Human umbilical cord blood (HUCB) cells consist of a heterogeneous population of cells, rich in hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells. These cells have been used in the treatment of various nonmalignant and malignant hematopoietic diseases. With in the last few years HUCB cells have been used in pre-clinical animal models of brain and spinal cord injuries, in which functional recovery has been shown. The properties of cord blood cells that could be important in cell transplantation (repair or replacement) of CNS injury or disease are currently being evaluated. The major focus of this study was to determine whether HUCB cells would migrate to ischemic tissue extracts. In addition, factors that may be inducing the cells to migrate were examined by identifying the cytokines or chemokines present in the ischemic tissue extracts. The secondary focus was to establish whether cultured HCUB cells are releasing cytokines and chemokines (in vitro) in response to their environment. The results of these studies showed that HUCB cells migrate to ischemic tissue in a time dependent manner. In which there is a 48 to 72 hour window of opportunity for the delivery of HUCB cells to the ischemic brain. In addition, the cord blood cells were shown to release cytokines that may be aiding in the behavioral recovery seen in the transplantation studies. The results from this study are promising in that the current 3-hour therapeutic window for the treatment of stroke victims, using approved anticoagulant treatment, may be extended with the use of cord blood cell therapy with the peak at 48 hours.

This thesis describes the design of a DSP based air detector system to prevent air embolism during Hemodialysis, which is a treatment option for kidney failure disease. Hemodialysis consists of removing blood from the body, filtering and treating the blood to remove toxic substances such as wastes and fluids, reestablishing proper chemical levels in the blood and returning the processed blood to the body. The functions of hemodialysis are performed through the use of a dialyzer, which is also known as an artificial kidney. During hemodialysis small air bubbles may infiltrate the tubing used during the therapy and combine to form larger air bubbles that are harmful to the patient. If an air bubble is large enough and enters the patient's circulatory system, the blood flow can be blocked and the patient can die by embolism. Most of the hemodialysis instruments in use today are equipped with air detection systems, which are based on analog design and digital microcontroll ers. This thesis presents a design method based strictly on DSP technology. The Motorola DSP 56824EVM was considered suitable for this biomedical application since its performance parameters include high-speed, multi-signal control capability, reliability and stability. These performance parameters are considered to be the most important when designing biomedical instruments dealing with human beings' life and safety. The objective of this research was the development and implementation of a DSP algorithm for the detection and measurement of the sizes of air bubbles in a fluid. In addition the algorithm had to possess the capability, when appropriate, to initiate protective and awareness measures such as triggering a tube clamp as well as activating visual and audio alarms. The air detection was accomplished by means of a commercial air detector module, which was based on piezo ceramic and ultrasound sensing. The function of the tubing clamp was to stop the fluid flow in the tubing and prevent an air bubble from entering the patient's circulatory system. A secondary goal of this research was to exploit the capability of the DSP 56824EVM and demonstrate its suitability for biomedical applications.

A character data set suitable for cladistic analysis of tardigrades at the family level was developed. The data matrix consisted of 50 morphological characters from 15 families of tardigrades and was analyzed by maximum parsimony. Kinorhynchs, loriciferans and gastrotrichs were used as outgroups. The results agree with the currently accepted hypothesis that Eutardigrada and Heterotardigrada are distinct monophyletic groups. Among the eutardigrades, Eoyhypsibiidae was found to be a sister group to Macrobiotidae + Hypsibiidae, while Milnesiidae was the basal eutardigrade family. The basal heterotardigrade family was found to be Oreellidae. Echiniscoideans grouped with some traditional Arthrotardigrada (Renaudarctidae, Coronarctidae + Batillipedidae) suggesting that the arthrotardigrades are not monophyletic. An 18S rRNA phylogenetic hypothesis was developed and supports the monophyly of Heterotardigrada and of Parachela versus Apochela within the Eutardigrada. Mapping of habitat preference suggest that terrestrial tardigrades are the ancestral state. Molecular analysis of a sediment sample with an unusually large population of tardigrades had a higher diversity when compared to manual sorting and counting.

Numerous efforts to assess teaching excellence have been attempted, but systematic research has produced limited results at best. This study expanded upon recent studies focusing on how students' perceptions and attitudes can be used to identify the best course environments and the qualities of teaching excellence. This is especially critical considering that most previous empirical research has been conducted at the university level, while community colleges have been mostly overlooked. Thus, little is know about community college students' perceptions of teaching excellence. To assess their views of teaching excellence, a questionnaire was given to students from one community college to identify the underlying factors that are most central to teaching excellence (research question one). While some of the perceptions of community college students were similar to perceptions documented previously with university students, some perceptual differences were revealed. Confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) was used to evaluate the goodness of fit when used with community college students of the eight original dimensions representing the factor structure similar to that of Herbert Marsh's SEEQ (research question two). For research question three, a second confirmatory factor analysis was employed to assess goodness of fit using the modified 12-dimension version of the survey instrument. The CFA suggested at least a marginal or reasonable fit of the two proposed factor models with community college students. Finally, based on inconsistent findings of previous research, a fourth research question investigated whether demographic factors influence students' perceptions of courses and teaching excellence. A multiple regression analysis of six demographic variables suggested that five variables (e.g., Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Reason for Attendance, Employment and Semester Hours completed) had some impact as to how students respond to certain items that make up the 12 teaching excellence dimensions. The R2 values representing the teaching excellence dimensions ranged from .01 to .034. While many of dimensions had demographic predictor variables that were shown to be statistically significant, as effect sizes were small the practical significance of the results is probably minimal at best. A discussion of the results, limitations, implications for future practice and research are discussed in Chapter Five of this study.

The aim of this research was to develop, characterize, and analyze carbon nanotubes as biosensors. In particular, pH and lactate molecules were targeted in this study. The reason these analytes were chosen was twofold. Firstly, when hydrogen ions and lactate are excreted in abnormal amounts in human sweat, they may be an indicator of a separate health problem. Thus, there is a clinical need for such biosensor applications. Secondly, pH and lactate detection represent two different types of electrochemical sensing techniques. The carbon nanotubes used in this research were single walled and existed in bundles. They were further functionalized with the carboxyl group to detect pH and the enzyme lactate oxidase (LOX) to detect lactate. All carbon nanotube samples were characterized to compare the materials with the attached biomolecules and without the presence of biomolecules. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) was used to verify the attachment of both the carboxyl group COOH and LOX to the respective carbon nanotubes samples. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to analyze the carbon nanotube lactate electrode sample to examine the structure of the electrode. Both pH and lactate biosensors were used in a standard three electrode electrochemical cell where the carbon nanotubes behaved as the working electrode with an Ag/AgCl reference electrode and a platinum wire as the counter electrode. Each sample was separately interrogated by several voltammetry techniques such as linear, cyclic, and square wave. Square wave voltammetry proved to be the best template to use to sense the target analytes. The functionalized CNT-COOH electrode displayed a linear response to pH 1-10, with a negative voltage shift corresponding to an increase in pH. Two types of lactate sensors were fabricated, both of which exhibited an increase in current corresponding to an increase in lactate concentration. The functionalized CNT-LOX on a glassy carbon electrode displayed an amperometric response in the range of 1 mM - 4 lactate. The CNT-LOX on a Si/ITO substrate displayed an amperometric response in the range of 0.01 M - 0.05 M lactate.

My dissertation titled Two Models of Consensus is based on five arguments. 1. Consensus is asymmetrical. 2. Consensus is partial or limited unanimity. 3. Consensus and democracy do have a concomitant relation. 4. Consensus is not organic to political systems. 5. Consensus depends upon civil society, subsidiarity, and the dominant cultural paradigm of society. In the first chapter titled "Historical Specificity of the Western Conception of Civil Society" I argue that concept of civil society evolved under certain conditions in a liberal democratic tradition such as shared social imaginaries. As an example of how diversity could lead to hypostatization of cultural differences, I exposit the concept of Indian caste system. In the second chapter, "Intersubjectivity and the Problem of Cultural Identities", I compare the ideas of Hans Georg Gadamer and George Herbert Mead about self- interested action and mutual cooperative action. Gadamer and Mead emphasize intersubjective communication, I Thou relationships. I explain the importance of the I Thou relationship for a consensual activity. The third chapter, "Consensus in the Realm of Science", discusses the impact of science as the context of justification in advanced liberal democracies and its effect on consensus. Charles Sanders Peirces attempt to apply his scientific method to arrive at a consensus in the social sphere is also discussed in this chapter. In the fourth chapter, "Kwasi Wiredu The Akan Conception of Communitarian Consensus", I discuss Kwasi Wiredus emphasis on achieving a consensus on the basis of what is and not what ought to be, in the social realm. Wiredu differentiates between a government by consent and a government by consensus. I elaborate Wiredu's abakysis of the process of consensus that was in vogue in the Akan community of Ghana. In the final chapter, "Political Consensus - Intra-cultural and Extra-cultural," I argue that consensus is asymmetrical. It is imperative to compromise in social, political, economic, and religious beliefs on the basis of weak deontological and weak consequential approaches. Consensus necessitates a synthesis of different kinds of social actions such as purposive-instrumental, traditional, value-laden, and communicative action into what I call the Cooperative Action. Only such an action can speak across cultures and facilitate genuine cross-cultural interaction.

Long path optical waveguides can be used in optical absorption measurements to increase the optical path length and, thus, the overall absorption of a sample. Recently, 1m long coiled Liquid Waveguide Capillary Cells (LWCC) have been used by analytical spectroscopists to measure the absorption strength of weakly absorbing liquids. However, most of these measurements have used conventional light sources such as Xenon or Halogen lamps and not spectroscopic laser sources. In this thesis study, we used a LWCC absorption waveguide and a laser light source to measure, for the first time to our knowledge, the optical transmission through several water or liquid samples. It was found upon using the LWCC waveguide, the coherent laser light source tended to produce larger variability (>±15%) in the measurements of transmission readings than that for a conventional absorption cell or a conventional light source. This was especially evident when the LWCC waveguide was chemically cleaned with an acid and a base solution between each sample run as directed by the manufacturer. The non-coherent optical sources, Halogen lamp and Xenon arc lamp, produced more stable (±3%) transmission measurements. Finally, using a Helium Neon laser scattered off a diffuse reflecting surface was found to produce moderate variability (±7%), but this was much less than the coherent Helium Neon laser alone. It was concluded that the use of the coherent source was more susceptible than the non-coherent source to small changes in the reflectivity or index of refraction along the wall of the coiled LWCC waveguide. Our results are consistent with recent work by Barwicz and Haus, and by Lytle and Splawn who saw a large dependence of the transmission through a hollow straight waveguide upon changes in the polarization and input angle of the laser beam directed into the waveguide.

This study explores the local news story for evidence of the folktale tradition. It examines a range of local news stories for their folktale functions. The study compares the cultural and psychological function of the news story to that of the folktale and compares the functional definition of folklore to that of journalism. The study also explores the idea of a classifiable sphere of formal character, motif and plot functions that may be explored within the news story and folktale texts. This study builds on the premise that the study of folklore should be at the center of a consideration of the cultural context of local news stories. Using the ideas of formal classification, the study examines a selection of local news stories with folktale characteristics for evidence of folktale functions as structural features within the text. In analyzing content, the study employs a structuralist methodology to evaluate the folktale and mythic functions in the text. The study evaluates the selection of purposefully chosen news story texts for the existence of folktale functions, types, motifs, and key master myths defined formally by a structuralist methodology. In part, this study explores how folklore acts within culture as a socio-psychological dynamic. From the findings of the critical reading, the study begins to probe the idea of the folktale function of journalism as a cultural psychodynamic. Through the analysis of a selection of carefully chosen regional texts, this study provides an example of the application of the folktale function of journalism, examining the news story as a page in the tradition of folklore.

These lyric poems were written between August 2003 and June 2005 and bear witness to the human condition in all its facets, from birth and the first taste of lemon ice to exile and suicide. Within a landscape that encompasses many locales, the poems included here attempt to portray the particular to denote the universal and are always confronted by the ineffable connection between the two.

The air that humans exhale contains various chemical markers whose levels have been associated with various respiratory disorders. Therefore, measurement of these markers offers a potential method of examining airway disease status. Furthermore, exhaled breath offers the advantage of being easy to collect and non-invasive. Hence, these exhaled breath markers are potentially of significant clinical use in examining airways. Therefore, examination of exhaled breath has become the subject of intense study. Current research is targeting the development of methods and parameters for looking at these markers. The goal of this cross-sectional pilot study was to consider the variability in the measurement of these exhaled breath markers between members of different ethnic populations. Specifically, measurements of the exhaled breath marker Nitric Oxide (NO) were compared between two ethnic groups (Caucasian men versus men of African descent). Ten healthy men in each group were studied to examine whether baseline NO measurements differed between them. In this study, a cross-sectional design was used. The study sample consisted of young, healthy men with no history of environmental allergies, asthma, or lung diseases and no significant smoking history. A total of twenty-five men volunteered for the study, including fourteen men of Caucasian descent and eleven men of African descent. Because four men were excluded and one withdrew, ten men in each ethnic group were included in the final analysis. The source population from which the sample was drawn included students and workers. All participants were residing in Florida at the time of study. Ideally, the target population for this study was young, healthy, working men. Large inter-measurement variation was seen between the participants of each ethnic group. This was hypothesized to be attributed to a tri-modal distribution due to the existence of 3 populations of subjects: (1) asymptomatic with normal airways, where NO levels were under 30 parts per billion (ppb); (2) asymptomatic with airway pathology, where NO levels were over 30 ppb; and (3) asymptomatic just before the onset of an upper respiratory tract infection, where NO levels were over 60 ppb. This pilot study did not find statistically significant evidence that there is a difference in the baseline exhaled breath NO measurements between the two ethnic groups studied. Nonetheless, in participants with NO levels under 30 ppb the mean of the African group was found to be 7.6 ppb lower than the mean of the Caucasian group when attempts were made to exclude individuals with underlying airway pathology or imminent upper respiratory tract infection. In order to find statistical significance in the results, a power analysis using the standard deviation of 7.7 ppb that was found in this study indicates that at least thirty-two eligible participants with NO levels under 30 ppb would be required. Only 13 such participants were examined in this study, Thus, at least fifty eligible participants would be required to find significant results. The implication is that even though statistical significance was not achieved, the crude mean averages differed between the two groups in participants with NO levels under 30 ppb. This implies that a larger-scale well-designed study is warranted before NO is used in clinical settings in the diagnosis and monitoring of patients.