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Adipogenic Differentiation Capacity Of Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells In High Glucose Condition, Weerawan Hankamolsiri, Sirikul Manochantr, Chairat Tantrawatpan, Duangrat Tantikanlayaporn, Pairath Tapanadechopone, Pakpoom Kheolamai

Asian Medical Journal and Alternative Medicine

Introduction: Type 2 diabetes is a disease in which the level of blood glucose is abnormally high due to a decreased responsiveness of patient ,s own cells to insulin. Several previous studies have demonstrated that an increased number of adipocytes in adipose tissue is significantly correlated with an increased risk of developing diabetes and cardiovascular diseases. It is known that significant amount of our adipocytes are derived from mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) presented in our bone marrow and adipose tissues. However, the molecular mechanism regulating the differentiation of MSCs toward adipocytes as well as an influence of microenvironment, especially an …

The Effects Of Fifa 11+ Warm-Up Program On Knee Strength Ratio In Male Amateur Football Players, Kanoknan Suchao-In, Prapon Toku, Wisarut Suwanprapa, Veerapat Waiyapiti

Asian Medical Journal and Alternative Medicine

Introduction: The injuries among young male amateur football player actually occur at lower extremities, especially knee joint. Knee strength ratio (hamstrings to quadriceps ratio: H/Q ratio) is related to the risk of injury to the knee in football player. Objective was to determine the effect of FIFA 11+ warm-up program on knee strength ratio in young male amateur football player.

Method: Twenty-one amateur football players were divided into 2 groups; FIFA 11+ (n = 10) and control (n = 11). During pre- and post- warm-up program training period, knee strength ratio (H/Q ratio) was tested by isokinetic machine. Warm-up program …

Stem Cells Approach For Bone Regeneration, Laddawun Sununliganon

Asian Medical Journal and Alternative Medicine

Lack of bone volume and bone loss from pathologies remains problematic for clinicians especially in large bone defect. Grafting with autogenous bone or bone substitutes has been utilized. Currently, advance cellular strategies in stem cell research and tissue engineering play an important role in regenerative medicine including bone regeneration. These technologies have been developed to be an alternative therapeutically options to autogenous bone. This paper provides a brief background of bone biological aspect and cell-based bone regeneration using stem cell. Sources of mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) and characteristics of stem cell were also discussed. Culture-expanded MSCs method and immediate MSCs …

Though This Be Madness, Yet There Is Method In’T: Using Graphic Shakespeare Texts To Create Meaningful Engagement In The High School Classroom, Eric Kallenborn

All Student Theses and Dissertations

This thesis covers the attempt to successfully motivate and connect with high school students by giving them the option of reading a graphic form of Hamlet instead of the original text. This research was conducted to not only dispel the myth that comics and graphic novels are juvenile and adolescent but to also explain the benefits of such texts to educators and administrators.

For this research, 10^th graders were assigned Hamlet and were allowed to select the graphic text over the traditional text, allowing for student buy-in from the selection. Students also took part in a project that …

Interactions Of Various Bacterial Populations With Chemical And Physical Factors From Seasonal Inputs And Outputs Of Retention Ponds, Felicia A. Krelwitz

All Student Theses and Dissertations

Retention ponds at Governors State University play an important role in collecting and treating storm water runoff before leaving campus and entering Thorn Creek. Many chemical and physical factors influence the diversity of bacterial populations in freshwater ecosystems. The main objective of this study was to compare the interactions of various bacterial populations with chemical and physical factors from seasonal inputs and outputs of Governors State University retention ponds before being discharged into Thorn Creek. The retention ponds studied include the Café Settling pond, Café pond and Beaver pond. Water and sediment were collected from inputs and outputs every other …

Pharmacokinetic Characterization Of Procoagulation Proteins, Nicholas C. Vanderslice

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

The cessation of bleeding in mammals occurs due to a well-conserved sequence of protein activation known as the coagulation cascade. However, people who have a deficiency in one or more proteins in this cascade, whether due to genetics or blood loss, struggle to maintain hemostasis. In order to aid patients in the restoration of hemostasis, exogenous proteins are often administered in response to bleeding events. However, these proteins are limited and costly due to limited supply of donor blood available for the production of plasma-derived proteins and the high cost of mammalian cell bio-reactors required for the production of recombinant …

Effects Of Dfo-Induced Hypoxia On Key Signaling Mediators, Jennifer Candelora

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

While diseases such as cancer and diabetes, or surgery and traumatic injury can cause hypoxia through a decrease in blood circulation to bodily regions or decrease cardiac output they can also associate with hypoxia-induced pain. Clinically, opioids, such as morphine, are used to modulate pain. The mu-opioid receptors (MORs) are one of three main types of opioid receptors and are key mediators in morphine-induced analgesia. Therefore, in this study, the effect of hypoxia on MOR gene expression was examined using human neuronal cells treated with DFO to create a hypoxic-mimic condition. We found that MOR expression was shown to decrease …

A New Reinforced Fibrin Collagen Glycosaminoglycan Material To Resist Tissue Contraction In Heart Valves, Claire Brougham, Gerard Cooney, Stefan Jockenhoevel, Thomas Flanagan, Fergal O'Brien

Conference Papers

A crosslinked, multicomponent scaffold of collagen, GAG and fibrin has been characterised for heart valve applications. Fibrin gels reinforced with a 0.75% collagen, 0.044% GAG scaffolds can resist VSMC induced contraction significantly more than fibrin-only gels, while allowing cell proliferation and maintaining excellent cell viability. This improvement in structural integrity may facilitate the use of fibrin based materials for heart valve tissue engineering.

Isolation And Characterization Of Polychlorinated Biphenyl (Pcb) Degrading Bacteria Isolated From A Pcb Contaminated Reservoir In Donna, Tx, Sergio Cepeda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Donna Irrigation System (DIS) located in Donna, Hidalgo County, TX, was confirmed to be contaminated with polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in 1993 and remediation of the site will be attempted in the future. The need to isolate novel PCB degrading bacteria for bioremediation has been an active area of research in recent decades; thus, it was hypothesized that a variety of microorganisms able to degrade PCBs could be isolated from sediments taken from the DIS. Two genes of the PCB degradation pathway, bphA1 and bphC, were detected in 43 bacterial isolates grown from DIS sediments using molecular and culture-based methodology, …

Premenstrual Experiences: The Simultaneous Examination Of The Association Of Self-Perceived Stress, College-Related Stress, And Sleep Quality, Sara Julia Gonzalez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Research suggests that stress may contribute to the severity of premenstrual experiences, but the contribution of different types of stress has not been carefully examined. Using self-report measures, the current study examined the relation between self-perceived stress, college-related stress, sleep quality, and premenstrual experience in a predominantly Hispanic female college sample. Results indicated that self-perceived stress accounts for a statistically significant proportion of the variance in premenstrual experience ratings, with higher stress associated with greater premenstrual distress. Based on a hierarchical regression analysis, adding college-related stress to the predictive model allows for a significantly larger amount of the variance in …

Studies Of A Mathematical Model For Generating Rhythmic Behavior With A Simple Brain, Juan C. Morales

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The rhythmic behavior of feeding in the pond snail, Lymnaea stagnalis can be described computationally by a model describing its central pattern generator network (CPG). The model includes coupled Hodgkin-Huxley type nonlinear ordinary differential equations describing four neurons connected by both inhibitory and excitatory synapses. We studied the system’s dependence on current parameters to generate periodic behavior. We also considered the effect of eliminating specific connections from the network. In addition, experiments on the biological system were used to motivate application of the model in Parkinson’s disease.

We Are Aquin: The Creation Of Community And Personal Identity In The Freeport Catholic Schools, Sherry Ann Cluver

Theses and Dissertations

Aquin Central Catholic High School, a tiny institution in the rural, Midwestern town of Freeport, Illinois, is a case study unlike the schools from Chicago, Boston, and other large cities highlighted in previous scholarship. Freeport's patterns of schooling in the 1970s and 1980s were largely unaffected by race or "white flight," and the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford afforded to its schools a greater than usual degree of local control. Yet, Aquin (founded in 1923) followed the trends of Catholic schools with regard to the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965), assimilation of previously immigrant Catholic families into middle class American social …

Optimal Aggregation Of Fcεri With A Structurally Defined Trivalent Ligand Overrides Negative Regulation Driven By Phosphatases, Avanika Mahajan, Dipak Barua, Patrick Cutler, Diane S. Lidke, Flor A. Espinoza, Carolyn Pehlke, Rachel Grattan, Yuko Kawakami, Chang-Shung Tung, Andrew R. M. Bradbury, William S. Hlavacek, Bridget S. Wilson

Chemical and Biochemical Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

To investigate why responses of mast cells to antigen-induced IgE receptor (FcεRI) aggregation depend nonlinearly on antigen dose, we characterized a new artificial ligand, DF3, through complementary modeling and experimentation. This ligand is a stable trimer of peptides derived from bacteriophage T4 fibritin, each conjugated to a hapten (DNP). We found low and high doses of DF3 at which degranulation of mast cells sensitized with DNP-specific IgE is minimal, but ligand-induced receptor aggregation is comparable to aggregation at an intermediate dose, optimal for degranulation. This finding makes DF3 an ideal reagent for studying the balance of negative and positive signaling …

Integrating Phosphoproteomics In Systems Biology, Yu Liu, Mark R. Chance

Faculty Scholarship

Phosphorylation of serine, threonine and tyrosine plays significant roles in cellular signal transduction and in modifying multiple protein functions. Phosphoproteins are coordinated and regulated by a network of kinases, phosphatases and phospho-binding proteins, which modify the phosphorylation states, recognize unique phosphopeptides, or target proteins for degradation. Detailed and complete information on the structure and dynamics of these networks is required to better understand fundamental mechanisms of cellular proceßes and diseases. High-throughput technologies have been developed to investigate phosphoproteomes in model organisms and human diseases. Among them, maß spectrometry (MS)-based technologies are the major platforms and have been widely applied, which …

Track Ii As A Method To Break Barriers: Pakistan-India Relations Since 1980, Talat A. Wizarat

Business Review

Track-II diplomacy made major contribution in reducing tension between the US and Soviet Union during late 1950’s and 1960’s. Attempts have been made in the past to apply the concepts developed particularly during 1960’s to other regions of the world. South Asia at one time had more than a hundred channels, only a few have survived. Some of these ventures have been one time exercise while others have survived for several years. Socialization process has been more successful than the other three stages. Filtration and transmission also hold great significance but several factors have retarded their growth. Implementation can only …

Stemcellnet: An Interactive Platform For Network-Oriented Investigations In Stem Cell Biology, José P. Pinto, Kalathur Rk Reddy, Rui S.R. Machado, Joana M. Xavier, José Bragança, Matthias E. Futschik

School of Biomedical Sciences

No abstract provided.

Unpacking East-West Differences In The Extent Of Self-Enhancement From The Perspective Of Face Versus Dignity Cultures, Hae In Lee, Angela K. Y. Leung, Young-Hoon Kim

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

The question of whether or not the need for self-enhancement is culturally universal has been a controversial issue in cultural psychology. Though there have been numerous studies arguing that East Asians also have the need for self-enhancement, the controversy remained. We contend that the field is ready to see a cohesive theory that integrates and explains when and why East Asians do and do not manifest their need for self-enhancement. In this paper, we provide the theoretical logics of and rationales behind face and dignity cultures as the new theoretical proxies that integrate and explain East Asians' self-enhancing behaviors, supplementing …

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Professional Identity And Pedagogical Discontentment In High School Science Teachers Participating In A Professional Development Institute, Stephanie J. Hathcock

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Although science teachers regularly participate in PD experiences involving reform-based practices, even our best teachers struggle to change their teaching practices to coincide with these pedagogics, and when they do change, it occurs at differential rates. The aim of this study was to better understand teachers' self-systems by analyzing their experiences in a PD institute program through the lens of professional identity. This multiple case study involved five high school science teachers participating in a summer PD initiative. Data were collected through interviews, written reflections and exploration and commitment cards, and a scale designed to capture participants' perceived level of …

The Effects Of Cooperative Grouping Strategies And A Three-Level Evaluation Tool On Student Soft Skills Achievement And Satisfaction Within A Problem-Based Instructional Model In The Soft Sciences, Kelly Stoneman Rippard

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

In education, many academic majors can fall within one of two main concentrations: the hard or soft sciences. The hard sciences are defined as the natural sciences and include subjects such as Engineering, Chemistry, and Biology while the soft sciences are defined as the social sciences and include subjects such as English, Sociology, and Anthropology. While instructional approaches have been created to help instructors teach and students learn within each of the scientific areas, few studies have sought to see if instructional approaches from one of the sciences can be used in the other. One such instructional approach is the …

Autism Assessment Scale For Children (Aasc): The Development Of A Dsm-V Aiigned Questionnaire To Screen School-Aged Children For High Functioning Autism, Christine Hebert

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to analyze the latent factor structure underlying the Ellis Functional Assessment (EFA) for children with high-functioning autism (HFA), to compare the latent factor structures for under-identified subgroups of children (older children, gifted children, female children), and to design a pre-screening assessment for HFA based on those results. The scope of the study is limited to children who have been identified as having HFA and whose parents completed the EFA while patients of a mid-Atlantic clinical practice specializing in autism spectrum disorders. The methodology uses preliminary factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis to both analyze …

Phylogeny And Biogeography Of The Family Haemulidae Based On A Multigene Approach, Millicent D. Sanciangco

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Haemulids are one of the most ecologically and commercially important groups of near-shore fishes. They are very diverse, with 145 putative species belonging to 18 genera. The phylogenetic relationships of the genera within the haemulids, however, are uncertain and the limits and relationships with other percomorphs are undefined.

Here, I present the first comprehensive phylogenetic hypothesis for the family based on a combined dataset of five genes (4731 bp; 16 genera, 56 species). Results show strong support for a monophyletic Haemulidae with the inclusion of the former inermiids. However, results of the analyses call into question the monophyly of a …

Communication, Romantic Reconciliation, And Emerging Adulthood: A Relational Dialectics Study, Ashley M. Poole

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

Building on the extant research of on-again/off-again (on-off) romantic relationships, the current thesis focused on building upon past findings by utilizing a unique theoretical methodology in an emerging demographic. A sample of 22 emergent adult (ages 18-29) participants who were currently in or had recently experienced an on-off relationship completed face-to-face interviews discussing communicative processes during romantic reconciliation. The primary purpose of this thesis was to identify and define discursive struggles found within on-off relationships during reconciliation attempts, and understand how they are used between partners to give meaning to the terms "on" and "off" as a precursor to restructuring …

A Grounded Theory Of Suicidality In Children Ten And Younger, Katherine Angela Heimsch

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Once every two days in the United States, a child aged 5 to 14 years old dies by suicide (World Health Organization, 2010). When viewed on a spectrum that includes suicidal ideation, verbalizations, behaviors, and attempts, the problem of youth suicidality is actually far greater than the numbers of completed suicides suggest (Cheng, Tao, Riley, Kann, Ye, Tian...Hu, 2009). This study examined suicidality in children ages 10 and younger, and included the characteristics of suicidal children, factors that influence childhood suicidality, and treatment implications. The researcher conducted 12 semi-structured qualitative interviews with experienced treatment providers and performed a content analysis …

The Relationship Among Counseling Supervision Satisfaction, Counselor Self-Efficacy, Working Alliance And Multicultural Factors, Jennifer Dawn Logan

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Supervision in counseling is essential to the personal and professional growth of counselors, and ensures client welfare (Bernard & Goodyear, 2013). The purpose of this study was to examine supervisees' perceived satisfaction with supervision, the SWA, and supervisee self-efficacy, with supervision experiences they have during practicum and/or internship. Specifically, the association these perceived levels of satisfaction, the SWA, and self-efficacy had with supervisor type (i.e., full-time faculty, adjunct faculty, or doctoral student) and student type (i.e., practicum or internship) were explored. Additionally, this study investigated how multicultural variables (i.e., race/ethnicity, gender, and degree of practice related to religious/spiritual affiliation) were …

"Do You Bant?" William Banting And Bantingism: A Cultural History Of A Victorian Anti-Fat Aesthetic, Jaime Michelle Miller

English Theses & Dissertations

In the second half of the nineteenth century, a retired Victorian undertaker named William Banting (1796-1878) dramatically altered attitudes toward fat by initiating the profoundly consequential idea of the diet as a saleable commodity capable of marking identity within particular social and racial contexts and connecting obesity with degeneracy, illness, and evil. His work Letter on Corpulence Addressed to the General Public self-published in 1863 describes how, with physician William Harvey, Banting reduced his weight by nearly fifty pounds by following a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. Banting and his dieting phenomenon transformed the English cultural consciousness of fatness, and created a …

Microblogging As A Facilitator Of Online Community In Graduate Education, Vincent Anthony Rhodes

English Theses & Dissertations

Part-time and distance-learning students can experience a sense of isolation from their peers and the university. Concern about this isolation and resulting student attrition has increased in the midst of explosive growth in online course enrollments. One possible solution: building a stronger sense of community within the online graduate classroom using microblogging technology such as Twitter. Unfortunately, scholars across disciplines define community in different ways with some rejecting the concept altogether in favor of other theoretical constructs. And, few scholars have examined the notion of online classroom community from an English Studies perspective exploring the rhetorical exigencies that underpin this …

Scalable Reasoning For Knowledge Bases Subject To Changes, Hui Shi

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

ScienceWeb is a semantic web system that collects information about a research community and allows users to ask qualitative and quantitative questions related to that information using a reasoning engine. The more complete the knowledge base is, the more helpful answers the system will provide. As the size of knowledge base increases, scalability becomes a challenge for the reasoning system. As users make changes to the knowledge base and/or new information is collected, providing fast enough response time (ranging from seconds to a few minutes) is one of the core challenges for the reasoning system.

There are two basic inference …

Improving Structural Features Prediction In Protein Structure Modeling, Ashraf Yaseen

Computer Science Theses & Dissertations

Proteins play a vital role in the biological activities of all living species. In nature, a protein folds into a specific and energetically favorable three-dimensional structure which is critical to its biological function. Hence, there has been a great effort by researchers in both experimentally determining and computationally predicting the structures of proteins.

The current experimental methods of protein structure determination are complicated, time-consuming, and expensive. On the other hand, the sequencing of proteins is fast, simple, and relatively less expensive. Thus, the gap between the number of known sequences and the determined structures is growing, and is expected to …

Numerical Study Of Poration And Ionic Conduction In Nanopores Caused By High-Intensity, Nanosecond Pulses In Cell, Hao Qiu

Electrical & Computer Engineering Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation focuses on the dynamics and bioeffects of electroporation of biological cell and ionic conduction in nanopores under high-intensity, nanosecond pulses. The electroporation model utilized the current continuity equation and the asymptotic Smoluchowski equation to explore the transmembrane potential and pore density of the plasma and intracellular membranes; the ionic conduction model employed the Poisson-Nernst-Planck equations and the Navier-Stokes equations to analyze the ionic current and ion concentration profile.

Nanosecond electric pulses of high-intensity amplitude can initiate electroporation of intracellular organelles. The pulse parameters and cell electrical properties, that can selectively electroporate liposomes but keep the plasma and nuclear …