Digital Commons Network^™

Establishing A Clinically Relevant Mouse Model Of Human Aml To Test Novel Transmethylation Inhibitors., Aditya Barve

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is a highly heterogeneous clonal disorder characterized by an accumulation of malignant immature myeloid progenitors in the bone marrow (BM) that hinder normal hematopoiesis. Patient AML exhibits a dramatic heterogeneity in terms of cytogenetics, disease morphology, and associated prognoses and/or chemotherapeutic sensitivity. Thus it becomes clearly evident that the investigation of novel therapeutics for AML will require model systems that are capable of recapitulating this stark heterogeneity in a patient specific manner. Furthermore, it is now understood that the surrounding bone marrow (BM) microenvironment and supporting cells play a critical role in leukemic progression as well …

The Influence Of Student, Neighborhood, And School Factors On College Readiness : An Examination Of Factors Combined As A Result Of Implementing A Race- And Socioeconomically-Based Student Assignment Plan., Gregory Paul Herberger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In 2006, Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education determined race-based student assignment plans violated the 14th Amendment. Through the assistance of Orfield and Frankenberg (2011), Jefferson County Public Schools (JCPS) reconfigured the district’s race-based student assignment and implemented a race- and socioeconomic-based student assignment plan. The purpose of this study was to examine students’ backgrounds and school composition factors within a race- and socioeconomic-based assignment plan to determine the extent the factors are related to college readiness. Based on data obtained from 3,018 Grade 11 students, hierarchical linear multiple regression was used to examine the utility of student background, …

Tnf-Like Weak Inducer Of Apoptosis (Tweak) : Not So Weak After All., Joseph Dekward Mcmillan Iv

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Background: Tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-like weak inducer of apoptosis (TWEAK) is a proinflammatory cytokine belonging to the TNF super family. TWEAK produces a variety of cellular responses through the binding to fibroblast growth factor inducible 14 (Fn14), a member of TNF receptor superfamily. Although Fn14 lacks a death domain, TWEAK has been found to induce apoptosis in some cell types by perturbing the activity of certain pathways such as TNF-receptor signaling. TWEAK is also known to regulate proliferation and differentiation of myogenic cells. We have previously reported that the TWEAK-Fn14 system causes skeletal muscle wasting both in vitro and in …

Um Welcomes 'New Friends And Kindred Spirits', Katie Morrison

University of Mississippi News

University's freshman class of Stamps Scholars is nation's third-largest

Understanding The Historical Diversification Of Valerianacea, Taylor Lebourgeois

Senior Honors Theses

Ecologists and evolutionary biologists have long recognized that species diversity is unequally distributed among angiosperm lineages. For example, various plant clades found in the Andes have been proposed as examples of rapid radiations, and the Andes are recognized as one of the Earth’s biodiversity “hotspots”. Species within Valerianaceae, found in the South American Andes, appear to be an example of such a rapid radiation. Although much attention has been paid to the phylogeny of the South American species of Valerianaceae, there is still a great deal of uncertainty regarding species relationships. Several subgroups within the Andean Valerians have, either not …

The Great Radical Dualism: Locating Margaret Fuller’S Feminism In Nathaniel Hawthorne’S Fiction, Renee Michele Vincent

Senior Honors Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to establish a foundation built on the congruencies between Margaret Fuller’s feminist theory and Nathaniel Hawthorne’s fiction, with the aim of addressing two major points: first, the implications of universalizing gender in the context of identity politics; and second, to show how gender universality is challenged within Hawthorne’s fiction and Fuller’s prose. Given that Nathaniel Hawthorne’s characters depict a range of personal variability, the act of synthesizing Margaret Fuller’s feminist theory with Hawthorne’s fiction functions to link the personal with the political. The overall goal of this study is to substantiate both writers within …

Commencement Program 2016 December: College Of Business, The University Of Texas At Arlington

Commencement Programs, Photos, and Video

No abstract provided.

Recent Desiccation-Related Ecosystem Changes At Lake Abert, Oregon: A Terminal Alkaline Salt Lake, Ron Larson, Joseph Eilers, Keith Kreuz, Wolf T. Pecher, Shiladitya Dassarma, Steve Dougill

Western North American Naturalist

Lake Abert, a terminal alkaline salt lake in south central Oregon, has been a key staging area for migratory waterbirds along the Pacific Flyway. In 2014, the lake shrank to about 5% of its maximum size, and its salinity increased from 75 g · L^–1 to 250 g · L^–1. This resulted in a major ecosystem shift from one dominated at higher trophic levels by invertebrates and waterbirds to one composed primarily of hypersaline-adapted microbes. A large variety of halophilic bacteria and archaea were also detected using 16S rRNA metagenomic sequence analysis. The loss of prey and …

Reproduction By Black-Tailed Prairie Dogs And Black-Footed Ferrets: Effects Of Weather And Food Availability, Shaun M. Grassel, Janet L. Rachlow, Christopher J. Williams

Western North American Naturalist

Food availability is one of the most important factors influencing reproduction in mammals. Reproductive success of some species can be negatively affected when body reserves are depleted during long periods of adverse weather conditions. We investigated the relationship of forage availability and weather variables on reproduction by black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus) and the effects of black-tailed prairie dog reproduction on reproduction by black-footed ferrets (Mustela nigripes), a prairie dog specialist predator. Prairie dogs draw on stored energy reserves to support reproduction (i.e., capital breeding), while ferrets likely rely on availability of prey during the reproductive …

The Effects Of Active Learning Technology On Instructors’ Practices And Students’ Engagement And Grades: A Mixed Methods Study, Jeremy C. Van Hof

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Partly in response to university teachers’ changing pedagogies marked by flipping instruction, lecture capture technologies are evolving into active learning systems. Little published research exists on the effects of active learning technology on either teachers or students. This two-phase sequential explanatory mixed methods study details the effects that active learning systems have on instructor practices and on student grades and engagement. Phase one combined quantitative data collection with instructor interviews. Phase one findings show higher student engagement levels correlate with the use of the active learning system only in the presence of very specific, flipped classroom practices. Phase two, a …

Edible Insects As A Source Of Food Allergens, Lee Palmer

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increasing global population increasingly limited by resources has spurred interest in novel food sources. Insects may be an alternative food source in the near future, but consideration of insects as a food requires scrutiny due to risk of allergens. Currently, the insect Dactylopius coccus, known as cochineal, is used to produce carmine, a natural red pigment used in food, which has caused allergic reactions. This study investigated allergens of cochineal focusing on purification from the pigment. Mass spectrometry identified a previously described major allergen of cochineal and a tropomyosin, although further work is required.

Tropomyosin is a major cross-reactive allergen …

Formation Of Bioactive-Carrier Hollow Solid Lipid Micro- And Nanoparticles, Junsi Yang

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In recent years, bioactive lipids (e.g., carotenoids, phytosterols, and tocopherols) have attracted a lot of interest to develop health and wellness promoting foods and beverages. However, bioactive lipids are water-insoluble and degrade easily during processing and storage, making their addition into foods and beverages challenging.

The main objective of this thesis was to develop a novel green process to form bioactive lipid-carrier hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles using supercritical carbon dioxide (SC-CO₂). Specific objectives were to develop hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles using SC-CO₂ technology, and to load the hollow solid lipid micro- and nanoparticles …

Exploration Of Student Biodiversity Knowledge And Decision-Making For A Wildlife Conservation Socioscientific Issue, Ashley R. Alred

School of Natural Resources: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Global biodiversity, a foundation for ecosystem function, is diminishing at a rate unprecedented in the last 50 years. Biodiversity loss and ecosystem services deterioration is linked to increased food insecurity, reduced water quality and availability, decreased energy security, higher economic losses and human suffering (Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, 2005). Consequently, educators should invest in supporting students in their development of ecological understanding and formal decision-making skills so they are equipped with meaningful tools they can use as scientifically literate citizens. To contribute to that mission, this study seeks to explore student 1) comprehension and explanation of biodiversity concepts and 2) decision-making …

Design And Synthesis Of Novel Octacarboxy Porphyrinic Metal–Organic Frameworks, Jacob A. Johnson

Department of Chemistry: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Metal-Organic Frameworks (MOFs) are a class of nanoporous crystalline materials constructed via the interconnection between metal-ions/inorganic clusters and organic ligands. Since the surface area, pore size and distribution, and chemical functionalities of MOFs are highly tunable via the judicious combinations of inorganic clusters and organic ligands, MOFs have attracted intensive interests for a variety of applications including gas adsorption and separation, catalysis, chemical sensing, and drug delivery among others. Porphyrin based ligands are of particular interest for building functional MOFs due to their unique photo-, electro-, and catalytic properties. In addition, the four-fold symmetry of porphyrin ligands offers an effective …

Infant Sleep Problems And Childhood Overweight: Effects Of Three Definitions Of Sleep Problems, Arsham Alamian, Liang Wang, Amber M. Hall, Melanie Pitts, Joseph Ikekwere

ETSU Faculty Works

Sleep problems have been defined using a variety of definitions. No study has assessed the longitudinal association between infant sleep problems and childhood overweight or obesity using existing definitions of sleep problems. This study used longitudinal data (n=895) from the multi-site Study of Early Child Care and Youth Development (SECCYD) to investigate the effects of infant sleep problems on childhood weight status in Grade 6. Infants with sleep problems in Phase I (1991) and with complete data through Phase III (2004) of SECCYD were included. Sleep problems were assessed using maternal reports of night wakings and duration of a waking …

Impact Of Permeable Lining Of The Wall On The Peristaltic Flow Of Herschel Bulkley Fluid, G. C. Sankad, Asha Patil

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The peristaltic motion is modeled for the Herschel Bulkley fluid, considered to flow in a non-uniform inclined channel. The channel wall is supposed to be lined with a non-erodible porous material. The flow is considered to be moving in a wave frame of reference moving with same velocity as of the sinusoidal wave. Low Reynolds number and long wave length assumptions are made to solve the model. Analytical solution is obtained for the pressure difference and also for the frictional force. Graphs are plotted, using Mathematica software, for both the results of pressure difference and frictional force against time average …

Reproductive Ecology Of Greater Sage-Grouse In Strawberry Valley, Utah, Jared Jeffrey Baxter

Theses and Dissertations

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; hereafter, sage-grouse) are a species of conservation concern in the rangelands of western North America due to their dramatic decline over the last half century. Effective conservation and management of sensitive species requires an understanding of how species respond to management actions. We examined two aspects of the reproductive phases of sage-grouse: nest predation, and habitat selection by female sage-grouse with chicks. In Chapter 1, we developed resource selection functions to assess the influence of mechanical treatments of mountain big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata vaseyana) on habitat selection by greater sage-grouse with chicks. …

Antimicrobial Inhibitory Activities Of Phenolic Extracts From Four Selected Soybean Hulls In Culture And Chicken Skin Model Systems, And Preliminary Ace-Inhibitory Activity, Rajaa Abdulkair Abutheraa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Soybean components provide health benefits to humans. Soybean hulls, a major by-product of the soybean processing industry consist of complex carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and polyphenols such as anthocyanidins, proanthocyanidins and isoflavones. The polyphenolic compounds in the hulls give them various colors such as black, brown, green, yellow or even a mottled appearance. Studies have reported different soybean varieties with varying total phenolic compounds in their seed hulls, which have antioxidant property. Phenolic extracts can be used as substitutes for synthetic antimicrobials and preservatives to assist in preventing the growth of pathogens such as Salmonella Typhimurium, E coli 0157:H7, and Campylobacter …

Use Of The Mmpi-2 Masculine-Feminine Pathology Scale In Determining Gender-Related Symptom Expressions Among Outpatients, Priyanka M. Parikh

Theses and Dissertations

Gender exerts a strong influence over psychopathology experience and expression. The Masculine-Feminine Pathology (Mfp) scale is a recently developed research scale for the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory, Second Edition (MMPI-2), intended to reflect gender-influenced psychopathological symptoms. The current study was designed to examine whether Mfp scores serve as a useful moderator in the interpretation of MMPI-2 scores in terms of identifying gender-related symptom expression in an outpatient adult psychiatric sample. The sample consisted of 186 participants who had undergone outpatient psychotherapy. MMPI-2 scales include selected clinical scales, Restructured Clinical (RC) scales, content scales, supplementary scales, and Personality Psychopathology-Five (PSY-5) scales …

Design And Development Of A Physiological Stress Monitoring/Alert System Using A Wristband, Ritesh Varma Pathapati Thyagaraju

Theses and Dissertations

The design and development of wearable physiological systems for stress monitoring have gathered a lot of attention during the past few years. These systems have undergone much-needed development to tackle long-term effects such as a headache, depression, insomnia, high blood pressure, confusion, inability to make correct choices, etc. Accurately measuring physiological signals that are helpful to detect stress in its early stages using wearable technology have long been a goal in the healthcare industry. Current commercial products such as Fitbit and Empatica only monitor either the heart rate (Fitbit) or electrodermal activity in real time (Empatica) but these devices have …

The Decay Of Disease Association With Declining Linkage Disequilibrium: A Fine Mapping Theorem, Mehdi Maadooliat, Naveen K. Bansal, Jibal Upadhya, Manzur R. Farazi, Xiang Li, Max M. He, Scott J. Hebbring, Zhan Ye, Steven J. Schrodi

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Several important and fundamental aspects of disease genetics models have yet to be described. One such property is the relationship of disease association statistics at a marker site closely linked to a disease causing site. A complete description of this two-locus system is of particular importance to experimental efforts to fine map association signals for complex diseases. Here, we present a simple relationship between disease association statistics and the decline of linkage disequilibrium from a causal site. Specifically, the ratio of Chi-square disease association statistics at a marker site and causal site is equivalent to the standard measure of pairwise …

Impact Of Myh6 Variants In Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome, Aoy Tomita-Mitchell, Karl D. Stamm, Donna K. Mahnke, Min-Su Kim, Pip M. Hidestrand, Huan-Ling Liang, Mary Goetsch, Pippa Simpson, Andrew N. Pelech, James S. Tweddell, D. Woodrow Benson, John Lough, Michael E. Mitchell

Mathematics, Statistics and Computer Science Faculty Research and Publications

Hypoplastic left heart syndrome (HLHS) is a clinically and anatomically severe form of congenital heart disease (CHD). Although prior studies suggest that HLHS has a complex genetic inheritance, its etiology remains largely unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize a risk gene in HLHS and its effect on HLHS etiology and outcome. We performed next-generation sequencing on a multigenerational family with a high prevalence of CHD/HLHS, identifying a rare variant in the α-myosin heavy chain (MYH6) gene. A case-control study of 190 unrelated HLHS subjects was then performed and compared with the 1000 Genomes Project. Damaging …

The Scholarly Publishing Scene-- Prose Awards, Again, Myer Kutz

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

Organizational Responses To Institutional Pressures: Reconfiguration Of Spaces In Nanosciences And Nanotechnologies, Nicolas Battard, Paul Donnelly, Vincent Mangematin

Articles

The literature on organizational responses to institutional pressures describes responses ranging from compliance to resistance via different modes of decoupling. However, although these studies provide a greater understanding of the phenomenon, they tend to be disparate and to consider the different elements separately. Through a comparative case study of six research teams in the area of nanosciences and nanotechnologies, we offer three contributions. Our first is to the decoupling literature by way of a complementary and cohesive framework, which shows that organizations vary in their responses by reconfiguring their physical (policy and materiality), mental (meaning) and social (identity) spaces, and …

If Rumors Were Horses, Katina Strauch

Against the Grain

No abstract provided.

December 2016 Quicknotes, Southern Adventist University

QuickNotes – Advancement e-Newsletter

QuickNotes is an e-newsletter that comes from Advancement at Southern Adventist University. December 2016 edition features the article "Year-End Giving Reminder".

Comparison Of Simulation And Hands-On Labs In Helping High School Students Learn Physics Concepts, Matthew Charles Rytting

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the research was to determine whether PhET simulation labs or hands-on labs were more effective in helping students learn physics concepts. This measure was done by comparing quiz scores using recall, calculation, and transfer questions. Additionally, student perceptions of learning from both hands-on and simulation lab experiences were measured. Six labs were conducted with high school physics students on the topics of momentum, energy, circuits, angular momentum, pendulums, and friction. It was found that PhET simulation labs were as effective at creating student understanding, and sometimes more effective, as measured by quizzes given after the labs. Additionally, …

The Role Of Viral Interleukin-6 In Tumor Development Of Kaposi's Sarcoma-Associated Herpesvirus Lymphomas, Rebecca A. Fullwood

Theses and Dissertations

Kaposi's sarcoma herpesvirus (KSHV) is a cancer-causing virus, primarily affecting AIDS patients. KSHV is found in 3-10% of the U.S. population and can cause a range of cancers in the highly immunosuppressed; these cancers include Kaposi's sarcoma, pleural effusion lymphoma (PEL) and multicentric Castleman's disease (MCD). The current techniques for treating these cancers are relatively ineffective, largely due to their inefficiency at targeting tumors formed by the infection. One protein produced by KSHV, the viral homolog of interleukin-6 (vIL-6), is thought to play a major role in tumor development post-infection. Here a novel animal model is implemented to study the …

Nanoemulsions Within Liposomes For Cytosolic Drug Delivery To Multidrug-Resistant Cancer Cells, Jacob Brian Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Cancer cells that survive chemotherapy treatment often develop resistance to the administered chemotherapeutics, as well as to many other types of drugs, because the cancer cells increase their production of efflux pumps in the cell. This undesired phenomenon of resistance to cancer drugs is known as multidrug resistance. This work uses a novel drug carrier, called an eLiposome, to achieve cytosolic drug delivery to kill multidrug-resistant cancer cells. An eLiposome consists of a perfluoropentane (PFC5) emulsion droplet inside of a liposome. Folate attached to the eLiposome facilitates uptake into the cell. The PFC5 droplet is metastable at body temperature, but …

Development Of Highly Variable Microsatellite Markers For The Tetraploid Silene Stellata (Caryophyllaceae), Juannan Zhou, Michele R. Dudash, Charles B. Fenster, Elizabeth A. Zimmer

Natural Resource Management Faculty Publications

Premise of the study:We designed and tested microsatellite markers for the North American native species Silene stellata (Caryophyllaceae) to investigate its population genetic structure and identify selection on floral design through male reproductive success.

Methods and Results: A total of 153 candidate microsatellite loci were isolated based on next-generation sequencing. We identified 18 polymorphic microsatellite loci in three populations of S. stellata, with di- or trinucleotide repeats. Genotyping results showed the number of alleles per locus ranged from six to 45 and expected heterozygosity ranged from 0.511 to 0.951. Five of these loci were successfully amplified in S. …