Digital Commons Network^™

The Impact Of Culture On Students' Motivation To Acquire A Second Language, Irina Pidberejna

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

In accordance with the American Council on the Teaching of Foreign Languages, goals for foreign language learning include communities, communication, comparisons, connections, and cultures. Each teaching goal is interlinked and serves an essential component in language development. However, culture has been largely limited by stereotypical biases, which misrepresent the culture studied, and the native culture's sociological roles and perceptions of that target culture. The experiments and theories of Vygotsky (1934; 1956), and Leontyev (1978) indicate that second language learning can reconstruct self-identity and redevelop behaviors appropriate to the second language's respective culture. Personal investment and openness to a foreign language …

Improving Community-Based Shoreline Erosion Stabilization Projects: Impacts Of Potential Nurse Plants On Red Mangrove Biomass Production And Survival, Paula Yespelkis, Melinda Donnelly

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Mangrove communities provide habitat for many terrestrial and aquatic species and act as nurseries and breeding grounds for fish, crustaceans, and birds. They also protect coastal areas from erosion and storm events. However, globally 35% of mangrove habitat has been degraded or destroyed, making mangroves one of the most endangered ecosystems on earth. Thus, there is a demand for methods to restore mangrove habitats successfully. The red mangrove (Rhizophora mangle) is often associated with other marsh plants. We investigated whether two marsh plants (Batis maritima, Sarcocornia perennis ) act as nurse plants and increase R. mangle success by altering seedling …

Intensive Land Use And Conservation Planning At The University Of Central Florida, Chelsea R. Piner

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Conservation strategies are necessary for cities to meet regional goals of sustainability, but commitments and collaborative efforts among influential stakeholders for economic and developmental growth frequently hinder conservation efforts. This study analyzes how planning documents influence conservation at the University of Central Florida (UCF). I use an inductive method of analysis to explore the stated conservation goals and commitments of UCF's Campus Master Plan. I then compare these objectives with the behaviors of the institution. This research indicates that the absence of collaborative efforts among agencies has resulted in UCF undermining its academic mission. Intensive land-use has sparked global environmental …

Defining Hybridity: Frantz Fanon And Post-Colonialism In Louise Erdrich's Shadow Tag, Scott Morrison

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This essay focuses on issues of assimilation, identity, and hybridity as they apply to the Native American characters in Louise Erdrich's Shadow Tag. It interprets the stages of colonization, as proposed by Frantz Fanon, within the novel's storyline by focusing on the specific characterization of its three major characters: Irene, Gil, and Riel. These three characters metaphorically represent the players in a colonial system—the colonized subject, the colonizing force, and the generations of hybrids who result from colonization—in order to depict a truth about Native American identity in contemporary America. According to Fanon, the three phases of colonization are assimilation, …

The Associations Among Maternal Resiliency, Perceptions Of Touch, And Reports Of Infant Touch, Lisa D'Agostino

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

This research study measures how mothers perceive and use touch with their infants, and its association with maternal resiliency, a measure of coping ability. This is important because the inability to cope causes increased stress, which increases negative perceptions of life events, making it even more difficult to cope. In addition, research has yet to uncover whether resiliency is increased in mothers by the same touch and interactions that have been proven to enhance development, attachment, and resiliency in infants. This study asked participants (mothers of infants < 1 year of age) to complete demographic information and a survey composed of three questionnaires: the Mother-Infant Touch Survey, the Physical Contact Assessment, and the Resilience Scale. Although there were no statistically significant correlations among reported perceptions of touch, mother-infant touch, and maternal resiliency, some findings warrant further investigation. Hispanic mothers scored higher on the Resiliency Scale (RS-14) than Non-Hispanic mothers, and a linear trend was detected between mothers in the < 25 years of age group and higher scores on the RS- 14. These findings may influence future research on the correlations between mother-infant touch and maternal coping ability.

Influence Of Family And Victim Demographic Factors On Treatment Completion For Children Exposed To Abuse And Family Violence, Jennifer E. Gonzalez

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

The Children's Bureau of Administration on Children, Youth, and Families (2010) estimates that over 75 million children disclose being victims of sexual abuse, physical abuse, neglect, psychological maltreatment, and medical neglect each year. However, for agencies that provide services to victims of child sexual abuse and neglect, successfully completing treatment for clients is challenging but imperative in decreasing the likelihood of the child or adolescent developing long-term emotional, psychological, and behavioral consequences (DePanfilis, 2006). According to McPherson, Scribano, & Stevens (2012), child survivors of sexual abuse are more likely to complete treatment if their mother attends sessions and supports the …

The Proposed Etiologies Of Dissociative Identity Disorder, Jillian Blueford

The Pegasus Review: UCF Undergraduate Research Journal

Dissociative Identity Disorder (DID) evolves after suffering consecutive, traumatizing forms of abuse during an individual's early years. Repetitive abuse can lead an individual to develop two or more personalities, and then experience memory loss or other cognitive gaps in his or her early childhood that continue to the present day. This can have devastating effects on millions of people because a significant percentage of affected individuals do not recognize the symptoms or choose to believe that DID does not exist. By analyzing the literature currently available, this article creates a central base of popular and emerging models that clinicians use …

Race To Extinction: Shark Conservation Under International And European Law And Its Limits, Ilja Richard Pavone

Ocean and Coastal Law Journal

The purpose of this paper is to clarify the existing (global and regional) legal standards on shark conservation from over-exploitation. First, an analysis of the current international legal framework (law of the sea, sustainable fisheries management, wildlife law) applicable to shark protection is provided (Part I). Next the paper explores the evolution of the European Union (EU) policy on shark finning, since the EU − in line with the United States (Shark Conservation Act) − opted for a strict fins-attached policy, or Fins-Naturally Attached (FNA), The new policy eliminated the major pitfall of its previous regulation, based on a fin-to-carcass …

Microrna Involvement In The Onset And Progression Of Barrett’S Esophagus: A Systematic Review, Reilly J. Clark, Michael P. Craig, Sangeeta Agrawal, Madhavi Kadakia

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Publications

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy that develops from Barrett's esophagus (BE), an intestinal metaplasia of the distal esophagus. microRNAs (miRNAs), short non-coding regulatory RNAs, are frequently dysregulated in BE and are thought to play key roles in the onset of BE and its progression to EAC. miRNAs thus have potential diagnostic and prognostic value and are increasingly being used as cancer biomarkers. This review summarizes the current literature related to miRNAs that are dysregulated in BE within the context of Hedgehog, Notch, MAPK, NF kappa-B, Wnt and epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling which are thought to drive BE …

Numerical Approximation Of Diffusive Capture Rates By Planar And Spherical Surfaces With Absorbing Pores, Andrew J. Bernoff, Alan E. Lindsay

All HMC Faculty Publications and Research

In 1977 Berg and Purcell published a landmark paper entitled Physics of Chemore- ception, which examined how a bacterium can sense a chemical attractant in the fluid surrounding it [H. C. Berg and E. M. Purcell, Biophys J, 20 (1977), pp. 193–219]. At small scales the attrac- tant molecules move by Brownian motion and diffusive processes dominate. This example is the archetype of diffusive signaling problems where an agent moves via a random walk until it either strikes or eludes a target. Berg and Purcell modeled the target as a sphere with a set of small circular targets (pores) that …

The Evolutionary Pattern Of Mutations In Glioblastoma Reveals Therapy-Mediated Selection., Andrea M Muscat, Nicholas C Wong, Katharine J Drummond, Elizabeth M Algar, Mustafa Khasraw, Roel G W Verhaak, Kathryn Field, Mark A Rosenthal, David M Ashley

Faculty Research 2018

Glioblastoma presents as a heterogeneous disease with poor prognosis despite the use of multimodal therapy. Analysis of genomic DNA changes between initial diagnosis and recurrence in response to standard treatment protocols would enhance understanding of disease progression and better inform new treatment strategies. A cohort of 21 patients with primary glioblastoma were examined between diagnosis and first recurrence. This study presented a rare opportunity to characterize molecular alterations in tumors observed in three patients who received no therapeutic intervention, other than surgery, offering a unique control. We focused this study by comparing the dynamic mutation profiles between the primary tumors …

Method And System For Non-Invasive Optical Blood Glucose Detection Utilizing Spectral Data Analysis, Zhi Xu

UMSL Patents

Systems and methods are disclosed for non-invasively measuring blood glucose levels in a biological sample based on spectral data. This includes at least one light source configured to strike a target area of a sample, at least one light detector positioned to receive light from the at least one light source and to generate an output signal, having a time dependent current, which is indicative of the power of light detected, a processor configured to receive the output signal from the at least one light detector based on the received output signal, calculate the attenuance attributable to blood in a …

Mutations In Dna Repair Genes Are Associated With Increased Neo-Antigen Load And Activated T Cell Infiltration In Lung Adenocarcinoma., Young Kwang Chae, Jonathan F Anker, Preeti Bais, Sandeep Namburi, Francis J Giles, Jeffrey H Chuang

Faculty Research 2018

Mutations in DNA repair genes lead to increased genomic instability and mutation frequency. These mutations represent potential biomarkers for cancer immunotherapy efficacy, as high tumor mutational burden has been associated with increased neo-antigens and tumor infiltrating lymphocytes. While mismatch repair mutations have successfully predicted response to anti-PD-1 therapy in colorectal and other cancers, they have not yet been tested for lung cancer, and few have investigated genes from other DNA repair pathways. We utilized TCGA samples to comprehensively immunophenotype lung tumors and analyze the links between DNA repair mutations, neo-antigen and total mutational burden, and tumor immune infiltration. Overall, 73% …

Analysis Of Motility In Multicellular Chlamydomonas Reinhardtii Evolved Under Predation, Margrethe Boyd, Frank Rosenzweig, Matthew D. Herron

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The advent of multicellularity was a watershed event in the history of life, yet the transition from unicellularity to multicellularity is not well understood. Multicellularity opens up opportunities for innovations in intercellular communication, cooperation, and specialization, which can provide selective advantages under certain ecological conditions. The unicellular alga Chlamydomonas reinhardtii has never had a multicellular ancestor yet it is closely related to the volvocine algae, a clade containing taxa that range from simple unicells to large, specialized multicellular colonies. Simple multicellular structures have been observed to evolve in C. reinhardtii in response to predation or to settling rate-based selection. Structures …

Woub Asks Johnson If Bobby The Bat Is Returning Visitor, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Golden Bobcats Reflect On Ohio University In 1960s (January 30, 2018), University Communications And Marketing

OHIO News Articles Archive

No abstract provided.

Iterative Near-Term Ecological Forecasting: Needs, Opportunities, And Challenges, Michael C. Dietze, Andrew Fox, Lindsay M. Beck-Johnson, Julio L. Betancourt, Melvin Hooten, Catherine S. Jarnevich, Timothy H. Keitt, Melissa A. Kenney, Christine M. Laney, Laurel G. Larsen, Henry W. Leoscher, Claire K. Lunch, Bryan C. Pijanowski, James T. Randerson, Emily K. Read, Andrew T. Tredennick, Rodrigo Vargas, Kathleen C. Weathers, Ethan P. White

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Two foundational questions about sustainability are “How are ecosystems and the services they provide going to change in the future?” and “How do human decisions affect these trajectories?” Answering these questions requires an ability to forecast ecological processes. Unfortunately, most ecological forecasts focus on centennial-scale climate responses, therefore neither meeting the needs of near-term (daily to decadal) environmental decision-making nor allowing comparison of specific, quantitative predictions to new observational data, one of the strongest tests of scientific theory. Near-term forecasts provide the opportunity to iteratively cycle between performing analyses and updating predictions in light of new evidence. This iterative process …

Monitoring Expression Of Metabolic Genes During The Hypoxic Response Of S. Cerevisae, Nikkoli Lueder

Theses and Dissertations

All organisms appear to have the ability to sense and respond to changes in their environment. Hypoxia, or low oxygen, is experienced by many organisms at some point in their life cycle. Some organisms such as S. cerevisiae, a species of yeast, respond by dramatically altering gene expression. The result is that genes needed in the new environment are turned on and unneeded genes are turned off. S. cerevisiae has been used in our study because it shares many genes with other eukaryotes, including humans, so many of our findings are applicable to these organisms. Here, we tried to understand …

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

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

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 …

Synthesis Of Non-Natural Cofactor Analogs Of S-Adenosyl-L-Methionine Using Methionine Adenosyltransferase, Jon S. Thorson, Tyler Huber, Jianjun Zhang, Shanteri Singh

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Patents

The present disclosure relates to the synthesis of non-natural analogs of S-adenosyl-L-methionine (SAM) and/or of Se-adenosyl- L-methionine (SeAM) by reacting a methionine analog and adenosine triphosphate (ATP) in the presence of at least one methionine adenosyltransferase (MAT), and to use thereof with downstream SAM and/or SeAM utilizing enzymes.

To see the remainder of this abstract, please download this patent.

High Activity Mutants Of Cocaine Esterase For Cocaine Hydrolysis, Chang-Guo Zhan, Fang Zheng, Lei Fang

Pharmaceutical Sciences Faculty Patents

The Bacterial cocaine esterase (CocE) mutants disclosed herein each have enhanced catalytic efficiency for ( -)cocaine, as compared to CocE mutants in the prior art, including CocE mutant E172-173. The presently-disclosed subject matter further includes a pharmaceutical composition including a mutant of bacterial cocaine hydrolase, as described herein, and a suitable pharmaceutical carrier. The presently-disclosed subject matter further includes a method of treating a cocaine-induced condition comprising administering to an individual an effective amount of a mutant of bacterial cocaine hydrolase variant, as disclosed herein, to accelerate cocaine metabolism and produce biologically inactive metabolites.

Lanthanum-Mediated Dehydrogenation Of Butenes: Spectroscopy And Formation Of La(C4H6) Isomers, Wenjin Cao, Dilkrushi Hewage, Dong-Sheng Yang

Chemistry Faculty Publications

La atom reactions with 1-butene, 2-butene, and isobutene are carried out in a laser-vaporization molecular beam source. The three reactions yield the same La-hydrocarbon products from the dehydrogenation and carbon-carbon bond cleavage and coupling of the butenes. The dehydrogenated species La(C₄H₆) is the major product, which is characterized with mass-analyzed threshold ionization (MATI) spectroscopy and quantum chemical computations. The MATI spectrum of La(C₄H₆) produced from the La+1-butene reaction exhibits two band systems, whereas the MATI spectra produced from the La+2-butene and isobutene reactions display only a single band system. Each of these …

An Aged Canid With Behavioral Deficits Exhibits Blood And Cerebrospinal Fluid Amyloid Beta Oligomers, Clare Rusbridge, Francisco J. Salguero, Monique Antoinette David, Kiterie M. E. Faller, Jose T. Bras, Rita J. Guerreiro, Angela C. Richard-Londt, Duncan Grainger, Elizabeth Head, Sebastian G. P. Brandner, Brian Summers, John Hardy, Mourad Tayebi

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Many of the molecular and pathological features associated with human Alzheimer disease (AD) are mirrored in the naturally occurring age-associated neuropathology in the canine species. In aged dogs with declining learned behavior and memory the severity of cognitive dysfunction parallels the progressive build up and location of Aβ in the brain. The main aim of this work was to study the biological behavior of soluble oligomers isolated from an aged dog with cognitive dysfunction through investigating their interaction with a human cell line and synthetic Aβ peptides. We report that soluble oligomers were specifically detected in the dog's blood and …

Linda Pritchard, Oral History Interview, 2018, Matt Jones, Rachel Burns

Oral Histories

Linda Pritchard served as Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at Eastern Michigan University from 2002 until 2005. Pritchard then joined the faculty in the History Department, and later played a vital role in the formation of the Women’s and Gender Studies Department, which she headed from 2008 until 2012. Returning to the classroom, Pritchard taught with the History Department until her retirement in 2016. In this interview, Pritchard begins by giving an account of her formative years in Lansing and Bakersfield, California, before summarizing her time at Arkansas State University as Dean of the College of Arts …

2018 January 30, Faculty Senate Minutes, State University Of New York At Cortland

Minutes

Faculty Senate Minutes, January 30, 2018

The Current Volume 28: Issue 18, Nova Southeastern University

Student Newspapers

No abstract provided.

Preparation And Characterization Of Nanocellulose And Its Application In Composite Materials, Xiuxuan Sun

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Transparent cellulose films from 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl radical oxidized cellulose nanocrystals (TOCNs) and 64 wt% sulfuric acid treated cellulose nanocrystals (SACNs) were prepared from bleached wood pulps. Film morphology, optical, mechanical, thermal, and surface wettability properties were characterized and compared. The results showed that TOCNs and SACNs had different average length, diameter, and aspect ratio.

The effect of cellulose nanofibers (CNFs) on flow, hydration, morphology, and strength of oil well cement (OWC) was investigated using a range of spectroscopic methods coupled with rheological modeling and strength analysis. The Vom-Berg model showed the best fitting result of the rheology data. The addition of …

Effects Of Feral Horse Herds On Rangeland Plant Communities Across A Precipitation Gradient, Lauren E. Baur, Kathryn A. Schoenecker, Melinda D. Smith

Western North American Naturalist

Feral horses are widespread in the western United States, with the majority of feral horse herds found in the Great Basin. There is a federal mandate to manage these herds in order to maintain “ecological balance”; however, understanding of the specific effects of feral horse grazing on rangeland plant communities in this region is incomplete. To address this research gap, we utilized long-term grazing exclosures and fenceline contrasts to evaluate the impacts of feral horses on several plant community variables (diversity, richness, dominance, and biomass) and species composition. Because the effects of grazing can vary with site precipitation and productivity, …

Par1 Agonists Stimulate Apc-Like Endothelial Cytoprotection And Confer Resistance To Thromboinflammatory Injury, Karen De Ceunynck, Christian G. Peters, Abhishek Jain, Sarah J. Higgins, Omozuanvbo Aisiku, Jennifer L. Fitch-Tewfik, Sharjeel A. Chaudhry, Chris Dockendorff, Samir M. Parikh, Donald E. Ingber, Robert Flaumenhaft

Chemistry Faculty Research and Publications

Stimulation of protease-activated receptor 1 (PAR1) on endothelium by activated protein C (APC) is protective in several animal models of disease, and APC has been used clinically in severe sepsis and wound healing. Clinical use of APC, however, is limited by its immunogenicity and its anticoagulant activity. We show that a class of small molecules termed “parmodulins” that act at the cytosolic face of PAR1 stimulates APC-like cytoprotective signaling in endothelium. Parmodulins block thrombin generation in response to inflammatory mediators and inhibit platelet accumulation on endothelium cultured under flow. Evaluation of the antithrombotic mechanism showed that parmodulins induce cytoprotective signaling …

Enzyme Inhibitor Combined With Chemotherapy Delays Glioblastoma Growth, Jeff Hansen

Browse All News

No abstract provided.