Digital Commons Network^™

The Mechanisms Of Synaptic Maintenance, Shaoyun Zang

Open Access Dissertations

Synapses are specialized cell-cell contacts where signals are reliably transduced from a neuron to its target cell in a regulated manner. Structurally, synapses are comprised of the pre- and post-synaptic terminals, and the synaptic cleft. Within each of these compartments is a complex network of molecular machinery, the components of which require constant turnover and “maintenance” to ensure a consistent relay of information. In neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s (AD), Parkinson’s (PD), and prion-related diseases, synaptic degeneration is often an early event associated with disease severity, which is evinced by the degree of cognitive decline. A dysfunction of synaptic maintenance …

“We Found Ourselves”—Music And Identity Among The Chinese American Diaspora In Miami, Yiyu Zhang

Open Access Theses

Chinese American communities have been part of the United States since the 19th century. Presently, their high rates of immigration have made them one of this country’s fastest growing communities. However, in Miami, only 0.3% of the population are Chinese Americans. In this local setting, music serves, in the words of Su Zheng, as an important “signifier that produces complex cultural meanings.” Because traditional music forms one of the most significant aspects of music in China, it is critical to explore the extent to which Chinese American musical culture has developed and changed. This thesis discusses the function of Chinese …

An Exploratory Study: The Use Of Privately Owned Vessels As Mobile Research Platforms, Brittany L. Stockman

Open Access Theses

Due to limited public funding for scientific studies and data collection, private sector entities increasingly fill the gap by facilitating research inquiries. Specifically, coastal, oceanic and marine conservation nonprofit organizations (NPOs) play a direct role in research by both funding and orchestrating research missions across the globe. Through the examination of existing organizations and vessels involved in such efforts, this study examined the practicality of a NPO managed program that provides marine scientists with suitable mobile research platforms and evaluated the overall benefits of such a program on the ocean research community. One such organization, the International SeaKeepers Society (SeaKeepers), …

Mangrove Mitigation: A Case Study Of The Cocoplum Development, A History Of Land Use Changes And Trends In Mitigation Efforts, Stephanie J. Chaston

Open Access Theses

The residential community of the Islands of Cocoplum is located in Coral Gables, Florida along Biscayne Bay. It has served as a case study for mangrove mitigation techniques employed by Miami-Dade County's Regulatory and Economic Resources (RER) Coastal Resources division as a way of combating mangrove destruction. A database was created using Microsoft Excel and ArcGIS to identify and map all Class I coastal construction permits and mangrove violations since the onset of the Cocoplum Development in the 1980's through 2011. By identifying the mitigation strategies used by the County, it can be determined if mangrove mitigation effort has lessened, …

Gospelfest Sets Spirits Soaring (Photos), Public Affairs, Roger Williams University

Featured News Story

Gospel choir lends spiritual, personal touch to community performance.

Prescribed Reading: December 2013, Centracare Clinic

Prescribed Reading

• Holiday greetings!
• Recognition for years of service
• Kudos to . . .
• CentraCare launches automated reminders
• CentraCare Urgency Center to open Jan. 20
• Welcome to these new providers
• Welcome to our new employees
• L.I.F.E. Program starts Jan. 7
• Employee Self Service is coming soon!
• Year-end reminders for employees
• Change for the 2014 Medical Expense
• 2014 CentraCare Plan Change Highlights
• Biometric Questions/Answers
• Wellness Reward Points Program
• Sign up for personal training sessions
• New MyChart features available
• Organize your care with MyChart features
• Are you planning international travel?

Boyd Briefs - Dec. 13, 2013, University Of Nevada, Las Vegas -- William S. Boyd School Of Law

Boyd Briefs / Road Scholars

Boyd Briefs provides weekly information regarding the activities and accomplishments of the faculty, students, and alumni of the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas.

Board Of Trustees Agenda, Minutes And Resolutions December 13, 2013, Winthrop University

Winthrop University Board of Trustees Minutes and Resolutions Archive

No abstract provided.

Privacy And Cloud Computing In Public Schools, Joel Reidenberg, N. Cameron Russell, Jordan Kovnot, Thomas B. Norton, Ryan Cloutier, Daniela Alvarado

Center on Law and Information Policy

Today, data driven decision-making is at the center of educational policy debates in the United States. School districts are increasingly turning to rapidly evolving technologies and cloud computing to satisfy their educational objectives and take advantage of new opportunities for cost savings, flexibility, and always-available service among others. As public schools in the United States rapidly adopt cloud-computing services, and consequently transfer increasing quantities of student information to third-party providers, privacy issues become more salient and contentious. The protection of student privacy in the context of cloud computing is generally unknown both to the public and to policy-makers. This study …

Engineering Analysis Of Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Repair, Thuy Pham

Doctoral Dissertations

Surgical treatment for severe functional MR often involves mitral annuloplasty to improve leaflet apposition and ultimately downsize the dilated mitral valve. However, the high rate of operative mortalities of up to 6 ~12% have limited the more expanded use of this procedure. Recently, minimally invasive percutaneous transvenous mitral annuloplasty (PTMA) approaches using entirely catheter-based methods have been developed to reduce procedural morbidity and mortality. One of the approaches is to utilize the proximal location of the coronary sinus (CS) to the mitral annulus (MA) to percutaneously deploy a PTMA device within CS vessel. When the device contracts, it indirectly reshapes …

New Scholarship Will Encourage Recipients To See The World, Think Globally, Winthrop University

Winthrop News 2013

• The Winthrop Global Ambassador Scholarship is available for out-of-state students and includes a half-tuition scholarship, renewable for four years, and $1,000 toward a life-changing, study abroad experience.
• This latest scholarship complements a five-year Global Learning Initiative that Winthrop debuted in 2011.
• The Global Ambassador Scholarship will bring students to Winthrop from a variety of areas around the country and allow the students to access Winthrop’s high quality programs, one of President Jayne Marie (Jamie) Comstock’s goals for the university.

Insights Into Distinct Modulation Of α7 And α7β2 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors By The Volatile Anesthetic, David D. Mowrey, Qiang Liu, Vasyl Bondarenko, Qiang Chen, Edom Seyoum, Yan Xu, Jie Wu, Pei Tang

Translational Neuroscience

Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) are targets of general anesthetics, but functional sensitivity to anesthetic inhibition varies dramatically among different subtypes of nAChRs. Potential causes underlying different functional responses to anesthetics remain elusive. Here we show that in contrast to the α7 nAChR, the α7β2 nAChR is highly susceptible to inhibition by the volatile anesthetic isoflurane in electrophysiology measurements. Isoflurane-binding sites in β2 and α7 were found at the extracellular and intracellular end of their respective transmembrane domains using NMR. Functional relevance of the identified β2 site was validated via point mutations and subsequent functional measurements. Consistent with their functional responses …

Leadership Program Leads Alum To Pursue Book, Harvard, Sarah Gardner, Dave Albee

Press Releases

“This program changed everything for me because it gave me self confidence in my skills and abilities,” says Otis, who now oversees leadership development programs for a major organization

Direction Package Advisory Board Agenda - Meeting #6, Direction Package Advisory Board

Direction Package

No abstract provided.

Volume 49 - Issue 10 - Friday, December 13, 2013, Rose Thorn Staff

The Rose Thorn Archive

The Rose Thorn, Rose-Hulman's independent student newspaper.

12-13-2013 Swosu Mind Games Teams To Face Each Other This Sunday, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2013

Southwestern Oklahoma State University Mind Games teams will face each other in the semifinals this Sunday, December 15 at 6:30 p.m. on KSBI-TV.

Strengthening Immigrants' Health Access: Current Opportunities, Leighton C. Ku

Health Policy and Management Issue Briefs

This brief summarizes key opportunities helping the nation’s newcomers in gaining health insurance coverage and health access that are possible under the current law. Provisions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will help millions of legal immigrants gain access to affordable health insurance coverage. At the same time, however, immigrants will also face new responsibilities. Like citizens, lawfully present immigrants will be responsible for having health insurance coverage or paying a tax penalty, although some are exempt. Rules about immigrants’ access to health insurance benefits are often complicated because they depend on specific immigration categories, as well as eligibility for …

Genetic Analysis Of The Replication Protein A Large Subunit Family In Arabidopsis Reveals Unique And Overlapping Roles In Dna Repair, Meiosis And Dna Replication, Behailu B. Aklilu, Ryan S. Soderquist, Kevin M. Culligan

New Hampshire Agricultural Experiment Station Publications

Replication Protein A (RPA) is a heterotrimeric protein complex that binds single-stranded DNA. In plants, multiple genes encode the three RPA subunits (RPA1, RPA2 and RPA3), including five RPA1-like genes in Arabidopsis. Phylogenetic analysis suggests two distinct groups composed of RPA1A, RPA1C, RPA1E (ACE group) and RPA1B, RPA1D (BD group). ACE-group members are transcriptionally induced by ionizing radiation, while BD-group members show higher basal transcription and are not induced by ionizing radiation. Analysis of rpa1 T-DNA insertion mutants demonstrates that although each mutant line is likely null, all mutant lines are viable and display normal vegetative growth. The rpa1c and …

[2013-12-13] Meeting Of The Academic And Health Affairs Policy Committee, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

[2013-12-13] Meeting Of The Audit And Compliance Committee, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

[2013-12-13] University Resources Committee Of The Board Of Visitors, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

[2013-12-13] Meeting Of The Board Of Visitors Of Virginia Commonwealth University, Virginia Commonwealth University. Board Of Visitors

VCU Board of Visitors Minutes

Official minutes of the VCU Board of Visitors and its Executive Committee.

Personal Reflection, Caitlin S. Hobbs

Capstone Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Lines, Sines, And Wallabies: The Dynamic Landscape Of A Regional Centromere, Laura E. Hall

Doctoral Dissertations

Archival abstract submitted

School Culture: A Survey Of Two Eastern Kentucky Middle Schools, John D. Goble

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

An applied project submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Education Specialist at Morehead State University by John D. Goble on December 13, 2013.

Worth Holding Onto, Julie Bogart

Booth

I get to the unemployment office at 8:15 a.m. It doesn’t open until 8:30, so those of us who’ve arrived early wait outside, eager for the security guard to unlock the doors.

First in line are three people who seem to know one another, co-workers, perhaps, who’ve all been laid off together—it’s November of 2008. Everything has crashed.

Sheet Metal Workers Intl Assn V. E.P. Donnelly, Inc

2013 Decisions

USDC for the District of New Jersey

Melania Isdiati V. Attorney General United States

2013 Decisions

Agency

Shan Zhang V. Attorney General United States

2013 Decisions

Agency

Judith Schaefer Condulmari V. Us Airways Group Llc

2013 Decisions

USDC for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania