T.O.A.D: Tower Offense Android Development

TOAD is a tower offense game developed for Android smart phones and tablets. TOAD was developed to demonstrate applied principles of computer science and the software design process. The game engine was written as several components to handle various functions and allow for portability to other platforms. The end result is a fully functional game that can be used as a base to further expand on the idea and be showcased on Google Play

Factual Causation: The Missing Link in Hydraulic Fracture—Groundwater Contamination Litigation

A speech-based material that early can assess a child's hearing is needed to provide an indication of a hearing impaired child's language development. Being able to identify and discriminate between different sounds is a requirement for interpreting speech. Hearing assessments that examine speech perception can therefore, unlike, for example, pure tone audiometry, examine a hearing impaired child's perceptual language skills and provide a basis for intervention. The purpose of this work is to evaluate a new auditory material on 3-year-old children. The auditory material is based on the Ling-6-sounds and the main question was which of the sounds in the test were adequate for test of discrimination. Furthermore, it was investigated how the test works with children aged 3:0–3:11 years and how age and gender affect the result. Twenty-four children aged 3:0–3:11 years were tested using a computer based test. The goal  for the child was to discriminate between pairs of sounds and react to an odd pair. Several instruction techniques were tested by two different test administrators. The results of the tests indicated that equal pairs of sounds (/do/-/do/, /s/-/s/) gave more correct responses. The test section where only two different pairs were used generated more adequate responses than the test section with six different pairs. Differences in age influenced the outcome more than sex and different instructions. There is also a need for improved instructions and sounds. Generally, children became more involved in the test when given instructions that were short and direct

Soil aggregate stability as influenced by time and water content

Call number: LD2668 .T4 1986 L39Master of ScienceAgronom

The Man from the Future: Traces of Masculinity and Modernity from Hamilton in the 1960s.

This research offers a reading of the considerable change to the landscapes of cities, masculinities and bodies that occurred after the Second World War. With an emphasis on visual sources and methods, I consider how a distinctly modern post-war identity emerged out of the interaction between Hamilton's newly (re)built cityscape, human bodies and their gendered identities. In the 1960s, rapid urban growth in Hamilton produced a large number of buildings designed in the Modernist style. This concrete language rendered public structures, and the city at large, as distinctly 'Modern' and progressive. The existence of these buildings was essential to Hamilton's transition from a rural town to an urban centre. Meanwhile, the 1964 Centennial served as a convenient narrative of progress to (re)create the city as Modern while remaining youthful and vibrant. Images of the past and the future were regularly and publicly invoked. Colonial Pioneers and Men from the Future were rhetorically exhumed and conceived in order to (re)construct Hamilton. Material and discursive spaces of the cityscape were inhabited by images of a 'citified' Modern Man: the fabled Businessman and his derivatives. Images of masculine bodies offer an insight into constructions of gendered identity. Their 'suited' and impervious bodily boundaries reflect the rigid confines of 1960s masculinities and the firm geometric designs of Modernist buildings. Analysis of advertisements and photographs reveal bodily performances that maintain this identity while establishing an urban and masculine corporeality. A number of 'other' identities were excluded by dominant urban masculinity and offer areas for future research

Methods Used in Public Policy Decision Making by County Managers in North Carolina

Researchers have examined ways in which policy makers develop their decisions. The literature has not explored, however, the methodologies used by county managers to arrive at decisions, or whether they consider the medium- and long-term policy implications, or second and third order effects, of those decisions. The purpose of this study was to identify the methodologies and decision-making processes used by county managers in North Carolina. The theoretical framework was Lindblom\u27s theory of incrementalism in decision making. Data for this phenomenological study were collected through semi-structured interviews with 10 purposefully selected county managers, and were coded and categorized to identify themes and patterns. Results indicated that county managers tended to rely on multiple methodologies, rather than one consistent methodology, when deciding public policy issues, and that they overwhelmingly considered the second and third order effects of their decisions on public policy outcomes. The implications for positive social change include informing country managers and the public about policy decisions and their effects on the long-term well-being of their local community

Role of rituximab in first-line treatment of chronic lymphocytic leukemia

Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) is a biologically heterogeneous illness that primarily afflicts the elderly. For many decades, the initial therapy for most patients requiring treatment was limited to single-agent alkylator therapy. Within the last two decades, we have seen remarkable progress in understanding the biology of CLL and the development of more effective treatment strategies that have employed monoclonal antibodies, such as rituximab (anti-CD20). Furthermore, recognition of the synergy between fludarabine, cyclophosphamide, and rituximab (FCR) prompted investigators to explore the clinical activity of FCR in Phase II and III trials in patients with relapsed/refractory or previously untreated CLL. On the basis of these findings, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) recently approved rituximab in combination with fludarabine and cyclophosphamide for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory or previously untreated CD20-postive CLL. Recent data from a randomized Phase III trial has confirmed improved overall survival with FCR in patients with previously untreated CLL. However, FCR is not for everyone. More tolerable regimens using rituximab for the elderly and less fit patients are being pursued in clinical trials. Recent Phase II trials have explored potentially less myelosuppressive approaches by using lower doses of fludarabine and cyclophosphamide, replacing fludarabine with pentostatin, and combining rituximab with chlorambucil. Furthermore new biomarkers predictive of early disease progression have prompted investigators to explore the benefits of early treatment with rituximab combined with other agents. In addition to the proven utility of rituximab as a frontline agent for CLL, rituximab has a favorable toxicity profile both as a single agent and in combination with chemotherapy. The majority of adverse events are Grade 1 and 2 infusion-related reactions (fevers, chills, and rigors) and occur with the first dose of rituximab. The improved tolerability observed with second and subsequent infusions allows for shorter infusion times. Rituximab’s proven activity and favorable toxicity profile has made it an ideal agent for expanding treatment options for patients with CLL, the majority of whom are elderly

DLC1 as a comparative epigenetic biomarker for radiotherapy of Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma

The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file.Vita.Includes bibliographical references."August 2007"Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia 2007.Dissertations, Academic -- University of Missouri--Columbia -- Veterinary pathobiology area program.The American Cancer Society estimates that 58,870 people were diagnosed with non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL) in 2006, and 18,840 people died of the disease. Recent investigation of epigenetic gene regulation has identified the role of DNA methylation of cytosine followed by guanine in silencing gene expression. Such hypermethylated genes may serve as markers of disease, markers of prognostic groups, or targets for therapy. In this series of experiments, evidence of DNA hypermethylation was identified in the gene Deleted in Liver Cancer 1 (DLC1), a tumor suppressor gene, in canine NHL. The structure of the canine form of this gene was further characterized in silico and biologically, and the methylation patterns surrounding its promoter region were defined in 21 cases of naturally occurring NHL. Although the presence of hypermethylation did not result in silencing of the gene in the majority of the dogs, methylation patterns were statistically associated with NHL compared to normal lymphoid tissue. Further experiments discovered a significant synergistic interaction between external irradiation or ¹⁷⁷Lu-labeled 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane- N,N',N",N'"-tetraacetic acid (DOTA)-tyrosine³-octreotate (TATE) treatment and zebularine, a demethylating agent. Finally, ¹¹¹In-DOTA-TATE was used to successfully image somatostatin receptors of NHL lesions in three dogs with naturally occurring disease. The results of these studies will form the underpinnings of future canine clinical trials, modeling markers for diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of NHL

For the want of a nail: the Western Allies quest to synchronize maneuver and logistics during operations Torch and Overlord

Doctor of PhilosophyDepartment of HistoryDonald J. MrozekUnderstanding why the Western Allies failed to penetrate the western border of Germany in the fall of 1944 is a longer and more involved story than most histories of the topic imply. Allied performance in the European Theater of Operations during World War II is directly linked to their performance in the Mediterranean Theater of Operations (MTO) and before that, in the North African theater. This study focuses on how the Western Allies conducted campaigns – how they ran combined headquarters in order to plan and supervise joint, theater-level operations, and how those activities changed over time as the key leaders involved gained combat experience. After looking at the efforts of the Allied over this longer window of time, a new conclusion about why the pursuit phase of Overlord failed to penetrate the Westwall becomes clear. LTG J. C. H. Lee’s Communication’s Zone (COMZ) was unprepared to fulfill the logistical requirements of the Allied fall campaign in France in 1944, contributing directly to disappointment over the outcome of the campaign. For those who expected two years of combat experience to result in more effective performance in subsequent action, the failure was surely surprising. This study examines why COMZ could not manage the theater’s logistics and distribution system, and how Supreme Headquarters, Allied Expeditionary Force (SHAEF) failed to correct this shortcoming as it sought to synchronize joint operations with logistical requirements and the limitations they imposed. By contrasting the operational methods used by the United States (U.S.) and United Kingdom (U.K). and by looking at how Torch and Overlord unfolded, this study reaches three conclusions. First, COMZ was woefully unprepared to execute its combat mission in August 1944, and its failures lengthened the war considerably. Second, this failure was directly linked to the U.S. Army’s inability to integrate lessons learned at European Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (ETOUSA). Third, the work demonstrates how critical the integration of maneuver and sustainment is at the operational level of war and how U.S. doctrine and practice predating the war made this difficult to recognize. Finally, successful command at the theater and operational level relies upon consensus and cooperation, unlike the more directive nature of tactical control. COMZ and SHAEF were not prepared to fulfil their roles in August and September because the U.S. experience in World War One and the doctrine that emerged from that experience resulted in the adoption of a model for theater command that was eventually rejected in 1944. Although useful lessons were gained during Torch and implemented at Allied Force Headquarters (AFHQ), ETOUSA and Lee’s Service of Supply (SOS) did not integrate them. Those lessons were obscured when key personalities rotated or the org chart changed -- it took time for AFHQ, North African Theater of Operations, U.S. Army (NATOUSA), and the functional components to gel. ETOUSA and SOS faced different challenges, were busy with Bolero, and suffered through personnel turnover and restrictions of their own. A final round of reorganization swept through the U.K. over the winter of 1943 and 1944 when much of the command team relocated from the MTO to London. These organizational changes left in question who exactly was in charge of the various aspects of the sustainment mission during Overlord. Lee proved less effective than his peers when it came to producing results that were valued by the operational commands, and SHAEF and the army groups gradually poached ownership of planning and integrating logistical support from SOS/COMZ as a result. Lee held on to running the communications zone in France, but then he did not properly prepare for the mission. By the time SHAEF realized COMZ did not know how to do its job, it was too late to save the fall campaign. Just how bad things had gotten by October and November was masked by poor recordkeeping during the pursuit, confusion over what was really happening within the subordinate commands, and a narrative advanced by Eisenhower in January 1945 designed to paint a more flattering picture of recent events. Eisenhower manipulated facts in a report submitted to the Combined Chiefs of Staff in order to justify his decisions in France, dismiss any reported “mistakes” made during the fall, and ensure he retained personal control over the three army groups rather than reappointing a subordinate overall ground commander. In the process, Eisenhower initiated the cover-up that would make it so difficult to establish why the pursuit broke down

Important Considerations in Plasmon-Enhanced Electrochemical Conversion at Voltage-Biased Electrodes.

In this perspective we compare plasmon-enhanced electrochemical conversion (PEEC) with photoelectrochemistry (PEC). PEEC is the oxidation or reduction of a reactant at the illuminated surface of a plasmonic metal (or other conductive material) while a potential bias is applied. PEC uses solar light to generate photoexcited electron-hole pairs to drive an electrochemical reaction at a biased or unbiased semiconductor photoelectrode. The mechanism of photoexcitation of charge carriers is different between PEEC and PEC. Here we explore how this difference affects the response of PEEC and PEC systems to changes in light, temperature, and surface morphology of the photoelectrode