Digital Commons Network^™

Soluble Amyloid-Beta 42 Aggregates Stimulate Cellular Inflammation Independent Of Cd47, Sanjib Karki

Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by the accumulation and deposition of aggregated amyloid-β protein (Aβ). Most of the studies indicate that Aβ1-42) and Aβ(1-40) play an important role in the neurodegenerative pathology in AD. A critical component of AD pathology is inflammation, which results from the activation of glial cells around the Aβ deposits. The goal of my dissertation research was to determine the role of Aβ aggregation in microglia-triggered inflammation and identify cellular components that mediate the inflammatory response. CD47 is a cellular receptor found on the microglia surface and it has been proposed to have …

Same-Sex Marriage And Jewish Law: Time For A New Paradigm?, Doron M. Kalir

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

In recent years the Supreme Court, as well as important segments of society, has come to accept and even celebrate same-sex relations that, in the past, and for some still today, have generated contempt, hostility, and violence. This change in law and culture poses a unique challenge for those who are moved by the plight of gay people yet concomitantly feel bound by their religious convictions and therefore prevented from providing religious legitimacy to people who yearn to be part of their community. Professor Kalir meets this challenge by proposing that the Torah (and Jewish law), read in context, accepts …

Unl Digital Commons For Ucare, Paul Royster

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Libraries: Presentations

UCARE is the program for Undergraduate Creative Activity and Research at University of Nebraska–Lincoln. It gives college students the opportunity to be co-researchers and co-authors with university faculty. This presentation concerns the digital preservation and online distribution of those research products. It interprets the story of Noah's Ark, not as a historical fable, but as an existential one—an illustration of the digital flood constantly ongoing around us at every moment. Noah did not discriminate between "good" and "bad" animals; he included every species. When the time came, he released all the animals back into the world, having preserved them for …

Comparative Sorption Of Methylene Blue Onto Hydrophobic Clays, Alvaro D. Sponza, Natalia J. Fernandez, David Yang, Karla A. Ortiz, Abel E. Navarro

Publications and Research

Chemical modifications of clay to remove methylene blue (MB) from aqueous solutions at room temperature were compared. Natural bentonite (NC) was modified by cation exchange with hexadecyltrimethylammonium chloride (HC), bencyltriethylammonium chloride (BC), and tetramethylammonium chloride (TC) to reverse the surface polarity of the hydrophilic bentonite. The adsorption of MB was studied and fitted by the adsorption theories of Langmuir, Freundlich, Dubinin-Radushkevich, and Temkin. Equilibrium parameters were calculated, indicating that chemical modification did not improve the adsorption, due to the electrostatic adsorption mechanism. Specific surface area was determined, reporting the following trend: NC > TC > BC > HC. Isotherms show that TC is …

How Diverse Detrital Environments Influence Nutrient Stoichiometry Between Males And Females Of The Co-Occurring Container Mosquitoes Aedes Albopictus, Ae. Aegypti, And Culex Quinquefasciatus, Donald A. Yee, Michael G. Kaufman, Nnaemeka F. Ezeakacha

Faculty Publications

Allocation patterns of carbon and nitrogen in animals are influenced by food quality and quantity, as well as by inherent metabolic and physiological constraints within organisms. Whole body stoichiometry also may vary between the sexes who differ in development rates and reproductive allocation patterns. In aquatic containers, such as tree holes and tires, detrital inputs, which vary in amounts of carbon and nitrogen, form the basis of the mosquito-dominated food web. Differences in development times and mass between male and female mosquitoes may be the result of different reproductive constraints, which could also influence patterns of nutrient allocation. We examined …

A Transcriptomal Analysis Of Bovine Oviductal Epithelial Cells Collected During The Follicular Phase Versus The Luteal Phase Of The Estrous Cycle, K. L. Cerny, E. Garrett, A. J. Walton, L. H. Anderson, P. J. Bridges

Animal and Food Sciences Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Reproductive success depends on a functional oviduct for gamete storage, maturation, fertilization, and early embryonic development. The ovarian-derived steroids estrogen and progesterone are key regulators of oviductal function. The objective of this study was to investigate luteal and follicular phase-specific oviductal epithelial cell function by using microarray-based transcriptional profiling, to increase our understanding of mRNAs regulating epithelial cell processes, and to identify novel genes and biochemical pathways that may be found to affect fertility in the future.

METHODS: Six normally cycling Angus heifers were assigned to either luteal phase (LP, n = 3) or follicular phase (FP, …

Stable Reference Gene Selection For Rt-Qpcr Analysis In Nonviruliferous And Viruliferous Frankliniella Occidentalis, Chunxiao Yang, Hui Li, Huipeng Pan, Yabin Ma, Deyong Zhang, Yong Liu, Zhanhong Zhang, Changying Zheng, Dong Chu

Entomology Faculty Publications

Reverse transcriptase-quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-qPCR) is a reliable technique for measuring and evaluating gene expression during variable biological processes. To facilitate gene expression studies, normalization of genes of interest relative to stable reference genes is crucial. The western flower thrips Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae), the main vector of tomato spotted wilt virus (TSWV), is a destructive invasive species. In this study, the expression profiles of 11 candidate reference genes from nonviruliferous and viruliferous F. occidentalis were investigated. Five distinct algorithms, geNorm, NormFinder, BestKeeper, the ΔCt method, and RefFinder, were used to determine the performance …

Tree-Ring Dating Of The Reshui-1 Tomb In Dulan County, Qinghai Province, North-West China, Mingqi Li, Xuemei Shao, Zhi-Yong Yin, Xinguo Xu

Environmental and Ocean Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

Tuyuhun and Tubo were two important states that thrived in north-western China during AD 311-900 in parallel with the Han Chinese dynasties of Sui and Tang periods. The Reshui Tomb Cluster located in Dulan County of the north-eastern Tibetan Plateau is an important cultural relic of the Tuyuhun-Tubo age. The official excavations of the Reshui tombs were regarded as top events in archaeology in the 1980s and 1990s in China. The Reshui-1 Tomb is the largest one among the tombs in the area. Since its excavation, there have been debates on whether the owner of the tomb belonged to the …

The Right Tool For The Job: Detection Of Soil-Transmitted Helminths In Areas Co-Endemic For Other Helminths, Maria V. Periago, Renata C. Diniz, Simone A. Pinto, Anna Yakovleva, Rodrigo Correa-Oliveira, David J. Diemert, Jeffrey M. Bethony

Microbiology, Immunology, and Tropical Medicine Faculty Publications

Due to the recent increased use of the McMaster (MM) fecal egg counting method for assessing benzimidazole drug efficacy for treating soil-transmitted helminth (STH) infections, the aim of the current study was to determine the operational value of including the MM method alongside the Kato-Katz (KK) fecal thick smear to increase the diagnostic sensitivity when STHs are co-endemic with trematode helminths (e.g., Schistosoma mansoni).

Methods

A cross-sectional study was conducted in school-aged children aged 4-18 years in the northeastern region of the State of Minas Gerais (Brazil), where Necator americanus, Ascaris lumbricoides, Trichuris trichiura, and S …

Comprehensive Functional Characterization Of Murine Infantile Batten Disease Including Parkinson-Like Behavior And Dopaminergic Markers, George Taylor, Joshua Dearborn, Steven Harmon, Stephen Fowler, Karen O’Malley, Mark Sands, David Wozniak

Psychology Faculty Works

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL, Infantile Batten disease) is a neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disease caused by a deficiency in palmitoyl protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1). The PPT1-deficient mouse (Cln1−/−) is a useful phenocopy of human INCL. Cln1−/− mice display retinal dysfunction, seizures, motor deficits, and die at ~8 months of age. However, little is known about the cognitive and behavioral functions of Cln1−/− mice during disease progression. In the present study, younger (~1–2 months of age) Cln1−/− mice showed minor deficits in motor/sensorimotor functions while older (~5–6 months of age) Cln1−/− mice exhibited more severe impairments, including decreased locomotor activity, inferior cued …

The Ph Low Insertion Peptide Phlip Variant 3 As A Novel Marker Of Acidic Malignant Lesions, Thomas T. Tapmeier, Anna Moshnikova, John Beech, Danny Allen, Paul Kinchesh, Sean Smart, Adrian Harris, Alan Mcintyre, Donald M. Engelman, Oleg A. Andreev, Yana K. Reshetnyak, Ruth J. Muschel

Physics Faculty Publications

Current strategies for early detection of breast and other cancers are limited in part because some lesions identified as potentially malignant do not develop into aggressive tumors. Acid pH has been suggested as a key characteristic of aggressive tumors that might distinguish aggressive lesions from more indolent pathology. We therefore investigated the novel class of molecules, pH low insertion peptides (pHLIPs), as markers of low pH in tumor allografts and of malignant lesions in a mouse model of spontaneous breast cancer, BALB/neu-T. pHLIP Variant 3 (Var3) conjugated with fluorescent Alexa546 was shown to insert into tumor spheroids in a sequence-specific …

Roenigk Chair In Chemistry Uses Everyday Objects And Exotic Animals To Explain His Research On Woub, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Of Hyperbranched Amphiphylic Polyester And Theranostic Nanoparticles Thereof, J. Manuel Perez Figueroa, Santimukul Santra

UCF Patents

A method of making a hyperbranched amphiphillic polyester compound includes drying under vacuum a mixture of 2-(4-hydroxybutyl)-malonic acid and p-toulene sulphonic acid as a catalyst. The vacuum is then released with a dry inert gas after drying. The dried mixture is heated under the inert gas at a temperature sufficient for polymerization. The inert gas is evacuated while continuing to heat the mixture. The formed polymer is then dissolved in dimethylformamide and precipitated out by adding methanol. Modifications of the method yield nanoparticles of polyesters having properties suited for coencapsulating fluorescent dyes together with therapeutic drugs, resulting in theranostic nanoparticles, …

Food Waste And Behavior Change Through Project-Based Learning, Patrick Cary Crawford

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

This study aims to find if food waste behavior can be changed through project-based learning. Food is a valuable resource that is being thrown into landfills; I question how we can change that? After compiling research on food waste, pro-environmental behavioral psychology, and project based learning I have constructed a theoretical framework that can be used to teach behavior change through project-based learning. The following were created to attain this goal: (a) a project unit plan, (b) assessments designed to evaluate students content knowledge on food waste, and (c) assessments designed to evaluate students pro-environmental behavior based on Blake, 1999. …

A Method Of Biasing Implanted Human Neural Stem Cells Away From Differentiation Into Glial Cells By (+)Phenserine To Modulate The Concentration Of Soluble Ssapp In Tissue Or Csf, Kiminobu Sugaya, Young-Don Kwak, Amelia Marutle

UCF Patents

Disclosed herein are methods and materials for promoting neurogenesis of endogenous and transplanted stem cells. Specifically exemplified herein are methods that comprise transplanting neural stem cells in conjunction with a regimen of (+)phenserine treatment.

Non-Steroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug Use In Collegiate Athletes, Brian Robert Davis

Dissertations and Theses

Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAID) are a class of medications used in the treatment of pain, inflammation, and illness. These medications are common, affordable, and easy to access. For these reasons, NSAIDs are commonly used by athletes of all backgrounds for treating injuries and as ergogenic aids. However, despite these behaviors, NSAIDs have well-documented side effects and the efficacious nature of these medications has been brought into question. Despite this, many athletes continue to use these medications frequently and indiscriminately. It is not known why athletes use these medications in light of their questionable effectiveness and cited adverse effects. Therefore, this …

Newsroom, Georgia Southern University

Newsroom (2006-2023)

• Alumnus vying for title of Travel Channel Star

Large Amplitude, Short Wave Peristalsis And Its Implications For Transport, Lindsay D. Waldrop, Laura A. Miller

Biology, Chemistry, and Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles and Research

Valveless, tubular pumps are widespread in the animal kingdom, but the mechanism by which these pumps generate fluid flow is often in dispute. Where the pumping mechanism of many organs was once described as peristalsis, other mechanisms, such as dynamic suction pumping, have been suggested as possible alternative mechanisms. Peristalsis is often evaluated using criteria established in a technical definition for mechanical pumps, but this definition is based on a small-amplitude, long-wave approximation which biological pumps often violate. In this study, we use a direct numerical simulation of large-amplitude, short-wave peristalsis to investigate the relationships between fluid flow, compression frequency, …

Design Litigation And The State Of The Art: Terminology, Practice And Reform, Edward T. O'Donnell

Akron Law Review

We suggest that rather than ignore these problems, or bemoan them ineffectually, the judiciary should accept the fact that the decision to venture into the area of scientific and technological controversy' carries with it a duty to reconcile the law with the essentials of the scientific method. Some courts already have begun to do so. For instance, suggestions that the manufacturer's obligation to design a safe product necessarily must be limited by the state of the art are common in negligence, warranty and strict liability decisions alike. Unfortunately these statements usually are dicta rather than holdings. Worse, the authors of …

Forensic Autopsy. The Particularities Of Consent For Research, Sorin Hostiuc

Journal of Health Ethics

Forensic autopsy has as its main goal to find out the truth about the causes and circumstances of death, when there is a reasonable suspicion to be caused by a violent act. As the legal guardian cannot refuse a forensic autopsy, the forensic physician is free to perform any procedures considered to be necessary for finding out the truth (in order to answer to the objectives asked by the authority). However the use of biological samples or data in research is limited and needs an additional consent, from the legal guardian, which can lead to difficulties in the interpretation of …

Farming In The Commons, Fishing In The Congress, And U.S. Aquaculture In The 21st Century, Aaron Welch

Open Access Dissertations

Fisheries and aquaculture policy in the United States exhibits a peculiar duality. Commercial fishing is functionally open-access, heavily subsidized, and regulated by a federal bureaucracy staffed in part by fishing industry representatives. Marine aquaculture, in contrast, is effectively forbidden. Today there are no functioning fish farms anywhere in the federal waters of the United States, largely due to a regulatory environment that discourages applications for aquaculture permits. This bifurcated policy does not seem to be dependent on any specific environmental or economic rationale. Instead, this policy appears to be the product of a series of individual assumptions and policy choices …

Weed Dynamics During Transition To Conservation Agriculture In Western Kenya Maize Production, Judith A. Odhiambo, Urszula Norton, Dennis Ashilenje, Emmanuel C. Omondi, Jay B. Norton

Agricultural and Environmental Sciences Faculty Research

Weed competition is a significant problem in maize (Zea mays, L.) production in Sub-Saharan Africa. Better understanding of weed management and costs in maize intercropped with beans (Phaseolus vulgaris, L.) during transition to conservation agricultural systems is needed. Changes in weed population and maize growth were assessed for a period of three years at Bungoma where crops are grown twice per year and at Trans-Nzoia where crops are grown once per year. Treatments included three tillage practices: minimum (MT), no-till (NT) and conventional (CT) applied to three cropping systems: continuous maize/bean intercropping (TYPICAL), maize/bean intercropping with relayed mucuna after bean …

Truncating Mutation In The Autophagy Gene Uvrag Confers Oncogenic Properties And Chemosensitivity In Colorectal Cancers, Shanshan He, Zhen Zhao, Yongfei Yang, Douglas O'Connell, Xiaowei Zhang, Soohwan Oh, Binyun Ma, Joo-Hyung Lee, Tian Zhang, Bino Varghese, Janae Yip, Sara Dolatshahi Pirooz, Ming Li, Yong Zhang, Guo-Min Li, Sue Ellen Martin, Keigo Machida, Chengyu Liang

Toxicology and Cancer Biology Faculty Publications

Autophagy-related factors are implicated in metabolic adaptation and cancer metastasis. However, the role of autophagy factors in cancer progression and their effect in treatment response remain largely elusive. Recent studies have shown that UVRAG, a key autophagic tumour suppressor, is mutated in common human cancers. Here we demonstrate that the cancer-related UVRAG frameshift (FS), which does not result in a null mutation, is expressed as a truncated UVRAG^FS in colorectal cancer (CRC) with microsatellite instability (MSI), and promotes tumorigenesis. UVRAG^FS abrogates the normal functions of UVRAG, including autophagy, in a dominant-negative manner. Furthermore, expression of UVRAG^FS can …

Identity Construction In The Margins:A Case Study Involving Non-Conforming Youth, Alice M. Harnischfeger

The Qualitative Report

This qualitative instrumental case study explores how student members of an alternative educational program in a successful public middle school constructed identity, and how they interpreted their schooling experiences in relation to hegemonic educational practices. It draws on sociocultural and postmodern theories to focus on these youths’ identities and on their perspectives of self and school practices. Its multiple methods collected data through alternative and mainstream classroom observations, focus group sessions, semi-structured individual interviews with students, parents, and school professionals, and an analysis of school documents. The youth participants of this study held multiply-constructed identities, and actively resisted and affirmed …

Mythcon 46 - The Arthurian Mythos, The Mythopoeic Society

Mythcon Programs

Mythcon 46 will be held at the Hotel Elegante Event and Conference Center in Colorado Springs, Colorado. The Hotel Elegante features a full restaurant, a sports bar, and a casual bakery/ coffee shop for drinks and snacks. The entire hotel is non-smoking.

Um Honors College Names Scholarship Recipients, Kelley Norris

University of Mississippi News

Outstanding students awarded four prestigious awards to fund Ole Miss studies

Aviation Bird Hazard In Nexrad Dual Polarization Weather Radar Confirmed By Visual Observations, Bradley M. Muller, Frederick R. Mosher, Christopher G. Herbster, Anthony T. Brickhouse

International Journal of Aviation, Aeronautics, and Aerospace

Birds represent a significant hazard to flying aircraft as illustrated by the “Miracle on the Hudson” encounter in 2009 between U.S. Airways Flight 1549 and a flock of Canada Geese, forcing the flight to ditch in the river. Birds are common in the skies over Florida during the spring migration season, and often appear in the National Weather Service’s (NWS) NEXRAD weather radar imagery as an easily recognizable signature known as a “roost ring.” This paper presents a NEXRAD roost ring case in central Florida in a rare instance where the signatures were confirmed by visual observations of the birds. …

Artificial Superintelligence: Extinction Or Nirvana?, Jens Pohl

Architecture

The purpose of this paper is to explore the subject of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) and Artificial Superintelligence (ASI) and identify in summary form the principal drivers and current status of Artificial Narrow Intelligence (ANI), the impact that intelligent software in combination with the Internet serving as a Global Knowledgebase is already having on human capabilities, the likely path to ASI, the possible threats posed by ASI and proposed measures to curtail those threats, and finally the potential benefits to the human species if AGI and ASI remain under human control.

Petition For A Writ Of Certiorari. Rochow V. Life Insurance Company Of North America, 136 S. Ct. 480 (2015) (No. 15-163), 2015 U.S. S. Ct. Briefs Lexis 2657, Eric Schnapper, Erik W. Scharf, John J. Cooper

Court Briefs

QUESTION PRESENTED When a benefit plan, in violation of ERISA, wrongfully denies or delays payment of a benefit, the court may award relief because of the improper delay in the payment of that benefit. The question presented is: Should 'the amount of a remedy based on the improper delay in the payment of a benefit be based on: (1) only the amount needed to redress the loss that the beneficiary sustained as a result of the wrongful delay (the rule in the Sixth Circuit), (2) either the amount needed to redress the loss that the beneficiary sustained as a result …

Sound Production And Associated Behavior Of Tagged Fin Whales (Balaenoptera Physalus) In The Southern California Bight, Alison K. Stimpert, Stacy L. Deruiter, Erin A. Falcone, John Joseph

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

For marine animals, acoustic communication is critical for many life functions, yet individual calling behavior is poorly understood for most large whale species. These topics are important for understanding whale social behavior and can also serve as a baseline for behavioral studies assessing whale response to disturbance. Using a new technique for identifying the calling individual, we measured body orientation, dive behavior, and surface social behavior in relation to call production for tagged fin whales in Southern California. Results: Behavioral metrics associated with elevated call rates included shallow maximum dive depths (10-15m), little body movement, negative pitch in body orientation, …