A common research interest in medical, biological, and engineering research is determining whether certain independent variables are correlated with the survival or failure times. Standard statistical techniques cannot usually be applied for...
A potential source of fine grained suspended sediments in a stream system is the
upper hillslopes of the drainage. Quantifying the sediment produced and transported to a
stream from these hillslopes is challenging because of the complex nature of...
Cardiology--Research--Methodology; Microfluidics--Equipment and supplies
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death in the United States and accounts for nearly 1,372,000 deaths each year. In addition, ~81 million Americans suffer from some form of CVD. Understanding the molecular basis of various...
Soon after the atomic theory was established, it was found that the plant uses as sources of food not only the air and water, but also different constituents of the soil, dissolved in the soil moisture—the mineral nutrients. Ashes of different...
The revolution in information technology and the explosion in the use of computing devices in people's everyday activities has forever changed the perspective of the data mining and machine learning fields. The enormous amounts of easily...
It has been shown that GSK3 β plays a critical role in the inflammation response by differentially regulating MyD88-dependent pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines production in TLR4-stimulated innate immune cells. The work included in this...
Wheel Slide Protection Systems (WSP Systems) or Anti-Skid Devices for rail vehicles have to go through a series of Dynamometer tests before test runs with equipped rail vehicles are permitted. The simulation tests are performed on Wheel Slide...
The objective of this thesis is to develop computer programs for the dynamic analysis of structures. For a shear building two computer programs were developed: (1) Dynamic Analysis of a Shear Building within the Elastic Range and (2) the Dynamic...
This work presents a novel comprehensive effort to understand the fluid dynamics within orbiting dishes and the effects of the resulting oscillating fluid flow on shear and endothelial cellular responses within the dishes. It is well documented...
This dissertation describes (1) size-dependent electrochemical oxidation/stripping of gold and silver nanoparticles (NPs), (2) alloying of copper with gold nanoparticles at underpotential deposition potentials, (3) electrochemical characterization...
Nerves--Regeneration; Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Treatment
These studies set out to identify strategies to rescue and repair the adult nervous system. First, we investigated the role of ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) in 5HT1A receptor-induced neurogenesis in the rodent brain. Systemic treatment with an...
The current study examined how Disclosure, Stereotype Disconfirming Information, and Stereotype Disconfirming Information and Disclosure Combined) influences an individual's stigma (stereotype endorsement, emotional reactions, and discrimination)...
Prostate--Cancer--Diagnosis; Chemical detectors; Biosensors
Prostate cancer is the most common type diagnosed among men in the United States.
Random oligodeoxynucleotide (ODN) libraries are used to generate DNA aptamers by
systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment (SELEX). We explored...
Hypertension--Genetic aspects; Coronary heart disease--Genetic aspects; African Americans--Health and hygiene
Cardiovascular diseases, including hypertension, are the leading causes of death in
the United States. African-Americans carry the highest burden of disease with 32% of
adults with hypertension. Blood pressure (BP) dipping, defined as a drop of>...
Metastasis is a complex process requiring directed migration of metastatic cells to favorable microenvironments. Increased CXCR4 expression has been implicated in more invasive, aggressive and metastatic tumor phenotypes and poor patient survival...
Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Treatment; Physical therapy
Activity-based rehabilitation in the form of overground or body weight-supported treadmill (BWST) locomotor step training has become the most widely accepted therapy translated from preclinical animal research to spinal cord injury (SCI) patients....
Spinal cord injury (SCI) can be divided into two distinct stages, an initial mechanical impact and a later "secondary injury" resulting from a cascade of cytokines triggering a spreading demyelination and apoptosis of neurons and glia...
Kentucky--History--Civil War, 1861-1865; United States--History--Civil War, 1861-1865
In the early days of 1861, Kentucky, torn between her allegiance to the federal government and her sympathy for the South, with her citizenry so divided that hardly a family in the state stood united, vainly endeavored to carve out for herself a...
Athletic shoes; Foot--Wounds and injuries--Prevention
The purpose of this investigation was to determine if cycling shoes made with stiff material cause an increase in peak plantar stress over shoes with less stiff material. Shoe stiffness measurements were collected under controlled conditions and in...