Digital Commons Network^™

Active Contact Lens - Low Power Backscattering Sensor-To-Antenna Integration Circuitry, Caleb B. Porter

Electrical Engineering

The Active Contact Lens measures the cornea-scleral radius of the wearer’s eye, which correlates to intraocular pressure (IOP), Glaucoma’s primary indicator. IOP varies throughout the day, and is drastically different from person to person, so constantly measuring it over a period of a few days can provide individualized tracking of the disease’s development and will help doctors develop personalized treatment schedules to treat the disease more precisely.

The Active Contact Lens sensor measures strain, based on the cornea-scleral radius, and reports the results wirelessly, to allow monitoring of an individual’s IOP over time. The lens is powered similarly to a …

Grasping At Origins: Shifting The Conversation In The Historical Study Of Human Rights, Christopher N.J. Roberts

Chicago Journal of International Law

In recent years, scholars from a range of disciplinary orientations have invested considerable time exploring a very basic question: Where did human rights come from? The answers have not been so basic. There exists an extraordinary range of conflicting historical accounts. The hotly debated question of the moment within this field of study centers on figuring out which version of the history is the correct one. However, given the dramatic distance between the historical accounts, it is very unlikely that the matter will be settled in the near future. This Article argues that it is time to shift the focal …

Growth Of Methanogens In The Presence Of Perchlorate Salts: A Study For Possible Life On Mars, John Cale

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The Phoenix Lander collected soil samples from Mars, and it detected perchlorate salts in its analysis [1]. As oxidizing agents, perchlorates pose a threat to the hypothesis that there may be microbial life on Mars. Since Mars is very dry, perchlorate may continue to accumulate in the soil. If anaerobic methanogens inhabit Mars, then they must be able to grow in the presence of perchlorate salts. There were four species of methanogens tested in this project. The methanogens were first exposed to small concentrations of calcium perchlorate, and then they were gradually tested at higher concentrations. Growth was measured by …

Development Of A Semi-Interpenetrating Network Hydrogel To Study The Effects Of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury On Astrocyte Remodeling, Amanda Ederle

Health, Human Performance and Recreation Undergraduate Honors Theses

Traumatic brain injuries (TBIs) are a widespread public health concern affecting over 2.5 million people in the United States alone (1). TBIs are the leading cause of death and disability in children (ages 0-14), and their devastating effects can also be seen in vast population subsets such as professional athletes and combat soldiers (1).

Damaged astrocytes, the specialized glial cells associated with the maintenance of the brain’s environment, respond to injury by altering regulation of certain proteins and ion channels in an attempt to maintain homeostasis (3). Studies have also shown that following a TBI, astrocytes seek to regenerate, a …

Cashing Out: How Big Pharma Continues To Capitalize On The Antitrust Loophole Created In Ftc V. Actavis, Laura A. Gregory

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Trial To Perdition: The Ninth Circuit’S “Emission” Omission Disposition, Jordan Luebekemann

North Carolina Journal of Law & Technology

No abstract provided.

Parameterizing A Water-Balance Model For Predicting Stormwater Runoff From Green Roofs, Olyssa Starry, John Lea-Cox, Andrew Ristvey, Steven Cohan

University Honors College Faculty Publication and Presentations

Crop coefficients (kc) were calculated for three different species of common green roof succulents from March to November in 2011, to parameterize the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations (FAO) Penman-Monteith equation for use in a mechanistic green roof water-balance model. Seasonally averaged kc values for each species for 2011 were used to predict plant evapotranspiration (ET) in 2012. The adjusted FAO Penman-Monteith equation predicted the total annual ET within 3–13 mm, a substantial improvement over model predictions with kc set to 1, which overpredicted ET by 100 mm or more, depending on the species. The adjusted equation …

Informed Consent For The Use And Storage Of Residual Dried Blood Samples From State-Mandated Newborn Genetic Screening Programs, Tufik Y. Shayeb

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

A Sisterhood Of Arms: Envisioning Conscription And Selective Service Post-Gender Integration Of Combat Arms, Erin R. Goldberg

Buffalo Law Review

No abstract provided.

Latin Squares And Their Applications To Cryptography, Nathan O. Schmidt

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

A latin square of order-n is an n x n array over a set of n symbols such that every symbol appears exactly once in each row and exactly once in each column. Latin squares encode features of algebraic structures. When an algebraic structure passes certain "latin square tests", it is a candidate for use in the construction of cryptographic systems. A transversal of a latin square is a list of n distinct symbols, one from each row and each column. The question regarding the existence of transversals in latin squares that encode the Cayley tables of finite groups …

Ido1 Is An Integral Mediator Of Inflammatory Neovascularization., Arpita Mondal, Courtney Smith, James B. Duhadaway, Erika Sutanto-Ward, George C. Prendergast, Arturo Bravo-Nuevo, Alexander J. Muller

Kimmel Cancer Center Papers, Presentations, and Grand Rounds

The immune tolerogenic effects of IDO1 (indoleamine 2,3-dioxygenase 1) have been well documented and genetic studies in mice have clearly established the significance of IDO1 in tumor promotion. Dichotomously, the primary inducer of IDO1, the inflammatory cytokine IFNγ (interferon-γ), is a key mediator of immune-based tumor suppression. One means by which IFNγ can exert an anti-cancer effect is by decreasing tumor neovascularization. We speculated that IDO1 might contribute to cancer promotion by countering this anti-neovascular effect of IFNγ, possibly through IDO1-potentiated elevation of the pro-tumorigenic inflammatory cytokine IL6 (interleukin-6). In this study, we investigated how genetic loss of IDO1 affects …

"Our Door Is Always Open": Aligning Literacy Learningpractices In Writing Programs And Residential Learningcommunities, Julia Voss

English

Writing studies has considered college students' literacy development as a chronological progression and as influenced by their off-campus connections to various cultural and professional communities. This project considers students' literacy development across disciplines and university activity systems in which they're simultaneously involved to look at the (missed) opportunities for fostering transfer across writing courses and residential learning communities as parallel—but rarely coordinated—high-impact practices. Rather than calling for the development of additional programs, I argue for building/strengthening connections between these existing programs by highlighting shared learning outcomes focused on literacy skills development and learning how to learn.

Nesting Behavior Of Acapulco Damselfish (Stegastes Acapulcoensis): Pairs Defend Nests More Vigorously Than Solitary Males, December 2016, Lauren Cech

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Unique pair behavior was observed in Stegastes acapulcoensis, the Acapulco damselfish, in the reefs of Santa Elena Bay of Costa Rica. Observations and video were collected on aggression and territoriality demonstrated by both male-female pairs and solitary males guarding eggs. Agonistic chases and chase distance were recorded over four days during snorkeling expeditions. Results compared parental care behavior (pairs versus solitary) with aggressive chases and chase distance. Solitary male Acapulco damselfish chase significantly less times than paired. Additionally, the paired males chase significantly farther than solitary. Males were observed to defend territory and eggs using aggressive chases, while paired females …

Zombie Fungi: Occurrence Of Arthropod Endoparasitic Fungi At Different Altitudes In The Monteverde Region, December 2016, Madeline Sandler

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Arthropod endoparasitic fungi consist of multiple genera that exploit the bodies of insects and arachnids as host organisms to spread their fungal spores and to obtain nutrients from the body of the host. Arthropod parasitic fungi can be classified into three families: Clavicipitaceae,Cordyipitaceae and Ophiocordycipitaceae . I conducted an observational study in the Monteverde region of Costa Rica where I collected and analyzed arthropods that have been parasitized with fungi by searching in different altitudes and life zones. My goal was to determine if there was an altitudinal gradient associated with the presence and abundance of arthropod parasitic fungi and …

Presence Of Bacterial Microbiome And Incidence Of Infection In Chagas Disease Vectors Triatoma Dimidiata, December 2016, Amber Domako

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Chagas disease is a condition caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi. In Costa Rica, it is spread by one species of kissing bug, Triatoma dimidiata. Recent studies have concluded that the microbiomes of insect disease vectors play a role in the insects’ transmission of diseases. My study examines the relationship between the number of individual bacteria morphospecies found in the microbiome of each T. dimidiata and whether that insect was a Chagas disease carrier. With this data, I analyzed the correlation between the presence of the trypanosome, or not, and the microbiome of the insect. I collected Chagas bugs from …

Volatile Compounds And Microbiota: Antibacterial Properties In Traditional Preparation Methods Of Medicinal Herb Neurolaena Lobata (Asteraceae), December 2016, Nina Djukic

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

I assessed the differential effectiveness of traditional herbal preparation methods of medicinal herb gavilana (Neurolaena lobata) on an assay of four bacteria (E. coli, S. aureus, Shigella sp. and Salmonella sp.) known to cause food poisoning symptoms in humans. Medicinal plants are used both traditionally at home in many cultures and in the synthesis of pharmaceuticals. Their medicinal properties often come from their secondary compounds, chemicals that play a role in their ecophysiology and primarily defend them from herbivory. I prepared three types of Neurolaena lobata extracts - an oil, an alcohol, and a tea - and assessed the zones …

Ectoparasite Abundance And Diversity On Farm Animals In Monteverde And San Luis Along An Elevation Gradient, December 2016, Sarah Callahan

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Abundance and diversity of arthropods are largely dependent on climate. Elevation gradients provide different microclimates that can support a unique number and variety of species. In order to test the effect of elevation on abundance and diversity of arthropod ectoparasites, I collected samples on four different farms: Life Monteverde and Benito Guindon’s farm in Monteverde at about 1,800 m, and Lelo Mata’s farm and Tim Sayles’ farm in San Luis around 700 m. At each elevation, I compared abundance and diversity of ectoparasites on dogs and cattle. I found a presence of Ctenocephalides and Pulex fleas on dogs, and 22 …

How Water Quality Changes As It Passes Through Life Monteverde, December 2016, Stephanie Vogt

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Life Monteverde is a 17 hectare coffee farm in Monteverde, Costa Rica. To irrigate their garden and to provide water for their small amount of livestock, they divert water from a nearby stream that begins at a spring about a kilometer uphill from the farm. The farm has a system to filter the water it uses from the stream before returning it to the watershed in an effort to return it in better quality than when the water was diverted. I studied the use of this water over seven study sites as it flowed through the farm. Twice a day …

How Do Ithomiinae (Lepidoptera, Nymphalidae) Determine Which Flowers To Feed From?, December 2016, Jessie James

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Glasswing butterflies, of the subfamily Ithomiinae, feed almost exclusively from plants that produce pyrrolizidine alkaloids as secondary metabolites. They are able to extract the alkaloids from the nectar and use them as pheromones, as well as for chemical defense. The most common of these alkaloid-producing plants in the Monteverde zone is Santa Lucia, an Asteraceae. In order to determine what attracts Ithomiinae to these flowers, I presented them with three types of Santa Lucia flowers: unmodified flowers, dried flowers, and red-colored flowers. If the butterflies respond to visual cues, I predicted that they would visit the unmodified and dried flowers …

Dietary Nitrate Acutely And Markedly Increased Exhaled Nitric Oxide In A Cystic Fibrosis Case, Conor Kerley, Emma Kilbride, Peter Greally, Basil Elnazir

Articles

Airway nitric oxide (NO) is a ubiquitous signaling molecule with bronchoprotective, antiinflammatory and anti-infective roles. Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a chronic lung condition associated with deceased exhaled NO. Strategies to increase exhaled NO in CF have yielded inconsistent results. A potential new method of increasing systemic NO involves ingestion of dietary, inorganic nitrate which is reduced to nitrite and NO. We present the case of a 12 year-old, athletic male with CF who demonstrated acute but marked increases in exhaled NO following dietary nitrate consumption compared to placebo.

Development Of Fault Tolerant Adaptive Control Laws For Aerospace Systems, Andres E. Perez Rocha

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The main topic of this dissertation is the design, development and implementation of intelligent adaptive control techniques designed to maintain healthy performance of aerospace systems subjected to malfunctions, external parameter changes and/or unmodeled dynamics. The dissertation is focused on the development of novel adaptive control configurations that rely on non-linear functions that appear in the immune system of living organisms as main source of adaptation. One of the main goals of this dissertation is to demonstrate that these novel adaptive control architectures are able to improve overall performance and protect the system while reducing control effort and maintaining adequate operation …

Model Predictive Control Of A Nonlinear Aeroelastic System Using Volterra Series Representations, Wai Leuk Law

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

The purpose of this study is to investigate the potential effectiveness of using a Volterra-based Model Predictive Control strategy to control a nonlinear aeroelastic system. Model Predictive Control (MPC), also known as Receding Horizon Control (RHC), entails computing optimal control inputs over a finite time horizon, applying a portion of the computed optimal control sequence, and then repeating the process over the next time horizon. The Volterra series provides input-output models of a dynamical system in terms of a series of integral operators of increasing order, where the first-order Volterra operator models the linear dynamics and the higher-order operators model …

Effect Of A Yogurt Intervention On Adiposity And Metabolic Outcomes In Women, Eryn N. Boyet

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Over 40% of women in the United States are obese. The Strategic Plan for NIH Obesity Research focuses on “ways to hasten the translation of research evidence from discovery to intervention.” The Strategic Plan also calls on investigators to look at influential points in the lifespan which may affect obesity. Few interventional studies on obesity in women during the perimenopausal time period have been completed. Research in broader populations suggests increased dairy, particularly full-fat products, may decrease central adiposity and improve metabolic indicators of diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of dairy …

Temporal Foraging Patterns Of Nonnative Frogs (Eleutherodactylus Coqui) In Hawaii, Arthur C. Wallis, Robyn L. Smith, Karen H. Beard

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

The Puerto Rican Coqui Frog (Eleutherodactylus coqui) is a nocturnal, invasive species that was introduced into Hawaii in the 1980s. Because they reach extremely high densities (up to 90,000 frogs/ha), they have the potential to affect invertebrate prey communities. Previously, researchers used frogs collected only at night to characterize their prey. Because Coquis use retreat sites near the forest floor during the day and understory perch sites at night, frogs collected at night might show different amounts and types of prey than would frogs collected in the morning. We analyzed stomach contents of 435 frogs collected in the morning (0300–0600 …

Fecal Bacterial Communities As An Indicator Of Trophic Interactions Among Anuran Larvae, Steven Jacob Everman

Master's Theses

Anurans are mass spawners, often with multiple females spawning together, resulting in thousands of tadpoles sharing a habitat. Such large numbers of tadpoles with limited dispersal can lead to intense competition for resources. Inter and intra-specific competition for food could have negative impacts on the growth and survival of smaller tadpoles. Fecal bacterial communities have the potential to be used as indicators of changes in diet making it possible to determine if tadpoles in the wild are eating the same food or not. After feeding on two prepared diets that differed in the percentage of complex carbohydrates, the fecal bacterial …

Effect Of Fragmentation And Habitat Type On Coastal Nekton In Mississippi, Thomas Bennett Sevick

Master's Theses

Coastal wetlands are extremely productive ecosystems that support an abundance of organisms at higher tropic levels. Coastal wetlands also act as important buffers from storms and help protect major cornerstones of coastal economies, such as tourism and fisheries. Despite the clear need for the protection of these habitats, anthropogenic use of coastal wetlands has increased in frequency and intensity, resulting in the fragmentation of once continuous habitats. A central challenge to assessing the impact of marsh fragmentation is the lack of quantitative distribution and abundance data from specific habitat types. This is especially true for species that are not commercially …

Life Cycle Assessment Of Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Traditional Air Pollutants, Water Depletion, And Cumulative Energy Demand From 2-Mw Wind Turbines In Texas, Ali Alsaleh

Civil Engineering Dissertations - Archive

¶One renewable energy source that has witnessed a significant growth in the recent years is wind energy, with the installation of new wind farms around the globe as well as the innovations in wind power technology, which have increased the efficiency of this source. Wind power generates electrical energy from the wind’s kinetic energy without causing emissions or pollution from power production; however, environmental effects are caused by the wind turbine manufacturing, transport, and other phases. Therefore, the overall goal of this study was to analyze the environmental effects associated with wind energy technology by taking into consideration the entire …

Domestic Relations, Barry B. Mcgough, Elinor H. Hitt, Katherine C. Mcguire

Mercer Law Review

This Article addresses significant case law that arose in Georgia domestic relations law from June 1, 2015 to May 31, 2016.

Wills, Trusts, Guardianships, And Fiduciary Administration, Mary F. Radford

Mercer Law Review

This Article describes selected cases and significant legislation from the period of June 1, 2015 through May 31, 2016 that pertain to Georgia fiduciary law and estate planning.

Chlorpyrifos Removal For Wastewater Reuse, Indran Kamalanathan

Chemical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Approximately 1.2 billion people around the world live in areas of physical water scarcity. This could increase to half of the world’s population by 2030 and could displace 24 to 700 million people unless steps are taken to ensure adequate water supply.¹ Water scarcity is an escalating issue within the United States, specifically in Western inland states with arid climates. This scarcity is encouraging communities to investigate tertiary level municipal wastewater treatment, allowing for reuse of wastewater. Unfortunately, wastewater contains numerous contaminants that are not regulated by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA). …