Digital Commons Network^™

Optimization Of Spray Droplet Size For Drug Delivery To The Deep Lung, Renee Worden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The lower respiratory regions of the lung boast over 900 million alveoli with a combined 85 m2 of surface area of near direct access to the bloodstream. Within the last century the immense potential of the deep lung as a site for the delivery of drugs has begun to be exploited and today pulmonary delivery of aerosolized therapeutic is commonplace. However, the high inter- and intra-patient variability in dosing is almost completely ignored. Currently, no steps are being taken to mitigate the sources of variability beyond injection into the upper airways. This study seeks to prove that a careful selection …

Mechanisms Of Hypoglycemia-Associated Autonomic Failure In Diabetes, Philip E. Cryer

Open Access Publications

No abstract provided.

'Cat Tracks, Katherine Brackmann, Linfield Magazine Staff

Linfield Magazine

News briefs and updates about student athletes, coaches, and alumni

With One Breath, Jessica Solfest

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Biologists know that the cardiovascular and respiratory systems interact and coordinate via the baroreflex and other pathways, but there is still much to discover regarding the dynamical aspects of their communication. Synchronization patterns between the respiratory and cardiovascular systems evince their interaction. This thesis focuses on the synchronization of cardiovascular and respiratory activity. I analyze the frequency of this synchrony to determine patterns and characterize the systems’ adaptability to changes in the environment. I applied time series analysis and Markov processes to dynamical systems in an attempt to unearth meaning behind cardiorespiratory communicative mysteries. Through this research, I found that …

Gonzaga University Factbook 2013-14, Institutional Research, Gonzaga University

Institutional Research

The Gonzaga University Factbook contains information on student enrollments, demographic profiles, admissions statistics, majors, retention and graduation rates, degree completions, faculty information, and more. It is updated annually with the most current and commonly-needed information about Gonzaga University.

On Design And Implementation Of An Embedded System For Neural-Machine Interface For Artificial Legs, Xiaorong Zhang

Open Access Dissertations

According to limb loss statistics, there are over one million leg amputees in the US whose lives are severely impacted by their conditions. In order to improve the quality of life of patients with leg amputations, neural activities have been studied by many researchers for intuitive prosthesis control. The neural signals collected from muscles are electromyographic (EMG) signals, which represent neuromuscular activities and are effective bioelectrical signals for expressing movement intent. EMG pattern recognition (PR) is a widely used method for characterizing EMG signals and classifying movement intent. The key to the success of neural-controlled artificial limbs is the neural-machine …

Osteopathic Medical Student Knowledge Of And Attitudes Toward Chronic Pain, Amelia Grace Gradwell

PCOM Psychology Dissertations

Chronic pain is a prevalent presenting problem for patients in medical settings, yet how physician knowledge and attitudes about those with chronic pain may influence the treatment of this condition is not fully understood. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the knowledge and attitudes of osteopathic medical students about pain management, with particular emphasis on chronic pain, in an effort to address the lack of chronic pain research currently available. A review of current literature, including an overview of chronic pain, is included. This study used original data, collected from first and fourth year D.O. students at a …

Doc 2013-01 Master Of Physician Assistant Practice (Mpap) Program, University Of Dayton. School Of Education And Allied Professions

Senate Documents

Constitution of the Academic Senate of the University of Dayton, Academic Senate DOC 11-04

Ethical Leadership: Need For Cross-Cultural Examinations, Shuo Tian

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study examined the difference in perceptions among college students on ethical leadership. Ethical leadership has become an increasingly important business issue as corruptions and scandals grow in the 21st century. Unethical leadership has been known to cause major embarrassment for institutions from government to business, and is not a well-researched area among leadership researchers. The procedure included creating an online survey based on the GLOBE study, which examined the Character/Integrity, Altruism, Collective Motivation, and Encouragement aspects of ethical leadership. This online survey was than assessed to students from a variety of cultural backgrounds. Students were recruited from a large …

Board Of Regents Meeting Materials, December 10, 2013, Eastern Michigan University

Board of Regents Meeting Materials

No abstract provided.

Simulation-Based Cognitive Workload Modeling And Evaluation Of Adaptive Automation Invoking And Revoking Strategies, Christina Rusnock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In human-computer systems, such as supervisory control systems, large volumes of incoming and complex information can degrade overall system performance. Strategically integrating automation to offload tasks from the operator has been shown to increase not only human performance but also operator efficiency and safety. However, increased automation allows for increased task complexity, which can lead to high cognitive workload and degradation of situational awareness. Adaptive automation is one potential solution to resolve these issues, while maintaining the benefits of traditional automation. Adaptive automation occurs dynamically, with the quantity of automated tasks changing in real-time to meet performance or workload goals. …

Biodiplomacy: A Better Approach To Dual Use Concerns, Victoria Sutton

Saint Louis University Journal of Health Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Field (Nspef) Ablation As An Alternative Or Adjunct To Surgery For Treatment Of Cancer, Ru Chen, Xinhua Chen, Stephen J. Beebe

Bioelectrics Publications

Surgery as resection or transplantation remains a fundamental means for cancer treatment and often offers an opportunity for a cure. However, surgery is not always possible because of tumor proximity to blood vessels or ducts or when a patient is not healthy enough to undergo surgery. Application of nanosecond pulsed electric fields (nsPEFs) is a new approach to treat cancer using pulse power technology that was originally designed for military purposes. This novel approach deposits extremely short pulses of high power, low energy electric fields into malignant tissues using electrodes to encompass tumors. Pre-clinical studies show that treatments are effective …

Mapping Of Thermal Comfort For Outdoor Recreation Planning Using Gis: The Case Of Isparta Province (Turkey), Mehmet Topay

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

This study presents a model for the physical planning process of thermal comfort (TC), which is very important for outdoor recreation planning, using thermal perception maps (TPMs). For this purpose, a TPM of Isparta Province was produced according to the physiologically equivalent temperature (PET) index from climatic data of the province. To determine the TC structure of the province, climatic data were collected from 16 meteorology stations. The RayMan 1.2 program was used to obtain the monthly PET values of the stations, and the inverse distance weighted interpolation technique in geographic information system (GIS) software was used to produce monthly …

The Development Of An International Medical Education Program With An Emphasis On English For Specific Purposes, Qian Chen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Medical international programs are becoming a new trend across China. With this trend comes the difficulty of implementing and designing an international medical program to meet the educational, cultural, and social needs of the students and teachers within a given context. The present case study researched the factors that contributed to successful international medical programs and through a survey and interviews, found both strengths and needs of a specific international medical program in the College of Medicine at Shihezi University. Specific recommendations are then given in order to assist the program and school with the design and implementation of their …

Imaging Iron Content In Patients With Multiple Sclerosis Using Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Charbel Abdo Habib

Wayne State University Dissertations

The importance of iron in maintaining normal physiological processes in the human body has been well emphasized in the literature. However, "when iron behaves badly", its abnormal presence might lead to a spectrum of pathologies depending on what function has been altered. In the brain, for instance, abnormal iron content is thought to be associated with neurodegenerative diseases. In this dissertation, we study iron involvement in one of the most debilitating neurological diseases, multiple sclerosis (MS), using in vivo magnetic resonance imaging. We first test the sensitivity and specificity of the MR method used, known as susceptibility weighted imaging (SWI) …

Implementation And Model To Model Intercomparison Of 12 Heat Stress Metrics, Jonathan Robert Buzan

Open Access Theses

Earth system models simulate the dynamics of the most complex systems on our planet with some success. Despite the overwhelming sophistication of these models, which include dynamical interactions of ocean, atmosphere, vegetation, ice, and land-surface properties, they fail to include the most important element. People. Humans are also a complex physical-biological system and coupling of human physiology within an Earth Systems Modeling framework is challenging. This thesis presents results that tackle one particular component of human physiological climate interaction--a representation of heat stress on human physiology. Twelve different metrics were implemented and analyzed. These metrics represent a variety of philosophical …

Role Of Satellite Cells In Long Term Fiber Type Shifts, Honglu Liu

Lewis Honors College Capstone Collection

Muscle fiber type shifts in respect to satellite cells, muscle stem cells, are not well understood currently. The Peterson Lab has generated a mouse model (PAX7-DTA) that ablates satellite cells to determine if these muscle stem cells contribute to mouse muscle fiber type changes over an eight week period. In the study, control and satellite-cell-ablated mouse groups were split into control and overload groups (via synergist ablation surgery) and placed under similar environmental conditions. Eight weeks post-experiment, muscles were dissected to obtain the plantaris muscles of animals from all groups. Muscle cross-sections obtained were immunohistochemically stained, imaged, quantified by fiber …

Developmental Adaptation Hypothesis : Aerobic Capacity, Submaximal Arterial Saturation And Pulmonary Volumes In Peruvian Quechua Natives, Melisa Kiyamu Tsuchiya

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The Quechua populations have inhabited the Andes for hundreds of generations. The ability to thrive in this hostile environment, leading an active and healthy life has generated research questions about the special phenotype of Andean highlanders compared to their sea-level counterparts, such as their higher pulmonary volumes and their outstanding work capacity in spite of the challenge of oxygen transport and delivery in hypoxia. In high altitude natives, there have been two main explanations for the origins of the aforementioned traits: genetic adaptation through natural selection and developmental adaptation through the exposure to hypoxia during growth.

Stars Of The East And West : The Anglo-American Invention Of The Circassian Girl, Alexandra E. Mcdowall

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The choices a society makes regarding their entertainment speak to their deeper desires, fears, and values. A uniquely nineteenth century freak show attraction known as "Circassian Girls" represented a tension in the changing world. More than an entertaining spectacle of a person from a far-flung corner of the world, Circassian Girls became constructed symbols of race, nationalism, class, and gender. Through their manufactured perfection, these performers became a caricature of white, middle-class womanhood. This paper compares the freak show performers with other descriptions of Circassian Girls through the nineteenth century, placing them into the context of perceptions of the East, …

Memory-Enhancing Effects Of The Leptin Hormone In Wistar Albino Rats: Sex And Generation Differences, Alper Karakaş, Hami̇t Coşkun, Fevzi̇ye Umut Kizilkaya

Turkish Journal of Biology

Leptin is a hormone secreted by adipose tissue that informs the brain about the fat stores of the body. In this study, we examined the effects of timed leptin injections on spatial memory performances of adult and juvenile male and female Wistar rats with the Morris water maze test. We applied the injections and conducted the training trials for 4 days. On the fifth day after leptin injections, the experiments were performed. The activities were recorded and analyzed with the Noldus Ethovision Animal Video Tracking System. The results show that the spatial memory performance of the rats was improved by …

Hiding In Plain Sight: The Rhetorical Workings Of Simone De Beauvoir's Feminist Language, Emily Crawford

Theses and Dissertations

Simone de Beauvoir's 1952 English rendering of The Second Sex translated into instant U.S. feminist acceptance, but by 1981 Julia Kristeva's call for "Women's Time" coupled with the rise of poststructuralism in the academy essentially sounded the death knell for Beauvoir in the world of feminist language theories. Where the new French feminists explored experimental ecriture feminine, Beauvoir's language appeared unsophisticated and outdated. In the past twenty years a handful of feminists have slowly and intermittently begun to reconsider Beauvoir's language from a variety of post-poststructuralist perspectives. My dissertation adds to this growing scholarship by exploring the rhetorical workings of …

Cysteine Desulfurase And Isd11: A Drosophila Model, Rahul Ravindran Nair

Wayne State University Theses

ABSTRACT

Cysteine desulfurase and Isd11: A Drosophila model

Iron-sulfur clusters are cofactors with evolutionary origins that date back to the pre-biotic world. Ever since life originated, these cofactors have intermingled with proteins to play vital roles in sustaining life. My research focuses on one such protein, the cysteine desulfurase (Nfs) that has the PLP cofactor incorporated in its active site and avails of the catalytic property of PLP to provide sulphur for Iron-sulfur cluster biogenesis and assembly in a cell. Interestingly, in a eukaryotic cell, despite the versatility of PLP, cysteine desulfurase's role as a "sulphur-extractor" is incomplete without another …

Selenium Supplementation Increases Antioxidant Response In Vitro, Yasmin Fakhereddin

Wayne State University Theses

Reactive oxygen species and free radicals are associated with the negative effects of aging. Enzymatic and non-enzymatic mechanisms can defend cell structures from free radical damage. Selenium is an essential trace element necessary for cellular functions in the human body. A positive correlation between low serum selenium levels with the morbidity and mortality of a range of cancers has been illustrated in numerous studies. Glutathione Peroxidase catalyzes a reaction in which H2O2 oxidizes the reduced form of GSH and forms H2O. NADPH further reduces GSSG, the oxidized structure of glutathione, in a reaction catalyzed by glutathione reductase. Tissue culture was …

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome: A Review Of Current Treatments, Yosef Lewis

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS) is a syndrome that develops infrequently in patients that experience a minor or severe trauma to a bodily extremity. CRPS has two subtypes; Type-I and II, both are clinically characterized by hyperalgesia. During its acute stage, CRPS hyperalgesia is clinically characterized by edema in the subcutaneous tissues of the epidermis, allodynia, and localized bone resorption. In the later chronic stage, hyperalgesia is aroused by the disregulation of blood flow to the extremity and permanent dystonic and trophic changes to the skin. Because the epidemiology and central causation of CRPS remains unknown until today, health professionals …

Women’S Intrasexual Variability In Sexual Psychology And Pain Functioning, Charlotte M. Lutz

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between sexual orientation, self-described gender expression and preferred levels of gender expression in romantic partners with ischemic pain performance in healthy young women. It was hypothesized that lesbian and bisexual women would be less sensitive to pain than heterosexual women. It was also hypothesized that regardless of sexual orientation, women who endorse a preference for more feminine romantic partners and who describe themselves as more masculine would report higher pain thresholds, higher pain tolerance, and lower pain intensity levels than women who report attraction to more masculine romantic partners and …

Immunomodulation And T Helper Th1/Th2 Response Polarization By Ceo2 And Tio2 Nanoparticles, Brian C. Schanen, Soumen Das, Christopher M. Reilly, William L. Warren, William T. Self, Sudipta Seal, Donald R. Drake Iii

Faculty Bibliography 2010s

Immunomodulation by nanoparticles, especially as related to the biochemical properties of these unique materials, has scarcely been explored. In an in vitro model of human immunity, we demonstrate two catalytic nanoparticles, TiO2 (oxidant) and CeO2 (antioxidant), have nearly opposite effects on human dendritic cells and T helper (T-H) cells. For example, whereas TiO2 nanoparticles potentiated DC maturation that led towards T(H)1-biased responses, treatment with antioxidant CeO2 nanoparticles induced APCs to secrete the anti-inflammatory cytokine, IL-10, and induce a T(H)2-dominated T cell profile. In subsequent studies, we demonstrate these results are likely explained by the disparate capacities of the nanoparticles to …

Role Of Host Immune Response And Bacterial Autolysin Atl In Human Nasal Colonization By Staphylococcus Aureus, Vanathy Paramanandam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Staphylococcus aureus (SA) is a major human pathogen that colonizes the anterior nares in 30% of the human population. Though nasal carriage of SA is a known risk factor for the subsequent spread of SA infections, the dynamics of SA nasal colonization is poorly understood. Our research focuses on understanding the host and bacterial factors that might contribute to the human nasal colonization by SA. In an attempt to elucidate the host response to SA, we performed an autologous human in vivo nasal colonization study, which showed decreased survival rates of SA in hosts who elicited a robust immune response. …

Development Of A Multilayered Association Polymer System For Sequential Drug Delivery, Sharath Kumar Chinnakavanam Sundararaj

Theses and Dissertations--Biomedical Engineering

As all the physiological processes in our body are controlled by multiple biomolecules, comprehensive treatment of certain disease conditions may be more effectively achieved by administration of more than one type of drug. Thus, the primary objective of this research was to develop a multilayered, polymer-based system for sequential delivery of multiple drugs. This particular device was designed aimed at the treatment of periodontitis, a highly prevalent oral inflammatory disease that affects 90% of the world population. This condition is caused by bacterial biofilm on the teeth, resulting in a chronic inflammatory response that leads to loss of alveolar bone …

Investigation Of Multiscale Fluid Structure Interaction Modeling Of Flow In Arterial Systems, Sebastian Sotelo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The study of hemodynamic patterns in large blood vessels, such as the ascending aortic artery, brachiocephalic trunk, right carotid artery and right subclavian artery presents the challenging complexity of vessel wall compliance induced by the high levels of shear stress gradients and blood flow pulsatility. Accurate prediction of hemodynamics in such conditions requires a complete Fluid Structure Interaction (FSI) analysis that couples the fluid flow behavior throughout the cardiac cycle with the structural response of the vessel walls. This research focuses on the computational study of a Multiscale Fluid-Structure Interaction on the arterial wall by coupling Finite Volumes Method (FVM) …