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Title: BAPTIZED BY FIRE: APPALACHIAN PENTECOSTALISM IN ROBERT MORGAN'S POETRY.
Author: Langham, Kent Michael
Abstract/Description: America's perception of Appalachian culture and society is largely superficial, a close reading of Robert Morgan's poetry that deals specifically with Pentecostalism is needed in Appalachian studies because of the ways in which Pentecostal expressions have historically shaped Appalachian religious stereotypes. Furthermore, the peculiar expressions of Pentecostalism that are local to the Appalachian region help us understand Appalachian identity and culture in new and more holistic ways. The...
Show moreAmerica's perception of Appalachian culture and society is largely superficial, a close reading of Robert Morgan's poetry that deals specifically with Pentecostalism is needed in Appalachian studies because of the ways in which Pentecostal expressions have historically shaped Appalachian religious stereotypes. Furthermore, the peculiar expressions of Pentecostalism that are local to the Appalachian region help us understand Appalachian identity and culture in new and more holistic ways. The three poems I consider in this essay are "Baptism of Fire," "The Gift of Tongues," and "Prayer Meeting," all of which depict the issues concerning Appalachian Pentecostal expressions in which Morgan is most interested. These expressions include the unorthodoxy of Appalachian Pentecostal doctrine, the disorderliness of Appalachian Pentecostal church services, and the emphasis on ecstatic manifestations and tongue speaking, or glossolalia. However, the poems' themes are also interested in revealing larger Appalachian cultural issues, as, on the surface, the characters and situations in these poems disclose Morgan's attitude toward Appalachian Pentecostalism; however, they ultimately are typologies of larger cultural and social issues that Morgan wants to expose, including Appalachia's isolation from larger society, its social and cultural attitude toward the rest of the world, and its hostility between children and parents.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000621, uwf:61276
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: BRICKS ON BLACK WATER: A COMPARATIVE LANDSCAPE ANALYSIS OF AN 1830S BRICKYARD.
Author: Hendrix, Jess Garrison
Abstract/Description: A very unique high school archaeology education program was implemented in Santa Rosa County, Florida, in 2008. Florida Public Archaeology (FPAN) partnered with Milton High School to create a joint education program in which high school students could take a year-long elective to receive hands-on training in archaeological methods and principles. Graduate students from the University of West Florida's Department of Anthropology directed the students in realworld excavations at the site of an...
Show moreA very unique high school archaeology education program was implemented in Santa Rosa County, Florida, in 2008. Florida Public Archaeology (FPAN) partnered with Milton High School to create a joint education program in which high school students could take a year-long elective to receive hands-on training in archaeological methods and principles. Graduate students from the University of West Florida's Department of Anthropology directed the students in realworld excavations at the site of an 1830s brickyard, known as the Scott Site (8SR1917), located along the Blackwater River not far from the high school. Those excavations resulted in the research discussed in this thesis. This study presents the project and the results of investigations, which illustrate the archaeological importance of historic brickyard research. The historic brickyard that is the Scott Site is intricately linked to the development in Pensacola during Florida's early American Period. As a result of the development of a large U's. military complex in the newly obtained territory of Florida, Pensacola experienced a historic brick boom in the 1830s. The opportunity to profit from brick manufacturing prompted many individuals to establish brickyards along the region's numerous waterways. Industrial slavery became integral to the region's development as slaves were utilized almost exclusively in both brick manufacturing in the area and in the construction of Pensacola's Naval Yard and four Third System forts intended to guard Pensacola Pass. Archaeological investigations of the Scott Site were used to conduct a comparative landscape analysis between the Scott Site brickyard and brickyards previously studied by Dr. Lucy Wayne in South Carolina as part of her dissertation research. Wayne documented a series of intrasite patterns that make up the landscape of historic brickyards in the Wando River basin of the South Carolina Lowcountry outside the Charleston area and, in essence, she created a brickyard landscape model. This thesis expands Wayne's original concept of intrasite patterns to incorporate an industrial context, which allows brickyards to be understood as a single industrial complex consisting of two major components, operational and occupational. The landscape of the Scott Site brickyard is then compared to Wayne's model to test the applicability of the model on a cross-regional scale. Wayne's postulate that historic brickyards contain a slave occupational area in the upland portions of the sites is also tested. Collectively, this research puts forward several key concepts: 1) the study demonstrates that Wayne's brickyard landscape model is applicable outside the region of its origin, 2) the research illustrates the historical significance of Pensacola's historic brickyards, and 3) the research establishes the archaeological significance of brickyards as a major foci of the archaeology of slavery in the region.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: WFE0000585, uwf:61188
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Can delivery modality influence test performance?: comparing traditional and digital formats.
Author: Moyer, Gage H.
Abstract/Description: This paper presents a mixed group experimental design to examine whether how students take a test within the classroom affects exam performance and test delivery preferences. In this study, I randomly assigned 35 students in a social psychology course to take their first exam in either a paper-based format or an online mode in the same context. Students switched to the alternative format for their second exam. I measured average exam scores, speed of completion, attitudes towards computer...
Show moreThis paper presents a mixed group experimental design to examine whether how students take a test within the classroom affects exam performance and test delivery preferences. In this study, I randomly assigned 35 students in a social psychology course to take their first exam in either a paper-based format or an online mode in the same context. Students switched to the alternative format for their second exam. I measured average exam scores, speed of completion, attitudes towards computer testing, testing anxiety, and modality preference. As predicted, the testing format made no difference in mean test performance on each exam. There also was no majority preference for one modality over the other when given a choice of how students wanted to take the final exam in the class. Format preference was unrelated to testing anxiety or exam performance. However, attitudes towards computer-based testing appear to correlate with modality preference. Therefore, online-based testing modalities do not appear to have any significant disadvantages when compared to paper-based formats and can possibly serve as a convenient, resource saving alternative.
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Date Issued: 2020, 2020
Identifier: 1202267393, WFE0000723
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CANNON TO CROSSBOWS: AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL GLIMPSE AT SIXTEENTH-CENTURY SPANISH NAVAL WEAPONS.
Author: Harrold, Mercedes Elena
Abstract/Description: Christopher Columbus' 1492 expedition led the way for the establishment of European strongholds in the New World. The Spanish was one of the most prominent European powers to expand their enterprise across the Atlantic. Like Columbus, their initial ventures were more exploratory, but eventually, the Crown's concentration turned to establishing more permanent colonies to help protect their interests in these new locales. In this thesis, I compare the evidence of weapons of wreck sites...
Show moreChristopher Columbus' 1492 expedition led the way for the establishment of European strongholds in the New World. The Spanish was one of the most prominent European powers to expand their enterprise across the Atlantic. Like Columbus, their initial ventures were more exploratory, but eventually, the Crown's concentration turned to establishing more permanent colonies to help protect their interests in these new locales. In this thesis, I compare the evidence of weapons of wreck sites representing each of these Spanish missions—exploration, shipping, and colonization. I hope to determine whether there is a way to recognize what type of venture a Spanish ship sailed based on the weapons' assemblages evidenced in both the archaeological and historic record. A secondary focus is to answer the question of why the Spanish and other European gunners used a particular type of shot, the bodoque, during the 16th century, but stopped by the end of the period.
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: WFE0000558, uwf:61209
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Characterization of calpain activity in response to microplastic exposure in Donax variabilis.
Author: Schroeder, Hans Erik
Abstract/Description: Coquina clams (Donax variabilis) are small multicolored bivalve mollusks that inhabit the intertidal zones of various southeastern beaches along the eastern coast of the United States where they are in great abundance and an essential part of the beach ecosystem. Because they are filter-feeders that are exposed to environmental hazards, Donax variabilis populations are a sign of the beach's ecological health. Potentially, this mollusk may be effective as a "canary in a coal mine" if...
Show moreCoquina clams (Donax variabilis) are small multicolored bivalve mollusks that inhabit the intertidal zones of various southeastern beaches along the eastern coast of the United States where they are in great abundance and an essential part of the beach ecosystem. Because they are filter-feeders that are exposed to environmental hazards, Donax variabilis populations are a sign of the beach's ecological health. Potentially, this mollusk may be effective as a "canary in a coal mine" if biological changes are easily measurable that may be sensitive to important environmental changes. One such mechanism are the calpains. Calpains are Ca2+-dependent cysteine proteases that are expressed in nearly all eukaryotes, but have rarely been studied in invertebrates like the Coquina clam. It is well established that calpains are essential to cellular homeostasis and have been implicated in a multitude of cellular functions, such as apoptosis and cellular stress. In recent years, microplastics, plastic particles that range in size but are less than 5mm, have become a serious hazard to the environment. Accumulation of microplastics have only recently been recognized to be harmful to marine organisms that ingest them and cause tissue damage on a cellular and subcellular level that may alter calpain activity. Although Coquina clams are in great abundance on the beaches and their ecological patterns have been studied thoroughly, the cellular and subcellular processes of the Coquina clam have not been studied extensively. Specifically, it is not understood how calpains function under normal conditions or how these molecules would be affected due to large ecological impacts in the form of contaminants like microplastics. It is our contention that Coquina clams can be used as a bioindicator of healthy beaches and aid in assessing the presence or absence of pollutants such as microplastics that can occur in the ecosystem, using cellular and subcellular processing by calpains as a measure.
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Date Issued: 2019, 2019
Identifier: 1153167661, WFE0000699
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CHARACTERIZATION OF FISH COMMUNITIES IN THE NORTHWEST FLORIDA COASTAL DUNE LAKES USING ENVIRONMENTAL DNA METABARCODING.
Author: VanTassel, Nichelle Marie
Abstract/Description: Coastal Dune Lakes (CDL) are rare aquatic habitats worldwide. Northwest Florida Coastal Dune Lakes (NWFLCDL) are even more rare and unique habitats due to their characteristic intermittent connection to the Gulf of Mexico. These intermittent connections can cause temporary estuarine environments. While there are policies in place to help protect and preserve the lakes and their surrounding area, little is known about the fish communities of NWFCDL. As traditional sampling to monitor fish...
Show moreCoastal Dune Lakes (CDL) are rare aquatic habitats worldwide. Northwest Florida Coastal Dune Lakes (NWFLCDL) are even more rare and unique habitats due to their characteristic intermittent connection to the Gulf of Mexico. These intermittent connections can cause temporary estuarine environments. While there are policies in place to help protect and preserve the lakes and their surrounding area, little is known about the fish communities of NWFCDL. As traditional sampling to monitor fish communities can be costly and timeintensive, this project aimed to characterize and monitor the fish communities of the NWFLCDL using environmental DNA from water samples and metabarcoding. Metabarcoding involves using generalist molecular markers to describe diversity within a specific taxonomic group. Seventy-two samples across 19 lakes were sequenced using Illumina HiSeq. Bar charts were used to display composition of operational taxonomic units (OTUs) spatially and temporally. Nutrient (phosphorus, nitrogen, chlorophyll concentration) and water quality data (specific conductance, temperature, dissolved oxygen, pH, turbidity, salinity) from previous studies and measurements taken in the field were used to describe how abiotic factors relate to the fish communities in the NWFLCDL. This project provides a baseline of information necessary to stress the importance of preserving unique habitats.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000639, uwf:61310
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CHARACTERIZATION OF THE EFFECTS OF TEMPERATURE ON THE CTENOPHORE WOUND HEALING RESPONSE.
Author: McCarthy, Katherine Melissa
Abstract/Description: Ctenophores (comb jellies) are prevalent in all oceans and are noted for possessing rapid wound-healing systems. This research sought to facilitate the use of wound healing in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi as a biological indicator for specific water quality conditions. For Aim I, wound healing rate of M. leidyi in current average water temperature was determined. Twenty ctenophores were collected, wounded, and analyzed via time-lapse photography and statistical analysis. The wound healing...
Show moreCtenophores (comb jellies) are prevalent in all oceans and are noted for possessing rapid wound-healing systems. This research sought to facilitate the use of wound healing in the ctenophore Mnemiopsis leidyi as a biological indicator for specific water quality conditions. For Aim I, wound healing rate of M. leidyi in current average water temperature was determined. Twenty ctenophores were collected, wounded, and analyzed via time-lapse photography and statistical analysis. The wound healing rate was determined to be 14 +- 7 um min-1, with rates not changing significantly in speed based on initial wound width or length (independent sample t-test, p=0.051; p=0.478). In the second aim, wound healing rate at increased temperatures (approximately 5C above water temperature at time of collection) was measured. For this aim, fourteen ctenophores were wounded and imaged over time. The wound healing rate was determined to be 12+- 5 um min-1, with rates not changing significantly in speed based on initial wound width or length (independent sample t-test, p=0.081; p=0.132). No significant difference was found between the overall average healing rate of Aim I and Aim II (independent sample t-test, p=0.749). Findings suggest a 5C increase in water temperature, size of wounds, or size of wounded Mnemiopsis leidyi has no significant influence over the animal's average wound healing rate in current average water temperatures.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: WFE0000575, uwf:61203
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Characterizing the effects of atypical antipsychotics on the neutrophil model cell line, PLB-985.
Author: Robbs, Emily J.
Abstract/Description: Atypical antipsychotics (AAPs) are a class of drug used to treat several mental diseases like bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. However, these substances are also known to cause a rare, yet severe and sometimes fatal syndrome known as neutropenia. Neutropenia (and its more acute form, agranulocytosis) is characterized by a significant decrease in an individual's circulating neutrophils--the most abundant white blood cell. Neutrophils are essential for proper...
Show moreAtypical antipsychotics (AAPs) are a class of drug used to treat several mental diseases like bipolar disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and schizophrenia. However, these substances are also known to cause a rare, yet severe and sometimes fatal syndrome known as neutropenia. Neutropenia (and its more acute form, agranulocytosis) is characterized by a significant decrease in an individual's circulating neutrophils--the most abundant white blood cell. Neutrophils are essential for proper innate immunity, and depletion can result in higher risk of developing life-threatening illnesses. How atypical antipsychotics induce neutropenia is not well-understood, though research is ongoing. In this study, we aim to characterize the effects of four AAPs--clozapine, olanzapine, quetiapine and aripiprazole--on PLB-985 cell viability, as assessed by the XTT Cell Viability Assay. We found that only aripiprazole is able to significantly decrease dPLB-985 cell viability after 48-hour treatment. We hypothesized that aripiprazole's negative effect on cell viability is through its unique mechanism of action as a partial dopamine agonist; however, our results suggest that aripiprazole's effects are independent of dopamine receptor agonism.
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Identifier: 1294639220, WFE0000774
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: A climatology of single-day rapid drought cessation events in the southwestern United States.
Author: Harris, Emily Pearl
Abstract/Description: Drought is a common and important component of the hydroclimatology of the southwestern USA. However, less attention has been paid to drought termination in the region, especially Rapid Drought Cessation Events (RDCEs). Here, the "Southwest" was defined by drought region using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the annual average Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for all NOAA state climate divisions in the U.S.A. For the Southwest, 765 droughts occurred between 1895 to 2017; 575 (6.2%)...
Show moreDrought is a common and important component of the hydroclimatology of the southwestern USA. However, less attention has been paid to drought termination in the region, especially Rapid Drought Cessation Events (RDCEs). Here, the "Southwest" was defined by drought region using Principal Components Analysis (PCA) of the annual average Palmer Drought Severity Index (PDSI) for all NOAA state climate divisions in the U.S.A. For the Southwest, 765 droughts occurred between 1895 to 2017; 575 (6.2%) of these droughts ended abruptly (for one month's time). Furthermore, 54 (0.6%) of those RDCEs occurred in a single-day. The majority of RDCEs, and single-day RDCEs, occurred in the cool season. Droughts of short (<1 months) and long (>76months) duration were ended by single-day RDCEs. Similarly, RDCEs ended droughts of varying severity, the extreme being a -5.68 (PDSI; November 1951). While there is no significant trend when SD-RDCEs occur, the results showed that most occur in the winter season and most occurring in Arizona. Analyses are in progress to identify the storm type responsible for every occurrence of RDCE and describe the spatiotemporal properties of RDCE and associated storm type.
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Identifier: 1129015296, WFE0000656
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Control of hybrid generation microgrids based on consensus algorithm.
Author: Albaz, Rakan Khaled Kamal
Abstract/Description: Utility grid companies are currently facing many challenges. These challenges include energy management, efficiency, and power quality issues. It is well known that improving power systems' management, control, and quality results in better economic benefits, increased electronic device lifetime, and reduced power interruptions, leading to the satisfaction of utility and consumer. Many research efforts were done in the past decades focusing on power systems control, quality, and management....
Show moreUtility grid companies are currently facing many challenges. These challenges include energy management, efficiency, and power quality issues. It is well known that improving power systems' management, control, and quality results in better economic benefits, increased electronic device lifetime, and reduced power interruptions, leading to the satisfaction of utility and consumer. Many research efforts were done in the past decades focusing on power systems control, quality, and management. The need for more green energy resources has inspired these researchers to find ways to integrate renewable energy resources into the grid. The current grid is facing issues due to a number of reasons such as increased Distributed Energy Resources (DERs) types and number, increased loads' types and number, and the increased distance between the DERs, loads, and the grid. The study of this thesis aims at finding creative energy management and control solutions through observing and understanding the characteristics of the utility grid and implement these solutions in a simulation software called MATLAB/Simulink. Consensus-based control will be implemented in a hybrid generation microgrid which will support the grid and work on restoring voltage and frequency levels with optimum power sharing between the DER.
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Identifier: 1295678222, WFE0000777
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CULTURAL CROSSROADS AND OTHER COMPLEXITIES: EXAMINING CREOLIZATION AT NUESTRA SENORA DEL ROSARIO DE LA PUNTA, ST. AUGUSTINE, FLORIDA.
Author: Bennett, Sarah Michelle
Abstract/Description: Nuestra Senora del Rosario de la Punta (La Punta) represents one of six settlements occupied by native populations (most of whom were Christianized) surrounding St. Augustine during the second quarter of the 18th century. La Punta developed as an 18th century refugee mission community settled primarily by the Yamasee. The mission community provides an ideal point of reference for creolization studies due to the fluid, transient nature of the population. Rather than providing a narrative...
Show moreNuestra Senora del Rosario de la Punta (La Punta) represents one of six settlements occupied by native populations (most of whom were Christianized) surrounding St. Augustine during the second quarter of the 18th century. La Punta developed as an 18th century refugee mission community settled primarily by the Yamasee. The mission community provides an ideal point of reference for creolization studies due to the fluid, transient nature of the population. Rather than providing a narrative limited to cultural mixture, as with assimilation, acculturation, and hybridity models, a creolization framework enables the examination of a complex cultural phenomenon in which cultural interfaces may result in the restructuring of a population. Two archaeological sites that pertain to the mission-133 Marine Street and 161 Marine Street-are considered in order to assess creolization at La Punta. In order to determine the extent of creolization within La Punta, three lines of archaeological evidence are discussed: ceramics, architecture, and foodways. The results, though preliminary, suggest manifestations of creolization, as determined by material culture, within the 18th century mission community of Nuestra Senora del Rosario de la Punta.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: WFE0000512, uwf:61250
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: CYTOKINE AND AUTOPHAGY PROTEIN PRODUCTION IN NEUTROPHILS FOLLOWING VIGOROUS EXERCISE IN HOT AND COLD ENVIRONMENTS.
Author: Lewis, James Johnston, IV
Abstract/Description: This study tested the hypothesis that high-intensity endurance exercise would induce synthesis of heat shock protein, cytokine, and autophagy proteins in the human neutrophil. Nine healthy, recreationally-active males (ages 20-24) performed 30 min of vigorous (70% of VO2max) cycling exercise for two separate testing sessions (hot vs. cold) in an environmental chamber. Blood samples were drawn on three separate time points (pre-exercise, post-exercise, and one hour post-exercise). Neutrophils...
Show moreThis study tested the hypothesis that high-intensity endurance exercise would induce synthesis of heat shock protein, cytokine, and autophagy proteins in the human neutrophil. Nine healthy, recreationally-active males (ages 20-24) performed 30 min of vigorous (70% of VO2max) cycling exercise for two separate testing sessions (hot vs. cold) in an environmental chamber. Blood samples were drawn on three separate time points (pre-exercise, post-exercise, and one hour post-exercise). Neutrophils were isolated from the whole blood samples, treated and prepared for western blotting analysis. Heat shock protein 70kDa, NF-kB transcription factor, TNF-alpha, LC3, and Ubiquitin proteins were quantified by western blotting. Friedman's test was performed on levels of HSP-70, NF-kB, LC-3, TNF-alpha, and Ub, and no significance was established (p = 0.725, p = 0.654, p = 0.497, p = 0.098, and p = 0.825, respectively). These findings may suggest that vigorous exercise is warranted in these environments without inducing unnecessary production of neutrophil mediated inflammation.
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Date Issued: 2015
Identifier: WFE0000500, uwf:61265
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: DEATH IN THE PORT CITY: A LOOK AT GRAVESTONES, RELIGION, AND STATUS IN MOBILE, ALABAMA'S CHURCH STREET GRAVEYARD.
Author: Simpsiridis, Stella Vasiliki
Abstract/Description: Gravestones are a physical reminder left by the living to commemorate the life of the deceased. The markers that commemorate the dead can also be used to understand a society's cultural ideas about death such as in regard to religion and social status. The Church Street Graveyard is Mobile, Alabama's oldest existing cemetery, with burials first occurring in 1819 and ending in 1898. As a port city, Mobile was home to people of numerous religious affiliations. Many of the city's wealthiest...
Show moreGravestones are a physical reminder left by the living to commemorate the life of the deceased. The markers that commemorate the dead can also be used to understand a society's cultural ideas about death such as in regard to religion and social status. The Church Street Graveyard is Mobile, Alabama's oldest existing cemetery, with burials first occurring in 1819 and ending in 1898. As a port city, Mobile was home to people of numerous religious affiliations. Many of the city's wealthiest citizens and families were members of the Protestant faith. The Catholic Church in Mobile was associated with the poorer immigrants in the city and was therefore not favored by city elites. This research study examines if the association of wealth and religion during life is reflected in the gravestones found in the Church Street Graveyard. The size, decorative motifs, and text of the gravestones in both the Protestant and Catholic sections of the graveyard are compared and analyzed using chi-square tests. The results show that gravestones in the Catholic and Protestant sections of the Church Street Graveyard do not reflect a concern for exhibiting status, and instead they display a level of equality between the two religions.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000635, uwf:61277
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: DETERMINING PRESENILIN'S ROLE IN CELL DEATH IN DROSOPHILA MELANOGASTER.
Author: Hammock, Kendra Jean
Abstract/Description: Many cellular mechanisms essential to life are evolutionarily conserved among animal species; Presenilin is one of such examples. Presenilin is a 9-pass transmembrane protein that functions as a subunit of the vital enzyme y-secretase, which is a fundamental mediator for cell-cell communication in animal development. Presenilin has been found to act both dependently with, and independent from y-secretase activity. Mutations in Presenilin are linked to the neurodegenerative pathology of...
Show moreMany cellular mechanisms essential to life are evolutionarily conserved among animal species; Presenilin is one of such examples. Presenilin is a 9-pass transmembrane protein that functions as a subunit of the vital enzyme y-secretase, which is a fundamental mediator for cell-cell communication in animal development. Presenilin has been found to act both dependently with, and independent from y-secretase activity. Mutations in Presenilin are linked to the neurodegenerative pathology of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Brain atrophy, caused by neuronal cell death, is a prominent pathological trait of AD. The mechanisms in which this cell death occurs remain largely undetermined. This study focuses on determining the role of Presenilin (Psn) on cell death in Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies have suggested that Psn has some pro-apoptotic characteristics and that Psn may interact with members of the bcl-2 gene family, a family of genes involved in mitochondrial mediated cell death pathways. Drosophila is an ideal model organism to study intrinsic cell death because there are only two Bcl-2 family proteins, the pro-survival protein, Buffy, and pro-cell death protein Debcl. The tumor suppressor transcription factor Rbf1 has been shown to act in the Bcl-2 cell death pathway as well by suppressing buffy transcription. I hypothesize that Psn promotes cell death through Debcl-mediated cell death pathway. I also hypothesize that the majority of Psn usually undergoes endoproteolysis and participates in the assembly of g-secretase complex (major route) to promote cell proliferation but it can also interact with Bcl-2 family proteins at the mitochondrion to promote cell death (minor route) independently of y-secretase activity. To test this hypothesis, I examine whether overexpressing debcl or rbf1 can still induce cell death during Drosophila wing development, in the context of either the presence or absence of Psn. In this study, when debcl is overexpressed while simultaneously knocking down psn expression, the cell death phenotype seen when overexpressing debcl alone is no longer observed. However, when overexpressing debcl in the knock-down presence of the g-secretase dependent protein nicastrin (nct), cell death is still observed. These results suggest that Psn promotes Debcl-mediated cell death through genetic interaction with Debcl independent of g-secretase activity.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000612, uwf:61278
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: Development of a new unreacted equation of state for LX-17 with a genetic algorithm and a semiparametric model.
Author: Ginoza, Reid Rikio
Abstract/Description: Modeling the detonation of high explosives requires accurate simulations of shock propagation within the material of interest. The shock behavior is largely captured with the Hugoniot curve of an equation of state model, which describes the thermodynamic behavior of the unreacted material. While there are parametric forms for these models, such as linear and quadratic fits, that can be fit to shock data, in this work, a semiparametric Hugoniot curve was developed with cubic b-splines to allow...
Show moreModeling the detonation of high explosives requires accurate simulations of shock propagation within the material of interest. The shock behavior is largely captured with the Hugoniot curve of an equation of state model, which describes the thermodynamic behavior of the unreacted material. While there are parametric forms for these models, such as linear and quadratic fits, that can be fit to shock data, in this work, a semiparametric Hugoniot curve was developed with cubic b-splines to allow more flexibility in fitting the shock data. In order to optimize the fit, a genetic algorithm that respects convexity constraints performed a global search. In two test cases, the spline Hugoniot model was fit to artificial experimental data and resulted in good agreement with the known truth. Finally, we examined the existing Hugoniot, pop plot, and overdriven data for LX-17, an insensitive TATB-based explosive, and fit a new equation of state to this expanded data set with our semiparametric form. While previously published parameterizations of models did not satisfy all constraints, this new model was fit to all the collected data and respected all the constraints.
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Date Issued: 2021
Identifier: 1293880214, WFE0000760
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: DEVELOPMENT OF INTELLIGENT AND SECURED ALGORITHMS FOR MODERN COMPLEX SYSTEM CONTROL AND PROTECTION.
Author: Manickam, Arangamanikkannan
Abstract/Description: This research is focused on developing a Multi-Agent Methodology (MAM) for protecting and controlling the components in an electric power grid. The software agents are replicated using a concept called code mutation, which hardens the attacks against the agent network. Replication of mutated code is used with a majority-voting algorithm to prevent attack consequences from occurring when an attack eventually bypasses the prevention mechanisms. These agents are grouped to form a cluster that...
Show moreThis research is focused on developing a Multi-Agent Methodology (MAM) for protecting and controlling the components in an electric power grid. The software agents are replicated using a concept called code mutation, which hardens the attacks against the agent network. Replication of mutated code is used with a majority-voting algorithm to prevent attack consequences from occurring when an attack eventually bypasses the prevention mechanisms. These agents are grouped to form a cluster that can either be a monitor or a supervisor. The clusters work collaboratively by communicating with each other using a developed ontology. The supervising agent cluster obtains a global view of the entire system and, hence, performs a wide-area control operation using neural network based adaptive-critic approaches. We test the developed agent clusters for control and protection of a two-area and multi-machine power system model, and we test also the wide-area controller on the same power network and demonstrate it to be working better than local controllers.
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Date Issued: 2011
Identifier: WFE0000276, uwf:60890
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN PRE-COLUMBIAN PERU: A BIOARCHAEOLOGICAL STUDY.
Author: Wilkin, Shevan Elisabeth
Abstract/Description: To determine the impact the fall of the Wari Empire had on domestic violence in coastal, peripheral, pre-Columbian Peruvian communities, human skeletal remains from 32 individuals from Ancon, Peru, were examined for cranial trauma. The lack of any form of contextual domestic abuse injuries found in the Middle Horizon, the time of the Wari, and the Late Intermediate Period, following imperial collapse, illustrates how Ancon's proximity to the Pacific Ocean's ample marine resources exempted its...
Show moreTo determine the impact the fall of the Wari Empire had on domestic violence in coastal, peripheral, pre-Columbian Peruvian communities, human skeletal remains from 32 individuals from Ancon, Peru, were examined for cranial trauma. The lack of any form of contextual domestic abuse injuries found in the Middle Horizon, the time of the Wari, and the Late Intermediate Period, following imperial collapse, illustrates how Ancon's proximity to the Pacific Ocean's ample marine resources exempted its occupants from the stress felt by resourcedeprived highland populations of the same time period
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Date Issued: 2016
Identifier: WFE0000565, uwf:61201
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: EDMUND SPENSER'S CRITIQUE OF ELIZABETHAN CHIVALRY IN THE FAERIE QUEENE.
Author: Noke, April Holland
Abstract/Description: Edmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene is rife with female victims of male aggression. In a poem filled with knights who are literally chomping at the bit to prove their chivalry, the gratuitous violation of women seems out of place. One would think there would be far fewer damsels in distress where there are so many available knights errant. Strangely, these distressed women repeatedly find themselves endangered by the very knights who should be protecting their faithful, chaste bodies. Drawing...
Show moreEdmund Spenser's The Faerie Queene is rife with female victims of male aggression. In a poem filled with knights who are literally chomping at the bit to prove their chivalry, the gratuitous violation of women seems out of place. One would think there would be far fewer damsels in distress where there are so many available knights errant. Strangely, these distressed women repeatedly find themselves endangered by the very knights who should be protecting their faithful, chaste bodies. Drawing on studies of Elizabethan chivalry by Richard McCoy, early-modern masculinity by Lisa Celovsky, and feminist readings of Spenser by Susan Frye, I argue that Spenser's gratuitous victimization of women by knights is a parody of the male identity informed by Queen Elizabeth I's specific understanding of chivalry. While promoting the Reformation ideal of companionate marriage, Spenser seeks to expose the chivalric structure of Queen Elizabeth's court as an authoritarian effort to keep men servile. My thesis demonstrates that Spenser's ironic depiction of the chivalric code underscores, in order to critique, the regressive homosociality of the nostalgic chivalry revived in Queen Elizabeth I's court. In Spenser's text, Scudamour's and Britomart's characters exemplify that the chivalric masculinity promoted by Elizabeth is a vehicle for suppressing male power that conflicts with Reformation values.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000632, uwf:61279
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: EFFECTIVENESS OF BIOSOLIDS BIOCHAR IN THE REMOVAL OF MULTIPLE POLLUTANTS IN AQUEOUS SOLUTION VIA A COMPARISON OF LAB EXPERIMENTS VERSUS REAL-WORLD APPLICATION OF A PASSIVE BIOCHAR FILTER.
Author: Lowery, Beverly Anne
Abstract/Description: With the growing population of the World comes an increase in the amount of biowaste, such as biosolids, produced. Growing populations also lead to an increasing amount of harmful nutrients and heavy metals being released into our environmental waters from stormwater runoff, agricultural, and industrial activities. Converting biosolids into biochar offers a promising way of disposing of biowaste and possibly mitigating the effects of pollutants in environmental waters. This can be especially...
Show moreWith the growing population of the World comes an increase in the amount of biowaste, such as biosolids, produced. Growing populations also lead to an increasing amount of harmful nutrients and heavy metals being released into our environmental waters from stormwater runoff, agricultural, and industrial activities. Converting biosolids into biochar offers a promising way of disposing of biowaste and possibly mitigating the effects of pollutants in environmental waters. This can be especially useful to people in developing or developed, yet economically challenged areas. This research aimed to create a passive filter filled with biosolids biochar that could be placed within streams or existing stormwater infrastructure to filter out harmful pollutants and testing its effectiveness at removing several target analytes commonly found in stormwater runoff, specifically nitrate, phosphate, nickel, cadmium, lead, and copper. The main goal in the creation of this filter was to keep it as low-tech and cost effective as possible to make its application more feasible for areas lacking the capital for more conventional surface and stormwater treatment. This field experiment was then compared to the results of concurrent shaker and column experiments, which used a spike solution and water from the same stream where the filter experiment took place, to determine how accurately lab experiments reflect the conditions found in nature. The results from this experiment showed that the passive biochar filter had no real effect on the target analytes found in the stream, although several were only present in non-significant amounts. The two lab experiments behaved similarly showing that the biosolids biochar should have been effective in removing nitrate, and lead, while experiencing some leaching of phosphate. The spike solution, which had a lower starting pH, indicated that all target analytes should have experienced some adsorption (i.e., removal) from the filter. While the lab experiments did not accurately reflect the conditions seen in nature, results indicate that initial concentrations as well as pH plays an important role in the filter's adsorption of various analytes and should be taken into consideration when using biosolids biochar. Better engineering of the passive biochar filters as well as future pH studies are critical in the determination of the true effectiveness of biosolids biochar in the removal or multiple pollutants in environmental waters via a passive filter.
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Date Issued: 2018
Identifier: WFE0000624, uwf:61286
Format: Document (PDF)

Title: EFFECTS OF NUTRIENT INPUT AND MICROZOOPLANKTON GRAZING ON PHYTOPLANKTON PRODUCTIVITY IN THE GRAND BAY ESTUARY, MISSISSIPPI.
Author: Baine, Gary Christopher, II
Abstract/Description: The estuarine system at Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Mississippi is a near pristine wetland home to a diversity of flora and fauna. While seasonal fluctuations in water quality are well understood, less is known about the coupled dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton production. Light availability, nutrient levels, and grazing are key factors regulating phytoplankton. Previous studies have revealed Grand Bay to primarily be limited by nitrogen rather than phosphorus...
Show moreThe estuarine system at Grand Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve in Mississippi is a near pristine wetland home to a diversity of flora and fauna. While seasonal fluctuations in water quality are well understood, less is known about the coupled dynamics of water quality and phytoplankton production. Light availability, nutrient levels, and grazing are key factors regulating phytoplankton. Previous studies have revealed Grand Bay to primarily be limited by nitrogen rather than phosphorus or light. Since then extended phosphate inputs from the neighboring Mississippi Phosphates fertilizer plant have occurred provoking the following question: will the phosphate inputs affect the growth and structure of the phytoplankton communities? This study is investigating the effects of inputs of an array of nutrients (ammonium, nitrate, silicon, and phosphate) on phytoplankton growth, community structure, and production over an annual cycle. Phytoplankton production was monitored as biomass (chlorophyll a concentration) and 14C-bicarbonate fixation. Specific comparisons were made between NH4+ and NO3- to distinguish any preference to different forms of nitrogen (N); however, no preference was observed. Interestingly, the manner in which phytoplankton responded to N additions show that not only is N the limiting nutrient, but that limitation is being exacerbated by excess phosphate (P). Furthermore, this is the first study showing that phytoplankton growth in Bangs Lake was controlled by microzooplankton grazing in all but two months of the study when water temperatures were coolest.
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Date Issued: 2017
Identifier: WFE0000569, uwf:61196
Format: Document (PDF)

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