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Anti-Cancer Effects Of Garcinol In Pancreatic Cancer Transgenic Mouse Model, Nadia Saadat

Wayne State University Dissertations

Adenocarcinoma of pancreas is recognized for its poor prognosis, as it progresses asymptomatically and is rarely diagnosed at early stage. According to American cancer society pancreatic cancer, it has lowest survival rate in all cancer types, with less than 6% five year survival rate. Surgical resection is only possible for 20% of diagnosed cases and current chemotherapy has only 15% response rate. Even the most favored drug, Gemcitabine, increases survival time only by a few months, depending on the stage at diagnosis. Some bioactive food components or nutraceuticals have shown chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic effects without added side effects. Garcinol is …

The Role Of Oxidative Stress In The Pathogenesis Of Epithelial Ovarian Cancer, Nicole Marie King

Wayne State University Dissertations

Ovarian cancer is the leading cause of death from gynecologic malignancies yet the underlying pathophysiology is not clearly established. The disease is usually diagnosed in the advanced stage and carries a poor prognosis. The 5-year survival rate is greater than 75% if diagnosis of the cancer occurs at an early stage; however, this rate drops to 20% when the tumor has spread beyond its origin. Thus, a method for early detection is critically needed, which can help prolong, or even save lives. Currently, an effective screening test for ovarian cancer is lacking. Many tests have been evaluated but have been …

Intonation And Reading Skills In Fourth-Grade Students, Wanda Margaret Kent

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to examine the role of intonation skills in the reading comprehension of fourth-grade students. Although, the National Reading Panel's (2000) definition of reading fluency as "...the ability to read a text quickly, accurately, and with proper expression..." (p. 3-5) suggests a role for prosody and intonation in reading, these features have not figured prominently in reading research and studies that have examined the relationship between intonation and reading have reported varying results. The current study adopted the view that intonation is one of the many linguistic skills that support children's reading skills. From …

A Juvenile Perspective: What Affects Attitudes Of African American, Hispanic, And White Youth Toward The Police., Rodney Lamon Lake

Wayne State University Dissertations

Race is one of the most powerful variables explaining the public's attitudes toward the police. The majority of studies on race and attitudes toward the police have explored differences between African Americans and Whites. The emphasis of previous research on Black-White comparisons has left unanswered many questions about minority group differences in attitudes toward the police, especially differences between Latinos and African Americans. With the usage of secondary data ("Outcome Evaluation of the Teens, Crime, and the Community/Community Works (TCC/CW) Training Program in Nine Cities across Four States, 2004-2005), this study determined which independent variables (race, age, gender, class, self …

Methodologies For Attaching Polypyridyl Ligands Into Amino Acids And Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Novel Light Activated Peptidomimetic Cysteine Protease Inhibitors Caged By Ruii(Bpy)2, Tomasz Respondek

Wayne State University Dissertations

Two separate subjects are described in this dissertation. The first part describes novel methodologies for attaching polypyridyl ligands into unnatural amino acids. The first chapter describes the different possibilities for attaching metal ligands to peptides and their applications as potential imaging and therapeutic agents covered so far in the literature. It is followed in the second chapter by the description of a new method for the construction of metal-peptide conjugates through the use of three unnatural amino acids, and their adaptation to solid phase synthesis. The third chapter describes the synthesis of a novel, "optimal" substrate for the enantioselective alkylation …

The Use Of Cognitive Apprenticeships To Teach Learner-Centered Instructional Strategies In An Undergraduate Learning Environment, Jill E. Stefaniak

Wayne State University Dissertations

Educators are in a never-ending search for identifying instructional strategies as technological resources and support for the classroom continue to evolve. In order to optimize learning results and mastery of the learning material, faculty must present instructional content in a manner that supports cognitive processing strategies, and is sequenced in an order that enables the learner to build upon prior knowledge. The primary role of the educator in higher education is to guide students through the acquisition of new skills and promote self-directed learning. Educators must continue to pursue areas for improvement in current teaching structures with a view to …

Investigating Hfq-Mrna Interactions In Bacteria, Martha Audra Faner

Wayne State University Dissertations

Regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) are essential for bacteria to thrive in diverse environments and they also play a key role in virulence [11]. Trans-sRNAs affect the stability and/or translation of their target mRNAs through complementary base-pairing. The base-pairing interaction is not perfect and requires the action of an RNA binding protein, Hfq. Hfq facilitates these RNA-RNA interactions by stabilizing duplex formation, aiding in structural rearrangements, increasing the rate of structural opening, and/or by increasing the rate of annealing [18-21]. Hfq has two well characterized binding surfaces: the proximal surface, which binds AU rich stretches typical of sRNAs, and the distal surface, …

Family Socioeconomic Status And Children's Reading Ability: The Buffering Effect Of Parental Social Support, Casey Dexter

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to better understand the protective effect that social support has on the development of reading in children from a range of SES backgrounds. Because other studies have suggested the importance of teacher quality on children's reading ability, this was also tested. This study utilized a sample taken from the public-use version of the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study-Kindergarten Cohort (ECLS-K), a large-scale, nationally representative sample of children attending kindergarten in the United States in the fall of the 1998-1999 academic year and their families, teachers, and schools. As expected, family SES and the availability of …

The Relationship Between English Language Test Scores Among Nigerian High School Students And Teacher Beliefs About Language Teaching And Their Classroom Practices, Luke O. Iwuji

Wayne State University Dissertations

English language mastery is important to the academic achievement of high school students in Nigeria. As the official language of instruction in multi linguistic Nigerian schools, proficiency in English language is essential for the academic success of students in high schools. The purpose of the study is to examine the relationship between English language test scores among Nigerian high school students and teacher beliefs about language teaching and their classroom practices. Three research questions and associated hypotheses were addressed in this study. A total of 23 teachers, one from each high school in the Government District of Nigeria, participated in …

Assessment Of The Semantic Knowledge Network In Older Adults With Familial History Of Alzheimer's Disease, Erin Marie Holcomb

Wayne State University Dissertations

Current techniques for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease rely on early implementation, which necessitates the need for accurate and early identification of individuals most at risk for future cognitive decline. Research has demonstrated the usefulness of examining the temporal gradient for long-term semantic knowledge in identification of such individuals. The assessment of the temporal gradient within varying levels of knowledge specificity, however, has received considerably less attention. In this study, we aimed to contrast accuracy and reaction times for semantic memory tasks tapping multiple dimensions of semantic specificity from multiple time epochs in adult children with and without a parental …

Advanced Optimization Techniques For Monte Carlo Simulation On Graphics Processing Units, Eyad Hailat

Wayne State University Dissertations

The objective of this work is to design and implement a self-adaptive parallel GPU optimized Monte Carlo algorithm for the simulation of adsorption in porous materials. We focus on Nvidia's GPUs and CUDA's Fermi architecture specifically. The resulting package supports the different ensemble methods for the Monte Carlo simulation, which will allow for the simulation of multi-component adsorption in porous solids. Such an algorithm will have broad applications to the development of novel porous materials for the sequestration of CO2 and the filtration of toxic industrial chemicals.

The primary objective of this work is the release of a massively parallel …

Effect Of Intake Temperature And Boost Pressure On The Auto-Ignition Of Fuels With Different Cetane Numbers And Volatilities, Chandrasekharan Jayakumar

Wayne State University Dissertations

The aim of this research is to investigate the effect of air inlet temperature and boost pressure on the auto-ignition of fuels that have different CNs and volatilities in a single cylinder diesel engine. The inlet air temperature is varied over a range of 30°C to 110°C at a constant intake pressure of 1.1 bar. The boost pressure is varied from 1.1 bar to 1.5 bar at a constant intake temperature of 60°C. All engine tests are run at steady-state conditions. The fuels used are ultra-low-sulfur-diesel (ULSD), JP-8 (two blends with CN 50 & 31) and F-T SPK. Detailed analysis …

Religion And Spirituality In Mental And Physical Well-Being Of Korean And White Americans, Mila Kil

Wayne State University Dissertations

An increasing number of researchers have confirmed the important role of religion and spirituality, not only in the psychological and emotional domains but also in physical health. Several researchers note that various forms of spirituality and religiousness can help Asian immigrants cope with the upheavals of immigration, adaptation to a new country, and other difficult personal and social transformations related to being in a new culture. Especially for Korean immigrants, churches and religious organizations act as a powerful support group. However, few empirical studies have paid attention to this topic, considering the importance of religion and spirituality to most individuals. …

Stress And Social Relationships: The Role Of Corticosterone In The Formation And Maintenance Of Pair Bonds In The Monogamous Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata), Kimberly Anne Laplante

Wayne State University Dissertations

Stress and affiliative social relationships are bi-directionally related. It is well understood that social relationships can buffer the physiological response to a stressor. Conversely, there is some evidence to suggest that stress can affect the propensity to form a pair bond. Data from humans and prairie voles, monogamous rodents, suggest that activation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis (HPA) in males increases attraction for females. Across species, females are understudied, but evidence from the prairie vole suggests HPA activation impairs formation of partner preference, the first step in establishing a pair bond. Across taxa there is evidence that formation and maintenance of …

Characterization Of High-Voltage-Activated Calcium Channels In Retinal Bipolar Cells, Qi Lu

Wayne State University Dissertations

Retinal bipolar cells, conveying visual information from photoreceptors to ganglion cells, segregate visual information into multiple parallel pathways through their diversified cell types and physiological properties. Voltage-gated Ca²⁺ channels could be particularly important underlying the diversified physiological properties of different BCs. In this dissertation, I investigated the high-voltage-activated (HVA) calcium current in retinal bipolar cells in mice. In the first part of my dissertation, I characterized multiple bipolar cell-expressing GFP and/or Cre transgenic mouse lines. In the second part of my dissertation, by performing whole-cell patch-clamp recordings, I examined the electrophysiological properties of HVA calcium currents among CBCs and …

Mechanisms Of Cytokine-Induced Metabolic Dysfunction Of The Pancreatic Beta-Cell, Abiy Mussa Mohammed

Wayne State University Dissertations

MECHANISMS OF CYTOKINE-INDUCED METABOLIC DYSFUNCTION OF THE PANCREATIC BETA-CELL

by

ABIY MUSSA MOHAMMED

August 2013

Advisor: Dr. Anjaneyulu Kowluru

Major: Pharmaceutical Sciences

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

Type I diabetes is characterized by an absolute insulin deficiency due to loss of pancreatic â-cell mass by autoimmune aggression. During the progression of the disease proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-1â, TNFá and INFã are secreted by infiltrated and activated T-cells and macrophages which ultimately damage the pancreatic â-cell. However, the signaling mechanisms involved in cytokine-induced damage are only partially understood. Phagocyte-like NADPH oxidase [NOX2] has been shown to play regulatory roles in the …

Design, Synthesis, And Luminescence Properties Of Bridged Dimetallic Lanthanide Coordination Compounds, Jeremiah David Moore

Wayne State University Dissertations

I synthesized and characterized new homo- and heterodimetallic Eu3+- and Tb3+-containing complexes. Solution-phase luminescence measurements and density functional theory (DFT)-optimized structures indicated that all complexes were nearly isostructural and contained a dimetallic lanthanide core bridged by three oxygen atoms that are covalently bound to the ligand backbone. The homodimetallic Eu3+ complex behaved as a concentration-independent pH sensor that correlates the luminescence-decay rate of the complex to pH. The probable mechanism of pH sensing was attributed to the modulation of a hydroxyl oscillator in the Eu3+ coordination sphere, which was a previously unreported method to sense pH. The heterodimetallic Tb3+/Eu3+ complex …

The Drosophila Interactions Database: Integrating The Interactome And Transcriptome, Thilakam Murali

Wayne State University Dissertations

In this thesis I describe the integration of heterogeneous interaction data for Drosophila into DroID, the Drosophilainteractions database, making it a one-stop public resource for interaction data. I have also made it possible to filter the interaction data using gene expression data to generate context-relevant networks making DroID a one-of-a kind resource for biologists. In the two years since the upgraded DroID has been available, several studies have used the heterogeneous interaction data in DroID to advance our understanding of Drosophila biology thus validating the need for such a resource for biologists. In addition to this, I have identified …

Thick Ascending Limb Nitric Oxide Production And Inhibition Of Nkcc2 Activity Are Impaired In Angiotensin Ii-Induced Hypertension, Vanesa Daniela Ramseyer

Wayne State University Dissertations

Cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the US. Hypertension, which affects about 30 % of the US population, is an important risk factor in the development of this disease. Inappropriately elevated sodium reabsorption by the kidney contributes to hypertension; therefore, studying the mechanisms that lead to enhanced sodium transport is important in understanding this pathology. The thick ascending limb (THAL) reabsorbs 30% of the filtered sodium chloride load. Nitric oxide (NO) produced by NO synthase type 3 (NOS3) increases cyclic GMP (cGMP) and inhibits THAL transport by reducing Na/K/2Cl cotransporter type 2 (NKCC2) activity. Interestingly, in angiotensin …

Single-Molecule Studies Of Local And Global Nucleic-Acid Dynamics, Eric Muthuri Patrick

Wayne State University Dissertations

Nucleic acids undergo both global and local conformational changes that are important for their function. Structural studies have over the decades been invaluable in elucidation of various biomolecular mechanisms, hence contributing significantly to the understanding of biological events. However, a clear understanding of how molecules function in the cellular context requires investigation of their interconversion between multiple conformations, including mapping the folding landscape and any coupled changes in conformation. Work in this thesis focuses on fluorescence experiments, mainly at a single-molecule level to investigate such processes.

First, a novel single-molecule approach is described focusing on local dynamics within nucleic acids …

Overcoming Tumor Drug Resistance By Activating Amp-Activated Protein Kinase And Destabilizing Oncoproteins, Min Shen

Wayne State University Dissertations

Although considerable progress has been achieved in the field of cancer therapeutics, primary or acquired drug resistance remains a fundamental cause of therapeutic failure in cancer therapy. Among different mechanisms characterized that are responsible for tumor drug resistance, there is increasing evidence suggesting that dysregulation of gene expression, especially oncogene or tumor suppressor gene expression, at either gene transcription or protein synthesis level, can contribute to the drug-resistant phenotype. AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) is a well-known major cellular energy sensor, which negatively regulates metabolic pathways such as protein synthesis, fatty acid oxidation and glucose consumption. Activation of AMPK may suppress …

A Cognitively Enabling Approach: Cognitive Diversity In Composition Studies, Crystal June Starkey

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

A COGNITIVELY ENABLING APPROACH: COGNITIVE DIVERSITY IN COMPOSITION STUDIES.

by

CRYSTAL STARKEY

August 2013

Advisor: Dr. Jeff Pruchnic

Major: English (Composition Studies)

Degree: Doctor of Philosophy

My dissertation project investigates the rhetoric of cognitive disability in relation to the theory and teaching of rhetoric and composition in entry-level writing courses. Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD), who frequently struggle with generalizing as well as feeling and expressing emotions, are often perceived to have a decreased intellectual ability and thus not often considered part of the traditional student body of higher education classrooms. Yet, as ASD diagnostic criteria has changed …

Pathways To Civil War, Susumu Suzuki

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation is about conflict escalation to civil war, and examines why some political confrontations escalate and why principal conflict actors continue fighting rather than reaching a number of political arrangements at various points of the course of conflict. Unlike previous studies, this study treats the progression to civil war as one of complex alternate paths. In so doing, building on the perspective of asymmetric information (i.e. uncertainty) problems as a cause of war, this study claims that involving each conflict actor's cognitive variances about its opponent's willingness to resolve and military strength would bolster either side's costly military mobilization …

Power Operations In The Kunneth And C_2-Equivariant Adams Spectral Sequences With Applications, Sean Michael Tilson

Wayne State University Dissertations

We construct Power operations in the K"unneth spectral sequence and the $C_2$ equivariant Adams spectral sequence. While the operations in the K"unneth spectral sequence are 0 in $Tor$, they still detect operations in the target of the spectral sequence. We then interpret these computations of the homotopy of relative smash products as being related to obstructions to having $E_infty$ ring maps. The operations in the $C_2$-equivariant Adams spectral sequence are a partial extension of the work of Bruner in cite{HRS} and have applications to motivic homotopy theory.

Full Stability In Optimization, Nghia Tran

Wayne State University Dissertations

The dissertation concerns a systematic study of full stability in general optimization models including its conventional Lipschitzian version as well as the new Holderian one. We derive various characterizations of both Lipschitzian and Holderian full stability in nonsmooth optimization, which are new in finite-dimensional and infinite-dimensional frameworks. The characterizations obtained are given in terms of second-order growth conditions and also via second-order generalized differential constructions of variational analysis. We develop effective applications of our general characterizations of full stability to

parametric variational systems including the well-known generalized equations and variational inequalities. Many relationships of full stability with the conventional notions …

Impact Of Cryoablation On Tumor Immunity, Jesse Veenstra

Wayne State University Dissertations

Background and Objectives: Percutaneous cryoablation is a minimally invasive procedure for tumor debulking, which has the potential to initiate or amplify tumor immunity through the release of tumor-associated antigens and endogenous danger signals. However, enhanced immunity is rarely observed in treated patients, suggesting the need for mechanistic analysis. The goal is to determine how cryoablation affects tumor specific immunity and if the response can be improved through exogenous TLR9 stimulation.

Methodology: We evaluated anti-Her2/neu immunity following cryoablation in wt BALB/c and tolerant NeuT mice inoculated with neu or Her2 expressing mammary tumors TUBO and D2F2/E2 respectively. Mice were treated with …

Discrete Littlewood-Paley-Stein Theory And Wolff Potentials On Homogeneous Spaces And Multi-Parameter Hardy Spaces, Yayuan Xiao

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation consists of two parts:

In part I, We establish a new atomic decomposition of the multi-parameter Hardy spaces of homogeneous type and obtain the associated $H^p-L^p$ and $H^p-H^p$ boundedness criterions for singular integral operators. On the other hand, we compare the Wolff and Riesz potentials on spaces of homogenous type, followed by a Hardy-Littlewood-Sobolev type inequality. Then we drive integrability estimates of positive solutions to the Lane-Emden type integral systems on spaces of homogeneous type.

In part II, We establish a $(p,2)$-atomic decomposition of the Hardy space associated with different homogeneities for $0

Microstructural Abnormalities In Striatial And Medial-Temporal Tracts In Children With A History Of Early Severe Deprivation: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study, Amy Veenstra

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if early social deprivation led to different patterns of frontal and/or medial-temporal cortical connectivity in internationally adopted children and if these patterns of cortical connectivity were related to specific white matter tract or behavioral differences. Based on theories of brain development, it was expected that environmental factors would impact children's tract based differences and behavioral differences. A sample of 30 internationally adopted children and 12 comparison children participated in functional and structural imaging and a neuropsychological evaluation. For internationally adopted children frontal-cortical connectivity showed patterns of diffuse and low connectivity, whereas medial-temporal …

Drawn Out In Love: Religious Experience, The Public Sphere, And Evangelical Lay Women's Writing In Eighteenth Century England, Andrew O. Winckles

Wayne State University Dissertations

"Drawn Out in Love: Religious Experience, the Public Sphere, and Evangelical Lay Women's Writing in Eighteenth Century England" explores the writing of eighteenth century evangelical lay women in print, poetry, and educational material. Through careful attention to both the content and materiality of their texts I reveal how the women of the evangelical revival used subjective spiritual experience as an impetus for entry into the public discourses of print, and in turn, how their religious narratives were shaped by these discourses. Chapters on women's conversion narratives, moral literature for children, and religious poetry demonstrate the ways that personal spiritual experience …

Roles Of Neuregulin1 In Neuromuscular Junction Development, Jiajing Wang

Wayne State University Dissertations

Neuromuscular junction (NMJ) development is a multistep process mediated by coordinated interactions between nerve terminals, target muscles, and peri-synaptic glial cells, and thus requires reciprocal signals derived from every cell type. Neuregulin1s (NRG1s) are a family of predominantly neuronal growth and differentiation factors that are important for many aspects of nervous system development. In this thesis, both the effects of NRG1 on NMJ development and reciprocal effects of neurotrophic factors on NRG1 expression were studied as a means to define the complex regulatory communication at the NMJ. Using the chicken embryo as a model, methods were developed to study the …