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Evening And Overnight Cardiovascular And Arterial Stiffness Responses To Simulated Binge Drinking, Grant Thivierge

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Acute alcohol consumption has been shown to increase blood pressure, while chronic heavy alcohol consumption is associated with the development of hypertension. Another factor that contributes to hypertension is arterial stiffness. While evidence suggests light to moderate alcohol consumption can decrease arterial stiffness, the impact of binge alcohol consumption on acute and overnight changes of arterial stiffness remains unknown. Twenty-seven participants (14 female; 13 male) received a binge alcohol dose or fluid control randomly one month apart. Alcohol or fluid control doses were administered in two equally divided allocates at 8 and 9 pm. A 1:3 mixture of 190 proof …

Metagenomic Identification And Classification Of The Mercury-Methylating Gene Hgca In Response To Water Table And Plant Functional Group Manipulations In Peat Soil, Madeline Peterson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Methyl-mercury (MeHg) is a potent neurotoxin that threatens the health of humans and wildlife alike. Climate warming threatens to shift regional precipitation and climate regimes in peatland environments, which could destabilize northern peatlands and accelerate both Hg release from soil and MeHg production. Peatlands are among the leading hotspots for MeHg, yet little is known about the community composition or functional relationship of mercury-methylating microbes in response to varying environmental conditions. The recognized mercury-methylating genes responsible for this activity are the obligatory gene pair hgcA and hgcB. Metagenomic data from the full-factorial peatland mesocosm experiment PEATcosm was obtained to …

High-Resolution Molecular Characterization Of Complex Environmental Mixtures: Aquatic Dissolved Organic Matter And Wildfire-Influenced Aerosol, Amna Ijaz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The natural environment is replete with organic matter of varying complexities. Whether it is particulate material in the atmosphere, decades old organic matter trapped within glaciers, or biological debris flowing with rivers and streams, natural organic matter (NOM) is exquisitely complex. High-resolution mass spectrometry allows us to have a glimpse of the molecular composition of NOM and delineate the elemental compositions of thousands of chemical species that form it. In this dissertation, the overarching aim was to explore the molecular diversity of complex mixtures from two sources: Surface water and atmospheric organic aerosol. The first objective of this dissertation was …

The Extraction Of Waxes And Lipids From Sorghum Using Green And Renewable Solvents Followed By Conversion To Biofuels Using Gamma-Valerolactone Pretreatment, Marissa Gallmeyer

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Plant matter contains waxes and lipids that can be extracted and used or sold as a value-added product prior to conversion of the remaining plant material to biofuels. Wax and lipid extraction of plant materials is currently performed using volatile, non-renewable hydrocarbons, primarily hexane, which is produced from fossil fuels and can pose a health and safety hazard. The purpose of this study is to compare the amount and characteristics of waxes extracted by hexane with those extracted using organic solvents that are less toxic and can be produced from renewable sources.

Sorghum samples were extracted separately with hexane, 2-methyltetrahydrofuran …

Construction And Analysis Of Genetic Regulatory Networks With Rna-Seq Data From Arabidopsis Thaliana, Tessa Kriz

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Reconstruction of gene regulatory networks (GRNs) is a fundamental aspect of genetic engineering and provides a deeper understanding of the biological processes of an organism. Two methods were implemented to reconstruct the gene regulatory networks of Arabidopsis thaliana under two treatments: methyl jasmonate (MeJa) and salicylic acid (SA). The Joint Reconstruction of multiple Gene Regulatory Networks (JRmGRN) method was utilized to construct a joint network for identifying hub genes common to both conditions in addition to networks specific to each condition. The Differential Network Analysis with False Discover Rate Control method constructed a network of connections unique to only one …

Anterior Cruciate Ligament Injury Incidence Across Sex, Sport, And Level: A Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis, Dana Anderson

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Well controlled Anterior Cruciate Ligament (ACL) injury prevention neuromuscular training reduces the risk of ACL injury by 50%, but despite the efficacy of these programs, ACL injury rates have not decreased. This lack of decrease in injury incidence may be due in part to limited knowledge on who is most at risk for sustaining an ACL injury, and there is no formal clinical tool available to estimate the personalized or group risk of ACL injury. The purpose of this study was to better understand what groups of athletes are most at risk of sustaining a primary ACL injury, as the …

The Application Of Leaky Wave Antennas For Medical Hyperthermia Treatment And Beamformer In Fmcw Automotive Radar Systems, Masoud Sarabi

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Thousands of years ago human discovered that if a slice of amber is rubbed against fur, it would absorb light-weight objects. Hundreds of years after that the ancient people figured out that there are actually two different characteristics of attraction and repulsion. Another 2000 years passed when human discovered that these two wonders of nature, magnetism and electricity are actually linked together like the two sides of the same coin. Since then, in the early 19th century great huge achievements were made in antennas and propagation by scientists such as Hans Christen Oersted, Heinrich Hertz, Alexander Popov and Marconi. Since …

Base-Labile Protecting Groups For Stepwise Peg Synthesis, Logan D. Mikesell

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Stepwise synthesis of monodisperse polyethylene glycols (PEGs) and their derivatives usually involves using an acid-labile protecting group such as DMTr and coupling two PEG moieties together under the basic Williamson ether formation conditions. Using this approach, each elongation of PEG is achieved in three steps – deprotection, deprotonation, and coupling – in two pots. Here, we report a more convenient approach for PEG synthesis featuring the use of a base-labile protecting group such as the phenethyl group. Using this approach, each elongation of PEG can be achieved in only two steps – deprotection and coupling – in one pot. The …

Chinese Women’S Reproductive Justice And Digital Technologies, Hua Wang

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

It is well known that China has implemented a Family Planning policy. Chinese women have limited options in reproduction, and their agency is constrained by the government, the medical institutions, and the traditional Chinese patriarchal and biased culture. By utilizing rhetorical analysis as a primary methodology with a focus on rhetorical agency, this dissertation analyzes two cases where digital technologies such as social media and apps facilitate users’ rhetorical agency to counter instances of reproductive injustice. First, I focus on China’s most popular pregnancy and mothering app, Babytree, to examine how the app rhetorically positions its users to enable empowerment …

Statistical Methods In Genetic Studies, Cheng Gao

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

This dissertation includes three Chapters. A brief description of each chapter is organized as follows.

In Chapter 1, we proposed a new method, called MF-TOWmuT, for genome-wide association studies with multiple genetic variants and multiple phenotypes using family samples. MF-TOWmuT uses kinship matrix to account for sample relatedness. It is worth mentioning that in simulations, we considered hidden polygenic effects and varied the proportion of variance contributed by it to generate phenotypes. Simulation studies show that MF-TOWmuT can preserve the type I error rates and is more powerful than several existing methods in different simulation scenarios, MFTOWmuT is also quite …

Physicochemical Properties Of Atmospheric Aerosols And Their Effect On Ice Cloud Formation, Nurun Nahar Lata

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Atmospheric aerosols play a vital role in the Earth's energy budget-directly by scattering and absorbing solar radiation and indirectly by acting as cloud condensation nuclei and ice-nucleating particles [1, 2]. The cloud formation potential of aerosol is driven by multiple factors, including surface properties, size distribution, composition, mixing state, phase state, and morphology [3]. The interaction of aerosols with clouds alters the aerosol's physicochemical properties. Those properties can also evolve during transport due to atmospheric processing, in turn, affect the aerosol's ice nucleation and cloud formation activities. This thesis presents experimental studies to understand the role of physicochemical properties of …

Utilization Of Paenibacillus Polymyxa In The Recovery Of Lithium Bearing Minerals, Diana Bullen

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

In the global transition to green energy in the transportation and power production sectors, lithium has emerged as a viable solution, and crucial component, for the effective storage of renewable resources. To avoid further degradation of the land due to mining for virgin material, methods focused on recovering lithium must be developed. This research project seeks to explore a new way to recover lithium by using the bacterium Paenibacillus polymyxa. The bacteria were grown and then applied to the lithium bearing mineral spodumene. Settling velocity profiles were constructed for different treatments of spodumene. It was found that the spodumene …

Spatial And Temporal Comparison Of Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Boardman River, Collin Diedrich

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Dam removal is a critical part of river and stream remediation projects around the world. Frequently dams are associated with impoundment ponds containing sediments that can act as a sink of various persistent organic pollutants (POPs) that can pose risks for human and aquatic wildlife. In this study, we deployed semi-permeable membrane devices (SPMDs) at multiple locations along a 25-mile stretch of the Boardman River in Traverse City Michigan to passively sample POP concentrations in this area that has recently undergone dam and impoundment pond sediment removal. Concentrations of polychlorinated biphenyl (PCB), di-chloro-diphenyl-trichloroethane (DDT) and cyclodiene compounds were in the …

Advancement Of Full-Vector Variable-Temperature Magnetometry For Rock-Magnetic And Paleointensity Applications, Leonid Surovitskii

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Data on the variation of the direction and strength of Earth’s ancient magnetic field (absolute paleointensity) provide crucial information into the mechanisms of the geodynamo and the Earth’s thermal history. However, the use of conventional methods and instrumentation for absolute paleointensity determination has been hampered by physicochemical alteration of the samples caused by multiple high-temperature cycles and long experiment durations. The reliability and efficiency of the measurement process can be improved by the measurement of the full remanent magnetization vector simultaneously with the temperature cycling of a sample. Such as approach can also substantially expand the scope of materials available …

Regional Impacts Of Invasive Species And Climate Change On Black Ash Wetlands, Joseph Shannon

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

For more than a decade intensive research on the ecohydrology of black ash wetland ecosystems has been performed to understand these systems before they are drastically altered by the invasive species, emerald ash borer (EAB). In that time there has been little research aimed at the scale and persistence of the alterations. Three distinct but related research articles will be presented to demonstrate a method for moderate resolution mapping of black ash across its entire range, understand the relative impacts of EAB and climate change on probable future wetland conditions, and develop an experimental and modeling approach to quantify and …

Denitrification And Nitrogen Fixation Commonly Co-Occur But Rates Vary Throughout The Year And In Different Environments, Kevin Nevorski

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Denitrification and nitrogen fixation are nitrogen cycling processes that can occur simultaneously in streams but are rarely studied together. The overarching goal of this dissertation was to quantify temporal and spatial variation of these processes in streams across the USA, characterize the environmental drivers of that variation, and determine the role that denitrification plays in the carbon cycle. To characterize temporal variation in these processes, a 2-year study in the Pilgrim River in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula found no difference in rates among seasons but high day-to-day variation in rates of both processes (maximum daily change 4,390 μg N/m²/hr …

Effects Of Microporous Structure On The Enzymatic Conversion Of Biomass Using A Multiscale Model, Saketh Merugu

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The generation of biofuels from lignocellulosic biomass involves innovative process technology that is being investigated worldwide. Enzymatic hydrolysis is a major step in the contemporary process of the generation of biofuels. Guided by pore size distribution measured using NMR cryoporometry, we developed pore-enzyme diffusion and adsorption models at the particle level coupled with a kinetic model for cellulose, cellobiose, and glucose production at flask level. By simulating these models in MATLAB, COMSOL, and Polymath software packages, we investigate the effects of various biomass particle-related parameters (particle dimensions, porosity, enzyme accessibility) on the characteristic time of enzyme diffusion and adsorption and …

Estimating Red Wolf Ancestry In A Population Of Canids On Galveston Island, Texas, Tanner Barnes

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

Hybridization can be a conservation concern if genomic introgression leads to the loss of an endangered species’ unique genome, or when hybrid offspring are sterile or less fit then their parental species, but hybridization can also be an adaptive management tool if rare populations are severely inbred. One such species, the red wolf, is critically endangered in the United States, where all extant red wolves are descended from 14 founders which has contributed to an increase in inbreeding over time. Red wolves were considered extirpated from Texas in 1980, but before they disappeared, they hybridized with encroaching coyotes creating a …

Quality And Quantity Of Social Support In College Students With Adhd Symptomatology, Chloe J. Reeble

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Social support is an important factor in both physical health and mental well-being. Both the quality and quantity of social support have been found to be a protective factor in some mental illnesses. Individuals with ADHD often have a hard time maintaining peer relationships because of the symptoms of the disorder. This may result in low social support quality and quantity, which may in turn affect social impairment, and symptoms of depression, anxiety, and stress. This study examines the relation between ADHD and social support in college students. Findings show that social impairment significantly predicts lower social support quality and …

Effects Of Stepwise Guided Inquiry On Students' Attitudes And Depth Of Knowledge From Written Lab Reflections In High School Chemistry, Melissa Rae Campbell Johnson

Graduate Research Papers

Many teachers find it challenging to embed guided inquiry into high school chemistry courses. Although guided inquiry provides excellent opportunities for students to engage in data analysis, misconceptions and loss of class time are teacher stated problems with guided inquiry. A stepwise inquiry project can slowly introduce students to the inquiry process of data analysis in high school chemistry.

This stepwise inquiry project examined three different inquiry labs designed around the anchoring phenomenon, “ Which toothpaste protects our teeth the best?”Each lab progressed in inquiry level. Lab one was written at inquiry level one,confirmation. The second lab was written at …

Immediate Vs. Deferred Feedback During Formative Assessments In A 9th Grade Physical Science Course, Jordan Sonntag

Graduate Research Papers

For educators, feedback has become a very important part of the teaching practice that is taught in both teacher education programs and building-level professional development. While many studies have been done on feedback itself, there is much less research on the effectiveness of certain types of feedback used within a Learning Management System (LMS). The goal of this experiment is to determine if there is any difference on summative assessment scores based on the use of different types of feedback on formative assessments using an LMS.

An LMS is a program that allows the educator to create step by step …

Public Perception Of Adults With Adhd In The United States: Stigma Vs. Strengths, Peyton S. Barton

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Stigma is a stereotyped judgement of a group of people (e.g. people with a mental illness; Goffman, 1963). Mentally ill individuals are often assumed to be dangerous, irresponsible, or incapable of taking care of themselves (Rüsch et al., 2005). The type of judgement and the level to which individuals are judged is influenced by the sociodemographic factors of the observer as well as the stigmatized individual (Martin et al., 2007). Additionally, in some cases people judge those with mental illness as having strengths; for example, believing people with bipolar disorder to be particularly creative (Galvez et al., 2011; Kiume, 2017). …

Teaching Race Through Multicultural Children's Literature, Kaley Bailey, Maiya Duthoo-Wolpert

Graduate Research Papers

There is considerable confusion in today’s society when it comes to talking about race. In result to this, race talk in schools can be overseen with challenges, leading to problematic conversations, disconnection, and ultimately student disengagement. This study is used by two Elementary educators one an Asian, the other a Caucasian - found in the Midwest, showing how teachers can break that uncomfortable barrier of the topic about race and navigate conversations through multicultural children’s literature books. The study demonstrated how to choose the most effective multicultural children’s literature to share to a classroom of students and how beneficial it …

Enhancing Scientific Literacy Through Attention To Argumentation As A Disciplinary Literacy Practice, Whitney Mcwilliams

Graduate Research Papers

This project is partly driven by Science Writing Heuristic as writing to learn is part of a larger objective to help students develop literacy. While research on the SWH examines its own effectiveness through the lens of literacy, it only looked at its impact on science content knowledge. This project will examine five assessment tasks structured around the practice of argumentation. Data collected will measure use and inclusion of phenomena, three dimensional learning, and alignment to Performance Expectations. The content of the performance expectations center around two standards focused on electromagnetic radiation’s effect on matter and technological devices used to …

Impact Of Inquiry Science Courses On Preservice Elementary Students' Ideas On Science, Lance Charles Baetsle

Graduate Research Papers

This study examines how students' scientific ideas compare between students who have taken different numbers of general science and inquiry science courses at a midwestern university. The purpose of this study is to gain perspective and to inform current teaching practices based on how preservice elementary education teachers view scientific ideas after taking a different number of inquiry science courses. Students in a science inquiry course completed a science survey (Appendix B) of science and non-science questions and were asked to explain their reasoning. A scoring rubric (Wilson et al., 2010) was used to apply a score for correct and …

A New Hybrid Genetic Algorithm For Protein Structure Prediction On The 2dtriangular Lattice, Bouroubi Sadek, Nabil Boumedine

Turkish Journal of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences

The flawless functioning of the protein is essentially related to its three-dimensional structure. Therefore,predicting protein structure from its amino acid sequence is a fundamental problem that draws researchers' attentionin many areas. The protein structure prediction problem (PSP) can be formulated as a combinatorial optimization problem based on simplified lattice models such as the hydrophobic-polar model. In this paper, we propose a new hybridalgorithm that combines three different known heuristic algorithms: the genetic algorithm, the tabu search strategy,and the local search algorithm to solve the PSP problem. Regarding the evaluation of the proposed approach, wepresent an experimental study, where we consider …

Effects Of Methyl Jasmonate On Quality Properties And Phytochemical Compounds Of Kiwifruit (Actinidia Deliciosa Cv. `Hayward') During Cold Storage And Shelf Life, Burhan Öztürk, Furkan Yücedağ

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

The research aimed to assess the effects of methyl jasmonate (0.25, 0.5, and 1.0 mM MeJA) on weight loss and phytochemical compounds of kiwifruit (Actinidia deliciosa cv. `Hayward') throughout the cold storage and shelf life. Kiwifruits were stored at 0 ± 0.5 °C and 90 ± 5% RH for 180 days, and at 20 ± 1.0 °C and 80 ± 5% RH for 5 days in shelf life conditions. During cold storage, weight loss was significantly lower (P < 0.05) in 0.25 and 1.0 mM MeJA treatments than those of control and 0.5 mM MeJA treatments. The highest flesh firmness was determined in MeJA-treated fruits. In the latest measurement period of cold storage and shelf life, the lowest respiration rate was obtained from 0.5 and 1.0 mM MeJA treatments. MeJA-treated fruits had significantly higher hue angle at the end of cold storage. Generally, in shelf life analysis, acidity of MeJA-treated fruits was significantly lower than that of control fruits. At the end of cold storage, the highest vitamin C, total flavonoids, and antioxidant activity (DPPH) were measured in 1.0 mM MeJA treatment, whereas the highest total phenolics were detected in 0.25 mM MeJA treatment. Present findings revealed that MeJA could be used as an effective postharvest tool to maintain flesh firmness and phytochemical compounds of kiwifruits.

Impact Of Roasting Level On Fatty Acid Composition, Oil And Polycyclic Aromatic Hydrocarbon Contents Of Various Dried Nuts, Emel Öz, Eli̇f Eki̇z, Adem Savaş, Eyad Aoudeh, A.M. Abd El-Aty, Fati̇h Öz

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Herein, the effects of roasting levels (rare, medium, and well) on the fatty acid composition, oil and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon (PAH) contents of various dried nuts (almonds, hazelnuts, peanuts, and cashews) were investigated. The roasting level affected the moisture and total oil contents, as well as the fatty acid composition. The roasting level had no significant effect (P > 0.05) on saturated fatty acid (SFA), monounsaturated fatty acid (MUFA) contents of the dried nuts, while it had a significant effect (P < 0.05) on polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA). In raw and dry roasted nut, the most common SFA, MUFA, and PUFA were palmitic, oleic, and linoleic acid, respectively. The amounts of linoleic acid and ΣPUFA, as well as ΣPUFA/ΣSFA ratio were the lowest in the well roasted samples. Additionally, the types of dried nut had a significant effect (P < 0.01) on the amounts of total oil and fatty acid compositions. The highest total oil amount (62.15%) was found in hazelnuts, while the lowest PUFA content (7.54%) was also determined in hazelnuts. From the nutritional perspective of view, the highest ΣPUFA / ΣSFA ratio (2.40) belonged to almonds. Although the recovery rates of PAH standards varied between 70.14%-85.10%, none of the heavy PAH compounds could be detected in raw and roasted samples.

Characterization Of Fusarium Sambucinum Isolates Associated With Potato Dry Rot And Evaluation Of Cultivar Susceptibility And Fungicides, Gülcan Yikilmazsoy, Neci̇p Tosun

Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

Potato dry rot disease (Fusarium spp.) is one of the most important fungal storage rots on potato tubers after harvesting. The aims of this study were to identify the Fusarium species that cause dry rot in potato storages, evaluate the most virulent Fusarium species in vitro and in vivo for fungicide sensitivity and determine the susceptibility of the cultivars. In this context, as a result of surveys carried out in potato storages of Ödemiş and Torbalı counties in İzmir province in 2015-2016; Fusarium species obtained from diseased potato tubers were identified as Fusarium sambucinum, F. oxysporum, F. avenaceum and F. …

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Turkish Journal of Agriculture and Forestry

No abstract provided.