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Examining The Role Of Interagency Coordination When Addressing Flood Risk Management And Flood Disasters In Southern Illinois, Irene J. Upson

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

From Sidebets To Sideshow: The Influence Of Gambling On The Development Of Professional Wrestling In America, 1870-1911, Lee Casebolt

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

While boxing and baseball have been common subjects of historical study, other sports of the nineteenth century have been comparatively neglected by historians. Professional wrestling, in particular, has received very little attention as a sport, as opposed to its twentieth century “sports entertainment” incarnation. What attention it has received has most commonly been through the lens of social history, focusing on wrestling as theater or its psychosexual overtones. Missing from its history is any consideration of the economic factors which influence the evolution of any professional endeavor. This paper explores the relationship between a wrestler’s payment and performance. Specifically, it …

Turing Test As A Defining Feature Of Ai-Completeness, Roman V. Yampolskiy

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

The paper contributes to the development of the theory of AI-Completeness by formalizing the notion of AI-Complete, C-Complete and AI-Hard problems. The intended goal is to provide a classification of problems in the field of Artificial General Intelligence. We prove Turing Test to be an instance of an AI-Complete problem and further show certain AI problems to be AI-Complete or AI-Hard via polynomial time reductions. Finally, the paper suggests some directions for future work on the theory of AI-Completeness.

Unprotected Sex: The Pregnancy Discrimination Act At 35, Deborah L. Brake, Joanna L. Grossman

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

Thirty-five years ago, Congress passed the Pregnancy Discrimination Act to overturn a Supreme Court decision refusing to recognize pregnancy discrimination as a form of discrimination based on sex. Now, three and a half decades later, women whose work lives are impacted by pregnancy are again finding themselves unprotected from discrimination. Lower court rulings have eviscerated the Act’s protections at the same time that an expansion of worker rights under the Americans with Disabilities Act should redound to the benefit of pregnant women by expanding the pool of comparators who receive accommodations. By following trends in discrimination law generally - equating …

What Was Wrong With The Record?, Ellen D. Katz

Articles

Shelby County v. Holder offers three reasons for why the record Congress amassed to support the 2006 reauthorization of the Voting Rights Act (VRA) was legally insufficient to justify the statute's continued regional application: (1) the problems Congress documented in 2006 were not as severe as those that prompted it to craft the regime in 1965; (2) these problems did not lead Congress to alter the statute's pre-existing coverage formula; and (3) these problems did not exclusively involve voter registration and the casting of ballots.

The Dual Standard Of Review In Contracts Clause Jurisprudence, Brenner M. Fissell

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

The article discusses American constitutional law, the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling in the 1977 case United States Trust Co. of New York v. New Jersey, and a reported dual standard of review in regards to Contracts Clause jurisprudence under the the nation's Constitution as of April 2013. Legislative repudiations of private agreements, government contracting, and public choice theory are addressed, along with trusteeship and police powers. A reasonableness analysis for contracts is mentioned.

Impact Of Nutritional Status On The Somatotropic Axis And Ghrelin In Phocid Seals, Rachael Dailey

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Metabolic hormones and their axes, including the target tissues and receptors, regulate the tissue specific utilization of nutrients with in the body. The purpose of this research was to understand the hormonal control of complex nutrient partitioning mechanisms involved in young, growing animals. Specifically, this involved the investigation of metabolic hormones and the regulation of growth in two common species of phocids (true seals): harbor seal (Phoca vitulina) and Northern elephant seal (Mirounga angustirostris) pups. This longitudinal study examines young phocids from nutritional nadir through realimentation (realimentation) to investigate how metabolic hormones involved in both food intake and nutrient partitioning …

The Eternal Present: Slow Knowledge And The Renewal Of Time, Douglas E. Christie

Theological Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

‘Jesus Wept’: Mourning As Imitation Of Christ In Bernard’S Sermon Twenty-Six On The Song Of Songs, Anna Harrison

Theological Studies Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Social-Context Based Routing And Security In Delay Tolerant Networks, Roy A. Cabaniss

Doctoral Dissertations

"Delay Tolerant Networks (DTNs) were originally intended for interplanetary communications and have been applied to a series of difficult environments: wireless sensor networks, unmanned aerial vehicles, and short-range personal communications. There is a class of such environments in which nodes follow semi-predictable social patterns, such as wildlife tracking or personal devices. This work introduces a series of algorithms designed to identify the social patterns present in these environments and apply this data to difficult problems, such as efficient message routing and content distribution. Security is also difficult in a mobile environment. This is especially the case in the event that …

Bioactive Glass Scaffolds For The Regeneration Of Load-Bearing Bone, Xin Liu

Doctoral Dissertations

"Biocompatible scaffolds that replicate the structure and function of bone would be ideal bone substitutes for structural bone loss, provided they have the requisite mechanical properties for reliable long-term loading. In this dissertation, strong porous scaffolds of silicate 13-93 bioactive glass, created with two different microstructures, were evaluated to determine their mechanical properties and their capacity to regenerate bone in a rat calvarial defect model. Scaffolds with an oriented microstructure of columnar pores were prepared by unidirectional freezing of camphene-based suspensions, followed by thermal annealing and sintering. By optimizing the freezing conditions, annealing time, and sintering temperature, constructs (porosity = …

Effect Of Dense Heat Exchanging Internals On The Hydrodynamics Of Bubble Column Reactors Using Non-Invasive Measurement Techniques, Mohammed Khloofh Al Mesfer

Doctoral Dissertations

"Given their efficiency and capital cost reduction, bubble/slurry bubble column reactors are the reactors of choice for Fischer-Tropsch (FT) synthesis, offering clean alternative fuels and chemicals. FT synthesis is an exothermic process that requires many heat exchanging tubes in order to remove heat efficiently and maintain the desired temperature and isothermal operating condition. The impact of the heat exchanging tubes (internals) on the hydrodynamics is not fully understood. Reliably designing and scaling up bubble column reactors requires proper understanding of hydrodynamics, as well as heat and mass transfer parameters.

The main objective of this work is to advance the understanding …

Evaluation Of Single Electron Transfer Reduction Products Of 3-Oxoindoles As Antibacterial Agents, Debasish Bandyopadhyay, Irani Biswas, Subrata Laskar, Bidyut Basak

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Objective: The objective of the present study is to assess the antibacterial properties of six indole derivatives viz, 3-(Naphth-1-y - methyl) –indole (II), 3-(1-Naphthylcarbonyl – indole (III), 3,3' –diformyl-2,2' –bis indole (IV), 1,4- (3,3' –di indolyl) – 1,4-dioxobutane (V), 3-benzoyl indole (VI) and 1,1 – bis – (3-indolyl)- ethane (VII) synthesized by single electron transfer reduction of 3-formylindole (I) against two Gram +ve and two Gram –ve bacteria which usually cause human infections.

Methods: Synthesis of 3-formyl indole from which the indole derivatives were prepared were further characterized by IR and NMR analysis. The six synthesized compounds were screened for …

Photothermal Desorption Of Toluene From Single Walled Carbon Nanotube And Activated Carbon Sorbents, Evan Lee Floyd

All ETDs from UAB

Millions of workers are occupationally exposed to volatile organic compounds (VOC) annually, requiring exposure assessments through air sampling. Reducing time to knowledge while maintaining adequate sensitivity and affordability is a constant struggle. Sorbent sampling is the preferred technique for VOC exposure assessments. Chemical desorption of sorbents is the most common desorption technique, but sensitivity is limited due to the small injection fraction. Thermal desorption has excellent sensitivity, but provides only one analysis per sample and is cost prohibitive. The goal of this dissertation was to develop a desorption technique that bridges the sensitivity gap between chemical desorption (0.1%) and thermal …

The Development Of An In Vitro Surrogate Assay For Screening Protective Antibodies Against Pneumococcal Surface Protein A (Pspa), Kristopher Ruben Genschmer

All ETDs from UAB

PCV13 is the current pneumococcal protein conjugated vaccine made up of the 13 most clinically relevant capsular polysaccharides. While protective, it is limited to a small portion of the overall serotypes of Streptococcus pneumoniae. The possibility of "serotype replacement" by serotypes not covered by the vaccine and the high cost of producing this conjugated polysaccharide vaccine stress the need for a protein based vaccine, one that is more broad in its protection. Pneumococcal surface protein A (PspA) has been shown to be both immunogenic and protective in mice and is a promising protein vaccine candidate. However, there are no current …

Predictors Of Physical Activity In Child And Adolescent Survivors Of Cancer, Margaux Barnes Gilliam

All ETDs from UAB

Childhood cancer survivors are at increased risk for future health problems. As such, physical activity (PA) has been targeted as a health promotion priority in child and adolescent cancer survivors. Despite research suggesting PA has protective health benefits, a large proportion of survivors do not meet PA recommendations. Development of effective interventions to increase PA in pediatric cancer survivors requires an understanding of the processes that determine survivor PA. Research on the determinants of PA in child and adolescent survivors is sparse, with most research focusing on late adolescent, young adult, and adult survivors of childhood cancer. The following papers …

Experience-Dependent Synaptic Integration Of Adult-Generated Dentate Granule Cells, Jessica Hotard Chancey

All ETDs from UAB

The dentate gyrus (DG) contains neural stem cells that continually generate new neurons throughout life. The contribution of adult neurogenesis to hippocampal function is not well understood, but ablation or silencing of adult-generated neurons in the DG disrupts learning and memory, and neurogenesis is altered in many pathologies associated with impaired cognition including Alzheimer's Disease, epilepsy, and schizophrenia. Neurogenesis in the DG is a stepwise process in which neural stem cells leave the cell cycle and undergo an approximately two month long maturation process to form fully functional dentate granule cells (GCs) that are indistinguishable from those formed during development. …

Targeting Ovarian Cancer Through Epigallocatechin Gallate And Sulforaphane Combinational Treatment, Huaping Chen

All ETDs from UAB

The cellular development of resistance to chemotherapy contributes to the high mortality noted in patients affected by ovarian cancer. Novel compounds that can enhance efficacy of conventional chemotherapy or target both drug-sensitive and -resistant ovarian cancers directly are highly desired. Previous epidemiological studies indicate that consumption of green tea and cruciferous vegetables is inversely associated with occurrence of ovarian cancer. Therefore, revealing the effects and mechanisms of major components of green tea (epigallocatechin gallate, EGCG) and cruciferous vegetables (sulforaphane, SFN) on ovarian cancer cells will provide necessary knowledge for developing potential novel treatments for the disease. Since drug resistance generation …

Cortical Thickness In Amnestic Mild Cognitive Impairment And Its Relationships With Neuropsychological Functioning And Financial Capacity, Jacquelynn Nicosia Copeland

All ETDs from UAB

Diagnostic criteria for amnestic mild cognitive impairment (aMCI) include subjective memory complaint, objective memory impairment, preserved general cognitive function, intact functional abilities, and absence of dementia diagnosis (Petersen, 2004). However, there is evidence to suggest that some aMCI patients show declines in complex instrumental activities of daily living. Under the conceptual model proposed in this study, neuropathological changes occurring in the brain of aMCI and Alzheimer's disease (AD) patients underlie specific forms of neurocognitive dysfunction, which in turn drive decline in everyday functional skills such as financial capacity. The current study examined the relationships between structural brain changes in aMCI, …

The Molecular Basis Of Male Sex Determination During Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination, Kayla Bieser

All ETDs from UAB

The red-eared slider turtle (Trachemys scripta) possesses temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) in which the incubation temperature of the developing embryo determines gonadal sex. Although a number of mammalian gene homologues have been identified in the sex determination/differentiation cascade of reptiles with TSD, the exact trigger(s) is not well understood. As such, this dissertation research addresses the mRNA expression profiles of putative sex-determining/differentiation genes (Dmrt1, Sox9, Amh, Lhx9, and Foxl2) with an emphasis on the male cascade in embryonic gonads of T. scripta. Additionally, this research addresses the influence of exogenous estrogen and aromatase inhibitors on gene expression. Lastly, this dissertation …

Tuberculosis Verrucosa Cutis In A Patient With Keloid Over Ear Lobule, Muhammad Sohail Halim, Sadaf Qadeer Ahmed, Montasir Junaid, Muhammad Rizwan Bashir

Section of Otolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery

Tuberculosis (TB) is a global health problem with predominance in resource-poor countries. Extrapulmonary TB constitutes approximately 10% of the cases and can present as different forms depending on the route of entry. Cutaneous TB is a small subset of the extrapulmonary TB. Cutaneous TB can either be of primary origin or secondary origin or it can be a part of a systemic infection. TB verrucosa cutis (TBVC) is the exogenous reinfection of TB in a previously sensitised patient. Routine cultures do not have a high yield in TBVC due to the paucibacillary nature of the organism. Here we are presenting …

Neural Substrates That Mediate Learning-Related Changes In The Emotional Response To A Threat, Joshua Richard Shumen

All ETDs from UAB

Recognizing cues that predict a threat allows one to react more effectively under threatening conditions, attenuating or potentiating the response to the threat depending on the circumstances. This is demonstrated during Pavlovian fear conditioning when the unconditioned response (UCR) to a predictable unconditioned stimulus (UCS) is diminished compared to the UCR of an unpredictable UCS (Dunsmoor, Bandettini, & Knight, 2008; Wood, Ver Hoef, & Knight, 2012). In the current study skin conductance, electromyography (orbicularis oculi), UCS expectancy, and blood oxygen level dependent (BOLD) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) were assessed during a Pavlovian temporal fear conditioning paradigm. Right-handed volunteers were …

Ultrasound And Microbubbles: A Role In Cancer, Anna Sorace

All ETDs from UAB

Successful cancer treatment relies on the sensitivity to monitor cancer response to therapy and the ability to efficiently deliver drugs to the tumor. Cancer research has continuously improved patient outcomes over the last decades; however, it is still the second leading cause of death in the United States. It is essential to improve methods to progress all areas of cancer treatment, including monitoring and drug delivery. Ultrasound (US) is a popular clinical imaging modality due to its low levels of radiation, portability, and cost effective imaging. These advantageous characteristics have allowed for novel research advancements in the US field including …

The Role Of O-Glcnacylation In Synaptic Function, Erica Wynette Taylor

All ETDs from UAB

O-GlcNAcylation is a dynamic protein posttranslational modification that adds the monosaccharide ß-N-acetylglucosamine (GlcNAc) to specific serine and threonine residues on nucleocytoplasmic proteins. The hippocampus is a part of brain that has been shown to play a crucial role in learning and memory. Hippocampal neurons have high expression of O-GlcNAc transferase and O-GlcNAcase, which catalyze the addition and removal of GlcNAc from proteins respectively. Moreover, synaptic plasticity which is the strengthening or weakening of synaptic function on short- and long-term time scales is believed to be a cellular correlate of learning and memory. Several forms of synaptic plasticity have been characterized …

Role Of Kca3.1, A Calcium-Activated Potassium Channel, In Cell Migration In The Adult Brain, Kathryn L. Turner

All ETDs from UAB

A limited amount of migration occurs in the adult brain, including migration of neuroblasts during adult neurogenesis and pathological migration of primary brain tumors. Ion channels are commonly utilized during migration to allow shape and volume changes required for cell movement, and we specifically examine the role of KCa3.1 in the adult brain. These channels are well-suited to facilitate movement because they respond to common migration signals, i.e. intracellular Ca2+ changes, and efflux K+, allowing the outflow of water and cell volume regulation. Our findings suggest that KCa3.1 is highly expressed in migratory cells, adult neuroblasts and glioma cells, but …

The Effects Of Nicotine On The Human Adult Visual Pathway And Processing, Stefanie B. Varghese

All ETDs from UAB

Nicotine, the primary addictive component found in tobacco/cigarettes, can bind to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChR), which are found throughout the central nervous system including the retina of the eye. Previous studies have shown nAChR expression in the retina of non-human and human (Hutchins & Hollyfield, 1985; Liu et al., 2009). By use of electrophysiologic measures, i.e. electroretinograms (ERGs), early reports indicated that nicotine and/or cigarette smoking affects vision and visual processing in different species (Jurklies, Kaelin-Lang, & Niemeyer, 1996; Jünemann & Damaske, 1968). Because previous human studies have used only cigarette smokers, there are questions about what role nicotine, itself, …

The Impact Of Fine Sensor Spacing On Complex Tissue Impedance Spectra Measurements In Rabbit Ventricular Epicardium, Charlotte Mae Kent Waits

All ETDs from UAB

Our research group recently developed an instrumentation and signal processing approach that overcomes many of the obstacles associated with using small sensors to complete complex composite impedance (uCI) measurements, whose amplitude and phase depend upon the tissue's resistive and capacitive properties. The goal of this study was to test the feasibility of using smaller electrodes with finer separations than sizes traditionally employed in cardiac electrophysiologic studies with whole hearts to resolve uCI spectra in terms of magnitude (|uCI|) and phase (

The Role Of Pneumococcal Choline-Binding Protein A (Pcpa) In The Mechanism Of Virulence And Protective Immunity, Melissa Marie Walker

All ETDs from UAB

pcpA is under control of the Mn 2-dependent repressor PsaR. In the high manganese environment of mucosal sites pcpA gene expression is repressed and at the low manganese environment of the lung and blood derepression of pcpA gene expressionis observed. Previous data has shown that immunization of mice with rPcpA elicits protection against pneumonia and sepsis but had no effect on nasal colonization. We and others have shown that pcpA expression significantly enhances adherence of pneumococci to lung epithelial cell lines and although it is a virulence factor for pneumonia in mice there is no biologically relevant role for PcpA …

Anti-Group B Streptococci Monoclonal Antibodies Protect Against Invasive Aspergillosis, Rebekah Wharton

All ETDs from UAB

Aspergillus fumigatus is a ubiquitous saprophytic fungus which can potentially cause life-threatening infections in immunocompromised individuals. Although a serious threat, current treatments are largely ineffective at reducing morbidity and mortality. To this end, we have characterized a monoclonal antibody generated against Group B Streptococci, type Ib, which also recognizes Aspergillus fumigatus conidia and hyphae. We show that this antibody appears to bind a similar epitope on both pathogens and provides a significant degree of protection in a murine model of invasive aspergillosis via a mechanism that appears to be dependent on complement. The studies we performed using this antibody should …

Genetic And Biochemical Characterizations Of The Capsular Glycosyltransferases In Streptococcus Pneumoniae Serotype 2, David Boyd Anthony James

All ETDs from UAB

The principle objective of this dissertation is to develop a thorough understanding of the genetics and biochemistry of capsule synthesis. Specifically, it involves the identification and characterization of the capsular glycosyltransferases in Streptococcus pneumoniae serotype 2, with investigations into their regulation. S. pneumoniae (the pneumococcus) is a significant human pathogen that has the ability to persist as a commensal and then transition to a virulent state, the latter of which is a major contributor to global morbidity and mortality. The capsular polysaccharide (CPS) of S. pneumoniae is a protective surface structure that plays an integral role in this disease process. …