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Establishing and Characterizing Patient-Derived Breast Cancer Cell Lines
Get PDFCommercial cancer cell lines have long been extensively used as an important platform to study cancer. They have contributed to a plethora of discoveries in the field of cancer research. However, there are limitations with using these cell lines, such as induced mutations over the long-term in vitro culture. These mutations cause incorrect exhibition of the in vivo characteristics of the cancer cells. Here, we focused on establishing Patient-derived breast cancer cell lines and attempted to characterize them in terms of several biomarkers that are shown to be overexpressed in breast cancer cells. Patient-derived breast cancer cell lines are more reliable tools to study the molecular and cellular processes taking place in vivo, since they are freshly isolated from the tumor biopsy and do not undergo induced immortalization. We explored the CK19, Ki67, vimentin, EpCAM, E-cadherin, and N-cadherin expression in three successfully established patient-derived breast cancer cell lines
Profile Matching in Observational Studies With Multilevel Data
Get PDFMatching is a popular method to use with observational data to replicate desired features of a randomized control trial. A common problem encountered in observational studies is the lack of common support or the limited overlap of the covariate distributions across treatment groups. A new approach, cardinality matching, leverages mathematical optimization to directly balance observed covariates. When conducting cardinality matching, the user specifies the tolerable balance constraints of individual covariates and the desired number of matched controls. The algorithm then finds the largest possible match given these constraints. Profile matching is a newly proposed method that uses cardinality matching, in which the user can specify a target profile directly and find the largest cardinality match that is balanced to the target profile. We developed an R package called ProfileMatchit that will employ profile matching. We employed the new package in the setting of hospital quality assessment using a real-world dataset. Profile matching has not yet been used in hospital quality assessment but may be an improvement over current approaches, which have limitations in the ability to find sufficient matches in a heterogeneous sample. This application would be the culmination of our work to develop an improved version of cardinality matching and provide a new application of profile matching and a better approach to hospital quality assessment
Thermal Biology, Overwintering, and a Degree-Day Model for the Adult Emergence of the Red Sunflower Seed Weevil (Coleoptera: Curculionidae)
Get PDFRed sunflower seed weevil, Smicronyx fulvus LeConte, is a univoltine seed-feeding weevil that is a primary pest of cultivated sunflower, Helianthus annuus, in North America, especially within the upper Great Plains region. This pest spends its final larval stage overwintering in the soil before pupating in the summer and emerging as an adult to feed on sunflower pollen and lay eggs in developing achenes. Larval feeding can damage of up to 83% of seeds on a head. Growers typically manage S. fulvus by using insecticides; however, early planting dates have also been demonstrated to reduce weevil damage. It is important to understand how overwintering conditions impact larval development and develop a model to predict adult emergence. Larvae were found to overwinter in the soil at depths that are not subject to temperatures near their freezing point, and a degree-day model was created for emergence
Settler Colonizers? Sense of History on the Northern Plains Before and After the Turn of the Nineteenth Century
Get PDFThis dissertation argues that it is time to push the understanding of the US Oceti Sakowin
wars in different directions, particularly in the direction that stops obsessing and constantly revisiting
the officer and soldier accounts. More particularly, it is argued, it is time to push in the direction that
looks at how and why settler colonizers ? scholars, artists, historians, poets ? before and after the
turn of the nineteenth century contemplated and argued over various ways to interpret the 1854-
1891 US Oceti Sakowin wars. Through this, they infused a sense of history into the landscape of the
northern plains. The dialog they established created a foundation for how and why the US Oceti
Sakowin wars is remembered today in the second decade of the twenty first century
Impacts of the Covid-19 Pandemic on Housing Markets
Get PDFEfficient housing markets are critical for economic stability in the United States. Over one million people died in the United States from COVID-19. One method employed to halt the spread of the virus were stay-at-home orders. The effects of stay-at-home orders on different distributions of housing prices in 101 housing markets were investigated in this study. To estimate the effects of executive orders on house prices, an unconditional quantile regression model was employed for analysis. Results suggest that lower-priced houses experienced a larger price increase while the executive order was in effect. Following the expiration of the executive order, larger price increases were observed in both lower and higher priced house markets. Using a binary logit model, we examined whether socioeconomic or demographic characteristics affect executive orders. Results suggest that more black individuals and democrats make home price increases more likely under an executive order at certain quantiles
An Analysis of the NBA Draft: Are Teams Drafting Better and Does College Experience Truly Matter
Get PDFThis thesis attempts to answer two questions. Are NBA organizations doing a reasonable job at drafting players and getting better at the process, and does college experience play a significant role in a player?s performance during their early NBA career (first 3 seasons).In regard to these two questions, we determined through our research that NBA organizations are not showing any significant improvements in their ability to draft the best available players, this is surprising given the increase in available scouting data teams currently have access to. We suspected however that this lack of drafting improvements may be related to players entering the NBA with less college experience. However, after we determined that college experience does not appear to play a large role in a player?s early career NBA performance, we determined that experience does not appear to be the reason why teams aren?t doing a better job of drafting
Characterization of a Lab-Scale Polymethylmethacrylate and Gaseous Oxygen Hybrid Rocket
Get PDFHybrid rockets are a type of chemical rocket propulsion where the reactants are in different phases. Historically, hybrid rockets have been underutilized in the aerospace industry. However, due to their simple nature, they are easy to construct and test. Research on hybrid rocket propulsion was conducted using optically clear polymethylmethacrylate and gaseous oxygen with a nozzle designed to achieve Mach 2. Characterization was performed using combustion simulations available from NASA and measurements with pressure transducers, thermocouples, a load cell, and high-speed cameras. The test stand and hybrid rocket itself were designed by previous senior design groups. From the results, performance parameters such as the characteristic velocity, thrust coefficient, and specific impulse were calculated for various test times and oxidizer mass flow rates. Testing has shown that the rocket can be run safely and successfully numerous times
Genome-wide Association Study and Genomic Prediction for Pod Shatter Resistance in Brassica napus L.
Get PDFThe release of seeds from a mature dry pod is known as shattering. Pod shattering results in significant yield losses in rapeseed/canola. An experiment was conducted in five environments in 2020 and 2021 under the field and the greenhouse conditions using 150 spring-type Brassica napus genotypes. Genome-wide association study (GWAS) identified 21 significant SNPs for pod shattering using eight different GWAS models. The phenotypic variation explained by these SNPs ranged from 3.8 -25.4%. Three potential candidate genes, IND, AGL65, and MAN7, were identified for the pod shattering. Genomic prediction was done using 14 genomic selection models. The prediction ability for pod shatter resistance ranged from 0.18 ? 0.50. This study suggested that at least one locus on chromosome A09 is associated with pod shattering. The study also suggests that genomic selection has the potential to select pod shatter resistance germplasm at an early stage to use in the breeding program
Nostalgia for the 24th Century: How Nerd Billionaires Use Star Trek for Self-Promotion
Get PDFThis paper examines how tech industry leaders, who I dub ?nerd billionaires,? use references to Star Trek (ST) as a way to connect with the positive impression fans have of its utopian world. I show how they use ST to imply that their business interests serve to benefit, and potentially save, humanity. My study provides background on ST?s utopia and uses Pierre Bourdieu's Field Theory to demonstrate why ST at first appears incompatible with the goals of big business. By applying post-Marxist critical theory to ST media, I examine ST?s ideological implications and analyze why ST has proven to be such an attractive shibboleth for ?nerd billionaires.? I argue that the politics of ST and the tech industry?s business practices prove to be less incongruous than they appear by demonstrating how ST has fostered a cultural narrative that presupposes the virtues and feasibility of saving humanity through futurist technology
Process Optimization of 3D Printing with Continuous Fiber Reinforced UV Curable Thermoset Resin
Get PDF3D printed polymer components cannot be used as structural components due to the 3D printable material property limitations. To improve mechanical properties, a composite 3D printer is developed and studied. Technical aspects of 3D printing with continuous carbon fiber reinforced dual UV and thermal curable thermoset composite were experimented. To optimize the 3D printing process parameters, the effect of printing nozzle size, line spacing of the print, and resin flow rate was studied. To achieve minimum void content and maximum fiber volume fraction, print parameter configurations were studied using microscopic surface roughness analysis. The tensile and flexural properties of 3D printed specimens were tested. Results of the study indicated that impressive mechanical properties of the 3D printed continuous fiber reinforced UV curable thermoset composite can be achieved through the optimization of printing parameters