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Temporal Expression Of Key Angioregulatory Proteins In Response To Exercise And Detraining, Sara A. Olenich

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Angiogenesis is an important adaptation to exercise, occurring in response to a multitude of different stimuli including: shear stress, mechanical stretch, ischemia, electrical stimulation, and exercise. Current thinking suggests skeletal muscle angiogenesis is a temporal process controlled by a balance between positive and negative angiogenic proteins. But there is limited information on what molecular mediators control skeletal muscle angiogenesis in this time line, creating a critical need to clarify how individual protein responses regulate physiologic skeletal muscle angiogenesis in response to exercise training and/or physical deconditioning. Our objective is to characterize the temporal expression of several key positive (VEGF, MMP-2, …

Performance Enhancement Of Automatic Generation Control By Developing A Detailed Load Frequency Control Model And An Adaptive Performance Index Criterion, Kaveh Rahimi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The imbalance between electrical loads and power supplied by the system generators causes the frequency deviations in a power system. Maintaining the frequency close to its nominal value as well as in its allowed deviation range is the first objective of the automatic generation control (AGC). Nowadays, in interconnected power systems, several control areas are connected to each other by tie-lines and power is transferred between control areas based on a specific schedule. The second objective of automatic generation control is to keep the tie-lines power flow close to their secluded values.;An accurate and realistic load frequency control (LFC) model …

Novel 3d Ultrasound Elastography Techniques For In Vivo Breast Tumor Imaging And Nonlinear Characterization, Ahmed A. Hameed Sayed

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Breast cancer comprises about 29% of all types of cancer in women worldwide. This type of cancer caused what is equivalent to 14% of all female deaths due to cancer. Nowadays, tissue biopsy is routinely performed, although about 80% of the performed biopsies yield a benign result. Biopsy is considered the most costly part of breast cancer examination and invasive in nature. To reduce unnecessary biopsy procedures and achieve early diagnosis, ultrasound elastography was proposed.;In this research, tissue displacement fields were estimated using ultrasound waves, and used to infer the elastic properties of tissues. Ultrasound radiofrequency data acquired at consecutive …

Modeling Of High Pressure Confined Inflatable Structures, Jerry C. Wong

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Safety of transportation tunnels is a top priority among transportation agencies and public administrators and a very important aspect in the daily operation of a tunnel system. However, it is always a challenge to create and integrate protection systems in existing tunnels to prevent or at least mitigate the occurrence of hazardous events such as spread of smoke or noxious fumes, flooding, among others. Typically there two ways for preventing or mitigating the occurrence of hazardous events: one is the implementation of permanent solutions and, the second one, is the use of temporary solutions. Permanent solutions usually have relatively high …

Is Peacemaking Unpatriotic?: The Function Of Homophobia In The Discursive World, Mari J. Matsuda

Journal of Hate Studies

Self-doubt is not the custom in public debate. In adversarial speech performance, the voice of certainty carries weight. Probing, intersubjective, self-reflective conversation is odd. Yet if speech is a cornerstone of democracy, if developing better ways to live on this planet without destroying it is a prerequisite to our survival, we need to bring all the necessary ideas to the table. The First Amendment can save your life; the wrong idea can kill you. This is why I am concerned about the mechanisms by which speech is suppressed in daily life, and am searching to understand the ways in which …

Population Pressure And Family Planning In The Case Of Sub Saharan Africa's Demographic Transition, Jessica T. Ysunza

Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Attention Deficit Disorder In Adults, Nutritional Deficiencies, And The Treatments Available: A Literature Review, Emilee S. Manthey

Modern Psychological Studies

The prevalence of attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD) in adults has steadily increased within the past decade. However, very few people are aware they have this disorder. Those with ADHD have higher divorce rates, school dropout rates, job termination, car accidents, and higher rates of substance abuse and alcohol dependence (Kates, 2005; Tcheremissine & Lieving, 2009). A high comorbidity rate with ADHD, anxiety, and depression has been found. This literature review includes the significant nutritional deficiencies such as neurotransmitters, trace minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, and several B vitamins which are found in people with ADHD, and a description of the …

Distress Tolerance And Mental Health Outcomes, Carrie A. Stemke

Modern Psychological Studies

This literature review has compiled research on two related subjects: the construct of distress tolerance and the treatment of mental health issues for which low distress tolerance is an underlying factor. The purpose of this work is to not only examine a central mechanism in the onset and maintenance of select psychopathologies, but also to examine ways in which treatment focused on raising an individual's distress tolerance can help in symptom reduction. This review also proposes that a better understanding of stress and an individual's reaction to it can lead to both more effective treatment and towards the future fulfillment …

The Effects Of The Cold Pressor Task On Memory Recall, Hayden Lemer

Modern Psychological Studies

Neurotransmitters that are released in response to stress can disrupt the prefrontal cortex creating an impairing effect on attentional processes leading to a hindering of memory recall (Arnsten, 2009). Participants were taken from an Intro to Psychology course from a small liberal arts college in Northeastern Pennsylvania. Participants immersed their hand in either ice-cold or warm water while listening to 20 nouns. In this present study, participants showed memory recall impairment after they received stress induced from the cold pressor task only during learning, and after a short delay consisting of a short distracter math test.

Influence Of Fluid-Structure Interaction On Microcantilever Vibrations: Applications To Rheological Fluid Measurement And Chemical Detection, Isabelle Dufour, E. Lemaire, B. Caillard, H. Debeda, C. Lucat, Stephen M. Heinrich, Fabien Josse, Oliver Brand

Civil and Environmental Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

At the microscale, cantilever vibrations depend not only on the microstructure’s properties and geometry but also on the properties of the surrounding medium. In fact, when a microcantilever vibrates in a fluid, the fluid offers resistance to the motion of the beam. The study of the influence of the hydrodynamic force on the microcantilever’s vibrational spectrum can be used to either (1) optimize the use of microcantilevers for chemical detection in liquid media or (2) extract the mechanical properties of the fluid. The classical method for application (1) in gas is to operate the microcantilever in the dynamic transverse bending …

Optimizing Electrode Design For Microbial Fuel Cells Used For Wastewater Treatment, Lindsay Nichols, John A. Hogan

STAR Program Research Presentations

Microbial fuel cells (MFC) utilize bacteria to generate an electrical current that can be used in the decomposition of sludge and human urine. In a MFC there is an anode (for oxidation of organic compounds), cathode (reduction of oxygen or carbon dioxide), and a proton exchange membrane (PEM, allows protons to migrate); reduction-oxidation reactions between the anode and cathode produce a measurable current. Bacteria that are found in sludge can be used to produce electrons in a voltaic cell, but optimizing conditions for harnessing the energy is crucial to making a MFC efficient. Research has shown that the ratios of …

The Conservation Status Of The World’S Reptiles, Tony Gamble

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Effective and targeted conservation action requires detailed information about species, their distribution, systematics and ecology as well as the distribution of threat processes which affect them. Knowledge of reptilian diversity remains surprisingly disparate, and innovative means of gaining rapid insight into the status of reptiles are needed in order to highlight urgent conservation cases and inform environmental policy with appropriate biodiversity information in a timely manner. We present the first ever global analysis of extinction risk in reptiles, based on a random representative sample of 1500 species (16% of all currently known species). To our knowledge, our results provide the …

Criminalizing Normal Adolescent Behavior In Communities Of Color: The Role Of Prosecutors In Juvenile Justice Reform, Kristin N. Henning

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

There is little dispute that racial disparities pervade the contemporary American juvenile justice system. The persistent overrepresentation of youth of color in the system suggests that scientifically supported notions of diminished culpability of youth are not applied consistently across races. Drawing from recent studies on implicit bias and the impact of race on perceptions of adolescent culpability, Professor Henning contends that contemporary narratives portraying black and Hispanic youth as dangerous and irredeemable lead prosecutors to disproportionately reject youth as a mitigating factor for their behavior. Although racial disparities begin at arrest and persist through every stage of the juvenile justice …

Lessons For International Law From The Arab Spring, Rosa Brooks

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Not all that begins in hope ends in happiness. In Egypt, the exuberance of Tahrir Square has given way to frustration over the resilience of the security state; in Libya, the anti-Qaddafi movement has fractured along tribal and factional lines; in Syria, as of this writing, calls for reform continue to be met with gunfire from government forces. Throughout the Middle East—from Egypt, Libya and Syria to Yemen, Tunisia, Bahrain and elsewhere—the heady excitement of 2010 has given way to a more sober awareness that enduring political change may take years, if not generations. The Arab Spring brought both progress …

It Doesn't Pass The Sell Test: Focusing On "The Facts Of The Individual Case" In Involuntary Medication Inquiries, Susan A. Mcmahon

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Criminal defendants who are incompetent to stand trial have a significant liberty interest in refusing the antipsychotic medication that could restore their competency. The Supreme Court cautioned that instances of intrusion upon that right “may be rare,” and, in Sell v. United States, it laid out what it believed to be stringent criteria for when a defendant could be medicated against his will. Yet, since Sell, trial courts have ordered over sixty-three percent of defendants involuntarily medicated. These individuals did not pose a danger to themselves or others, and they were rarely accused of crimes that involved damage …

Bloomberg’S Health Legacy: Urban Innovator Or Meddling Nanny?, Lawrence O. Gostin

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Michael Bloomberg leaves the mayoralty of New York City, with his health legacy is bitterly contested. The public health community views him as an urban innovator—a rare political and business leader willing to fight for a built environment conducive to healthier, safer lifestyles. To his distractors, however, Bloomberg epitomizes a meddling nanny—an elitist dictating to largely poor and working class people about how they ought to lead their lives. His policies have sparked intense public, corporate, and political ire—critical of sweeping mayoral power to socially engineer the city and its inhabitants.

Here, I seek to show how Bloomberg has fundamentally …

Raising Hope For Children In Foster Care: An Argument In Favor Of Expanding The Pool Of Qualified Applicants, Tapia Mateo

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Mechanics Of Hip Dysplasia Reduction In Infants Using The Pavlik Harness: A Physics Based Computational Model, Orlando Ardila, Eduardo Divo, Faissal Moslehy, George Rab, Alain Kassab, Charles Price

Mechanical Engineering - Daytona Beach

Biomechanical factors influencing the reduction of dislocated hips with the Pavlik harness in patients of Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip (DDH) were studied using a three-dimensional computer model simulating hip reduction dynamics in (1) subluxated and (2) fully dislocated hip joints. Five hip adductor muscles were identified as key mediators of DDH prognosis, and the non-dimensional force contribution of each in the direction necessary to achieve concentric hip reductions was determined. Results point to the adductor muscles as mediators of subluxated hip reductions, as their mechanical action is a function of the degree of hip dislocation. For subluxated hips in …

The Effect Of Whole Body Vibration On Rate Of Force Development And Vertical Jump Performence In College Aged Females, Marco Antonio Italia

Honors Theses

Whole-body vibration (WBV) may potentiate vertical jump (VJ) performance via augmented muscular strength and motor function. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of different rest intervals after WBV on VJ performance. Eight collegiately trained athletes (age 20.75 ± 1.16yr, mass 61.35 ±9.68kg, height 168.19±7.73cm) and eight recreationally active (age 22.25 ±1.83yr, mass 64.35 ±4.64kg, height 162.53 ± 2.6cm) individuals volunteered to participate in 4 testing visits separated by 24 hours. Visit 1 acted as a familiarization visit where subjects were introduced to the VJ and WBV protocols. Visits 2-4 contained 2 randomized conditions per visit with …

Polycationic Perylenebisimides For G-Quadruplex Binding, Andrew Jacob Matrick

Honors Theses

Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) can exist in a quadruplex arrangement that requires an abundance of guanine residues [2]. The structures of various quadruplexes have been revealed, in vitro, and, more recently, in vivo [4,5]. Guanine quadruplexes are thermo dynamically stable. It is postulated that quadruplex destabilization facilitates a conformational change in the structure that could serve as a switch for gene expression [5]. This principle is the basis for targeting quadruplexes with organic, small-molecule binding and stabilizing agents. Quadruplexes may play an important role in regulating the expression of many genes, including those implicated in cancer. Stabilization of the quadruplex contained …

An Analysis Of The Effectiveness Of Incorporating Virtual Cadaver Study On Student Performance In Human Anatomy And Physiology, Mary Katherine Kerce

Honors Theses

In an ideal Human Anatomy & Physiology (Human A&P) laboratory, students would use human cadavers for study. However, due to the limited supply of human cadavers and high cost of constructing and maintaining laboratory facilities, many institutions choose to use various animal organs and models to teach human anatomy. Dissections are an irreplaceable tool to help students understand human anatomy because models often have garish colors that allow easy discrimination of structures but do not show the colors and textures associated with real tissue. Additionally, cadavers, organs. and models must remain within the laboratory, so students have limited access. The …

Producing In-Situ Nanoparticles Of Griseofulvin Using Supercritical Antisolvent Methodology, Pratik Sheth

Open Access Dissertations

Poor aqueous solubility of drug candidates is a major challenge for the pharmaceutical scientists involved in drug development. Particle size reduction to nano scale appears as an effective and versatile option for solubility improvement. Unlike the traditional methods used for the particle size reduction, supercritical fluid (SCF) processing techniques offer advantages ranging from superior particle size control to clean processing. Amongst all of the SCF based techniques, supercritical antisolvent (SAS) processing is of particular interest because most pharmaceuticals, including the model drug for this study-griseofulvin, are insoluble in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO₂), and SAS is one of the …

Litigation-Fostered Bureaucratic Autonomy: Administrative Law Against Political Control, Daniel E. Walters

Faculty Scholarship

The idea of political control dominates our understanding of both what administrative law does and what it should do. This emphasis on political control, however, downplays the important ways that administrative law facilitates resistance to political control in administrative agencies. In this article, I offer studies of two instances in which agencies harnessed the power of seemingly standard administrative law litigation to resist the imposition of policies by political leadership. I classify these kinds of modes of resistance as instances of “litigation-fostered bureaucratic autonomy” and flesh out the mechanisms that drive the process. Acknowledging the role of such modes of …

Rethinking Discipleship In The Area Of High School Ministry: Key Strategies For Transforming Urban Youth, Michael Rackley

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

According to a Barna Research Group study titled "Third Millennium Teens" 60% of young people will leave the church permanently or for an extended period. Decreasing the number of urban youth ages 14-18 from defecting from the church and to increase retention of church dropouts using Twenty-First Century transformational strategies is the goal of this project. Having served as a youth pastor the writer will analyze key strategies that will benefit high school ministry by raising the bar on expectations and by building future leaders in the church.

This project will include an anonymous survey of 125 participants aged 18-24 …

A Phenomenological Approach To The Use Of Praise In The Upper Elementary Classroom, Kristen Mcguire

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative study uses a hermeneutic phenomenological approach and data analysis to explore how teachers use praise in multiple sixth grade classrooms. Both novice and veteran teachers are involved in the study. The study examines the differences between these novice and veteran teachers' use of praise. The study also examines how teachers use praise differently for effort versus achievement and the pros and cons of praise in the classroom. In addition, the study provides reasoning for why teachers use praise in the upper elementary classroom. The study utilizes various data collection techniques to focus on how and why teachers use …

Spectroscopic Study Of Charge Transfer Induced Blue Shifting Of Pyrimidine/Water Mixtures On Silver Substrate, Annie Katherine Mcclellan

Honors Theses

Surface enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) is a chemical method gaining much popularity in recent years. With the use of a roughened metal surface or metal nanoparticles, surface plasmon resonances enhance the electromagnetic field allowing for increased Raman signal. Pyrimidine, having two lone pairs of electrons, is capable of charge transfer interactions contributing to a SERS chemical enhancement factor as well. It has recently been reported that hydrogen bonding with water results in the blue-shifting of certain normal modes of pyrimidine. By comparing experimental polarized Raman spectra with the results of electronic structure calculations, the origin of this blue-shifting was found …

Enlightenment Science And Nano-Science: Creating Order Out Of Magic, Elizabeth Ramsey Frey

Honors Theses

People today live in a world dominated by technology. All of the conveniences and technologies people enjoy and utilize today, however, would not exist without the foundation of empirical science laid during the Enlightenment. This thesis looks at the Enlightenment both as a philosophical movement and as the setting of the Scientific Revolution. The leaders of the Enlightenment and Scientific Revolution began the tradition of utilizing reason in research, founded empirical science, and developed the scientific method. This thesis traces the development of science during the Enlightenment and seeks to prove that Enlightenment science set the stage for the science …

The Victorious Christian Life: Overcoming Alcohol Dependence Through The Phenomenon Of Christian Spirituality, Michael Byrne

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Interviews were conducted with graduates of a northeastern evangelical Christian-based treatment program to discover insights regarding the role that the phenomenon of Christian spirituality played in their recovery. Eight themes were extracted from three periods of time in the participants' lives as they related to the phenomenon of Christian spirituality: prior to treatment; during treatment; and after treatment. These themes revealed that the participants lacked resiliencies to overcome alcohol dependence themselves. All participants reported that critical aspects of Christian spirituality, such as regeneration and cultivation of a divine-human relationship through lifestyle exercise of Spiritual Disciplines and diligent application of the …

Creating Sustainable Urban Land Use Patterns: A Comparison Of Portland, Oregon And St. Louis, Missouri, William T. Sutphin

Research Papers

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Adoption Of State-Level Policies For Transgender Persons: Political Mediation And The Role Of Litigation, Trey Green

Research Papers

Politicians and prison officials are under increasing pressure to set policy for housing and treatment for transgender prison inmates. Despite this common need, only a handful of states have adopted a formal written prison policy that addresses transgender inmates. Furthermore, there has been little academic research on this subject. This paper seeks to determine how and why some states develop policies while others do not. Specifically, the research questions include: What are the state-level political conditions that lead to transgender policy regimes? Moreover, will these be the same conditions that are necessary for a positive outcome of transgender prison policies? …