Digital Commons Network^™

Zellweger Spectrum Disorder: A Cross-Sectional Study Of Symptom Prevalence Using Input From Family Caregivers, Mousumi Bose, David D. Cuthbertson, Marsha A. Fraser, Jean Baptiste Roullet, K. Michael Gibson, Dana R. Schules, Kelly M. Gawron, Melissa B. Gamble, Kathryn M. Sacra, Melisa J. Lopez, William B. Rizzo

Department of Nutrition and Food Studies Scholarship and Creative Works

Zellweger spectrum disorders (ZSD) are rare, debilitating genetic diseases of peroxisome biogenesis that affect multiple organ systems and present with broad clinical heterogeneity. Although many case studies have characterized the multitude of signs and symptoms associated with ZSD, there are few reports on the prevalence of symptoms to help inform the development of meaningful endpoints for future clinical trials in ZSD. In the present study, we used an online survey tool completed by family caregivers to study the occurrence, frequency and severity of symptoms in individuals diagnosed with ZSD. Responses from caregivers representing 54 living and 25 deceased individuals with …

Unconventional Constituents And Shared Molecular Architecture Of The Melanized Cell Wall Of C. Neoformans And Spore Wall Of S. Cerevisiae, Christine Chrissian, Coney Pei-Chin Lin, Emma Camacho, Arturo Casadevall, Aaron M. Neiman, Ruth E. Stark

Publications and Research

The fungal cell wall serves as the interface between the cell and the environment. Fungal cell walls are composed largely of polysaccharides, primarily glucans and chitin, though in many fungi stress-resistant cell types elaborate additional cell wall structures. Here, we use solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy to compare the architecture of cell wall fractions isolated from Saccharomyces cerevisiae spores and Cryptococcus neoformans melanized cells. The specialized cell walls of these two divergent fungi are highly similar in composition. Both use chitosan, the deacetylated derivative of chitin, as a scaffold on which a polyaromatic polymer, dityrosine and melanin, respectively, is assembled. …

New Mexico: Land Of The Drought, Brandi Davis

Climate Change and Public Health Preparedness

No abstract provided.

2020 Graduate Groene Sets Her Sights On Career In Genetic Counseling, Ohio University College Of Arts & Sciences

All Forum Articles

No abstract provided.

Adhesion And Deformation Mechanisms Of Polydopamine And Polytetrafluoroethylene: A Multiscale Computational Study, Matthew Brownell

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Polydopamine (PDA) has been shown to bond via covalent bonding, van der Waals forces, and hydrogen bonding and is known to adhere strongly to almost any material. The application of PDA between a substrate and a PTFE surface coating has resulted in low friction and a greatly reduced wear rate. Previous research probing the capabilities and limitations of PDA/PTFE films have studied the wear and mechanical properties of the film, but the overall adhesive and deformation mechanisms remain unclear.

In this research, we investigate the tribological properties of PDA and PTFE molecules and composites from the atomic to the microscale …

Leveraging Biomimicry And Additive Manufacturing To Improve Load Transfer In Brittle Materials, Ana Paula Bernardo

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

With the emergence of Additive Manufacturing (i.e., 3D printing) in construction, new strategically designed shapes can be created to improve load transfer through structural members and foundations. Cross-sections can be optimized to carry load using less material, or even using weaker constituent materials, like soils, which are cheap and abundant. The goal of this research is to investigate the benefits of using cellular patterns which leverage biomimicry in civil engineering applications, since nature has perfectly engineered materials and patterns which carry loads with the least amount of material possible. Most of the periodic cellular work to date has focused on …

The Virome Of Peony And The Population Structure Of Its Most Prominent Viruses, Cullen Shaffer

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Peony (Peonia lactiflora, Pall.) is a popular ornamental that has been cultivated for millennia. Due to its popularity, plant material is frequently moved across international borders allowing for the spread of viruses. The virome of several peony plants was investigated and four viruses; namely Amazon lily mild mottle virus (ALiMMV), Cycas necrotic stunt virus (CNSV), Gentian Kobu-sho associated virus (GKaV) and Lychnis mottle virus (LycMoV) were detected for the first time in the Western Hemisphere. Incidence ranged from a few plants for ALiMMV to near universal infection for CNSV. GKaV was found in individuals that were infected with Lemoine’s disease …

Parallel Strategies To Control Bacterial Panicle Blight Of Rice, Laura Ortega

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bacterial Panicle Blight (BPB) of rice is a seed-borne disease caused by the bacterium Burkholderia glumae. This disease has affected rice production worldwide and its effects are likely to become more devastating with the continuous increase in global temperatures especially during the growing season. Field data has shown that the disease has been more prevalent in years when the temperatures have been unusually high especially at night possibly due to the bacterial adaptation to grow at temperatures higher than 40oC. With the continuous rise in global temperatures, it is likely that this disease will be more problematic. The bacterium can …

Moisture Monitoring Of A Clt Structure In A Southern Climate, Elizabeth Poblete

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding of moisture behavior in cross laminated timber (CLT) is critical to the widespread use of CLT in construction in the United States. Currently, very little data exists on the long-term impact of moisture on CLT. The objective of this research is to collect data regarding the long-term moisture variation in the CLT panel at the University of Arkansas Adohi Hall residence hall. The climate of Northwest Arkansas is different from previously monitored buildings, as they were in the Pacific Northwest. Comparatively, Northwest Arkansas has a warmer climate with higher average annual precipitation. Waterproofing efforts are usually employed to prevent …

Technology Aiding In Neonatal Lung Developmental Care, Megan Kirk

Undergraduate Honors Theses

In this paper, old as well as new technological findings to decrease premature infant mortality are reviewed. This paper discusses fetal development throughout pregnancy from conception to full-term status as well as fetal lung development specifically from conception until full-term status. Several ideas to rapidly develop and mature fetal lungs are discussed such as mothers ingesting artificial surfactant supplements, either independently or coupled with antenatal corticosteroids, as well as intra-amniotic instillation prior to 28 weeks gestational. Drawbacks regarding these two are mentioned as well such as the fetus’s lungs not being mature enough to use the artificial surfactant leading into …

Clemson Commencement Program, December 2020, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Cosmogenesis, Complexity, And Neo-Natural Faith In The Context Of Astrobiology, Kelly C. Smith

Publications

It is fair to say that religion, and in particular the ways in which some Christian and Islamic thinkers have again begun to encroach on the domain of science (e.g., global warming, the teaching of evolution), has caused a great deal of consternation within the scientific and philosophical communities. An understandable reaction to these developments is to reject out of hand even the slightest taint of religion in these fields—a position that has now attained the status of orthodoxy, at least in the western world. This is curious on its face, given the fact that religion has clearly provided a …

Data Processing & Analysis For Atomic Force Microscopy (Afm), Molly Mcdonough, Polievkt Perov, Walter Johnson, Stevan Radojev

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Scanning Probe Microscopy (SPM) has become a critical tool for characterization of materials in fields such as physics, material science, chemistry, and biology. Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) is an increasingly useful technique because of its high resolution in three dimensions, the sample does not need to be conductive, and the technique does not need to take place in vacuum. AFM can image a wide variety of topographies and many different types of materials. AFM can deliver 3D topography information from the angstrom level to the micron scale with high resolution. One of the most important aspects of Atomic Force Microscopy …

Neuromuscular Response To A Single Session Of Whole-Body Vibration In Children With Cerebral Palsy: A Pilot Study, Huaqing (Virginia) Liang, Gena Henderson, Jianhua Wu

Physical Therapy Faculty Research

Background Whole-body vibration (WBV) is a relative new intervention paradigm that could reduce spasticity and improve motor function in children with cerebral palsy (CP). We investigated neuromuscular response to a single session of side-alternating WBV with different amplitudes in children with CP.

Methods Ten children with spastic CP aged 7–17 years at GMFCS level I-III participated in this pilot study. Participants received two sessions of side-alternating WBV with the same frequency (20 Hz) but different amplitudes (low-amplitude: 1 mm and high-amplitude: 2 mm). Each session included six sets of 90 s of WBV and 90 s of rest. Before and …

A 4-Base-Pair Core-Enclosing Helix In Telomerase Rna Is Essential For Activity And For Binding To The Telomerase Reverse Transcriptase Catalytic Protein Subunit, Melissa A. Mefford

Faculty Research at Morehead State University

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Bacteriophages For Food Safety, Lorraine Endersen, Aidan Coffey

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

The search for natural biocontrol agents that allow the production of foods that are safe for human consumption and do not impact the taste, texture, and nutritional quality of the food, is a constant challenge for diverse food industries worldwide, particularly as the human population continues to rise globally, and multiple antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria is increasingly prevalent. Bacteriophages (phages), the naturally occurring predators of bacteria, are harmless to humans and animals and are ubiquitous in the environment — and as such, have been recognised as promising antimicrobial agents to help control specific bacterial pathogens in food production. This …

The Case Of Limbo: The Search For Identity In Sylvia Plath’S Short Fiction And The Bell Jar, Kristin Lyons

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Though Sylvia Plath’s poems and novel undergo frequent scholarly research, her short fiction is often overlooked. Plath’s journals influenced her short fiction writing, and her stories reflected Plath’s lived experiences. Plath’s short fiction, like her other works, explore themes of identity and detachment. Each of her protagonists exist in a personal limbo, and they strive to find their identities and to fit the roles in which they occupy. This thesis focuses on “Mary Ventura and the Ninth Kingdom,” stories from Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, and additional research from scholarly journals and biographies, with comparisons to identity struggles …

Flavonol Specific 3-O Glucosyltransferase (Cp3gt) Mutant S20g+T21s: Enzyme Structure And Function, Hayden Fobare

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Flavonols are a major subclass of flavonoids and are considered the most abundant subclass of flavonoids. Flavonols are classified as having a hydroxyl group on the 3^rd carbon of the C ring. The most prevalent modification to flavonols is glucosylation. The flavonol specific 3-O glucosyltransferase (Cp3GT) enzyme from grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) is the topic of this research and specifically adds glucose to flavonols at the 3-OH position. The level of activity varies depending on the flavonol structure. This makes Cp3GT an ideal model system for studying the structure/function relationship of Cp3GT using site-directed mutants. S20G+T21S is a …

Combining Implicit Geological Modeling, Field Surveys, And Hydrogeological Modeling To Describe Groundwater Flow In A Karst Aquifer, Fernando M. D’Affonseca, Michael Finkel, Olaf A. Cirpka

KIP Articles

In three-dimensional (3-D) implicit geological modeling, the bounding surfaces between geological units are automatically constructed from lithological contact data (position and orientation) and the location and orientation of potential faults. This approach was applied to conceptualize a karst aquifer in the Middle Triassic Muschelkalk Formation in southwest Germany, using digital elevation data, geological maps, borehole logs, and geological interpretation. Dip and strike measurements as well as soil-gas surveys of mantel-borne CO 2 were conducted to verify the existence of an unmapped fault. Implicit geological modeling allowed the straightforward assessment of the geological framework and rapid updates with incoming data. Simultaneous …

Semi-Automatic Hand Pose Estimation Using A Single Depth Camera, Giffy Jerald Chris

Computer Science and Engineering Theses - Archive

This paper addresses the problem of 3D hand pose annotations using a single depth camera. Although hand pose estimation methods rely critically on accurate 3D training data, creating such reliable training data is challenging and labor intensive. We propose a semi-automatic method for efficiently and accurately labeling the 3D hand key-points in a hand depth video. The process starts by selecting a subset of frames that are representative of all the frames in the dataset and the annotator only provides an estimate of the 2D hand key-points in these selected frames. We use this information to infer the 3D location …

Nanoscale Mechanics Of Disordered Biomolecules In Brain, Md Ishak Khan

Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Dissertations - Archive

The long-term objective of this dissertation is to link blast-induced traumatic brain injury (TBI) with multiscale, multiphysics damage evolution in the brain using experimentally verifiable computations and simulations. The short-term goal is to conduct modeling and simulation to correlate dynamic mechanical loading to damage in sub-axonal components. It is known that the interior of the brain at the macroscale (10^-1 m) is composed of two distinct components, the grey matter, and the white matter. Within the cortex, the grey matter primarily takes the form of cortical columns (mesoscale: 10^-3 m), which are six layered structures, each composed of 8-10 thousand …

Synthesis And In Vivo Biomedical Applications Of Ultrasmall Metal Nanoparticles, Shahab Ranjbar Bahadori

Material Science and Engineering Dissertations - Archive

Over the past decade, metal-based nanoparticles (MNPs) have gained much popularity in the field of nanomedicine owing to their exceptional physiochemical properties. Easy surface functionalization and conjugation with therapeutic moieties, stability, inertness, and inherent anticancer activities make MNPs promising diagnostic and therapeutic agents. Among different sizes of MNPs, which greatly affect their biodistribution and clearance, ultrasmall metal nanoparticles with the size less than 5 nm demonstrate unique pharmacokinetic properties, making them suitable for nanomedicinal applications. Therefore, many efforts have been made to synthesize various kinds of ultrasmall metal nanoparticles. In this study, a revolutionary synthesis method, termed as liquid diffusion …

Evolution Of Sustainability And Resilience In Military Master Planning: Examining Planners' Perceptions, Rhonda E. Fields

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

An increasingly globalized world and mounting threats to our economy, environment, and social structures have brought the concepts of sustainability and resilience into sharp focus. These threats include climate change, rapid urbanization, and loss of biodiversity in an increasing volatile, uncertain, ambiguous, and complex world. Sustainability and resilience have emerged as key concepts in understanding and addressing urban dynamics toward a livable urban future. These concepts are important because resilience typically deals with the short-term issues surrounding predicting and responding to immediate threats, while sustainability looks at the long-term, steady state of the built and natural environment. Focusing on resilience …

Application Of The Critical Race And Latino Critical Theories To Explore Social Innovation In Nonprofit Services Addressing Hiv/Aids Issues In Texas, Jack Brandon Philips

Public Affairs Dissertations - Archive

The nonprofit sector is an essential and valuable resource in the United States for aiding marginalized populations. This study focuses on how nonprofit health organizations provide and innovate HIV services, and how they can overcome barriers in delivering quality services for HIV/AIDS education, prevention, and treatment to Latinos in Texas. Nonprofit organizations are on the front lines of the HIV/AIDS fight, through their outreach in the areas of education, prevention, and testing. Nonprofit organizations are examined for barriers and innovations in service delivery as it applies to the Latino community. This study also examines how the integration of Critical Race …

Developing A High-Value Pima Cotton Production System For South Carolina, Sarah Katherine Holladay

All Theses

With current production of Pima cotton (Gossypium barbadense L.) in the United States being limited to the West, expanding cultivation into other parts of the country requires extensive research. Pima cotton is extra-long staple cotton with superior and more valuable fibers than the more broadly cultivated species, upland cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.). With Pima cotton production once existing in South Carolina prior to the 1930’s and boll weevil (Anthonmus grandis grandis Boh.) invasion, it was hypothesized in this study that it could be cultivated in the state once again. The objectives were (1) to identify pima genotypes in a two-year …

Effect Of Carbon Black Electrocatalyst Thickness And Composition On Electrosynthesis Of Hydrogen Peroxide On Gas Diffusion Electrodes, Lauren Marie Schmidt

All Theses

The in-situ electrosynthesis of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) from reduction of oxygen is a promising method to produce a strong oxidant and disinfectant for application in the water and wastewater treatment industry. Capable of producing low concentrations of H2O2 with no aeration requirements and harmless by-products of water and oxygen, the electrosynthesis of H2O2 using gas diffusion electrodes is advantageous. This research examines the impact that electrocatalyst thickness and composition have on the production efficiency of H2O2 at the gas diffusion layer of a gas diffusion electrode. From these results, the optimum electrocatalyst loading and composition with its respective energy requirements …

Biodiversity And Ecology Of Lichens Of Kenai Fjords National Park, Alaska, Roger Rosentreter

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

We inventoried lichens in Kenai Fjords National Park in Alaska, USA We assembled the known information on occurrence and ecology of lichens in this park by combining field, herbarium, and literature studies. Our results provide baseline data on lichen occurrence that may be used in resource condition assessments, vulnerability assessments, long-term ecological monitoring, and resource management. We report a total of 616 taxa of lichenized fungi from the Park, plus an additional five subspecies and three varieties, all of which are new additions to the National Park Service database for this park unit. An additional five species of nonlichenized lichenicolous …

Maladaptive, Megan Thomas

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

This ceramics MFA thesis presents themes of environmental and emotional transition through metaphorical bird imagery. The artist juxtaposes humans and ravens, who are capable of adapting to changing environments, with songbirds, who are less capable of surviving change. The artist asks viewers to consider the loss of ways of existing in the world that goes hand in hand with loss of biodiversity. Works include sculpture, sculptural and functional vessels, and drawings.

Spatial Profiling Of Gangliosides In Mouse Brain By Mass Spectrometry Imaging, Douglas A. Andres, Lyndsay E. A. Young, Matthew S. Gentry, Ramon C. Sun

Molecular and Cellular Biochemistry Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Seasonal Variability Of Upwelling And Downwelling Surface Current Patterns Near A Small Coastal Embayment, Nicholas Trautman

Physics

Upwelling in coastal embayments is important to a variety of physical and biological processes. Despite their ubiquity, circulation patterns in small bays (width and length scales ≤ 20 km) in eastern boundary current upwelling systems are relatively understudied compared to their larger counterparts. In this study, we apply a conditional averaging technique to investigate upwelling- and downwelling-driven circulation in a small coastal embayment located in Central California [San Luis Obispo (SLO) Bay]. We also investigate intraseasonal differences in the current patterns in SLO Bay. Conditional averaging reveals distinct intraseasonal differences and features that are obscured by traditional seasonal averages when …