Both human epidemiological and animal studies have associated inhalation of chromium(VI) (Cr(VI)) with increased incidence of pulmonary disease. This thesis examined the hypotheses that Cr(VI) activates cell signaling through kinase cascades and...
In order to most effectively investigate protein structure and improve protein function, it is necessary to carefully plan appropriate experiments. The combinatorial number of possible experiment plans demands effective criteria and efficient...
Large scale systems -- Mathematical models. Digital computer simulation. Parallel processing (Electronic computers). Computer algorithms.
Modeling real-world large-scale systems is inherently challenging due to their size and complexity. Detailed simulation of large-scale models requires tremendous amounts of computing power and memory space. Parallel discrete-event simulation...
Breast -- Cancer -- Tomography. ; Breast -- Cancer -- Imaging. ; Breast -- Cancer -- Diagnosis. ; Near infrared reflectance spectroscopy. ; Image processing -- Digital techniques.
Near-infrared (NIR) light has the potential to be used as a non-invasive means of diagnostic imaging within the human breast. Due to the diffusive nature of light in tissue, computational model-based methods are required for functional imaging...
Breast -- Cancer -- Tomography. Near infrared spectroscopy. Breast -- Cancer -- Imaging. Breast -- Cancer -- Diagnosis.
Near-infrared (NIR) light provides potential for a new approach to non-invasive detection, diagnosis and clinical management of breast cancer. Using NIR spectroscopic imaging techniques, the physiological information about breast tissue composition...
Mitomycin C -- Mechanism of action. ; DNA -- Effect of mitomycin C on. ; Genetic expression -- Effect of mitomycin C on. ; DNA-protein interactions -- Effect of mitomycin C on.
Mitomycin C (MMC) is a chemotherapeutic drug that reacts with the N$\sp2$ of guanine to form monoadducts, interstrand and intrastrand crosslinks. These lesions, especially the interstrand crosslink, are believed to be responsible for the potent...
Electronic data processing -- Distributed processing. ; Computer network architectures. ; Programming languages (Electronic computers) -- Semantics. ; Database management.
I tackle the problem of naming and sharing resources across administrative boundaries. Conventional systems manifest the hierarchy of typical administrative structure in the structure of their own mechanism. While natural for communication that...
This thesis contains some results concerning groupoid dynamical systems and crossed products. We introduce the notion of a proper groupoid dynamical system and of its generalized fixed point algebra. We show that our notion of proper groupoid...
In a variety of applications spanning mobile devices, performance computing, and even renewable energy and automotive, power management and power delivery are an increasing bottleneck in reducing size and cost, improving reliability, and even...
Transition metals play critical roles in biological systems as essential components of metalloproteins and metalloenzymes, as diagnostic probes and pharmaceuticals, and in some instances, as sources of toxicity. Cellular concentrations vary...
Many of today's communication and imaging technologies share the common challenge of signal deterioration due to water's large absorption coefficient. As an example, it is water molecules that contaminate the fused silica of optical fibers and...
This thesis presents two-fluid simulations of forced magnetic reconnection with finite electron inertia in two and three dimensional periodic systems. Reconnection in the system is driven by a spatially localized forcing function, added to the ion...
Wireless communication systems. Computer networks. Routers (Computer networks).
A mesh network is a network of wireless routers that employ multi-hop routing and can be used to provide network access for mobile clients. Mobile mesh networks can be deployed rapidly to provide an alternate communication infrastructure for...
Multimodality imaging is becoming the standard of care for research and clinical studies. Such an approach is able to provide complementary information which can detect and characterize tumors. Advancing instrumentation for diffuse near-infrared...
Siegel domains. Modular groups. Hecke algebras. Forms
In the 1960s Satake proved the existence of an isomorphism between the local Hecke algebra and the ring of polynomials invariant under the action of the signed permutation group W n (the Weyl group associated to Sp n over a local field)....
Upon activation by binding of insulin, the insulin receptor tyrosine kinase phosphorylates a group of proteins known as the insulin receptor substrates (IRS's). The tyrosine phosphorylated IRS's then act as docking/effector molecules for SH2...
Automatic control -- Sensitivity. Structural control (Engineering). Strains and stresses -- Computer simulation. Structural analysis (Engineering). Engineering models.
Autonomous damage detection in engineering structures is critically important as the demands placed upon those structures are increased. It has been well established that damage detection can be done through monitoring the modal frequencies of the...
Digital cinematography. ; Cinematography -- Lighting -- Data processing -- Evaluation. ; Cinematography -- Special effects -- Data processing -- Evaluation. ; User interfaces (Computer systems) -- Evaluation.
We define appearance design as the creation and editing of scene content such as lighting and surface materials in computer graphics. The appearance design process takes a significant amount of time relative to other production tasks and poses...
Digital video -- Analysis. Forensic sciences. Image processing -- Digital techniques.
We present new forensic tools that are capable of detecting traces of tampering in digital video without the use of watermarks or specialized hardware. These tools operate under the assumption that video contain naturally occurring properties which...
Estradiol is a key regulator of immune protection in the female reproductive tract (FRT). Its concentration varies during the menstrual cycle, leading to changes in innate immune protection. In this thesis, I demonstrate the multiple levels at...
Traumatic brain injury (TBI) is the leading cause of acquired disability in children, yet innate repair mechanisms are incompletely understood. A possible innate mechanism to repair injury after insult is neurogenesis - the birth, migration,...
Nanoparticles have made significant advances in recent years in the realm of cancer therapy. These nanoparticles typically range in size from 10-250nm in diameter, allowing for differential systemic-based biodistribution. The enhanced permeability...
The identification and characterization of functional genetic variation is essential for future advances in molecular diagnostics, pharmacogenomics, and personalized medicine. Recent attempts at identifying nucleotide level variation (somatic...
While anthropogenic emissions of the toxic element mercury (Hg) to the atmosphere are currently rising, major uncertainties remain in determining the relative impacts of anthropogenic activity and natural processes on the global Hg cycle. In this...
Floral nectar of many plant species is prone to colonization by microorganisms. Their presence and metabolism have the potential to modify a suite of traits important for pollinator attraction, including nectar quality and scent. However, studies...
Loss of vascular smooth muscle cell function is a hallmark of vascular disease. Vascular smooth muscle cells become increasingly resistant to phenotypic modulation, apoptotic and senescent. Sirtuin 1 (SirT1) is a deactylase that regulates...
Protein phosphorylation is an important regulatory mechanism for the control of countless processes in living systems. The delicate management of phosphate attachment to, and removal from, serine, threonine and tyrosine residues in proteins...