Digital Commons Network^™

Treatment With Actriib-Mfc Produces Myofiber Growth And Improves Lifespan In The Acta1 H40y Murine Model Of Nemaline Myopathy, Jennifer E. Tinklenberg, Hui W. Meng, Lin J. Yang, Fujun Liu, Raymond G. Hoffmann, Mahua Dasgupta, Kenneth P. Allen, Alan H. Beggs, Edna C. Hardeman, R. Scott Pearsall, Robert H. Fitts, Michael W. Lawlor

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

No abstract provided.

Plants' Native Distributions Do Not Reflect Climatic Tolerance, Tierney Bocsi, Jenica M. Allen, Jesse Bellemare, John Kartesz, Misako Nishino, Bethany A. Bradley

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Aim: Biogeographers have long known that plant species do not fully encompass their fundamental niche. Nonetheless, in practice, species distribution modelling assumes that plant distributions represent a reasonable approximation of their environmental tolerance. For ecological forecasting, projections of habitat loss due to climate change assume that many species will be unable to tolerate climate conditions outside of those found within their current distributional ranges. We aim to test how well occurrences in the native range approximate the climatic conditions in which plant species can survive.

Location: Continental USA. Methods: We compared the climatic conditions between occurrences in the US native …

The Politics Of Constitutional Common Law In Hong Kong Under Chinese Sovereignty, Eric C. Ip

Washington International Law Journal

This article studies how the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal has come to develop a sophisticated judicial gloss on the provisions of the Basic Law, Hong Kong’s constitutional document, in ways unforeseen by the Chinese National People’s Congress that enacted it. The ascendancy of constitutional common law in Hong Kong after the end of British rule is remarkable when considered in light of the continuing denial of democratic self-rule by China’s authoritarian Party-state. This article argues that the profusion of political transaction costs due to the fragmentation of the ruling elite and state-society discord consequent to the resumption of …

Preventing Stroke At Door Step– Need For A Paradigm Shift In Delivery Of Preventive Healthcare, Ismail A. Khatri, Saad Farooq, Muneeza A. Khatri

Pakistan Journal of Neurological Sciences (PJNS)

Although stroke is a preventable disease, it is increasing globally. Only few risk factors are responsible for much of the leading noncommunicable diseases, yet those remain poorly controlled, despite being the most affordable way of promoting health and preventing disease [1]. Lifestyle modification including cessation of smoking, making aerobic physical activity a routine, certain changes in diet, and aggressive management of risk factors are all part of stroke prevention strategies [2].

Birthing Centres In Nepal: Recent Developments, Obstacles And Opportunities, Preeti K. Mahato, Edwin Van Teijlingen, Padam Simkhada, Catherine Angell

Journal of Asian Midwives (JAM)

Background: Establishing and promoting birthing centers (BCs) can be one strategy to increase access to emergency obstetric care and skilled attendants at birth, to avert many maternal deaths. BCs are a component of local health service delivery, whereby midwives (or health care professionals with midwifery competencies) provide maternity services to generally healthy women with uncomplicated pregnancies, mostly in the community setting.
Methods: A literature review was carried out involving searches and appraisals of relevant literature on birthing centers in Nepal, South Asia, and other similar settings.
Findings//Conclusion: In Nepal, midwife-led care in BCs was found to be …

Misconceptions And Mismanagement Of Menstruation Among Adolescents Girls Who Do Not Attend School In Pakistan, Naghma Rizvi, Tazeen Saeed Ali

Journal of Asian Midwives (JAM)

Background: Menstruation is perceived and interpreted differently under different social and cultural norms. There are a number of different practices, conceptions and misconceptions that have been reported in studies conducted in various countries. In Pakistan, there is a dearth of knowledge related to hygienic and unhygienic practices, discomforts, misconceptions related to nutrition, and restrictions imposed during menstruation. Therefore, this study was conducted with the objectives to identify the conceptions and misconceptions about menstruation, explore hygienic and unhygienic practices during menstruation along with the socio- cultural and religious restrictions imposed, and the discomforts with its management among adolescents who do not …

What Time Is It? Deep Learning Approaches For Circadian Rhythms, Forest Agostinelli, Nicholas Ceglia, Babak Shahbaba, Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Pierre Baldi

Faculty Publications

Motivation: Circadian rhythms date back to the origins of life, are found in virtually every species and every cell, and play fundamental roles in functions ranging from metabolism to cognition. Modern high-throughput technologies allow the measurement of concentrations of transcripts, metabolites and other species along the circadian cycle creating novel computational challenges and opportunities, including the problems of inferring whether a given species oscillate in circadian fashion or not, and inferring the time at which a set of measurements was taken.

Results: We first curate several large synthetic and biological time series datasets containing labels for both periodic and aperiodic …

Design And Testing Of An Autonomous Ground Robot For Agricultural Applications, Lukas L. Hannemann

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project discusses the design and testing of an autonomous ground robot for agricultural applications such as strawberries. The vehicle will feature a robotic arm that will be programmed to perform various tasks, such as collecting soil and leaf samples of the crop or measuring soil moisture and salinity. Various components were chosen to be implemented on the vehicle due its power requirements and operating environment. Finite Element Analysis testing was done on the frame of the vehicle to ensure the adequacy of the design.

Math Department Newsletter, 2016, University Of Dayton. Department Of Mathematics

Department of Mathematics Newsletters

No abstract provided.

Transforming Transgender Rights In Schools: Protection From Discrimination Under Title Ix And The Equal Protection Clause, Vittoria L. Buzzelli

Dickinson Law Review (1908-2003)

Claims involving transgender rights are an emerging area of case law and are beginning to gain significant attention in the U.S. The topic is of particular importance in schools and universities where transgender students are repeatedly subject to discrimination with few remedies. Students determined to be treated in accordance with their gender identity often request to use the restrooms and locker rooms of the gender with which they identify. If the students do so without permission, the students face punishment, expulsion from school, and even criminal charges. Although there is little case law on transgender student rights, most cases to …

English Stream Medical Education In China: A Case Study At Shantou University Medical College, Miao Yang, Chang-Min Lin, Guan-Hua Fan, Zhong-Fang Zhang

Journal of Medical Education

This study has conducted the first comprehensive investigation of ESME (English Stream Medical Education) in China from the perspective of curriculum development through an online questionnaire survey. It sums up the most important issues, such as teaching, learning assessment, faculty training, etc., to present the status quo of Chinese ESME. It is found that most Chinese ESME projects focus on the change of the medium of instruction from Chinese to English so that the innovation brought about by English instruction is superficial, not involving much change in pedagogic instruction and learning assessment. The study also analyzed a 10-year ESME project …

A Novel Rare Sugar Inhibitor Of Murine Herpes Simplex Keratitis., Syed M. Muniruzzaman, M. Mcintosh,, Ahamed Hossain, K. Izumori, Partha S. Bhattacharjee

Faculty and Staff Publications

Purpose To determine the therapeutic efficacy of a novel rare sugar, L-psicose, for the treatment of HSV-1 induced herpetic stromal keratitis (HSK) in a mouse eye model. Methods One rare sugar L-psicose was assayed for HSV-1 inhibition of in vitro virus adsorption. The IC50 and IC90 values of L-psicose were determined using plaque reduction assay (PRA) in CV-1 cell. Female Balb/c mice were corneally infected with HSV-1, strain KOS-GFP; A topical eye drop treatment of L-psicose was started 24 h after infection and continued four times daily for ten consecutive days. The severity of HSK was monitored by slit lamp …

Natural Dams And Biogeochemistry At The River Network Scale: Implications For Water Quality, Denise Burchsted, Christopher Brehme, Mark B. Green, Jennifer M. Jacobs, Wil Wollheim

NH Water Resources Research Center Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Acer 2014-2015 Annual Report, Australian Council For Educational Research (Acer)

ACER Annual Reports

The annual report of the Australian Council for Educational Research 2014-15 includes a spotlight on ACER's work in assessment reform and innovation, digital technologies, understanding the teaching workforce, Indigenous Australians, improving equity, education monitoring, and recognition of success. The report details commissioned research and staff publications.

Piloting A Screening Tool For Eating And Eating-Related Behavior, Michael N. Reynolds

Dissertations

Obesity is a common medical condition associated with negative health and social outcomes. Obesity has a primary malleable behavioral cause, eating more calories than are metabolized. While metabolic rate is malleable with exercise, eating can more quickly add calories than exercising can subtract them. In the past, behavioral weight-loss treatment studies relied on multi-component package interventions that have shown reliable patterns of participant weight-loss during treatment and weight-regain in follow-up. Those findings could be conceptualized as an ABA withdrawal design, eating behavior returns to baseline after the prosthetic contingencies of the treatment study are withdrawn. We must develop ways to …

Effects Of Hypoxia And Elevated Ammonia Concentration On The Viability Of Red Snapper Embryos And Early Larvae, Agnes Bardon-Albaret, Eric A. Saillant

Faculty Publications

The effects of hypoxic conditions and elevated ammonia concentrations on the viability of embryos and newly hatched larvae of the red snapper (Lutjanus campechanus) were investigated. In all experiments, tested levels of hypoxia or ammonia concentrationswere applied to embryos and unfed newly hatched larvae from three different spawns. Exposures began at 1 h post fertilization (pf) and lasted until all individuals in a group had expired. Survival rates were monitored daily in duplicates for each spawn in each treatment. Fertilized eggs exposed to 2 mg L-1 dissolved oxygen (29% saturation) showed complete mortality before hatch while 81% of embryos in …

Larval Fishes Utilize Batesian Mimicry As A Survival Strategy In The Plankton, Adam T. Greer, C. Brock Woodson, Cedric M. Guigand, Robert K. Cowan

Faculty Publications

Marine teleost fishes often experience over 99% mortality in the early life stages (eggs and larvae), yet larval survival is essential to population sustainability. Marine fish larvae from a wide range of families display elaborate, delicate features that bear little resemblance to adult forms and hinder their swimming escape ability by increasing drag. Here, we systematically examine the criteria needed for Batesian mimicry to evolve as a survival strategy and present new evidence from in situ imaging technology and simulation modelling to support the hypothesis that many larval morphological features (particularly long, delicate fin rays) and behaviors evolved at least …

Controlled Thiol-Ene Polymer Microsphere Production Using A Low-Frequency Acoustic Excitation Coaxial Flow Method, Amber D. Windham, Patrick M. Lowe, Keith W. Conley, Anton D. Netchaev, Randy K. Buchanan, J. Paige Buchanan

Faculty Publications

A novel technique for the production of thiol-ene microspheres using acoustic resonance and coaxial flow is reported. The method utilizes low-frequency acoustically driven mechanical perturbations to disrupt the flow of a thiol-ene liquid jet, resulting in small thiol-ene droplets that are photochemically polymerized to yield thiol-ene microspheres. Tuning of the frequency, amplitude, and monomer solution viscosity are critical parameters impacting the diameter of the microspheres produced. Characterization by optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and dynamic light scattering reveal microspheres of diametersm, with narrow particle distributions. (C) 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Pubertal Maturation Compression And Behavioral Impulsivity Among Boys At Increased Risk For Substance Use, Charles W. Mathias, Nora E. Charles, Yuanyuan Lang, Ashley Acheson, Sarah L. Lake, Stacy R. Ryan, Rene L. Olvera, Donald M. Dougherty

Faculty Publications

Objectives: While early onset of puberty among girls has been related to substance use involvement and other adverse outcomes, less research has examined pubertal development and outcomes in boys. Further, research on puberty has not been conducted in the context of other risk factors for substance use involvement such as impulsivity. To address these gaps, this study characterized boys' pubertal development from preadolescence to mid adolescence and related it to substance use risk and behavioral impulsivity.

Methods: A sample of 153 boys completed the Pubertal Development Scale to assess perception of their pubertal development relative to same-age peers …

Preservice Science Teachers’ Pedagogical Content Knowledge For Nature Of Science And Nature Of Scientific Inquiry: A Successful Case Study, Gunkut Mesci

Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation project is to explore preservice science teachers’ development of pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) for targeted aspects of nature of science (NOS) and nature of scientific inquiry (NOSI). Through multiple data sources, it is examined how preservice science teachers’ understanding of NOS and NOSI have changed over the program, and manifests itself in their classroom practice. This is an exploratory multiple case study of participants’ experiences and developments during a teacher development program. Data is collected in the form of open-ended surveys, interviews, observations, lesson plans, video materials, and teaching documents. After all data is collected, …

Sensing Gyroscopic Properties Of Rotating Magnetic Nanoparticles In Solution, Brian Gerald Krug

Dissertations

A new sensor using magnetic nanoparticles and rotating magnetic fields has been developed. By spinning the nanoparticles in a rotating magnetic field, it is feasible to infer angular position and inertia if an external force is applied to the system. The nanoparticles are treated as a multitude of miniature gyroscopes whose overall effect can be combined as one single gyroscope. Two sensors were built to test the feasibility, both containing Fe3O4 nanoparticles.

The typical input current was 250 milliamps. When the sensor deviated from its magnetic axis by a small angle, the input current changed between 1 and 2 milliamps …

On The Global Existence And Boundedness Of Solutions Of Nonlinear Vector Differential Equations Of Third Order, Timur Ayhan, Cemil Tunç

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

In this paper, we give some criteria to ensure the global existence and boundedness of solutions to a kind of third order nonlinear vector differential equations. By using the Lyapunov's direct method, we obtain a new result on the topic and give an example for the illustrations. Our result includes, completes and improves some earlier results in the literature.

Epistemic Injustice And The Construction Of Transgender Legal Subjects, B.Lee Aultman

Wagadu: A Journal of Transnational Women's & Gender Studies

Using cases and legal precedent on transgender employment discrimination in the US-American context, this article investigates the epistemological consequences of creating a gendered legal subject. It interrogates the ways that courts enact certain kinds of knowledge claims that deny the experiences of transgender litigants as transgender. It argues how judicial reasoning tends to create conditions of transgender legibility that reproduces pre-conceived notions of normative, cisgender sex/gender experiences and knowledges, contributing to hermeneutical injustice.

Dissociation Dynamics Of Xpc-Rad23b From Damaged Dna Is A Determining Factor Of Ner Efficiency, Benjamin Hilton, Sathyaraj Gopal, Lifang Xu, Sharmistha Mazumder, Phillip R. Musich, Bongsup P. Cho, Yue Zou Zou

ETSU Faculty Works

This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited. XPC-RAD23B (XPC) plays a critical role in human nucleotide excision repair (hNER) as this complex recognizes DNA adducts to initiate NER. To determine the mutagenic potential of structurally different bulky DNA damages, various studies have been conducted to define the correlation of XPC-DNA damage equilibrium binding affinity with NER efficiency. However, little is known about the effects of XPC-DNA damage recognition kinetics on hNER. Although association …

Longitudinal Examination Of Observed Family Hostility And Adolescent Anxiety And Depression As Mediated By Adolescent Perspective Taking And Empathic Concern, Trevor Dennis Dahle

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this longitudinal study was to examine hostility in family interaction and its impact on adolescent depression and anxiety with adolescent perspective taking and empathic concern as mediators. Gender differences were also examined. Adolescents were from 353 two-parent families in a large north-western city in the United States and on average were 13.25 years old (SD=1.01) for girls and 13.30 years (SD=.99) for boys at the beginning of the study. This study utilized data from waves 3-5. Earlier waves of data were not used because some of the measures were not available for earlier waves. Results indicated that …

An Investigation Of Associations Between Heart Rate Measures Of Aerobic Fitness And Executive Functioning In Pre-Adolescent Children, Kimberly Anne Barnett

Theses and Dissertations

The present study evaluated the associations between direct measures of aerobic fitness and executive functioning in pre-adolescent children aged 8 to 12 years. To evaluate these associations, the study employed a cross-sectional design and a series of three step hierarchical regressions were conducted. Results suggest that after controlling for age, sex, and BMI percentile, heart rate measures of aerobic fitness did not independently predict executive function. These findings provide preliminary evidence that contradicts a growing body of research within the adult literature demonstrating an association between aerobic fitness and executive function.

An Investigation Of The Impact A Rov Competition Curriculum Has On Student Interest In Stem, Specifically Technology And Engineering, Daniel Gordon Bates

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigates the impact a Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) program has on student interest in, and perception of, technology and engineering (sTEm). ROV programs embed areas of science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) into their curriculum; however, emphasis for this study is placed on interest and perception of the "T" and "E" of STEM. Although there are many articles detailing the benefits of ROV programs, there is little empirical data documenting the impact on student interest and perception of sTEm. This study outlines the background of a few major ROV programs in the U.S.; specifically Utah Underwater Robotics (UUR), …

Characterization Of Five Brevibacillus Bacteriophages And Their Genomes, Michael Allen Sheflo

Theses and Dissertations

Brevibacillus laterosporus (B. laterosporus) is a pathogen difficult to distinguish from Paenibacillus larvae (P. larvae), and contributes to Colony Collapse Disorder (CCD) of honeybees. To develop a biocontrol agent to limit its presence, bacteriophages were isolated from Utah County soil samples and used to infect B. laterosporus isolated from Utah County honey and larvae samples. Since CCD is prevalent in Utah beehives, bacteriophage that infect and lyse B. laterosporus may be isolated and characterized. Pathogens were isolated from soil samples, and 16S rRNA gene tests initially identified the strains as P. larvae. Bacteriophages were isolated, purified, and amplified sufficiently to …

Glutamate And Gaba Receptor-Mediated Plasticity In The Mesolimbic Dopamine System By Alcohol, Ashley Cerise Nelson

Theses and Dissertations

Alcoholism is a devastating chronic relapsing disorder with significant costs to individuals and society. The mesolimbic dopamine (DA) system plays an important role in regulating reward and addiction. GABA neurons located in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) regulate VTA DA neuron activity, and are a relevant target for alcohol in the brain. VTA GABA neurons exhibit marked hyperexcitability during withdrawal from ethanol. Past research has demonstrated that the motivational effects of opiates cause a change in VTA GABA(A) receptors in opiate-dependent animals, which switch from a GABA-induced hyperpolarization of GABA neurons to a GABA-induced depolarization. The focus of this study …

Standardization Of The Potentizing Machine And Quantification Of Impact Of Potentization, Rajesh Shah

Indian Journal of Research in Homoeopathy

Introduction: Lack of accuracy and uniformity of impact have been the limitations of the ancient and current methods of potentization. Non-standardized electromechanical potentizers are in use across industry. It is very important that within each manufacturing process, the number of succussions should remain constant as well as the impact given (force exerted) is quantified. The author proposes to give importance to the force parameters in potentization and quantify the impact of potentization. Materials and Methods: The author develops electromechanical potentizer with certain specifications such as arm length, weight, and angle at which the arm drops at the base. The machine …