Digital Commons Network^™

Broadband Enhancement Of Spontaneous Emission From Nitrogen-Vacancy Centers In Nanodiamonds By Hyperbolic Metamaterials, Mikhail Y. Shalaginov, Satoshi Ishii, J. Liu, Joseph Irudayaraj, A. Lagutchev, Alexander V. Kildishev, Vladimir M. Shalaev

Birck and NCN Publications

We experimentally demonstrate a broadband enhancement of emission from nitrogen-vacancy centers in nanodiamonds. The enhancement is achieved by using a multilayer metamaterial with hyperbolic dispersion. The metamaterial is fabricated as a stack of alternating gold and alumina layers. Our approach paves the way towards the construction of efficient single-photon sources as planar on-chip devices. (C) 2013 AIP Publishing LLC.

Toxicologic Assessment Of A Commercial Decolorized Whole Leaf Aloe Vera Juice, Lily Of The Desert Filtered Whole Leaf Juice With Aloesorb, Inder Sehgal, Wallace D. Winters, Michael Scott, Andrew David, Glenn Gillis, Thaya Stoufflet, Anand Nair, Konstantine Kousoulas

Faculty Publications

Aloe vera, a common ingredient in cosmetics, is increasingly being consumed as a beverage supplement. Although consumer interest in aloe likely stems from its association with several health benefits, a concern has also been raised by a National Toxicology Program Report that a nondecolorized whole leaf aloe vera extract taken internally by rats was associated with intestinal mucosal hyperplasia and ultimately malignancy. We tested a decolorized whole leaf (DCWL) aloe vera, treated with activated charcoal to remove the latex portion of the plant, for genotoxicity in bacteria, acute/subacute toxicity in B6C3F1 mice, and subchronic toxicity in F344 rats. We found …

Celiac Disease And Neurological Symptoms, Lauren V. Cook

Senior Honors Theses

New research has revealed that Celiac disease, an autoimmune illness affecting the small intestine, has more ties with neurological side effects than once was thought. The classic and most well known presentation of Celiac disease is gastrointestinal, including symptoms such as abdominal pains, nausea, diarrhea, and flatulence. Researchers have more recently found a correlation between Celiac disease and neurological illnesses such as epilepsy, depression, dementia, and ADHD. Physician awareness of the disease and the neurological side of the illness should be heightened in order for patients to receive earlier diagnosis and a better quality of life. Because of the difficulty …

A Focus Group Study Of The Academic Success And Satisfaction Among Undergraduates With Undecided Majors, Tiffany Alexander

Honors Projects

This project interviewed 4 initially undecided major students who now have declared majors in a focus group setting to determine their feelings of satisfaction and success. The study has three major findings. First, students felt their initial undecided status allowed more flexible course selection and resulted in a more well-rounded education. Second, while students liked this greater flexibility, students felt after declaring a major, they constantly played “catch up” to graduate on time and to receive career internships. Lastly, students liked their pre-major advisors, but wanted advisors to give them more time, career direction and advice, and to have a …

Math And Chemistry Connections, Angela Goodhart

Honors Projects

The connection between mathematics skills and chemistry course success was examined by analyzing data from Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces (ALEKS) software initial assessment for CHEM 1250, General Chemistry I, and final course grades from fall of 2009 and 2011. These years were chosen to evaluate the effect of a mathematics prerequisite of MATH 1220, College Algebra II. In 2011, after the prerequisite was in place, students had mastered significantly more of the mathematics topics on the initial ALEKS assessment, but there was not a significant change in final course grade.

Emu Today, April 29, 2013, Eastern Michigan University

EMU Today

No abstract provided.

The Collegian (2013-04-29), Joe Molina

UTB/TSC Archives - The Collegian [Newspaper]

Vol. 65, No. 28

Characterization Of The Placenta-Specific 8.1 Gene Function During Zebrafish Embryogenesis, Haiting Ma

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The PLAC8 gene encodes for a small, cysteine-rich protein conserved in vertebrates that is a member of a large family of PLAC8-motif containing proteins with diverse functions in animals, plants, and algae. Recently, high levels of PLAC8 expression have been detected in aggressive colorectal cancer and invasive breast cancer, and potentially contributing to the cancer pathogenesis. However, the molecular and cellular functions of PLAC8 in vertebrate development, homeostasis, and disease remain unclear. To determine the function of PLAC8 under disease and normal conditions, in this thesis work, I identified plac8.1 as a PLAC8 homolog in zebrafish, a vertebrate model system …

The Craft Of Fiction: Teaching Technique, 1850-1930, Mary Stewart Atwell

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The Craft of Fiction, 1850-1930

This dissertation considers two models of authorship active in the British nineteenth century: one that viewed the writing of fiction as the province of genius unconnected with the world of work, and another that saw it as a practice requiring a set of learned skills. This distinction carried implications of class, since writing that was understood to be work could be a product subject to marketplace exchange, and also gender, since the "hack-writing" so despised by mid-century periodical writers was often discursively feminized. Though the model that privileged genius and disregarded the labor involved in …

Oregon State Ranking Assessment For Olive-Sided Flycatcher (Contopus Cooperi), Eleanor P. Gaines

Institute for Natural Resources Publications

Oregon state conservation status assessment for Olive-sided flycatcher (Contopus cooperi) using NatureServe methodology, 2013.

High Sine Rna Expression Correlates With Post-Transcriptional Downregulation Of Brca1, Maureen Peterson, Vicki Chandler, Giovanni Bosco

Dartmouth Scholarship

Short Interspersed Nuclear Elements (SINEs) are non-autonomous retrotransposons that comprise a large fraction of the human genome. SINEs are demethylated in human disease, but whether SINEs become transcriptionally induced and how the resulting transcripts may affect the expression of protein coding genes is unknown. Here, we show that downregulation of the mRNA of the tumor suppressor gene BRCA1 is associated with increased transcription of SINEs and production of sense and antisense SINE small RNAs. We find that BRCA1 mRNA is post-transcriptionally down-regulated in a Dicer and Drosha dependent manner and that expression of a SINE inverted repeat with sequence identity …

A Phylogeny And Revised Classification Of Squamata, Including 4161 Species Of Lizards And Snakes, R. Alexander Pyron, Frank T. Burbrink, John J. Wiens

Publications and Research

Background: The extant squamates (>9400 known species of lizards and snakes) are one of the most diverse and conspicuous radiations of terrestrial vertebrates, but no studies have attempted to reconstruct a phylogeny for the group with large-scale taxon sampling. Such an estimate is invaluable for comparative evolutionary studies, and to address their classification. Here, we present the first large-scale phylogenetic estimate for Squamata.

Results: The estimated phylogeny contains 4161 species, representing all currently recognized families and subfamilies. The analysis is based on up to 12896 base pairs of sequence data per species (average = 2497 bp) from 12 genes, …

Bioinformatics Approach To Probe Protein-Protein Interactions: Understanding The Role Of Interfacial Solvent In The Binding Sites Of Protein-Protein Complexes;Network Based Predictions And Analysis Of Human Proteins That Play Critical Roles In Hiv Pathogenesis., Mesay Habtemariam

Theses and Dissertations

The thesis work contains two projects under the same umbrella. The first project is to provide a detailed analysis on the behavior of interfacial water molecules at protein-protein complexes, in this case focusing on homodimeric complexes, and to investigate their effect with respect to different residue types. For that reason the homodimeric data-set, which includes high-resolution (≤ 2.30 Å) X-ray crystal structures of 252 (140 Biological & 112 Non-biological) protein complexes was chosen to explore fundamental differences between interfaces that Nature has “engineered” vs. compared to interfaces found under man-made conditions. The data set was comprised of 5391 water molecules …

Chemoelectromechanical Actuation In Conducting Polymer Hybrid With Bilayer Lipid Membrane, Hao Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Biological and bio-inspired systems using ion transport across a membrane for energy conversion has inspired recent developments in smart materials. The active mechanism in bioderived materials is ion transport across an impermeable membrane that converts electrochemical gradients into electrical and mechanical work. In addition to bioderived materials, ion transport phenomenon in electroactive polymers such as ionomeric and conducting polymers produces electromechanical coupling in these materials. Inspired by the similarity in transduction mechanism, this thesis focuses on integrating the ion transport processes in a bioderived material and a conducting polymer for developing novel actuation systems. The integrated membrane has a bilayer …

Influence Of Facial Profile On Social Perceptions: A 3d Video Imaging Study., Lisa Babb

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of facial convexity on the perception of social attributes in a young adult population. Nine models were asked to pose for a 3 dimensional photograph that was then modified to represent ideal, retrognathic, and prognathic facial convexity angles. Survey evaluators were shown digital videos of models with ideal and non-ideal profiles and asked to rate their perception of the following 4 social attributes: intelligence, athleticism, popularity, and leadership ability using a visual analog scale. Results gathered from 271 evaluators showed that the model images with ideal facial convexity angles were …

Microbial Dna Receptor Expression In Chronic Periodontitis, Stephanie Voth

Theses and Dissertations

AIM: The aim of this study was to determine the expression of microbial nucleic acid receptors including Toll like receptor 9 “TLR-9”, DNA-dependent activator of interferon-regulatory factors “DAI” and absent in melanoma “AIM-2” in chronic periodontitis (P) versus healthy (H) tissues. METHODS: 33 chronic periodontitis (P) and 27 periodontally-healthy (H) gingival biopsies were included. The gene and protein expression for each receptor was determined using real-time quantitative PCR and immunohistochemistry. RESULTS: Our results revealed statistically significant up-regulation of TLR-9 (p<0.006) and DAI (p<0.001) gene expression in P tissues compared to H sites. We were also able to demonstrate significant correlation among three DNA receptors (p<0.05). Immunohistochemistry further confirmed the expression of DNA sensors in gingival tissues. CONCLUSION: This study highlights a possible role for nucleic acid sensing in periodontal inflammation. Further investigations will determine whether cytoplasmic receptors and their ligands can be targeted to improve clinical outcomes in periodontitis.

The Free Press Vol 44 Issue 22, 04-29-2013, Kirsten Sylvain

Free Press, The

The Year in Review--Roya Hejabian prepares for commencement--Students display a year’s work at conference--Graduating seniors say goodbye to USM--Gorham Initiative work hurt by budget cuts

The Bg News April 29, 2013, Bowling Green State University

BG News (Student Newspaper)

The BGSU campus student newspaper. April 29, 2013. Volume 92-Issue 95.

Spartan Daily April 29, 2013, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily (School of Journalism and Mass Communications)

Volume 140, Issue 45

Reforestation Of Red Spruce (Picea Rubens) On The Cheat Mountain Range, West Virginia, Justin Madron

Theses and Dissertations

The (Plethodon nettingi) Cheat Mountain Salamander is a rare and endangered species that relies heavily on (Picea rubens) Red Spruce for habitat. P. rubens communities on the Cheat Mountain range in West Virginia have been disturbed by fires and logging, and regeneration of P. rubens stands are central to the survival of the P. netting. A supervised and unsupervised landscape classification of three Landsat images over the past 26 years was conducted to analyze change in P. rubens communities on Cheat Mountain Range. Change detection results revealed that from 1986-2012 a 52% growth increase of P. rubens stands, 18% loss, …

Liquefaction Of Mine Tailings, Vijay K. Puri, Todd R. Kostecki

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Liquefaction of mine tailings is known to occur during cyclic, quasi-static & static loading cases but is still a relatively misunderstood concept because tailings dam failures continue to occur. In the worst case scenario the results are high costs, hindered public perception, environmental cleanup and worst of all, the loss of life. A better understanding of this issue is essential for any engineer associated with the mining and/or geotechnical industry, and in particular tailings dam construction and maintenance. This paper presents the liquefaction concept, some case histories dealing with failure of mine tailings dams, available testing methods and some dated …

Closure And Post-Closure Redevelopment Of The Mccoll Superfund Site, Edward Kavazanjian Jr.

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The McColl Superfund site was one of the highest-profile hazardous waste sites in the USA in the 1980’s. The 12 unlined pits containing refinery waste from World War II presented unique challenges for closure construction and post-closure redevelopment due the caustic nature, low bearing capacity, and high odor potential of the waste, the proximity of residences, and a mandate to restore portions of a golf course over several of the pits. Closure design included special testing to demonstrate the durability of materials that could potentially come in contact with the waste and to evaluate the potential for migration of waste …

The Use Of High Strength Geosynthetics In Deep Soil Mixed Levee Foundations, Brian C. Baillie

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The construction and design of flood protection embankment levees within coastal areas has become a focal point for infrastructure management. The levees are usually constructed over soils with very poor bearing capacity due to their proximity to flood plains. The foundation soils create issues with long-term settlement, changing the protection height and creating the need to periodically build the levee back to the design height. In order to reduce settlements and the maintenance required to preserve design height protection, a deep foundation is needed for proper long term load transfer. Deep soil mixing (DSM) has become a popular deep foundation …

April 29, 2013, The Daily Mississippian

Daily Mississippian (all digitized issues)

No abstract provided.

A Comprehensive Model For Anaerobic Degradation In Bio-Reactor Landfills, Jay N. Meegoda, S. Bhuvaneshwari, P. A. Hettiaratchi, H. Hettiarachchi

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

A new generation of sustainable landfill was designed and constructed in the City of Calgary, Canada to achieve sustainable municipal solid waste (MSW) management. This sustainable landfill called “biocell” involves sequential operation of a landfill cell to produce methane gas during the first stage of anaerobic degradation and in-situ composting within the cell footprint. Once methane recovery is minimal, the second stage aerobic degradation initiated by injecting air through methane recovery system and finally landfill is mined for resource and space recovery in the third stage. The resources that can be recovered include compost like material and recyclables such as …

Compaction Grouting For Seismic Retrofit Of The North Torrey Pines Bridge, James R. Gingery, Sunil Arora

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The North Torrey Pines Road Bridge in Del Mar, California was built in 1933 and is eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places. As a result of its outdated design and deterioration in a corrosive saline environment, the bridge was classified as structurally and seismically deficient and functionally obsolete. The historic significance of this bridge is important to the surrounding community and thus a seismic retrofit project was initiated with the goal of improving the expected seismic performance of the bridge while preserving its aesthetic and historic character. This paper provides a brief description of the overall …

Investigation On Geosynthetic Reinforced Two Layered Soil System, P. B. Ullagaddi, T. K. Nagaraj

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Use of geosynthetics for flexible pavements founded on expansive soil subgrade is one of feasible and economic solution to minimize the undulation and required pavement thickness. In this present investigation the effect of inclusion of the geosynthetic reinforcement on California Bearing Ratio (CBR) value of a two layered soil system with black cotton soil at bottom and granular soil at top as a buffer layer, with different thickness configuration and geotextiles of different physical and mechanical properties was studied by laboratory and field California bearing ratio tests. Thickness of flexible pavement over the two layer soil system of different thickness …

Simulation Of Inorganic And Organic Contaminants Transport In Sanitary Landfills, R. P. Singh

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

The modelling of leachate generation and transport is important for estimating the possible groundwater pollution below the sanitary landfills. The numerical solution of the mathematical models for the total solids (inorganic) and chemical oxygen demand (organic) transport is presented. The existing one dimensional leachate transport model which accounts for advection and diffusion is modified with the addition of desorption term and the simulation results are compared for different case studies from the literature. The maximum error is reduced to 28.24 % with modified inorganic model against 38.93 % with the existing model for the TS concentration when simulated with literature …

Stabilization Of Contaminated Soil By Dicalcium Phosphate, Amin Falamaki, Hossein Tavallali, Sharbanoo Rezanejad Farahmand

International Conference on Case Histories in Geotechnical Engineering

Stabilization of heavy metals contaminated soils using phosphate amendments is relatively a simple, quick and cheap method to reduce the transport of contaminants in the environment. The objective of this study is to stabilize the polluted soil using dicalcum phosphate (DCP). In this study a series of leachate column tests were conducted to find out the effect of DCP on Pb and Cu polluted soil. In addition, to understand the concentration of DCP on the efficiency of the method, different samples with different polluted soils were tested. DCP with 0.1, 0.2 and 0.5 mg/kg dry soil were added to the …

Management Experiments On Lake Erie Flowering Rush, Alyssa Dietz

Honors Projects

Invasive aquatic species of plants have caused great harm to Great Lakes ecosystems by limiting habitat availability and altering community structure. Flowering Rush (Butomus umbellatus L.) is an invasive currently threatening Lake Erie wetlands. The aim of this study is to understand the response of B. umbellatus to an experiment designed to simulate the management techniques of flooding and clipping. Plants collected from Ottawa National Wildlife Refuge were subjected to six combinations of clipping and flooding treatments in controlled mesocosms in a greenhouse. By comparing responses to these environmental stresses, we have acquired a better understanding of the processes by …