2199 research outputs found
Sort by
Inhibition of OV2008 Ovarian Cancer Cell Proliferation in the presence of Oleolyl Ethanolamide and Chlorpyrifos-Oxon.
No full textWe have previously shown that acylethanolamide oleoylethanolamide (OEA) and its metabolically stable analog AM3102 induce apoptosis in OV2008 ovarian adenocarcinoma cells independent of PPAR-α signaling pathway. This cytotoxicity is reversed in the presence of α-tocopherol, indicative of reactive oxygen species involvement in cell death. We have also shown that palmityl trifluoromethyl ketone (PTK), independent of its inhibitory effect on phospholipase A2, enhances the toxicity of OEA (ASCB 2012, Abstract #888). The enzyme neutral cholesterol ester hydrolase 1 (NCEH1) has also been shown to be a target of trifluoromethylketones (Nat Biotechnol 21:687, 2003). Using Chlorpyrifos-Oxon (CPO), a potent inhibitor of the enzyme NCEH1, we explored the relationship between OEA and NCEH1 in the OV2008 cell line. Cytotoxicity was observed in response to OEA (IC50: 14-21 µM) and CPO (IC50: 48-50 µM). When the compounds were administered together, cytotoxicity was enhanced (OEA IC50: 8-9 µM; CPO IC50: 15-19 µM) with evidence of weak synergism. However, Western blot analysis of OEA and CPO treated cells indicated no change in NCEH1 expression. Live cell labeling with dihydroethidium showed an increase superoxide by about 10% in the presence of OEA. CPO itself did not increase ROS in cells. Live cell fluorescence microscopy using MitoSOX Red also revealed an increase in superoxide in the mitochondria in the presence of OEA. The results of our study suggest that one mechanism by which OEA induces cytotoxicity in OV2008 cells is via superoxide generation. It is possible that OEA-mediated increase in ROS makes the OV2008 cells further susceptible to CPO.</p
The Effect of Gelatin Microgel Stiffness on the Morphology of Encapsulated Mesenchymal Stem Cells
No full textThe use of injectable hydrogel scaffolds for encapsulating stem cells has been studied as an effective approach for cell delivery for regenerative medicine. The objective of this study is to examine the effect of hydrogel stiffness on the morphology of encapsulated mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs). Mouse MSCs were encapsulated within gelatin microspheres using a water-in-oil phase bulk emulsification method and the extent of gel stiffness was controlled by changing crosslinking time (5, 30 and 60 minutes) of gelatin matrix. The change in MSC morphology and spreading within three-dimensional microgel space was quantified by measuring cell circularity and spreading. Results shows that MSCs encapsulated within low stiffness gels exhibited high circularity compared with those within high stiffness gels.</p
The Curious Case of Heat Transfer through Water, Solid and Atmosphere & Analytical Solution of Fin/Slab Heat Transfer and Property Distribution
No full textABSTRACT: Our present research falls into two parts regarding Heat Equations. Part one (Time Dependency, Unsteady Case): In lieu of experimentally determining the heat transfer in a two body system on a cold and snowy Ohio night, we shall direct our attention to the more scientifically expedient investigation of determining the heat transfer of heated water in a cup as it cools to the ambient temperature in order to show that cups of different materials affect the rate of heat transfer. The experiment will consist of three cups of the same size and shape but made of different materials. Then we will perform a non-linear regression of the experimental data. Part Two (Spatial Dependency, Steady Case): The Adomian decomposition method has been applied to evaluate the conduction-convection heat transfer through a straight fin, property distribution due to convection-diffusion, and conduction heat transfer through a slab with temperature dependent thermal conductivity. The Adomian decomposition method (ADM) provides the closed form solution for non-linear problems without applying any non-realistic simplifications and/or approximations. The obtained analytical solutions are compared with exact and numerical solutions, using the finite difference/R-K method. It is shown that the numerical simulation has some limitations and may not always produce correct results. However, the Adomian decomposition method follows the correct trend of the exact solution by applying only a few terms.</p
På isen iPhone Application
No full texthttps://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ugresearch/2015/English_Comm/1/thumbnail.jpgPå isen iPhone Application Students: Amanda Calvin, Gabe Schut, Kerry Butler, Ruby Kelly Faculty Advisor: Associate Professor Gretchen Caldwell Rinnert Problem: As part of a senior level design course on interaction our design team developed an iPhone application concept for Bandy fans in Sweden. Our challenge was to build community involvement and participation for a subculture not our own. The application supports and enhances the experience of attending and watching Bandy through a reward system based on checking in when attending a game. Based on how many points a user acquires, he or she is able to engage in a secondary viewing experience. This view is through the helmet camera of a player; the user’s access to stream different player cams is based on the statistics of the player. Therefore, as the individual acquires additional points, he or she is able to view a higher ranked player’s helmet cam feed. The individual is then able to record this secondary viewing experience and share it on social media channels as well as with other På isen users at the stadium. This connects each individual user to the greater community of people attending the game — a completely unique interaction for fans. Our user testing was limited to wireframe prototypes of the interface. Secondary research was compiled on the culture, the sport and the fan base.</p
American Indian Artifacts
No full texthttps://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/dei/2015/presentations/8/thumbnail.jpgAn exhibit of American Indian artifacts in two table cases and a wall case will be displayed on the first floor of the library for the entire month of February. Items displayed represent many indigenous tribes in America.</p
Teaching Hemingway and Modernism
No full texthttps://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/hemingway/16/thumbnail.jpgTeaching Hemingway in his time Teaching Hemingway and Modernism presents concrete, intertextual models for using Hemingway’s work effectively in various classroom settings, so students can understand the pertinent works, definitions, and types of avant-gardism that inflected his art. The fifteen teacher-scholars whose essays are included in the volume offer approaches that combine a focused individual treatment of Hemingway’s writing with clear links to the modernist era and offer meaningful assignments, prompts, and teaching tools. The essays and related appendices balance text, context, and classroom practice while considering a broad and student-based audience. The contributors address a variety of critically significant questions—among them: How can we view and teach Hemingway’s work along a spectrum of modernist avant-gardism? How can we teach his stylistic minimalism both on its own and in conjunction with the more expansive styles of Joyce, Faulkner, Woolf, and other modernists? What is postmodernist about an author so often discussed exclusively as a modernist, and how might we teach Hemingway’s work vis-à-vis that of contemporary authors? How can teachers bridge twentieth- and twentyfirst- century pedagogies for Hemingway studies and American literary studies in high school, undergraduate, and graduate settings? What role, if any, should new media play in the classroom? Teaching Hemingway and Modernism is an indispensable tool for anyone teaching Hemingway, and it offers exciting and innovative approaches to understanding one of the most iconic authors of the modernist era.</p
The Negative Aspects of Women Working in Munitions Factories
No full textDuring World War 1, the media portrayed the recruitment of women war workers as a huge success. Women were employed by the thousands, faithfully fulfilling their patriotic duty in support of the men fighting in the war. My research will show the downside for women working in the munitions factories: the dangers they faced from accidental detonations, their contact with chemicals, and the dangers to themselves and their families, the harsh conditions they faced within the factories and their dismissal from these factory positions after the Great War. World War 1 created labor shortages particularly in factories. Formerly women were not allowed to work in munitions factories, but to fill vacancies and to satisfy the need for additional work, the Women Work Council and Ministry of Munitions launched large recruitment drives. These actions seemed positive because an ever larger number of women were earning ever higher incomes which enable the women to achieve a higher standard of living. These accomplishments however, blinded contemporaries to the downside of war-time work in munitions factories. The negative aspects of women working in the munitions factories are important because the population was unaware of the conditions these women faced on a daily basis. The Ministry of Munitions did not disclose the dangers the women faced working in the munitions factories. Instead the government used propaganda and the media to lure the women into these positions reinforcing the idea that it was the women’s patriotic duty. The women were seen as a means of producing as many armaments as possible.</p
Dissertation on Dmitry Shostakovich\u27s Harmonic Language
No full texthttps://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ugresearch/2015/Art_Fashion/4/thumbnail.jpgMusicologists have divided western music into distinct musical eras spanning from the secular music of the Renaissance to the avant garde music of the 21st century. The result when composers live during the end of one and beginning of another is endless debate and inevitable debacle to determine which era they belonged to. I have therefore determined to investigate the development of Shostakovich’s harmonic language throughout his compositional lifetime, with the intent to discover how he bridged the musical eras of romanticism and 20th century music. My methodology in conducting this investigation is: 1. Gaining an understanding of the social and political context in which Shostakovich’s Symphony No. 5 and other compositions were written as well as becoming knowledgeable of Shostakovich’s life and possible influences by means of reliable biographical resources both secondary and primary. 2. Obtaining an in depth understanding and complete comprehension of the techniques used by Shostakovich throughout various compositions through macro and micro analysis of Shostakovich’s scores of: a. Symphony No. 1 b. Symphony No. 5 c. Piano Trio No. 2 – Passacaglia d. Symphony No. 9 - Comprehension of Schenkerian and Neo-Riemannian analysis was developed through extensive study with my private teacher. 3. Come to a conclusion based on my investigation. The results of my investigation conclude that Shostakovich’s harmonic language became increasingly atonal and chromatically oriented throughout his compositional lifetime. The cause of this change in harmonic style was inclusive of both personal expression under the eye of political oppression and the contextual movement toward more symmetrically based music among many composers.</p
Investigating Chemical Stress and Antibiotic Sensitivity of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis
No full texthttps://kent-islandora.s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/ugresearch/2015/Biology_Ecology/10/thumbnail.jpgPrevious lab work has investigated the effects of thermal stress and antibiotic sensitivity on bacteria used in microbiology teaching labs concentrating on Pseudomonas fluorescens. This investigation, however, focuses on how chemical stress affects the antibiotic sensitivity of two common laboratory strains: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus epidermidis. Literature searches revealed that potassium acetate is a common additive in sporulation media. Using the Kirby Bauer procedure – a technique used in clinical labs to characterize antibiotic sensitivity of clinical isolates – we studied how the addition of sodium chloride, potassium chloride, sodium acetate and potassium acetate to growth media affects the sensitivity of E. coli and S. epidermidis. After measuring zones of inhibition created by the antibiotic disks, we found that sodium and potassium acetate increased the sensitivity of the two bacteria significantly, while sodium and potassium chloride had negligible effects. Further studies will characterize the relationship between acetate and potential antibiotic sensitivity.</p
The Effect of Leaf Litter Species and Habitat Conditions on Vernal Pool Invertebrates and Communities
No full textVernal pools fill during the spring when snowmelt and rainwater gather in depressions in the ground. Undecomposed leaf litter from previous years will fall into these depressions and become both a shelter and a food source for many invertebrates. Leaf litter from different tree species were tested to compare the invertebrate communities that colonized in each and, ultimately, to determine whether one leaf species was colonized quicker or more abundantly than another. Invertebrates were identified to the family level. The family Asellidae was the most abundant invertebrate type in all leaf species litters, accounting for 56% of the total invertebrate count, followed by the family Chironomidae with 26% of the total. A multivariate analysis showed that there was no significant difference between invertebrate communities among leaf litter types. Samples were heavily dominated by a few families of invertebrates and were colonized by very few other families. The similarity between communities showed that the invertebrates likely perform many of the same ecological functions on different leaf types. As a whole community, this ecological function is primarily to breakdown larger leaf litter so that smaller organisms can continue the decomposition process.</p