Digital Commons Network^™

Publication Rates Of Presentations At Medical Meetings, Jonathan Housey

All Scholarly Works

No abstract provided.

Journal Of Cave And Karst Studies, Volume 76, No. 2, August 2014, Malcolm S. Field

KIP Articles

Contents: Karst Evolution of the Garraf Massif (Barcelona, Spain): Doline Formation, Chronology and Archaeopalaeontological Archives -- Biogenicity and Characterization of Moonmilk in the Grotta Nera (Majella National Park, Abruzzi, Central Italy) -- Adaptations of Indigenous Bacteria to Fuel Contamination in Karst Aquifers in South-Central Kentucky -- Aerosolized Microbes from Organic Rich Materials: Case Study of Bat Guano from Caves in Romania -- Glacial Lake Schoharie: An Investigative Study of Glaciolacustrine Lithofacies in Caves, Helderberg Plateau, Central NEw York -- Diet Analysis of Leopoldamys Nelli, A Cave-Dwelling Rodent in Southeast Asia, Using Next-Generation Sequencing from Feces -- Microclimate Effects on …

Investigating Hemodynamic Responses To Electrical Neurostimulation, Sean Youra

Master's Theses

Since the 1900s, the number of deaths attributable to cardiovascular disease has steadily risen. With the advent of antihypertensive drugs and non-invasive surgical procedures, such as intravascular stenting, these numbers have begun to level off. Despite this trend, the number of patients diagnosed with some form of cardiovascular disease has only increased. By 2030, prevalence of coronary heart disease is expected to increase approximately by 18% in the United States. By 2050, prevalence of peripheral arterial occlusive disease is expected to increase approximately by 98% in the U.S. No single drug or surgical intervention offers a complete solution to these …

A Rubric For Electrochemical Testing Of Metallic Biomaterials, Frederick G. De La Fuente

Master's Theses

Corrosion is a major factor for the failure of metallic medical implants. Testing a metal’s suseptability to corrosion prior to implantation is key to a successful implantation. Electrochemical processes were used in this study to evaluate the characteristics of corrosion of both AISI 316 stainless steel and titanium alloy Ti6Al4V, welded and non-welded. Linear, potentiodynamic, and cyclic polarization curves were produced by the PARC 2273 potentiostat showing the corrosion tendencies of the metals in four unique solutions 3.5% NaCl, 0.35% NaCl, phosphate buffered saline solution (PBS), and Butterfield phosphate buffered solution (BPS). The concentration of chloride ions in solutions affected …

Examining The Impacts Of State Route 101 On Wildlife Using Road Kill Surveys And Remote Cameras, Sara Ann Snyder

Master's Theses

Roads can negatively impact the survival of wildlife populations through additional mortality from road kill and population fragmentation caused by road avoidance behaviors. The 11.9 mile section of State Route 101 between the towns of San Luis Obispo and Atascadero, CA, USA, cross a mountain lion movement corridor and an area important to maintaining ecological connectivity between protected lands in the Los Padres National Forest to the north and south.

I examined the spatial patterns and landscape and roadway factors associated with road kill occurrence for six taxa; large mammals, mesocarnivores, squirrels, rabbits, birds and raptors. Between 1 May 2009 …

Identification Of A Common Mechanism Of Osteoarthritis, David Kooyman

BYU Research Development Office Research Networking Conference

Formerly, OA was thought to be a disease of "wear and tear," that is, a disorder in which mechanical forces physically degrade the articular cartilage. We view OA as an inflammatory disease.

Chlorovirus Pbcv-1 Encodes An Active Copper-Zinc Superoxide Dismutase, Ming Kang, Garry A. Duncan, Charles Kuszynski, George Oyler, Jiayin Zheng, Donald F. Becker, James L. Van Etten

James Van Etten Publications

Superoxide dismutases (SODs) are metalloproteins that protect organisms from toxic reactive oxygen species by catalyzing the conversion of superoxide anion to hydrogen peroxide and molecular oxygen. Chlorovirus PBCV-1 encodes a 187-amino-acid protein that resembles a Cu-Zn SOD with all of the conserved amino acid residues for binding copper and zinc (named cvSOD). cvSOD has an internal Met that results in a 165-amino-acid protein (named tcvSOD). Both cvSOD and tcvSOD recombinant proteins inhibited nitroblue tetrazolium reduction of superoxide anion generated in a xanthine-xanthine oxidase system in solution. tcvSOD was chosen for further characterization because it was easier to produce. Recombinant tcvSOD …

Interactions With Horses Is Associated With Higher Mindfulness And Heart Rate Variability And Lower Electrodermal Response In College Students, Sarah Mary Wach

USC Aiken Psychology Theses

A wealth of research has revealed psychological and physiological benefits of interactions with animals. As yet, research is limited to smaller animals such as dogs and cats and has not examined the benefits of human-horse interactions. The present study examined the effects of video-simulated human-horse interactions compared with simulated interactions with a car and a person on state mindfulness and physiological arousal. The relationship between trait mindfulness and horse experience was also examined. Undergraduate students with (n = 16) and without experience with horses (n = 26) were recruited with the exclusion criteria of a fear of horses. …

Habitat Characteristics Of Wildlife Crossing Hotspots In Northern New Jersey, Kelly M. Triece

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Habitat fragmentation results when a landscape is broken apart due to urbanization. Fragmentation can result in a decrease in habitat size, and an increase in habitat patches which can then become increasingly isolated. Fragmentation may also be caused by human roadway and vehicle traffic, which degrades surrounding habitats, barricades wildlife movement, reduces the viability of wildlife populations and changes animal population networks. Fragmentation caused by roads often results in wildlife road mortality as animals traverse the roadway to obtain food, to mate or seek other resources. In order for conservation of wildlife populations to take place, it is essential to …

Crispr/Cas9 As A Gene Editing Tool To Delete The Transcriptional Repressor Inducible Camp Early Repressor From The Zebrafish Genome, Madhumalini Gnanasekar

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Genome editing has become an important tool in identifying the specific function and role of a gene in an organism. With the advent of genome editing using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/ CRISPR-associated (Cas) systems, editing a gene has become much easier and less expensive. This CRISPR/Cas9 system uses a small 20 nucleotide long guided RNA (gRNA), which along with Cas9 will bind to the target site and cleave it. In this research, CRISPR/Cas9 system was used to knock out the inducible cAMP early repressor (ICER) promoter sequence in zebra fish. ICER has anti-proliferative activity and acts as …

High-Productivity Membrane Adsorbers: Polymer Surface-Modification Studies For Ion-Exchange And Affinity Bioseparations, Heather Chenette

All Dissertations

This Dissertation centers on the surface-modification of macroporous membranes to make them selective adsorbers for different proteins, and the analysis of the performance of these membranes relative to existing technology. Traditional chromatographic separations for the isolation and purification of proteins implement a column packed with resin beads or gel media that contain specific binding ligands on their exposed surface area. The productivity of this process is balanced by the effective use of the binding sites within the column and the speed at which the separation can take place, in addition to the need to maintain sufficient protein purity and bioactivity. …

Research & Strategic Partnerships: Quarterly Review, Volume 1, Issue 4, Portland State University. Research & Strategic Partnerships

Portland State Research Magazine

This fourth issue of the Research and Strategic Partnerships (RSP) Quarterly Review highlights both the outward- and inward-facing aspects of PSU’s research enterprise. Ours is a university built on partnerships, and nowhere is this better demonstrated than in the just-opened Collaborative Life Sciences Building in South Waterfront, conceived, designed and executed in close coordination with OHSU and OSU. Some of the largest biomedical breakthroughs to come from the CLSB may be discovered at the smallest scales using electron microscopy techniques advanced by our Center for Electron Microscopy and Nanotechnology. PSU is a player in nanoscience in large part because Portland …

Gladys-On-The-Prairie: The Effect Of Social And Environmental Forces On The Identity And Life Of Dr. Gladys C. Galligar, Desiree M.E. King

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Twentieth century Americans recognized problems created by both the subjected status women held by society and the harmful impact humanity had on natural resources and domains. America’s search for realization and solutions for the inherent problems associated with the devaluation of women and nature did not come quickly or easily; it took a path that wound around both traditional concepts and progressive insights. I argue in this thesis that the biography of Dr. Gladys C. Galligar demonstrates, on an intimate level, America’s dawning awareness of the necessity of a healthier environment and a more egalitarian society. As a biology researcher …

Review Of Particle Physics, K. A. Olive, K. Agashe, C. Amsler, M. Antonelli, J. F. Arguin, D. M. Asner, H. Baer, H. R. Band, R. M. Barnett, T. Basaglia, C. W. Bauer, J. J. Beatty, V. L. Belousov, J. Beringer, G. Bernardi, S. Bethke, H. Bichsel, O. Biebel, E. Blucher, S. Blusk, G. Brooijmans, O. Buchmueller, V. Burkert, M. A. Bychkov, R. N. Cahn, M. Carena, A. Ceccucci, A. Cerri, D. Chakraborty, M. C. Chen, R. S. Chivukula, K. Copie, G. Cowan

Faculty Publications

The Review summarizes much of particle physics and cosmology. Using data from previous editions, plus 3,283 new measurements from 899 papers, we list, evaluate, and average measured properties of gauge bosons and the recently discovered Higgs boson, leptons, quarks, mesons, and baryons. We summarize searches for hypothetical particles such as heavy neutrinos, supersymmetric and technicolor particles, axions, dark photons, etc. All the particle properties and search limits are listed in Summary Tables. We also give numerous tables, figures, formulae, and reviews of topics such as Supersymmetry, Extra Dimensions, Particle Detectors, Probability, and Statistics. Among the 112 reviews are many that …

Cdk1 Promotes Cytokinesis In Fission Yeast Through Activation Of The Septation Initiation Network, Nicole Rachfall, Alyssa E. Johnson, Sapna Mehta, Jun Song Chen, Kathleen L. Gould

Faculty Publications

In Schizosaccharomyces pombe, late mitotic events are coordinated with cytokinesis by the septation initiation network (SIN), an essential spindle pole body (SPB)-associated kinase cascade, which controls the formation, maintenance, and constriction of the cytokinetic ring. It is not fully understood how SIN initiation is temporally regulated, but it depends on the activation of the GTPase Spg1, which is inhibited during interphase by the essential bipartite GTPase-activating protein Byr4-Cdc16. Cells are particularly sensitive to the modulation of Byr4, which undergoes cell cycle-dependent phosphorylation presumed to regulate its function. Polo-like kinase, which promotes SIN activation, is partially responsible for Byr4 phosphorylation. Here …

2014-2015 Undergraduate Catalog, The University Of Alabama In Huntsville

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

2014-2015 Graduate Catalog, The University Of Alabama In Huntsville

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Finding Steinbeck's Utopia In Cannery Row And Tortilla Flat, Christian T. Roemer

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

My thesis will explore the idea of utopia that John Steinbeck intimates through the two novels Tortilla Flat and Cannery Row, and how he crafts his utopia in concordant Marxist, social, and ecological frameworks. These two novels possess striking commentaries regarding Steinbeck’s views on social status, materialism, and freedom all in conjunction with his larger socio-ecological confines. It is in this symbiotic social interaction that Steinbeck crafts his utopia along with the physical landscape that constitutes Monterey. Written a decade apart, the two novels’ structural similarities suggest that Steinbeck maintained a consistent social vision, and that these two novels function …

2014 South Dakota State University Sheep Research Report, Animal Science Department

South Dakota State University Sheep Research Report, 2014

This is the complete document containing all reports.

Community Perceptions Of Rape And Child Sexual Abuse: A Qualitative Study In Rural Tanzania, Muzdalfat Abeid, Projestine Muganyizi, Pia Olsson, Elisabeth Darj, Pia Axemo

Obstetrics and Gynaecology, East Africa

Background: Rape of women and children is recognized as a health and human rights issue in Tanzania and internationally. Exploration of the prevailing perceptions in rural areas is needed in order to expand the understanding of sexual violence in the diversity of Tanzania’s contexts. The aim of this study therefore was to explore and understand perceptions of rape of women and children at the community level in a rural district in Tanzania with the added objective of exploring those perceptions that may contribute to perpetuating and/or hindering the disclosure of rape incidences.

Methods: A qualitative design was employed using focus …

A Novel Dual Allosteric Activation Mechanism Of Escherichia Coli Adp-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase: The Role Of Pyruvate, Matías D. Asención Diez, Mabel C. Aleanzi, Alberto A. Iglesias, Miguel Ballicora

Chemistry: Faculty Publications and Other Works

Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate activates ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and the synthesis of glycogen in Escherichia coli. Here, we show that although pyruvate is a weak activator by itself, it synergically enhances the fructose-1,6-bisphosphate activation. They increase the enzyme affinity for each other, and the combination increases Vmax, substrate apparent affinity, and decreases AMP inhibition. Our results indicate that there are two distinct interacting allosteric sites for activation. Hence, pyruvate modulates E. coli glycogen metabolism by orchestrating a functional network of allosteric regulators. We postulate that this novel dual activator mechanism increases the evolvability of ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase and its related metabolic control.

Natural History Collections: Connecting With Faculty And Content, Stacey Knight-Davis, Todd A. Bruns

Faculty & Staff Research & Creative Activity

For well over a century, American biologists have built collection of plants, animals, fungi, insects, and other natural materials. Often, these collections serve as a record of the unique biodiversity of the local area and provide a record of change over time. Many taxonomic, genetic, and environmental discoveries lay waiting in the drawers and cupboards in which these specimens are stored. / / Uploading images of natural history specimens to Digital Commons allows them to be easily discovered in with a web search, leading the user back to the home collection. As an example, a search for 'big leaf magnolia …

Complementary Therapies As Stress-Reduction In Children With Mental-Illness, Meghan M. Neubauer

Senior Honors Projects

Meghan Neubauer

Abstract: Complementary Therapies as Stress-Reduction in Children with Mental Illness

Mental Illness is being diagnosed at a faster rate and in younger populations than in the past. While children with Mental Illness face a number of physical, social, and emotional concerns, how can we balance a child’s physical, social, emotional, and developmental needs while supporting mental wellness? The National Institute for Mental Health identifies current treatment for children with mental illness to include psychotherapy and medications. Complementary therapies can help support children’s therapy by reducing stress in children with mental illness. If we can reduce stress in children …

The Role Of Melanin Concentrating Hormone (Mch) In The Central Chemoreflex: A Knockdown Study By Sirna In The Lateral Hypothalamus In Rats, Ningjing Li, Eugene Nattie, Aihua Li

Dartmouth Scholarship

Melanin concentrating hormone (MCH), a neuropeptide produced mainly in neurons localized to the lateral hypothalamic area (LHA), has been implicated in the regulation of food intake, energy balance, sleep state, and the cardiovascular system. Hypothalamic MCH neurons also have multisynaptic connections with diaphragmatic motoneurons and project to many central chemoreceptor sites. However, there are few studies of MCH involvement in central respiratory control. To test the hypothesis that MCH plays a role in the central chemoreflex, we induced a down regulation of MCH in the central nervous system by knocking down the MCH precursor (pMCH) mRNA in the LHA using …

Neuroprotective Effects Of (-)-Epigallocatechin 3-O-Gallate (Egcg) On L-Methyl-4- Phenyl-L,2,3,6-Tetrahydropyridine (Mptp) And Hydrogen Peroxide (H2o2) Stressed Pc 12 Cells, Elizabeth M. Appert

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Despite the fact that Parkinson’s disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disease, much of its etiology and pathogenesis remains to be discovered. The main pathological feature of PD is the progressive death of specific dopaminergic (DAergic) neurons in the brain. Oxidative stress induced cell death has been hypothesized as one mechanism responsible for PD pathogenesis.

Hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) is a reactive oxygen species (ROS) that has been implicated in PD as a by-product of dopamine (DA) degradation. 1 -methyl-4-phenyl- 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine (MPTP) has been shown to produce a Parkinsonian syndrome via an oxidative stress induced …

Effects Of Dominant Plant Species And Water Depth On Methane Fluxes In A Freshwater Wetland, Marco T. Finocchiaro

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Methane (CH₄) is a highly potent greenhouse gas (GHG) found to contribute to the global problem of atmospheric warming. Wetlands have been documented to possess the ability to impact the earth’s CH₄ cycle yet are in a state of global depletion. CH₄ flux rates in wetlands have been found to vary within wetlands based on variability in environmental factors. There is a lack o f consensus on the effects of water depth as well as dominant plant type on CH₄ flux rates. In this study on Lake Wapalanne, Sussex County, NJ, submerged areas were found …

Do Arthropod Prey Alter Behavior When Exposed To Different Combinations Of Sensory Cues From Predators?, Kelly I. Pniewski

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

How animals respond to predatory threats is influenced by the kinds of sensory cues from predators they are able to detect. Because sensory information is transduced through the environment, both that and the animal’s physiology may determine how animals are capable of reacting and are important variables when considering their behavioral responses. In this study I tested the effects of visual, chemical and seismic predator cues on how prey react to predatory threat. Four species of arthropod prey animals were tested; German cockroaches, Blatella germanica (Blattodea: Blattellidae), House crickets, Acheta domesticus (Orthoptera: Gryllinae), Pill bugs, Armadillidium vulgare (Oniscidea: Armadillidiidae), and …

Vicarious Posttraumatic Growth And Attachment Style In Mental Health Professionals, Claire J. Wooloff

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Mental health professionals treating clients who are trauma survivors spend many hours listening to traumatic material. The impact of this material may affect the individual in different ways. Some of the negative effects are documented in the literature as vicarious traumatization (Pearlman & Saakvitne, 1995), compassion fatigue (Figley, 1995, 2002) and burnout (Baird & Jenkins, 2003). However, mental health professionals also attest to the positive side of their work including posttraumatic growth (Arnold, Calhoun, Tedeschi & Calhoun, 2005) and compassion satisfaction (Stamm, 2010). Little is known about why some individuals may be impacted negatively, but others experience psychological growth. Attachment …

Testing Predicted Specificity Determinants In The Dihydrofolate Reductase Enzyme Family, Seema J. Patel

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Dihydrofolate Reductase (DHFR) is an essential enzyme for most organisms, ranging from bacteria to humans. DHFR has essential functions in DNA biosynthesis and cell replication; as a result, cell growth can be inhibited by the inhibition of DHFR. Evaluating the use of well-known DHFR inhibitors is becoming essential in treating infections in the developing world as DHFR is a known target of antibacterial and antiparasitic drugs. Understanding determinants of DHFR inhibitor specificity in terms of amino acid sequence and structure will allow repurposing or designing of new compounds that selectively target DHFR from the pathogenic organism of interest over the …

Association Between Participation In Organized Sports And Positive Youth Development Among Grade School Students, Jennifer Wilenta

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This quantitative study aims to understand the role of organized sports in youth development from a parental perspective. Specifically, it addresses whether grammar school-aged children (Mean Age = 9) who participate in organized sports have higher levels of positive youth development (PYD) compared to those who do not participate or who minimally participate. This study also explores the barriers to participation for those who do not participate. The sample was drawn from the two public grammar schools in Secaucus, N.J. during the 2012-13 academic year.

The major findings of this study do not show a difference in PYD levels based …