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When Is A Change Going To Come: Separate And Unequal Treatment In Health Care Fifty Years After The Title Vi Of The Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Ruqaiijah Yearby

SMU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Increased Incidence Of Asthma After Previous Infantile Rsv Bronchiolitis Infection, Ellen Adelia Doebler

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

• Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) is a very common infection in children less than two years of age.

• Asthma is a common respiratory disease in childhood, which may cause frequent hospitalizations.

• The purpose of this study is to determine if infants previously diagnosed with RSV bronchiolitis have an increased incidence of asthma diagnosis compared to infants not diagnosed with RSV.

• The literature review examines correlation studies of both disease processes and explores incidence of asthma in patients previously diagnosed with Respiratory Syncytial Virus bronchiolitis.

• Individuals previously diagnosed with Respiratory Syncytial Virus bronchiolitis have a higher risk …

The Addition Of Tiotropium In Uncontrolled Asthma, Kathryn Gray

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

• Many patients with asthma have poorly controlled disease despite the use of both an inhaled corticosteroid (ICS) and a long acting beta agonist (LABA).

• The review explored several studies that compared the addition of tiotropium to patients with uncontrolled asthma currently using both a ICA and a LABA to determine if further symptom reduction is obtained along with reduction of exacerbations

• It was found that patients with poorly controlled asthma will benefit from the addition of tiotropium to the current medication regimen of an ICS and a LABA. Tiotropium offers providers an additional disease controlling option in …

Treatment Of Acute Bronchitis In Children With Pelargonium Sidoides, Amber Houge

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

Bronchitis is one of the most common acute infections affecting pediatric patients. Most cases are caused by viral infections, do not respond to antibiotic therapy, and can take up to 14 days to resolve with supportive therapy. The purpose of this study is to determine if the use of Pelargonium Sidoides (Umcka™, EPs 7630) extract will decrease the duration and severity of symptoms from acute bronchitis in the pediatric population. Pelargonium Sidoides abstract is an extract of an African Geranium that has been used in traditional medicine for centuries. The review of the literature will evaluate multiple randomized controlled trials …

Comparing Fecal Microbiota Transplant (Fmt) To Vancomycin: In Treatment Of Recurrent Clostridium Difficile Infections (Cdi), Christopher Seil

Physician Assistant Scholarly Project Posters

• Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) is the main cause of antibiotic-associated pseudomembranous colitis.

• CDI has tripled over the last ten years due to the increased use of broad spectrum antibiotics. CDI has become increasingly difficult to manage with traditional therapies such as metronidazole and vancomycin due to mutations in the pathogen, resulting in resistant organisms.

• The purpose of this review was to determine if fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) is more effective in treating and curing CDIs than traditional vancomycin therapy.

• The hypothesis was that FMT will have better treatment outcomes than traditional vancomycin therapy.

• The findings …

Weather Permitting: Incrementalism, Animus, And The Art Of Forecasting Marriage Equality After U.S. V. Windsor, Jeremiah A. Ho

Cleveland State Law Review

Within LGBT rights, the law is abandoning essentialist approaches toward sexual orientation by incrementally de-regulating restrictions on identity expression of sexual minorities. Simultaneously, same-sex marriages are become increasingly recognized on both state and federal levels. This Article examines the Supreme Court’s recent decision, U.S. v. Windsor, as the latest example of these parallel journeys. By overturning DOMA, Windsor normatively revises the previous incrementalist theory for forecasting marriage equality’s progress studied by William Eskridge, Kees Waaldijk, and Yuval Merin. Windsor also represents a moment where the law is abandoning antigay essentialism by using animusfocused jurisprudence for lifting the discrimination against the …

Vocabulary Assessment: A Comparison Between Clinical And Academic Measures, Lindsay Mae Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

Researchers have shown vocabulary knowledge to be highly linked to reading comprehension, and ultimately a strong predictor of academic success. Therefore, students' vocabulary skills should be carefully monitored and assessed as the demands of education increase.

The purpose of this study was to compare 28 fourth grade students' vocabulary scores on the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) test with scores on the Peabody Picture Vocabulary Test-4 (PPVT-4) (Dunn & Dunn, 2007) and Expressive Vocabulary Test-2 (EVT-2) (Williams, 2007), two clinically used vocabulary measures with established validity. Strong correlations would potentially allow for the use of the MAP vocabulary test when …

Artificial Soil Formation And Stabilization Of Material Cycles In Closed Ecological Systems For Mars Habitats, Joshua D. Borchardt

Theses and Dissertations

Scientists are increasingly pressured to investigate novel ways in which to feed astronauts for the first mission to Mars in the 2030s. It is the aim of this thesis to conduct a preliminary investigation for soil formation of NASA JSC Mars-1A Regolith Simulant in an environmentally closed ecosystem to simulate plant growth within these initial habitats, and the prospect of soil formation from a Mars parent material for agricultural purposes. The rhizosphere and plant stress will be the main regions of research focus. It is hypothesized rhizosphere activity will determine the rate of stable soil formation adequate to support the …

Evaluation Of Selected Spectral Vegetation Indices In Senescent Rangeland Canopy Using Landsat Imagery, Marla Collins

Theses and Dissertations

Grassland birds are diminishing more steadily and rapidly than other North American birds in general. The nesting success of some grassland bird species depends on the amount of nonproductive vegetation (NPV). To estimate NPV land managers are currently using the Robel pole visual obstruction reading methods. Researchers with the USDA Agricultural Research Service's (ARS) Northern Great Plains Research Laboratory in Mandan, ND, recently established statistical relationships between photosynthetic vegetation (PV), NPV and spectral vegetation indices (SVIs) derived from more sensitive and more detailed, but less accessible and more costly hyperspectral aerial imagery. This study is an extension of this previous …

Synthesis, Selection, And Optimization Of Doped Zeolite Catalyst For The Nonbiological Production Of Lactic Acid Derivatives From Biomass Derived Carbohydrates, Clancy Raymond Rick Kadrmas

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of the overall project is to chemically synthesize fatty acids, hydrocarbons, other fuel constituents, or high value chemicals directly from biomass-derived carbohydrates (e.g. sugars generated using processes developed for the cellulosic ethanol industry). This work will look specifically at synthesizing lactic acid and its derivatives for later use to build chemically identical fuel components or high value chemicals.

We have built upon recent advancements in the literature using Sn-doped beta zeolite catalysts. Previous work has demonstrated that glucose can be chemically transformed into fructose then reduced to methyl lactate in a methanol solution. Since these reactions are not …

Marijuana Consumption And The Perception Of Harm, David Ruggeri

Theses and Dissertations

Drug use is a public health issue with one-third of the United States population having reported consuming marijuana at some point in their lifetime. This paper examines how the perception of risk (both health and criminal sanctions) affects consumption behavior. This study examined marijuana consumption for the age ranges of 12-17, 18-25, and 26 and older during the years of 1999-2007.

Perceptions of health risk of marijuana vary from by age groups (12-17, 18-25, and 26 years of age and up). Persons age 26 and older perceive the health risks to be the greatest for occasional marijuana consumption, trailed by …

Human Performance Profiles For Planetary Analog Extra-Vehicular Activities: 120 Day And 30 Day Analog Missions, Tiffany M. Swarmer

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding performance factors for future planetary missions is critical for ensuring safe and successful planetary extra-vehicular activities (EVAs). The goal of this study was to gain operational knowledge of analog EVAs and develop biometric profiles for specific EVA types. Data was collected for a 120 and 30 day analog planetary exploration simulation focusing on EVA type, pre and post EVA conditions, and performance ratings. From this five main types of EVAs were performed: maintenance, science, survey/exploratory, public relations, and emergency. Each EVA type has unique characteristics and performance ratings showing specific factors in chronological components, environmental conditions, and EVA systems …

North Dakota State Policy Effects On State Public K-12 Schools' Ability To Offer Effective Professional Development, Stephen Ryan Townsend

Theses and Dissertations

Through research I have identified eight constructs of effective professional development (collaborative, content focused, active practice, inclusive of technology, goal oriented, evaluated, sustained, increases self-efficacy). North Dakota state law requires two days of professional development that are defined by their length of time. The purpose of this quantitative study was twofold: (a) to identify if the eight constructs of effective professional development are embedded in North Dakota public schools' professional development opportunities and (b) whether or not the schools that offer professional development given the restraints of North Dakota state law are offering effective professional development. North Dakota public school …

Songbird Response To Mixed Ungulate Herd Reduction Through Changes In Vegetation At Sullys Hill National Game Preserve, Bethany J. Walters

Theses and Dissertations

Big game management traditionally focused on single species management with less emphasis, until recently, on community interactions. Sullys Hill National Game Preserve (SHNGP) is a 678 hectare preserve where extirpated Plains bison (Bison bison) were reintroduced along with Rocky Mountain elk (Cervus elaphus) and white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus). These large ecosystem engineers have been managed at varying densities within a fenced area of deciduous woods, wetlands, and native prairie since 1918. Grazing, browsing, and rubbing by ungulates, along with additional refuge management prescriptions (e.g. prescribed fire), shape the understory and midstory and in turn …

Effects Of Generic Versus Personally Delivered Education And Self-Disclosure On Elementary School Children's Social Attitudes Towards A Peer With Tourette Syndrome, Erin Lynn Olufs

Theses and Dissertations

Children with tic disorders are at a higher risk for peer rejection and social withdrawn. Children who face peer rejection are at greater risk for internalizing, externalizing, and social problems, and often experience extreme loneliness and a lack of friendships. The impact of educational videos and self-disclosure have been examined in separate studies and have been shown to increase positive attitudes towards those with TS, but the two methods of education have not yet been directly compared to one another with a student population. In the current study, the differential effects of receiving professional TS education, self-disclosure TS education, and …

Novel Approaches Investigating Predisposition For Maternal Group B Streptococcus Colonization, Michelle Lynn Wright

Theses and Dissertations

Group B streptococcus (GBS) is the leading cause of infectious neonatal morbidity and mortality in the United States. Maternal GBS colonization is the primary risk factor associated with neonatal infection. However, maternal risk factors for GBS colonization are ambiguous. A conceptual framework of gene-environment interactions guided the approach for this study analyzing DNA methylation, serum cytokines, and vitamin D levels. The purpose of this study was to identify potential maternal biomarkers associated with GBS colonization. Descriptive statistics were conducted to depict sample characteristics (n=42 pregnant women) and identify potential confounding variables including, but not limited to: medical history, race, weight, …

A Novel Assembly Algorithm That Optimizes For Rna-Seq Data, Yi Yang

Theses and Dissertations

The advent of next-generation sequencing (NGS) technology has shown unprecedented promise for accurately identifying and quantifying genomic variants for living organisms. For species whose genome sequences are unknown, the first step of RNA sequencing data analysis is to assemble all short reads. The de Bruijn graph-based algorithms, such as Oases, are usually used for short reads assembly to resolve the issue of computational complexity. However, de Bruijn graph-based assemblers normally generate high error rates when assembling RNA-Seq data. We have developed a novel assembly algorithm that can be used jointly with any other assembly methods for RNA-Seq short reads. The …

The Interplay Between Aging, Growth Hormone, The Methionine Pathway, And Epigenetic Methylation Marks And Mechanisms, Vanessa Louise Armstrong

Theses and Dissertations

Methylation reactions are important for the establishment and maintenance of epigenetic methylation tags on DNA and histone molecules that are critical for the development and life-long function of an organism. While epigenetics has been studied extensively during embryological development and age-related disease such as cancer, little is known about whether epigenetic methylation enzyme expression change in normally aging or long-living mammals. Because growth hormone (GH) plays an important role in determining the lifespan of many organisms, we have focused our studies on the long-living growth hormone deficient model the Ames dwarf mouse. We focused our studies on epigenetic methylation in …

Minnesota Paraeducators' Perceptions Of The Barriers To Becoming Licensed Special Education Teachers, Joni Burris

Theses and Dissertations

Public schools across the country are facing a critical shortage of licensed special education teachers. For many reasons, paraeducators have been considered strong teacher candidates and have been recruited into the teaching profession intermittently for decades. Paraeducators who decide to obtain their teaching license often experience obstacles to this endeavor: money, time, family obligations, navigating the university system, and academics.

This research study examined and analyzed Minnesota paraeducators' perceptions of the barriers to obtaining their special education teaching license. It also assessed the perceptional differences between Minnesota paraeducators who have completed at least a bachelor's degree and those who have …

Regulation Of Proline-Directed Phosphorylation Site, Threonine 53 On Dopamine Transporter, Sathyavathi Challasivakanaka

Theses and Dissertations

The dopamine transporter (DAT) is a plasma membrane protein that clears extraneuronal dopamine (DA) and thus controls the spatio-temporal dynamics of dopaminergic neurotransmission. Also, DAT is the major target for psychostimulant substrates, amphetamine (AMPH) and methamphetamine (METH), and psychostimulant uptake blocker, cocaine (COC). DAT is a phosphoprotein with both the N- and C-termini facing toward the cytosol, with multiple phosphorylation sites on the N-terminus. DAT has a closely spaced 6-serine cluster on the distal N-terminus that is phosphorylated in a protein kinase C (PKC)-dependent manner and a recently identified proline-directed site, Thr (T) 53, that is phosphorylated in vitro by …

Common Core State Standards: Beware The Trojan Horse, Yee Han Chu

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards (CCSS) represent a promise by general education that all students can be college and career ready through the acquisition of essential knowledge, skills, and abilities. These essential elements will be rigorous, supporting the higher-order and independent thinking skills typically associated with the achievement of excellence. CCSS, in short, promises excellence in all students. The needs of those students who demonstrate high ability do not receive any separate mention: (1) how has the concept of excellence been incorporated into the CCSS; and (2) what is the potential impact on high ability students?

These questions are examined …

An Analysis Of Abortion Demand In Pennsylvania 2000 - 2010, Guido Giuntini

Theses and Dissertations

In this paper I expand on previous research of the determinants of abortion demand to examine the demand for abortion in the specific case of Pennsylvania, where precise statistics are available for each county. The data considered is for the years 2000 and 2010, and allows for cross sectional and panel data analysis, specifically, first-difference permitting to look at the effect of changes over time of specific explanatory variables. Careful attention is placed on variable selection techniques to avoid the use of low significance variables. The analysis allows controlling for price, as it is considered to be constant across the …

Therapeutic Igy: Safe, Diverse, And Effective For Use Against Viral Targets, Nicole Noel Haese

Theses and Dissertations

Passive antibody treatments are used to target infectious disease, toxins, venoms, and cancer antigens. Recently, there has been an increased interest in the use of avian-derived antibody treatments such as IgY. IgY is the primary serum antibody isotype present in the avian system, and IgY treatments have already been demonstrated to be effective against a variety of bacterial and viral infectious agents. There are two forms of IgY expressed in anseriformes birds, a full length IgY that is functionally similar to mammalian IgG, and an alternatively spliced IgY, IgY(ÄFc), that is comparable to the mammalian F(ab')2 fragment. The difference in …

Part I: An Approach To The Synthesis Of Plakortethers A-E Part Ii: Rhodium-Catalyzed Intramolecular C-H Insertion On Diazosulfonates And Its Synthetic Applications, Duminda Shiromalee Liyanage

Theses and Dissertations

This research work consists of two independent studies. The first study is the development of a synthetic route to plakortethers A-E along with possible derivatives. The second study focuses on the synthetic applications of rhodium-catalyzed intramolecular C-H insertion on diazosulfonates.

Plakortethers (A-G) represent a set of marine natural products, which contain of a characteristic tetrasubstituted tetrahydrofuran fragment. This group of compounds was isolated from the Caribbean sponge Plakortis simplex. Their selective cytotoxic activity against the RAW 264-7 cell lines (murine macrophage) makes them promising candidates for biological studies and, along with their unusual structure, warrants the synthesis of these natural …

Potential Juror Credibility Evaluations Of Gay And Lesbian Witnesses, Lisa Mae Olson

Theses and Dissertations

This study looked at whether the sexual orientation of a witness has an effect on a potential juror's determination of the witness's credibility, and examined traits such as respondent gender and college major, that may predict high levels of sexual prejudice. The sample consisted of 379 undergraduate students at a medium sized, upper Midwestern university. Results did not reveal an overall link between witness credibility ratings and sexual orientation, with the gay male witness receiving the highest credibility rankings followed by the heterosexual male witness, heterosexual female witness, and lastly, the lesbian female witness. It does not appear that the …

Quantifying Nutrient Cycling And Fate Within An Abandoned Feedlot And Adjacent Wetlands, Prosper Prosper Gbolo

Theses and Dissertations

Feedlot operations over the years have increased revenue and boosted economies of states and countries, but these operations have resulted in elevated concentrations of nutrients in soils, surface water, and groundwater. Feedlot operations generate large quantities of manure and other waste, which when not managed properly can result in environmental problems.

It is hypothesized that nitrogen can cause a short-term contamination of soils and groundwater beneath abandoned feedlots, but phosphorus can cause both short- and long term contamination, especially in well-drained carbonate and iron-rich soils associated with Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations. It is also hypothesized that a spectral vegetation index …

Lab-Scale Fast-Hydropyrolysis And Vapor-Phase Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation For Producing Liquid Fuel Range Hydrocarbons From Intact Biomass, Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan

Open Access Dissertations

Liquid transportation fuels are primarily produced from petroleum-based non-renewable carbon sources. Sustainably available lignocellulosic biomass, as a renewable form of atmospheric carbon, could be utilized to produce hydrocarbon-based fuels with high energy density. One of the process options for this conversion is the H2Bioil process, where biomass is rapidly heated in a hydrogen environment to produce fast-hydropyrolysis vapors that are catalytically upgraded in downstream hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) to produce hydrocarbons. This process has been modeled to have high carbon and energy efficiencies of ~70% and ~75%, respectively.

This dissertation presents the results of a lab-scale experimental proof-of-concept for the H2Bioil process …

Identification Of Genomic Factors Using Family-Based Association Studies, Libo Wang

Open Access Dissertations

Genome-wide association studies become increasingly popular and important for detecting genetic associations of complex traits. However, it is well known that spurious associations could arise from statistical analysis without proper consideration of genetic relatedness of samples. Many methods have been proposed to guard against these spurious associations. Here we focus on multi-locus association studies of quantitative traits and the case-control status, and propose algorithms that take into consideration of genetic related samples to address possible confounding issues. As supervised dimension reduction methods, these algorithms performs well to conduct association studies with a large number of biomarkers but a relative small …

Comparative Transcriptome Profiling Of Two Tibetan Wild Barley Genotypes In Responses To Low Potassium, Jianbin Zeng, Xiaoyan He, Dezhi Wu, Bo Zhu, Shengguan Cai, Umme Aktari Nadira, Zahra Jabeen, Guoping Zhang

Publications

Potassium (K) deficiency is one of the major factors affecting crop growth and productivity. Development of low-K tolerant crops is an effective approach to solve the nutritional deficiency in agricultural production. Tibetan annual wild barley is rich in genetic diversity and can grow normally under poor soils, including low-K supply. However, the molecular mechanism about low K tolerance is still poorly understood. In this study, Illumina RNA-Sequencing was performed using two Tibetan wild barley genotypes differing in low K tolerance (XZ153, tolerant and XZ141, sensitive), to determine the genotypic difference in transcriptome profiling. We identified a total of 692 differentially …

Kinetics Of Polymer Cyclization Reaction And Novel Covalent Dna Cross-Linking Assays, Reza Afra

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation I first do an extensive review of polymer cyclization kinetics. Different theories of polymer cyclization kinetics, their assumptions and their predictions are presented along with the predictions of computer simulations. In addition, the experimental results for synthetic and biological polymers are summarized.