that students can access at anytime on the web, containing all lecture material and supplemented by illustrations and animations on the subject. These audiovisual aids aim to engage the student in a study session where he/she can study the material and evaluate their progress in a direct self-paced manner during lecture or later during study sessions for future referencing. This website tutorial was designed using Macromedia Flash 8 …

Anxious Care, Shara Burrows

Theses

The intent of my thesis is to translate objects that relate to our bodies into glass and mixed media. The purpose of this endeavor is to create a dialogue between media and form about the fragile and dependent nature of human relationships. Glass breaks and it can be repaired. Glass objects must be handled with care. The material translation of functional objects into fragile glass forms supports the content of my work. The basic premise of my thesis is the universality of the human experience of loss. Everyone has or at some time will experience the death of a loved …

Formal, Bounded, And "Hyper" Rationality In Police Processing Of Sexual Assualt Claims: Case Dispositions And Ucr Reporting, Brooke M. Wagner

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over the past three decades, many scholars have examined the prevalence, consequences, and official sanctions of sexual violence. The following study builds on past research by quantitatively examining police and crime analyst discretion in sexual assault claims. Using recently accessed data from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department from 2008 through 2010 and utilizing labeling theory, rape myth literature, and the theoretical perspectives of justice processing outcomes, I assess the extent to which police officers and crime analysts are influenced by extralegal variables like victim and offender's race, victim's age, the location of assault, incident characteristics, and victim's background. I …

The Ncass The Student-Athlete: Reform Is On The Horizon, Mary Grace Miller

University of Richmond Law Review

No abstract provided.

Unexpected High Digestion Rate Of Cooked Starch By The Ct-Maltase-Glucoamylase Small Intestine Mucosal Α-Glucosidase Subunit., Amy Hui-Mei Lin, Buford L. Nichols, Roberto Quezada-Calvillo, Stephen E. Avery, Lyann Sim, David R. Rose, Hassan Y. Naim, Bruce R. Hamaker

Department of Food Science Faculty Publications

For starch digestion to glucose, two luminal α-amylases and four gut mucosal α-glucosidase subunits are employed. The aim of this research was to investigate, for the first time, direct digestion capability of individual mucosal α-glucosidases on cooked (gelatinized) starch. Gelatinized normal maize starch was digested with N- and C-terminal subunits of recombinant mammalian maltase-glucoamylase (MGAM) and sucrase-isomaltase (SI) of varying amounts and digestion periods. Without the aid of α-amylase, Ct-MGAM demonstrated an unexpected rapid and high digestion degree near 80%, while other subunits showed 20 to 30% digestion. These findings suggest that Ct-MGAM assists α-amylase in digesting starch molecules and …

Impact Of Meal Patterns On Caroteniod Absorption From Vegetables, Teryn Sapper

College of Health and Human Sciences Honors Program Undergraduate Theses

While the impact of food composition and processing on carotenoid bioavailability has been the subject of several investigations, the effect of meal patterning remains unknown. The aim of this pilot study was to assess the impact of select consumption patterns on the bioavailability of carotenoids from vegetables. On three randomized testing days, subjects consumed equal amounts of fat-free “chef’s salad” ingredients at two meals representing lunch and dinner, along with raw salad vegetables and 8g canola oil split between meals in the following patterns: 100 and 0%; 75 and 25%; and 50 and 50%. Blood was collected from 0-12h and …

Unexpected High Digestion Rate Of Cooked Starch By The Ct-Maltase-Glucoamylase Small Intestine Mucosal Α-Glucosidase Subunit., Amy Hui-Mei Lin, Buford L. Nichols, Roberto Quezada-Calvillo, Stephen E. Avery, Lyann Sim, David R. Rose, Hassan Y. Naim, Bruce R. Hamaker

Department of Speech, Language, and Hearing Sciences Faculty Publications

For starch digestion to glucose, two luminal α-amylases and four gut mucosal α-glucosidase subunits are employed. The aim of this research was to investigate, for the first time, direct digestion capability of individual mucosal α-glucosidases on cooked (gelatinized) starch. Gelatinized normal maize starch was digested with N- and C-terminal subunits of recombinant mammalian maltase-glucoamylase (MGAM) and sucrase-isomaltase (SI) of varying amounts and digestion periods. Without the aid of α-amylase, Ct-MGAM demonstrated an unexpected rapid and high digestion degree near 80%, while other subunits showed 20 to 30% digestion. These findings suggest that Ct-MGAM assists α-amylase in digesting starch molecules and …

1,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D Regulation Of Von Hippel-Lindau (Vhl) And Prolylhydroxylase 2 (Phd2) In Mcf10a Breast Epithelial Cells Containing The Harvey-Ras-Oncogene, Alle Barnard

College of Health and Human Sciences Honors Program Undergraduate Theses

No abstract provided.

Tuning The Bandgap Of An Amorphous Sputtered Germanium Photovoltaic Cell., Bryon Staebler 1979-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microfabricated planar solar cells with an active solar collection area of 0.04cm2 were fabricated on n-type silicon wafers to test the viability of sputtered amorphous thin film photovoltaics for potential use in amorphous multijunction cells or inexpensive laser detectors. Several variants based on the same photovoltaic cell design were produced using amorphous silicon, amorphous germanium, and amorphous germanium-tin to explore band gap depression phenomenon in amorphous thin films that had been previously described in crystalline germanium-tin and germanium-silicon-tin alloys. UV/VIS spectroscopy and Tauc Plot band gap analysis indicated that tin inclusion led to band gap depression of 0.046 eV for …

Trapping Of Nanoparticles With Dielectrophoretic Nano-Probes., Nicholas Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Dielectrophoresis (DEP) is an electrokinetic force capable of attracting or repelling neutrally charged particles due to a non-uniform electric field [1, 2]. Positive dielectrophoresis attracts particles in the region of the highest electric field gradient; negative dielectrophoresis repels particles from the region of the highest electric field gradient. The dielectrophoretic force is directly proportional to the square of the electric field gradient, as well as the cube of the radius of the particles involved. As particles decrease in size, the gradient of the electric field must increase rapidly in order to capture or repel the particles. The intense electric field …