Digital Commons Network^™

The Advocate, September 10, 2013, Minnesota State University Moorhead

The Advocate

No abstract provided.

Reducing The Cost Of Soil Mapping In Precision Agriculture, Elizabeth Gillins, Dr. Ruth Kerry

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Using electrical conductivity data (ECa) in soil survey is related to several soil properties. Particular use has been made of ECa data in precision agriculture because it is related to properties that could affect crop yield. Although theoretically sound reasons exist to explain these relationships, they vary spatially, making ECa data interpretation difficult, even within fields.

Identification Of An Evolutionarily Conserved Cis-Regulatory Element Controlling The Peg3 Imprinted Domain, Michelle M. Thiaville, Hana Kim, Wesley D. Frey, Joomyeong Kim

Faculty Publications

The mammalian Peg3 domain harbors more than 20 evolutionarily conserved regions (ECRs) that are spread over the 250-kb genomic interval. The majority of these ECRs are marked with two histone modifications, H3K4me1 and H3K27ac, suggesting potential roles as distant regulatory elements for the transcription of the nearby imprinted genes. In the current study, the chromatin conformation capture (3C) method was utilized to detect potential interactions of these ECRs with the imprinted genes. According to the results, one region, ECR18, located 200-kb upstream of Peg3 interacts with the two promoter regions of Peg3 and Zim2. The observed interaction is most prominent …

A Review Of Vaccine Approaches For West Nile Virus, Arun V. Iyer, Konstantin G. Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

The West Nile virus (WNC) first appeared in North America in 1999. The North American lineages of WNV were characterized by the presence of neuroinvasive and neurovirulent strains causing disease and death in humans, birds and horses. The 2012 WNV season in the United States saw a massive spike in the number of neuroinvasive cases and deaths similar to what was seen in the 2002-2003 season, according to the West Nile virus disease cases and deaths reported to the CDC by year and clinical presentation, 1999-2012, by ArboNET (Arboviral Diseases Branch, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention). In addition, the …

Christian Hand-Bells In Celtic Lands, Adam Crandell, Dr. E. Harrison Powley

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The zealous Christian missionary Patrick arrived in Ireland in 432 A.D., laboring to introduce to the Celtic tribes there the gospel and monasticism. He used bells, among other clerical instruments, for this purpose. Bells were employed to sundry ends, from the mundane gathering of the missionaries to the more miraculous effecting of curses. His followers, both members of the church and fellow missionaries, revered the bells that Patrick used. Accordingly, his bells would become treated as relics, passed down from cleric to cleric as a divine investiture. Other later missionaries like Columba, Columbanus, and Ninian would also adopt the use …

The Lion And The Mouse, Blake Johnson, Kelly Loosli

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The traditionally animated student short film The Lion and the Mouse has been in production for several years here at BYU. Within a year after it started in 2001 it was set aside due to the rapid advancement of the computer graphic or CG animation world.

Rebirth, Individuation And Illumination, Mary E. Illions Wilde, Claudia Harris

Journal of Undergraduate Research

For my project, I analyzed Zora Neale Hurston’s novel, Their Eyes Were Watching God, and D. H. Lawrence’s short story, The Horse Dealer’s Daughter, using the Mythic/Archetypal approach. First I identified the archetypes of water, light and mud in both works and intended to compare the way each author used them. As I proceeded with my research, however, I could not find any literary criticism that compared Hurston’s novel with Lawrence’s short story nor any criticism that focused on my topic in either of the works alone. I had stepped off an edge. The primary sources thus became …

Induced Plant Defenses, Host-Pathogen Interactions, And Forest Insect Outbreaks, Bret D. Elderd, Brian J. Rehill, Kyle J. Haynes, Greg Dwyer

Faculty Publications

Cyclic outbreaks of defoliating insects devastate forests, but their causes are poorly understood. Outbreak cycles are often assumed to be driven by density-dependent mortality due to natural enemies, because pathogens and predators cause high mortality and because natural-enemy models reproduce fluctuations in defoliation data. The role of induced defenses is in contrast often dismissed, because toxic effects of defenses are often weak and because induced-defense models explain defoliation data no better than naturalenemy models. Natural-enemy models, however, fail to explain gypsy moth outbreaks in North America, in which outbreaks in forests with a higher percentage of oaks have alternated between …

The Daily Egyptian, September 10, 2013, Daily Egyptian Staff

September 2013

No abstract provided.

An Examination Of The Relationship Between Exposure To Violence In The Home And Attachment Characteristics Among Youth With Sexually Harmful Bahaviors, Talia J. Jackson

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between exposure to violence in the home and attachment characteristics in youth with sexually harmful behaviors. In this study the following was investigated: whether maternal/paternal attachment plays a mediating role in the relationship between exposure to violence in the home (both experienced and witnessed) and adolescent sexual/non-sexual offending. The sample size was 296 male youth with sexually harmful behaviors placed in six residential treatment facilities. Four mediation models were used to examine attachment and exposure to violence in the home in youth with sexually harmful behaviors. Results showed no support …

The Parthenon, September 10, 2013, Bishop Nash

The Parthenon

The Parthenon, Marshall University’s student newspaper, is published by students Monday through Friday during the regular semester and weekly Thursday during the summer. The editorial staff is responsible for the news and the editorial content.

Patterns Of Senescence In Human Cardiovascular Fitness: Vo2 Max In Subsistence And Industrialized Populations, Anne C. Pisor, Michael Gurven, Aaron D. Blackwell, Hillard Kaplan, Gandhi Yetish

ESI Publications

Objectives—This study explores whether cardiovascular fitness levels and senescent decline are similar in the Tsimane of Bolivia and Canadians, as well as other subsistence and industrialized populations. Among Tsimane, we examine whether morbidity predicts lower levels and faster decline of cardiovascular fitness, or whether their lifestyle (e.g., high physical activity) promotes high levels and slow decline. Alternatively, high activity levels and morbidity might counterbalance such that Tsimane fitness levels and decline are similar to those in industrialized populations.

Methods—Maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max) was estimated using a step test heart rate method for 701 participants. We compared these estimates …

Volume 111, Number 2 - Tuesday, September 10, 2013, Saint Mary's College Of California

The Collegian

No abstract provided.

Tumor Drug Concentration Due To Ultrasonic Drug Delivery, Bryant Staples, Dr. William Pitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The tri-block copolymer, Pluronic P105, has been found to be an ideal ultrasonically activated drug delivery vehicle because it forms micelles with hydrophobic polypropylene oxide cores that sequester hydrophobic drugs (Fig. 1). These micelles release their contents upon the application of low frequency ultrasound [1] such that drugs can be released specifically at the ultrasonicated region (Fig. 2). Such ultrasonically controlled release has been effective against cancer cells in vitro [2] and in vivo [3].

Scar Effects On Vocal Fold Vibration, Todd Groesbeck, Dr. Scott Thomson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The influence of scarring on the vocal folds is of great interest to the speech community. Surgeons, educators, and vocalists all have interest in understanding what causes vocal fold damage, and how such damage may be repaired. Frequently, repair requires surgery, and the surgery may result in scarring. Scarring results in impaired vibration, thus altering the quality of the individual’s voice.

Education In Rural Mexico: What Stops Students?, Jared A. Wilkerson, Dr. Harold Miller

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Providing regular education in rural Mexico has been a focus for the Mexican government for the last few decades. Even twenty years ago, many teachers were quite unwilling to visit rural areas, where the facilities and transportation were far under par. By the beginning of this decade, however, kindergarten and elementary schools had reached even the most remote parts of the country, with middle schools and high schools increasingly accessible to all potential students. Seeing the still-low rates of rural student matriculation, and especially noting the extremely low rates of male education, I wondered what inhibited youth from finishing, or …

Annual Fire Safety Report For Year 2012, Illinois State University, Environmental Health And Safety

Fire Safety Annual Reports

The Higher Education Opportunity Act (HEOA) requires all institutions of higher education that provide residential housing facilities for students to develop an annual fire safety report. Elements of Illinois State University’s campus fire safety program consists of: fire prevention policies and practices, fire safety educational and training initiatives, description of fire protection equipment in the residence halls, emergency evacuation procedures, fire safety statistics, and plans for future improvements to the residence hall campus fire safety program. The annual fire safety report summarizes the elements of the campus fire safety program, which is administered and maintained by Environmental Health and Safety …

Neuroprotective Effect Of Arctigenin Via Upregulation Of P-Creb In Mouse Primary Neurons And Human Sh-Sy5y Neuroblastoma Cells., Nan Zhang, Qingping Wen, Lu Ren, Wenbo Liang, Yang Xia, Xiaodan Zhang, Dan Zhao, Dong Sun, Yv Hu, Haiguang Hao, Yaping Yan, Guangxian Zhang, Jingxian Yang, Tingguo Kang

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

Arctigenin (Arc) has been shown to act on scopolamine-induced memory deficit mice and to provide a neuroprotective effect on cultured cortical neurons from glutamate-induced neurodegeneration through mechanisms not completely defined. Here, we investigated the neuroprotective effect of Arc on H89-induced cell damage and its potential mechanisms in mouse cortical neurons and human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells. We found that Arc prevented cell viability loss induced by H89 in human SH-SY5Y cells. Moreover, Arc reduced intracellular beta amyloid (Aβ) production induced by H89 in neurons and human SH-SY5Y cells, and Arc also inhibited the presenilin 1(PS1) protein level in neurons. In addition, …

Comparative Morphology Of The Hominin And African Ape Hyoid Bone, A Possible Marker Of The Evolution Of Speech, James Steele, Margaret Clegg, Sandra Martelli

Human Biology Open Access Pre-Prints

This study examines the morphology of the hyoid in three closely related species, Homo sapiens, Pan troglodytes and Gorilla gorilla. Differences and similarities between the hyoids of these species are characterised, and used to interpret the morphology and affinities of the Dikika A. afarensis, Kebara 2 Neanderthal, and other fossil hominin hyoid bones.

Humans and African apes are found to have distinct hyoid morphologies. In humans the maximum width across the distal tips of the articulated greater horns is usually slightly greater than the maximum length (distal greater horn tip to most anterior point of the hyoid body …

Economic Impact Assessment Of Sorghum, Millet And Other Grains Crsp: Sorghum And Millet Germplasm Development Research, Timothy J. Dalton, Yacob A. Zereyesus

INTSORMIL Scientific Publications

As a result of the offsetting effect of a rise in productivity and decline in harvested area, the world sorghum production (tonnes) has been on a horizontal trend. The combined effect of a decline in area harvested and a rise in yield productivity have resulted in an overall increase in world millet production (tonnes) trend.

During the last three decades, significant numbers of breeding lines, parental stocks, germplasm and cultivars have been released through INTSORMIL/host countries collaboration around the world. Some of the remarkable breeding success stories include the release of the first hybrid sorghum Hageen Dura (HD-1) and Striga …

Sustainable Rural Entrepreneurship: A Case In Hungary, Szilvia Luda

Journal of Environmental Sustainability

Hungary, along with the other member states of the EU, is making efforts to diminish the social and economic gap between the different regions of the country. EU cohesion funds are designed to serve this goal. However, the utilization of these resources is not efficient enough. The problem is exacerbated by how the disadvantaged regions are supported. Support is provided on the basis of various indicators, such as per capita GDP, life expectancy, residents’ educational status, etc. Omitted from this indicator set is reference to the environment or other structural characteristics of the region (such as proximity to big cities; …

Learning To See: Contribution To An Analysis Of The Teaching Of Free Hand Drawing By Kari Liv Brundin Torjussen At Oslo National College Of Art And Design, 1947-1990, Grete Refsum

Learn X Design Conference Series

The National College of Art and Design (Norwegian abbreviation: SHKS) in Norway was established in 1818, as a school for educating craftsmen and artists. Until late 20th century, free hand drawing was its foundational subject. Today, this is no longer the case, and the recurrent questions are: Which competences do design students need in free hand drawing, how should this subject be taught, and what should the education curriculum comprise? This paper aims at clarifying the tradition in which free hand drawing is embedded. Asking what the institutional teaching of free hand drawing actually was, reveals that little information is …

A Behavioral Evaluation Of Sex Differences In A Mouse Model Of Severe Neuronal Migration Disorder, Dongnhu T. Truong, Ashley Bonet, Amanda R. Rendall, Glenn D. Rosen, Roslyn Holly Fitch

Open Access Author Fund Awardees' Articles

Disruption of neuronal migration in humans is associated with a wide range of behavioral and cognitive outcomes including severe intellectual disability, language impairment, and social dysfunction. Furthermore, malformations of cortical development have been observed in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders (e.g. autism and dyslexia), where boys are much more commonly diagnosed than girls (estimates around 4 to 1). The use of rodent models provides an excellent means to examine how sex may modulate behavioral outcomes in the presence of comparable abnormal neuroanatomical presentations. Initially characterized by Rosen et al. 2012, the BXD29- Tlr4(lps-2J) /J mouse mutant exhibits a highly penetrant …

Current, September 09, 2013, University Of Missouri-St. Louis

Current (2010s)

No abstract provided.

Visual-Motor Development In South Indian School Children: Environmental Complexity’S Relationship With Cortical Development, Christine H. Walton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Previous neurological studies have found the degree of environmental complexity influences the acquisition and development of motor skills in human infants as well as animal models. During a critical period in human development, which is believed to span the first 6-10 years for human visual-motor development, neurons grow and solidify appropriate connections. Signals sent from cell to cell are insulated by additional protective cells in a process called myelination. These postnatal cognitive developments are influenced by sensory input and experience. It appears that deprivation of appropriate stimuli in a subject’s surroundings at this time results in decreased cognitive development as …

Antiobesity Effect Of Caraway Extract On Overweight And Obese Women: A Randomized, Triple-Blind, Placebo-Controlled Clinical Trial, Mahnaz Kazemipoor, Che Wan Jasimah Wan Mohamed Radzi, Majid Hajifaraji, Batoul Sadat Haerian, Mohammad Hossein Mosaddegh, Geoffrey A. Cordell

Research Publications (2011 to 2015)

Caraway (Carum carvi L.), a potent medicinal plant, is traditionally used for treating obesity. This study investigates the weight-lowering effects of caraway extract (CE) on physically active, overweight and obese women through a randomized, triple-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial. Seventy overweight and obese, healthy, aerobic-trained, adult females were randomly assigned to two groups (n - 35 per group). Participants received either 30 mL/day of CE or placebo without changing their diet or physical activity. Subjects were examined at baseline and after 90 days for changes in body composition, anthropometric indices, and clinical and paraclinical variables. The treatment group, compared with placebo, …

Bone Ashing To Measure The Effects Of Vitamin K In Bone Mineral Density In Rats, Michael Draney, Dr. Robert Davidson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Millions of people throughout the world suffer from osteoporosis. It is a degenerative disease that is characterized by increased bone fragility and decreased bone mineral and bone density.

Testing Nuclear Primers, Nathaniel Ralston, Dr. Keith Crandall

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Crustaceans are some of the richest multi-cellular animals in the world in terms of species. Within the crustaceans the decapods are chief in species numbers and diversity with over 15,000. Among these are the very familiar and well-known species, such as crayfish, shrimp, and crabs, although there also are many lesser known groups as well. The current classification tells us that there are approximately 62,000 species of Crustacea in the world among 849 families. Approximately 152 of those families belong to the Decapoda. To add to this, the decapods have been referred to as “the pinnacle of crustacean evolution.” Knowing …

The Investigation Of X-Ray Diffraction Patterns From Human Hair In Correlation With Dietary Habits, Savannah Gore, Beverly L. Roeder

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Eating disorders, namely anorexia nervosa (AN) and bulimia nervosa (BN), are a serious problem affecting 1-5% of high school and college age women in the US. Unfortunately, the diagnostic methods used to determine if an individual is suffering from AN or BN are, for the most part, based on fallible self-report data. In an attempt to alleviate this problem, a quantitative, biologically based test able to accurately diagnosis AN 80% of the time using carbon and nitrogen stable isotope fractionation in hair was developed. In an effort to raise the accuracy of this test, I looked at x-ray diffraction patterns …

Cloning Bovine Ccl28, Melissa Hughes, Dr. Eric Wilson

Journal of Undergraduate Research

I have successfully completed my project of cloning CCL28. CCL28 (MEC) is a protein that acts as a chemical signal in the body to attract antibody-secreting IgA cells that expresses a receptor called CCR10 to the mucosal tissue and to the mammary gland (1). CCL28 plays a vital role in allowing the maternal antibody secreting cells to home to the mammary gland and to pass antibodies to the breast-feeding infant, giving the infant passive immunity. This provides the infant with antibodies to antigens found in the mother’s environment (which is consequently the infant’s environment as well) and decreases mortality rates. …