Digital Commons Network^™

Robustness Enhancement Of Sensory Transduction By Hair Bundles, Andrew Robert Milewski

Student Theses and Dissertations

How do biological systems ensure robustness of function despite developmental and environmental variation? Our sense of hearing boasts exquisite sensitivity, precise frequency discrimination, and a broad dynamic range. Experiments and modeling imply, however, that the auditory system achieves this performance for only a narrow range of parameter values. Although the operation of some systems appears to require precise control over parameter values, I describe how the function of the ear might instead be made robust to parameter perturbation. The sensory hair cells of the cochlea are physiologically vulnerable: small changes in parameter values could compromise hair cells' ability to detect …

Cell Type Specific Roles Of Serotonin Receptor 4 In The Hippocampus And Neocortex In Emotion And Cognition, Remzi Karayol

Student Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety and mood disorders are the most prevalent classes of mental disorders. However, current treatments for these debilitating diseases are limited due to their delayed onset of action and numerous side effects, emphasizing the need for faster acting and more efficacious therapies. Preclinical studies indicate a critical role for Serotonin Receptor 4 (5-HT₄R, product of the Htr4 gene) in this direction as drugs that activate this receptor show fast-acting antidepressant-like properties. Unfortunately, 5-HT₄R is widely expressed in the periphery, limiting its use as a direct therapeutic target due to various side effects. Understanding the cell type …

Daple Orients And Patterns Sensory Hair Bundles In The Inner Ear, Kimberly Siletti

Student Theses and Dissertations

The planar orientation of mammalian cells necessitates the integration of diverse pathways. In the inner ear, at least two systems regulate the planar polarity of the hair bundle. The core planar cell polarity (PCP) proteins coordinate the orientations of hair cells across the epithelial plane. The cell-intrinsic patterning of each hair bundle is implemented independently by a G-protein complex comprising the alpha subunit of heterotrimeric G-protein (Gαi) and Leu-Gly-Asn repeat-enriched protein (LGN). Classically known for orienting the mitotic spindle, these proteins form an apical blueprint for hair-bundle development. Although the primary cilium also participates in each of these pathways, the …

Chemical Approaches To Dynein Inhibition, Jonathan Baruch Steinman

Student Theses and Dissertations

Cells utilize energy to maintain order within the cytoplasm. Motor proteins are the enzymes that convert the chemical energy contained in adenosine triphosphate (ATP) into directed movement along polarized filaments of actin and tubulin within cells. Dyneins are the primary enzymes that drive motion toward the stable "minus ends" of tubulin-containing filaments known as microtubules. This protein family is divided into two sub-families. Axonemal dyneins drive flagellar beating while cytoplasmic dyneins (hereafter, dyneins) are required a wide array of cellular processes including moving RNAs, proteins, and whole organelles and for the formation, maintenance, and positioning of the mitotic spindle, the …

Making Ribosomes: Biochemical And Structural Studies Of Early Ribosome Biogenesis In Yeast, Malik Chaker-Margot

Student Theses and Dissertations

The ribosome is a complex macromolecule responsible for the synthesis of all proteins in the cell. In yeast, it is made of four ribosomal RNAs and 79 proteins, asymmetrically divided in a small and large subunit. In a growing yeast cell, more than 2000 ribosomes are assembled every minute. The ribosome is assembled through a highly complex process involving more than 200 trans-acting factors. Ribosome assembly begins in the nucleolus where RNA polymerase I transcribes a long polycistronic RNA, the 35S preribosomal RNA which contains the sequences for three of the four ribosomal RNAs, as well as spacer sequences which …

The Characterization Of A Novel Complex Implicated In The Initiation Of Apoptosis, Thomas Hsiao

Student Theses and Dissertations

Apoptosis, which is one of many different types of programmed cell death, is widely utilized as a mechanism to eliminate unwanted cells. The ability of cells to undergo apoptosis is required not only for development in many organisms, but also to maintain proper homeostasis; too little apoptosis can result in cancer whereas too much can lead to degenerative diseases. Apoptosis has been well studied at events that take place at or downstream of the mitochondria; these steps are rigorous and predictable, making them easy to study. However, little is known about early, decision-making events that occur upstream of the mitochondria. …

Components Required For The Death And Degradation Of The Linker Cell In C. Elegans, Lena Marlise Kutscher

Student Theses and Dissertations

Programmed cell death (PCD) is an important process in the development of multicellular organisms. Apoptosis, a form of PCD characterized morphologically by chromatin condensation, membrane blebbing, and cytoplasm compaction, and molecularly by the activation of caspase proteases, has been extensively investigated. Studies in C. elegans, Drosophila, mice, and the developing chick have revealed, however, that developmental PCD also occurs through other mechanisms, morphologically and molecularly distinct from apoptosis. One prominent cell death program, linker cell-type death (LCD), is morphologically conserved, and independent of the key genes that drive apoptosis. Instead, LCD functions, in part, through the stressrelated protein HSF-1, and …

The Role Of Neuronal Pentraxin 1 In Promoting Pancreatic Cancer Progression, Yuehyi Gloria Wu

Student Theses and Dissertations

Pancreatic cancer is a deadly malignancy because it is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage and does not respond to the majority of treatments. More than 80% of patients present with advanced stage disease at the time of diagnosis and metastatic pancreatic cancer has a median survival of eight to eleven months under current standard of care. In the United States, pancreatic cancer is the fourth leading cause of cancer death. Efforts in using targeted agents to treat pancreatic cancer have mostly been fruitless. The dismal survival outcome of this disease and lack of success in clinical trials indicate the …

Neural Circuit Mechanisms Underlying Behavioral Evolution In Drosophila, Laura Fairbanks Seeholzer

Student Theses and Dissertations

Courtship rituals serve to reinforce reproductive barriers between closely related species. Several species in the Drosophila melanogaster subgroup exhibit pre-mating isolation due, in part, to the fact that D. melanogaster females produce 7,11-heptacosadiene (7,11-HD), a pheromone that promotes courtship in D. melanogaster males but suppresses it in D. simulans, D. yakuba, and D. erecta males. Here we compare pheromone-processing pathways across species to define how males endow 7,11-HD with the opposite behavioral valence to underlie species discrimination. We first show that D. melanogaster and D. simulans males detect 7,11-HD using the homologous peripheral sensory neurons, but this signal is differentially …

Multi-Modal Effects Of The Repellent Deet Across Protostomia, Emily Jane Dennis

Student Theses and Dissertations

DEET (N, N-diethyl-m-toluamide) is the most broadly effective and widely used personal repellent available, yet we do not understand what makes it so effective. Even in well-studied species like Drosophila melanogaster flies and Aedes aegypti mosquitoes, many mysteries remain as to how DEET can affect behavior in these species. For example, Ae. aegypti mosquitoes are attracted to human arms. When an arm is covered in DEET, wild-type mosquitoes are not attracted to the arm, while mutant mosquitoes that lack the odorant receptor co-receptor (orco), approach the arm, but rarely bite. We investigated this orco-independent DEET repellency in Ae. aegypti and …

A High-Throughput Approach To Uncover Novel Roles Of Apobec2, A Functional Orphan Of The Aid/Apobec Family, Linda Molla

Student Theses and Dissertations

APOBEC2 is a member of the AID/APOBEC cytidine deaminase family of proteins. Unlike most of AID/APOBEC, however, APOBEC2's function remains elusive. Previous research has implicated APOBEC2 in diverse organisms and cellular processes such as muscle biology (in Mus musculus), regeneration (in Danio rerio), and development (in Xenopus laevis). APOBEC2 has also been implicated in cancer. However the enzymatic activity, substrate or physiological target(s) of APOBEC2 are unknown. For this thesis, I have combined Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) techniques with state-of-the-art molecular biology to determine the physiological targets of APOBEC2. Using a cell culture muscle differentiation system, and RNA sequencing (RNA-Seq) …

Evaluations Of Some Terminating Hypergeometric $_2f_1(2)$ Series With Applications, Yong Sup Kim, Arjunkumar Rathie, Richard B. Paris

Turkish Journal of Mathematics

Explicit expressions for the hypergeometric series $_2F_1(-n, a; 2a\pm j;2)$ and $_2F_1(-n, a; -2n \pm j;2)$ for positive integer $n$ and arbitrary integer $j$ are obtained with the help of generalizations of Kummer's second and third summation theorems obtained earlier by Rakha and Rathie. Results for $ j \leq 5$ derived previously using different methods are also obtained as special cases. Two applications are considered, where the first summation formula is applied to a terminating $_3F_2(2)$ series and the confluent hypergeometric function $_1F_1(x)$.

Traumatic Brain Injury And A Divergence Between Moral And Criminal Responsibility, Paul J. Litton

Faculty Publications

Traumatic brain injury (TBI), particularly in severe cases, can have such extraordinary effects on one's psychological capacities that it may be relevant to many kinds of legal claims in criminal proceedings. The focus of this essay is on claims related to an agent's status as a responsible agent. In other words, this essay will discuss the relationship between traumatic brain injury and claims that an individual does not have the capacities required to be fairly held accountable for wrongful actions. The law may hold most adults fully responsible for their crimes, but it may not hold responsible young children and …

Chronic Effects Of Lead Exposure On Topsmelt Fish (Atherinops Affinis): Influence Of Salinity, Organism Age, And Relative Sensitivity To Other Marine Fish, Erik J. Reynolds, Tham C. Hoang, D. Scott Smith, Jasim M. Chowdhury

School of Environmental Sustainability: Faculty Publications and Other Works

The aim of this study was to determine the influence of salinity and organism age on the chronic toxicity of waterborne lead (Pb) to Atherinops affinis and to compare the relative Pb sensitivity of A. affinis with other marine species. Chronic Pb exposure experiments were conducted in a water flow‐through testing system. Survival, standard length, dry weight, and tissue Pb concentration were measured and lethal concentrations (LC), effective concentrations (EC), and bioconcentration factor (BCF) were calculated. In general, increasing salinity and organism age decreased Pb toxicity. The LC50s for larval fish at 14 and 28 ppt salinity were 15.1 and …

Medicine@Yale June/July 2018 Volume 14, Issue 2, Yale School Of Medicine Office Of Communications

Medicine@Yale - development newsletter

Medicine@Yale : advancing biomedical science, education and health care was a print and online newsletter which published news about academics, research and philanthropy for alumni, donors, faculty, students and the general public. It was initially published 6 times a year and then changed to a quarterly schedule. The first issue came out June/Jul. 2005. The final issue was published in May/June 2022, vol. 17, issue 1. Published by Yale School of Medicine, Office of Communications.

A Decision Tree Analysis Of Nonindigenous Species Risk From Ballast Water To The Lower Columbia River And Oregon Coast, Usa, Danielle Verna, Richard R. Rueb, Crysta Gantz, John Gala, Jeremiah Green, John A. Zalusky, Rian Vanden Hooff

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Hazard characterization and risk assessment are commonly used to prioritize vectors of nonindigenous species (NIS) for inspection or other prevention opportunities. Commercial shipping vessels are a target of such vector-based management since ballast water has been known to transport NIS between aquatic ecosystems globally. Here we used a risk-based screening protocol to prioritize vessels discharging ballast water to the lower Columbia River and Oregon coast. We began by adapting established methods of assessing risk factors that influence the initial stages of the invasion process (arrival and survival). We created relative risk scales for each factor using data collected from vessels …

Mental Representations Of The Homeless, Stephanie E. Mckee

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Stereotypes surrounding race and socioeconomic status often have overlapping attributes. That is, we tend to stereotypically associate African Americans and poor individuals with being incompetent. Further, people automatically associate African Americans with the concept of poor. The current research examined people’s mental representations of a homeless person, a poor person, and a person with a home, to see if people’s mental representation of a homeless varied from that of a poor person. Results from Study 1 (N = 524), using a bi-racial base image indicate that people, on average, mentally represent the poor and homeless in a similar manner. …

Select Antimicrobial Resistance Trends In Kentucky’S Bovine Population And Antibiogram Development, Jessica Morehouse

Theses and Dissertations--Public Health (M.P.H. & Dr.P.H.)

Introduction: Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a complex problem that affects all of society and is driven by many interconnected factors. It is important to monitor AMR trends in veterinary medicine to accurately pursue appropriate antibiotic treatment of ill animals. Antibiogram development is also an important tool in guiding the veterinary practitioner in treating empirically or while a culture and susceptibility is being performed.

Methods: This study compared bacterial susceptibility in voluntary samples submitted to the University of Kentucky Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory and the Murray State University Breathitt Veterinary Center between 2012 and 2017. Equality of proportions was used to compare …

Assessment Of Clinical And Blood Gas Parameters In Healthy And Diarrhoeic Calves, Patrick Dillane

Theses

Neonatal calf diarrhoea (NCD) is a major problem to calf health worldwide. Metabolic acidosis, electrolyte imbalances are common complications of NCD, consequently, blood gas analysis is regarded as the gold standard test to assess of severity of these abnormalities in diarrhoeic calves. The objective of this research was to develop blood gas reference ranges for neonatal calves accounting for influencing physiological and environmental factors. As this disease is commonly treated by primary producers, previously published clinical assessment scoring chart was also analysed and compared to gold standard blood gas, in addition to next- generation biomarkers for severity diagnosis for NCD. …

The Design, Test And Evaluation Of A Sensing System For Process Analytical Technology (Pat), Trevor Murphy

Theses

Increased globalisation and competitiveness has given rise to a more dynamic and diverse global market that has begun to place incredible strain on manufacturing supply chains. Conventional manufacturing methods such as the batch manufacturing methods employed largely by the materials processing industries i.e. pharmaceuticals, polymers and magnesium processing plants are ill-suited to cope with the demands of today. As products evolve with technological advancements they become more complex to produce and require alternative approaches to manufacturing to ensure product quality while reducing costs and increasing manufacturing efficiencies.

A potential solution to the growing demands on today's supply chain is process …

2018 Commencement Program, Morehead State University. Registrar's Office.

Morehead State Commencement Programs

2018 commencement programs of Morehead State University.

Rip Currents: Rough Water For End Of Life Decision Making, Kathy L. Cerminara

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Some Msm Blood Donors Move From A Lifetime Deferral To A One Year Ban “Finally” Or “Not Good Enough”?, Heather Printz

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of A Cognitive Training Program For Cognitively Intact Older Adults, Caroline Kinskey

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Cognitive training is a term used to describe programs that provide guided practice on tasks requiring different cognitive abilities such as memory or language. It is assumed that regular practice will improve or maintain functioning in a particular cognitive domain (e.g., memory) and those results will generalize beyond the context of training. Results have been mixed in the existing literature that has evaluated the potential benefits of cognitive training on cognitive and emotional functioning in cognitively intact older adults. This study investigated the effectiveness of a cognitive training program for older adults with no to very minimal cognitive decline. Nine …

More Than Cracking Backs: Exploring Patient-Careers In Chiropractic Care, Timothy J. Loney

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The popularity of the concept of patient-career rose at the same time as more people were using chiropractic care in the United States. Yet, patient-career has yet to be applied in a sociological manner to those who seek out chiropractic care. Semi-structured in-depth interviews with 19 patients of chiropractic care reveal that pain, to the point of interference with daily-life, is what drove them to seek out help outside traditional medicine. This research investigates how holding preconceived notions of chiropractic care (positive or negative), the influence of social networks, and beliefs surrounding health and pain influence the direction of the …

The Grip Of Trauma: How Trauma Disrupts The Academic Aspirations Of Foster Youth, Brenda Morton

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The academic challenges foster youth encounter during their P-12 education have been widely reported. Yet, despite these challenges, the majority of foster youth desire postsecondary education. What is less known is the reason why so few foster youth alumni who desire a four-year college degree, achieve this goal. For the participants in this four-year longitudinal study, maltreatment, resulting in foster care placement, and the ensuing exposure to the foster care system, resulted in trauma histories and mental health diagnoses. Anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), were the most common diagnosis. The participants shared the ways in which these mental …

Computational Thinking Equity In Elementary Classrooms: What Third-Grade Students Know And Can Do, Yune Tran

Faculty Publications - College of Education

The Computer Science Teachers Association has asserted that computational thinking equips students with essential critical thinking which allows them to conceptualize, analyze, and solve more complex problems. These skills are applicable to all content area as students learn to use strategies, ideas, and technological practices more effectively as digital natives. This research examined over 200 elementary students’ pre- and posttest changes in computational thinking from a 10-week coding program using adapted lessons from code.org’s Blockly programming language and CSUnplugged that were delivered as part of the regular school day. Participants benefited from early access to computer science (CS) lessons with …

Pre-Sleep Routines In Adult Normal Sleepers, Jean Koketsu

Occupational Therapy Doctorate Capstone Projects

Sleep is the most important restorative occupation, and pre-sleep routines, which precede sleep, have not been explored in normal adult sleepers. Routines are an important construct in occupational therapy, but it is not well-researched.

The purpose of this project is to add to the body of knowledge regarding pre-sleep routines through description by normal sleepers. This research can inform occupational therapists in regard to the usual patterns and dynamics of pre-sleep routines. Open systems theory, a grounded theory approach, and graphic and interview methods were used in this qualitative study.

Participants were 16 adults, between the ages of 23 and …

The Adaptation To Head And Neck Cancer In The Veteran Population, Diane Marie Sobecki-Ryniak

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

ADAPTATION TO HEAD AND NECK CANCER IN THE VETERAN POPULATION: A PILOT STUDY

By

DIANE SOBECKI-RYNIAK

December 2018

Advisor: Dr. Margaret Campbell

Major: Nursing

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Post-traumatic stress disorder in the head and neck cancer veteran population may present a challenge to adaptation during diagnosis and treatment of illness. The evaluation of post traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression and quality of life were examined and correlated against symptom occurrence and triggering of post traumatic symptoms across experiences. A significant correlation between PTSD-C and PTSD-S was found (r = 0.91, p = 0.001); there was a non-significant correlation …

Between-Group Differences Among Victim Age-Based Typologies Of Juvenile Sexual Offenders, Jennifer Short

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Juveniles adjudicated for sexual offenses are often described as homogenous, collectively viewed as inherently dangerous, and subject to specialized legal and clinical interventions. However, empirical studies have identified several typologies suggesting that juveniles adjudicated for sexual offenses are a heterogeneous group with varying degrees of risk and treatment needs. The purpose of this non-experimental between-groups study was to compare family composition, abuse histories, mental health diagnosis, and offense type among a victim age-based typology of juvenile sexual offenders. The theoretical framework that guided this study was developmental-contextual theory. Archival data (N = 105) were collected from Alberta Health Services in …