Digital Commons Network^™

Intestacy, Dependency, And Social Security, Oh My! An In-Depth Look At Posthumously Conceived Children’S Right To Child’S Insurance Benefits Under The Social Security Act, Mario Santo Russo

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Genetically Modified Salmon, Joshua Allen Stiers

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Fido Is One Of A Kind: Looking Beyond Fair Market Value In Damages Against Pets, Richard James Tracy Iii

Student Works

No abstract provided.

The Road To Equality For Unwed Biological Fathers: A Comparative Analysis Of The United States, Ireland And Canada, Michael C. Woyce

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Justice O'Connor's Test For Ceremonial Deism, Michael Castagna

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Herbaceous 2013, Julia I. Chapman, Amy L. Myers, Ryan W. Mcewan

Data Files: Drew Woods Permanent Plots

Herbaceous vegetation data collected in 2013 at Drew Woods State Nature Preserve in Darke County, OH. Data key is provided in a supplemental file.

Production, Control And Actuation Of Micron-Sized Particles In A Microfluidic T-Junction, James Wilson

HIM 1990-2015

This research is directed towards understanding the mechanisms associated with the manufacture of solid microspheres less than 100 [micrometers], from liquid droplets with nanosuspensions in a microfluidic T-junction, which are heated downstream of the channel. Preliminary material characterization tests on colloidal suspensions of alumina and copper oxide demonstrate promising temperature dependent viscosity results indicating solidification in the temperature range of 40°C-50°C. The solidification mechanism is referred to as Temperature Induced Forming and is described by polymeric bridges formed between nanoparticles in suspension at elevated temperatures, resulting in a solid structure. The polymer network results from the ionization of alumina at …

Pedagogies, Perspectives, And Practices: Mobile Leraning Through The Experiences Of Faculty Developers And Instructional Designers In Centers For Teaching And Learning, Kim A. Hosler

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Characterization Of Bioreducible Poly(B-Amino Ester) Nanoparticles For Sirna Delivery, Bolivia Hurtado De Mendoza

Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is one of the most malignant brain tumors affecting adults. It is characterized by necrotic tissue and abnormal vasculature, making it highly resistant to current cancer treatments. A promising alternative to standard cancer therapeutics is the use of drug delivery systems such as polymeric nanoparticles (NP) that deliver silencing RNA (siRNA) exclusively to tumor cells for gene knockdown. Presently, nonviral delivery vectors, such as poly(B-amino ester) (PBAE) NP, are beneficial delivery systems because they are less immunogenic and easier to chemically modify than vectors delivered by viruses. Although current formulations of PBAEs allow cargo release via hydrolytic …

Effects Of Mtn Enzyme Deficiency On E. Coli O157:H7 Growth And Virulence, Reece Knippel

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The bacterial enzyme Methylthioadenosine/S-adenosylhomocysteine (MTA/SAH) nucleosidase (MTN) is involved in methionine and adenine salvage from the by-products of S-adenosylmethionine (SAM, AdoMet) dependent reactions. MTN plays a critical role in alleviating product inhibition of SAM dependent reactions, including methylation reactions and the synthesis of polyamines, vitamins, and autinducer signals. Due to its absence from humans and its importance to bacterial metabolism, MTN is a potential target for the development of novel antibiotics to treat microbial infections. In this study, a MTN gene knock-out (MTN KO) strain of the pathogen E. coli O157:H7 was created to study the impact of MTN activity …

Investigation Of Adaptation: A Creative Perception Of Collegiate Behavioral Responses, Brittney L. Meador, Caitlin C. Moliske

Honors Theses

Caitlin Moliske¹ and Brittney Meador²

Department of Physiology, College of Science¹

Biological Sciences Education, College of Education and Human Services¹

The Investigation of Adaptation: A Creative Perception of Collegiate Behavioral Responses

As a collaborative team, we created a short graphic novel in the Italian style “fumetti.” This style of comic design uses actual photography instead of hand drawn or computer generated images. Despite that we are both students in the sciences, we decided to collaborate on a creative project. Our intent was to develop something unique that could showcase our abilities and interests outside of the …

The Assignment Packet Grading System, Sarah Nichole Bruce

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

The Assignment Packet Grading System is a form of choice-based learning that may be a valuable strategy to increase both motivation in students and their self-efficacy, which in return could result in higher levels of student achievement. The study was of an experimental design, carried out in Geometry classes at the high school level. Data were gathered regarding students’ mathematics self-efficacy and their academic achievement for two groups: one using the Assignment Packet Grading System and the other using a traditional classroom grading system.

The analysis of the data gathered in the study did not show a statistically significant difference …

Pattern Recognition In Earthquake Swarms From The 2009 Eruption Of Redoubt Volcano, Alaska, Catherine Jeanne Carlisle

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Earthquake swarms at volcanoes are common indicators of unrest and can be used to predict eruptions. However, not all earthquake swarms lead to an eruption but may die off instead. Variabilities in characteristics of swarms can lead to false predictions of an eruption. During the 2009 eruption of Redoubt Volcano in Alaska, there were five earthquake swarms, three of which preceded explosive eruptions and two that did not. These data were used to explore the variable characteristics that may be diagnostic of whether or not an eruption is imminent.

Data were recorded by the Alaska Volcano Observatory throughout the eruption. …

Development Of A Pdms Based Micro Total Analysis System For Rapid Biomolecule Detection, Balaji Srinivasan Venkatesh

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The emerging field of micro total analysis system powered by microfluidics is expected to revolutionize miniaturization and automation for point-of-care-testing systems which require quick, efficient and reproducible results. In the present study, a PDMS based micro total analysis system has been developed for rapid, multi-purpose, impedance based detection of biomolecules. The major components of the micro total analysis system include a micropump, micromixer, magnetic separator and interdigitated electrodes for impedance detection. Three designs of pneumatically actuated PDMS based micropumps were fabricated and tested. Based on the performance test results, one of the micropumps was selected for integration. The experimental results …

The Effects Of Glutathione And Its Derivatives On The Survival Of Mycobacterium Bovis-Bcg Vegetative And Persistent Organisms, Neil Patel

Honors College Theses

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is responsible for nearly 2 million deaths yearly. Upon inhalation,mycobacteria are engulfed by alveolar macrophages. These cells produce reactive oxygen and nitrogen intermediates (ROI’s and RNI’s), which normally kill pathogens, but are ineffective against invading mycobacteria. What ensues, is the formation of a tubercle to sequester the infected macrophages, and the initiation of a latent tuberculosis infection, in which the mycobacteria enter a state of non-replicative persistence (NRP). Glutathione (GSH), a host tripeptide thiol-based detoxification molecule, protects host cells from ROI/RNI toxicity.Recently, it has been demonstrated that GSH is toxic to in vitro and early infection mycobacteria, but …

The Unrecognized Problem: An Analysis Of Masculinity Stereotypes In Advertising Across Six Channels, Darcy Semmler

Honors Thesis

Because advertising relies on simplifications to get messages across more quickly, gendered stereotypes are prevalent in advertising media messages, and have been well- researched for their content and effects. Researchers have been more critical of the messages that perpetuate stereotypes involving women, but have focused less on the stereotypes men must face. This thesis uses content analysis to examine commercials on six channels for the frequency of male or female voiceovers and the frequency in which men and women appear in commercial advertisements. The analysis also investigates the masculinity stereotypes present in the commercials in comparison to neutral or gender- …

Factors Affecting Daily Stress In Siblings Of Children With Special Needs, Todd Blackwill

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

For families who have a children with disabilities, a great amount of stress are put on not only the primary caregivers but all members of the family unit. This study examined what factors influence stress experienced by siblings of children with disabilities. These factors included severity of the children’s disabilities, gender of the siblings, how much help the siblings provide in the care of the children with disabilities, and the number of people in the families. The purpose was to raise awareness of the participants and pinpoint certain characteristics that affect how frequent and how intense stress is experienced by …

The Difficult Problem Of Nonpoint Nutrient Pollution: Could The Endangered Species Act Offer Some Relief?, Zdravka Tzankova

William & Mary Environmental Law and Policy Review

Nutrient pollution of rivers, streams, lakes, and estuaries is one of the preeminent water quality issues in the United States today, and poses a significant threat to the health of aquatic ecosystems. Agricultural nonpoint discharges, the runoff of nitrogen and phosphorous from animal manure and chemical fertilizers, are the primary sources of such nutrient pollution.

A pervasive and long-standing problem, nonpoint pollution, nutrient and otherwise, has proven to be one of the toughest challenges in contemporary environmental regulation. This situation is significantly attributable to the political and administrative dynamics of fragmented regulatory authority. The power to control such nonpoint discharges …

Interpreting And Reconstructing Data From Sensor Networks, Jonathan H. Guinther

Computer Science Technical Reports

Geophysical phenomena are often three-dimensional, time-variant, and physically large, making them difficult to measure. As wireless sensor nodes become cheaper, smaller, and more powerful, using a sensor swarm as a sampling framework seems to be a viable approach to this problem. However, samples from the network can be sparse and unstructured, creating an incomplete picture. Thus, the question addressed by this project is the following: How can we easily construct and interpret the best model of the underlying reality over some domain, given a possibly sparse and irregular set of samples? We present the design, implementation, and evaluation of the …

Perceptions Of Interethnic Dating Among College Students, Elisaida Méndez

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The Department of Psychology at Utah State University proposed to examine the intersection of demographic variables. This phenomenon was studied in the context of power differential in relationships under the framework of social exchange theory and a racial hierarchy. The study examined the role of ethnicity, income, and gender in status and power balances in the perception of success of dating relationships. Social exchange theory explains the exchange of traits or resources in interpersonal relationships and relationship formation and based on a racial or ethnic hierarchy, race or ethnicity is seemingly overlooked when considering other valued traits.

The Interethnic Couples …

A Bird Cannot Fly With One Wing: A Study Of Women's Responses To And Attitudes Toward Sexual Infidelity In Montego Bay, Jamaica, Dana Renae Foster

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This research focuses on women's emotional and behavioral responses to men's sexual infidelity in Montego Bay, Jamaica. Sexual infidelity can be defined as extradyadic sex within a monogamous relationship that threatens the stability of the relationship (Mark et al., 2011). Since the ultimate reproductive constraint for women is access to resources, this study explores how a woman's education level (as an indicator of her socioeconomic status) affects her response to her partner's sexual infidelity. The Caribbean region is largely absent from the literature on sexual infidelity, with the exception of one study in Trinidad (Flinn, 1988) that focuses on mate …

Does Movie Viewing Cultivate Unrealistic Expectations About Love And Marriage?, Lauren F. E. Galloway

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The present study examines the association between consumption of media messages via movie viewing and endorsement of ideals and expectations about romantic relationships in a university-based sample of 228 respondents. Frequent viewing of romantic comedy and drama films was significantly and positively correlated with idealized notions that love conquers all, greater expectations for intimacy, and endorsement of the eros love style. Viewing preference for romantic movies was also significantly and positively correlated with fantasy rumination and marital intentions. However, participants who frequently watched romantic movies did not endorse beliefs in sexual perfection, mindreading, or disagreement disallowance. Implications of the findings …

President Barack Obama And The Commencement Of A New Perspective On Epideictic Speeches, Milene Ortega Ribeiro

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Commencement speakers are typically expected to praise students and motivate them. When the commencement speaker is a President, the expectation is different. This thesis investigated the functions of epideictic address in light of the rhetorical presidency doctrine. Close textual analysis of the three most controversial commencement speeches delivered by President Barack Obama revealed that the challenge of fulfilling the expectations of a commencement address, while responding to rhetorical problems, required the President to adopt complex rhetorical strategies. The predominant strategies included humor, strategic use of rhetorical presence, and ideological identification. The President used strategies that allowed him to be the …

Molecular Characterization And Functional Significance Of The Vti Family Of Snare Proteins In Tick Salivary Glands, Ashley M. Villarreal, Steven W. Adamson, Rebecca E. Browning, Khemraj Budachetri, Muhammad Sohail Sajid, Shahid Karim

Faculty Publications

Exocytosis involves membrane fusion between secretory vesicles and the plasma membrane. The Soluble N-ethylmaleimide-sensitive factor attachment proteins (SNAPs) and their receptor proteins (SNAREs) interact to fuse vesicles with the membrane and trigger the release of their sialosecretome out of the tick salivary gland cells. In this study, we examined the functional significance of the Vti family of SNARE proteins of blood-feeding Amblyomma maculatum and Amblyomma americanum. Vti1A and Vti1B have been implicated in multiple functional roles in vesicle transport. QRT-PCR studies demonstrated that the highest transcriptional expression of vti1a and vti1b genes occurs in unfed salivary glands, suggesting that …

Socio-Ecology Of The Marsh Rice Rat (Oryzomys Palustris) And The Spatio-Temporal Distribution Of Bayou Virus In Coastal Texas, Tyla S. Holsomback, Christopher J. Van Nice, Rachel N. Clark, Alisa A. Abuzeineh, Jorge Salazar-Bravo

Faculty Publications

Along the southeastern coast of the United States of America (USA), the marsh rice rat (Oryzomys palustris) is the primary host for the hantavirus genotype Bayou. According to the socio-ecological model for a territorial, polygamous species, females should be distributed across space and time by habitat resources and predation risks, whereas males should space themselves according to the degree of female aggregation and reproductive synchrony. To investigate how females affect the male-male transmission paradigm of Bayou virus, rodents were captured, marked, released, and re-captured in two macrohabitat types across a 30-month period. Microhabitat cover variables were quantified around …

An Estimation Of Available Cellulosic Biomass In Ten Counties In Northeastern Arkansas From 1999-2011, Thomas Jenkins

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

The purpose of this research is to explore the possibility of siting a biorefinery that produces cellulosic ethanol in the Delta region of Arkansas, which is the main agricultural area of the state. Four major crops that the state of Arkansas produces on a yearly basis that could potentially be used for cellulosic ethanol production are: corn, rice, sorghum, and soybeans. This research will result in the generation of maps that will be useful in quantifying feedstock produced in the Delta region of Arkansas, which can be used by a biorefinery. An actual site will not be chosen based strictly …

Minimizing Wash Water Usage After Acid Hydrolysis Pretreatment Of Biomass, Noaa Frederick

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Abstract Dilute acid pretreatment, needed to prepare biomass for saccharification, results in the production of a number of byproducts, which inhibit subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis and fermentation steps. In order to improve saccharification yields in the enzyme hydrolysis step, the pretreated biomass is often rinsed with room temperature water to remove these byproducts. High-density poplar was pretreated with 1% dilute sulfuric acid at 140 ºC for 40 minutes. After pretreatment the biomass was washed with water volumes equal to 0, 1 ½, or 3 times the biomass volume. The rinsed biomass was then enzymatically hydrolyzed and the concentrations of byproducts and …

Structural Characterization Of Engineered Muscular Mimetic, Nadia Bhatti

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

An engineered muscular mimetic (EMM) was synthesized, and its overall structure—porosity, average pore size, and pore alignment—was characterized and compared to actual decellularized skeletal muscle (DSM). The EMM’s porosity was about 20% more and average pore size was about 85% smaller compared to that of the DSM. Unlike the strong horizontal pore alignment in the DSM, no distinct orientation could be identified in the EMM structure.

Scaffolding For Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Lineage Specification, Thanh Dai

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Current research regarding stem cells is the premise behind this project. These cells have the potential to develop into any kind of cell in the human body. Due to the scarcity of transplantable pancreas and/or pancreatic beta cells, the production of pancreatic insulin-producing cells from human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) has emerged as one of the most attractive cell therapy strategies for insulin deficient diabetes treatment. The aspect of hESC research that the project focused on was the environment or foundation the hESCs grew in. A key step to pancreatic beta cell production from hESC differentiation or growth is establishing …

The Effect Of Cell Density And Cultivation Period On Skeletal Muscle Extracellular Matrix Accumulation, Ryan Yarnall

Biological and Agricultural Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Traumatic skeletal muscle injuries have led to severe disability disallowing one to perform necessary daily tasks. Different methods are under current research to rebuild muscle tissue and have it function properly. One such method is the use of extracellular matrix, or ECM, retrieved from cells to create biological scaffolds providing structure for myoblast cells to grow into tissue. This research holds promise because it utilizes the body’s own machinery, minimizing risk of a foreign body response. To obtain ECM scaffolding, one viable technique involves the cultivation of cells on polyurethane foams to collect and harvest ECM. This research investigates the …