Digital Commons Network^™

Tools For Anti-Microbial Peptide Editable Database, Sunandha Sharma Acharya

Open Access Master's Theses

The goal of this thesis is to create tools for Anti-Microbial Peptide Database AMPed, developed by Professor Lenore Martin’s microbial peptide research group at University of Rhode Island. The database is for Researchers and Biologists, as they will be the main users. To develop a functioning and efficient database there should be tools that are relevant to the users of the database. In our case, the primary users are biologists, needing to calculate specific results or to visualize their data. The tools that are developed as a part for this thesis are the MIC (Minimal Inhibitory Concentration) and MLC (Minimal …

Investigating Rhode Island Town Beaches Litter Policies, Sara Benson

Open Access Master's Theses

Marine litter in coastal areas creates environmental, social and aesthetic problems. Environmental effects of marine debris include choking animals, entanglement of marine mammals and killing marine life through the leaching of chemicals. Marine debris can negatively impact humans and the economies of coastal communities. The issues pertaining to marine debris are so expansive it is difficult to assess where to start mitigating the issue. Focusing on beaches is a small, yet significant start to solving the overall marine debris issue. Many turn to beach or ocean cleanups; however, controlling litter before it enters the marine environment will be more effective …

Effect Of A Nutritiion Intervention On Fruit And Vegetable Intake In Elementary School Students, Jennifer L. Goodwin

Open Access Master's Theses

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a 10-week Policy, Systems, and Environment (PSE) nutrition education curriculum to increase fruit and vegetable (FV) intake, PSE and FV knowledge, and improvement in attitudes towards FV.

Design: Quasi -experimental design.

Participants/Setting: N=312 (intervention=142, comparison=170) 5th grade students in low-income, urban elementary schools in Pawtucket, RI selected by established working relationship between project committee members and teachers in the Pawtucket School District.

Intervention: Both groups participated in the Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program. Intervention schools received an additional 10-week PSE education curriculum. Both groups completed pre and post-surveys.

Main Outcome …

Perceptions Of Participants In The Noaa Marine Sanctuary Nomination Process: A Case Study Of Mallows Bay-Potomac River, Cathrine L. Denman

Open Access Master's Theses

Many researchers acknowledge that including the public in marine protected area (MPA) planning and management can lead to more effective management, increased levels of trust, and project ownership that encourages project support. However, planners and managers lack clear guidance on how to design and implement successful participatory processes that effectively and meaningfully engage the public. This study investigated the Mallows Bay-Potomac River National Marine Sanctuary nomination process, a recently established process for nominating areas of national significance, to provide insights into how the public was involved in the process. More specifically, the goal of this study was to highlight how …

The Impact Of Communication Technology: The Influence Of Task Type On Group Performance, Zhi Li

Open Access Master's Theses

This thesis on how communication technology influences group performances. The purpose of this study is to examine whether there is a difference in group performance across different communication media when groups are working on an idea-generation task. Past research proposed that different communication media contain different degrees of richness of information transmitted through media and the information richness requirements of that task. Face-to-face (FTF) communication was considered as an information-rich medium.

Computer-mediated (CM) communication was conceived as being limited in information richness. Therefore, the investigator proposed a hypothesis that groups using CM communication will outperform FTF groups when working on …

Receptor-Protein Interactions Mediated By The Fourth Transmembrane Of D2r Can Be Altered By Treatment With Antipsychotics, Craig Michael Irving

Open Access Master's Theses

The treatment of psychological diseases like schizophrenia has depended on the use of antipsychotic drugs many of which were created as far back as the 1970’s. These drugs typically act on the D2 dopamine receptor (D2R) to antagonize its signaling and alter the signaling of the mesolimbic and mesocortical dopaminergic pathways in the brain. Several studies have indicated that it may be more important to identify the specific receptor-protein interactions which could prove to be more beneficial drug targets for the treatment of schizophrenia (Magalhaes, Dunn, & Ferguson, 2012). In this study we identified that the fourth transmembrane motif in …

The Exploration Of Young Audiences And Identity Development Through Social Media Platforms, Sara L. Benn

Open Access Master's Theses

Past research found that messages in popular television promote fame as a top value, while social media allows anyone to reach broad audience. Adolescents ages 11-17 are more likely to value fame, wealth, and image over community, affiliation, and self-acceptance. Teens may become addicted to the peer connection and affirmation they are able to get via social media. As a result, young audiences may be highly influenced at this stage of development and their value system may be influenced negatively by their use of social media? Despite this research, some researchers see adolescent social media use well within normal socialization, …

Plat: A Web Based Protein Local Alignment Tool, Stephen H. Jaegle

Open Access Master's Theses

Protein structure largely determines functionality; three-dimensional structural alignment is thus important to analysis and prediction of protein function. Protein Local Alignment Tool (PLAT) is an implementation of a web-based tool with a graphic interface that performs local protein structure alignment based on user-selected amino acids. Global alignment compares entire structures; local alignment compares parts of structures. Given input from the user and the RCSB Protein Data Bank, PLAT determines an optimal translation and rotation that minimizes the distance between the structures defined by the selected inputs.

Flavin-Containing Monooxygenase-3 And 5: Tissue Distribution, Age-Related Expression And Regulation By Endoplasmic Reticulum Stress, Zhen Xu

Open Access Master's Theses

Background Flavin-containing monooxygenases (FMO) constitute a class of oxidative enzymes. FMO3 and FMO5 are two major FMOs that are highly expressed in the liver. The study was performed to determine regulated expression of both enzymes by age, fructose, therapeutic agents and endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stressors. The expression of both enzymes in 33 extrahepatic tissues was determined as well.

Methods The tissue distribution of FMO3 and FMO5 was determined by immunohistochemistry. For age-related expression, livers were collected and divided into 5 age groups: I (< 31 days), II (35-70 days), III (89-119 days), IV (123-198 days), and V (>18 years of age). These samples were analyzed for the expression of FMO3 and FMO5 by …

Circadian Rhythm: A Functional Connection Between Shp And Dec1 Transcription Factor, Marek Matczynski Marczak

Open Access Master's Theses

Circadian rhythms ensure physiological processes to be coordinated with daily changes of the surrounding. Circadian rhythm misalignment has been increasingly recognized to pose health risk for a wide range of diseases, particularly metabolic disorders. The liver maintains metabolic homeostasis and express many circadian genes, such as the genes encoding differentiated embryo chondrocyte-1 (DEC1) and small heterodimer partner (SHP). DEC1 is established to repress transcription through class B E-box elements, and SHP belongs to the superfamily of nuclear receptors and has multiple Ebox elements in its promoter. Importantly, DEC1 and SHP are expressed in an inverse oscillating manner. The present study …

Structural Transformations In Diluted Micellar And Lamellar Systems, Blanca Zelaya-Rincón

Open Access Master's Theses

The role of dilution by artificial hard water on nanostructures present in body wash samples provided by Procter and Gamble were investigated using time-resolved cryogenic transmission electron microscopy (cryo-TEM). Samples with and without perfume were examined at 10X, 20X, and 50X dilution. Micellar samples transformed to mostly unilamellar vesicles at 50X dilution, in contrast to the micelle to monomer transition seen in typical samples. At lower dilutions, a change in morphology from spherical to wormlike micelles was observed. For lamellar samples, lower dilution ratios show tightly packed multilamellar vesicles, while higher dilution ratios show more dispersed vesicles with less bilayers. …

Assessment Of Activity Of Bacteria In Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge, Hannes Behrmann

Open Access Master's Theses

In this study, the feasibility of a manometric batch test method to measure biological activity of Integrated Fixed Film Activated Sludge (IFAS) microbial aerobic and anaerobic communities was investigated. Additionally, the substrate consumption ratio, the N₂O emissions from the biological activity of the different microbial populations and the inhibitory effect of stormwater pollutants on the activity and N₂O production were investigated as well.

The obtained results from the aerobic tests showed qualitative correspondence with trends described in the literature, but differed greatly in quantitative terms (1 to 2 orders of magnitude). The anoxic test did not …

The Physiological Glucagon Receptor In Rat Heart, Kevin Agostinucci

Open Access Master's Theses

The actions of glucagon have been extensively studied for many years. In heart, it is well established that glucagon is capable of causing inotropy. This action is mediated by glucagon binding to a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) which activates adenylate cyclase, increasing the intracellular concentrations of cAMP. The studies that were able to show this effect used concentrations of glucagon that were considered to be much higher than what is normally found in blood. A recent report, by Harney and Rodgers (2008), described the actions and signaling mechanisms of physiological concentrations of glucagon (<10^-10 M) on perfused rat hearts. …

Bubble Modeling By Mixed Casual-Noncausal Autoregressive Processes, Anton Lobach

Open Access Master's Theses

Some financial time series exhibit short periods of explosive local trends followed by an abrupt decline. Such trends can be a result of speculative bubble phenomena. A bubble is formed when investors' future profits expectations influence the present market value of securities. Mixed causal-noncausal autoregressive processes (MAR) are able to better capture such behavior in comparison to standard causal ARIMA models. In the first part of this work we propose an alternative distribution (Voigt) to model the disturbances in the MAR processes. The Voigt, a convolution of Gaussian and Cauchy distributions, is used in atomic and molecular spectroscopy, and is …

From Loving Mother To Welfare Queen To Drug Addict: Lebron V. Secretary Of Florida Department Of Children And Families And The Evolving Public View Of The Poor As A Class Of Sub-Humans With Sub-Rights, Nikita Mcmillian

MC Law Review

No abstract provided.

The Family Law Bar, The Interdisciplinary Resource Center For Separating And Divorcing Parents, And The "Spark To Kindle The White Flame Of Progress", Andrew Schepard, Marsha Kline Pruett, Rebecca Love Kourlis

Hofstra Law Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

A Critical Race Theory Intervention Into The Cultural Defense Debate, Phoebe Shen

Scripps Senior Theses

The cultural defense is an informal term that describes the use of cultural information to mitigate criminal responsibility, often used in conjunction with traditional defense strategies such as provocation or insanity. Arguments for the cultural defense include respecting cultural practices under the liberal narrative that frames the United States as a multicultural and pluralistic society. Advocates of the cultural defense recognize the harmful effects of the false universalism of the law. However, the cultural defense has been criticized as essentialist and harmful as it has been used in high profile cases to justify violence against women of color. The cultural …

People Want To Know Who We Are: Contestations Over National Identity Through Film, Monika Lee

Scripps Senior Theses

A critical analysis of the film Remember the Titans, released in 2000, shows a preoccupation with nation and national identity through race and football. Set in 1971, it follows the desegregation and integration of a high school football team in Virginia. The film articulates a revisionist racial reconciliation reading of the Civil War based on white suffering and subsequent redemption. At its core it is a story about the progress of race relations and racism, framed as interpersonal relationships and segregation, in the United States.

"She's Not A Real Monster": Orphan Black's Helena And The Monstrous-Feminine, Natalie Eisen

Scripps Senior Theses

This thesis explores the idea of the “monstrous-feminine,” or the idea that female monsters of television and film are linked to their femininity in a way that male monsters are not linked to their masculinity. Using the work of scholars such as Barbara Creed, Shelley Stamp Lindsey, and Jane M. Ussher, the thesis covers various facets of women’s lives as seen through the distorted lens of the monstrous. The character of Helena from the television show Orphan Black is used as a concrete example of the stages of the monstrous-feminine: the girl-child, menstruation and puberty, sexuality, and motherhood.

Culture As A Tool Of Exclusion: An Analysis Of Mathieu Kassovitz's La Haine, Abigail Maccumber

Scripps Senior Theses

Using the film La Haine (1995), directed by Mathieu Kassovitz, as an object of analysis, this paper explores culture as a tool of exclusion in France through sociological, architectural, and political contexts. It investigates La Haine as one of the first representations of the banlieue to mainstream French audiences, as well as the ways in which the film reveals how immigrants and children of immigrants struggle to find personal, cultural, and national identity in France.

Understanding The Effects Of Disgust And Political Ideology On Moral Judgment Through Photography, Xijia Yuan

Scripps Senior Theses

Feelings of disgust may have effects on one’s moral judgment; specifically that experience of disgust has linked to increased severity of moral judgments. Additionally, one’s political beliefs may also affect one’s moral judgment, such as conservatives tend to make harsher judgment toward moral situations and behaviors. A 2 x 2 x 2 factorial quasi-experiment has been proposed to study 420 participants, legal adults from both conservative and liberal neighborhoods, randomly assigned to one of two conditions, disgust-eliciting versus neutral. Participants will view either four disgust-eliciting photographs or four neutral photographs, and then complete survey questions on disgust rating, moral judgment, …

Robert Parker’S Wine Advocate And The Consequential Pricing Of Provençal Wines, Gweneth Marter

Scripps Senior Theses

Robert Parker is an esteemed, somewhat controversial wine-critic. Since 1978, Parker has assigned every wine he tastes a score between 50 and 100. He uses this method to communicate to both consumers and producers his opinion of the quality, taste, and aging potential of the wine. Between the years 2005 and 2015, Robert Parker graded 115 wines from the French region of Provence. The goal of this thesis is to determine whether and to what extent Robert Parker’s grades affect the price of wine. Through descriptive statistics and regression analysis of Robert Parker’s grade and year of production on the …

Fiduciary Duties Of Corporate Directors In Uncertain Times, Ellen J. Odoner, Stephen A. Radin, Lyuba A. Goltser, Andrew E. Blumberg

Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership

Directors addressing new political uncertainties, a host of heightened challenges and asserted “best practices” from many sources may understandably ask whether their fiduciary duties have changed as well. This paper synthesizes the latest decisions of the Delaware courts on the standards of conduct for directors and the standards by which their conduct is reviewed. While directors should expect uncertainty to be a fact of corporate life for the foreseeable future, this paper emphasizes that neither the fiduciary duties of directors nor the protections afforded them have changed. Disinterested and independent directors acting in good faith continue to have broad protections …

Report From The General Counsel Summit On Short-Termism And Public Trust, Ira M. Millstein Center For Global Markets And Corporate Ownership

Ira M. Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership

This summary report was prepared for participants in the General Counsel Corporate Governance Summit and presents some of the key discussion topics and views of participants at the summit. It is not intended to provide a complete summary or represent a unanimous consensus of the summit’s proceedings.

#Candy: Creating Categories To Introduce Search Strategies, Kayla Birt Flegal

Library Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Development Of Disaster Management In Turkey: From 1999 Kocaeli Earthquake To 2011 Van Earthquake, Mert Tolon, Kağan Cenk Mızrak

Civil Engineering Faculty Publications

The natural disasters that have occurred in Turkey are categorized as % 61 earthquakes, followed by landslides, floods, rock falls, fires and storms. Between the years of 1903 and 2000, there have been nearly 150 earthquakes in Turkey which led to damage and this is a challenge for Turkey. The management and plans of these natural disasters in Turkey were first developed in 1959. In 1999, with the magnitude of 7.4, The Kocaeli and Duzce earthquakes affected a region of Turkey that constitutes % 23 of the country’s population. After that, in 2000 necessary laws have been prepared and enacted. …

Onboard Load Sensor For Use In Freight Railcar Applications, Constantine Tarawneh, Jazmin Ley, Dylan Blackwell, Stephen Crown, Brent Wilson

Mechanical Engineering Faculty Publications

Approximately 40% of intercity freight transportation occurs by rail, making it the most widely used method of transporting large commodities. This trend is expected to persist over the next thirty years as our highway systems are strained and experiencing increased congestion and costly delays. Currently, the load of freight railcars is typically measured by weighbridges or retrofitted tracks at isolated locations. This practice is not efficient and limited by the fact that the load of the railcar cannot be monitored continuously, not to mention the inherent inaccuracies of such systems. Hence, there is great merit for an onboard load sensor …

Managing Operator Mental Workload With Standards Based Decision Support, Maurice Wilkins

H-Workload 2017: Models and Applications (Works in Progress)

H-Workload 2017: The first international symposium on human mental workload, Dublin Institute of Technology, Dublin, Ireland, June 28-30.

Facing Human Workload: The Resilient Ego: A Psychoanalytic Point Of View, Glauco Maria Genga, Maria Gabriella Pediconii

H-Workload 2017: Models and Applications (Works in Progress)

The paper aims to show new connections among Human Factors, Human Workload and Resilience. We intend: 1) to highlight the role of subject in facing the human workload, inflected as demanding tasks and emergency situations; 2) to show how psychoanalysis can provide novel insights, not only into human errors, but also into human resilience. They have a common denominator, at least in part: the role of subjective contributions even in demanding situations. Human workload includes a work for satisfaction. We recall also the case study of US Airways Flight 1549 water landing (the so called “Miracle on the Hudson”), which …

A Model For Monitoring End-User Security Policy Compliance, Mutlaq Alotaibi

School of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics Theses

Organisations increasingly perceive their employees as a great asset that needs to be cared for; however, at the same time, they view employees as one of the biggest potential threats to their cyber security. Organizations repeatedly suffer harm from employees who are not obeying or complying with their information security policies. Non-compliance behaviour of an employee, either unintentionally or intentionally, pose a real threat to an organization’s information security. As such, more thought is needed on how to encourage employees to be security compliant and more in line with a security policy of their organizations. Based on the above, this …