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Oh Baby! Evaluating The Impact Of Blossom's Natural Childbirth Prep Course On Women's Childbirth Experience, Florence Oxenham

Master's Projects and Capstones

The United States has some of the highest rates of maternal morbidity and mortality among developed countries. Comprehensive childbirth education is an important component of improving maternal health outcomes. This project was a pilot evaluation of a childbirth education course offered by Blossom Birth Services, a community-based non-profit organization providing resources for new and expectant families in the San Francisco Bay Area. A 41-item survey questionnaire was developed and administered to explore the impact of Blossom’s Natural Childbirth Prep course on women’s knowledge, feelings, and sense of self-efficacy regarding childbirth. Likert scales were used and thematic analysis of qualitative data …

Regulation Of Early Zebrafish Embryogenesis By Calcium Signaling And Dachsous1b Cadherin, Jiakun Chen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Early animal embryogenesis entails a dynamic combination of embryonic cleavages, axial patterning, and gastrulation movements to shape a basic body plan. The underlying molecular signaling responsible for regulating this process remains poorly understood. In this thesis work, I first review recent progress in understanding of gastrulation movements in various model organisms brought by advances in imaging techniques. The externally developing and optically translucent zebrafish embryo is an ideal model organism to study vertebrate embryonic development by in vivo imaging. The objective of my thesis research is to leverage experimental advantages in the zebrafish model to uncover novel regulators and elucidate …

Knowledge Driven Approaches And Machine Learning Improve The Identification Of Clinically Relevant Somatic Mutations In Cancer Genomics, Benjamin John Ainscough

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

For cancer genomics to fully expand its utility from research discovery to clinical adoption, somatic variant detection pipelines must be optimized and standardized to ensure identification of clinically relevant mutations and to reduce laborious and error-prone post-processing steps. To address the need for improved catalogues of clinically and biologically important somatic mutations, we developed DoCM, a Database of Curated Mutations in Cancer (http://docm.info), as described in Chapter 2. DoCM is an open source, openly licensed resource to enable the cancer research community to aggregate, store and track biologically and clinically important cancer variants. DoCM is currently comprised of 1,364 variants …

A Novel Model Of “Remedy And Elimination Of Tuberculosis”, Akanksha Mishra

Master's Theses

Tuberculosis (TB), is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. TB is commonly linked to poverty and creates poverty as it is the single largest cause of death in the 15-49-year-old age group in South-East Asia (WHO, 2017). It is also linked to the HIV population, and its leading cause of death. TB is effected by socio-economic factors, cultural factors, and health policy. My goal of this dissertation is to identify systematic approaches that shall support the mission set by World Health Organization (WHO): to eliminate TB globally by the year 2050. Measures might include addressing social barriers …

Response Of Appetite And Appetite Regulating Hormones To Acute Hypoxia, Morgan Busboom, Robert Shute, Dustin Slivka

Journal of Human Performance in Extreme Environments

AIM: To determine the acute response of appetite and appetite regulating hormones after exposure to simulated altitude. METHODS: Seven males and five females (height: 178.9 ± 2.3 cm; weight: 77.3 ± 7.2 kg; body fat: 18.4 ± 1.7%) participated in two, three-hour trials in a hypoxic (5000 m) and normoxic (350 m) environment. Blood samples were collected prior to and immediately following three hours of exposure for the measurement of leptin, adiponectin, and acylated ghrelin. Appetite, acute mountain sickness, heart rate, blood oxygenation, tissue oxygenation, respiration rate, and whole body gases were also measured. RESULTS: Leptin was not different between …

Characterization Of Structural Dynamics Of The Human Head Using Magnetic Resonance Elastography, Andrew Arun Badachhape

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

In traumatic brain injury (TBI), the skull-brain interface, composed of three meningeal layers: the dura mater, arachnoid mater, and pia mater, along with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) between the layers, plays a vital role in transmitting motion from the skull to brain tissue. Magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) is a noninvasive imaging modality capable of providing in vivo estimates of tissue motion and material properties. The objective of this work is to augment human and phantom MRE studies to better characterize the mechanical contributions of the skull-brain interface to improve the parameterization and validation of computational models of TBI. Three specific aims …

Abiotic- And Biotic-Formation Of Manganese Oxides And Their Fate In Environmental Systems, Haesung Jung

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

Manganese (hydr)oxide (Mn (hydr)oxide) minerals are ubiquitous in aquatic and terrestrial environments. These minerals have high surface areas and are highly sorptive and redox active. From decades of accumulated knowledge about natural redox cycling, we have found that Mn (hydr)oxides play critical roles as electron donors and acceptors in elemental geochemical cycling and biological metabolisms in nature. Thus, Mn (hydr)oxides have garnered increasing interest to understand natural systems. Considering the variety of redox reactions with Mn (hydr)oxides in nature, it is also expected that there should be diverse pathways to form Mn (hydr)oxides through abiotic and biotic processes. Previous studies …

Two-Component Hydrogel As Biomimetic Vitreous Substitutes, Sruthi Santhanam

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The vitreous humor of the eye is a biological hydrogel principally composed of fibrillary collagen interspersed with semi-flexible polyelectrolyte, hyaluronic acid (HA). Certain pathological conditions necessitate its removal and replacement. Current vitreous substitutes, such as silicone oils and perfluorocarbons, are hydrophobic, do not resemble the properties of the vitreous, and have known complications. An ideal vitreous substitute should have properties of the natural vitreous, perform its functions, and be biocompatible in the eye. Inspired by the structure and composition of the natural vitreous, we used bio-mimicry to develop an injectable two-component hydrogel. The hydrogel is composed of a fibrillary gellan, …

Characterizing Anisotropy In Fibrous Soft Materials By Mr Elastography Of Slow And Fast Shear Waves, John Larson Schmidt

McKelvey School of Engineering Graduate Student Theses & Dissertations

The general objective of this work was to develop experimental methods based on magnetic resonance elastography (MRE) to characterize fibrous soft materials. Mathematical models of tissue biomechanics capable of predicting injury, such as traumatic brain injury (TBI), are of great interest and potential. However, the accuracy of predictions from such models depends on accuracy of the underlying material parameters. This dissertation describes work toward three aims. First, experimental methods were designed to characterize fibrous materials based on a transversely isotropic material model. Second, these methods are applied to characterize the anisotropic properties of white matter brain tissue ex vivo. Third, …

Probing Consciousness, Samia Bouzid

Capstones

For centuries, the study of consciousness remained the purview of philosophers, spiritualists and religious leaders. But in the 1980s, the co-discoverer of the double-helix, James Crick, initiated a quest for a scientific explanation for consciousness — in a secret club. In the decades that followed, consciousness gained ground as a respectable area of scientific study, in fields such as neuroscience, artificial intelligence and physics. Yet, the more scientists learn about consciousness, the more it calls into question our fundamental assumptions about the way the world works. https://samiabouzid.atavist.com/probing-consciousness

The Vibe, Sarah P. Douglass

Capstones

The Vibe is a long-form narrative about where tech is taking the female orgasm. The piece concludes that physiological research is a required next step when creating the climax of the future.

http://sarahpdouglass.com

Improving Oral Care Practices And Aspiration Risk Assessment To Mitigate Risk Of Hospital Acquired Pneumnia, Jeniffer Baker

Master's Projects and Capstones

Abstract

The aim of Improving Oral Care Practices and Aspiration Risk Assessment to Mitigate Risk of Hospital Acquired Pneumonia is to decrease rates of hospital acquired pneumonia (HAP) on a 16 bed Transitional Care Unit (TCU) with a mixed skill staff. The theme of the project is risk reduction with improved patient outcomes and cost reduction as reasons for implementation. Fourteen cases of HAP were reported in the last 5 quarters which accounts for 48% of all in-patient acquired infections. Through policy development, standardization of oral care technique, and improved risk factor assessment, the project goal is to decrease rates …

Prevention Of Childhood Obesity And Diabetes, Karen Carig

Master's Projects and Capstones

One of the public health concerns that have been on the rise is childhood obesity and diabetes. The National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey indicate that approximately one-third of children in the United States are overweight or obese with 17% meeting criteria for obesity (Pulgaron and Delamater, 2014). This crisis exists nationally and internationally which can effect children in the following ways: physically, socially, psychologically and mentally. Although, genetics also play a role in these diseases, environmental factors, lifestyle preferences and cultural environmental play have a major influence. My internship with the Food Education Project covers a better understanding to …

Ready, Set, Action: Potential Breakthrough Therapy For Treatment-Resistant Depression, Alvin Garlejo

Master's Projects and Capstones

Major depressive disorder is a psychiatric illness that is associated with a variety of debilitating symptoms such as persistent sadness, lack of interest and motivation, lassitude, pessimistic thoughts, and in severe cases, suicidal ideation and behavior. Current psychological and pharmacological treatments have been demonstrated efficacious; however, an ever-growing number of individuals frequently report minimal to no improvement with these treatments; and in some cases, a worsening of symptoms. This inadequacy to treatment is commonly known as treatment-resistant depression. At Kadima Neuropsychiatry Institute, Dr. Feifel treats individuals with treatment-resistant depression with advanced treatments such as TMS and ketamine. During my fieldwork …

Dynamics Of Household Role Performance And The Culture Of Child Health Production In Igbo-Ora, Southwestern Nigeria, Kabiru K. Salami, Ayodele S. Jegede, Frederick O. Oshiname

Journal of Social, Behavioral, and Health Sciences

Studies about production of health for children have mainly concentrated on the behavior of one or two key household members compared to the dynamics in households involving three or more members. Health production refers to the process of directing available knowledge, skills, and resources towards ensuring, maintaining, and sustaining the health of the members. This cross-sectional design study explored how the dynamics of household structure and members’ roles influence the process of health production in a rural Nigerian community. An interviewer-moderated questionnaire was administered through a panel survey approach in 576 households. Twelve in-depth interviews and eight group discussion sessions …

Survey Of Trajectory Tracking Control Of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles, Wen-Yang Gan, Da-Qi Zhu, Wei-Li Xu, Bing Sun

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

Autonomous underwater vehicles (AUVs) are powerful instruments that enable the exploration of the ocean. In recent years, AUVs have been developed considerably. Trajectory tracking control, which has been a major research focus for many decades due to its variety of applications, is one of the key advancements in the AUV technology. This paper presents six trajectory tracking control methods: PID (proportion integration differentiation) control, fuzzy control, adaptive control, sliding mode control, backstepping control, and neural network control. A few novel methods for trajectory tracking control are also introduced. First, the concept of trajectory tracking control for an AUV and the …

Research On Integration And Sharing Solutions For Big Structured Data For The Marine Environment, Wei Wang, Wenfang Cheng, Jing Chen, Ya-Nan Yu, Jianxun Zhang

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

The data-intensive science, a new paradigm in scientific discovery, demands an urgent solution to integrate and share big marine environment data. Through the modeling of marine environmental features (such as Temperature, Salinity, Density et al.), a novel solution is presented in this paper. This solution employs Hadoop and Hbase, based on the Bigtable algorithm first proposed by Google Inc. By using hierarchical technology, scalability of the data integration framework is realized. Additionally, an efficient execution of various queries is realized by using the customized auxiliary index algorithm. In the experimental cluster environment constructed from four ordinary personal computers, experiments involving …

Effects Of Crude Oil On Tumor Suppressor P53 Polymorphisms In Laboratory-Exposed Atlantic Killifish, Fundulus Heteroclitus, Allison Margaret Nadler

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs), constituents of crude oil, are implicated as a potent source of adverse toxicological effects on living organisms. To model the effects of PAHs in response to environmental oil spill disasters a species of killifish (Fundulus heteroclitus) was captured and exposed to crude oil in a laboratory-controlled setting. Over a period of 7 days, fish were dosed with crude oil by gavage, culled, and organs were harvested for analysis. Excitation-emission matrix spectroscopy (EEMS) of gall bladder tissue homogenates was used to verify exposure. Effects of PAHs on the p53 gene were evaluated as an indicator …

Residential Life Curriculum: Wyoming Seminary, Allie Maxwell

Capstone Collection

This course linked capstone will focus on creating a residential life curriculum that is student centered, increases cultural competencies, and strengthens the community of the Wyoming Seminary Upper School. Many boarding schools have accepted international students into their schools to respond to a growing revenue need while simultaneously adding to a school’s diversity. The shift in student demographics has created a secondary level international education sector without many people specializing in this arena. Additionally, there has been a push to increase residential life resources in schools to help increase student support. With the drive for additional support and a growing …

Anti-Japanese Sentiment Among Graduates Of South Korean Public Schools, Jamal Barbari

Capstone Collection

This capstone paper aims to explore how South Koreans, who have graduated public high school within the past seven years (from 2010 to 2017) view Japan and Japanese people, and what (if at all) information concerning Japan and Japanese people was established and received during their presence in the public school system. Through a brief analysis into the history and intricate relationship between Korea and Japan, introduction into hidden curriculum and its significance in this context, as well as ten personal interviews with South Korean graduates who fit the criteria for this research, this capstone paper offers a distinctive insight …

One-Step Synthesis And Characterization Of Biodegradable ‘Click-Able’ Polyester Polymer For Biomedical Applications, Wadha Alqahtani

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

An Abstract of the Thesis by

Wadha Alqahtani

In this study, we have synthesized linear polyester polymers from bio-based small molecules including sorbitol, glutaric acid and others. A propargylic acid derivative was used to make the resulting polymer “click”able. Melt polymerization technique was used for this polymerization reaction using a novel lipase enzyme catalyst, NOVO 435. This reaction was conducted between 90- 95 ^oC for 72 hours. The polymer samples were collected in each 24 h for detailed characterizations and polymerization reaction monitoring. The resulting polymer was purified and characterized using various spectroscopic methods such as NMR, GPC, FTIR, …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Enzyme Catalyzed Biodegradable “Click-Ene” Polymers For Targeted Cancer Therapy, Elaf Alattas

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

In this study, we report various biodegradable polymers with tunable physical properties and their possible drug delivery applications. These polymers were designed in such a way that bio-based starting materials (for example, sorbitol, hexanediol, glutaric acid) were used in order to obtain double-bond functionalized biopolymers in one-pot, and the polymerization reaction was catalyzed using an enzyme catalyst, Novozyme 435. In addition, a novel “Click-ene” chemistry was used to functionalize the resulting polymers in order to target specific cancer cells. The resulting polymers were purified using solvent precipitation method and characterized using spectroscopic techniques such as NMR, FT-IR, GPC, DSC and …

Structured Illumination Diffuse Optical Tomography For Mouse Brain Imaging, Matthew Reisman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

As advances in functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) have transformed the study of human brain function, they have also widened the divide between standard research techniques used in humans and those used in mice, where high quality images are difficult to obtain using fMRI given the small volume of the mouse brain. Optical imaging techniques have been developed to study mouse brain networks, which are highly valuable given the ability to study brain disease treatments or development in a controlled environment. A planar imaging technique known as optical intrinsic signal (OIS) imaging has been a powerful tool for capturing functional …

Influenza A Virus Genomic Reassortment And Packaging, Graham Devin Williams

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A viruses (IAV) are a major human and environmental pathogen. IAV successfully infects a diverse host range and adaptation of new viral strains to humans may cause pandemic events with high morbidity and mortality. As a member of the Orthomyxoviridae family, IAV inherently possesses a segmented genome, which enables a process of segment transmission between viruses following cellular co-infection, a process termed reassortment. The high rate of IAV mutation and continued co-circulation of diverse viral strains in divergent host species leads to the persistent prospect for emergence of new IAV with pandemic potential. Therefore, it is of great importance …

Ependymomas Overexpress Chemoresistance And Dna Repairrelated Proteins, Sherise D. Ferguson, Shouhao Zhou, Joanne Xiu, Yuuri Hashimoto, Nader Sanai, Lyndon Kim, Santosh Kesari, John De Groot, David Spetzler, Amy B. Heimberger

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Background: After surgery and radiation, treatment options for ependymoma are few making recurrence a challenging issue. Specifically, the efficacy of chemotherapy at recurrence is limited. We performed molecular profiling on a cohort of ependymoma cases in order to uncover therapeutic targets and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms contributing to treatment resistance. Results: This ependymoma cohort showed minimal alterations in gene amplifications and mutations but had high expression rates of DNA synthesis and repair enzymes such as RRM1 (47%), ERCC1 (48%), TOPO1 (62%) and class III β-tublin (TUBB3) (57%), which are also all associated with chemoresistance. This cohort also had high …

Conservation Easements: A Flexible New Tool For Washington Tribes, A Case Study Of The Lower Elwha Klallam Tribe, David P. Papiez

American Indian Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Tensorviz: Visualizing The Training Of Convolutional Neural Network Using Paraview (Poster), Xinyu Chen, Qiang Guan, Xin Liang, Li-Ta Lo, Simon Su, Trilce Estrada, James Ahrens

Computer Science Faculty Research & Creative Works

Deep Convolutional Networks have been very successful in visual recognition tasks recently. Lots of previous works aimed to help people to get senses of why those biology-inspired networks achieved such good performances. Deconvnet[1], Guided propagation[2] and a comprehensive visualization tool box[3] can help people to see features learned at different layers of the networks. These works in some extent provided understanding and support for the biology origin of how convolutional networks emulate visual recognition tasks. However, due to the complexity of searching in very high dimensional parameter space, the whole training remains in black-boxes. Normally a large network needs weeks …

Conquering Visual Challenges While Hunting Across The Air-Water Interface; A Study Of Foraging Day Herons, Holly Brown

Doctoral Dissertations

Among several visual challenges of hunting across the air-water interface are glare, which obscures prey below the water surface; and refraction, which causes submerged prey to appear where they are not. These challenges are exacerbated by the fact that prey have visual (and other) adaptations for detecting predators. To forage successfully on underwater prey, predators must compensate. Herons are good model animals for studying how predators compensate for visual challenges at the air-water interface; they are visually-hunting, fish-eating birds. Herons also regularly tilt their long necks (“head-tilt”) while hunting, which I hypothesized could aid in compensating for glare, refraction, and …

Negotiating Motherhood And Intersecting Inequalities: A Qualitative Study Of African American Mothers And The Socialization Of Adolescent Daughters, Brandyn-Dior Mckinley

Doctoral Dissertations

'Archival abstract submitted'

Modeling Iron Oxide Reactivity In The Environment, Nefeli Maria Bompoti

Doctoral Dissertations

Iron oxides and hydroxides are highly reactive mineral phases in natural systems since they interact with pollutants, controlling their fate and transport in the environment. Goethite (GH) and hematite (HT) are the most abundant iron minerals in nature, while ferrihydrite (FH) is a nanomineral with high surface reactivity. Subsurface transport modeling has usually represented the adsorption processes by empirical relationships, such as distribution coefficients (K_d) or isotherm equations. However, empirical approaches cannot account for variable geochemical conditions. These effects can be addressed by the mechanistic surface complexation models (SCMs). So far, the application of SCMs has been limited …