Digital Commons Network^™

Statistical Modeling Of Microrna Expression With Human Cancers, Ke-Sheng Wang, Yue Pan, Chun Xu

Health & Biomedical Sciences Faculty Publications

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs (containing about 22 nucleotides) that regulate gene expression. MiRNAs are involved in many different biological processes such as cell proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, fat metabolism, and human cancer genes; while miRNAs may function as candidates for diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers and predictors of drug response. This paper emphasizes the statistical methods in the analysis of the associations of miRNA gene expression with human cancers and related clinical phenotypes: 1) simple statistical methods include chi-square test, correlation analysis, t-test and one-way ANOVA; 2) regression models include linear and logistic regression; 3) survival analysis approaches such as …

Surface Science Studies Of Graphene Interfaces, Arjun Dahal

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Interfaces between graphene and dissimilar materials are needed for making devices, but those interfaces also modify the graphene properties due to charge transfer and/or symmetry breaking. In this dissertation we investigate the technology of preparing graphene on different substrates and how the substrate influences the electronic properties of graphene.

Synthesizing large area graphene on late transition metals by chemical vapor deposition is a promising approach for many applications of graphene. Among the transition metals, nickel has advantages because the good lattice match and strong interaction between graphene/Ni(111) enables the synthesis of a single domain of graphene on Ni(111). However, the …

Consider A Cylindrical Cave: A Physicist's View Of Cave And Karst Science, Matthew D. Covington, Matija Perne

Geosciences Faculty Publications and Presentations

We review the current understanding of the physics of caves and karst. Our review focuses on research that has used simple physically based models to improve understanding of processes that occur in karst. The topics we cover include cave atmosphere dynamics, transport within karst conduits, and models of speleogenesis and related processes. We highlight recent advances in these subjects and attempt to identify promising areas for future work. In our judgment, many of the most intriguing open questions relate to the interactions between these three groups of processes.

Examining Legalism, Scrupulosity, Family Perfectionism, And Psychological Adjustment Among Lds Individuals, Kawika Allen, Kenneth T. Wang, Hannah Stokes

Faculty Publications

This study examined the relationships and interactions between legalism, scrupulosity, family perfectionism, guilt, and shame among 421 Latter-Day Saints (LDS or Mormons). The results showed that scrupulosity fully mediated the links between legalism and guilt, as well as legalism and shame. A moderated-mediation effect was found, in which family discrepancy (maladaptive perfectionism) intensified the scrupulosity–shame association in the mediation model of legalism and shame by scrupulosity. Family discrepancy was not a significant moderator for the mediation model of legalism and guilt by scrupulosity. Additional results are provided and implications of these findings are outlined.

Foreword, Timothy M. Ravich

FIU Law Review

No abstract provided.

Productivity Promises, Precarious Realities: Ethnographic Study Of Harm Reduction Implementation In Indonesia, Sari Damar Ratri

Antropologi Indonesia

This monograph examines the implementation of harm reduction programs in Indonesia that failed to improve the quality of drug users’ lives. The failure is the result of programs that merely provide drug users with instrumental strategy to deal with addiction through substitution therapy. The designation of legal substances such as methadone and subuxone is only to replace illegal drug addiction. In the end, the program fails to provide drug users with sufficient information to manage their dependence and even leads them to uncontrolled poly-substance use. This three months of ethnographic fieldwork focuses on examining Harm Reduction (HR) experiences in both …

Drive-Based Utility-Maximizing Computer Game Non-Player Characters, Colm Sloan

Doctoral

This research examines the emergence of the five-string fiddle in contemporary North American fiddle culture within the past ten years. By interacting with leading artistlevel practitioners, the research documents the evolution and impact of the instrument to date in exploring the possibilities the five-string fiddle presents for musical performance and innovation. North American vernacular music and, in particular, the contemporary fiddle playing landscape, exemplifies virtousic and innovative idiomatic technique and improvisation as central to an overarching musical explosion, evidenced in the music of many high level, multi-stylistic contemporary practitioners. Within contemporary American fiddle performance, it is compelling to observe how …

Reference Material Development For Paralytic Shellfish Poisoning Toxins And Associated Analytical Applications, Stephen Burrell

Doctoral

Food poisoning incidences relating to marine biotoxins are a global phenomenon and have the potential to severely impact the aquaculture industry. As a result, and as a legislative requirement in the European Union (EU), many countries have implemented monitoring programmes for these compounds but their success relies on the availability of certain quality assurance tools, two of which are reference materials (RMs) and proficiency testing. The limited amounts of RMs, in particular matrix certified reference materials (CRMs) for paralytic shellfish poisoning (PSP) toxins has been a limiting factor in the implementation of alternatives to the mouse bioassay for routine monitoring …

What Do Programme Chairs Think About The Integration Of Sd In Their Programmes?, Iacovos Nicolaou, Eddie Conlon

Conference papers

This paper presents the findings of interviews with six engineering programme chairs regarding their views about the level of integration of SD in their programmes. They are part of a wider study which is examining the integration of SD in engineering programmes across three Irish Higher Education Institutions. Previous stages of the study have determined that students’ knowledge and understanding about SD is inadequate due to the lack of a holistic integration of SD competencies and the focus on skills development in their programmes. The paper will explore the apparent contradiction in that most programme chairs believe that SD is …

Building A Scalable Global Data Processing Pipeline For Large Astronomical Photometric Datasets, Paul F. Doyle

Doctoral

Astronomical photometry is the science of measuring the flux of a celestial object. Since its introduction in the 1970s the CCD has been the principle method of measuring flux to calculate the apparent magnitude of an object. Each CCD image taken must go through a process of cleaning and calibration prior to its use. As the number of research telescopes increases the overall computing resources required for image processing also increases. As data archives increase in size to Petabytes, the data processing challenge requires image processing approaches to evolve to continue to exceed the growing data capture rate. Existing processing …

A Phenomenological Study Of Computer Science Lecturers: Lived Experiences Of Curriculum Design, Arthur Sloan

Doctoral

This hermeneutic phenomenological study presents a description of computer science lecturers’ experiences of curriculum design of degree programmes during a time of transition in curriculum design policy, specifically in the context of Technological University Dublin (DIT). It examines the lived experiences of computer science lecturers to highlight the issues and problems relating to lecturers’ lived experiences of curriculum design, and it describes how it is to be a computer science lecturer in a time of policy change for curriculum design. The findings are that lecturers have been, and are, struggling to cope with the transition from year-long to semesterised courses, …

Context-Based Access For Infrequent Requests In Tanzania's Health Care System, Zanifa Omary

Doctoral

Access control is an important aspect of any information system. It is a way of ensuring that users can only access what they are authorised to and no more. This can be achieved by granting users access to resources based on pre-defined organisational and legislative rules. Although access control has been extensively studied, and as a result, a wide range of access control models, mechanisms and systems have been proposed, specific access control requirements for healthcare systems that needs to support the continuity of care in an accountable manner have not been addressed. This results in a gap between what …

Refraction In Mozambique: Evaluations Of Practice And Development Of Competency Frameworks For Eye Care Personnel, Kajal Shah

Doctoral

Purpose The development of competency- based education for optometrists and mid-level eye-care personnel has been identified as an important component in the elimination of avoidable blindness and vision impairment. The Mozambique Eye care Project (MEP) is a multi-institutional collaboration, which seeks to facilitate greater access to training in eye health professions, which will ultimately contribute to providing affordable and accessible eye care within the public health system in Mozambique. An important tenet of the MEP is to develop and enhance the refraction training of all existing (ophthalmic technicians) and new eye care personnel (four-year training of optometrists and eighteen-month training …

Strategies To Enhance Learning In A Large Engineering Economics Course: Including Students’ Perceived Values In The Instructional Redesign Process, Kellie S. Grasman, D. Cernusca

Engineering Management and Systems Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

Purposeful implementation of technology in instructional design presents opportunities to increase institutional efficiency while simultaneously improving instructional quality. This paper presents findings from the implementation of a hybrid/buffet approach in an undergraduate Engineering Economics large course. A Design-Based Research (DBR) approach informed the instructional redesign and measured its effectiveness through multiple iterations, or macro-cycles, of implementation. Overall, pedagogical structure and specific technology solutions applied to each course component are described, as well as preliminary measures of effectiveness and student perception from a pilot offering of the hybrid/buffet course. Encouraged by positive preliminary results, a second implementation informed further study of …

Clarifying Observed Relationships Between Protective Behavioral Strategies And Alcohol Outcomes: The Importance Of Response Options, Abby L. Braitman, James M. Henson, Kate B. Carey

Psychology Faculty Publications

Protective behavioral strategies (PBS), or harm-reduction behaviors that can potentially reduce alcohol consumption or associated problems, have been assessed in varied ways throughout the literature. Existing scales vary in focus (i.e., broad vs. narrow), and importantly, in response options (i.e., absolute frequency vs. contingent frequency). Absolute frequency conflates PBS use with number of drinking occasions, resulting in inconsistencies in the relationship between PBS use and alcohol outcomes, whereas contingent frequency is less precise, which could reduce power. The current study proposes the use of absolute frequencies to maximize precision, with an adjustment for number of drinking days to extricate PBS …

Strongly-Coupled Plasmas Formed From Laser-Heated Solids, M. Lyon, Scott D. Bergeson, G. Hart, M. S. Murillo

Faculty Publications

We present an analysis of ion temperatures in laser-produced plasmas formed from solids with different initial lattice structures. We show that the equilibrium ion temperature is limited by a mismatch between the initial crystallographic configuration and the close-packed configuration of a strongly-coupled plasma, similar to experiments in ultracold neutral plasmas. We propose experiments to demonstrate and exploit this crystallographic heating in order to produce a strongly coupled plasma with a coupling parameter of several hundred.

At The End Of The Day: Are The West's General Stream Adjudications Relevant To Modern Water Rights Administraton?, Michelle Bryan

Faculty Law Review Articles

This article provides a modest starting place for exploring how adjudications in various western states function together with modern permitting and administration of water rights. By locating adjudication within a state’s broader water rights system, the hope is to elevate in our water law discourse the question of whether, at the end of the day, adjudication proceedings are meaningful in the day-to-day world of water use. Part I summarizes in broad strokes the way various western states approach the interrelated functions of adjudication, permitting, and administration. Part II then highlights some common, emerging issues among state water systems as well …

Teacher Tenure Reform In Wyoming: Bad Teachers Left Behind, Arah N. Shumway

Wyoming Law Review

No abstract provided.

Ecosystem-Based Management And Refining Governance Of Wind Energy In The Massachusetts Coastal Zone: A Case Study Approach, Enid C. Kumin

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While there are as yet no wind energy facilities in New England coastal waters, a number of wind turbine projects are now operating on land adjacent to the coast. In the Gulf of Maine region (from Maine to Massachusetts), at least two such projects, one in Falmouth, Massachusetts, and another on the island of Vinalhaven, Maine, began operation with public backing only to face subsequent opposition from some who were initially project supporters. I investigate the reasons for this dynamic using content analysis of documents related to wind energy facility development in three case study communities. For comparison and contrast …

Designing A Data-Tracking System For A Private Therapeutic Day School, Olin J. Bittner

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The Children's Institute on Mercer Island (CHILD) is a private therapeutic day school in the Seattle area serving students in elementary and secondary education. Their stated mission is to "provide innovative school programs and therapies that promote social, emotional and academic development for children with special needs." In the fall of 2012 they engaged in a program evaluation that in many respects resembles a needs assessment in order to explore and improve aspects of their functioning. Through preliminary evaluation processes, including dialogue with CHILD's Leadership Team and a survey of internal stakeholders, an area of interest in student mental health …

Imsa 2015 Profile, Office Of College And Academic Counseling

IMSA Profile

"The internationally recognized Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy ® (IMSA) develops creative, ethical leaders in science, technology, engineering and mathematics. As a teaching and learning laboratory created by the State of Illinois, IMSA enrolls academically talented Illinois students (grades 10-12) in its advanced, residential college preparatory program, and it serves thousands of educators and students in Illinois and beyond through innovative instructional programs that foster imagination and inquiry. IMSA also advances education through research, groundbreaking ventures and strategic partnerships."*

*Excerpt from the IMSA 2015 Profile

Informativeness Of Unaudited Forward-Looking Financial Disclosure: Evidence From Uk Narrative Reporting, Ahmed Hassanein

Plymouth Business School Theses

Forward-looking financial disclosure (FLFD) is potentially uninformative if it does not change from the previous year, especially after a significant change in firm performance. This study uses a sample of UK narrative statements of the annual reports over the period from 2005 to 2011. It employed the automated content analysis technique to measure change in FLFD over years to answer three research questions. First, to what extent does change in firms’ earnings performance drive managers to change FLFD over years? Second, what are the other drivers of the change of FLFD from year to year? Third, do investors use information …

Failure Mode And Effects Analysis As A Mechanism For Assessing The Cost Consequence Of A Failure, Jeffrey Guinot

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the possibility of including the cost consequence of a failure in the a priori risk assessment methodology known as Failure Modes and Effects Analysis (FMEA). This entailed developing a model of the standard costs that are incurred when an electronic control module in an automotive application fails in service. These costs were related to the DFMEA ranking of the level of severity of the failure mode and the probability of its occurrence. A series of Monte Carlo simulations were conducted to establish the average costs expected for each level of severity at each level of occurrence. The …

Building Connections Through Contextualized Learning In An Undergraduate Course On Scientific And Mathematical Literacy, Melanie K. Rathburn

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

With increasing demands for universities to create graduates that are numerically and scientifically literate, it is important to determine effective ways to engage students so that they can acquire these literacies. Using an undergraduate, interdisciplinary course that focused on scientific and mathematical literacy, I examined how contextualization influenced students’ abilities to build connections between their learning and their lives. In their written reflections, students connected course concepts with their social lives, academic pursuits and global or societal issues without specific prompting. I suggest that contextualization combined with reflection allows students to illustrate their understanding and apply this knowledge to novel …

The Relative Importance Of Methanogenesis In The Decomposition Of Organic Matter In Northern Peatlands, J. Elizabeth Corbett, Malak M. Tfaily, David J. Burdige, Paul H. Glaser, Jeffrey P. Chanton

OES Faculty Publications

Using an isotope-mass balance approach and assuming the equimolar production of CO₂ and CH₄ from methanogenesis (e.g., anaerobic decomposition of cellulose), we calculate that the proportion of total CO₂ production from methanogenesis varies from 37 to 83% across a variety of northern peatlands. In a relative sense, methanogenesis was a more important pathway for decomposition in bogs (80 ± 13% of CO₂ production) than in fens (64 ± 5.7% of CO₂ production), but because fens contain more labile substrates they may support higher CH4 production overall. The concentration of CO₂ produced from methanogenesis (CO …

Iron Supply And Demand In Antarctic Shelf Ecosystem, D. J. Mcgillicuddy Jr., Peter N. Sedwick, Michael S. Dinniman, K. R. Arrigo, T. S. Bibby, B. J. W. Greenan, Eileen E. Hofmann, John M. Klinck, W. O. Smith Jr., S. L. Mack, C. M. Marsay, B. M. Sohst, G. L. Van Dijken

OES Faculty Publications

The Ross Sea sustains a rich ecosystem and is the most productive sector of the Southern Ocean. Most of this production occurs within a polynya during the November-February period, when the availability of dissolved iron (dFe) is thought to exert the major control on phytoplankton growth. Here we combine new data on the distribution of dFe, high-resolution model simulations of ice melt and regional circulation, and satellite-based estimates of primary production to quantify iron supply and demand over the Ross Sea continental shelf. Our analysis suggests that the largest sources of dFe to the euphotic zone are wintertime mixing and …

Predicting Carbon Isotope Discrimination In Eelgrass (Zostera Marina L.) From The Environmental Parameters- Light, Flow, And [Dic], Meredith L. Mcpherson, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill

OES Faculty Publications

Isotopic discrimination against ¹³C during photosynthesis is determined by a combination of environmental conditions and physiological mechanisms that control delivery of CO₂ to RUBISCO. This study investigated the effects of light, flow, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) concentration, and its speciation, on photosynthetic carbon assimilation of Zostera marinaL. (eelgrass) using a combination of laboratory experiments and theoretical calculations leading to a mechanistic understanding of environmental conditions that influence leaf carbon uptake and determine leaf stable carbon isotope signatures δ¹³C. Photosynthesis was saturated with respect to flow at low velocity ~ 3 cm s^-1, but …

Predicting Effects Of Ocean Warming, Acidification, And Water Quality On Chesapeake Region Eelgrass, Richard C. Zimmerman, Victoria J. Hill, Charles L. Gallegos

OES Faculty Publications

Although environmental requirements of seagrasses have been studied for years, reliable metrics for predicting their response to current or future conditions remain elusive. Eelgrass (Zostera marina L.) populations of the Chesapeake region lie near the southern limit of their range in the Western North Atlantic, exposing them to increasing thermal stress as the climate warms. However, CO₂ stimulated photosynthesis may offset some of the negative effects of temperature stress. The combined effects of temperature, CO₂, and light availability controlled by water quality and epiphytes were explored using GrassLight, a bio-optical model that provided a predictive …

Synthesis Of Metal-Free And Metallophthalocyanines Containing 18- And 21-Membered Macrocycles With Mixed Donor Atoms And Their Metal-Ion Binding Properties, Hali̇l Zeki̇ Gök

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

This paper describes the synthesis of a series of metal-free phthalocyanines and metallophthalocyanines peripherally substituted by macrocycles of different ring sizes with the same donor atom sets. The effects of varying ring size of the macrocycle on the spectroscopic and metal ion binding properties of phthalocyanines were examined. For these purposes, electronic absorption properties for metal-free phthalocyanines and metallophthalocyanines were studied in dimethylformamide and tetrahydrofuran. The liquid-liquid extraction of metal picrates such as Ag(I), Hg(II), Cd(II), Zn(II), Cu(II), Ni(II), Pb(II), and Co(II) from the aqueous phase to the organic phase was carried out using metallophthalocyanines. All new compounds were characterized …

Enhanced Electrocatalytic Efficiency Of C/Mwnts For Methanol Oxidation Using Ni Deposited On Mwnts, Murat Farsak, Gülfeza Kardaş

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

The power density of direct methanol fuel cells (DMFCs) can be changed by using different anode materials. Especially porous materials are preferred for the anode. In the present study, multiwall carbon nanotubes were first injected into graphite. Then, by depositing nickel, a catalyst was prepared for use as the anode material of the DMFC. This catalyst was named Ni@MWNTs. The oxidation of methanol and some kinetic parameters were investigated in KOH solution. Cyclic voltammetry was used for the electrochemical measurements. Kinetic parameters of the methanol oxidation were determined at different temperatures, scan rates, and concentrations of methanol. The surface morphologies …