Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Physiology and Developmental Biology, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 30-39).

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2006. / Principal faculty advisor: Brian J. Bahnson, Dept. of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Includes bibliographical references.

Steven A. [sic] Freeman. / Series title and numbering from publisher's list. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [1]-[3]). / Fellowship support provided by the Organization Studies dept. of the Sloan School of Management, research sponsored by the International Motor Vehicle Project.

No description available.

This thesis is a critical edition of the Judaeo-Arabic commentary on the book of Lamentations by the tenth century Karaite Salmon Ben Yeruham. The edition of the text is based on four manuscripts and nine fragments. Two manuscripts and all the fragments are in the British Museum. The third and the fourth manuscripts are housed one in the Bibliothèque National in Paris and the other in the Jewish Theological Seminary in New York. It has been possible to examine all the manuscripts and fragments with the exception of the New York manuscript which was available only on microfilm. The present edition has taken manuscript A (B.M. Or. 2516) as its main text because it is a complete copy compared with the others. The edition is prefaced by an introduction comprising a discussion of the data we possess about the commentator's life with references to his works in general and of the authenticity of the authorship of this work in particular. This is followed by an analysis of the commentary, discussing the method used by Salmon, the Karaite theology presented by him and its relationship to Mu'tazilite views. There follows a descriptive linguistic study of the text, investigating the relationship of its language to the characteristics of other Judaeo-Arabic texts on the one a hand, and to Classical Arabic on the other. Next, there is a description of the manuscripts and fragments, followed by detailed notes in which is I presented the relationship between Salmon's text and translation of Lamentations presented on the one hand, and the Massoretic Text, the Septuagint the Peshitta and Saadiah Gaon's Arabic version on the other.

Nanoindentation technique was used to investigate the surface properties of A2 and D2 tool steel subjected to different heat treatments. the mechanical characteristics of these two easily available tool steels were studied based on microstructural images obtained from SEM, the grain growth after heat treatment using X-ray diffraction method and nanoindentation technique. the investigation showed that a single nanoindentation result can explain how heat treatment influences reliability and failure in A2 and D2 tool steels. in this work, the causes and effects of these variations were studied to explain how they influence reliability and failure in A2 and D2 tool steel. Finally, a cube-corner indenter tip was used to determine the fracture toughness of silicon wafer. the emphasis of this research is on how nanoindentation technique is more extensive in material characterization.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited / Reissued 30 May 2017 to correct misspelled name of Dept. Chair on title page. / The Black Sea historically was the theater of rivalry between great powers, mainly the Ottoman Empire and Russia. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, rivalry on the Black Sea became much less intense as Russia weakened and NATO was not paying much attention to it. After the 2008 invasion of Georgia and the 2014 annexation of Crimea, NATO gradually resumed activity on the Black Sea, sending warships of non-littoral NATO members and conducting joint maritime exercises. Russia built a robust anti-access/area denial (A2/AD) bubble in Crimea and responded to NATO activation with provocative actions against NATO ships. At its most recent summit in Warsaw in 2016, NATO paid quite a lot attention to the Black Sea issue and committed to increase NATO presence in the area; nevertheless, the organization shared no signs of a clear strategy. This thesis discusses a potential alternative strategy for NATO, which is based on using its own strategy against Russia—with littoral NATO members and partners building a couple of A2/AD bubbles around the Russian one. The suggested strategy consists of the creation of a Black Sea defense coordination center, an integrated network of all source data exchanged, and the combined capabilities of robust land-based mobile anti-ship missiles, mobile air defense systems, and sea and air surveillance radars, as well as aviation and naval assets. / Civilian, Ministry of Defence of Georgia

Orientador: Marcos Roberto de Mattos Fontes / Resumo: Envenenamento por serpentes é um importante problema de saúde pública em vários países tropicais e subtropicais, pois além da mortalidade, pode resultar em sequelas permanentes como consequência de danos locais, representando assim um grande desafio à terapia utilizando antivenenos. As proteínas fosfolipases A2 (PLA2s) e fosfolipases A2 homólogas de venenos têm um papel fundamental na complexa patogênese da necrose do músculo esquelético e seus mecanismos de ação são apenas parcialmente entendidos. Por isso, a busca por inibidores e da completa descrição do mecanismo de ação das PLA2s e PLA2s homólogas representam assuntos amplamente abordados no campo acadêmico-científico. Para o melhor entendimento desses mecanismos e a busca por novas moléculas inibidoras, o entendimento dos processos de reconhecimento molecular de pequenos ligantes e macromoléculas biológicas é fundamental e requer a completa caracterização da energética de ligação desses agentes e da correlação entre os dados termodinâmicos e cinéticos com as estruturas moleculares envolvidas na ligação. Para tanto, a calorimetria de titulação isotérmica (ITC) é a metodologia mais utilizada com este fim. Nesse trabalho, nossos objetivos foram: i) determinar os parâmetros termodinâmicos de moléculas candidatas a inibidores da atividade miotóxica de PLA2s homólogas: bothropstoxina-I (BthTX-I) e moojenitoxina I (MjTX-I) e II (MjTX-II), purificadas do veneno de serpentes do gênero Bothrops e (ii) caracterizar a interação ent... (Resumo completo, clicar acesso eletrônico abaixo) / Doutor

Thromboxane receptor (TPr) activity is elevated in diabetes and contributes to complications of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). TPr blockade appears to have therapeutic potential. Several rodent models of DKD show attenuation of renal damage and proteinuria upon administration of the TPr antagonist, S18886. However, the cellular targets that underlie the injurious effects of TPr activation in DKD remain to be elucidated. A pilot study in our laboratory subjected a conditionally-immortalized mouse podocyte cell line to high glucose (25 mM D-glucose) and equibiaxial mechanical stretch (an in vitro simulator of increased glomerular capillary pressure associated with glomerular hyperfiltration in early diabetes). qRT-PCR revealed that exposure of podocytes to mechanical stretch (10% elongation) and high glucose for 6 hours yielded a 9-fold increase in TPr mRNA levels vs. controls (non-stretch, 5mM D-glucose + 25mM L-glucose) (p<0.05, n=5). We hypothesized that TPr expression and activity are increased in podocytes during the onset of DKD resulting in maladaptive effects on this key glomerular filtration barrier cell type. We showed that enhanced TPr signaling threatens podocytes viablility. Cultured podocytes treated with the TPr agonist, U-46619 (1 μM) for 24 hours are more vulnerable to apoptosis as quantified by Hoescht 33342 (20% cell death p<0.001, n=3) , TUNEL (30-fold increase, ns, n=3) and Annexin-V labeling (3-fold increase, p <0.001, n=3). To further support these in vitro findings, we developed a transgenic mouse with podocyte-specific overexpression of TPr. A construct consisting of a desensitization resistant mutant of the human TPr with both N- and C-terminal HA-epitope tags under the control of an 8.3 kb fragment of the immediate 5’ mouse NPHS1 promoter was cloned, isolated and injected into FVB/n oocytes that were implanted into pseudopregnant CD1 females. Founders were characterized for TPr transgene expression, and TPr transgene mRNA levels were detected by qRT-PCR. Our in vitro results suggest that increased TPr expression in podocytes of diabetic mice may contribute to filtration barrier damage and have important implications in the development and progression of DKD.

Thromboxane receptor (TPr) activity is elevated in diabetes and contributes to complications of diabetic kidney disease (DKD). TPr blockade appears to have therapeutic potential. Several rodent models of DKD show attenuation of renal damage and proteinuria upon administration of the TPr antagonist, S18886. However, the cellular targets that underlie the injurious effects of TPr activation in DKD remain to be elucidated. A pilot study in our laboratory subjected a conditionally-immortalized mouse podocyte cell line to high glucose (25 mM D-glucose) and equibiaxial mechanical stretch (an in vitro simulator of increased glomerular capillary pressure associated with glomerular hyperfiltration in early diabetes). qRT-PCR revealed that exposure of podocytes to mechanical stretch (10% elongation) and high glucose for 6 hours yielded a 9-fold increase in TPr mRNA levels vs. controls (non-stretch, 5mM D-glucose + 25mM L-glucose) (p<0.05, n=5). We hypothesized that TPr expression and activity are increased in podocytes during the onset of DKD resulting in maladaptive effects on this key glomerular filtration barrier cell type. We showed that enhanced TPr signaling threatens podocytes viablility. Cultured podocytes treated with the TPr agonist, U-46619 (1 μM) for 24 hours are more vulnerable to apoptosis as quantified by Hoescht 33342 (20% cell death p<0.001, n=3) , TUNEL (30-fold increase, ns, n=3) and Annexin-V labeling (3-fold increase, p <0.001, n=3). To further support these in vitro findings, we developed a transgenic mouse with podocyte-specific overexpression of TPr. A construct consisting of a desensitization resistant mutant of the human TPr with both N- and C-terminal HA-epitope tags under the control of an 8.3 kb fragment of the immediate 5’ mouse NPHS1 promoter was cloned, isolated and injected into FVB/n oocytes that were implanted into pseudopregnant CD1 females. Founders were characterized for TPr transgene expression, and TPr transgene mRNA levels were detected by qRT-PCR. Our in vitro results suggest that increased TPr expression in podocytes of diabetic mice may contribute to filtration barrier damage and have important implications in the development and progression of DKD.