Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development Of Protein-Polymer Core-Shell Nanoparticles (Ppcs-Nps) As Efficient Vehicles To Deliver Therapeutic Agents Across Blood Brain Barrier (Bbb), Napat Tandikul

Theses and Dissertations

Blood Brain Barrier (BBB) plays a main role as selective barrier which controls and limits access of chemicals, molecules and therapeutic agents from blood to brain. The BBB endothelial cells are connected by Tight Junctions (TJs) which close intracellular spaces between the endothelial cells and block the free diffusion of substances, therefore many potential drugs for treating human brain diseases cannot reach the brain in sufficient concentration. Recently, many studies have thrown an interest in development of nanoparticles for delivering drugs and imaging agents across BBB. Our research group has developed protein-polymer core-shell nanoparticles (PPCS-NPs) which demonstrate great potential for …

Interest Detection In Image, Video And Multiple Videos: Model And Applications, Yuewei Lin

Theses and Dissertations

Interest detection is detecting an object, event, or process that draws attention. In this dissertation, we focus on interest detection in images, video and multiple videos. Interest detection in an image or a video is closely related to visual attention. However, the interest detection in multiple videos needs to consider all the videos as a whole rather than considering the attention in each single video independently.

Visual attention is an important mechanism of human vision. The computational model of visual attention has recently attracted a lot of interest in the computer vision community mainly because it helps find the objects …

Frailty Probit Models For Clustered Interval-Censored Failure Time Data, Haifeng Wu

Theses and Dissertations

Survival analysis is an important branch of statistics that deals with time to event data or survival data. An important feature of such data is that the survival time of interest is usually not completely known but is censored due to the design of the study or an early dropout. In this dissertation we focus on studying clustered interval-censored data, a special type of survival data. Interval-censored data arise in many epidemiological, social science, and medical studies, in which subjects are examined at periodical follow-up visits. The survival (or failure) time of interest is never exactly observed but is known …

Neuro-Fuzzy Classification Of Felsic Lava Geomorphology At Alarcon Rise, Mexico, Christina Hefron Maschmeyer

Theses and Dissertations

The Alarcon Rise is the only submarine oceanic spreading ridge setting where rhyolitic lavas have been found. This intermediate-rate spreading ridge provides a unique natural laboratory for studying the geomorphology of felsic submarine lava flows at oceanic spreading ridges. Seafloor observations of felsic lava indicate the flow morphology differs from typical submarine basaltic lava at the few other oceanic spreading ridges where differentiated compositions have been recorded. Morphologic variation between mafic and felsic lava flows, especially rhyolites, was also observed at Alarcon Rise.

The Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute conducted mapping surveys with autonomous underwater vehicle D Allan B. in …

Learning Human Poses From Monocular Images, Xiaochuan Fan

Theses and Dissertations

In this research, we mainly focus on the problem of estimating the 2D human pose from a monocular image and reconstructing the 3D human pose based on the 2D human pose. Here a 3D pose is the locations of the human joints in the 3D space and a 2D pose is the projection of a 3D pose on an image. Unlike many previous works that explicitly use hand-crafted physiological models, both our 2D pose estimation and 3D pose reconstruction approaches implicitly learn the structure of human body from human pose data.

This 3D pose reconstruction is an ill-posed problem without …

Uptake Of Nanoparticles By Vibrio Gazogenes, Shonda Renee Jones

Theses and Dissertations

Vibrio gazogenes, a Gram-negative species of marine bacteria, was capable of transporting 20 nm (diameter) surface-carboxylated, polystyrene, fluorescent FluoSpheres® microspheres (excitation/emission = 505/515) through the outer membrane, which was indicated by a detectable decrease in the fluorescence intensity of the nanoparticles in the culture medium. A mechanism of transport was investigated involving the ATP-binding cassette (ABC) protein transporters that traverse the outer membrane. Inhibition of the ABC transporters did not prevent the entry of the nanoparticles into the cell, suggesting there was an alternate mechanism of transport. The addition of nanoparticles to the culture medium also did not provide any …

Musical Robots For Children With Asd Using A Client-Server Architecture, Ruimin Zhang, Jaclyn Barnes, Joseph Ryan, Myounghoon Jeon, Chung Hyuk Park, Ayanna Howard

Department of Psychology and Human Factors Publications

People with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD) are known to have difficulty recognizing and expressing emotions, which affects their social integration. Leveraging the recent advances in interactive robot and music therapy approaches, and integrating both, we have designed musical robots that can facilitate social and emotional interactions of children with ASD. Robots communicate with children with ASD while detecting their emotional states and physical activities and then, make real-time sonification based on the interaction data. Given that we envision the use of multiple robots with children, we have adopted a client-server architecture. Each robot and sensing device plays a role as …

Tempo-Fit Heart Rate App: Using Heart Rate Sonification As Exercise Performance Feedback, Steven Landry, Yuanjing Sun, Darnishia L. Slade, Myounghoon Jeon

Department of Psychology and Human Factors Publications

Physical inactivity is a worldwide issue causing a variety of health problems. Exploring novel ways to encourage people to engage in physical activity is a topic at the forefront of research for countless stakeholders. Based upon a review of the literature, a pilot study, and exit interviews, we propose an app prototype that utilizes music tempo manipulation to guide users into a target heart rate zone during an exercise session. A study was conducted with 26 participants in a fifteen-minute cycling session using different sonification mappings and combinations of audiovisual feedback based on the user's current heart rate. Results suggest …

Bright Galaxies At Hubble's Redshift Detection Frontier : Preliminary Results And Design From The Redshift Z ~ 9-10 Borg Pure-Parallel Hst Survey., V. Calvi, M. Trenti, M. Stiavelli, P. A. Oesch, L. Bradley, K. B. Schmidt, D. Coe, G. Brammer, S. Bernard, R. J. Bouwens, D. Carrasco, C. M. Carollo, Benne W. Holwerda, J. W. Mackenty, C. A. Mason, J. M. Shull, T. Treu

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

We present the first results and design from the redshift z ∼ 9–10 Brightest of the Reionizing Galaxies Hubble Space Telescope survey BoRG[z9–10], aimed at searching for intrinsically luminous unlensed galaxies during the first 700 Myr after the Big Bang. BoRG[z9–10] is the continuation of a multi-year pure-parallel near-IR and optical imaging campaign with the Wide Field Camera 3. The ongoing survey uses five filters, optimized for detecting the most distant objects and offering continuous wavelength coverage from λ = 0.35 μm to λ = 1.7 μm. We analyze the initial ∼130 arcmin2 of area over 28 independent lines of …

Extragalactic Archeology With The Ghosts Survey : I. Age-Resolved Disk Structure Of Nearby Low-Mass Galaxies., David Streich, Roelof S. De Jong, Jeremy Bailin, Eric F. Bell, Benne W. Holwerda, Ivan Minchev, Antonela Monachesi, David J. Radburn-Smith

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Aims. We study the individual evolution histories of three nearby low-mass edge-on galaxies (IC 5052, NGC 4244, and NGC 5023).

Methods. Using resolved stellar populations, we constructed star count density maps for populations of different ages and analyzed the change of structural parameters with stellar age within each galaxy.

Results. We do not detect a separate thick disk in any of the three galaxies, even though our observations cover a wider range in equivalent surface brightness than any integrated light study. While scale heights increase with age, each population can be well described by a single disk. Two of the …

The Corporate Security Stratum Of Work: Identifying Levels Of Work In The Domain, Codee Roy Ludbey

Theses : Honours

Corporate security is a practicing domain and developing academic discipline that provides for the protection of people, information and assets, as well as the self-protection of organisations. Fayol (1949) articulated such an activity within organisations to be a core business function of significant importance; embedding security operations within all aspects of organisational work. This embedded nature of security within organisations has led to difficulty in the literature delineating roles and responsibilities of security practitioners; consequently leading to a nebulous understanding of security as a whole. Therefore, an investigation of the corporate security stratum of work has been undertaken to address …

Penetration Testing Frameworks And Methodologies: A Comparison And Evaluation, Aleatha Shanley

Theses : Honours

Cyber security is fast becoming a strategic priority across both governments and private organisations. With technology abundantly available, and the unbridled growth in the size and complexity of information systems, cyber criminals have a multitude of targets. Therefore, cyber security assessments are becoming common practice as concerns about information security grow. Penetration testing is one strategy used to mitigate the risk of cyber-attack. Penetration testers attempt to compromise systems using the same tools and techniques as malicious attackers thus, aim to identify vulnerabilities before an attack occurs. Penetration testing can be complex depending on the scope and domain area under …

Paleoenvironmental Analysis Of Cretaceous Mudstones At Slope Mountain, Alaska Using Carbon Stable Isotopes, Ashley Ratigan

Honors Papers

This project uses field samples, microfacies analysis, and carbon stable isotopes of mudstones to determine past environmental conditions of North Slope, Alaska during the Albian-Cenomanian (Cretaceous). Samples were taken at Slope Mountain, Alaska located north of the Brooks Range. Slope Mountain includes the Torok Formation and the upper and lower Nanushuk Formations that consist of alluvial, deltaic, and shallow marine facies that were deposited into the North Slope foreland basin on the Arctic Alaska micro plate. An exhaustive search for identifiable microfossils, such as pollen, diatoms, and foraminifera in the samples yielded nothing but charcoal and carbon residue. No other …

Cryptography With Right-Angled Artin Groups, Ramon Flores, Delaram Kahrobaei

Publications and Research

In this paper we propose right-angled Artin groups as a platform for secret sharing schemes based on the efficiency (linear time) of the word problem. Inspired by previous work of Grigoriev-Shpilrain in the context of graphs, we define two new problems: Subgroup Isomorphism Problem and Group Homomorphism Problem. Based on them, we also propose two new authentication schemes. For right-angled Artin groups, the Group Homomorphism and Graph Homomorphism problems are equivalent, and the later is known to be NP-complete. In the case of the Subgroup Isomorphism problem, we bring some results due to Bridson who shows there are right-angled Artin …

Do Toxicity Modifying Factors Influence Acute Or Chronic Toxicity Of Thulium To Hyalella Azteca?, Alexandria H. Loveridge

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

The industrial demand for rare earth elements (REEs) is growing and as a result, environmental exposure is a concern. Very little is understood about the toxicity of REEs in aquatic environments. The objective of this research is to evaluate the acute and chronic toxicity of Tm and to also understand the toxicity modifying influence of dissolved organic matter (DOM) and cationic competition (Ca2+, Mg2+ and Na+). Furthermore, the aim of this study was to determine linkages between Tm bioaccumulation, growth and survival during chronic exposures. Standard methods (Environment Canada) were followed for both 96h acute and 14d chronic tests, in …

The Impact Of Information Technology On Patient Engagement And Health Behavior Change: A Systematic Review Of The Literature, Suhila Sawesi, Mohamed Rashrash, Kanitha Phalakornkule, Janet S. Carpenter, Josette F. Jones

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Advancements in information technology (IT) and its increasingly ubiquitous nature expand the ability to engage patients in the health care process and motivate health behavior change.

Objective: Our aim was to systematically review the (1) impact of IT platforms used to promote patients’ engagement and to effect change in health behaviors and health outcomes, (2) behavior theories or models applied as bases for developing these interventions and their impact on health outcomes, (3) different ways of measuring health outcomes, (4) usability, feasibility, and acceptability of these technologies among patients, and (5) challenges and research directions for implementing …

The Bou Dahar Jurassic Carbonate-Hosted Pb–Zn–Ba Deposits (Oriental High Atlas, Morocco): Fluid-Inclusion And C–O–S–Pb Isotope Studies, Larbi Rddad, Salah Bouhlel

Publications and Research

The Bou Dahar Pb–Zn–Ba (±Sr) is hosted in the Lower and Middle Liassic carbonate platform in the oriental High Atlas of Morocco. The paragenetic sequence includes quartz–pyrite–melnicovite–sphalerite–galena– calcite–barite ± fluorite– ± celestite. Fluid-inclusion studies were conducted on sphalerite (early mineralizing stage) and barite, and celestite (late mineralizing stage). These studies reveal two end-member fluids, a hot (~143 °C) and saline fluid (~23 wt.% NaCl eq.) and a cooler (b50 °C) and diluted fluid (~5 wt.% NaCl eq.). Based on fluid-inclusion and C–O–S isotope studies, a conclusion is reached that the Bou Dahar ore deposits were formed by the mixing of …

An Investigation Of Ams In Oman Ophiolite Gabbros, Sarah D. Trutner

Honors Papers

Crustal accretion processes at mid-ocean ridges are still poorly understood, and several competing models exist that try to explain exactly how magma from the mantle is incorporated into oceanic crust at a crustal spreading center. Ophiolites, or fragments of oceanic crust exposed on land, are useful sites at which to conduct rock fabric studies to understand oceanic crust formation processes. This study focuses on samples of upper foliated gabbros taken from the Oman ophiolite in order to characterize their fabric orientations and contribute to a better model of crustal formation. Much of the focus of this study is on using …

A Quest For A Custom-Made Mesenchymal Stem Cell In The Treatment Of Inflammatory Diseases, Jodi F. Evans Ph.D., Natalie Fernandez, Caroline Winters, Maria Barandica, Abi Ocava, Michael Delsignore, Kristina Coppola

Faculty Works: BCES (1999-2023)

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) are multipotent cells that can differentiate into adipocytes, osteoblasts and chondrocytes. These cells are widely studied in tissue regeneration and for their therapeutic effects in inflammatory disease. MSC interact with cells of the innate and adaptive immunity to promote or suppress the inflammatory response. MSC from the bone marrow (D1 MSC) decrease inflammatory responses by lowering macrophage (Mᶲ) secretion of soluble factors such as nitric oxide (NO), interleukin-12 (IL-12) and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNFα). Aorta-derived MSC (mAo MSC) support the macrophage inflammatory response by contributing to NO secretion and enhancing secretion of TNFα by Mᶲ. Previous …

Rapid Identification Of Synthetic Cannabinoids In Herbal Incenses With Dart-Ms And Nmr, Michael A. Marino Ed.D., Robert Cody, Brandy Voyer, Mercurio Veltri, Ling Huang, A. John Dane

Faculty Works: BCES (1999-2023)

The usage of herbal incenses containing synthetic cannabinoids has caused an increase in medical incidents and triggered legislations to ban these products throughout the world. Law enforcement agencies are experiencing sample backlogs due to the variety of the products and the addition of new and still-legal compounds. In our study, proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy was employed to promptly screen the synthetic cannabinoids after their rapid, direct detection on the herbs and in the powders by direct analysis in real time mass spectrometry (DART-MS). A simple sample preparation protocol was employed on 50 mg of herbal sample matrices for …

Waste Reduction At Western Kentucky University, Elizabeth Mcgrew

Faculty/Staff Personal Papers

Handout created to show the single stream recycling trend at Western Kentucky University between 2012 and 2015.

Precipitation Data, M. Knapp

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Precipitation data for agricultural experiment stations in Kansas, 2014-2015.

Forage Sorghum And Corn Silage Response To Full And Deficit Irrigation, I. Kisekka, J. D. Holman, J. W. Waggoner, J. Aguilar, R. Currie

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

There is limited information on forage sorghum and corn silage yield response to full and deficit irrigation in Kansas. The objective of this study was to generate information on forage sorghum (brown mid-rib hybrids (BMR and non-BMR)) and corn silage yield response to different levels of irrigation as influenced by irrigation capacity in southwest Kansas. Preliminary results indicate the effect of irrigation capacity on forage yield was significant (P = 0.0009) in 2014 but not 2015, probably due to high growing season rainfall received in 2015. Corn silage produced significantly (p<0.05) higher biomass at all irrigation capacities compared to forage sorghum hybrids in 2015. BMR forage sorghum produced significantly lower biomass compared to non-BMR hybrid in both 2014 and 2015 (P<0.05). The highest amounts of forage produced for corn silage, BMR, and non-BMR forage sorghum were 24.6, 17.4, and 21.1 tons/a adjusted to 65%, moisture respectively. Water productivity ranged from 1.0 to 1.4 dry matter tons/a/in. More research is needed under normal and dry years to quantify forage sorghum and corn silage yield and forage quality response to full and deficit irrigation.

Sorghum Yield Response To Water Supply And Irrigation Management, I. Kisekka, F. Lamm, A. Schlegel

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Grain sorghum yield, under full and limited irrigation, was evaluated at three locations in western Kansas (Colby, Tribune, and Garden City). The top-end yield under full ir­rigation was 190 bu/a. However, there were no significant differences among irrigation treatments at all the three locations due to the above normal rainfall received during the 2015 growing season. These preliminary results indicate that there is potential to improve grain sorghum yields under limited irrigation. Additionally, best management practices to maximize kernels per head could have the greatest effect on grain yields.

Response Of Drought Tolerant And Conventional Corn To Limited Irrigation, I. Kisekka, F. Lamm

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the response of two commercial hybrids (DKC 62-27 DGVT2PRO [drought tolerant trait (DT)] and DKC 62-98 VT2PRO [conventional]) to limited irrigation. Preliminary results from the 2014 and 2015 growing seasons at Southwest Research-Extension Center near Garden City, Kansas, indicate the effect of irrigation capacity on corn yield was significant (P<0.001)for both hybrids. The effect of the drought tolerance trait on yield was not significant (P>0.05)in both years. The effect of the interaction between irrigation capacity and corn hybrid on yield was also not significant (P>0.05) …

Weather Information For Garden City, 2015, J. Elliott

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

Precipitation for 2015 totaled 23.27 in. This was 4.03 in. above the 30-year average of 19.24 in. and was nearly identical to 2014. Significant blowing dust was not observed in 2015. May and July had notably high precipitation with 6.38 in. and 5.36 in., respectively, which nearly doubled normal precipitation for these months. Hail was not observed in 2015. The largest daily rainfall was 1.94 in. on October 22. Sixteen days in May recorded measurable moisture.

Alternative Cropping Systems With Limited Irrigation, A. Schlegel

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

A limited irrigation study involving six cropping systems was initiated at the Southwest Research-Extension Center near Tribune, KS, in 2012. The cropping systems were two annual systems (continuous corn [C-C] and continuous grain sorghum [GS-GS]) and four 2-year systems (corn-sorghum [C-GS]), corn-sunflower [C-SF], corn-winter wheat [C-W], and corn-wheat/double sunflower [C-W/SF]). In 2015, corn yields were lower following corn than other crops while wheat and grain sorghum yields were similar for all rotations. This tended to agree with the 3-year average yields except for average sorghum yields being higher following corn than sorghum. Sunflowers were destroyed by rodents and no yields …

Weather Information For Tribune, H. D. Bond, R. Mai

Kansas Agricultural Experiment Station Research Reports

In 2015, annual precipitation of 21.72 in. was recorded, which is 3.82 in. above normal. Seven months had above-normal precipitation. May (6.16 in.) was the wettest month. The largest single amount of precipitation was 1.86 in. on July 20. December, the driest month, only recorded 0.08 in. of precipitation.

The Use Of Ion Mobility Spectrometry-Mass Spectrometry For The Structural Elucidation Of Progressively Larger Nucleic Acids, Jennifer Lynn Lippens

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The biomedical community and pharmaceutical industry have come to rely in ever

Hydroclimate Changes In The South-Central Great Plains Of The United States : A Synoptic Approach, Pawel Slaski

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Hydroclimate changes over the Southern Central Great Plains (SCGP) of the United States have been occurring throughout the last century. These changes have had a major impact on the local ecosystems, agriculture, and human society in the region by, e.g., producing a higher frequency of drought over the last century. Climate models project further increases of drought in the 21st century over this region under increasing greenhouse gases. This study analyzes climate model simulations to examine changes in synoptic conditions associated with the projected drought increases over the SCGP. Synoptically, mesoscale convective complexes (MCCs) produce a large portion of the …