Digital Commons Network^™

Modifications On Translation Initiation, Sarah F. Mitchell

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Works

Two studies by Meyer et al. and Wang et al. demonstrate a role for m6A modification of mRNA in stimulating translation initiation. These findings add to the growing number of diverse mechanisms for translation initiation in eukaryotes.

Dynamic Motions Of The Hiv-1 Frameshift Site Rna, Kathryn Mouzakis

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Works

The HIV-1 frameshift site (FS) plays a critical role in viral replication. During translation, the HIV-1 FS transitions from a 3-helix to a 2-helix junction RNA secondary structure. The 2-helix junction structure contains a GGA bulge, and purine-rich bulges are common motifs in RNA secondary structure. Here, we investigate the dynamics of the HIV-1 FS 2-helix junction RNA. Interhelical motions were studied under different ionic conditions using NMR order tensor analysis of residual dipolar couplings. In 150 mM potassium, the RNA adopts a 43°(±4°) interhelical bend angle (β) and displays large amplitude, anisotropic interhelical motions characterized by a 0.52(±0.04) internal …

Global Shape Mimicry Of Trna Within A Viral Internal Ribosome Entry Site Mediates Translational Reading Frame Selection, Kathryn Mouzakis

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Works

The dicistrovirus intergenic region internal ribosome entry site (IRES) adopts a triple-pseudoknotted RNA structure and occupies the core ribosomal E, P, and A sites to directly recruit the ribosome and initiate translation at a non-AUG codon. A subset of dicistrovirus IRESs directs translation in the 0 and +1 frames to produce the viral structural proteins and a +1 overlapping open reading frame called ORFx, respectively. Here we show that specific mutations of two unpaired adenosines located at the core of the threehelical junction of the honey bee dicistrovirus Israeli acute paralysis virus (IAPV) IRES PKI domain can uncouple 0 and …

Increasing Retention In Stem: Results From A Stem Talent Expansion Program At The University Of Memphis, Alistair Windsor, Anna E. Bargagliotti, Rachel Best, Donald Franceschetti, John Haddock, Stephanie Ivey, David Russomanno

Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science Faculty Works

MemphiSTEP is a five-year STEM Talent Expansion Program at the University of Memphis sponsored by the National Science Foundation. The project focuses on retention and persistence to graduation to increase the number of STEM majors and graduates. The project includes a range of student retention programs, including a Summer Mathematics Bridge Bootcamp, Networking Program, Research Award Program, Travel Award program and STEM Learning Communities; Results from the first four years of the project suggest that MemphiSTEP is making a positive impact on student retention and performance in STEM fields. Our data indicate that even after controlling for gender, race, and …

Enhanced Lasso Recovery On Graph, Xavier Bresson, Thomas Laurent, James Von Brecht

Mathematics, Statistics and Data Science Faculty Works

This work aims at recovering signals that are sparse on graphs. Compressed sensing offers techniques for signal recovery from a few linear measurements and graph Fourier analysis provides a signal representation on graph. In this paper, we leverage these two frameworks to introduce a new Lasso recovery algorithm on graphs. More precisely, we present a non-convex, non-smooth algorithm that outperforms the standard convex Lasso technique. We carry out numerical experiments on three benchmark graph datasets.

Establishment Of The Multicolored Asian Lady Beetle, Harmonia Axyridis, As A Model System For The Evolution Of Phenotypic Variation, Lindsay Havens

Master's Theses and Capstones

The mechanisms behind the evolution and maintenance of striking visual phenotypes are as varied as the species that display these phenotypes. Multiple study systems have been well characterized and provide critical information about the evolution of these traits. However, new study systems in which the phenotype of interest can be easily manipulated and quantified are essential to answer many questions about the functionality of core evolutionary processes. One such model is elytral spot number of the multicolored Asian lady beetle, Harmonia axyridis (Chapter 1). I describe Harmonia axyridis as a potential novel model species for examining extreme phenotypic evolution. To …

Rice Blast Disease Forecasting For Northern Philippines, Proceso L. Fernandez Jr, Alvin R. Malicdem

Department of Information Systems & Computer Science Faculty Publications

Rice blast disease has become an enigmatic problem in several rice growing ecosystems of both tropical and temperate regions of the world. In this study, we develop models for predicting the occurrence and severity of rice blast disease, with the aim of helping to prevent or at least mitigate the spread of such disease. Data from 2 government agencies in selected provinces from northern Philippines were gathered, cleaned and synchronized for the purpose of building the predictive models. After the data synchronization, dimensionality reduction of the feature space was done, using Principal Component Analysis (PCA), to determine the most important …

Three Essays On Public Organizations, Changgeun Yun

Theses and Dissertations--Public Policy and Administration

Organizations play key roles in modern societies. The importance of organizations for a society requires an understanding of organizations. In order to fully understand public organizations, it is necessary to recognize how organizational settings affect subjects of organizations and organizing. Although public and private organizations interrelate with each other, the two types are not identical. In this dissertation, I attempt to describe public organizations in their own setting by discussing three important topics in public organization theory: (1) innovation adoption in the public sector; (2) representative bureaucracy; and (3) decline and death of public organizations.

In Chapter II, I scrutinize …

Trial By Traditional Probability, Relative Plausibility, Or Belief Function?, Kevin M. Clermont

Case Western Reserve Law Review

Almost incredible is that no one has ever formulated an adequate model for applying the standard of proof. What does the law call for? The usual formulation is that the factfinder must roughly test the finding on a scale of likelihood. So, the finding in a civil case must at least be more likely than not or, for the theoretically adventuresome, more than fifty percent probable. Yet everyone concedes that this formulation captures neither how human factfinders actually work nor, more surprisingly, how theory tells us that factfinders should work.

An emerging notion that the factfinder should compare the plaintiff’s …

Digital Metal: Regulating Bitcoin As A Commodity, Mitchell Prentis

Case Western Reserve Law Review

In this Note, I will argue that Bitcoin should be categorized and regulated as a commodity. This treatment would be consistent with the economic behavior of Bitcoin’s users and would provide a clearer regulatory path for Bitcoin’s future. Additionally, categorizing Bitcoin as a commodity would provide increased clarity to existing regulatory efforts. Part I of this Note will briefly discuss the basic technological underpinnings of the Bitcoin system. Part II will quickly survey the current regulatory landscape around Bitcoin. Part III will examine Bitcoin’s identity crisis and explain why Bitcoin should not be categorized as a currency or a security—the …

President’S Annual Report, Jean E. Bartels

Office of the President: Annual Report (Archived)

No abstract provided.

Northeastern Illinois University, 2015-2016, Northeastern Illinois University

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Gene Expression In The Choanoderm, Jesús Federico Peña

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The body plan of sponges (phylum Porifera) is an outlier among modern animals and is thought to have special evolutionary significance. Sponges lack muscles, nerves and a gut. Instead, they are composed of few cell types and simple tissues that function to pump water through an internal canal network where bacterial prey are filtered by a specialized tissue called the choanoderm. The choanoderm is composed of cells with striking similarity to choanoflagellates, the unicellular relatives of animals. Thus, the traditional view is that the sponge choanoderm is a useful model of the first animal epithelial tissues. Using the freshwater sponge …

Choice Of Human–Computer Interaction Mode In Stroke Rehabilitation, Hossein Mousavi Hondori, Maryam Khademi, Lucy Dodakian, Alison Mackenzie, Cristina V. Lopes, Steven C. Cramer

Physical Therapy Faculty Articles and Research

Background and Objective. Advances in technology are providing new forms of human–computer interaction. The current study examined one form of human–computer interaction, augmented reality (AR), whereby subjects train in the real-world workspace with virtual objects projected by the computer. Motor performances were compared with those obtained while subjects used a traditional human–computer interaction, that is, a personal computer (PC) with a mouse. Methods. Patients used goal-directed arm movements to play AR and PC versions of the Fruit Ninja video game. The 2 versions required the same arm movements to control the game but had different cognitive demands. With …

Stakeholder Perceptions Of Sustainable Value And Water Conservation: A Case Study Of Social, Environmental, And Economic Concerns In The Rookery Bay Estuary, Bruce Victor Lilyea

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Stakeholders’ perceptions of social, environmental, and economic concerns in the Rookery Bay Estuary were examined through this research. The purpose of this study was to discover the shared value and common resolution responses for the people of the Rookery Bay area that can extend to other local environmental management scenarios. Using Stakeholder Theory, Rational Choice Theory, Symbolic Interactionism, and Systems Theory as theoretical foundation, the following research questions were considered: RQ1) What are the points of shared value of community stakeholders facing environmental management issues? RQ2) How do the perspectives of the community stakeholders toward the social, environmental, and economic …

The Effects Of Invasive Earthworm Species On Salamanders In The Grand Valley State University Ravine Ecosystem, Hunter J. Brunges, James Dunn

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

Earthworms are an invasive species that are causing ecological damage to northern forest ecosystems. The disruption to soil nutrient cycling and litter decomposition can negatively impact organisms that live within the leaf litter, such as salamanders. To test this hypothesis, we sampled earthworms within three ravines at thirty-six sites using the mustard extraction method. We surveyed salamander populations on two dates in 2015 at each site using cover boards. We also collected data on slope aspect, altitude, soil moisture, leaf litter coverage, canopy cover, and coarse woody debris at each site to determine their effects on earthworm and salamander populations. …

Ferroelectric And Ferromagnetic Behavior Of Oxide Containing Thin Films, Hai In Choi

Physics Theses - Archive

Oxide materials are important due to their interesting physical properties for applications in future electronic devices. Thin film oxide materials show a variety of electric and magnetic properties such as ferroelectric, piezoelectric, ferromagnetic and superconducting properties.One intriguing material, bismuth ferrite, has shown room-temperature multiferroic order. It has ferroelectric order below the 1100 K Curie temperature and large remnant polarization. Also, it has antiferromagnetic order below the Néel temperature of 650 K. However, the bismuth ferrite has several defect-related issues such as bismuth volatilization, transition of iron valence electron states and oxygen vacancies. The multiferroic properties are changed by the defect …

First Principles Study Of Ga-Stabilized Δ-Pu Bulk And Surfaces, Sarah Christine Hernandez

Physics Dissertations - Archive

Plutonium (Pu) metal is highly reactive toward environmental gases and corrodes at a high rate. Due to this inevitable process, containers used to store Pu-based materials may experience catastrophic failure, subsequently releasing Pu particulates into the environment. Such interactions can be probed at the atomic scale using ab initio methods such as density functional theory (DFT). However, previous theoretical studies only examined these reactions with a pure δ-Pu surface. This is not realistic since δ-Pu exists at a high temperature (600K), therefore most technological applications of δ-Pu employ the alloyed form. The alloyed form is achieved with the addition of …

Blocker-Based Scatter Correction For Cone-Beam Computed Tomography, Cong Zhao

Physics Theses - Archive

Cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) imaging is widely used in radiation therapy for treatment planning and image-guided therapy. More x-ray scatter signals are detected by the two-dimensional detector arrays in CBCT than by the one-dimensional detector arrays in fan-beam CT (FBCT). Therefore, scatter contamination significantly degrades the image quality in CBCT and must be corrected for satisfying image quality.One approach for scatter correction is to use lead blockers. In such a method, the signal in the blocked regions is assumed to be the scatter signal and can be used to estimate the scatter signal in the unblocked region. However, this assumption …

Search For A Supersymmetric Partner To The Top Quark Using A Multivariate Analysis Technique., Smita Darmora

Physics Dissertations - Archive

Supersymmetry (SUSY) is an extension to the Standard Model (SM) which introduces supersymmetric partners of the known fermions and bosons. Top squark (stop) searches are a natural extension of inclusive SUSY searches at the LHC. If SUSY solves the naturalness problem, the stop should be light enough to cancel the top loop contribution to the Higgs mass parameter. The 3rd generation squarks may be the first SUSY particles to be discovered at the LHC. The stop can decay into a variety of final states, depending, amongst other factors, on the hierarchy of the mass eigenstates formed from the linear superposition …

Precision Higgs Coupling Measurements In H→Ww*→Lνlν Final State With The Atlas Detector At The Lhc, Hee Yeun Kim

Physics Dissertations - Archive

The Standard Model (SM) is a gauge theory that describes the fundamental particles of matter and the forces between these particles. It has been tested to a very high precision in the past several decades, except for observation of the Higgs particle, a ramification of the Higgs mechanism. After discovery of the Higgs particle in July 2012, at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at the European organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), subsequent studies have focused on confirming whether the newly discovered particle is consistent with the SM Higgs. In particular its spin and its couplings have been measured. In this …

Changing Gears To Meet The 'New Normal' In Legal Education, Courtney G. Lee

McGeorge School of Law Scholarly Articles

The course of legal education is changing. Many law schools are downsizing, accepting classes with lower entering credentials, and encountering a new demographic of law student. A product of standardized federal education policies like the No Child Left Be-hind Act and the Common Core State Standards Initiative, this student has fewer or less refined critical thinking skills than most first-year law professors have come to expect. Part I of this Article explores the landscape of this “new normal” in legal education, examining the effects of new law school admissions policies, changes in K-12 and undergraduate education, and the link be-tween …

Computer Hardware: Hardware Components And Internal Pc Connections, Jerome Casey

Instructional Guides

No abstract provided.

Laser Guide Star Design Project For The Usaf John Bryan State Park Quad Axis Observatory, Nathan Michael Figlewski

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Atmospheric Turbulence has long remained one of the great unsolved problems in physics. Laser guide stars were invented in order for telescopes to overcome atmospheric turbulence while used in combination with adaptive optics. This study focuses on the design and implementation phase of a Rayleigh laser guide star for the John Bryan State Park Observatory, owned and operated by the United States Air Force. Atmospheric simulations, as well as optical modelling of proposed equipment, were completed to optimize the design of this laser guide star. In addition, a novel method for the implementation of the guide star onto this very …

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Statistics, Fall 2015, Patti Mccall

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.

The Subject Librarian Newsletter, Engineering And Computer Science, Fall 2015, Ven Basco

Libraries' Newsletters

No abstract provided.

(261, 105, 42) Abelian Difference Sets Do Not Exist, James Robert Hufford Jr.

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Difference sets in the group Z3 x Z3 x Z37 and the group Z3 x Z9 x Z7 are known not to exist. The only open abelian case with a sylow-3 subgroup rank 2 listed in Vera-Lopez and Sanchez's table is Z3 x Z3 x Z29. We prove for Vera-Lopez and Sanchez's table that difference sets do not exist in the open group allowing the appropriate entry to be "no". We also prove that there exist no difference sets (261, 105, 42) for any group with order 261.

Features For Ranking Tweets Based On Credibility And Newsworthiness, Jacob W. Ross

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

We create a robust and general feature set for learning to rank algorithms that rank tweets based on credibility and newsworthiness. In previous works, it has been demonstrated that when the training and testing data are from two distinct time periods, the ranker performs poorly. We improve upon previous work by creating a feature set that does not over fit a particular year or set of topics. This is critical given how people utilize social media changes as time progresses, and the topics discussed vary. In addition, we are constantly gaining new tweet data. Thus, it is important to be …

The Transfer Student Experience: Challenges And Institutional Support Systems For Undergraduate Transfer Students At A Public Four-Year University, Olivia Vanessa Matthews

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The transfer student population is rising on college campuses in the United States. Institutions of higher education should better understand how to support this growing, diverse population. This qualitative study of transfer students investigates what transitional challenges these students face, how they utilize institutional support services to assist them with these challenges, and if they feel appreciated, welcomed, and supported in their new environment. Focus group sessions and a demographic questionnaire were used to obtain data in this study. Participants invited to participate were second term transfer students who began at their current institution during the fall of 2014. Transfer …

Analysis Of The Tapered Transition Waveguide, Ryan J. Shaver

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

The tapered transition waveguide is used in waveguide measurement systems for characterizing biaxial electromagnetic properties of materials, but its complex geometry does not support an analytic field solution. To ensure single-mode field behavior, the system includes sections of standard waveguides that only support the dominant mode. As a result, full-wave modeling and simulation of the system is exceedingly large.

Using the finite-element method to analyze the high-order modes at the junctions and to explore field configurations within the transition altering geometry, it is shown that besides the TE10 mode, the TE11 mode is significant. Then, two methods are proposed for …