Search

Raman micro-spectroscopy presents a highly sensitive, non-invasive, and rapid way to collect biochemical information from cells and tissues. The resulting Raman spectrum is a chemical 'fingerprint' containing a wealth of molecular level information which has been used to characterize, monitor, compare and confirm biological processes from the cellular to tissue levels. The work presented in this thesis utilizes Raman spectroscopy to test live in vitro cellular models, classify human tissues of interest, and determine the biomolecular differences in tissue samples which are diseased or undergoing therapeutic treatment. Additionally new ways of visualizing and interpreting multivariate analytical results are proposed and demonstrated to ease the determination of the biomolecular features which are most important when comparing sample groups. A persistent challenge in the interpretation of information rich biological Raman spectra includes the multitude of signals from lipids, proteins, carbohydrates, nucleic acids, and minerals found in a limited spectral range and in some instances overlapping significantly. Partial Least Squares-Discriminant Analysis (PLS-DA) Variable Importance Projection (VIP) scores were presented as heat maps overlaying difference spectra to ease the visualization of significant biochemical bond changes between sample groups and their trends. The advantages of applying PLS-DA VIP scores in this way are demonstrated in well studied and known system including a cultured cellular model incorporating fixation methods and a human tissue comparison between healthy and osteoporotic bone. PLS-DA VIP score plots were additionally utilized to characterize and compare the biolomecular environments surrounding the recently described microscopic mineral inclusions in human aortic valves and aortae. The PLS-DA VIP score plots exposed the chemical differences in these systems through highlighting the corresponding spectral bands in an easy to read and interpret way. Raman micro-spectroscopy was also applied to investigate an in vitro 'calcified' porcine aortic valvular interstitial cell model. This model system was probed for the first time using the combination of Raman micro-spectroscopy and complimentary gold standard biological techniques to determine the protein and potential mineral content within these nodular, cellular systems. The 'calcified' porcine aortic valvular cell nodules showed no evidence of mineral inclusion. These nodules did exhibit a heavy extracellular matrix production including the production of collagen I. The porcine aortic valvular cell nodules acting as a model system for diseased aortic valve tissue requires not only the characterization of the cell nodule in vitro but also the characterization of the human disease spectrum which the model is suggested to replicate. The discovery and characterisation of microscopic mineral spherical inclusions (50nm-200μm) located in both valvular and vascular tissues leads to an interesting question on the introduction and role of microscopic mineral deposits in cardiovascular disease. Here Raman micro-spectroscopy was utilized to investigate the organic matrix surrounding these microscopic mineral deposits to determine if any colocalised protein changes exist. Protein and specifically collagen changes are demonstrated between tissues with and without the spherical mineral deposits despite being macroscopically indistinguishable. Raman spectroscopy was also utilized to provide direct insights into tissue constituent and structural changes on the molecular level in heat-induced tissue fusion via radio-frequency (RF) energy. This type of tissue fusion has gained wide acceptance clinically and is presented here as the first optical-Raman-spectroscopy study on tissue fusion samples in vitro. This study exposed spectroscopic evidence for the loss of distinct collagen fibres rich tissue layers as well as the denaturing and restructuring of collagen crosslinks post RF fusion. Raman spectroscopy is a demonstrated, powerful, biomolecular imaging technique which benefits from advancements in mathematical analytical techniques as well as its own application in biological investigations. This thesis explores the application of Raman spectroscopy in combination with powerful analytical techniques to further characterize and compare biological systems of interest.

This project developed a process for increasing the understanding of congregational health among a group of leaders at Como Baptist Church near Sterling, Illinois. It likewise served as a pilot experiment for helping leaders of other traditional, declining, or conflicted churches discover and understand the necessities for renewed congregational health. The project focused heavily upon the concepts of Natural Church Development, which views the church as a living organism. This view leads to the logical conclusion that if the church is healthy it will grow naturally and therefore the emphasis of church strategy planning should revolve around health and not growth. An exegetical and theological analysis was done of significant scripture passages pertaining to (1) The purposes of the church, (2) The nature of the church as a system, (3) The role of pastoral leadership, and (4) The importance of resolving conflict and practicing forgiveness. This analysis was supplemented and supported with a wide variety of literature on these subjects. Study sessions were conducted with the group of leaders for the purpose of teaching and processing this information as to how it related to church health. The project utilized the church health survey instrument from Natural Church Development in order to ascertain the current health of the church. It was discovered that the ‘minimum factor’ for the church was ‘functional structures, #x2019; a term that refers to the ways and means by which a church does ministry. This assessment was used in conjunction with the information acquired from the group study sessions in order to develop a strategic plan that if implemented would actually increase the health of the church. In evaluating this project it was discovered that the leadership group had experienced an increase in their understanding of congregational health. It was also evident that they had not internalized this information clearly enough to participate adequately in strategy development. This lead to the conclusion that the process design needed significant modification before it could be used to assist leaders of traditional, declining, or conflicted churches to increase their understanding of congregational health. However, the project did discover and analyze some universal principles that any church needs to adhere to if it desires to be and to remain healthy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tauopathies, including Alzheimer’s disease (AD), are devastating diseases with an immense burden on society which is predicted to increase in coming decades. In addition to progressive loss of memory and cognitive function, patients with tauopathies have a 6-10 fold increase in lifetime risk for seizures, and many are diagnosed with epilepsy. The presence of epileptiform activity on electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings from patients with AD predicts faster cognitive decline compared to patients without abnormal EEG readings. Electrophysiological measurements in murine models of AD have identified neuronal hyperexcitability. Furthermore, reducing tau phosphorylation or expression confers seizure resistance in animal epilepsy models. Although evidence suggests the presence of common mechanisms contributing to both tauopathy and epilepsy, more work is needed to understand how this interaction works and whether tau can be effectively targeted to improve patients’ lives. This study investigated the relationship between tauopathy using transgenic mice that expressed no tau protein (tau-/-) or expressed non-mutant, human tau protein without expressing murine tau (htau). The htau mice develop progressive tauopathy with age. Non-transgenic C57BL/6J mice were used as controls. Whole-cell patch-clamp electrophysiology was used to define tau’s role in neuronal excitability in vivo in dentate gyrus granule cells. Both transgenic mouse strains exhibited a lower frequency of evoked action potentials and reduced likelihood of neurotransmitter release from perforant pathway inputs as measured by the paired pulse ratio compared to control at 1.5 months of age, but these differences were lost with age. The similarities between the tau-/- and htau mice suggest that hyperexcitability is related to the amount of normally functioning tau rather than the presence of pathological tau, and that the presence of normal murine tau may influence the results of other studies involving models of tauopathy. Furthermore, tau’s role in epileptogenesis was studied using intrahippocampal injection of kainate (i.ie., IHK) to induce status epilepticus, a model that induces temporal lobe epileptogenesis, in tau-/-, htau, and C57BL/6J mice. The process of epileptogenesis appeared to be modified compared to control in both transgenic strains, but did not appear to be prevented. Compared to either tau-/- or C57BL/6J mice, htau mice experienced significantly greater mortality after IHK. Modifications in tau expression, wither deletion or humanization, partially abrogated synaptic excitability that developed following IHK. In conclusion, this study showed that neuronal excitability is affected similarly by either deletion or humanization of tau, with the notable exception of survival after IHK. This study provides clearer understanding of tau’s role in acquired epilepsy and suggests novel therapeutics targeting tau may be effective for the treatment of epilepsy.

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study is to describe how family achievement guilt is experienced by first-generation college students (FGCS) at a less selective, public, mid-Atlantic university. Festinger’s theory of cognitive dissonance was used to guide this study that explored the central research question: How do FGCS at a less selective, public, mid-Atlantic university describe their experiences with family achievement guilt? Sub-questions included (a) What factors do participants describe as contributors to their family achievement guilt?, (b) How do participants describe the impacts of family achievement guilt to both their home and college lives?, and (c) How do participants describe their efforts to minimize or remediate their family achievement guilt? Criterion and snowball sampling was used to select 11 participants from a less selective, public, mid-Atlantic university. Data was collected through a survey, individual interviews, and an on-line focus group. The data was be analyzed using the modified Stevick-Colaizzi-Keen method of data analysis method as described by Moustakas. Through this analysis, three themes emerged to include (a) journey of leaving, (b) dynamic understanding of the college experience, and (c) pressure to perform. The findings in this study suggested the experience of family achievement guilt for FGCS is a progressive experience. Implications for these findings and recommendations for further research are provided.

This is a qualitative description of the decision making processes that nine elementary principals use in determining campus level services for the differently abled and of how their administrative styles and values impact those decisions. Both the literature on leadership and on special education inclusion are reviewed. This review creates the framework in which the research questions are examined and structures the reporting of the findings. The defining attributes of leadership styles in conjunction with the defining attributes of inclusion are the heart of this study. Audiotaped interviews with each principal provide the data related to questions of leadership style, decision making, philosophy and autonomy. Separate site visits in which teachers from both regular and special education are queried as to the actual practices on their respective campuses and to their reactions to program changes involving the differently abled students. The combination of data gathered from the principal interviews, from the site visitations and the use of triangulation of data provide the basis for the findings.

Narrating Rewilding analyzes interactions between imaginative writings and environmental histories to ask how novels and creative nonfiction contribute to conversations of wilderness rewilding. I identify aspects of rewilding in Cormac McCarthy’s All the Pretty Horses, Marilynne Robinson’s Housekeeping, and Terry Tempest Williams’s Refuge within a context of William Cronon’s and James Feldman’s works of environmental history, and I argue that the selected imaginative works offer alternative ramifications of rewilding by questioning Cronon’s and Feldman’s anthropocentric basis. While Cronon and Feldman argue that a rewilding wilderness expresses interconnections between human history and expressions of nature, and that a return of wild aspects benefits human understanding and interaction within wilderness areas, in these imaginative writings, wildernesses are sites that flatten hierarchies between natural elements and human aspects, places where characters languish. They are lands deeply layered with both natural and cultural histories, but aspects of the past often remain beyond reach. Rewilding in these wildernesses equates with damage and loss. Taken together, I argue that these narratives of wilderness rewilding augment one another, creating a dialog where Cronon’s and Feldman’s discourses of environmental recovery and of human gain inform corresponding imaginative writings but are also challenged by models of lament and loss. This restructured approach to wilderness rewilding offers a widened range of potential responses to an ever-changing, ever-rewilding wilderness.

This dissertation addresses user responses to the introduction of Brain-Computer Interface technologies (BCI) for gaming and consumer applications in the early part of the 21st century. BCI technology has emerged from the contexts of interrelated medical, academic, and military research networks including an established computer and gaming industry. First, I show that the emergence and development of BCI technology are based on specific economic, socio-cultural, and material factors, and secondly, by utilizing user surveys and interviews, I argue that the success of BCI are not determined by these contextual factors but are dependent on user acceptance and interpretation. Therefore, this project contributes to user-technology studies by developing a model which illustrates the interrelations between producers, users, values, and technology and how they contribute to the acceptance, resistance, and modification in the technological development of emerging BCI technologies. This project focuses on human computer interaction researchers, independent developers, the companies producing BCI headsets, and neuro-gadget companies who are developing BCI's for users as an alternative interface for the enhancement of human performance and gaming and computer simulated experience. Moreover, BCI production and use as modes of enhancement align significantly with social practices of play which allows an expanded definition of technology to include cultural dimensions of play.

Performance prediction is one of the primary uses of wind tunnel data. Uncertainties in the tunnel data are therefore directly related to errors in performance predictions. The objective of this study was to examine the effects of aerodynamic coefficient errors on the point performance predictions for a typical fighter at medium altitude and subsonic velocity. The point performance parameters were formulated as functions of the aerodynamic coefficients. A computer program was written to calculate the selected performance parameters for 121 cases, each case representing a different combination of coefficient errors. The result was the correlation of the percentage error in the point performance parameters as a function of the percent errors in the aerodynamic coefficients. The use of these techniques would result in move efficient testing through the identification of regimes where test data accuracy is critical for accurate performance prediction.

It is the purpose of this investigation to determine the relationship between the academic achievement of college graduates and continuation in their major fields.

, no.845. 84p.