Digital Commons Network^™

The Influences Of A Mariachi Education On Student Perceptions Of Academic Achievement, Academic Attainment, And Student Engagement, Victoria Lynn Smith

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study is to examine the influences of mariachi education on student perceptions of their academic achievement, academic attainment, and student engagement. The study involved students attending schools in California, Oregon, and Texas with mariachi programs that consented to be a part of the study, whose districts approved their participation. The students were approached to participate in this study, as they are a part of their school’s mariachi program in middle or high school throughout the Western half of the United States. A convergent parallel (mixed-methods) design and descriptive statistical analyses were used to investigate the …

Applications Of Low Field Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Muhammad Waqas

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Magnetic resonance imaging is a non-invasive imaging modality that is used to produce detailed images of soft tissues within the human body. Typically, MRI scanners used in the clinical setting are high field systems because they have a magnetic field strength greater than 1.5 Tesla. The high magnetic field offers the benefit of high spatial resolution and high SNR. However, low filed systems can also produce high resolution MR images with the added benefit of imaging stiffer samples. In this study, a low field 0.5 T MR system was used to image various samples to demonstrate the capability of the …

Rational Design Of Peptides Binding Towards Human Pd-L1 Using Knob-Socket Model, Xingchen Zha

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) is a type 1 transmembrane protein that has been reported to play a vital role in mediating suppressed immunity. The interaction between PD-L1 and PD-1 delivers a negative signal that reduces the proliferation of these T cells and induces apoptosis at the same time. Antibodies that can block the Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1) on tumor cells have been shown to alleviate cancer-induced immunosuppression. While antibodies have a great potential in various therapeutic uses, many drawbacks such as the high cost of production, huge molecular size, and poor permeability impose restrictions on the extensive use of full-length …

Computational Methods In Biomolecules:Study Of Hydrophilic Interactions In Protein Folding & Constant-Ph Molecular Simulation Of Ph Sensitive Lipid Morc16, Wei Zhang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Water molecules play a significant role in biological process and are directly involved with bio-molecules and organic compounds and ions. Recent research has focused on the thermal dynamics and kinetics of water molecules in solution, including experimental (infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy) and computational (Quantum Mechanics and Molecular Dynamics) approaches. The reason that water molecules are so unique, why they have such a profound influence on bio-activity, why water molecules show some anomalies compared to other small molecules, and where and how water molecules exert their influence on solutes are some of the areas under study. We studied some properties …

Development Of Novel Phenanthroline And Thiazole Orange Derived G-Quadruplex Ligands And Telomerase Inhibitors, Siwen Wang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The end of the human chromosome is protected by telomeres which contain a special tandem guanine-rich DNA sequence, 5’-TTAGGG. The length of telomeres is shortened during cell replications, and its length limits the replication capacity of cells. Telomerase is over-expressed in 85–90% of cancer cells, responsible for extending the telomere length in cancer cells. Guanine-rich DNA sequence can self-assemble into unique G-quadruplex structures that interfere with the extension of telomeres by telomerase. Therefore, DNA G-quadruplex has recently received much attention because of its important regulatory functions in telomerase-mediated cancerization. The formation of G-quadruplex requires monovalent cations (Na+ and K+) or …

Production Of Synthetic Spider Silk, Ryan Matthew Hekman

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Spider silk is a material that both has impressive mechanical properties and is also environmentally friendly. Though there are limitless potential engineering applications for such materials, industrial production of spider silk has proven to be challenging. Farming silk from spiders, as is done with silkworms, is not a viable option for large-scale production of spider silk due to the venomous and predatory nature of spiders. Here, an attempt is made to express synthetic spider silk minifibroins heterologously in Escherichia coli, to purify the recombinant spidroins from cell lysate, and to spin them into artificial fibers through a biomimetic process. Silk …

Dna Lesions Produced From The Reaction Of Diols And 5-Formylcytosine And Their Effects On Dna Replication, Brock Allen

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Nucleic acids are complex macromolecules that are susceptible to both endogenous and exogenous damage. This study explored damage resulting from interactions with environmental nucleophilic toxins, such as a variety of diols and amines found in industry. These nucleophiles can react with electrophilic groups, such as 5-formylcytosine. 5-formylcytosine is an oxidation product of the epigenetic base 5-methylcytosine. It is typically removed by thymine DNA glycosylase (TDG) but is known to accumulate in the genome, making the formyl group susceptible to attack. In this study we used GC/MS and ESI-MS to show that DNA lesions from the nucleophilic addition reaction of toxins …

The Effect Of Infant Directed Lullaby On Maternal Attachment And Parenting Stress, Casie Esposito

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In this modified single-subject design study, the researcher sought to find whether eight parents who were taught to use lullaby evidenced a change in attachment and parenting stress regarding their infant’s hospitalization and into transition to home. Using repeated measures over a period of approximately two months, each parent was asked to use infant directed lullaby with their infants and keep track of its use with a calendar. The Maternal Attachment Inventory and the Parenting Stress Index provided measurement of self-reported attachment and stress. An adapted intervention rating profile was used to determine the parent’s perceived acceptance of infant directed …

Family Child Care Providers' Perceptions Of Quality Of Training In The Early Head Start Program, Carmen Zuleyma Hercules

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

In order to give children quality child care, child care providers need appropriate training and coaching to develop effective teaching practices. Compared to center-based educators, family child care providers tend to have less education and training and offer fewer educational experiences. The purpose of this study was to investigate how family child care providers perceived the quality of Early Head Start training to support professional development, and to identify what professional areas and experiences or activities providers deemed crucial to their professional-development training. Bandura’s (1997) social-cognitive theory described the way people learn from each other, and identified four factors—mastery experiences, …

Investigations On Cancer Cell Biological Effects Of Cdk8 Inhibitor Q-12, Zhixin Lu

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Over the past two decades, protein kinases have been intensively investigated as targets to treat neoplastic diseases. Many protein kinase inhibitors not only have therapeutic potential but are becoming invaluable reagents for the study of cell signaling.

We aspired to use our Cyclin-Dependent Kinase 8 inhibitor, Q-12, as a probe for biomarker discovery for CDK8 inhibitor sensitive tumor types. Q-12 shows potent inhibition of cell viability and induction of apoptosis process in some triple-negative breast cancer and colorectal cancer cell lines in vitro. Western blot results indicate that the reduction of STAT1 phosphorylation could be a robust indicator of CDK8 …

Peptide-Drug Conjugate For Her2-Targeted Drug Delivery, Yan Wang

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Recent strategies for anticancer drug design have been focused on utilizing antibody as a drug or targeted moiety for targeted drug delivery. Antibody−drug conjugates (ADCs) have become a promising new class of targeted therapeutic agents for treatment of cancer. ADCs are designed to preferentially direct a cytotoxic drug to a cell-surface antigen recognized by an antibody. However, there are some challenges in developing ADCs, such as limited solid tumor penetration, high manufacturing costs and antibody-drug stoichiometry. Smaller molecules such as peptides have been shown to specifically bind to cancer related targets. These peptides can be used to form peptide-drug conjugates …

Shape From Focus Image Processing Approach Based 3d Model Construction Of Manufactured Part, Mitchel Wendland

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research is to develop a process and an algorithm to create a 3D model of the surface a part. This is accomplished using a single camera and a CNC machine as a movable stage. A gradient based focus measure operator written in MATLAB is used to process the images and to generate the surface model. The scopes of this research are image processing and surface model generation as well as verifying part accuracy. The algorithm is able to create a rough surface model of a photographed part, and with careful calibration in a limited number of …

Co-Teaching: Loss Of Professional Space From The Perspective Of Special Education And General Education Teachers, Cordelia Azumi Yates

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the perspectives of special and general education teachers on the loss of their professional space because of the co-teaching program. This was accomplished through the qualitative methods of data collection and analysis, by in-depth semi-structured face-to-face interviews that were recorded using an electronic device and note taking. The interviews were conducted individually with six high school teachers from public schools, of which four were special education teachers and two were general education teachers. These interviews revealed that teachers defined professional space as personal identity and felt that the loss of their professional space emotionally impacted them. The …

Design And In Vitro Characterization Of Lipids With A Ph-Sensitive Conformational Switch And Their Liposomes For Anticancer Drug Delivery, Shen Zhao

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The traditional anticancer drugs are distributed in vivo through systemic blood circulation with a very small portion reaching the tumor site. Targeted drug delivery systems are developed in efforts to concentrate the drug molecules in the tissue of interest while reducing the drug distribution to healthy tissues to reduce the side effects. Liposomes are colloidal systems composed of amphiphilic molecules that assemble into vesicle structures in aqueous media. They are common carriers for targeted drug delivery with the advantages of low toxicity, low immunogenicity and the ability of encapsulating both lipophilic and hydrophilic drugs.

Prior research indicated the advantages of …