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Theses/Dissertations

2014

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) College of Arts and Sciences

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Equation Of State And Electrical Resistivity Of Cerium Cobalt Pentaindium And The Dynamics Of Nucleation And Growth Of Metallic Domains In Vanadium Dioxide, Nathaniel Brady Jan 2014

Equation Of State And Electrical Resistivity Of Cerium Cobalt Pentaindium And The Dynamics Of Nucleation And Growth Of Metallic Domains In Vanadium Dioxide, Nathaniel Brady

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This dissertation covers two projects on materials with bulk electronic properties that result from strong electron-electron interactions. The first project focuses on the heavy-fermion superconductor CeCoIn5. To elucidate the electronic properties of CeCoIn5, we performed high-pressure electronic characterization and X-ray diffraction. The crystalline structure of CeCoIn5 is in the P4/mmm space group at pressures up to 51.2 GPa. Using a designer diamond anvil cell, we measured the pressure-dependent resistance up to 35 GPa at ambient temperature. To determine the resistivity, we numerically modeled the diamond anvil cell using a finite element analysis approach. The resistivity was obtained as a function …


Anatomical And Neurochemical Investigation Of The Brain In Autism, Lauren E. Libero Jan 2014

Anatomical And Neurochemical Investigation Of The Brain In Autism, Lauren E. Libero

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Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a complex neurodevelopmental disorder with widespread behavioral symptoms and a strong neurobiological origin. Neuroimaging studies of ASD have uncovered evidence for widespread abnormalities in brain anatomy and functioning. Abnormalities reported by structural brain imaging, diffusion tensor imaging (DTI), and proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H-MRS) studies have aided in characterizing ASD as a complex, systems-wide disorder. The overarching goal of this project was to use multiple modalities of neuroimaging to investigate the underlying neural mechanisms of ASD. The following techniques were used to collect and analyze multimodal neuroimaging data from a relatively large number of participants …


Enhancing The Social Interactions Of Preschool Children With Autism: The Effectiveness Of A Peer-Mediated Intervention, Marjorie Katherine Mccalla Jan 2014

Enhancing The Social Interactions Of Preschool Children With Autism: The Effectiveness Of A Peer-Mediated Intervention, Marjorie Katherine Mccalla

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Deficits in social interactions are considered the defining feature of Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) and are a powerful predictor of individual outcomes. Although a wide variety of methods for improving social skills in individuals with ASD have been examined, it is still unclear what approaches are most effective. This pilot study evaluated the efficacy of a new manualized social skills intervention package for preschoolers with ASD that integrated methods with demonstrated efficacy (i.e., ABA, peer training, and video modeling). Approximately two thirds of the intervention were delivered during free play in the classroom and on the playground, allowing children to …


Hormonal Contraceptives Alter The Immune Function And Structural Integrity Of The Female Genital Tract: Implications For Hiv-1 Infection, Katherine Gisella Michel Jan 2014

Hormonal Contraceptives Alter The Immune Function And Structural Integrity Of The Female Genital Tract: Implications For Hiv-1 Infection, Katherine Gisella Michel

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The potential effect of hormonal contraception on HIV-1 acquisition and transmission represents an important public health issue. Several observational studies have suggested an association between the use of hormonal contraception, in particular injectable depot medroxyprogesterone acetate (DMPA), and an increased risk of HIV-1 acquisition and transmission. To delineate the biological mechanisms behind this phenomenon, we have recruited healthy, HIV-negative women using either DMPA, NuvaRing, or combined oral contraceptives for a vaginal biopsy and cervicovaginal lavage (CVL). Analysis of the functional capacity of circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells (pDCs), distribution of vaginal immune cell populations, and systemic and genital levels of immune …


Phosphorus-Donor Substituted Transition Metal Complexes: Coordination And Alkene Hydroformylation, Samantha Delmont Hastings Jan 2014

Phosphorus-Donor Substituted Transition Metal Complexes: Coordination And Alkene Hydroformylation, Samantha Delmont Hastings

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The factors influencing the regioselectivities and activities of phosphorus-donor substituted transition metal catalysts in styrene hydroformylation have been studied. These factors are: (1) steric and electronic properties of the phosphorus-donor ligand (2) reaction conditions, including solvent, pressure, and temperature and (3) addition of co-catalysts, such as Lewis acids. Chapter 1 focused on analysis of the combinatorial effects of pressure, solvent, and alkali metal salt on catalysts containing a well-characterized metallacrown ether ligand, (2,2'-(C12H8O2)P(CH2CH2O)4P(2,2'-O2H8C12)). Previously, the regioselectivities of Rh(I) complexes containing (2,2'-(C12H8O2)P(CH2CH2O)4P(2,2'-O2H8C12)) in styrene hydroformylation reactions were determined in two different solvent systems, with or without LiBPh44 or NaBPh4, and at …


Unraveling The Mechanisms Of Skeletal Muscle Hyperplasia: Juxtaposing Divergent Growth Paradigms, Jacob Michael Froehlich Jan 2014

Unraveling The Mechanisms Of Skeletal Muscle Hyperplasia: Juxtaposing Divergent Growth Paradigms, Jacob Michael Froehlich

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During the course of vertebrate evolution, two major growth paradigms have appeared: determinate, one in which an animal's final size is largely governed by predisposed genetic potential; and indeterminate, a paradigm involving life-long, largely environmentally governed somatic growth. Of the tissues constituting an adult vertebrate, skeletal muscle comprises ≥60% of that organism's mass, making it an important factor in overall body growth. To better understand the process by which many teleost fishes grow throughout their natural lifespans, the clade Danioninae and the model rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) were utilized in a comparative manner. Contrary to current hypotheses, fish with indeterminate …


The Role Of Spinal Serotonergic Receptors 5-Ht1a And 5-Ht3 In Stress-Induced Urinary Bladder Hypersensitivity, Chelsea L. Crawford Jan 2014

The Role Of Spinal Serotonergic Receptors 5-Ht1a And 5-Ht3 In Stress-Induced Urinary Bladder Hypersensitivity, Chelsea L. Crawford

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Disorders in which pain originates from the urinary bladder such as interstitial cystitis (IC) are steadily increasing in prevalence. A common finding among patients with IC is the comorbidity with stress or anxiety disorders. In rats, footshock stress alone is sufficient to elicit bladder hypersensitivity. Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine; 5-HT) has been established as a mediator in anxiety and pain separately, but little is known about the role of 5-HT in stress-induced visceral hypersensitivity. The current set of studies addresses three main concerns: (1) the impact of spinal 5-HT1A and 5-HT3 receptor blockade with WAY-100635 (10 µg) and ondansetron (10 µg), respectively, …


The Effects Of Subjective And Objective Caregiver Burden On The Depressive Symptomology Of A Disabled Older Adult Care Recipient, Deborah Blessing Ejem Jan 2014

The Effects Of Subjective And Objective Caregiver Burden On The Depressive Symptomology Of A Disabled Older Adult Care Recipient, Deborah Blessing Ejem

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Depression is a leading mental health issue effecting the aging population. The current body of research contends that stress, social disconnectedness, and disability are possible causes of depression. Research, however, widely neglects the study of caregiver burden as other probable causes of depression in this group. This study investigates subjective and objective caregiver burden as possible causes of adverse mental health for a non-institutionalized older adult care recipient. Additionally, the conditional effects of race/ethnic background of the care recipient are evaluated using the most recent wave of the National Long Term Care Study (NLTCS) and using both the life stress …


Examining Predictors Of The Longitudinal Trajectories Of Diabetes Distress And Depressive Symptoms In A Sample Of Older Adults With Diabetes, Larita Jones Jan 2014

Examining Predictors Of The Longitudinal Trajectories Of Diabetes Distress And Depressive Symptoms In A Sample Of Older Adults With Diabetes, Larita Jones

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Objectives: The authors investigated the relationships between race, cognitive function, life-space mobility, comorbidity, and depressive symptoms over time; as well as the relationships between race, cognitive function, life-space mobility, comorbidity, and diabetes distress over time. Methods: The sample included 224 community-dwelling older adults (age 65<) previously diagnosed with diabetes. The current study utilized data from telephone interviews at three different time points (baseline, 1 year follow up, and 2 year follow up). Results: A number of significant correlations were found. Potentially most importantly, results from the final model indicated that those participants who were lowest in self-efficacy were the most at-risk for experiencing diabetes distress and/or depressive symptoms. Conclusion: Findings suggest that interventions aimed at reducing diabetes distress and/or depressive symptoms within this population should focus on social support and disease specific self-management education as two cost-effective and easily manipulated avenues to achieving this goal.


Contribution Of Hyperactive Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (Gsk3) To Impaired Neurogenesis And Cognition In Mice, Margaret Kimbrough King Jan 2014

Contribution Of Hyperactive Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3 (Gsk3) To Impaired Neurogenesis And Cognition In Mice, Margaret Kimbrough King

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The overall goals of this research were to examine the regulatory actions of glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) in adult mouse hippocampal neurogenesis and in mouse cognitive functions in order to gain further insight regarding the function of GSK3 in the healthy and diseased central nervous system. Focusing on differences between male and female mice, we found that hippocampal neurogenesis was impaired by hyperactive GSK3 in both sexes, but was improved by environmental enrichment in male, but not female, mice. Chronic stress reduced neurogenesis in male mice, but not in female mice. Environmental enrichment and chronic stress inhibited, and activated, respectively, …


Understanding Non-Helical Nuclease Resistant Dnas And Their Roles In Tlr9 Mediated Cellular Invasion, Katherine Leigh Hayden Jan 2014

Understanding Non-Helical Nuclease Resistant Dnas And Their Roles In Tlr9 Mediated Cellular Invasion, Katherine Leigh Hayden

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Non-helical DNA structures such as hairpins and G-quadruplexes found in the non-coding regions of chromosomes have been implicated in a number of biological processes such as control of genetic expression and in dysregulation causing diseases such as cancer. Recent studies from our laboratory have found that apoptotic DNA released from cancer cells, a synthetic G-quadruplex forming telomeric sequence, and a highly thermal stable DNA hairpin can induce an invasion response from a variety of cancer cell types. This invasion has been demonstrated to be mediated through a toll-like receptor protein found within the endosomes of the cell. We hypothesize that …


The Conservation Of The Western Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys Coriacea) At Bird's Head Peninsula, Papua Barat, Indonesia, Ricardo F. Tapilatu Jan 2014

The Conservation Of The Western Pacific Leatherback Sea Turtle (Dermochelys Coriacea) At Bird's Head Peninsula, Papua Barat, Indonesia, Ricardo F. Tapilatu

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Leatherbacks declined significantly worldwide during the 20th century and continue to decline in the Pacific and Indian oceans. In the Pacific Ocean, nesting numbers on beaches in Malaysia and the Pacific coast of Mexico and Costa Rica have collapsed. The nesting beaches at Bird's Head Papua Barat, Indonesia, represent the last stronghold for leatherback nesting in the western Pacific. The studies in this dissertation provide basic information that is critical to our understanding of the biology, ecology, and conservation of the western Pacific leatherback. (1) Year-round nesting surveys were conducted from 2005 to 2011 at both Jamursba Medi and Wermon …


Integrated Functioning Of The Mirror Neuron System And Its Role In Imitation Deficits In Autism, Heather Wadsworth Jan 2014

Integrated Functioning Of The Mirror Neuron System And Its Role In Imitation Deficits In Autism, Heather Wadsworth

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Deficits in imitation have been widely reported in children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A proposed dysfunction of the mirror neuron system (MNS), the neural network underlying imitation, has been the subject of recent debate in ASD literature. However, while some research has found evidence of MNS abnormalities in ASD, recent studies have cast doubt onto the mirror neuron hypothesis of ASD as it is currently depicted. There is also behavioral evidence that the imitation deficit is not unitary, and therefore may not have one-to-ne correspondence with a malfunction of all aspects of MNS. Since functional imitation involves …


Using Computers And The Internet: The Experiences Of Older, Vicki P. Winstead Jan 2014

Using Computers And The Internet: The Experiences Of Older, Vicki P. Winstead

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USING COMPUTERS AND THE INTERNET: THE EXPERIENCES OF OLDER ADULTS IN ASSISTED LIVNG COMMUNIITIES VICKI P. WINSTEAD MEDICAL SOCIOLOGY ABSTRACT For this dissertation, I used a qualitative method to examine the experiences of older adults in assisted living who have learned to use the computer and the Internet. Twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents who had completed either an eight-week or four-week training program that taught them the fundamentals of computer and Internet use, searching with Google, social media, and entertainment-based sites like Hulu and YouTube. Data for analysis included qualitative interviews, field notes and weekly updates from the …


Nonlinear Optical Characterizations Of Bithiophenes With Phosphorus Containing Substituents, Yuanli Zhang Jan 2014

Nonlinear Optical Characterizations Of Bithiophenes With Phosphorus Containing Substituents, Yuanli Zhang

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This dissertation describes experimental and theoretical studies of the nonlinear optical (NLO) absorption mechanisms in chalcogenidodiphenylphosphino-substituted bithiophenes and phosphonato-substituted bithiophenes. The NLO properties of these compounds were studied by measurements of NLO absorption versus input energy and Z-scan experiments. Both of these NLO experiments were performed in the picosecond (ps) and nanosecond (ns) time regimes in the blue spectral region. These experiments demonstrate that these compounds exhibit both high linear transmissions and strong nonlinear absorptions in the blue spectral region. Saturated solutions of the bithiophenes monosubstituted with chalcogenatodiphenylphosphino groups exhibit the highest NLO absorbances of picosecond laser pulses that have …


Finding Bands In Optical Coherence Tomography Images Using Curve And Function Fitting, Douglas Howard Ross Jan 2014

Finding Bands In Optical Coherence Tomography Images Using Curve And Function Fitting, Douglas Howard Ross

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Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is a noninvasive method to create a volume of data that is a measurement of the reflectance properties of tissue. The retina of the human eye has a layered structure that presents as bands in the OCT images. Evaluation of OCT images can be used to diagnose abnormal structure due to disease or damage. The principal task in evaluating the OCT images is segmentation. While the images can be evaluated by trained personnel, the quantity of OCT image data is increasing rapidly, therefore, the creation of methods for automatic segmentation is vital. Prior work in segmenting …


Ecology And Physiology Of Antarctic Macrophytes Under The Influence Of Abiotic And Biotic Stressors., Kathryn M. Schoenrock Jan 2014

Ecology And Physiology Of Antarctic Macrophytes Under The Influence Of Abiotic And Biotic Stressors., Kathryn M. Schoenrock

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The physiology of many species of Antarctic marine algae was evaluated under a variety of biotic and abiotic factors found or predicted for the western Antarctic Peninsula. The potential biological stressors, filamentous algal endophytes, had few effects on their macrophyte host's physiology which may be the cause for their persistence in this marine community. Adversely impacted hosts include Pachymenia sp. and Iridaea cordata. In areas of high endophyte infection Pachymenia sp. was significantly less resistant to forces that could penetrate their thalli. Maximum quantum yield near endophyte infection was significantly lower in I. cordata. Endophyte abundance is significantly lower in …


Devitrification Of Iron Based Metallic Glasses At High Pressures And High Temperatures, Andrew Kevin Stemshorn Jan 2014

Devitrification Of Iron Based Metallic Glasses At High Pressures And High Temperatures, Andrew Kevin Stemshorn

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High pressure high temperature devitrification of a Fe85Si10B5 and a Fe78B13Si9 metallic glass was conducted at constant pressures with simultaneous in situ energy dispersive x-ray powder diffraction measurement. After the application of pressure a constant heating rate was applied. Heating the sample in each case resulted in crystallization with two distinct stages. Pressure is found to strongly affect crystallization temperature. Each stage of crystallization is identified using crystallographic analysis. Complementary high pressure room temperature studies were conducted for each sample.


Examining Neuropsychological Sequelae Of Chronic Pain And The Effect Of Immediate-Release Opioid Analgesics, Cady Block Jan 2014

Examining Neuropsychological Sequelae Of Chronic Pain And The Effect Of Immediate-Release Opioid Analgesics, Cady Block

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Introduction: Patients commonly complain of subjective side effects of opioid use, including forgetfulness, slowed processing speed, confusion, and sedation - which have raised concerns about potential cognitive impairment. However, research on the effects of opioids on objective neuropsychological performance is thus far equivocal and, unfortunately, many of the studies cited as support for opioid-related impairment do not fully account for the neuropsychological effects of chronic pain, which has been shown to affect many of the same neuropsychological domains purported to be affected by opioids. To that end, we sought to examine whether: 1) chronic nociceptive pain itself results in objective …


Stress And Myostatin In Salmoninae, Nicholas Galt Jan 2014

Stress And Myostatin In Salmoninae, Nicholas Galt

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The relationship between the muscle growth inhibitor, myostatin, and the stress response has been extensively studied in mammals, and myostatin is now known to partially mediate the degradative effects of stress in skeletal muscle. In fish, this relationship has not yet been clearly described. Herein, the effects of two stress mimetics, cortisol treatment and crowding, on myostatin-1a, -1b, and -2a expression in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are described. In study I, no clear effects on myostatin mRNA expression were detected in rainbow trout …


An Evolutionary Study Of Dynamic Cognitive Game Captchas: Automated Attacks And Defenses, Song Gao Jan 2014

An Evolutionary Study Of Dynamic Cognitive Game Captchas: Automated Attacks And Defenses, Song Gao

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CAPTCHAs represent a primary defense mechanism against online attacks and resource abuse. However, existing CAPTCHA solutions (e.g., distorted static text-based CAPTCHAs) suffer from significant security problems. Recent research has demonstrated that many current forms of CAPTCHAs can be solved with a high accuracy using automated techniques. This vulnerability associated with traditional CAPTCHAs thus provides a sound motivation to explore CAPTCHA alternatives. In this dissertation, we study a broad class of game-based CAPTCHAs, called the Dynamic Cognitive Game (DCG) CAPTCHAs, which challenge the user to perform a game-like cognitive task interacting with a series of dynamic objects. Specifically, we focus on …


Poly(N-Vinylcaprolactam) Based Thermoresponsive Nanostructured Materials, Xing Liang Jan 2014

Poly(N-Vinylcaprolactam) Based Thermoresponsive Nanostructured Materials, Xing Liang

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Poly(N-vinylcaprolactam) (PVCL) is a temperature-responsive polymer displaying a low critical solution temperature (LCST) around 30 to 40℃ in aqueous solutions that is close to the human physiological temperature. In addition, compared to other ther-moresponsive polymers, PVCL is nontoxic and biocompatible. In this thesis, we will fo-cus on the synthesis, fabrication and characterization of PVCL-based thermoresponsive nanostructured materials, such as films, hydrogels and block copolymers and their poten-tial applications in biomedical and medical areas. In chapter 2, we report on nanothin multilayer hydrogels of cross-linked PVCL that exhibited distinctive and reversible thermoresponsive behavior. The single-component PVCL hydrogels were produced by selective …


Coping With Chronic Illness: Temporal Patterns Of Spiritual Coping And Adjustment Among Adolescents With Chronic Illness, Nina Cole Reynolds Jan 2014

Coping With Chronic Illness: Temporal Patterns Of Spiritual Coping And Adjustment Among Adolescents With Chronic Illness, Nina Cole Reynolds

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Issues of spirituality rise to the forefront for youth facing serious health conditions. Positive and negative spiritual coping strategies have been linked with better or worse psychological adjustment, respectively, in pediatric patients. With expansion of research in this area, an empirical synthesis and examination of the prospective relationships between spiritual coping and mental- and physical-health is needed. Accordingly, the first manuscript reports on meta-analytic review of the cross-sectional studies of spiritual coping, health, and psychosocial adjustment. Results revealed that greater use of negative spiritual coping is related to more internalizing problems and poorer quality of life across multiple pediatric illness …


Internet Use And Mental Health/Well-Being In Old Age: Exploring The Roles Of Social Integration And Social Support, Ronald William Berkowsky Jan 2014

Internet Use And Mental Health/Well-Being In Old Age: Exploring The Roles Of Social Integration And Social Support, Ronald William Berkowsky

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The escalating pressures put on the US healthcare system, due in part to the growing needs of the expanding older adult population, has motivated research dedicated to more fully understanding the mental health and mental well-being needs of this population and ways to address these needs and alleviate the pressure on the healthcare system. An increasing area of interest is in examining the role information and communication technologies (ICTs), such as Internet-connected computers and smartphones, in the health of older adults. Research has shown that ICTs can successfully be used to help treat, manage, and cope with mental health/well-being issues, …


Phase Transitions And Anomalous Compressibility In 1-2-2 Fe-Based Superconductors, Walter O. Uhoya Jan 2014

Phase Transitions And Anomalous Compressibility In 1-2-2 Fe-Based Superconductors, Walter O. Uhoya

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Interplay of pressure and chemistry play an important role in discovery of novel properties such as high temperature superconductivity (high-Tc). In 2008, Hosono et al discovered superconductivity at 26 K in iron-based layered LaFeAsO (1-x)Fx. This observation was a surprise since iron based compounds are generally known to be magnetic and non-superconducting. This was quickly followed by the discovery of high temperature superconductivity in a second class of Fe-based layered pnictides AFe2As2 (1-2-2) (A= Ba, Sr, Ca, Eu). The undoped (parent) 1-2-2 compounds are non-superconducting at ambient pressure but become superconducting when their structures are tuned by the application of …


Physician-Parent Interactions In Pediatric End-Of-Life Care: Implications For Integrative Communication, Decision-Making And Ethics Training*, Lori Brand Bateman Jan 2014

Physician-Parent Interactions In Pediatric End-Of-Life Care: Implications For Integrative Communication, Decision-Making And Ethics Training*, Lori Brand Bateman

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In this dissertation, I utilized a primarily qualitative mixed methods longitudinal process to explore physician-parent pediatric end-of-life communication. Between August 2011 and March 2012, participant pediatric physicians (N=21) from emergency medicine (PEM) and critical care (PCC) were presented with a standardized case of an 8 year-old child in respiratory distress who had a degenerative neurological disorder and was nearing the end-of-life. Participants were observed in a timed simulation experience and given a physician-parent participatory communication score. All simulations were followed by a post-simulation debriefing interview. Then, between March and October 2012, a total of 17 of the original 21 participants …


Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitors - Applications To Chagas Disease And Dental Caries, Thao Nguyen Jan 2014

Dihydrofolate Reductase Inhibitors - Applications To Chagas Disease And Dental Caries, Thao Nguyen

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Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) is a ubiquitous enzyme present in almost all eu- karyote and prokaryote organisms. This enzyme participates in the folate metabolism, which is essential for the synthesis of DNA, RNA, and proteins and is thus vital to all liv- ing cells. The inhibitors of the enzymes within the folate pathway are referred to as anti- folates. Antifolates have been used as therapeutic drugs against various diseases. The re- search presented in this dissertation focus on the discovery inhibitors of Trypanosoma cruzi DHFR (TcDHFR) as potential treatments of Chagas disease and inhibitors of Strep- tococcus mutans (SmDHFR) as potential …


White Matter Integrity In Adults With Hemiparetic Multiple Sclerosis Given Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy, Tyler Rickards Jan 2014

White Matter Integrity In Adults With Hemiparetic Multiple Sclerosis Given Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy, Tyler Rickards

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In adults with chronic stroke and children with cerebral palsy, structural changes in grey matter correlate with clinical improvements due to an efficacious upper-extremity (UE) rehabilitation therapy, Constraint-Induced Movement (CI) Therapy. Changes in white matter following CI therapy have not been observed, but damage to white matter tracts has not been found to decrease motor improvement resulting from this treatment. The objectives of this project were to: 1) evaluate the efficacy of CI therapy compared to complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) treatments on improving impaired UE function in participants with the progressive form of multiple sclerosis (MS), 2) investigate whether …


Neuropathology Of Dopamine Systems In Schizophrenia: Regional Dopamine Pathologies In The Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegmental Area Complex, Matthew Warner Rice Jan 2014

Neuropathology Of Dopamine Systems In Schizophrenia: Regional Dopamine Pathologies In The Substantia Nigra/Ventral Tegmental Area Complex, Matthew Warner Rice

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Dopaminergic neurotransmission anomalies are a well-established aspect of schizophrenia, a devastating mental disorder that affects approximately 1% of the world population. The substantia nigra/ventral tegmental area (SN/VTA), which extends from diencephalic to mesencephalic territories, provides the largest dopaminergic input to the brain. The SN/VTA contains subpopulations of dopaminergic neurons that project preferentially through different pathways, providing dopamine input to brain regions where dopaminergic anomalies have been reported in schizophrenia. We hypothesized that anomalies in the synthesis of tyrosine hydroxylase (TH), the rate-limiting enzyme for the production of dopamine, could contribute to the dopaminergic anomalies observed in this disorder. We first …


Genetic And Epigenetic Changes Regulated By Bioactive Molecules In Cancer Therapeutics, Sabita Saldanha Jan 2014

Genetic And Epigenetic Changes Regulated By Bioactive Molecules In Cancer Therapeutics, Sabita Saldanha

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Cancer biogenesis stems from genetic and epigenetic changes that regulate various signaling pathways responsible for growth, division, and proliferation. Genetic changes occur through mutations that contribute to loss of function, overexpression or repression of proteins involved in metabolic pathways. The changes place individuals at risk to diseases, including cancer. However, epigenetics is a mechanism of gene control that occurs through changes in chromatin structure without alterations to the DNA sequence and is mostly reversible. Epigenetic alterations have been implicated in colorectal cancers (CRCs), transforming normal colonic epithelial cells. Aberrant DNA methylation and chromatin modifications have been shown to contribute to …