Digital Commons Network^™

An Investigation Of Biological Carbon Sequestration At The Pea Ridge National Military Park, Dorine Reed Bower

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The direct correlation between increasing levels of atmospheric CO2 and global temperatures is now irrefutable. A 50% increase in atmospheric CO2 levels from a pre-industrial level of 270 ppm to a present-day level of 405 ppm, has resulted in documented record temperatures and a concomitant rising of sea levels from melting ice caps.

The ability of biological/terrestrial ecological systems to store atmospheric carbon is a viable option in the effort to mitigate the climate impacts of rising anthropogenically-caused greenhouse gas emissions. Components of the vegetation and soils in the Pea Ridge National Military Park (the Park) were examined for carbon …

3d Printed Pcu/Uhmwpe Polymeric Blends For Artificial Knee Meniscus, Raissa Araujo Borges

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

3D printing was used to fabricate porous artificial knee meniscus material from biocompatible polymeric blends of polycarbonate-urethane (PCU) and ultra-high-molecular-weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) to enable “weep” lubrication that mimics the native meniscus. 3D printed and molded pure PCU, as well as molded PCU and UHMWPE, were used for comparison. Preliminary printing was done to evaluate the impact of process parameters on the results. The samples were subject to a variety of rotational oscillating friction and wear tests under simulated body fluid and loading conditions to replicate the natural motion of the knee. Results show that 3D printed PCU samples yielded a …

Design Of A Small, Affordable Low Intensity Focused Ultrasound Device For Vagus Nerve Stimulation, Kelsey C. Bayer

Open Access Theses

Depression is a serious public health issue that affects more than 300 million people worldwide. While there are antidepressant drugs to alleviate depressive symptoms, 10 – 30% of patients either do not respond or develop a tolerance to these drugs. Researchers have found a correlation between the inflammatory response and treatment-resistant depression (TRD). Blocking this inflammatory pathway with electrical vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) can reduce cytokine levels and depressive symptoms. However, placing an electrical VNS device is invasive, costly, and poses a risk to the vagus nerve. Low intensity focused ultrasound (LIFU) is a novel therapy that is able to …

Superresolution Imaging Identifies That Conventional Trafficking Pathways Are Not Essential For Endoplasmic Reticulum To Outer Mitochondrial Membrane Protein Transport., Kyle Salka, Shivaprasad Bhuvanendran, Kassandra Wilson, Petros Bozidis, Mansi Mehta, Kristin Rainey, Hiromi Sesaki, George H Patterson, Jyoti K. Jaiswal, Anamaris M. Colberg-Poley

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Most nuclear-encoded mitochondrial proteins traffic from the cytosol to mitochondria. Some of these proteins localize at mitochondria-associated membranes (MAM), where mitochondria are closely apposed with the endoplasmic reticulum (ER). We have previously shown that the human cytomegalovirus signal-anchored protein known as viral mitochondria-localized inhibitor of apoptosis (vMIA) traffics from the ER to mitochondria and clusters at the outer mitochondrial membrane (OMM). Here, we have examined the host pathways by which vMIA traffics from the ER to mitochondria and clusters at the OMM. By disruption of phosphofurin acidic cluster sorting protein 2 (PACS-2), mitofusins (Mfn1/2), and dynamin related protein 1 (Drp1), …

24-Month Hiv-Free Survival Among Infants Born To Hiv-Positive Women Enrolled In Option B+ Program In Kigali, Rwanda: The Kabeho Study, Michelle Gill, Heather J. Hoffman, Dieudonne Ndatimana, Placidie Mugwaneza, Laura Guay, +Several Additional Authors

Genomics and Precision Medicine Faculty Publications

Lifelong antiretroviral therapy (ART) provision to all pregnant HIV-positive women (“Option B+”) has been recommended by the World Health Organization since 2013, but there remain limited data on the effects of Option B+ on long-term HIV-free survival in breastfeeding HIV-exposed infants. The Kigali Antiretroviral and Breastfeeding Assessment for the Elimination of HIV (Kabeho) study enrolled HIV-positive women from the third trimester of pregnancy to 2 weeks postpartum in 14 heath facilities implementing Option B+ in Kigali, Rwanda. Mother–child pairs in the longitudinal observational cohort were followed until 24 months postpartum, with HIV diagnostic testing at 6 weeks, and 9, 18 …

Confined Photonic Mode Propagation Observed In Photoemission Electron Microscopy, Theodore Stenmark, Robert Campbell Word, Rolf Konenkamp

Physics Faculty Publications and Presentations

Using photoemission electron microscopy (PEEM) we present a comparative analysis of the wavelength dependence of propagating fields in a simple optical slab waveguide and a thin film photonic crystal W1-type waveguide. We utilize an interferometric imaging approach for light in the near-ultraviolet regime where a 2-photon process is required to produce photoelectron emission. The typical spatial resolution in these experiments is < 30 nm. Electromagnetic theory and finite element simulations are shown to be in good agreement with the experimental observations. Our results indicate that multiphoton PEEM is a useful sub-wavelength characterization technique in thin film optics.

Companion Planting: Effects Of Radishes On Squash Bugs, Daniel Dejong

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Throughout history, humans have continuously looked for easier and improved ways of growing our food. Over centuries of hybridizing crop varieties and more recently the invention and implementation of genetically modified (GM) seeds, we have created a food system that is dependent on chemical and seed companies to provide protection from environmental pests. The purpose of this thesis is not to discredit or dissuade someone from using GM seeds, but to take a look at some methods that could protect crops from environmental pests naturally, either for organic farmers or home gardeners. Specifically this review will examine methods of controlling …

Is Your Research Reproducible?, Andrée Rathemacher, Harrison Dekker, Amanda Izenstark

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Slides from a presentation, "Is Your Research Reproducible?", offered at the University of Rhode Island Libraries on December 1 and December 5, 2017.

"Learn more about the reproducibility crisis, how tools like the Open Science Framework can help you contribute to solutions, and about how proper management of your code and data helps you and other researchers."

Part of the University Libraries' Search Savvy Seminar series.

Main file is a PDF file of speaker slides as presented. Supplementary file is a PDF file of speaker slides with notes, including extra slides that were not used for presentation.

An Assessment Of Frontal Lobe Activity And Bdnf Levels Following Concussion In Collegiate Athletes: A Near-Infrared Spectroscopy Study, Keara Kangas

All NMU Master's Theses

Impacts to the head that are associated with sports related injuries, can result in a mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI), known as a concussion. Previous research has assessed how mTBIs affect the brain, but these assessments are limited in their ability to directly measure the consequences of mTBI. Along with concussion assessments, only a few studies have used neuroimaging techniques to evaluate brain injury. This study utilized a neuroimaging technique that is inexpensive, non-invasive, and portable, to measure brain activity post-concussion. In particular, near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) was used to measure prefrontal cortex (PFC) activity during the dot-probe task of affective …

(Dis)Integrated Identities: Experiences Of Tenure- Track Engineering Faculty Who Identify As Sexual Minorities, Robyn Elisa Sandekian

Dissertations

This study was conducted to explore how full-time, tenure-track engineering faculty members who self-identify as sexual minorities have experienced working in Doctoral Universities. Literature reviewed for this study included the history of higher education and engineering education in the United States; a review of the differences between engineering and science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields; and an overview of the history of discrimination against sexual minorities. Using a mixed-methods explanatory sequential methodology, the study included an anonymous web-based survey followed by semi-structured interviews of the participants who agreed to be contacted. During the interviews, participants shared photographs of their …

Biological Biomedical Seminar | Biological Recovery Of Macroinvertebrate Communities In Acid Mine Impaired Streams, Dec. 4, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Science Café | Before Lions Were King Discovering Africa's First Meat-Eaters, Dec. 6, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Mcb 7410 Seminar Use Of Network Medicine To Predict Molecular Signatures Of Ovarian Diseases, Dec. 5, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

How To Best Apply Neural Networks In Geosciences: Towards Optimal "Averaging" In Dropout Training, Afshin Gholamy, Justin Parra, Vladik Kreinovich, Olac Fuentes, Elizabeth Y. Anthony

Departmental Technical Reports (CS)

The main objectives of geosciences is to find the current state of the Earth -- i.e., solve the corresponding inverse problems -- and to use this knowledge for predicting the future events, such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. In both inverse and prediction problems, often, machine learning techniques are very efficient, and at present, the most efficient machine learning technique is deep neural training. To speed up this training, the current learning algorithms use dropout techniques: they train several sub-networks on different portions of data, and then "average" the results. A natural idea is to use arithmetic mean for this …

Graduate Internship Report - Joseph A. Gregori High School, Kyle L. Beeman

Agricultural Education: Graduate Internship Reports

This internship and project report includes validation documents required in meeting the quality criteria for secondary-level programs of instruction in agriculture. The documents are concurrently used for the Agriculture Incentive Grant review process at Joseph A Gregori High School conducted by representatives of the California Department of Education. The internship includes the development of 16 steel raised garden beds for the Agriculture Department through a USDA farm to school grant. The supporting material includes information to receive state and local funding, outline the goals and objectives of the program, along with an overview of Gregori agriculture program and community

Clemson Commencement Program, December 2017, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Synthesis And In Vitro Antimycobacterial Activity Of Novel N-Arylpiperazines Containing An Ethane-1,2-Diyl Connecting Chain, Tomás Gonec, Ivan Malík, Jozef Csöllei, Josef Jampílek, Jirina Stolaríková, Ivan Solovic, Peter Miku, Stanislava Keltoová, Peter Kollár, Jim O'Mahony, Aidan Coffey

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

© 2017 by the authors. Novel 1-(2-{3-/4-[(alkoxycarbonyl)amino]phenyl}-2-hydroxyethyl)-4-(2-fluorophenyl)-piperazin-1-ium chlorides (alkoxy = methoxy to butoxy; 8a-h) have been designed and synthesized through multistep reactions as a part of on-going research programme focused on finding new antimycobacterials. Lipophilic properties of these compounds were estimated by RP-HPLC using methanol/water mobile phases with a various volume fraction of the organic modifier. The log kw values, which were extrapolated from intercepts of a linear relationship between the logarithm of a retention factor k (log k) and volume fraction of a mobile phase modifier (jM), varied from 2.113 (compound 8e) to 2.930 (8h) and indicated relatively high …

The Impact Of Teaching Physics Via Modeling On Modifying Alternative Conception Of Energy And Momentum Conservation Among 11th Grade Female Students, Abdulah K. Ambusaidi, Rahma M. Al Sabri

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

This study investigated the impact of teaching physics via modeling on theacquisition of energy and momentum conservation concepts. The sample consisted of 91 female students selected from 11th grade female students in two schools in Al-Dakhiliyah Governorate in Oman. The experimental group (n = 45) was taught via the modeling method, and the control group (n = 46) was taught using a traditional method. The study lasted six weeks during the second semester of the academic year 2013/2014. A teacher guide for teaching by models was designed and validated by a group of experts. To measure the acquisition of physics …

Morphologically-Directed Raman Spectroscopy For Forensic Soil Analysis, Brooke Weinger Kammrath, Andrew Koutrakos, Josemar A. Castillo, Cathryn Langley, Debbie Huck-Jones

Forensic Science Publications

Morphologically-directed Raman spectroscopy (MDRS) is a novel yet reliable analytical technique that can be used for a variety of forensic applications, enabling scientists to gain more information from samples than they obtain using more traditional methods. In soil forensics, MDRS delivers particle size distribution and microscopic morphological characteristics for the particles present, and at the same time allows secure mineral identification. In this article, we explore the benefits of utilizing soil in forensic investigations, and demonstrate the value of applying MDRS. Two case studies illustrate the real-life potential and applications of this technology.

Short-Term Toxicity Of 1-Methylnaphthalene To Americamysis Bahia And 5 Deep-Sea Crustaceans, Anthony H. Knap, Nicholas R. Turner, Gopal Bera, Dorothy-Ellen A. Renegar, Tamara Frank, Jose Sericano, Bernhard Riegl

Marine & Environmental Sciences Faculty Articles

There are few studies that have evaluated hydrocarbon toxicity to vertically migrating deep-sea micronekton. Crustaceans were collected alive using a 9-m² Tucker trawl with a thermally insulated cod end and returned to the laboratory in 10 °C seawater. Toxicity of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon 1-methylnaphthalene to Americamysis bahia, Janicella spinacauda, Systellaspis debilis, Sergestes sp., Sergia sp., and a euphausiid species was assessed in a constant exposure toxicity test utilizing a novel passive dosing toxicity testing protocol. The endpoint of the median lethal concentration tests was mortality, and the results revealed high sensitivity of the deep-sea micronekton …

A Revitalized Educational Conception Of Growth In The 21st Century For Contemporary Education Praxis In Nebraska, Scott Blum

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Theses and Other Student Research

My dissertation argues for a revitalized conception of growth in the 21^st century and contemporary education. Through reconstruction, re-conceptualizing, and re-emphasis of growth, this revitalization attends to acute challenges in schooling and can impact praxis in education today. This pragmatic and philosophical work places a revitalized conception of growth as the purpose of education and, to the extent that education is life, continual growth as a process for living.

John Dewey provided his conception of growth during the 19^th and 20^th centuries as he valued the natural capacities a human being possesses for experiencing life. He recognized …

Incidence Of Cognitively Defined Late-Onset Alzheimer's Dementia Subgroups From A Prospective Cohort Study., Paul K Crane, Emily Trittschuh, Shubhabrata Mukherjee, Andrew J Saykin, R Elizabeth Sanders, Eric B Larson, Susan M Mccurry, Wayne Mccormick, J D Bowen, Thomas Grabowski, Mackenzie Moore, Julianna Bauman, Alden L Gross, C Dirk Keene, Thomas D Bird, Laura E Gibbons, Jesse Mez

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

INTRODUCTION: There may be biologically relevant heterogeneity within typical late-onset Alzheimer's dementia.

METHODS: We analyzed cognitive data from people with incident late-onset Alzheimer's dementia from a prospective cohort study. We determined individual averages across memory, visuospatial functioning, language, and executive functioning. We identified domains with substantial impairments relative to that average. We compared demographic, neuropathology, and genetic findings across groups defined by relative impairments.

RESULTS: During 32,286 person-years of follow-up, 869 people developed Alzheimer's dementia. There were 393 (48%) with no domain with substantial relative impairments. Some participants had isolated relative impairments in memory (148, 18%), visuospatial functioning (117, 14%), …

Profiling The Immunome Of Little Brown Myotis Provides A Yardstick For Measuring The Genetic Response To White-Nose Syndrome, Michael E. Donaldson, Christina M. Davy, Craig K. R. Willis, Scott Mcburney, Allysia Park, Christopher J. Kyle

KIP Articles

White‐nose syndrome ( WNS ) has devastated populations of hibernating bats in eastern North America, leading to emergency conservation listings for several species including the previously ubiquitous little brown myotis ( Myotis lucifugus ). However, some bat populations near the epicenter of the WNS panzootic appear to be stabilizing after initial precipitous declines, which could reflect a selective immunogenetic sweep. To investigate the hypothesis that WNS exerts significant selection on the immunome of affected bat populations, we developed a novel, high‐throughput sequence capture assay targeting 138 adaptive, intrinsic, and innate immunity genes of putative adaptive significance, as well as their …

Berry Brook Watershed Management Plan –Implementation Projects Phase Iii, The City Of Dover, University Of New Hampshire Stormwater Center (Unhsc)

UNH Stormwater Center

No abstract provided.

Label Free Optical Detection Of Electrical Activity In Mammalian Neurons, Sarmishtha Satpathy

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

We describe an optical technique for label-free detection of the action potential in cultured mammalian neurons. Induced morphological changes due to action potential propagation in neurons are optically interrogated with a phase sensitive interferometric technique. Optical recordings composed of signal pulses mirror the electrical spike train activity of individual neurons in a network. The optical pulses are transient nanoscale oscillatory changes in the optical path length of varying peak magnitude and temporal width. Exogenous application of glutamate to cortical neuronal cultures produced coincident increase in the electrical and optical activity; both were blocked by application of a Na-channel blocker, Tetrodotoxin. …

Molecularly Engineered Surfaces For Early Cancer Diagnosis, Mohammad Raziul Hasan

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Early detection of cancer can have immediate and significant impact on effective treatments for cancer patients and better disease prognosis. In the early stage of cancer, symptoms are initially expressed at molecular and cellular scales. Identification and capture of cancer cells can greatly advance cancer research. This research work is aimed to introduce novel biosensors and technologies for early cancer detection. We developed a one-step method to create nanotextured polymer substrates and showed the effect of surface nanotexture on cancer cell adhesion and cell surface interactions. The nanotextured surface was functionalized with an antibody to selectively capture cancer cells from …

Igait: Vision-Based Low-Cost, Reliable Machine Learning Framework For Gait Abnormality Detection, Saif Sayed

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

Human gait has shown to be a strong indicator of health issues under a wide variety of conditions. For that reason, gait analysis has become a powerful tool for clinicians to assess functional limitations due to neurological or orthopedic conditions that are reflected in gait. Therefore, accurate gait monitoring and analysis methods have found a wide range of applications from diagnosis to treatment and rehabilitation. This thesis focuses on creating a low-cost and non-intrusive vision-based machine learning framework dubbed as iGait to accurately detect CLBP patients using 3-D capturing devices such as MS Kinect. To analyze the performance of the …

Towards The Fabrication Of Bioresorbable Constructs With Customized Properties Using Additive Manufacturing, Prashanth Ravi

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Additive Manufacturing (AM) has been employed to fabricate medical constructs for over two decades. This dissertation investigates the effects of AM process parameters on raster level geometric features and structural properties of bioresorbable constructs. The development of an open architecture custom multi-process 3D printer employed for fabricating bioscaffolds and test structures is discussed. Bioresorbable polymers including a newly synthesized radiopaque polymer, poly (glycerol sebacate fumarate) gadodiamide (Rylar) and medical grade poly-L-lactic acid (PLLA) were investigated. In the first part, the effects of process parameters on raster geometry were investigated to aid in the fabrication of structures with improved geometric features …

Region Based Convolutional Neural Networks For Object Detection And Recognition In Adas Application, Sachit Kaul

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Theses - Archive

Object Detection and Recognition using Computer Vision has been a very interesting and a challenging field of study from past three decades. Recent advancements in Deep Learning and as well as increase in computational power has reignited the interest of researchers in this field in last decade. Implementing Machine Learning and Computer Vision techniques in scene classification and object localization particularly for automated driving purpose has been a topic of discussion in last half decade and we have seen some brilliant advancements in recent times as self-driving cars are becoming a reality. In this thesis we focus on Region based …

Establishment Of Lateral Organ Asymmetries In The Invertebrate Chordate, Ciona Intestinalis, Karl Palmquist , '17, Bradley Justin Davidson , '91

Biology Faculty Works

Background: The evolutionary emergence and diversification of the chordates appear to involve dramatic changes in organ morphogenesis along the left/right axis. However, the ancestral chordate mechanism for establishing lateral asymmetry remains ambiguous. Additionally, links between the initial establishment of lateral asymmetry and subsequent asymmetries in organ morphogenesis are poorly characterized. Results: To explore asymmetric organ morphogenesis during chordate evolution, we have begun to characterize left/right patterning of the heart and endodermal organs in an invertebrate chordate, Ciona intestinalis. Here, we show that Ciona has a laterally asymmetric, right-sided heart. Our data indicate that cardiac lateral asymmetry requires H+/K+ ion flux, …