This thesis presents data from ground camera observations of the aurora conducted from Alaska during the winters of 2005 through 2007. In conjunction with these camera observations, conjugate radar observations of the auroral ionosphere were...
I investigate the kinematics and space densities of the local cataclysmic variable (CV) population. CVs are close binary star systems composed of a white dwarf that accretes matter from a less compact companion star in Roche lobe overflow....
Medical care -- Decision making. Health attitudes. Prostate -- Cancer -- Treatment -- Decision making. Prostate -- Cancer -- Patients -- Attitudes. Uncertainty. Video recording in medicine.
This dissertation used two studies to evaluate the appropriateness of a theoretical model exploring the relationships between screening/treatment beliefs and intending to be screened or treated for prostate cancer (P-CA). Study One examined...
A sample of 46 previously unidentified, intermediate- to high-redshift, near-infrared (NIR)-selected galaxy clusters have been discovered in the Andromeda catalog of the Oxford Dartmouth Thirty Degree Survey (ODTS). These clusters vary from low- to...
Quantitative Risk Analysis of Computer Networks (QSRA) addresses the problem of risk opacity of software in networks. It allows risk managers to get a detailed and comprehensive snapshot of the constitutive software on the network, assess its risk...
Angiogenesis is part of the natural defense mechanism in brain against hypoxia and ischemia. Animal models and methods for the non-invasive investigation of cerebral angiogenesis are needed. This thesis addresses the hypothesis that steady state,...
The great strength of the C-F bond has enabled fluorocarbons to find many industrial and domestic applications, and makes C-F activation a chemical and technical challenge akin to that of C-H bond activation in hydrocarbons. In our mission to...
Free electron lasers -- Experiments. Wave guides -- Design and construction. Diffraction gratings -- Experiments. Electron beams. Infrared sources.
The far infrared region of the electromagnetic spectrum, 15-3000 μm in wavelength, has a paucity of narrow band laser sources. To address the issue of whether a grating based free electron laser could operate well as such a source, a grating...
Tetrapyrroles -- Synthesis. Tetrapyrroles -- Mechanism of action. Transition metal catalysts.
Previous studies have shown that the mucosal immune system is present in the female reproductive tract and under hormonal control. With the recognition that underlying stromal cells regulate epithelial cell function and hormonal responsiveness,...
Indole alkaloids -- Synthesis. Ring formation (Chemistry). Radicals (Chemistry).
A novel radical cyclization of 2-bromoindoles was examined, generating a series of hexahydropyrrolo[3,4- b ]indoles in fair yield. This process involved the generation of a variety of indole-3-carboxamides followed by the introduction of bromine at...
Naturally occurring macrocyclic tetrapyrroles of the chlorin and bacteriochlorin classes play important roles in essential biological processes, including photosynthesis and nitrogen cycling. The chromophores also show promise in various...
Health status indicators -- Measurement. Health surveys -- Methodology. Medical economics. Spine -- Diseases.
Several ""health state classification systems"" are available to estimate health state values (HSV) for economic evaluation. Evidence of variation in estimates from different systems raises concern that system choice may affect study conclusions...
Casimir effect. Zero-point field. Electric conductivity. Quantum electrodynamics.
The Casimir force arises from an alteration of boundary condition in vacuum and is often regarded as a manifestation of quantum zero point energy. Considerable progress has been made in the last decade with an impressive achievement of experimental...
The coordination and coupling of the several steps in mRNA biogenesis helps to ensure proper regulation of gene expression. The DEAD-box helicase Dbp5/Rat8 is an essential mRNA export factor that has also been implicated in other steps of mRNA...
The objective of this thesis was to examine the neural and physiological substrates underlying the processing of aversive information, and how individual differences in anxiety influence these responses. In a series of experiments, we utilized skin...
Earlier in our laboratory, a facile synthesis of the 2- and 3-nitroindoles was realized. These compounds showed promise as powerful intermediates in the synthesis of novel structures and natural products. The reactivity of 2- and 3-nitroindoles...
An efficient synthetic approach to both 2-acyl-1-(substituted)indoles and 2-nitro-1-(substituted)indoles by reaction of 2-lithio-1-(substituted)indoles with appropriate electrophiles is presented. Inverse quenching of 2-lithioindoles 5 and 208 with...
Part I. A photoprecursor for difluorocarbene . The goal of this research was to develop a more practical and efficient photoprecursor for difluorocarbene. The first approach was concerned with the synthesis of 4,4-difluoropyrazoline-3,5-dione ( 5...
This thesis presents technologies for the design, fabrication, operation, and control of electrostatic MEMS micro-robots. It describes prototype micro-robots, with dimensions of 60 μm by 250 μm by 10 μm, that are capable of controllable...
The synthesis of macrocyclic tetrapyrroles continues to be an area of vigorous research due to their application to a wide range of fields spanning the physical sciences. Only recently have general syntheses for the reduced systems, such as...
Identifying and understanding sources of individual variation in fecundity is of central importance to life history theory and population ecology. In this study, I first examined how factors on the breeding grounds in eastern Maryland affected the...
Hand -- Psychophysiology. Conditioned response. Hand -- Movements. Perceptual-motor processes.
The present studies examine the flexible application of two stimulus-response (SR) mappings to a single set of stimuli. The following questions are addressed: (1) Can dual mapping performance equal single mapping performance (2) Can rapid map...
The furanosteroids are an important class of natural products that have been found to effectively inhibit various biologically important enzymes. These enzymes include the phosphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) family and the polo-like kinase (PLK1)...
Chapter One. Synthesis and Structure of Chiral Pt(Duphos) Terminal Phosphido Complexes. Treatment of Pt halide precursors with a secondary phosphine in the presence of the base NaOSiMe 3 gave the terminal phosphido complexes Pt(Duphos)(Ph)(PMeIs)....
Cancer Control Program (National Cancer Institute) -- Evaluation. Cancer -- Treatment -- United States -- Evaluation. Cancer -- Patients -- Care -- Evaluation.
Background. Disparities in access to cancer care and cancer-related outcomes have been demonstrated in the U.S. Patterns of access to National Cancer Institute-designated Cancer Centers (NCI-CCs), the most specialized cancer care settings, have not...
The Dartmouth Stellar Evolution Program, a state of the art stellar evolution code, has been modified and expanded to increase its versatility. The modifications include: the ability to self-consistently model stars with arbitrary chemical...
Neonatal infections -- Prevention. Nosocomial infections -- Prevention. Neonatal intensive care -- Social aspects. Neonatal intensive care -- Psychological aspects.
Statement of the problem. Nosocomial bloodstream infections (NBSIs) are a significant source of morbidity and mortality for the very low birth weight babies (VLBW) in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs). Efforts to reduce the rates of infection...
Despite being cloned over twenty years ago, many regulatory mechanisms of the β-globin genes have yet to be fully elucidated. The regulation of the β-globin locus in erythroid cells requires chromatin structural changes before the genes can be...
Three-dimensional imaging in medicine -- Mathematical models. Diagnostic imaging -- Digital techniques. Brain -- Magnetic resonance imaging. Inverse problems (Differential equations).
An accurate registration between the preoperative images and the current surgical scene is critical to image-guided neurosurgery. However, during a neuro-surgical intervention, brain tissues shift and degrade the accuracy of the registration....
Nanocomposite materials containing both gold and cobalt were synthesized using block copolymers as agents for controlling spatial organization of the nanoparticles. The targeted polymers are polystyrene- block -poly(alkyne-functional)styrene...
The novel heptachloro-1'-methyl-1,2'-bipyrrole (""Q1"") ( 1 ) is a natural organohalogen that has been detected in more than 100 worldwide environmental samples. In recent years mixed halogenated 1,2'-bipyrroles have also been detected in several...
Colloidal nanoparticles are particles with sizes ranging from one nanometer to several hundred nanometers, which disperse evenly in a dispersion medium. In aqueous solutions, amphiphilic molecules organize themselves to form such colloidal systems...
Prior to biological conversion of lignocellulosic biomass, natural barriers to efficient enzymatic hydrolysis must be overcome, and a few pretreatment technologies effectively accomplish this job with chemicals. Although several factors are...