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Regulation Of The Gαi - G-Protein Regulatory (Gpr) Module And The Biological Function Of Gpr-Containing Proteins In Chemokine Signal Processing Of Primary Leukocytes, William Gene Robichaux Iii

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Activators of G-protein Signaling (AGS) proteins modulate G-protein signaling in diverse and unexpected ways and have functional roles in numerous physiological systems. The functions of AGS proteins in the immune system, where Gαi-coupled chemokine receptors are predominantly involved in dynamic signaling events, are poorly understood. The Group II AGS proteins AGS3 and AGS4 express multiple G-protein regulatory (GPR) motifs, each of which dock GDP-bound Gαi/o/t subunits and effectively compete with Gβγ for binding. This unique ability positions these proteins to modulate downstream signaling of Gαi and Gβγ, thus promoting signal diversity from seven-transmembrane receptors (7TMR). However, regulatory mechanisms and functional …

From Awareness To Action In The Elementary Classroom: Developing Culturally Relevant Content And Pedagogy, Rita Jarvis

Educational Studies Dissertations

Educational literature suggests an increasingly diverse student population could benefit from culturally responsive teaching practices to ameliorate gaps in educational opportunity, yet teachers face challenges given the developmental and contextual factors necessary for success with this approach. To gain insight into how teachers may be supported implementing equitable instruction, this dissertation investigates the experiential and educational factors that may foster the development of teaching philosophies and practices for a pluralistic and democratic society. Three major bodies of research place this research within a theoretical context including critical pedagogy, culturally relevant pedagogy, and transformative learning theory. This study addressed the following …

Relationship Between Individuals With A Brain Injury And Their Paid Caregivers: A Grounded Theory, Barbara Nadeau

Educational Studies Dissertations

Recent federal rulings have led to an increasing population of individuals with disabilities receiving support services from paid caregivers in their communities rather than in institutions. Paid caregivers are strangers who enter an individual's life and often spend prolonged periods of time in a one to one relationship with an individual. The dynamics between an individual and a paid caregiver are quite different than those between healthcare workers and patients in institutional settings or between an individual and a family caregiver. Constructivist Grounded Theory methodology was used to explore the perceptions of individuals with brain injury and their paid caregivers …

Mammary Glands Possess Intrinsic Molecular Laterality And Respond Left-Right Differently To Genetic And Pharmacological Manipulation, Jacqulyne Michelle Ponville-Robichaux

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Mammary Glands Possess Intrinsic Molecular Laterality and Respond Left-Right Differently to Genetic and Pharmacological Manipulation. (Under the direction of Ann Ramsdell) More tumors form in the left (L) breast and tumors in the right (R) breast may be more aggressive. These epidemiological findings suggest L-R differences in overall tumor biology depending on the side of tumor origin, leading to the hypothesis that mammary glands are L-R different and have discordant responses to neoplastic risk factors. Here we show that normal mammary glands are molecularly L-R different, and have more mammary stem cells (MaSCs) in the L thoracic mammary gland (TMG). …

Circulating Fibroblast Precursors In Soft Tissue Sarcoma Metastasis, Dayvia Laws Russell

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Soft tissue sarcomas (STS) are rare, malignant tumors of mesenchymal origin that manifest in the connective tissues, including muscle, adipose and deep skin tissue, nerves, and joint tissue. Complications from primary or recurrent sarcomas often lead to increased morbidity, but the most lethal aspect of sarcomas is their propensity for hematogenous dissemination leading to metastatic disease. After development of distant metastases, the median survival for patients with STS is merely 11 to 15 months1,2. Therefore, gaining a better understanding of the metastatic environment is essential to developing new therapies. The tumor microenvironment has been implicated as an essential component for …

Nu Website: Uno Departmental Budget Listing Volume 4, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Business/Finance/Operations

Fiscal Year 2015-2016, Departmental Budget Listing, University of Nebraska Omaha, Volume 4

Uno Website: Uno Employee Directory, University Of Nebraska At Omaha

Business/Finance/Operations

UNO Employee Derectory 2015-2016

Nu Stewardship Spending - A Strategic Approach To Capital Planning 2015, University Of Nebraska

Business/Finance/Operations

No abstract provided.

Fact Book 2015, Uno Office Of Institutional Effectiveness

Fact Book

The Fact Book presents important campus information in data tables and charts. Included are details regarding students, faculty, staff, and alumni. Generally, data are broken out by college, rank, level, gender, age and ethnicity for both spring and fall semesters, past to present. There are a few academic year tables that include information on tuition & fees, student credit hours by program, and degrees conferred. We wish to thank the many individuals and departments at the University for their contributions to the Fact Book.

Six Degree-Of-Freedom Analysis Of Hip, Knee, Ankle And Foot Provides Updated Understanding Of Biomechanical Work During Human Walking, Karl E. Zelik, Kota Z. Takahashi, Gregory S. Sawicki

Journal Articles

Measuring biomechanical work performed by humans and other animals is critical for understanding muscle–tendon function, jointspecific contributions and energy-saving mechanisms during locomotion. Inverse dynamics is often employed to estimate jointlevel contributions, and deformable body estimates can be used to study work performed by the foot. We recently discovered that these commonly used experimental estimates fail to explain whole-body energy changes observed during human walking. By re-analyzing previously published data, we found that about 25% (8 J) of total positive energy changes of/about the body’s center-of-mass and >30% of the energy changes during the Push-off phase of walking were not explained …

Bioinformatics And Biomedical Engineering, Francisco Ortuño, Ignacio Rojas, Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Sachin Pawaskar, Hesham Ali

Faculty Books and Monographs

Editors: Francisco Ortuño, Ignacio Rojas

Chapter, Identification of Biologically Significant Elements Using Correlation Networks in High Performance Computing Environments, co-authored by Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Sachin Pawaskar, and Hesham Ali, UNO faculty members.

The two volume set LNCS 9043 and 9044 constitutes the refereed proceedings of the Third International Conference on Bioinformatics and Biomedical Engineering, IWBBIO 2015, held in Granada, Spain in April 2015. The 134 papers presented were carefully reviewed and selected from 268 submissions. The scope of the conference spans the following areas: bioinformatics for healthcare and diseases, biomedical engineering, biomedical image analysis, biomedical signal analysis, computational genomics, computational …

Exposure To Violence, Substance Use, And Neighborhood Context, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright, Gillian M. Pichevsky

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Adolescent exposure to violence and substance use are both public health problems, but how neighborhood context contributes to these outcomes is unclear. This study uses prospective data from 1416 adolescents to examine the direct and interacting influences of victimization and neighborhood factors on adolescent substance use. Based on hierarchical Bernoulli regression models that controlled for prior substance use and multiple individual-level factors, exposure to violence significantly increased the likelihood of marijuana use but not alcohol use or binge drinking. There was little evidence that community norms regarding adolescent substance use influenced rates of substance use or moderated the impact of …

Enlisting In The Military: The Influential Role Of Genetic Factors, Kevin M. Beaver, J. C. Barnes, Joesph A. Schwartz, Brian B. Boutwell

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Given that enlistment in the U.S. military is completely voluntary, there has been a great deal of interest in identifying the various factors that might explain why some people join the military, whereas others do not. The current study expanded on this line of literature by estimating the extent to which genetic and environmental factors explained variance in the liability for lifetime participation in the military. Analysis of twin pairs drawn from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) revealed that 82% of the variance was the result of genetic factors, 18% of the variance was …

Design Of Cox-1 Inhibitors Utilizing Class I Isosteres, Class Ii Isosteres, And Nonclassical Bioisosteres For Substituent Substitution On Proved Parent Structures, Ronald Bartzatt

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Aims: To identify isosteres and bioisosteres suitable for substitution on the molecular scaffold of meclofenamic acid and tolfenamic acid. The compounds will be studied to determine drug-likeness and other properties.
Study Design: Isosteres and bioisosteres were selected and emplaced on the scaffold of meclofenamic acid and tolfenamic acid to ascertain drug-likeness outcome. Drug candidates were selected based on favorable drug-likeness.
Place and Duration of Study: Chemistry Department, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha Nebraska from March 2015 to May 2015.
Methodology: Two non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, meclofenamic acid and tolfenamic acid, are selected based on versatile isosteres and bioisosteres substitution. Placement …

Potential Antineoplastic Structural Variations Of Uracil Mustard (Uramustine) Retaining Cytotoxic Activity And Drug-Likeness Suitable For Oral Administration, Ronald Bartzatt

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Aims: To present 12 new variants of uracil mustard having drug-like properties and cytotoxic functional group, by utilizing uracil mustard (uramustine) as a lead compound. Utilize rigorous substructure and similarity of a molecular scaffold to determine drug like variants. Physicochemical properties determined indicate the variants have favorable drug-likeness.

Study Design: Conduct molecular database search utilizing features of substructure and similarity based upon uracil mustard. Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemistry, Medicinal Chemistry Study Section, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha Nebraska between January 2015 to March 2015.

Methodology: Uracil mustard consists of the pyrimidine derivative uracil, …

Measuring The Alkylation Kinetics And Drug Likeness Of Four Candidate Antineoplastic Compounds, Ronald Bartzatt

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Aims: To synthesize small molecule alkylating compounds and analyze the kinetics of the alkylation in aqueous solution. Determine molecular properties and the drug likeness of these four compounds as potential antineoplastic agents and apply statistical analysis to identify interrelationships of properties.

Study Design: Four compounds were synthesized, characterized, and studied for alkylation capability. The alkylation kinetics were elucidated, as well as drug likeness properties. The interrelationships of properties were examined by statistical methodology.

Place and Duration of Study: Department of Chemistry, Durham Science Center, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Omaha NE, from May 2015 to June 2015.

Methodology: Four compounds …

On The Comparison Of State- And Transition-Based Analysis Of Biological Relevance In Gene Co-Expression Networks, Kathryn Dempsey Cooper, Prasuna Vemuri, Hesham Ali

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Proceedings & Presentations

Traditional correlation network analysis typically involves creating a network using gene expression data and then identifying biologically relevant clusters from that network by enrichment with Gene Ontology or pathway information. When one wants to examine these networks in a dynamic way - such as between controls versus treatment or over time - a "snapshot" approach is taken by comparing network structures at each time point. The biological relevance of these structures are then reported and compared. In this research, we examine the same "snapshot" networks but focus on the enrichment of changes in structure to determine if these results give …

Low-To-Moderate Nitrogen And Phosphorus Concentrations Accelerate Microbially Driven Litter Breakdown Rates, John S. Kominoski, Amy D. Rosemond, Jonathan P. Benstead, Vladislav Gulis, John C. Maerz, David W. P. Manning

Biology Faculty Publications

Particulate organic matter (POM) processing is an important driver of aquatic ecosystem productivity that is sensitive to nutrient enrichment and drives ecosystem carbon (C) loss. Although studies of single concentrations of nitrogen (N) or phosphorus (P) have shown effects at relatively low concentrations, responses of litter breakdown rates along gradients of low‐to‐moderate N and P concentrations are needed to establish likely interdependent effects of dual N and P enrichment on baseline activity in stream ecosystems. We established 25 combinations of dissolved inorganic N (DIN; 55–545 μg/L) and soluble reactive P (SRP; 4–86 μg/L) concentrations with corresponding N:P molar ratios of …

Bacterial Auxin Signaling: Comparative Study Of Growth Induction In Arabidopsis Thaliana And Triticum Aestivum, Basharat Ali

Turkish Journal of Botany

Auxin-producing rhizobacteria were evaluated for the role of their auxin signaling in enhancing the growth of Arabidopsis thaliana (L.) Heynh. and Triticum aestivum L. Arabidopsis thaliana wild type Columbia (Col-0) in comparison with phytohormone mutant lines aux1-7 (insensitive to auxin and ethylene), axr4-1 (insensitive to auxin), and eir1-1 (insensitive to ethylene) was used as a model system. Bacterization of wild type Col-0 recorded significant increases in shoot length (38%) and number of siliqua (180%) with Bacillus subtilis TpP-1 over the controls. Inoculation with aux1-7 and axr4-1 showed statistically comparable results for growth parameters as compared to their respective controls. Treatment …

Department Of English Newsletter, Winter 2014-2015, Illinois State University, Department Of English

Department of English Newsletter

Newsletter of the Illinois State University Department of English

The Phytotronist And The Phenotype: Plant Physiology, Big Science, And A Cold War Biology Of The Whole Plant., David Munns

Publications and Research

This paper describes how, from the early twentieth century, and especially in the early Cold War era, the plant physiologists considered their discipline ideally suited among all the plant sciences to study and explain biological functions and processes, and ranked their discipline among the dominant forms of the biological sciences. At their apex in the late-1960s, the plant physiologists laid claim to having discovered nothing less than the “basic laws of physiology.” This paper unwraps that claim, showing that it emerged from the construction of monumental big science laboratories known as phytotrons that gave control over the growing environment. Control …

Policing Sex: The Colonial, Apartheid, And New Democracy Policing Of Sex Work In South Africa, India Geronimo Thusi

Fordham International Law Journal

No abstract provided.

A Modeling Study In The Regulation Of Stress On Neuronal Plasticity, Pengcheng Xiao

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

How stress can affect human cognitive functions has been a very popular topic for researchers from different fields including physiology, psychology, biology, neuroscience, and applied mathematics. Hypothalamic−pituitary−adrenal (HPA) axis plays an important role in response to stress by releasing hormones, and level of glucocorticoid has been widely considered to be one key factor to distinguish people with different stress disorder. Emerging evidence has shown that glucocorticoid act on glutamate neurotransmission system and consequently influences neuronal activities’s cognitive function. It changes in the glutamate release and induces synapse plasticity change. Spike-Timing Dependent Plasticity (STDP) is one of the important neuroscience foundations …

Four-Digit Hand: Anatomy Of Ray Ii Amputation, Sadie Volk

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

The South Dakota State University anatomy program received a male cadaver, age eighty-four, in January 2014. Upon arrival, the cadaver was observed for any signs of surgery, skin ulcerations, or abnormality. The inspection revealed that his right hand only had four digits. In order to observe such a unique extremity, a dissection was conducted to understand the anatomy of the four-digit hand. This dissection would search for standard anatomical landmarks as well as abnormalities that could have been in relation to the absent finger. In this case study, both amputation and a possible birth defect were taken into account and …

Community Composition Of The Morphologically Cryptic Diatom Genus Skeletonema In Narragansett Bay, Kelly Canesi

Open Access Master's Theses

It is well known that morphologically cryptic species are routinely present in planktonic communities but their role in important ecological and biogeochemical processes is poorly understood. I investigated the presence of cryptic species in the genus Skeletonema, an important bloom-forming diatom, using high-throughput genetic sequencing and examined the ecological dynamics of communities relative to environmental conditions. Samples were obtained from the Narragansett Bay Long-Term Plankton Time Series, where Skeletonema spp. can comprise >95% of microplankton cells during blooms. DNA was extracted and sequenced from monthly samples between December 2008 and December 2013, and Skeletonema specific primers were used to …

Antimicrobial Peptide Editable Database, George Konstantinidis

Open Access Master's Theses

The idea behind the AMPed database is to create an annotated collection of information about antimicrobial peptides derived from several existing larger and heterogeneous databases with the goal of uniformity and coherence. It will be an open source bioinformatics tool that researchers will be able to use in order to find and download genomic sequences relevant to their research, as well as obtaining links to the original data source. This thesis will discuss the original AMPed concept, the database’s conceptual (ER – Entity-Relationship) design, the design and implementation of the database tables, and the Bioparser software tool for importing the …

Enzymatic And Enzyme Inhibitory Activity On A Paper-Based Lateral Flow Device, Manuel Muller

Open Access Master's Theses

In this work it was demonstrated for the first time that Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP) enzymes spotted and dried onto a nitrocellulose membrane remained active. This was accomplished by passing a fixed volume of the BCIP/NBT substrate solution over the immobilized enzymes and measuring the resulting color density at the spot where the enzymes were spotted. A dose response curve was produced of the concentration of the enzymes spotted on the test area versus the color density measured at the spot after the substrate had flowed past it indicating that the assay produces quantitative as well as qualitative results. This experiment …

The Myth Of The Double- Edged Sword: An Empirical Study Of Neuroscience Evidence In Criminal Cases, Deborah W. Denno

Faculty Scholarship

This Article presents the results of my unique study of 800 criminal cases addressing neuroscience evidence over the past two decades (1992–2012). Many legal scholars have theorized about the impact of neuroscience evidence on the criminal law, but this is the first empirical study of its kind to systematically investigate how courts assess the mitigating and aggravating strength of such evidence. My analysis reveals that neuroscience evidence is usually offered to mitigate punishments in the way that traditional criminal law has always allowed, especially in the penalty phase of death penalty trials. This finding controverts the popular image of neuroscience …

Family Law And Nonmarital Families, Clare Huntington

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Human And Non-Human Agencies In The Anthropocene, G. Dürbeck, Caroline Schaumann, Heather I. Sullivan

Modern Languages and Literatures Faculty Research

The era of human impact throughout the Earth’s biosphere since the Industrial Revolution that has recently been named the Anthropocene poses many challenges to the humanities, particularly in terms of human and non-human agency. Using diverse examples from literature, travel reflections, and science that document a wide range of agencies beyond the human including landscape, ice, weather, volcanic energy or gastropods, and insects, this essay seeks to formulate a broader sense of agency. All of our examples probe new kinds of relationships between humans and nature. By configuring a close interconnection and interdependence between these entities, the Anthropocene discourse defines …