Digital Commons Network^™

Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding The Recent Zika Outbreak Among A Sample Of South Florida Residents, Mohamed Elakkari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

South Florida has had the largest number of U.S. Zika infection cases during the recent outbreak. This study aimed at assessing South Floridians' basic knowledge, perceptions of the seriousness and susceptibility to Zika infection, their information sources and needs, as well as their attitudes towards the protective measures proposed by the CDC. We also wanted to assess whether any of those factors have affected the frequency of participants' undertaking of the protective behaviors. To this end, we designed an online questionnaire and surveyed the responses of five hundred South Floridians (Age=18-78 years). We found significant gaps in participants' knowledge about …

Dissecting The Components Of Neuropathic Pain, Dale George

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pain is a public health issue affecting the lives of nearly 116 million adults in the US, annually. Understanding the physiological and phenotypic changes that occur in response to painful stimuli is of tremendous clinical interest, but, the complexity of pain and the lack of a representative in vitro model hinders the development of new therapeutics. Pain stimuli are first perceived and transmitted by the neurons within the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) which become hyperexcitable under these conditions. It has now been established that satellite glial cells (SGCs) that ensheathe the DRG cell body actively contribute to this neuronal dysregulation. …

Coloration, Camouflage, And Sexual Dichromatism In The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus Oreganus), Jefferson Brooks

All Master's Theses

In some viperid snakes, natural selection has shaped coloration and patterning to match local habitats, and for males to show greater warning coloration than females due to a less sedentary lifestyle. The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake (Crotalus oreganus) is likely the most abundant ambush predator in eastern Washington, yet little is known about its color variation, how color patterns interact with their habitats, and if male and female snakes show differences in patterning or color. To explore how snake color might interact with the colors of their environment, I used standardized digital photography to record both snake and substrate coloration. …

Evaluation Of Anthelmintic Properties And Toxicity Of Pure Compounds Isolated From Dalea Spp (Plantae, Fabaceae), Victoria Lh Mcpherson

All Master's Theses

Infecting upwards of a billion people worldwide, hookworm is one of the most prevalent parasitic infections affecting the world today. Those infected experience hookworm disease, characterized by severe anemia, which can lead to malnutrition, low birth weights, and physical and mental impairments. Currently, the benzimidazoles albendazole and mebendazole are used as the primary treatment; however, resistance to these drugs is emerging. Due to this resistance, finding new anthelmintic compounds active against hookworm is a priority. Previously, a pure compound isolated from Dalea ornata was identified as having strong anthelmintic activity when used against the hookworm Ancylostoma ceylanicum. This project …

Mechanical And Material Characterization Of Advanced Materials For Tissue Regeneration, Bailey Kylara Ricketts Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

In natural disasters and military deployment operations, injury to long bone can cause extensive damage and be difficult to treat and heal quickly. Explosive devices and trauma often produce long-bone (>2-cm length) wounds that are more complicated than common fractures. Due to the size and complexity of these injuries, they can be difficult to treat in a battlefield environment and take a long time to heal completely and properly. Even after the long healing period, these injuries often require rehabilitation to strengthen the muscles that have weakened in the wounded limb. For military applications especially, these effects can put …

Tarsier Goggles: A Virtual Reality Tool For Experiencing The Optics Of A Dark-Adapted Primate Visual System, Samuel Gochman, Dartmouth Applied Learning & Innovation Lab (Dali), Nathaniel Dominy

Dartmouth Scholarship

Tarsier Goggles is a virtual reality (VR) system that allows users to experience the world through the eyes of the tarsier, a small nocturnal primate with enormous eyes. It serves as a hands-on tool for engaging with scientific concepts in optics, perceptual science, and evolutionary biology. It also encourages users to think about their own perceptual systems and environments in comparison to those of the tarsier. The experience can be self-guided or part of a constructivist learning curriculum, and it allows users to toggle between human and tarsier visions. Tarsier Goggles was built in Unity3D with SteamVR for the HTC …

Atypical Leptospirosis: An Overlooked Cause Of Aseptic Meningitis, Bhavini Kar, Bhavya Bahl, Parekha Yedla, K Ivey

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2018 clinical vignette poster

How Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder Recognize Facial Expressions Displayed By A Rear-Projection Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Anibal Gutierrez, Timothy Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Background: Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience reduced ability to perceive crucial nonverbal communication cues such as eye gaze, gestures, and facial expressions. Recent studies suggest that social robots can be used as effective tools to improve communication and social skills in children with ASD. One explanation has been put forward by several studies that children with ASD feel more contented and motivated in systemized and predictable environment, like interacting with robots.

Objectives: There have been few research studies evaluating how children with ASD perceive facial expression in humanoid robots but no research evaluating facial expression perception …

A Pilot Study On Facial Expression Recognition Ability Of Autistic Children Using Ryan, A Rear-Projected Humanoid Robot, Farzaneh Askari, Huanghao Feng, Timothy D. Sweeny, Mohammad H. Mahoor

Electrical and Computer Engineering: Graduate Student Scholarship

Rear-projected robots use computer graphics technology to create facial animations and project them on a mask to show the robot’s facial cues and expressions. These types of robots are becoming commercially available, though more research is required to understand how they can be effectively used as a socially assistive robotic agent. This paper presents the results of a pilot study on comparing the facial expression recognition abilities of children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) with typically developing (TD) children using a rear-projected humanoid robot called Ryan. Six children with ASD and six TD children participated in this research, where Ryan …

Heat Shock Proteins As Modulators And Therapeutic Targets Of Chronic Disease: An Integrated Perspective, Adrienne L. Edkins, John T. Price, A Graham Pockley, Gregory L. Blatch

Health Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Many heat shock proteins (HSPs) are essential to survival as a consequence of their role as molecular chaperones, and play a critical role in maintaining cellular proteostasis by integrating the fundamental processes of protein folding and degradation. HSPs are arguably among the most prominent classes of proteins that have been broadly linked to many human disorders, with changes in their expression profile and/or intracellular/extracellular location now being described as contributing to the pathogenesis of a number of different diseases. Although the concept was initially controversial, it is now widely accepted that HSPs have additional biological functions over and above their …

Mechanical Suppression Of Osteolytic Bone Metastases In Advanced Breast Cancer Patients: A Randomised Controlled Study Protocol Evaluating Safety, Feasibility And Preliminary Efficacy Of Exercise As A Targeted Medicine, Nicolas H. Hart, Daniel A. Galvao, Christobel Saunders, Dennis R. Taaffe, Kynan T. Feeney, Nigel A. Spry, Daphne Tsoi, Hilary Martin, Raphael Chee, Tim Clay, Andrew D. Redfern, Robert U. Newton

Health Sciences Papers and Journal Articles

Background: Skeletal metastases present a major challenge for clinicians, representing an advanced and typically incurable stage of cancer. Bone is also the most common location for metastatic breast carcinoma, with skeletal lesions identified in over 80% of patients with advanced breast cancer. Preclinical models have demonstrated the ability of mechanical stimulation to suppress tumour formation and promote skeletal preservation at bone sites with osteolytic lesions, generating modulatory interference of tumour-driven bone remodelling. Preclinical studies have also demonstrated anti-cancer effects through exercise by minimising tumour hypoxia, normalising tumour vasculature and increasing tumoural blood perfusion. This study proposes to explore the promising …

A Fresh Start To Bankruptcy Exemptions, Gary E. Sullivan

Articles

Bankruptcy has broadly failed to deliver "fresh starts" to debtors Too often debtors return to states of financial distress following bankruptcy Although bankruptcy delivers a clean slate through the discharge of debts the efficacy of a fresh start depends on a second factor property exemptions While discharge frees a debtor from her existing debts property exemptions determine what property the debtor retains upon exiting bankruptcy For many debtors insufficient and suboptimal property exemption laws undermine fresh starts In fact under current bankruptcy law each state can reject federal bankruptcy exemptions by opting out Bankrupt debtors in "optout" states are forced …

Crosby V. Twitter, Eastern District Of Michigan

Historical and Topical Legal Documents

No abstract provided.

Cc-Type Glutaredoxins Mediate Plant Response And Signaling Under Nitrate Starvation In Arabidopsis, Ji-Yul Jung, Ji Hoon Ahn, Daniel P. Schachtman

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Background: Nitrogen is an essential nutrient in plants. Despite the importance of nitrogen for plant growth and agricultural productivity, signal transduction pathways in response to nitrate starvation have not been fully elucidated in plants.

Results: Gene expression analysis and ectopic expression were used to discover that many CC-type glutaredoxins (ROXYs) are differentially expressed in response to nitrate deprivation. A gain-of-function approach showed that ROXYs may play a role in nutrient sensing through the regulation of chlorophyll content, root hair growth, and transcription of nitrate-related genes such as NRT2.1 under low or high nitrate conditions. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) …

Risks And Opportunities Of Gm Crops: Bt Maize Example, Andrea K. Carzoli, Siddique I. Aboobucker, Leah L. Sandall, Thomas T. Lubberstedt, Walter P. Suza

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

The anticipated world population growth emphasizes a need to produce more food on less land. Cutting-edge technologies, including genetic engineering, can help to develop improved crop varieties and protect natural resources. In spite of the potential for genetically-modified (GM) crops to make crop production more efficient, they remain a polarizing issue due to safety concerns. This paper provides an overview of the risk assessment process. The safety of Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) proteins is used as an example for how risk assessment is applied to GM crops. Risks associated with GM crops have proven to be low to non-existent. Developing countries …

Don't Ask Me Why, Laura Kocherhans

Inscape

After a heavy workload over the holidays, we felt it was time for us to hold a work party. While a few of us had offered our homes as an optional party site, we ultimately agreed that the employee breakroom would be the easiest place for everyone to attend. Some of us arrived late, some early, as was characteristic of each of our personalities to do.

"Skin" Or "Scales" Of Blackness? Semitic Context As Interpretive Aid For 2 Nephi 4:35 (Los 5:21), Adam Oliver Stokes

Journal of Book of Mormon Studies

Few verses in the Book of Mormon are as problematic and controversial as 2 Nephi 4:35 (LDS 5:21). Critics of the Book of Mormon have routinely pointed to this verse and its reference to Lamanites receiving a "skin of blackness" as evidence of racism and racist theology in Mormonism's sacred scriptures. The verse has also failed to escape ridicule in pop-cultural depictions of Mormonism, as seen most recently in the hit Broadway musical, The Book of Mormon. The verse and its interpretation are of perennial interest to readers of the Book of Mormon, believing or not, since the racial stance …

Flipped Out, Plugged In, And Wired Up: Fostering Success For Students With Adhd In The New Digital Law School, Dyane O'Leary

Suffolk University Law School Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Keeping Power In Charge: Federal Hydropower And The Downstream Environment, Reed D. Benson

Faculty Scholarship

This article examines legal issues regarding hydropower, fish and wildlife at federal water projects in the West. It begins by briefly explaining the legal and institutional framework for federal water projects that generate hydropower. The following section summarizes relevant laws and policies for fish and wildlife protection in relation to federal hydropower operations, focusing primarily on the application of the ESA in this context. The article then considers the case of Glen Canyon Dam, where the Bureau and the National Park Service recently adopted a new operating plan after an extensive review that addressed hydropower, the needs of two very …

The Prevalence And Genetic Diversity Of Feline Immunodeficiency Virusand Feline Leukemia Virus Among Stray Cats In Harbin, China, Mei-Qiao Pan, Jiu-Cheng Wang, Ya-Jun Wang

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) and feline leukemia virus (FeLV) are typical retroviruses that are transmitted horizontally among felines. FIV results in symptoms of immunodeficiency such as weight loss, chronic lesions, opportunistic infections, and neurological abnormalities, while FeLV is known to cause a variety of neoplastic and nonneoplastic diseases in cats, such as thymic lymphoma, multicentric lymphoma myelodysplastic syndromes, acute myeloid leukemia, aplastic anemia, and immunodeficiency. The prevalence and genetic diversity of FIV and FeLV in stray cats have not been investigated. In this study, polymerase chain reaction and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay were used to test 198 blood samples from stray …

An Integrative Description Of Macrobiotus Hannae Sp. Nov. (Tardigrada: Eutardigrada: Macrobiotidae: Hufelandi Group) From Poland, Bernadeta Nowak, Daniel Stec

Turkish Journal of Zoology

A new species of the Macrobiotus hufelandi group is described from Poland. An integrative taxonomic approach was applied by combining morphological and morphometric analysis imaging under phase contrast and scanning electron microscopy with molecular analysis (four molecular markers) to unambiguously support the establishment of the new species. The specimens of Macrobiotus hannae sp. nov. are similar to three taxa of the Macrobiotus hufelandi complex: Macrobiotus hufelandi C.A.S. Schultze, 1834; M. punctillus Pilato, Binda & Azzaro, 1990; and M. joannae Pilato & Binda, 1983. Nevertheless, the new species differs from the first two species by the absence of cuticular bars under …

Composition And Structure Of Soil Fauna Community In The Dexing Copper Mine Tailings Pool After Revegetation, Ping Lu, Nianhua Dai, Xiaoyan Sun, Guohua Zhang, Derong Xu, Youhong Zhan

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The Dexing Copper Mine is one of the largest copper mines in Asia, but few studies have reported the soil fauna community composition after revegetation. This study investigated the influence of revegetation on the soil fauna communities and structures in three vegetation restoration models (designated as I, II, and III) and in a sample without revegetation (IV) in two tailings pools of Dexing Copper Mines 1 and 2 using modified Tullgren and Baermann methods. A total of 548 individuals were collected, which belonged to 5 classes, 7 orders, 3 suborders, and 19 families. The individuals, groups, and diversity of the …

New Records Of Pelagic Fauna From The Turkish Waters, Sedat Ozan Güreşen, Onur Gönülal

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In this work, three pelagic species have been recorded in the Northern Aegean Sea. The species were collected from depths between 500 and 800 m from 5 stations in summer 2016. While Euphausia krohnii is first recorded from the Turkish coast of the Aegean Sea, Allosergestes sargassi and Flaccisagitta hexaptera are reported for the first time from the Turkish seas. The results of the current study will contribute to the knowledge on the deep-water pelagic fauna of the Northern Aegean Sea.

Anoplodactylus (Pycnogonida: Phoxichilidiidae)From Brazil,New Records And Two New Species, Rudá Lucena, Martin Lindsey Christoffersen

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Anoplodactylus is the largest and the most abundant genus of Phoxichilidiidae, with 134 described species, most from shallow waters. The genus is cosmopolitan and easily encountered in Brazil. The present work catalogues the species of Anoplodactylus found in Brazilian waters and describes two new species for the coast of northeastern Brazil. The material analyzed here was deposited in the Invertebrate Collection Paulo Young, which comprises the specimens collected for several studies along the Brazilian coast. Unsampled species were recorded from the literature. We extend the known records of seven species (A. batangensis, A. californicus, A. eroticus, A. evelinae, A. insignis, …

Further New And Little Known Species Of Ptyctimous Mites (Acari, Oribatida) From Cameroon, Wojciech Niedbala, Tomasz Osiejuk

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Nineteen species of ptyctimous mites were found in 20 samples collected in Cameroon: 15 samples from the Southwest region, near the ocean, and 5 samples from the Northwest region, inland. Two new species: Euphthiracarus (Pocsia) inaequatus sp. n. and Steganacarus (Rhacaplacarus) alius sp. n. are described and figured. Six species are new to Cameroon. The so far unknown instars of Mesoplophora (Mesoplophora) invisitata Niedbala, 1983: larva, proto-, deuto-, and tritonymph are described. The deutonymph and tritonymph of M. (M.) invisitata are compared with the corresponding stages of the related species. The tritonymph of the species of both subgenera, Mesoplophora and …

N Integrative Description Of A Population Of Mesobiotus Radiatus(Pilato, Binda & Catanzaro, 1991) From Kenya, Daniel Stec, Milena Roszkowska, Lukasz Kaczmarek, Lukasz Michalczyk

Turkish Journal of Zoology

In a moss sample collected from Mount Kulal in Kenya, a new population of Mesobiotus radiatus was found. Given that the original description of M. radiatus was based solely on the morphology observed by light microscopy and measurements based mostly on a single individual, here we describe the new population by means of integrative taxonomy and a large sample size. We provide an integrative description comprising a comprehensive set of morphometric and morphological data from light and scanning microscopy as well as nucleotide sequences of three nuclear fragments (18S rRNA, 28S rRNA, ITS-2) and one mitochondrial fragment (COI). Mesobiotus radiatus …

Morphological Variability Of The Baculum In Martes Foina (Carnivora: Mustelidae)From Turkey, Ahmet Hari̇s Selçuk Özen

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The present study was based on the bacula of 39 male (17 juvenile, 22 adult) stone marten (Martes foina) samples obtained from all geographical regions of Turkey between 1995 and 2016. Morphological variability in 11 characteristics of bacula was investigated. The purpose of this study was to measure numerical characters of the baculum, to identify relationships between measurements, and to evaluate variabilities in its morphology. Weight, total length, base length, base height, base width, apex height, apex width, median width, and median height were significantly greater in the bacula of adults compared to the bacula of juveniles. The most variable …

The Possible Role Of Endogenous Retroviruses In Tumour Development And Innate Signalling, Emmanuel Atangana Maze

School of Biomedical Sciences Theses

Endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) are fossils of ancient retroviral infection in the germline. In primates they represent around 5% of the genome sequence. During time spent in the genome, being transmitted in a Mendelian fashion, copies of ERVs have accumulated mutations, which rendered them inactive. However, some of them (the most recently integrated ones) are still able to transcribe and produce viral proteins, although few are capable of re-infection. In the past often considered as unharmful ‘junk DNA’, recent evidence link ERVs with cancer and several inflammatory diseases. For example, a few reports demonstrate that ERVs are involved in tumour development …

Cycles Of Memory And Circular Compassion In A Germanic Passion Diptych, Elliott Wise

Faculty Publications

A little-known Germanic Passion diptych from the late fifteenth century—comprised of the Atlanta Christ Carrying the Cross and the Chicago Crucifixion—was recently reunited, foregrounding a complex interchange of compassionate co-suffering between the two panels. The figures of Christ and the Virgin turn and twist their eyes and faces, balancing their attention between different points of empathetic contemplation within and without the frames. As they engage with the beholder and with one another, they encourage meditation on the Holy Face of Jesus by manipulating mental images in a repetitive cycle of foresight, hindsight, and exegetical reflection.

An Assessment Of The Chafta And Its Implications: A Work-In-Progress Type Fta With Selective Innovations, Heng Wang

Research Collection Yong Pung How School Of Law

This chapter explores two questions of the recent China-Australia FTA (ChAFTA): what is the approach of the ChAFTA? What are the challenges to the ChAFTA? It argues first that the ChAFTA adopts a problem-solving approach to harvest “low-hanging fruit” (e.g. tariff cuts). Containing WTO-based and WTO-friendly rules, it focuses on trade and investment facilitation through market liberalization and carefully written good governance norms. In spite of its short form investment chapter, the agreement is not as shallow as one may first think. It stimulates development concerning, among other things, regulatory issues (e.g. regulatory transparency and cooperation in financial services, regulatory …