Digital Commons Network^™

Client Selected Music Based Effects On Marital And Couples Therapy, Kevin Matthew Smith

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This study was designed to examine the interaction of music-based interventions in the therapeutic process of Martial and Couples Therapy. The use of pre-recorded music was found to be under researched within the literature and created a void within the knowledge that clinicians have about how music might enhance effectiveness of treatment. The inclusion of music in this process is not currently known, which led to this study being conducted. Through a phenomenological lens, the awareness and understanding of how clients react and experience pre-recorded music during the therapeutic process, while still having a selection of options to preserve autonomy, …

Vaccine Effectiveness And Risk Factors Associated With Measles Among Children Presenting To The Hospitals Of Karachi, Pakistan., Aysha Zahidie, Saba Wasim, Zafar Fatmi

Community Health Sciences

OBJECTIVE:

To determine the risk factors regarding guardian's practices associated with development of Measles and also find out effectiveness of Measles vaccine among children less than 12 years of age presenting to the hospitals of Karachi.

STUDY DESIGN:

Matched case control study.

PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY:

Multicenter surveillance was conducted in 11 public and private sector hospitals of Karachi from January 2011 to September 2012 in consultation with World Health Organization Measles Surveillance Cell.

METHODOLOGY:

Cases were children aged less than 12 years with Measles presenting to the hospitals. Controls for cases were enrolled from the same hospitals without …

Establishment And Spread Of A Single Parthenogenic Genotype Of The Mediterranean Arundo Wasp, Tetramesa Romana, In The Variable Climate Of Texas, John A. Goolsby, John F. Gaskin, Daniel V. Tarin, Alan E. Pepper, Don C. Henne, Allan Auclair, Alexis Racelis, Kenneth R. Summy, Patrick J. Moran, Donald B. Thomas

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

As part of a biological control program for the invasive weed, Arundo donax L., several genotypically unique populations of the parthenogenetic stemgalling wasp, Tetramesa romana Walker (Hymenoptera: Eurytomidae), from Spain and France were released in an infested riparian zone along the Rio Grande from Brownsville to Del Rio, TX. An adventive population of the wasp of unknown origin with limited distribution in Texas was also discovered, evaluated, and released as part of the program. More than 1.2 million wasps representing the mixture of genotypes were aerially released from 2009 to 2011. Wasps dispersed from their original release locations and now …

Relationship Between Stream Velocity & Depth And Snail Size Distribution & Density Of The Balcones Elimia, Elimia Comalensis (Pilsbry, 1890) (Gastropoda: Pleuroceridae) In Comal Springs, Texas, Kathryn E. Perez, Russell L. Minton, Scott A. Reese, David M. Haye

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

Pleurocerid snails are important components of aquatic ecosystems and the majority of species are threatened or endangered. This study describes aspects of the life-history of Elimia comalensis, specifically population density in relationship to water velocity and depth, and seasonal change. Also examined are spatial segregation of different E. comalensis age groups and the relationship of snail size (proxy for age) to 110w, depth, and seasonal change. The study was carried out in the lotic portion of spring run 3, Coma! Springs, New Braunfels, Texas, by quadrat sampling at 10 in intervals from the spring head to Landa Lake in Fall. …

Functional Morphology Of The Connective Tissue Of The Clavicular System Of The Domestic Cat, Felis Catus, Amanda N. Cooper

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Gut Bacteria And Their Influence On Metabolic Disorders, Stephanie Sorbara (Class Of 2015)

Biology Undergraduate Publications

The human gut microbial genome encodes for several metabolic processes that are not encoded for in the human genome. Through the study of metagenomics, mice, and human models, researchers have shown that changes in the gut bacterial composition can generate oxidative stress, release endotoxins, and induce lipogenesis. These pathways can disrupt normal metabolic function, resulting in obesity and other related metabolic disorders such as diabetes. Most of the health implications associated with obesity originate from the biological reactions carried out by the gut bacteria, which are strongly impacted by environmental factors. Probiotics, prebiotics and fecal transplantation are methods that can …

Angelman Syndrome, Stephanie Sorbara (Class Of 2015)

Biology Undergraduate Publications

Angelman Syndrome (AS) is a neurogenetic disorder that is classically characterized by excessive laughter and a happy demeanor. Aggression, sleep disorders and epilepsy are other phenotypes associated with this disorder as well. Both happy and aggressive demeanors have been expressed in five different consumers at The Kennedy Center, a site which offers programs and services to individuals with varying disabilities. Research proposes several different genetic mechanisms responsible for the development of AS, each of which impact the function of the UBE3A gene located in the 15q11-13 region on chromosome 15. Additionally, from an evolutionary perspective, Emotion Signaling Theory and Kinship …

Low Molecular Weight Glucosamine/L-Lactide Copolymers As Potential Carriers For The Development Of A Sustained Rifampicin Release System: Mycobacterium Smegmatis As A Tuberculosis Model, Jorge Ragusa

Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Tuberculosis, a highly contagious disease, ranks as the second leading cause of death from an infectious disease, and remains a major global health problem. In 2013, 9 million new cases were diagnosed and 1.5 million people died worldwide from tuberculosis. This dissertation aims at developing a new, ultrafine particle-based efficient antibiotic delivery system for the treatment of tuberculosis. The carrier material to make the rifampicin (RIF)-loaded particles is a low molecular weight star-shaped polymer produced from glucosamine (molecular core building unit) and L-lactide (GluN-LLA). Stable particles with a very high 50% drug loading capacity were made via electrohydrodynamic atomization. Prolonged …

Two-Dimensional Scalar Differential Equations For Transversely Varying Thickness Modes In Piezoelectric Plates And Applications In Acoustic Wave Resonator Sensors, Huijing He

Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Generalizations are made for three types of well-known and widely used twodimensional scalar differential equations in the literature describing transversely varying thickness modes in piezoelectric plate resonators. They are for singly-rotated quartz plates, doubly-rotated quartz plates, and plates of crystals of class 6mm with the c-axis along the plate thickness, respectively. The purpose of the generalizations is to include the effects of surface mechanical loads such as mass layers or fluids for resonator -based acoustic wave sensor applications. Surface acoustic impedance is introduced to take into account various surface loads in a general manner for time-harmonic motions. Both unelectroded and …

Development Of A Novel Device For The Perfusion Driven Decellularization Of Skeletal Muscle, Benjamin Kasukonis

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Decellularization of skeletal muscle is a process that removes cellular components of skeletal muscle tissue while leaving behind the intact extracellular matrix (ECM). Skeletal muscle ECM is currently being studied as a biologic scaffold for repairing volumetric muscle loss (VML) because the removal of cells greatly reduces the antigenicity of the donor tissue. Decellularization usually relies on passive diffusion of detergents, surfactants and/or osmotic solutions to strip cells from the ECM. However, passive diffusion alone is usually not sufficient for complete removal of cells from the interior of large pieces of skeletal muscle using detergents, such as sodium dodecyl sulfate …

Trashed: The Myth Of The Southern Poor White, April Elizabeth Thompson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The fact of class has been a powerful tool in the process of identity formation, particularly in the American South, which has been viewed as a region apart from the national imaginary. To counter this exclusion, Southerners have often relied on stereotypes. One of the most prevalent and tragic of these is the stereotype of poor white trash, a construction that has been utilized to insist upon elite white Southerners' exceptionalism and innocence and to assert their rightful place in American historiography. While it is difficult to calculate their level of success, as perceptions of the region have varied through …

Protein Expression, Characterization And Activity Comparisons Of Wild Type And Mutant Dusp5 Proteins, Jaladhi Nayak, Adam J. Gastonguay, Marat R. Talipov, Padmanabhan Vakeel, Elise A. Span, Kelsey S. Kalous, Raman G. Kutty, David R. Jensen, Phani Raj Pokkuluri, Daniel S. Sem, Rajendra Rathore, Ramani Ramchandran

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Background

The mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) pathway is critical for cellular signaling, and proteins such as phosphatases that regulate this pathway are important for normal tissue development. Based on our previous work on dual specificity phosphatase-5 (DUSP5), and its role in embryonic vascular development and disease, we hypothesized that mutations in DUSP5 will affect its function.

Results

In this study, we tested this hypothesis by generating full-length glutathione-S-transferase-tagged DUSP5 and serine 147 proline mutant (S147P) proteins from bacteria. Light scattering analysis, circular dichroism, enzymatic assays and molecular modeling approaches have been performed to extensively characterize the protein form and function. …

Functional Characterization Of The Arginine Vasotocin 4 Receptor (Vt4r) In Sensory Circumventricular Organs Of The Chicken Gallus Gallus, Nguiessan Alphonse Aman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Past studies have shown that the avian vasotocin 4 receptor (VT4R), homologous to the mammalian arginine vasopressin receptor 1a (V1aR/AVPR1A) is involved in immobilization stress. It was not known, however, whether the receptor is also associated with osmotic stress, and if so, what brain regions may be involved. Four treatment groups of chicks were used for the study. One group was subjected to 1h immobilization stress and two groups were administered intraperitoneal injection of 3 M NaCl or 0.15 M NaCl. One additional group served as controls. After 1 h, blood samples were taken for the determination of plasma levels …

Evaluation Of Porcine Ipec-J2 Cell Line Growth Rate And Immune Response To E. Coli (0111:B4) Lps, Xiaofan Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this study was to evaluate the intestinal porcine epithelial cell-jejunum 2 (IPEC-J2) cell line as a model to study the innate immune function of live pigs. Growth rates of IPEC-J2 cells in T-75 flasks and 96-well plates were evaluated using a hemocytometer and spectrophotometer for cell quantity measurements to determine growth rate and doubling time. Growth rates of IPEC-J2 cells in T-75 flasks and 96-well plates were 0.4016 and 0.2851 times of doubling/day respectively with a doubling time of 1.73 d and 2.43 d, respectively. Confluent IPEC-J2 monolayers were tested at five time intervals (0, 1, 2, …

Evaluation Of Betaine And Methionine Replacement For Improving Performance And Meat Quality For Broilers Reared Under Higher Temperature Conditions, Malea Graham Frank

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

4,096 broiler chicks were randomly allocated to 128 floor pens (32 birds/pen). 2,048 day-old male broilers were placed in the east end of a barn, and the following week 2,048 day-old male broilers were placed in the west end. At each placement day, half of the chicks were Cobb 500 and half were Ross 708, and each pen contained only one breed source. East end birds received coccidiostat in the feed, west end received coccidial vaccine, and each end was under separate environmental control. Eight diets contained two levels of coccidiostat (0, 1 lb./ton), methionine (deficient, adequate), and betaine (0, …

A Wellness Profile Of Student-Veterans At 4-Year Higher Education Institutions: The Role Of Gender, Combat Tours, And Deployment, William Monroe Heath

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Afghanistan and Iraq war student-veterans have increased in population on college campuses in the United States (U.S.) as a result of using the Post 9/11 GI Bill. Healthy Campus 2020 (American College Health Association, 2012) highlighted the importance of college student wellbeing, health promotion and disease prevention, while the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs has called for an approach to services that is strength based (United States Department of Veteran Affairs, 2008). To date, however, wellness studies conducted on Iraq and Afghanistan student-veterans using an evidenced-based model of holistic wellness have not been conducted. This study was designed to address …

Potential For Optical Sensor-Based Nitrogen Fertilization In Grain Sorghum (Sorghum Bicolor L. Moench) In Arkansas, Kamil H. Rosales Rodriguez

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Ground-based active-optical (GBAO) crop sensors have become an effective tool to improve nitrogen (N) use efficiency and to predict yield early in the growing season, particularly for grass crops. Commercially available canopy sensors calculate the normalized difference vegetative index (NDVI) by emitting light in the red and near infrared range of the electromagnetic spectrum. The NDVI is used to evaluate vigor status and to estimate yield potential. However, few studies have been conducted to compare the performance of commercially available sensors. Therefore, a study was conducted using the most common crop canopy sensors: i) N-Tech's GreenSeeker^TM (GS), ii) Holland …

European Consumers' Attitudes Towards Cisgenic Rice, Anne-Cécile Delwaide

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The enhancement of existing plant breeding techniques, such as cisgenesis, allows plant breeders to enhance an existing cultivar quicker and with little to no genetic drag. Cisgenesis is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with natural gene(s) from a sexually compatible plant. Unlike transgenesis, which is the genetic modification of a recipient plant with gene(s) from any non‐plant organism, or from a donor plant that is sexually incompatible with the recipient plant, the results of cisgenesis could occur naturally over time. Currently, both cisgenic and transgenic products are classified as genetically modified organisms (GMOs) and are labeled as such …

Switchgrass Cultivar, Harvest Frequency, Fertilizer Source, And Irrigation Effects On Near-Surface Soil Properties In West-Central Arkansas, Alayna A. Jacobs

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Switchgrass (Panicum virgatum L.) has been identified as a model bioenergy feedstock crop and is expected to become an important feedstock for future renewable fuel generation. Agronomic management combinations that maximize monoculture switchgrass yield are generally well understood; however, little is known about corresponding effects of differing switchgrass management combinations on near-surface soil properties. The objective of this research was to determine the residual near-surface soil property effects of three years (2008 to 2011) of consistent management combinations to maximize switchgrass biomass production, including cultivar (‘Alamo’ and ‘Cave-in-Rock’), harvest frequency (1-cut and 2-cut systems per year), fertilizer source (poultry …

Use Of Remote Imagery And Object-Based Image Methods To Count Plants In An Open-Field Container Nursery, Josue Nahun Leiva

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In general, the nursery industry lacks an automated inventory control system. Object-based image analysis (OBIA) software and aerial images could be used to count plants in nurseries. The objectives of this research were: 1) to evaluate the effect of an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) flight altitude and plant canopy separation of container-grown plants on count accuracy using aerial images and 2) to evaluate the effect of plant canopy shape, presence of flowers, and plant status (living and dead) on counting accuracy of container-grown plants using remote sensing images. Images were analyzed using Feature Analyst® (FA) and an algorithm trained using …

Screening Diverse Soybean Germplasm For Water-Logging Tolerance, John Franklin Carlin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Water-logging can be detrimental to soybean growth and development; effects range from chlorosis and stunting to yield loss and plant death. Soybean response to, and the effects of, water-logging are dependent on the growth-stage of the plant at the initiation of water-logging. The objectives of this study were to screen a diverse soybean germplasm collection for water-logging tolerance (WLT) at both the V5 and R1 growth stage and to develop a method to screen soybean for WLT in greenhouse. One hundred thirty five genotypes consisting of historical genotypes, PIs, drought and WLT tolerant breeding lines were screened for WLT in …

Geographic Determinants Of Rural Land Covers And The Agricultural Margin In The Central United States, Timothy J. Stoebner, Christopher L. Lant

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Geographic research on the Corn Belt and other regional landscapes of the central U.S. has not to date identified quantitatively the climatic, edaphic, topographic, and economic characteristics that determine rural land cover, and that therefore govern land cover change. Using the USDA/NASS Cropland Data Layer, this study identifies these characteristics by employing Multivariable Fractional Polynomials within a logistic regression framework. It maps the suitability distribution for corn, soybeans, spring and winter wheat, cotton, grassland, and forest, which collectively dominate the central U.S., at a 56 m resolution across 16 central U.S. states. The non-linear logistic regression models are successful in …

Invasive Insect Field Guide For Utah, Lori R. Spears, Ricardo A. Ramirez

All Current Publications

This publication provides information on Utah's top priority invasive insects that have been reported in the state as well as some invasive insects that are considered to be a threat to Utah's agriculture and natural resources, but have only been reported elsewhere in the U.S. and abroad. Included is a brief description of each invasive insect, its host(s) and current distribution, symptoms to watch out for, and graphs of its expected activity throughout the season.

The Role Of Claudins In Bone Metabolism, Fatima Zakariya Alshbool

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Osteoporosis, a major public health problem in the U.S., is characterized by low bone mass and structural deterioration of bone tissue. Since the imbalance between bone formation and bone resorption during bone remodeling has been documented to be a major factor in the pathogenesis of osteoporosis, it is crucial to identify novel genes and/or novel functions of known genes that regulate the formation and activity of bone forming osteoblasts and bone resorbing osteoclasts. To this end, recent evidence suggests a significant role for caudins (Cldns), which comprise a major group of tight junction proteins, in bone biology and development. This …

Lanthorn, Vol. 49, No. 29, December 1, 2014, Grand Valley State University

Volume 49, July 7, 2014 - June 1, 2015

Lanthorn is Grand Valley State's student newspaper, published from 1968 to the present.

Cardioguard: A Brassiere-Based Reliable Ecg Monitoring Sensor System For Supporting Daily Smartphone Healthcare Applications, Sungjun Kwon, Jeehoon Kim, Seungwoo Kang, Youngki Lee, Hyunjae Baek, Kwangsuk Park

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

We propose CardioGuard, a brassiere-based reliable electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring sensor system, for supporting daily smartphone healthcare applications. It is designed to satisfy two key requirements for user-unobtrusive daily ECG monitoring: reliability of ECG sensing and usability of the sensor. The system is validated through extensive evaluations. The evaluation results showed that the CardioGuard sensor reliably measure the ECG during 12 representative daily activities including diverse movement levels; 89.53% of QRS peaks were detected on average. The questionnaire-based user study with 15 participants showed that the CardioGuard sensor was comfortable and unobtrusive. Additionally, the signal-to-noise ratio test and the washing durability …

Use Of Semi-Structured Interviews To Explore Competing Demands In A Prostate Cancer Prevention Intervention Clinical Trial (Pcpict), Theresa Crocker, Karen Besterman-Dahan, David Himmelgreen, Heide Castañeda, Clement K. Gwede, Nagi Kumar

The Qualitative Report

In this paper we report on findings from the first known study using qualitative methods to explore factors influencing physicians’ participation in an ongoing federally-funded prostate cancer chemoprevention clinical trial. We sought to identify ways to improve collaboration between researchers and physicians and enhance the success of future projects and employed purposive sampling to recruit physician/investigators who were involved or invited to participate in the trial. Using the data from open-ended semi-structured interviews, we examined patterns in their languaging and created themes. We found that individual and structural factors served as barriers and facilitators to participation. Willingness and desire to …

Nonprofit Executive Pay As An Agency Problem: Evidence From U.S. Colleges And Universities, Brian D. Galle, David I. Walker

Faculty Scholarship

We analyze the determinants of the compensation of private college and university presidents from 1999 through 2007. We find that the fraction of institutional revenue derived from current donations is negatively associated with compensation and that presidents of religiously-affiliated institutions receive lower levels of compensation. Looking at the determinants of contributions, we find a negative association between presidential pay and subsequent donations. We interpret these results as consistent with the hypotheses that donors to nonprofits are sensitive to executive pay and that stakeholder outrage plays a role in constraining that pay. We discuss the implications of these findings for the …

The Effect Of Artery Bifurcation Angles On Fluid Flow And Wall Shear Stress In The Middle Cerebral Artery, Zachary Ramey Jones

Master's Theses

Saccular aneurysms are the abnormal plastic deformation of veins and arteries that can lead to lethal thrombus genesis or internal hemorrhaging. Medication and surgery greatly reduce the mortality rates, but treatment is limited by predicting who will develop aneurysms. A common location for saccular aneurysm genesis is at the main middle cerebral artery (MCA) bifurcation. The main MCA bifurcation is comprised of the M1 MCA segment, parent artery, and two M2 segments, daughter arteries. Studies have found that the lateral angle (LA) ratio of the MCA bifurcation is correlated with aneurysm formation. The LA ratio is defined as the angle …

A Novel Dual Modeling Method For Characterizing Human Nerve Fiber Activation, Frank Daniel Sugden

Master's Theses

Presented in this work is the investigation and successful illustration of a coupled model of the human nerve fiber. SPICE netlist code was utilized to describe the electrical properties of the human nervous membrane in tandem with COMSOL Multiphysics, a finite element analysis software tool. The initial research concentrated on the utilization of the Hodgkin-Huxley electrical circuit representation of the nerve fiber membrane. Further development of the project identified the need for a linear circuit model that more closely resembled the McNeal linearization model augmented by the work of Szlavik which better facilitated the coupling of both SPICE and COMSOL …