Digital Commons Network^™

Taking A Stand On Standing: The Third Circuit Widens The Circuit Split By Narrowing Private Antitrust Standing Under The "Consumer-Or-Competitor" Test, Elizabeth Giordano

Villanova Law Review (1956 - )

No abstract provided.

Role Of The Orphan Crispr 2 In Enterococcus Faecalis, Andriy Barchuk

Honors College Theses

Enterococcus faecalis is a Gram-positive aerotolerant anaerobic bacterium primarily found as a member of the human and animal intestinal flora. Enterococcus faecalis along with 27 other species comprise the genus Enterococcus. Out of the whole genus E. faecalis and E. faecium are the second most common nosocomial cause for urinary tract and wound infections. The treatment of the infections is made even more complex due to E. faecalis resistance to last-resort drugs like vancomycin. An inverse relationship has been observed in the species between antibiotic resistance and presence of the CRISPR-cas locus. CRISPR-Cas (clustered, regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats and …

Borges's Postmodern Landscape, Mario Vrbančić

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his article "Borges's Postmodern Landscape" Mario Vrbančić examines specific constructs of space -- among them heterotopia (Michel Foucault) and hyperreality (Jean Baudrillard) -- and applies them to narration and narrative strategies in Jorge Luis Borges's texts. Vrbančić posits that postmodern mapping undermines our known familiar geography and that authors like Borges who experimented with different spaces and connections in their texts, represent postmodernism avant la lettre.

Designing For Immersive Technology: Integrating Art And Stem Learning, Jane Elizabeth Crayton

Art & Art History ETDs

Students struggle to learn STEM concepts. The arts have been proposed as a means to engage students in STEM education, resulting in the idea of STEAM. However, STEAM approaches do not always result in learning. A collaboration between a major research university and a small Native arts college in the southwestern United States provided an opportunity for studying the potential for arts to engage students in STEM learning. This study investigates how participating art students (N = 4) solved technological and design production problems when working with immersive technologies in a paid summer internship program. The internship program lasted six …

A Manipulation Study: The Effect Of Predation Risk On The Space Use Of The Chilean Rodent, Octodon Degus, Erin D. Myers

Honors Theses

Predation has significant effects on animal behavior and space use across species. In small mammals, the home range areas are shown to be influenced by predation risk. This project incorporates trapping data to analyze how predation risk influences the space use of Octodon degus, a social rodent endemic to Chile. We compared range size of degus living in four predator exclusion enclosures versus four control, non-predator exclusion enclosures in Parque Nacional Bosque de Fray Jorge, Chile through grid trapping methods. For each enclosure (NP and P) 95% MCP, 95% Kernal, 95% Distance Interval, and average captures was measured. There were …

Optimizing A Luciferase-Based Tool For Studying The Effects Of Fatty Acid Desaturase 7 On Singlet Oxygen Accumulation In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Abeer Muhammedali Alnasrawi

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In plants, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are generated as a byproduct of normal metabolism, as well as in response to adverse conditions such as light stress, extreme temperatures, and exposure to pests and pathogens. Singlet oxygen (1O2) is a ROS that is formed during photosynthesis in photosystem II (PSII) of the chloroplasts. Levels of 1O2 and other ROS are tightly controlled in healthy plants, but some studies suggest that levels of fatty acid desaturase (FAD) activity in Arabidopsis thaliana can influence constitutive and/or stress-responsive ROS accumulation. In this study, a luciferase-based reporter gene that is selectively stimulated by 1O2 (AAA-ATPase: …

Animal Science E-Newsletter, December 2015, University Of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Department Of Animal Sciences

Animal Science e-Newsletter

No abstract provided.

A Design For A National Music Examination Board In Thailand, With Particular Reference To Viola, Juckrit Charoensook

Dissertations

The research of “A Design for a National Music Examination Board in Thailand, with Particular Reference to Viola” aims to study the requirements of viola entrance examinations of the three selected colleges of music in Thailand: Chulalongkorn University, Mahidol University, and Silpakorn University; and the critical survey of syllabi of two selected international music examination boards: Trinity College London and Associated Board of the Royal School of Music. By combining the result from both studies, the design for a standard assessment of viola in Thailand is proposed. The standard assessment is divided into eight grade levels as a common practice. …

Non-Specific Blocking Of Mir-17-5p Guide Strand In Triple Negative Breast Cancer Cells By Amplifying Passenger Strand Activity., Yuan-Yuan Jin, Jade Andrade, Eric Wickstrom

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

Conventional wisdom holds that only one of the two strands in a micro ribonucleic acid (miRNA) precursor duplex is selected as the active miRNA guide strand. The complementary miRNA passenger strand, however, is thought to be inactive. High levels of the oncogenic miRNA (oncomiR) guide strand called miR-17-5p is overexpressed in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and can inhibit ribosomal translation of tumor suppressor gene mRNAs, such as programmed cell death 4 (PDCD4) or phosphatase and tensin homolog (PTEN). We hypothesized that knocking down the oncogenic microRNA (oncomiR) miR-17-5p might restore the expression levels of PDCD4 and PTEN tumor suppressor …

The Role Of Valproic Acid, A Histone Deacetylase Inhibitor, In Reducing Anxiety Levels In Rats: An Epigenetics Study, Juliet Buteme

Honors College Theses

Rats, like humans, show personality traits: they are born with different anxiety levels (i.e., high (HAn) or low anxiety (LAn) levels). In this study, we investigated (1) if treatment with valproic acid (VPA) can lower anxiety level in trait anxiety rats and (2) how VPA may interact with environment (e.g., enriched (EE), standard (SE) and isolated environments (IE)). VPA is a deacetylase inhibitor that increases Histone 3 acetylation, a known epigenetic mechanism that interacts with stress response proteins, and treats epilepsy and mood disorders. Since rats reared in IE exhibit heightened anxiety levels as compared to those in EE, we …

Animal Politics: Money, Power, And The Endangered Species Act, Edward J. Armellino

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents - Vol. 40, No. 1 2015

Seton Hall Journal of Legislation and Public Policy

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Foliar Nutrient Applications On Split, Yield, And Internal Fruit Quality Of 'Wonderful' Pomegranate (Punica Granatum L.), John Matthew Chater

Master's Theses

Fruit split is the most important physiological disorder in pomegranate production, causing devastating crop losses worldwide. Foliar nutrient applications have been used experimentally to mitigate pomegranate fruit split but none have been conducted using the industry standard cultivar, Wonderful, and little is known about the effects of foliar nutrient applications on pomegranate. Additionally, investigations into putative health benefits of pomegranate fruit have increased interest in its production but limited evidence exists regarding effects of agricultural practices such as foliar fertilizer applications on internal fruit quality. ‘Wonderful’ pomegranate trees at 2 commercial orchards were treated with foliar applications of ZnSO_{4 …}

Performance, Body Temperature And Blood Metabolites Of Feedlot Steers As Influenced By Environmental Conditions And Supplementation Of Zilpaterol Hydrochloride, Bradley M. Boyd

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Trial one was conducted at the United States Meat Animal Research Center (MARC) near clay center, NE during the summer of 2014. The objective of this trial was to measure the effects of supplementing zilpaterol hydrochloride (ZH) for the final 21 days of the finishing period, and shade, on performance, body temperature, respiration rate, and mobility of finishing beef steers. Feeding ZH increased hot carcass weight, dressing percent, longissimus muscle area, and reduce USDA yield grade. Shade did not affect steer performance and did not reduce body temperature. Zilpaterol hydrochloride increased respiration rate when compared to control cattle and had …

Genomic Analysis Of Sow Reproductive Traits: Identification Of Selective Sweeps, Major Genes, And Genotype By Diet Interactions, Melanie D. Trenhaile

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Reproductive traits, such as litter size and reproductive longevity, are economically important. However, selection for these traits is difficult due to low heritability, polygenic nature, sex-limited expression, and expression late in life. Marker-assisted selection may provide an alternative to increase genetic progress.

Nebraska Index Line (NIL) has been selected for litter size related traits since 1981. It is one of the main contributing lines to the UNL reproductive longevity resource population (n > 1,500), which was genotyped for 60,000 SNPs, phenotyped for age at puberty (AP), lifetime number of parities (LTNP), litter size traits, and other reproductive traits, and fed …

Specification Of V2b And Ka Neurons In The Zebrafish Spinal Cord., Liwia Anna Andrzejczuk

Dissertations - ALL

Spinal cord contains different types of neurons. A vast majority of these neurons are interneurons. Therefore, a better understanding of how interneurons in the spinal cord develop is particularly important, as it will hopefully enable researchers to establish better treatments for spinal cord injury patients. In this thesis, I used zebrafish to study development of two classes of spinal cord neurons - KA cells (which correspond to cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons, CSF-cNs) and V2b cells. Both KA and V2b neurons are functionally important in vertebrate locomotor circuitry.

Development of functional neurons involves progression of genetic cascades that lead to correct cell …

Middle-Class Identity And Hindu Women's Ritual Practice In South India, Nicole Allyse Wilson

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation takes up the issue of social change via an exploration of a middle-class, multi-caste Hindu women’s religious group in south India called the Śri Maṅgala Vināyagar Satsang Group (SMVS). It utilizes the group members’ narratives about rural-urban difference and modifications to Hindu women’s rituals to explore the continuous construction of middle-class identities in the changing social milieu of contemporary India. In considering the role of ritual in the (re)formation of middle-class identities and communities amongst the SMVS group women of this dissertation, it becomes evident that particular rituals, while earlier indicating a certain caste affiliation (e.g., recitation of …

Diurnal Variation Of Testosterone In Beluga Whale Blow, Renee Bakker

Senior Honors Projects

Studies on the concentrations of certain hormones in cetaceans and their effects on cetacean biology are useful to determining physical conditions such as age, sex, and reproductive status of individuals. Hormone concentrations can be determined through blood samples, but collection of blow (exhaled respiratory vapor) has proven to be a noninvasive method of obtaining samples that can be analyzed for hormone concentrations. The existence of diurnal variation in hormone concentrations greatly affects the value of what time of day samples are collected. Previous studies have found that other mammalian species exhibit diurnal variation of testosterone and that for many species …

Improving The Resilience Of Mixed-Farm Systems To Pending Climate Change In Far Western Nepal: Endline Survey Report, D. Layne Coppock

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

This report presents general findings from an endline survey carried out during May 2015 in Jugada, Budhiganga, Attichaur and Gudukhati Village Development Committees (VDCs) in Bajura District. A total of 320 households were surveyed, a total of 80 per VDC. Two of the VDCs—Jugada and Budhiganga—received capacity-building interventions for 16 months concerning climate-change adaptation, poverty reduction, and other aspects of well-being, while two VDCs—Attichaur and Gudkhati—were their "paired controls," respectively, that did not receive interventions. The interventions were largely delivered as informal educational or training modules.

Loss Aversion And Perspective Taking In The Sunk-Cost Fallacy, Veronika Rudd Tait

Theses and Dissertations

The sunk-cost fallacy (SCF) occurs when an individual makes an investment with a low probability of a payoff because an earlier investment has already been made. It is considered an error because a rational decision should not factor in now-irretrievable investments, as they do not affect current outcome likelihoods. Previous research has measured the tendency to commit the SCF by using hypothetical scenarios in which participants must choose to make a future investment or not after making an initial investment. There are many theories as to why people commit the SCF. Loss aversion, which is the preference for uncertain over …

Faculty Perceptions Of The Purpose And Value Of General Education: A Comparison Between The Liberal Arts And Health Professions, Shireen Rahman

All Theses And Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of the purpose and value of the general education curriculum in those undergraduate faculty members who teach in the liberal arts and the health professions at the University of New England. Perceptions were evaluated within each college and then compared between each College. A mixed-methods approach was utilized with concurrent implementation of qualitative and quantitative strands. Data were gathered from the Faculty Survey on General Education which was completed by fifty-six (29.3%) of the undergraduate faculty members. In addition, twelve faculty members were randomly selected to participate in open-ended interviews. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests …

Feasibility Of Using Raman-Based Techniques For Breast Cancer Detection, Sara Mollamohammada

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Breast cancer is one of the common types of cancer among women all over the world. Early diagnosis is an effective way that improve the treatment process and gives the patients a better chance of survival. Many of the patients infected by breast cancer choose breast conservation surgery (BCS). However, some of those will be subjected to mastectomy, and many will have tumor recurrence as there is no precise technique to show the tumor margins. Raman-based methods are powerful techniques with potential to rapidly differentiate normal from tumor tissues and provides a solution to detect tumor margin. This is because …

If God Didn’T Satisfice, We Could Still Exist, Rick Repetti

Publications and Research

Theodicies of satisficing – defenses of God’s goodness that justify creating minimally satisfactory beings/worlds – originate with Robert Merrihew Adams (1972, 1979). Adams (1972) argued that in creating imperfect beings God was graceful in giving the undeserved gift of life. There have been many objections to Adams’s argument; e.g., Jerome A. Weinstock (1975) objected that God still would have been graceful in granting undeserved life to superior beings, and, among others, E. Wielenberg (2004) objected that grace doesn’t erase the imperfection of creating imperfection. However, Adams’s theodicy arguably maintains two points: (a) non-existing superior beings cannot be harmed by not …

Conveying The Adaptation Of Management Panaceas: The Case Of Management Gurus, Timothy Adrian Robert Clark, Pojanth Bhatanacharoen, David Greatbatch

Research Collection Lee Kong Chian School Of Business

In this chapter we examine how management gurus through the telling of epiphanic and non-epiphanic stories convey the level of adaptability of their ideas. We argue that for their ideas to leave the auditorium with the audience members they have to present them in ways which convincingly demonstrate that they are potentially pertinent to the variety of working lives of those who attend. Drawing on a Conversation Analytic approach, the chapter shows that in the post-story assessment the gurus use a double structure of humor then seriousness. The contrast between the light-heartedness of the story and the seriousness of the …

Nematicidal Activity Of Extracts From Phytolacca Americana On Five Plant-Pathogenic Nematode Species Of Economic Importance, Saleh Ahmed

All Dissertations

Plant-parasitic nematodes cause significant losses to plant agriculture annually. The limited availability and high cost of synthetic nematicides, along with the environmental risks associated with their use, have created a renewed interest in the search for alternative management tactics. One such alternative tactic is the use of plant extracts. The focus of this research is the evaluation of the nematicidal activity of water extracts from Pokeweed (Phytolacca americana). In vitro and greenhouse tests were performed to evaluate the effects of the extracts on five species of plant-pathogenic nematodes of economic importance: Aphelenchoides fragariae, Ditylenchus dispsaci, Meloidogyne incognita, Pratylenchus penetrans, and …

Development And Validation Of A Novel In Vitro Model For The Assessment Of Heterocellular Interactions Mediated By Connexin43, Emily Ongstad

All Dissertations

The injury border zone (IBZ), a region of transitional tissue between intact myocardium and the ischemic area, is often the site of lethal reentrant arrhythmia generation in post-myocardial infarction (MI) patients. Disruption to normal connexin43 (Cx43) localization at the intercalated disc (ID), separation of myocytes by activated fibroblasts and deposited scar tissue are thought to be factors that render the IBZ a pro-arrhythmic substrate, though there is a current need to better understand these changes so directed therapies can be developed. There are no clinically available therapies focused on the mechanistic changes in the IBZ. Additionally, generation of new compounds …

Place-Based Initiatives: Lessons From Five Decades Of Experimentation And Experience, James M. Ferris, Elwood Hopkins

The Foundation Review

This article summarizes the findings from a yearlong inquiry into the state of place-based initiatives, underscores the lessons learned, and develops implications for foundation practice.

Place-based approaches have matured in response to five decades of historical change. In more recent years, a new framework for such initiatives has emerged that views place as an open system where neighborhoods are aligned with larger areas and influenced by market forces and public policy. Consequently, place-based initiatives targeted to a specific neighborhood are only part of any solution.

Seven key lessons emerged from this inquiry that animate a renewed sense of the possible …

Chinese Tallow Invasion In Maritime Forests: Understand Invasion Mechanism And Develop Ecologically-Based Management, Lauren Susan Pile

All Dissertations

Invasion by highly aggressive, non-native, invasive plants is a significant threat to management and conservation priorities as these plants can transform ecosystem functions and processes. In this study, I investigated the non-native, invasive tree, Chinese tallow (Triadica sebifera (L.) Small) in the maritime forests of Parris Island, South Carolina. I studied the role of land-use history and modern forest disturbance in facilitating the invasion of Chinese tallow. I found that stands previously cleared for agriculture and reforested with slash pine (Pinus elliottii Englem.) since the 1970s had significantly more Chinese tallow stems than stands that remained forested since …

Interacting Partners Of The Sunn Symbiotic Kinase, Ashley Dawn Zearfoss Crook

All Dissertations

The control of nodule number in legumes is primarily accomplished through a complex systemic signaling pathway termed autoregulation of nodulation (AON). The protein kinase SUNN, a leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase, exhibits shoot control of AON. I show subcellular localization of SUNN to the plasma membrane and specifically to the plasmodesmata, a prime location for systemic signaling. To aid in better understanding the mechanisms of signaling in AON, I used different approaches to identify potential protein-protein interactions involving SUNN, including candidate genes, exploratory proteomics, and forward genetic screens. Candidate interactors, including CLAVATA2 (CLV2), CORYNE (CRN) and guanine exchange factors of the …

Creating Arguments Using A Multiliteracies Approach: A Formative Experiment, Emily Howell

All Dissertations

This dissertation study addresses the New London Group’s (1996) concern that technology and globalization require an expanded concept of literacy that focuses upon the multimodal nature of communication. This study combined a formative experiment with multiple-case-study methods to understand the pedagogical implications of implementing an intervention based upon the multiliteracies perspective (New London Group, 1996), a perspective that remains theoretical in application. This study sought to implement this perspective in a ninth- and a tenth-grade English class in a rural school district and develop assertions that further the localized, pedagogical understanding and application of the present study’s intervention (Gravemeijer & …