Digital Commons Network^™

Reshare An Operational Ontology Framework For Research Modeling, Combining And Sharing, Mohammad Al Boni

Theses and Dissertations

Scientists always face difficulties dealing with disjointed information. There is a need for a standardized and robust way to represent and exchange knowledge. Ontology has been widely used for this purpose. However, since research involves semantics and operations, we need to conceptualize both of them. In this thesis, we propose ReShare to provide a solution for this problem. Maximizing utilization while preserving the semantics is one of the main challenges when the heterogeneous knowledge is combined. Therefore, operational annotations were designed to allow generic object modeling, binding and representation. Furthermore, a test bed is developed and preliminary results are presented …

Parental And Offspring Psychopathology: Can Parents With Problems Be Effective?, Courtney P. Sparks

Theses and Dissertations

Research has established a link between parental psychopathology, perceptions of parents, and child outcomes. Separately, negative perceptions of a parent and parental psychopathology are associated with negative outcomes. However, a stronger relationship may exist when these factors are combined. Current research indicates that children tend to view a parent with psychopathology more negatively and consequently are at a greater risk for psychopathology. Less research examines the outcomes of children who hold positive perceptions of a parent with psychopathology, as well as the effects of perceptions of parents on emerging adults. The current study tested a model where perceptions of parents …

Identification Methods And Chemometric Analysis Of Mammalian Volatile Biomarkers, Shamitha Asoka Dissanayake

Theses and Dissertations

The ultimate goal of this research is to provide a low cost, efficient, reproducible, quantitative, non-invasive screening method to diagnose diseases at an early stage through identification of volatile biomarkers of disease. Progress has been made in the areas towards development of an analytical system that can provide a rapid and specific assay for above mentioned Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs). (i) Methods have been designed for the collection, concentration, identification and quantification of volatile biomarkers. (ii) Advanced signal processing evaluation of data has tentatively identified key VOCs patterns with breath and body odor. (iii) Novel absorbent coatings have been studied …

In Vitro And In Vivo Assessment Of Platelet Function In Healthy Dogs During Low-Dose Aspirin Therapy, Jillian Marie Haines

Theses and Dissertations

Low-dose aspirin therapy in dogs inconsistently inhibits platelet function, termed ‘aspirin resistance’. There are no established diagnostic tests that can predict aspirin resistance in dogs prior to therapy. Platelet function was evaluated in healthy dogs prior to and during low-dose aspirin therapy using turbidimetric and impedance aggregometry, PFA-100, and urine 11-dehydro-thromboxane-B2 concentration. Following a washout, platelet-rich plasma from the dogs was incubated with aspirin and evaluated via turbidimetric aggregometry. After aspirin, the majority of dogs were classified as ‘aspirin responders’ with 81% responding after 7 days. Platelet dysfunction was not consistent in all dogs at all times. Compared to turbidimetric, …

The Tolerant Social Norm Effect: Are Norms Of Tolerance More Powerful Than Prejudicial Norms?, Rachael E. Carroll

Theses and Dissertations

The present study aimed to examine how a manipulated majority position affects attitude change for intergroup and non-intergroup issues. Specifically I wanted to see how norms of tolerance and norms of prejudice differed. The study employed a 3 (majority manipulated position: positive, neutral, or negative) X 2 (issue type: intergroup or non-intergroup) ANCOVA. Additionally, I wanted to examine how participants’ perceived societal direction affects attitude change for intergroup issues with a 3 (majority manipulated position: positive, neutral, or negative) X 3 (perceived direction of attitude: support, stay the same, negative) ANOVA. Participants were randomly assigned to view a majority manipulation …

Wintering Waterfowl Use Of Delta National Forest, Mississippi, Thomas Gilbert Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

Bottomland hardwood forests provide forage and other important resources for wintering and breeding waterfowl in the Southeastern United States. My objective was to conduct an initial investigation of possible influences of habitat features, flood events, and human disturbance on relative abundances of wintering ducks in Delta National Forest (DNF), Mississippi. I surveyed 65 wetlands in DNF 17 times from November 2012 to March 2013 and analyzed abundance data from wood ducks (Aix sponsa), mallards (Anas platyrhynchos), gadwalls (Anas strepera), and hooded mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). Waterfowl abundance varied by species but generally increased during major flood events and on wetlands having …

Linking Individual Biological Outcomes To Resource Use, Christopher Ryan Ayers

Theses and Dissertations

Minimum resource requirements support population persistence; however, ecologists and conservationists often want to identify factors that improve biological outcomes of animals. The population-level approach common in wildlife-resource studies limits our ability to draw inferences about the importance of resources and other factors by failing to link them with individual fitness. Measuring individual-based biological outcomes and resource use helps determine variation in mechanistic relationships between animal fitness and behavior. I suggest using direct metrics of resource use such as food consumption and distance traveled, to avoid errors with estimating resource availability. I summarize these concepts in an analytical framework for modeling …

Management Of Glyphosate Resistant Palmer Amaranth In Bollgard Ii Xtendflex" Cotton, Daniel Zachary Reynolds

Theses and Dissertations

Experiments were conducted to evaluate efficacy of dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate on Palmer amaranth (Amaranthus palmeri S. Wats.). Residual control was evaluated after dicamba was applied alone and in combination with fomesafen, fluometuron, acetochlor, and prometryn. Postemergence efficacy of dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate on different size Palmer amaranth was also evaluated. In addition, combinations of dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate were evaluated for efficacy on Palmer amaranth as well as spray coverage and spray droplet size as affected by various spray nozzles. Lastly, tolerance to dicamba, glufosinate, and glyphosate of cotton cultivars containing Bollgard II® XtendFlex™ technology was examined. Dicamba exhibited …

Nuclear Her4 Mediates Acquired Resistance To Trastuzumab And Is Associated With Poor Outcome In Her2 Positive Breast Cancer, Sn Mohd Nafi, D Generali, G Kramer-Marek, M Gijsen, Et Al

School of Biomedical Sciences

The role of HER4 in breast cancer is controversial and its role in relation to trastuzumab resistance remains unclear. We showed that trastuzumab treatment and its acquired resistance induced HER4 upregulation, cleavage and nuclear translocation. However, knockdown of HER4 by specific siRNAs increased trastuzumab sensitivity and reversed its resistance in HER2 positive breast cancer cells. Preventing HER4 cleavage by a γ-secretase inhibitor and inhibiting HER4 tyrosine kinase activity by neratinib decreased trastuzumab-induced HER4 nuclear translocation and enhanced trastuzumab response. There was also increased nuclear HER4 staining in the tumours from BT474 xenograft mice and human patients treated with trastuzumab. Furthermore, …

Meeting Minutes, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting minutes.

August Agenda, Wku Graduate Council

Graduate School

Meeting agenda.

The Missing Link: U.S. Regulation Of Consumer Cosmetic Products To Protect Human Health And The Environment, Valerie J. Watnick

Pace Environmental Law Review

This article explores these lax regulatory efforts and their connection to risk assessment, and proposes changes to our current toxics regulatory paradigm. Part I of this article explores our current regulatory approach for consumer cosmetics. Part II discusses the specific and dire concerns regarding chemicals that are suspected carcinogens and those suspected of disrupting the human endocrine system. The article argues in Part III that because the framework for our current regulation of consumer cosmetic products is not designed to be protective of human health, our regulatory paradigm must shift dramatically in the future if this is to become our …

Using Emerging Pollution Tracking Methods To Address The Downstream Impacts Of Factory Farm Animal Welfare Abuse, Tarah Heinzen, Abel Russ

Pace Environmental Law Review

CAFOs present numerous interconnected ethical, environmental, and public health threats, and this article will discuss opportunities to address the multiple adverse impacts of factory farming through advances in pollution tracking methodologies. The first section will introduce the factory farm issue, and the relationship between its environmental and welfare consequences. We then review approaches to establishing liability for surface and groundwater contamination under existing pollution control laws and describe the unique challenges of using these approaches in the context of CAFO pollution. We then discuss techniques that have been used to more precisely identify sources of pollution, including measurements of a …

Expression Of 9/13 Hydroperoxide Lyase In Cucumber Leaves, Samee Ranginwala

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Fatty Acid 9/13-Hydroperoxide Lyase (9/13-HPL) in the cucumber plant is an enzyme that cleaves either 9- or 13-hydroperoxides of polyunsaturated fatty acids to form volatile C9 or C6 aldehydes respectively. Since these aldehydes may play a role in the plant’s defenses against pathogens (K. Matsui, et. al. Phytochemistry 67 (2006) 649-657), the enzyme is stress induced during vulnerable times such as when the plant is injured. In order to better understand how this enzyme is induced, we have developed a Real Time Polymerase Chain Reaction method to quantitate levels of 9/13-HPL mRNA. In initial experiments, the effect of mechanical wounding …

You've Got Mail: Identity Perceptions Based On Email Usernames, Laura Pelletier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study explores the idea that email recipients use the email username of the sender as a mediated cue to make basic assumptions of the identity of the sender. For this study 215 participants completed self-report surveys asking their perceptions of a fictional work group member including sex, age, race, and work productivity. Most participants were able to create a basic identity of their fictitious group member based solely on their email username.

Mathematical Modeling Of Tick-Borne Encephalitis In Humans, Amanda Kriesel, Michael Meyer, Geoffrey Peterson

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Tick-Borne Encephalitis is a virus that affects ones nervous system and is transmitted from tick to human through tick bite. In recent years, the number of cases of tick-borne encephalitis in Europe has been increasing. This mathematical biological model of Tick-Borne Encephalitis was created in order to further our understanding of such phenomenon, as well as study the relationship between vectors and their hosts. Specifically, we will investigate the population model of ticks in certain regions and its correlation to tick-borne encephalitis infections in the region.

Evaluation Of Pretreatment Methods In The Production Of Ethanol From Cattail Leaves, Kristen Krahmer, Elijah Wreh

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Previous research in this lab indicated that cattails are a potential source of biomass for the production of cellulosic ethanol since their carbohydrate composition is comparable to that of other plants being considered for biofuel production. To further test their viability, we tested various pretreatment methods on dried cattail leaves. Before polysaccharides in plants can be enzymatically hydrolyzed to fermentable sugars, the plant material must be pretreated to render the polysaccharides accessible to the enzymes. The purpose of this project has been to compare the efficiency of sulfuric acid and ammonia pretreatment methods in preparing cattail biomass for ethanol production. …

Cluster B Personality Disorders Separated By Gender Expectations, Brianna Kloss

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Criticisms of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (4th ed., text rev.; DSM-IV-TR; American Psychiatric Association [APA], 2000), the most widely recognized system for classification of psychological disorders in the U.S., including gender discriminating disorders and diagnoses, have existed for all editions of the DSM. Arguably, gender construction has a profound influence on the standards and evaluation of normal and abnormal behaviors. Concern for the presence of gender bias of personality disorders has been raised within the DSM, in part, by the frequent diagnoses made according to gender stereotypes. The DSM-IV-TR characterizes personality disorders as marked distress and …

On Sign-Solvable Linear Systems And Their Applications In Economics, Eric Hanson

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Sign-solvable linear systems are part of a branch of mathematics called qualitative matrix theory. Qualitative matrix theory is a development of matrix theory based on the sign (¡; 0; +) of the entries of a matrix. Sign-solvable linear systems are useful in analyzing situations in which quantitative data is unknown or had to measure, but qualitative information is known. These situations arise frequently in a variety of disciplines outside of mathematics, including economics and biology. The applications of sign-solvable linear systems in economics are documented and the development of new examples is formalized mathematically. Additionally, recent mathematical developments about sign-solvable …

Group 3 Late Embryogenesis Abundant Proteins From Embryos Of Artemia Franciscana: Structural Properties And Protective Abilities During Desiccation, Leaf C. Boswell, Michael A. Menze, Steven C. Hand

Faculty Research & Creative Activity

Group 3 late embryogenesis abundant (LEA) proteins are highly

hydrophilic, and their expression is associated with desiccation

tolerance in both plants and animals. Here we show that two

LEA proteins from embryos of Artemia franciscana, AfrLEA2

and AfrLEA3m, are intrinsically disordered in solution but

upon desiccation gain secondary structure, as measured by circular

dichroism. Trifluoroethanol and sodium dodecyl sulfate

are both shown to induce a-helical structure in AfrLEA2 and

AfrLEA3m. Bioinformatic predictions of secondary-structure

content for both proteins correspond most closely to conformations

measured in the dry state. Because some LEA proteins

afford protection to desiccation-sensitive proteins during drying

and …

Transcriptome Of American Oysters, Crassostrea Virginica, In Response To Bacterial Challenge: Insights Into Potential Mechanisms Of Disease Resistance, Ian C. Mcdowell, Chamilani Nikapitiya, Derek Aguiar, Christopher E. Lane, Sorin Istrail, Marta Gomez-Chiarri

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The American oyster Crassostrea virginica, an ecologically and economically important estuarine organism, can suffer high mortalities in areas in the Northeast United States due to Roseovarius Oyster Disease (ROD), caused by the gram-negative bacterial pathogen Roseovarius crassostreae. The goals of this research were to provide insights into: 1) the responses of American oysters to R. crassostreae, and 2) potential mechanisms of resistance or susceptibility to ROD. The responses of oysters to bacterial challenge were characterized by exposing oysters from ROD-resistant and susceptible families to R. crassostreae, followed by high-throughput sequencing of cDNA samples from various timepoints after …

Proceedings Of The 2014 Berry Summer Thesis Institute, University Of Dayton. University Honors Program

Proceedings of the Berry Summer Thesis Institute (2013-Present)

Thanks to a gift from the Berry Family Foundation and the Berry family, the University Honors Program launched the Berry Summer Thesis Institute in 2012. The institute introduces students in the University Honors Program to intensive research, scholarship opportunities and professional development. Each student pursues a 12-week summer thesis research project under the guidance of a UD faculty mentor. This contains the product of the students' research.

Students Focus On Homeless During Summer Enrichment Program, Danielle Kamp

News and Events (Discontinued Series)

No abstract provided.

Are We Overdoing Salt Restrictions?, Staff

Browse All News

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And In Vitro Evaluation Of Bbb Permeability, Tumor Cell Uptake, And Cytotoxicity Of A Series Of Carboranylporphyrin Conjugates, N. V.S.Dinesh K. Bhupathiraju, Xiaoke Hu, Zehua Zhou, Frank R. Fronczek, Pierre Olivier Couraud, Ignacio A. Romero, Babette Weksler, M. Graça H. Vicente

Faculty Publications

A series of tri[(p-carboranylmethylthio)tetrafluorophenyl]porphyrin conjugates of linear and branched polyamines, glucose, arginine, tri(ethylene glycol), and Tyr-d-Arg-Phe-β-Ala (YRFA) peptide were synthesized. These conjugates were investigated for their BBB permeability in human hCMEC/D3 brain endothelial cells, and their cytotoxicity and uptake were assessed using human glioma T98G cells. For comparison purposes, a symmetric tetra[(p- carboranylmethylthio)tetrafluorophenyl]porphyrin was also synthesized, and its crystal structure was obtained. All porphyrin conjugates show low dark cytotoxicity (IC50 > 400 μM) and low phototoxicity (IC 50 > 100 μM at 1.5 J/cm2) toward T98G cells. All conjugates were efficiently taken up by T98G cells, particularly the cationic polyamine and arginine …

Corruption In Oil Revenue Distribution And Conflict In Bayelsa State, Nigeria, Chux Ibekwe

Doctor of International Conflict Management Dissertations

In the last seventeen years, several high level government officials in Nigeria have faced corruption charges totaling $22 trillion dollars related to oil revenues. In Bayelsa State, a Nigerian state that produces oil, officials have been marked with high level corruption in oil revenue. In particular, the state faces constant conflicts among the government, multinational oil corporations, and the people of the state. Based on these observations, this dissertation seeks to understand the relationship between corruption in oil revenue redistribution and perpetuation of conflicts in Bayelsa State of Nigeria.

Bayelsa State is one of the nine states in Nigeria’s Niger …

State V. Jones Appellant's Brief Dckt. 41872

Not Reported

No abstract provided.

Phenotypic Robustness And The Assortativity Signature Of Human Transcription Factor Networks, Dov A. Pechenick, Joshua L. Payne, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

Many developmental, physiological, and behavioral processes depend on the precise expression of genes in space and time. Such spatiotemporal gene expression phenotypes arise from the binding of sequence-specific transcription factors (TFs) to DNA, and from the regulation of nearby genes that such binding causes. These nearby genes may themselves encode TFs, giving rise to a transcription factor network (TFN), wherein nodes represent TFs and directed edges denote regulatory interactions between TFs. Computational studies have linked several topological properties of TFNs - such as their degree distribution - with the robustness of a TFN's gene expression phenotype to genetic and environmental …

Bursts And Heavy Tails In Temporal And Sequential Dynamics Of Foraging Decisions, Kanghoon Jung, Hyeran Jang, Jerald D. D. Kralik, Jaeseung Jeong

Dartmouth Scholarship

A fundamental understanding of behavior requires predicting when and what an individual will choose. However, the actual temporal and sequential dynamics of successive choices made among multiple alternatives remain unclear. In the current study, we tested the hypothesis that there is a general bursting property in both the timing and sequential patterns of foraging decisions. We conducted a foraging experiment in which rats chose among four different foods over a continuous two-week time period. Regarding when choices were made, we found bursts of rapidly occurring actions, separated by time-varying inactive periods, partially based on a circadian rhythm. Regarding what was …

Probing The Interaction At The Nano-Bio Interface Using Raman Spectroscopy: Zno Nanoparticles And Adenosine Triphosphate Biomolecules, A. Bhaumik, A. M. Shearin, Robert K. Delong, Adam K. Wanekaya, Kartik C. Ghosh

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

With the advent of nanobiotechnology, there will be an increase in the interaction between engineered nanomaterials and biomolecules. Nanoconjugates with cells, organelles, and intracellular structures containing DNA, RNA, and proteins establish sequences of nano-bio boundaries that depend on several intricate complex biophysicochemical reactions. Given the complexity of these interactions, and their import in governing life at the molecular level, it is extremely important to begin to understand such nanoparticle-biomaterial association. Here we report a unique method of probing the kinematics between an energy biomolecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), and hydrothermally synthesized ZnO nanostructures using micro Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, and electron …