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Investigation Of Thermo-Physical Property Enhancement Mechanism Of Molten Salt Nano-Eutectic Via Nanostructural Change And Polyalphaolefin Nanofluid Via In Situ Formation Of Superstructures, Zahra Pournorouz

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

For many years, scientists enhanced the specific heat capacity of molten salt nanofluids by dispersing only minute concentrations of different nanoparticles (e.g., 1 wt.%). While the specific heat capacity for molten salts was enhanced in many types of research, other engineering fluids (i.e., water, ethylene glycol, oil) showed decreased specific heat capacity with doping the nanoparticles. Recently, researchers discovered that a unique nanostructure formed by molten salt molecules, which were doped and interacted with nanoparticles, were the reason for enhanced specific heat capacity. Therefore, the enhanced specific heat capacity only happens for molten salts rather than other fluids that may …

Exploring The Predictors Of Well-Being And Advance Directives Among Elder Orphans: A Mixed Methods Study, Rupal M. Parekh

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Elder orphan is a term popularized by the media to describe the more than 22% of community-dwelling US adults aging alone with limited social support, social isolation, multiple chronic health issues, and childlessness. Elder orphans who have not initiated advance directives are at risk of becoming unbefriended, having no able or willing family or friends to make medical decisions during acute injury or medical crisis. The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study was to understand the determinants of well-being and advance care planning. A cross-sectional analysis of members (n = 368) of an online Facebook group of elder orphans …

An Exploration Of National Family Caregiver Support Programs Serving Informal Grandparent Caregivers: A Descriptive Phenomenology Approach, Dorothea Lagail Ivey

Social Work Dissertations - Archive

Grandparent caregiving is a widespread form of kinship care in the U.S. More than 2.7 million of grandparents in the U.S. are the primary caregivers for grandchildren without parental involvement (US Census Bureau, 2012). A particular group among grandparent caregivers often excluded in social services are those that are raising grandchildren informally without child welfare involvement. Informal grandparent caregivers (IGCs) are increasing and will continue to play significant roles in raising grandchildren for many generations (Ehrle et. al., 2001; Gibson & Singh, 2004; Goodman & Silverman, 2001). The National Family Caregiving Support Program (NFCSP) was enacted in 2000 and provides …

Cell-Free Studies Of Catalytic Dna Cleavage By Ruthenium Polypyridyl Complexes (Rpcs) Containing Redox-Active Intercalating Ligands, Enantiomeric Separation And Semi-Prep Scale Purification Of Rpcs, Cynthia Ann Griffith

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

Herein, we report the ruthenium (II) polypyridyl complexes (RPCs), [(phen)₂Ru(tatpp)] ²⁺ (3²⁺) and [(phen)₂Ru(tatpp)Ru(phen)₂] ⁴⁺ (4⁴⁺) are shown to cleave DNA in cell-free studies in the presence of a mild reducing agent, i.e. glutathione (GSH), in a manner that is enhanced upon lowering the [O₂] . Reactive oxygen species (ROS) are involved in the cleavage process as hydroxy radical scavengers attenuate the cleavage activity. Cleavage experiments in the presence of superoxide dismutase (SOD) and catalase reveal a central role for H₂O₂ as the immediate precursor for hydroxy radicals. A mechanism is proposed which explains the inverse [O₂] dependence and ROS …

New Methods For Discovery, Fingerprinting, And Analysis Of Cannabis Sativa Natural Products, Allegra Leghissa

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

Cannabis sativa is an herbaceous annual that has always been of great interest due to its uses in the manufacturing of textiles and cordage, as well as for its medicinal properties. The two main bioactive components of C. sativa are cannabinoids and terpenes; the former confer the medicinal and pharmaceutical benefits, as well as the psycho-activity, to the plant, while the latter are largely responsible for aroma and flavor. Because of the importance of both sets of analytes, it is crucial to have a comprehensive understanding and characterization of these compounds, and different methods have been developed to address these …

New Strategies For Catalytic C-H And Olefin Hydrosilylation, Parham Asgari

Chemistry & Biochemistry Dissertations - Archive

In the works described here, new catalytic hydrosilylation strategies were explored. First, a highly selective, bond functionalization strategy, achieved via relay of two transition metal catalysts and use of traceless acetal directing groups, was introduced. Specifically, this approach involves the relay of Ir-catalyzed hydrosilylation and Rh-catalyzed ortho-C–H silylation. This acetal directing group strategy was used for catalytic ortho-C–H silylation of phenols and benzoate esters derivatives. Additionally, we developed a transition metal free, catalytic vinyl arenes hydrosilylation method. We describe our discovery on unprecedented, sustainable HAT process and report a mechanism involving Lewis base-catalyzed, complexation-induced HAT (LBCI-HAT), followed by highly selective …

Bio-Inspired Adaptive Tuning Of Human-Robot Interfaces, Bakur Alqaudi

Electrical Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Motivated by recent advancement in neurocognitive in brain modeling research, multiple model-based Q-learning structures are proposed for optimal tracking problem of time-varying discrete-time systems. This is achieved by utilizing a multiple-model scheme combined with adaptive resonance theory (ART), and dopamine-like model. In the ART algorithm , dopamine-like model and generates sub-models based on the match-based clustering method utilizing. A responsibility signal governs the likelihood of contribution of each sub-model to the Q-function. The Q-function is learned using the batch least-square algorithm. Simulation results are added to show the performance and the effectiveness of the overall proposed control method. A novel …

An Enhancement Of Light Reflectance Spectroscopy As A Modality For The Detection Of Positive Surgical Margins In Radical Prostatectomy, Zengxing Pang

Bioengineering Theses - Archive

Light Reflectance Spectroscopy (LRS) is an imaging method that has shown increasingly promising evidence in its ability to detect various forms of cancer tissues. Our previous studies have illustrated the LRS modality’s capacity to differentiate normal and cancerous prostate tissues, specifically in its effectiveness in distinguishing cancer tissues classified 4+3 and 4+4 in Gleason Score. Despite having shown sufficient sensitivity and specificity towards prostate cancer detection, the pre-existing imaging system remains impractical for its intended clinical application of detecting positive surgical margins during prostatectomy. Two of the biggest challenges in the current equipment include lack of mobility and slow data …

Domestication Of Pif Transposable Elements Transposases As Regulatory Proteins In Drosophila Melanogaster, Diwash Jangam

Biology Dissertations - Archive

Transposable elements (TEs) are genetic units that are able to move and amplify within a host genome. As a result of their activities, TE insertions can cause disruptions of gene functions and ectopic recombination producing deleterious effects in the host and thus they are also referred to as selfish elements. The machineries that TEs harbor that facilitate their transposition have been shown to be co-opted by the host for their own benefit through a process called molecular domestication. In the first chapter, we review examples that show that TE proteins are domesticated as an adaptation to evolutionary conflicts. We provide …

Proposing A Sparse Weighted Directed Network Construction Method And A Novel Mutual-Information Based Sparse Feature Selection Algorithm For Multivariate Time-Series Analysis And Its Application In Medical Diagnostic Problems, Rahilsadat Hosseini

Industrial, Manufacturing, and Systems Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The main purpose of this study is feature engineering/learning from multivariate (MV) time-series to achieve a more interpretable model by dimension reduction. This aim is fulfilled in 2 main parts. In part 1, we proposed a network estimation approach namely SWDN which stands for sparse weighted directed network. In this approach, the directed subgraph of the underlying network was detected by maximum spanning tree (MST) algorithm that created a null model of connections with maximum inter-dependence (pairwise correlation or mutual information) forming the backbone structure of the MV time-series as an empirical reference. The edge weights were estimated using the …

Three Essays On Marketing And Public Policies: An Analysis Of Social Condition On Consumer Health Associations And Perceived Hypocritical Corporate Social Responsibility On Company Outcomes, Stephen Bok

Marketing Dissertations - Archive

Over three essays this project reviews social conditioning and the influence on consumer decision-making. Essay one analyzes health associations between fruit and average daily caloric intake. The relative impact is greater for food possessing unique lay belief associations. Essay two investigates ethical leadership in a social media context. The study primes hypocritical leadership and the impact on consumer perceptions of a company. Essay three studies outcomes to a CEO’s response addressing damaging social media information about a company. Moderators dampen the effect of perceived unethical leadership. Implications on marketing policies are discussed.

Modeling Plant Virus Propagation And An Optimal Control, Mark Jackson

Mathematics Dissertations - Archive

Plants are a food source for man and many species. They also are sources of medicines, fibers for clothes, and are essential for a healthy environment. But plants are subject to diseases many of which are caused by viruses. These viruses often kill the plant. As a result, billions of dollars are lost every year because of virus related crop loss. Most of the time, virus propagation is done by a vector, usually insects that bite infected plants, get themselves infected and then bite susceptible plants. To combat the vectors, and ultimately the viruses, pesticides are often used as a …

Hyphenated Americans: Christian Arab-Americans’ Identity Struggle, Amanda Haddad Jobgen

Communication Theses - Archive

The topic of this thesis is the understudied minority of Christian Arab-Americans (CAAs), and this research addresses the issues CAAs face in the United States with special attention to the factors that influence their cultural identity. The thesis provides a historical background on how Christian Arabs came to the United States and explains the factors that influence their identity struggle. The theoretical framework of my research is based on Berry’s (1997) acculturation model. Ten participants were interviewed for this study, and a thematic analysis was conducted in order to determine the extent to which religiosity and perceived discrimination affects/influences the …

Perceptions Of Missouri School Superintendents And School Resource Officers Regarding Preparedness For Multi-Hazard Events, Jennifer Renae Wheeler Lofton

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to garner the perceptions of superintendents and school resource officers in regard to district preparedness for multi-hazard events. Nationwide, schools are facing dramatic changes in the area of safety and security due to natural disasters, and more commonly, manmade hazards (Schaffhauser, 2013). Routinely, school personnel do not have the mindset, nor are they equipped, to respond to a major crisis (Trump, 2012). Recent mass murders and natural disasters in the United States have prompted districts to reach beyond the walls of their schools and into local communities for support (Gereluk, Donlevy, & Thompson, 2015). …

Fluorescently Labeled Sirnas And Their Theranostic Applications In Cancer Gene Therapy, Stephen David Kozuch

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Gene therapy has emerged as a promising precision nano-medicine strategy in the treatment of numerous diseases including cancer. At the forefront of its utility are the applications of short-interfering RNA (siRNA), that silence oncogenic mRNA expression leading to cancer cell death through the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway. Despite the therapeutic potential, siRNAs are limited by poor pharmacological properties, which has hindered their translation into the clinic. Recent studies, however, have highlighted the applications of modified siRNAs, including the use of fluorescent probes and siRNA nanostructures in cancer detection and treatment. The siRNAs reported in this thesis are designed to target …

Dietary Inclusion Of Enriched Chicken Bone Broth Prevents Trigeminal Sensitization Meditated By Early Life Stress, Orion Peterson

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Early life stress is considered a risk factor for development of migraine, which is a prevalent painful neurological disorder involving sensitization and activation of trigeminal neurons, and irritable bowel syndrome, a condition often comorbid with chronic migraine. The focus of my study was to determine the effects of early life stress and dietary inclusion of enriched chicken bone broth on trigeminal nociceptor sensitization and the gut microbiota. Adult Sprague-Dawley male “sender” rats subjected to primary traumatic stress were placed next to breeding or pregnant female rats that served as “receiver” rats (secondary traumatic stress) and in proximity to the offspring …

Electrogenerated Chemiluminescence Of Transition Metal Octaethylporphyrin And Tetraphenylporphyrin/Tri-N-Propylamine System, Jamie Lee Gray

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

The electrogenerated chemiluminescence (ECL) of octaethylporphyrin (OEP), tetraphenylporphyrin (TPP) and a series of metal-ligand porphyrin complexes (Zinc, Copper, Palladium, Platinum, Ruthenium, Vanadium, Cobalt and Nickel) in CH2Cl2 is reported. ECL was generated upon sweep to positive potentials using tri-n-propylamine (TPrA) as an oxidative-reductive coreactant. ECL efficiencies were between 0.010 and 0.770 using Ru(bpy)3(PF6)2 (bpy = 2,2’-bpyridine) as a relative standard (ecl = 1). The ECL intensity peaks at a potential corresponding to oxidation of the complexes and TPrA, suggesting that the same excited states are formed in both photoluminescence and ECL. Although the ECL was weaker than corresponding PL efficiencies, …

Sodium Pyruvate Alters The Immune Response To Influenza A Virus Infection In Macrophages, Hazzar Abysalamah

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

ABSTRACT

Pyruvate is the end product of glycolysis. It can either be transported into the mitochondria for use in the TCA cycle or be used to regenerate NAD⁺ during fermentation or aerobic glycolysis (also called the Warburg Effect). I recently discovered that addition of sodium pyruvate to the culture medium during infection of macrophages with influenza A virus affects the production of cytokines involved in immune signaling. While infection of macrophages with influenza A virus resulted in high levels of cytokines (IL-6, IL-1β, and TNF-α) in the absence of sodium pyruvate, the addition of sodium pyruvate significantly impaired cytokine …

Nmr Spectroscopic Properties Of Nucleotides, And A New Method Of Numeric Calculation Of Raman Intensities For Organic Molecules, William R. Ehrhardt

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

General and accurate computational methodologies are currently lacking for large chemical systems. This is primarily due to the computational expense required to perform calculations on systems with one hundred or more atoms. Calculated spectroscopic properties could aid in the process of elucidating structural features of large biologically relevant molecules if accurate and inexpensive methods are developed. Towards this end the first steps were taken to design a general methodology for predicting NMR chemical shifts of large nucleic acid systems. It was found that HF and semi-empirical methods were not sufficient for optimization of nucleobases, and therefore larger nucleotide or nucleic …

Territorial Behavior In Southern Red-Backed And Ozark Zigzag Salamanders: Effects Of Sex, Species, And Ownership, Colton Savage Lynn

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Territorial disputes are common among terrestrial woodland salamanders (genus Plethodon). Males and females of both Ozark zigzag (P. angusticlavius) and southern red-backed (P. serratus) salamanders are territorial, but differing costs and benefits between sexes may influence the expression of territorial behavior. I compared the competitive and exploratory behavior of males and females of both species in laboratory experiments. Competitive behavior was assessed through staged contests between same-sex, same-sized conspecifics. There were no differences between males and females for territory owners (residents). Female intruders were more aggressive than male intruders, spending more time in and performing higher grades …

Macrophytes And Atrazine In Ponds Of Southwest Missouri, Christine Michelle Cornish

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Wetlands are often the ultimate destination of agrochemicals. The increased use of these pollutants has resulted in their increased transport, via runoff and spray drift, into wetlands. Atrazine, a commonly used herbicide, has been detected in surface water, groundwater, soil, and sediment, and has shown to have adverse impacts on aquatic biota, such as fish and amphibians. Few studies have reported on the relationships between atrazine and macrophytes. I measured atrazine concentrations in surface sediments in agricultural, conservation, and golf course ponds of southwest Missouri, and investigated how those concentrations might be related to macrophyte communities, and pond environmental characteristics. …

Long-Term Trends Of Stream Fish Community Assemblages In Southern Missouri With Contemporary Land Use Impacts, Stephanie Marie Sickler

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Stream fish communities in the Ozarks are structured via a number of different mechanisms, including basin, stream size, and human land use. The purpose of this study was to understand the structuring mechanisms of stream fish communities in southern Missouri. I compiled 48 years of historical fish collections performed by the Ichthyology class at Missouri State University consisting of 140 sites. I resampled 45 of these sites in summer of 2016. First, I tested whether communities are different between basins and stream size. Next, I tested associations of land use at three spatial scales to local fish communities. Last, I …

The Role Of Rad4 In Dna Repair And Its Interplay With Telomeres In Tetrahymena Thermophila, Emily Nischwitz

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Telomeres are repetitive parts of the genome that act as a protective end cap to the chromosomes. Telomeres are critical to the integrity and stability of the genome, therefore, ensuring that their sequence is maintained, even after damage, is crucial. Much of the pioneering work responsible for explaining telomeres has been conducted in ciliates, specifically in Tetrahymena thermophila. Telomeres in T. thermophila have a high amount of tandem thymine repeats (GGGGTT) and, thus, are susceptible to ultraviolet light (UV) induced lesions called pyrimidine dimers, which must be repaired by nucleotide excision repair (NER). In humans, Xeroderma Pigmentosum C (XPC) …

Grapevine Vein Clearing Virus: Epidemiological Patterns And Construction Of A Clone, Cory Von Keith

Graduate Theses/Dissertations

Grapevine vein clearing virus (GVCV) is a recently discovered virus belonging to the Badnavirus genus. Characteristic to its name, the virus is associated with a disease where symptoms manifest as pronounced vein-clearing, resulting in severe berry deformation and vine decline in susceptible grape varieties. Sustainable production of wine is dependent on healthy plants. The associated disease is mainly found in Midwest vineyards. Attempts were made in this thesis to provide evidence of causality of the virus to the associated disease and to infer the historical path and migration pattern of GVCV. Conclusions and discussions will provide grape producers with the …

Online Laboratory Introductions To Promote Student Interactions With Two Science And Engineering Practices Of The Next Generation Science Standards, Catherine K. Howlett

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

Online science courses are becoming increasingly available to K-12 students in the United States. With the utilization of these courses, it is important to facilitate student completion of laboratories as well as student interest in and use of the science and engineering practices (SEPs) of the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). This exploratory research provided online laboratory introductions to help students interact with the content and the instructor. The research studied if the laboratory introductions led students to ask questions about laboratories, complete laboratories, and think about and use two NGSS SEPs, specifically analyzing and interpreting data and constructing explanations …

Syntaphilin Ubiquitination Regulates Mitochondrial Dynamics And Tumor Cell Movements., Jae Ho Seo, Ekta Agarwal, Kelly G. Bryant, M. Cecilia Caino, Eui Tae Kim, Andrew V. Kossenkov, Hsin-Yao Tang, Lucia R. Languino, Dmitry I. Gabrilovich, Andrew R. Cohen, David W. Speicher, Dario C. Altieri

Department of Cancer Biology Faculty Papers

Syntaphilin (SNPH) inhibits the movement of mitochondria in tumor cells, preventing their accumulation at the cortical cytoskeleton and limiting the bioenergetics of cell motility and invasion. Although this may suppress metastasis, the regulation of the SNPH pathway is not well understood. Using a global proteomics screen, we show that SNPH associates with multiple regulators of ubiquitin-dependent responses and is ubiquitinated by the E3 ligase CHIP (or STUB1) on Lys111 and Lys153 in the microtubule-binding domain. SNPH ubiquitination did not result in protein degradation, but instead anchored SNPH on tubulin to inhibit mitochondrial motility and cycles of organelle fusion and fission, …

Correlates Of Not Using Antiretroviral Therapy Among Transwomen Living With Hiv: The Unique Role Of Personal Competence, Richard A. Crosby, Laura F. Salazar, Brandon J. Hill

Health, Behavior & Society Faculty Publications

Purpose: This study tested three psychosocial measures for their potential to serve as counseling goals for promoting ART to transgender women living with HIV (TWLH).

Methods: Among 69 TWLH, 17.4% were not taking ART; these volunteers were compared to the remainder using multivariate regression analyses.

Results: Only one psychosocial measure achieved significance: Personal Competence (Adjusted Odds Ratio = 0.80, 95% CI = 0.67–0.97, P = 0.02). Because this was a continuous measure, assessed on a 7-point scale, the protective adjusted odds ratio of 0.80 represents a 20% reduction in the odds of not taking ART for each unit of increase …

Bee Attractiveness Data, Bernadette Maria Mach, Daniel A. Potter

Entomology Research Data

Urban and suburban landscapes can be refuges for biodiversity of bees and other pollinators. Public awareness of declining pollinator populations has increased interest in growing plants that provide floral resources for bees. Various publications and websites list “bee-friendly” plants, but such lists are rarely based on empirical data, nor do they emphasize flowering trees and shrubs, which are a major component of urban landscapes. We quantified bee visitation to 72 species of flowering woody landscape plants across 373 urban and suburban sites in Kentucky and southern Ohio, USA, sampling and identifying the bee assemblages associated with 45 of the most …

Developable Compliant-Aided Rolling-Contact Mechanisms, Todd G. Nelson, Just L. Herder

Student Works

Rolling-contact mechanisms can provide low-friction motion with unique kinematic paths. We show that developable surfaces can be used as a design tool for rolling-contact mechanisms joined with compliant bands. These mechanisms can exhibit 3D motion paths, couple rotational and translational motions into a single degree of freedom, and can be designed to exhibit various tailored kinetic responses. We set forth developable surface parametrizations well suited to the creation of rolling contacts. We highlight how the geodesic and principal curvatures of the non-ruling principal curves of a developable surface are meaningful design quantities for rolling contacts. We provide kinematic and kinetic …

Iron Hydroxide From Coal Mine Drainage To Remove And Reuse Phosphorus From Greenhouse And Plant Nursery Runoff, Megan Elizabeth Mary Delabarre Chase

All Theses

Irrigation runoff from agriculture and specialty crops production remains a source of excess phosphorus (P) loading into aquatic systems. Iron hydroxide from coal mine drainage (CMD) was investigated in this study as an adsorbent for low-cost P removal from greenhouse and plant nursery runoff. The overall objectives of this study were to quantify the P sorption capacity, desorbability of P, and plant availability of P adsorbed to Blue Valley iron hydroxide (BVIO), a granular adsorbent obtained from oxidation of CMD. Batch sorption experiments were conducted to measure the effect of mixing BVIO with silica sand (1:1; BVIO:Sand, by weight) on …