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Calidad Del Agua En La Subcuenca Fluvial La Garita, Acapulco, Guerrero Por Monitoreo Con Insectos, Ana Yolanda Rosas-Acevedo, Audel Sánchez-Infante, José Luis Rosas-Acevedo

Estudios en Biodiversidad

La subcuenca La Garita (Región Hidrológica: Rh19Ac) ha sufrido la influencia del hombre, presenta escorrentía y momentos de estiaje, además de puntos aislados de contaminación por basura y descargas. Se realizó un monitoreo de insectos. Se exploró la posibilidad del uso del índice BMWP (Biological Monitoring Working Party), para arroyos y ríos, en la determinación de la calidad del agua y del ecosistema. En la parte alta o cabecera (BMWP=122) correspondió a excelente (ecosistema no impactado), en la zona media o de transferencia (BMWP-CR=118) fue buena (ecosistema no alterado de manera sensible) y en la parte baja o zona de …

Problemática De Contaminación En La Zona Agrícola De La Reserva De La Biosfera Barranca De Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México, Maritza López-Herrera, Leticia Romero-Bautista, Nahara Ayala-Sánchez, Irma E. Soria-Mercado, Amelia Portillo-López

Estudios en Biodiversidad

El presente trabajo se generó con el objetivo de dar a conocer la problemática que existe actualmente en una zona agrícola de gran importancia en el estado de Hidalgo, la “Vega de Metztitlán”, zona que forma parte de la Reserva de la Biosfera Barranca de Metztitlán, sitio declarado como reserva federal. El aporte de agua residual que se hace a través de los acuíferos que irrigan a la zona, ha generado que este sitio se vea expuesto a un gran riesgo de contaminación por metales pesados, hidrocarburos y demás contaminantes, los cuáles quedan biodisponibles para las plantas e indirectamente existe …

Los Hongos Poliporoides De La Subcuenca Del Río Metztitlán, Hidalgo, México, Leticia Romero-Bautista, Miguel Ángel Islas-Santillán, Maritza López-Herrera, Nahara Ayala-Sánchez, Irma Estela Soria-Mercado, Amelia Portillo-López, Tania Raymundo-Ojeda, Ricardo Valenzuela-Garza

Estudios en Biodiversidad

Los hongos poliporoides son excelentes descomponedores de la madera, aunque también hay ectomicorrizógenos; su importancia ecológica radica en que ayudan a mantener el equilibrio del ciclo del carbono en la naturaleza. Además presentan potencial biotecnológico dadas sus características nutrimentales, medicinales y degradadoras, por su capacidad de producir metabolitos secundarios y ser potencialmente cultivables. Se analiza la importancia del impacto ambiental en los ecosistemas de la subcuenca del río Metztitlán y la diversidad de este grupo de hongos asociados a ellos. Se revisaron ejemplares de herbario y se realizaron exploraciones micológicas en 13 comunidades vegetales de 11 municipios, y 37 localidades …

"Fighting Over A Shadow?": Hellenistic Greek Cities And Greco-Roman Cities As Fora And Media For Multi-Level Social Signaling, Luann Wandsnider

Department of Anthropology: Faculty Publications

The cities of Hellenistic western Anatolia and Roman Asia Minor served as fora for complex social, economic, and political transactions. This chapter introduces social signaling theory in which these transactions are considered as social signals emitted by individuals (i.e., citizens) and groups (i.e., cities) and emphasizes the different qualities of these signals, especially their materiality and differential costliness. Social signals convey information about the otherwise difficult-to-assess capabilities of individual and groups; only some have the talents or resources to emit a high-quality signal. At the individual level, the nature, location, and possibly size of a civic benefaction signal’s an individual’s …

Post-Colonial Female Identity: An Examination Of The Twentieth Century Narrative Between Nation And Identity In A Question Of Power, See Then Now, And Americanah, Jeannine Ortega

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

This project endeavors to explore the variations of the post-colonial condition in the context of the twentieth and twenty-first century by following a literary analysis of Bessie Head’s A Question of Power, Jamaica Kincaid’s See Now Then, and Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s Americanah. This thesis hopes to draw together a series of snapshots that provide examples of the progress of the post-colonial condition. Each chapter models the ways in which colonial ideology and culture continue to intersect in new modes of societal expectations especially in terms of race, class, and gender. The combination of post-colonial analysis and literary narratives model how …

Educating For The Twenty-First Century: A Pragmatist's View On The Dichotomy Of Stem And Liberal Arts, Emilie L. Mears

Master of Liberal Studies Theses

Current American rhetoric pushes a purely STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) curriculum under societal pressure to pull funds from liberal arts programs and train workers as cheaply and quickly as possible. When this happens, higher education is no longer a means of learning and acquiring the tools for adaptability, ethic responsibility, and civic courage, but a commodity, bought and sold for immediate employment. While advocates for STEM-focused education aim to boost the nation’s economic productivity and global competitiveness, many worry that neglecting the arts and humanities will lead to a one-sided education that fails our culture and society by …

The Association Between Impulsivity And Alcohol/Drug Use Among Prison Inmates, Michael H. Bernstein, Savannah N. Mcsheffrey, Jacob J. Van Den Berg, Jamie E. Vela, L.A.R. Stein, Mary B. Roberts, Rosemarie A. Martin, Jennifer G. Clarke

Psychology Faculty Publications

Background: Few studies have examined the relation between impulsivity and drug involvement with prison inmates, in spite of their heavy drug use. Among this small body of work, most studies look at clinically relevant drug dependence, rather than drug use specifically.

Method: N = 242 adult inmates (34.8% female, 52% White) with an average age of 35.58 (SD = 9.19) completed a modified version of the 15-item Barratt Impulsiveness Scale (BIS) and measures assessing lifetime alcohol, opiate, benzodiazepine, cocaine, cannabis, hallucinogen, and polysubstance use. Lifetime users also reported the frequency of use for the 30 days prior to incarceration. …

Relationships Of Eating Competence, Sleep Behaviors And Quality, And Overweight Status Among College Students, Virginia Quick, Suzanne Shoff, Barbara Lohse, Adrienne White, Tanya Horacek, Geoffrey Greene

Nutrition Faculty Publications

Little is known about the relationships between eating competence (intra-individual approach to eating and food-related attitudes and behaviors that entrain positive bio-psychosocial outcomes) and sleep behaviors and quality in college students, a high-risk group for poor eating habits, weight gain, and inadequate sleep. Thus, data from full-time college students (N = 1035; 82% White; 61% female) aged 18–24 years from 5 U.S. universities were obtained from online questionnaires (eating competence (ecSI), Pittsburg Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), physical activity, demographics) and physical assessments (measured height, weight), to explore sleep behavior and quality between eating-competent (EC; ecSI score ≥ 32) and …

Graduate School Of Oceanography Annual Report For Fy2015, Uri Graduate School Of Oceanography

Graduate School of Oceanography Publications

Annual report for the Graduate School Oceanography of the University of Rhode Island for the year 2015 fiscal year.

Includes research projects by faculty and students, biographies of new faculty, events on the Bay campus and program development and list of donors.

Frequency Domain Ultrasound Waveform Tomography Breast Imaging, Gursharan Singh Sandhu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Ultrasound tomography is an emerging modality for imaging breast tissue for the detection of disease. Using the principles of full waveform inversion, high-resolution quantitative sound speed and attenuation maps of the breast can be created. In this thesis, we introduce some basic principles of imaging breast disease and the formalism of sound wave propagation. We present numerical methods to model acoustic wave propagation as well methods to solve the corresponding inverse problem. Numerical simulations of sound speed and attenuation reconstructions are used to assess the efficacy of the algorithm. A careful review of the preprocessing techniques needed for the successful …

Development Of Scaffold Architectures And Heterotypic Cell Systems For Hepatocyte Transplantation, Dalia Alzebdeh

Wayne State University Dissertations

In vitro assembly of functional liver tissue is needed to enable the transplantation of tissue-engineered livers. In addition, there is an increasing demand for in vitro models that replicate complex events occurring in the liver. However, tissue engineering of sizable implantable liver systems is currently limited by the difficulty of assembling three dimensional hepatocyte cultures of a useful size, while maintaining full cell viability, an issue which is closely related to the high metabolic rate of hepatocytes. In this study, we first compared two designs of highly porous chitosan-heparin scaffolds seeded with hepatocytes in dynamic perfusion bioreactor systems. The aim …

College Student Adjustment: Examination Of Personal And Environmental Characteristics, Aleksandra M. Stoklosa

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study used a multi-dimensional model of college adjustment to examine the relationships between multiple layers of personal influences and college adjustment (academic, social, personal/emotional, attachment to the institution, and overall adjustment) among emerging adults in a large urban university. The sample included 177 undergraduate students, ages 18-25, attending Wayne State University, who completed on-line questionnaires. Race and cumulative college GPA were related to academic adjustment. Being Arabic/Middle-Eastern was a consistent predictor of college adjustment. It was found that higher college GPA and being White was related to higher academic adjustment, while being Arabic/Middle-Eastern was related to lower academic adjustment. …

Dynamics Of Biopolymers On Nanomaterials Studied By Quasielastic Neutron Scattering And Mdsimulations, Gurpreet Dhindsa

Wayne State University Dissertations

Neutron scattering has been proved to be a powerful tool to study the dynamics of biological systems under various conditions. This thesis intends to utilize neutron scattering techniques, combining with MD simulations, to develop fundamental understanding of several biologically interesting systems. Our systems include a drug delivery system containing Nanodiamonds with nucleic acid (RNA), and two specific model proteins, β-Casein and Inorganic Pyrophosphatase (IPPase).

RNA and nanodiamond (ND) both are suitable for drug-delivery applications in nano-biotechnology. The architecturally flexible RNA with catalytic functionality forms nanocomposites that can treat life-threatening diseases. The non-toxic ND has excellent mechanical and optical properties and …

The Experiences Of Black American Older Adults Managing Pain: A Nursing Ethnography, Sheria Grice Robinson

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction: Pain can negatively affect quality of life for Black elders. They are less likely to report pain concerns and have voiced pain needs adequately met. To better understand the pain management experiences and concerns of Black elders, an ethnographic study was completed within an urban, low-income, elder housing facility. Methods: 106 participants completed a questionnaire comprised of a demographic tool, the PROMIS Global Health Scale (PROMIS), the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI), and the Psychological Stress Measure (PSM-9). Additionally, participant observation, informal interviews, and 20 formal recorded interviews with individuals identified as having pain were completed. Qualitative and frequency analysis …

Noncovalent Interactions Between Alkali Metal Cation And Aza/Thia-Crown Macrocycles: Mass Spectrometric Techniques And Theoretical Studies, Calvin A. Austin

Wayne State University Dissertations

Macrocyclic complexes have been useful in understanding many systems encountered in biology, along with having widespread use in analytical, pharmaceutical, and synthetic chemistry. My goal was to provide a quantitative experimental and theoretical description of cation-aza-crown and thia-crown ether interactions with alkali metal cations. Infrared multiple photon dissociation (IRMPD) action spectroscopy and energy-resolved collision-induced dissociation (CID) techniques were used in conjunction with theoretical electronic structure calculations to characterize the structures, binding interactions, and stability of cation-aza-crown ether interactions. Quantum chemical calculations at several levels of theory were employed to characterize the structures and stabilities of the isolated cations and aza-crown …

Platination Kinetics: Insight Into Rna-Cisplatin Interactions As A Probe For Rna Microenvironments, Gayani Dedduwa-Mudalige

Wayne State University Dissertations

RNAs are crucial for many cellular functions. Thus, studying ligand-RNA interactions and their dynamics in response to changes in the surrounding environment is important. In spite of the well-known DNA coordination, current research also indicates cisplatin binding to RNA. Kinetic studies of rRNA platination reactions are largely unexplored. This research was conducted to achieve two objectives. First, a broad kinetic study was carried out to investigate the cisplatin-rRNA interactions. The structure, function, and ligand interactions depend on RNA microenvironments. Second, the application of platination kinetics as a tool to interrogate RNA electrostatic environments was explored.

Three model rRNA hairpins from …

Biological Evaluation Of The Vaccine Candidate Tf-Ps A1 And A One-Pot Multicomponent Coupling/Cyclization For Natural Product Herbicide (±)-Thaxtomin A, Jean Paul Bourgault

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

BIOLOGICAL EVALUATION OF THE VACCINE CANDIDATE TF-PS A1 AND A ONE-POT MULTICOMPONENT COUPLING/CYCLIZATION FOR NATURAL PRODUCT HERBICIDE (±)-THAXTOMIN A

By

JEAN PAUL BOURGAULT

August 2015

Advisor: Prof. Peter R. Andreana

Major: Chemistry (Organic)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

The -aminooxy derivative of the Thomsen–Friedenreich tumor associated carbohydrate antigen has been synthesized in 11 steps utilizing a D-GalN3 acceptor carrying a pre-installed -N-hydroxysuccinimidyl moiety. The natural  linkage was prepared in high selectivity employing a suitably protected D-GalN3-thioglycoside donor with N-hydroxysuccinimide. With access to -TF-ONH2, the preparation of the TF-PS A1 vaccine candidate ensued smoothly through oxime bond formation. This construct …

Development Of Inlet And Vacuum Ionization Methods For Characterization Of Biological Materials By Mass Spectrometry, Beixi Wang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Inlet ionization and vacuum ionization are novel ionization methods to produce electrospray ionization (ESI)-like ions from the solid or liquid states, operating from atmospheric pressure (AP) or vacuum, without the use of voltage or the necessity of high energy input such as a laser or particle beam. The fundamental aspects were probed for better understanding of the novel ionization processes. Initial applications were attempted to utilize the novel ionization methods for fast, robust, and quantitative analyses.

For inlet ionizations (laserspray ionization inlet, LSII; matrix assisted ionization inlet, MAII; and solvent assisted ionization inlet, SAII), small (e.g. drugs) to large (e.g. …

Assessing The Impact Of Native American Elders As Co-Educators For University Students In Stem, Sarah Omar Alkholy

Wayne State University Dissertations

Introduction: Minorities are underrepresented in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) workforce, post-secondary STEM education, and show high academic attrition rates. Academic performance and retention improve when culturally relevant support is provided. The interface of Western Science and Indigenous Science provides an opportunity for bridging this divide. This three parts project is an example of Community-based participatory research (CBPR) that aims to support academic institutions that serve minority students in STEM, and implement educational components (pedagogy) to serve the needs of the underserved community. Method: Part 1: was a cross-sectional used a survey given to participants designed to assess …

Differential Parenting Practices Within Families: Associations With Siblings' Academic And Behavioral Outcomes, Ashley Ceresnie

Wayne State University Dissertations

The association between parenting behaviors and the outcomes of children has been widely studied, with results commonly linking parents' attitudes and behaviors with child outcomes. Few studies, however, have examined and analyzed the link between differential or inconsistent parenting within families and the academic and behavioral outcomes of siblings. Thus, the main purpose of this study was to explore the relations between differential parenting within families and the academic and general behavioral outcomes of pairs of siblings. Included in this study were variables that represent parenting factors (demandingness and responsiveness) and child outcomes (academic grades and behaviors). Unique to this …

What Impacts Life Satisfaction Of Aging Adults Following Stressful Life Events?: An Examination Of The Buffering Effect Of Personal Resources, Cassandra Barragan

Wayne State University Dissertations

Purpose: Existing research has shown that elders experience changes in their life satisfaction following stressful life events. There is an abundance of literature supporting the predictive nature of not only stressful life events on life satisfaction, but social support, autonomy, and financial security. What the literature is lacking, is examination of the buffering effect of social support, autonomy, and financial security on the relationship between stressful life events and life satisfaction. This study hypothesizes that increases in social support, autonomy, and financial security will buffer the impact of SLEs for elders and thus, they will experience increases in their life …

Relationship Quality And Student Engagement, Jennifer Culver

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the qualities of support, relatedness, and negative interaction within parent-child and teacher-student relationships and their association with cognitive, psychological, and behavioral engagement. Additionally, this study explored the contributions of cognitive and psychological engagement on behavioral engagement. The role of gender, grade, and ethnicity on relationship quality and engagement was also considered. Participants (n=311) were students in grades three through five from a suburban school district in southeastern Michigan. Perceptions of teacher-student relationship quality varied by grade level. In general, younger students reported greater teacher support and relatedness in comparison to older students. …

Developing A Toolbox To Probe Reaction Dynamics With Strong Field Ionization And Non-Linear Attosecond Spectroscopy, Thushani Nikeshala Herath

Wayne State University Dissertations

Electronic motions which happen in 10 to 100 of attoseconds are the heart of all processes in nature. Therefore monitoring and extracting details in this fundamental level will provide new prospect to the areas as information technology, basic energy science, medicine and life sciences. The challenge being, develop a tool to reach such a fast time scale for real time observation in atomic level. In this thesis work we have address this matter using two interesting approaches related to the laser matter interaction: strong field ionization and nonlinear attosecond spectroscopy. The first part is based on the studies related to …

Examination Of College Student Achievement Within An Ecological Framework, Lauren Mangus

Wayne State University Dissertations

This study examined the extent to which variance in college student achievement was explained by self-efficacy, motivation, study habits, extracurricular activity involvement, perceptions of social support, and perceptions of support from faculty and the university as a whole. Participants were 195 college students (54 males, 141 females; mean age 20.84) from a large, urban Midwestern university, primarily a first-generation, commuter campus. Several themes surfaced, including the importance of self-efficacy and organizing study habits in predicting student achievement. Implications with respect to prevention and intervention in order to optimize college student achievement are discussed.

Biochemical And Structural Characterization Of The Core Subunits Of Gpi Transamidase, Dilani G. Gamage

Wayne State University Dissertations

BIOCHEMICAL AND STRUCTURAL CHARACTERIZATION OF THE CORE SUBUNITS OF GPI TRANSAMIDASE

by

DILANI G GAMAGE

May 2015

Advisor: Prof. Tamara L. Hendrickson

Major: Chemistry (Biochemistry)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Glycosylphosphatidylinositol transamidase (GPI-T) is a complicated, membrane-bound, multi-subunit enzyme that catalyzes an essential post-translational modification. This enzyme attaches GPI anchors to the C-termini of various proteins that contain a proper GPI-T signal sequence. Gpi8, Gaa1, Gpi16, Gpi17 and Gab1 are the five known subunits that may encompass the fungal GPI-T; Gpi8 is the catalytic subunit, but the functions of the other subunits remain essentially unknown. In humans, different GPI-T subunits are …

The Loss Of Genomic Uracil Homeostasis And Aid-Dependent Accumulation Of Dna Damage In B Cell Lymphomas, Sophia Shalhout

Wayne State University Dissertations

Activation-induced deaminase (AID) is a sequence-selective DNA cytosine deaminase that introduces uracils in immunoglobulin genes. This DNA mutator is required for somatic hypermutation and class switch recombination- processes involved in the affinity maturation and diversification of antibodies. AID, however, can also lead to deleterious mutations and translocations promoting lymphomagenesis. The introduction of uracils throughout the genome of activated B cells and the ability of UNG2 glycosylase to excise these uracils is examined here. This interplay was also studied in cancerous B cells, with different results emerging in transformed cells versus healthy cells. Genomic uracil levels are found to remain at …

The 'Free Purposing' Organization: Beyond Empowerment...Towards 'Engaged Commitment', Hani N. Boulos

Student Scholarship

Wide ranges of organizations are explicitly rejecting the norms of rational bureaucracy in designing and running their organizations. Grounded in a qualitative study of those organizations, this paper seeks first to identify some common structural commonalities, and differentiate them from the traditional hierarchies, and second to develop a theoretical framework for understanding them and assess the way they foster internal commitment for desired purpose. We interviewed 61 individuals from 12 organizations in diverse sectors and different geographic locations. We discovered emergent novel forms and practices. We developed a conceptual framework to capture the main discoveries, not as models of perfection, …

The Influence Of Sibling Presence On Grade Point Average, Amanda Joanne Kipp

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Using archival data from schools in southeastern Ohio, this paper explores the idea that the GPA of students will be affected when a sibling resides in the home compared to students who do not have a sibling in the home. The study explored whether having an older sibling affects the GPA of a student more than that of a younger sibling. Finally, the study examined whether an older male sibling has an affect on the student’s GPA more than an older female sibling. The results showed that having a sibling in the home does not affect the GPA of a …

Critical Period Conditioning By Orgasm During Heterosexual Oral Sex, Kristy N. Woods

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Data were obtained retrospectively and anonymously using a computerized survey instrument from 450 female and 489 male participants who had experienced orgasm during oral sex before age 18, as well as 352 female and 151 male participants who had not experienced an orgasm while receiving oral sex before age 18. Female participants who experienced an orgasm during oral sex prior to age 18 were significantly more likely to experience an orgasm during oral sex after age 18. For male participants, although the difference was in the hypothesized direction, it did not reach significance. Female participants who experienced an orgasm during …

Cerium Oxide Nanoparticles Attenuate Polymicrobial Sepsis Induced Splenic Damage In Male Sprague Dawley Rats, Venkata Vinay Kumar Bandarupalli

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Sepsis is a serious life threatening medical emergency which, if not treated properly, oftentimes results in organ failure and death. Current sepsis treatment protocols are largely centered on the use of antibiotics and supportive care. Recent studies have suggested that antibiotics fail to be effective for sepsis treatment when administered during hypo-dynamic phase of sepsis that is usually characterized by the presence of a cytokine storm. As such, there is an urgent need to develop novel therapeutic drugs that target the inflammatory cytokines that are secreted as a result of increased reactive oxygen species. Cerium oxide nanoparticles (CeO2) have been …