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Zebra: Zero-Effort Bilateral Recurring Authentication, Shrirang Mare, Andrés Molina-Markham, Cory Cornelius, Ronald Peterson, David Kotz

Dartmouth Scholarship

Common authentication methods based on passwords, tokens, or fingerprints perform one-time authentication and rely on users to log out from the computer terminal when they leave. Users often do not log out, however, which is a security risk. The most common solution, inactivity timeouts, inevitably fail security (too long a timeout) or usability (too short a timeout) goals. One solution is to authenticate users continuously while they are using the terminal and automatically log them out when they leave. Several solutions are based on user proximity, but these are not sufficient: they only confirm whether the user is nearby but …

Designing An Artificial Tendon/Graft Derived From Silkworm Silk And Synthetic Spider Silk With Respect To Structure, Mechanical Properties, Biocompatibility, And Attachment, Neal Hengge

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

The Achilles tendon is one of the most commonly damaged tendons in the human body (Hansen et al., 2012). Current surgical and therapeutic techniques require extended recovery time and the tendon is rarely returned to its original healthy state. For athletes in particular, strenuous rehabilitation is required to return from a serious injury like a ruptured Achilles tendon (Rosso et al., 2013).

Despite the high amount of sources for grafts to aid in surgical repair, all of the options have drawbacks such as availability, immune response, or poor mechanical properties. Spider silk has the potential to enhance current Achilles tendon …

Miniaturization Of Chemical Analysis Tools: Micro-Solid Phase Extraction Tips For Protein Extractions And Development Of A Miniaturized Glow Discharge Source For Elemental Analysis, Benjamin Manard

All Dissertations

An increased interest has been placed on the miniaturization of chemical processes. Focus is placed on rapid chemical analysis, decreased operation cost, minimal generation of chemical waste, and reduced sample size. Presented here is an approached the goal of 'miniaturization' through two distinct areas of analytical chemistry: 1) employing capillary-channeled polymer (C-CP) fibers as a stationary phase in micro-SPE (solid phase extraction) tips for the extraction of proteins from buffered solutions (i.e. biofluids) with analysis by mass spectrometry (MS) and 2) the development of the liquid sampling-atmospheric pressure glow discharge (LS-APGD) as an excitation source for elemental analysis. Determination of …

Nonparametric And Semiparametric Group Testing Regression Models, Dewei Wang

All Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three projects in the area of group testing. The method of group testing, through the use of pooling, has proven to be an efficient method of reducing the time and cost associated with screening for a binary characteristic of interest, such as infection status. The salient feature of group testing that provides for these gains in efficiency is that testing is performed on pooled specimens, rather than testing specimens one-by-one. In Chapter 1, we present a general introduction of group testing. Typically, the statistical literature surrounding group testing has investigated the implementation of pooled testing for …

Effects Of Teacher Training On Preservice Teachers' Knowledge, Personal Beliefs, And Attitudes, Sloan Smith Huckabee

All Dissertations

This study examines the effects of the NAMI Parents and Teachers as Allies training on the Mental Health Literacy, Personal Beliefs, and Stigmatizing Attitudes of preservice teachers. A researcher developed survey was administered three times to the training group prior to, immediately following, and two weeks after the training. A nonequivalent control group was administered two surveys—a preliminary measure and a follow up measure—to provide comparison data for investigating the effects of the intervention on the group of preservice teachers receiving the intervention. Results of the study indicate the Parents and Teachers as Allies training is an inexpensive, relatively short …

Discovery Of Variants Underlying Simple And Complex Traits Through Genome-Wide Association Study And Whole-Genome Resequencing, Rooksana Elizabeth Noorai

All Dissertations

If no reference genome exists, then the generation of a de novo genome assembly of an organism is necessary because having a reference genome expedites the discoveries for simple and complex traits. Reference genomes for the domestic dog (Canis lupus familiaris) and chicken (Gallus gallus) have resulted in the development of single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) arrays for use in genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Next-generation sequencing technologies provide a rapid, increasingly affordable method for the generation of genome resequencing data. The first objective of this work was to utilize existing genomic resources to investigate the genetic basis for traits of the …

Functional Characterization Of Zbtb20 And The Role Of Zbtb20-Dependent Transcription Regulation In Autism Spectrum Disorders And Intellectual Disability, Richa Koul

All Dissertations

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and intellectual disability (ID) are the two most frequently reported, often co-morbid, neurodevelopmental disorders that affect children all over the world. Previously, a genetic association of the ZBTB20 gene, located at chromosome 3q13.2, with ASD and ID was identified. The gene is highly expressed in developing brain and encodes two isoforms of 668- (short isoform) and 741- (long isoform) amino acid proteins that belong to the BTB (broad complex, tramtrack, bric-a-brac) – zinc finger family of transcription factors. The human ZBTB20 protein was functionally characterized using various molecular and cellular approaches, to elucidate its contribution to …

Exploration Of Climate Influences On The Abundance Of Galls On Red Willow (Salix /Aevigata) Across Two Riparian Communities In Southern California, Victor D. Carmona-Galindo, Rachael Sears, Tauras P. Vilgalys, Emily Hand, Sara Morledge-Hampton

Biology Faculty Works

In Southern California, the red willow (Sa/ix laevigata Bebb) hosts a variety of gall-inducing parasitic insects. However, little is known about the ecology of these parasites, particularly the characterization of their microclimate preferences. This study explores the relationship between microclimate and gall frequencies in S. laevigata in the Ballona Wetlands and Temescal Canyon, and gall count correlated with biotic and abiotic factors such as soil pH, soil moisture and willow density. Significantly more galls per leaf were found at Temescal Canyon than Ballona Wetlands. Although the number of galls per leaf correlated negatively with soil pH, soil moisture content and …

Isolated And Ephemeral Wetlands Of Southern Appalachia: Biotic Communities And Environmental Drivers Across Multiple Temporal And Spatial Scales, Joanna Hawley

All Dissertations

Throughout the world, wetlands are known to support a wide variety of taxa as well as high levels of biodiversity and species richness. Although the ecological significance of wetlands is well documented in the scientific literature, efforts to map and assess wetlands on regional or national scales (e.g., National Wetlands Inventory (NWI)) often overlook wetlands which are either very small (< 1 ha) or have ephemeral hydroperiods. While the vast majority of wetland research in the southeastern United States has focused on wetlands distributed across the coastal plain ecoregion, very little information exists on small and/or ephemeral wetlands in areas of southern Appalachia, although there are several notable exceptions. Despite the paucity of small wetland data in this region, the southeastern US is known as a hotspot for both aquatic biodiversity and species endemism. My goal with this project was to examine the biotic communities inhabiting small, ephemeral and geographically-isolated wetlands to identify the major environmental drivers that contribute to observed community patterns and species' distributions. I studied a set of small, mostly-ephemeral, mostly-isolated wetlands (N = 41) in the upper Piedmont and lower Blue Ridge ecoregions of South Carolina from January-June of 2010 and 2011 and focused my efforts on describing the structure, biotic communities and surrounding habitat characteristics of my study wetlands. I observed high levels of species richness and biodiversity in this previously-undocumented wetland system, despite the small size and ephemeral nature of study wetlands. My results indicated that the amphibian and benthic invertebrate communities of small, ephemeral wetlands responded to different environmental drivers (e.g., wetland depth, area, hydroperiod, canopy cover, surrounding land use types) occurring across multiple spatial and temporal scales. Additionally, the amphibian community was significantly influenced by a number of environmental variables occurring at both the within-pond scale and larger spatial scales (250 m, 500 m and 1 km surrounding land cover variables). By contrast, the benthic invertebrate community was significantly influenced primarily by variables occurring at the within-pond scale. This wetland system also served as both breeding and overwintering habitat for a variety of species such as wood frogs (Lithobates sylvatica), spotted salamanders (Ambystoma maculatum), bullfrogs (Lithobates catesbeiana), cricket frogs (Acris crepitans). This study highlights the ecological importance of small, ephemeral aquatic habitats in a region where little research exists regarding such systems; these often-unnoticed ecosystems are likely the result of a combination of historical anthropogenic and natural environmental process. These legacy wetlands (i.e., wetlands that are the unintended result of some human-induced environmental change in either the recent or long-term past) are found ubiquitously across the landscape and are often missed by coarse-filter mapping approaches (e.g., National Wetlands Inventory). I observed many study wetlands to be extremely small in size (< 0.05 ha) and that many wetlands were habitats of circumstance and opportunity rather than of permanence and predictability. The ephemerality of the majority of study wetlands demonstrates the biological significance of small, temporary habitats for many species requiring these habitats for breeding activity. Despite the small size and ephemeral nature of my study wetlands, I found that these wetlands represented a large proportion of amphibian biodiversity in the regional species pool and thus, are an important conservation feature at the local, landscape and regional scales. My study demonstrates that small, semi-isolated, mostly-ephemeral wetlands in southern Appalachia support high levels of biodiversity and are an important asset deserving of further study and conservation recognition.

Influence Of Periostin On Bone Marrow-Derived Cell Contribution To Dermal Wound Repair, Suzanne Parks

All Dissertations

Originally thought to function only as a scaffold, the extracellular matrix (ECM) is now understood to provide signals that regulate all aspects of cellular phenotype. Matricellular proteins are a subset of ECM-related molecules defined by their ability to modulate interactions between cells and the ECM. Periostin was recently classified as a matricellular protein based on its expression and function during development and wound repair. Periostin has been shown to influence cell behavior and collagen fibrillogenesis in several tissue types. In this study, we examined how periostin expression influences fibrocyte behavior after dermal injury using periostin null (Pstn -/-) and wild-type …

Drug Delivery With Feedback Control In Bioresponsive Hydrogels, Andrew Wilson

All Dissertations

Bioresponsive hydrogels are emerging with technological significance in targeted drug delivery, biosensors and regenerative medicine. The design challenge is to effectively link the conferred biospecificity with an engineered response tailored to the needs of a particular application. Moreover, the fundamental phenomena governing the response must support an appropriate dynamic range, limit of detection and the potential for feedback control. The design of these systems is inherently complicated due to the high interdependency of the governing phenomena that guide sensing, transduction and actuation of the hydrogel. The objective of the dissertation is to review the current state of bioresponsive hydrogel technology …

Processes Utilized By High School Students Reading Scientific Text, Alicia Clinger

All Dissertations

In response to an increased emphasis on disciplinary literacy in the secondary science classroom, an investigation of the literacy processes utilized by high school students while reading scientific text was undertaken. A think-aloud protocol was implemented to collect data on the processes students used when not prompted while reading a magazine article and a selection from a textbook. Following the think-aloud, participants provided an oral summary that was analyzed for content and quality to assess the effectiveness of the strategies. The data showed that familiarity with text structure and prior knowledge of the content affected the processes utilized. Differences between …

Using Hidden Markov Models To Segment And Classify Wrist Motions Related To Eating Activities, Raul Ramos Garcia

All Dissertations

Advances in body sensing and mobile health technology have created new opportunities for empowering people to take a more active role in managing their health. Measurements of dietary intake are commonly used for the study and treatment of obesity. However, the most widely used tools rely upon self-report and require considerable manual effort, leading to underreporting of consumption, non-compliance, and discontinued use over the long term. We are investigating the use of wrist-worn accelerometers and gyroscopes to automatically recognize eating gestures. In order to improve recognition accuracy, we studied the sequential ependency of actions during eating. In chapter 2 we …

A Memento Of Complexity: The Rhetorics Of Memory, Ambience, And Emergence, Glen Southergill

All Dissertations

Drawing from complexity theory, this dissertation develops a schema of rhetorical memory that exhibits extended characteristics. Scholars traditionally conceptualize memory, the fourth canon in classical rhetoric, as place (loci) or image (phantasm). However, memory rhetoric resists the traditional loci-phantasm framework and instead emerges from enmeshments of interiority, collectivity, and technology. Emergence considers the dynamics of fundamental parts that generate complex systems and offers a methodological lens to theorizing memory. The resulting construct informs everyday life, which includes interfacing with pervasive computing or sensing familiarity. Further, congruently with a neurological turn that contradicts simplification, this dissertation resituates rhetorical memory as generative …

Range Collapse, Genetic Differentiation, And Climate Change: An Ecological History Of The Diana Fritillary, Speyeria Diana And Projections For Its Future, Carrie Wells

All Dissertations

The geographic ranges of most plant and animal species are tied closely to climatic factors, including temperature, precipitation, and soil moisture. For this reason, recent changes in the global climate due to human activities are predicted to have profound effects on natural populations, communities and ecosystems over a relatively short period of time. Combined effects from global warming and other anthropogenic activities such as land-use changes, pollution, and habitat loss/fragmentation, are altering species' distributions faster than they can be documented. Recent climate change has also been shown to alter species' breeding behaviors and alter the synchrony and timing of species' …

A Computational Model Of Memetic Evolution: Optimizing Collective Intelligence, Noah Welsh

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to create an adaptive agent based simulation modeling the processes of creative collaboration. This model aided in the development of a new evolutionary based framework through which education scholars, academics, and professionals in all disciplines and industries can work to optimize their collective ability to find creative solutions to complex problems. The basic premise follows that the process of idea exchange, parallels the role sexual reproduction in biological evolution and is essential to society's collective ability to solve complex problems. The study outlined a set of assumptions used to develop a new theory of …

Building Chemistry One Atom At A Time: An Investigation Of The Effects Of Two Curricula In Students' Understanding Of Covalent Bonding And Atomic Size, Barbara Bull

All Dissertations

Chemists have to rely on models to aid in the explanation of phenomena they experience. Instruction of atomic theory has been used as the introduction and primary model for many concepts in chemistry. Therefore, it is important for students to have a robust understanding of the different atomic models, their relationships and their limitations. Previous research has shown that students have alternative conceptions concerning their interpretation of atomic models, but there is less exploration into how students apply their understanding of atomic structure to other chemical concepts. Therefore, this research concentrated on the development of three Model Eliciting Activities to …

Representative Pharmaceuticals, Personal Care Products, Pesticides, And Metals In South Carolina Streams: A Catchment Based Approach To Identify Potential Sources, Impacts And Fate, Alan Jones

All Dissertations

Anthropogenic activities have been shown to have deleterious effects on aquatic habitats, and changes in land use/cover reflecting these activities could be indicative of changes in aquatic chemistry. At present, little is known about aquatic population and community level responses to low levels of pharmaceuticals and personal care products (PPCPs) in the environment. While describing effects at a community level are the ultimate goal of many researchers, often researchers extrapolate potential community effects based on exposures to small populations that may or may not be endemic to the system of interest. The objectives of this study are to quantify elemental …

Effects Of Instrumentation On Dental Microwear Textures: Reanalysis And Augmentation Of An Early Hominin Sample, Anna Jacquelyn Ragni

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Dental microwear texture analysis has been refined to a methodology relying upon scanning confocal microscopy for its advantages of repeatability and standardized quantification. A new instrument, the Plu Neox (Sensofar Corp.) confocal profiler recently entered the market, sparking questions among dental anthropologists related to the advantages and efficacy of this new technology, which has better resolution and lighting properties than previously available white-lighted based confocal profilers. This thesis reports on three complementary studies that set out to evaluate the comparability of the Plu Neox to the Plu Standard system and assess its ability to distinguish primates on the basis of …

Plasticity In Female Mate Choosiness: A Result Of Variation In Perceived Predation Risk And The Interaction Of Female Age And Male Density, Ashley N. Atwell

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In many species, female mate choices can be a strong source of sexual selection. Females often prefer a certain male phenotype, and this can be due to benefits females gain from mating with preferred males. However, such benefits can sometimes be outweighed by the cost of searching for a preferred male. These costs and benefits often change concomitantly with changes in environmental (e.g., predator abundance and conspecific density) and internal factors (e.g., female age). Thus, female mate choosiness (the degree to which preferences for certain males are expressed) should often be plastic. Plasticity in female mate choosiness may be complicated …

Placental Hpv Infection In Hiv Positive And Hiv Negative Zambian Women, Chrispin Chisanga

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Human papillomaviruses (HPVs) have been reported to infect epithelial trophoblastic cells of the placenta, induce cell death and even cause placental malfunction associated with spontaneous preterm delivery. To date, no study has been conducted to determine the role of HIV on HPV genotype distribution and pathogenesis in the placental compartment. This is despite the evidence that the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) can decrease the cellular immune response and increase the incidence of malignant cancers in HPV patients. Therefore, in this study, we analyzed 200 genomic DNA (gDNA) samples extracted from paraffin embedded placental tissues of HIV positive and HIV negative …

The Equitable Contributions Of Environment, Management And Restoration Status On Grassland Diversity And Composition, Raeann C. Powers

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Plant composition is controlled by a combination of environmental, biotic, historical and management factors. Although there has been much focus on restoring grassland diversity, it is unclear which factors and/or interactions of factors are constraining diversity in grasslands and the relative influences of different factors. We measured soil fertility, soil texture, grazing intensity, fire frequency and plant cover in 694 plots, located within 33 remnant and restored fields in managed grasslands in the central Great Plains. Using univariate (general linear model) and multivariate (PERMANOVA) analyses, we identified significant factors and their relative contributions to plant richness, evenness, floristic quality index …

Functional Implications Of The Baf–B1 Axis During The Vaccinia Virus Life Cycle, Nouhou Ibrahim

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Vaccinia virus is the prototypic member of the Poxviridae family, which includes variola virus, the agent of smallpox. Poxviruses encode their own transcriptional machinery and a set of proteins to evade the host defense system, and thus are able to replicate entirely in the cytoplasm of their host. The poxvirus life cycle occurs in sequential stages: early gene expression, DNA replication, intermediate gene expression and then late gene expression and morphogenesis. The temporally staged poxvirus life cycle makes viral DNA replication a required event for post-replicative events to occur. However, viral DNA replication itself depends on an early viral Ser/Thr …

The Mechanism Of Small Rna Biogenesis, Degradation, And Function In Arabidopsis, Meng Xie

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Eukaryotic small RNAs play important roles in many biological processes through sequence-specific RNA silencing. In plants, there are mainly two small RNAs triggering gene silencing: microRNAs (miRNAs) and small interfering RNAs (siRNAs). The biogenesis and precise regulation of small RNA abundance are crucial for plant growth, development, genomic stability, and the resistance to both abiotic and biotic stresses. In this study, we used Arabidopsis thaliana, the model plant, to study the mechanism of RNA-directed DNA methylation (RdDM), in which siRNAs can trigger DNA methylation and gene silencing. In addition, we investigated the mechanism of miRNA biogenesis and degradation. For …

Variation In Vegetation And Microbial Linkages With Slope Aspect In A Montane Temperate Hardwood Forest, Frank S. Gilliam, Radim Hedl, Marketa Chudomelova, Rebecca L. Mcculley, Jim Nelson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Plant ecologists have long been interested in aspect-related contrasts of montane forests. Few studies have assessed correlation (linkage) among vegetation strata; fewer have included soil microbial communities. This study assessed contrasts in overstory, spring herbaceous, and soil microbial communities between northeast (NE) - and southwest (SW) -facing slopes in a second-growth West Virginia hardwood forest. We addressed three questions: (1) how do soil microbial, herbaceous layer, and overstory communities vary with slope aspect? (2) do forest vegetation strata and soil microbial communities exhibit linkage? (3) do biotic relationships and linkage vary with slope aspect? Moisture, organic matter, pH, soil NO …

Convergence In Communication Behavior And Brain Morphology In Lizards: An Evolutionary Approach, Christopher D. Robinson

Biology Honors Theses

Animal communication allows information to be transferred from a sender to a receiver, and can occur via visual, chemical, auditory, and tactile modalities. Communication behaviors are known to be generally associated with specific brain regions, but it is currently unknown how the cellular morphology of these regions differs in species that quantitatively differ in the use of particular communication modalities. Further, these relationships are rarely considered in an evolutionary context. In this thesis, I investigated the relationship between the use of communication modalities and neural morphologies (in particular, soma size and density) in the brains of six species of lizards: …

From Competition To Facilitation: Mechanisms Of Species Interactions In A Novel World, Erin E. Tansey

Biology Honors Theses

Invasive species outcompete and displace native species through competition and are an enormous threat to biodiversity. Theories designed to explain mechanisms of plant species competition have been in development over the last ninety years. Nonetheless, understanding why invasive species are competitively superior remains elusive. This is likely due to the fact that invasive species do not conform to traditional assumptions made in competition models. In this study, we focus on three species found in competition in grassland ecosystems of much of the US Great Plains. The species include the non-indigenous, invasive, C4, perennial grass King Ranch bluestem (Bothiochloa ischaemum (L.) …

Predicting Gene Ontology Annotations Based On Literature Co-Occurrence, Rosemary Steup

Computer Science Honors Theses

In recent years, the amount of digital data that we produce has increased exponentially. This flood of information, often referred to as “big data,” is creating both opportunities and challenges in all areas of life. In the domain of biology, technology has enabled us to sequence the genomes of humans and many other organisms, but we are far from understanding the biological roles played by all of these genes. The Gene Ontology seeks to address this problem by annotating genes to terms describing biological processes, molecular functions, and cellular components. However, the ontology’s manual curators cannot keep up with the …

Two New Species Of Euscorpius From Euboea Island, Greece (Scorpiones: Euscorpiidae), Victor Fet, Michael E. Soleglad, Aristeidis Parmakelis, Panayiota Kotsakiozi, Iasmi Stathi

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

We describe two new species of the genus Euscorpius from Euboea Island, Greece: E. birulai sp.n. (Agia Triada Cave) and E. mylonasi sp.n. (Mt. Dirfi). The cave species E. birulai sp.n. is morphologically close to E. koschewnikowi Birula, 1900 from Mt. Athos, Greece. Species-level divergence of E. mylonasi sp.n. is also confirmed by multiple DNA markers. According to DNA data, an undescribed population from the nearby Skyros Island is closely related to E. mylonasi sp.n.

May 2014 Commencement Program, Bowling Green State University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.