Digital Commons Network^™

Food Handling Practices Among Independent-Living Elderly, Judith Dianne Mcdonough

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Food has long been recognized as a vehicle of disease transmission; there are more reported illness associated with the consumption of food than all other environmental factors combined. The handling and storage of food are potentially dangerous and demanding chores for those who may have the sensory losses associated with advancing age, fragile health, and limited resources.

Group-administered questionnaires on the knowledge, attitudes, and practices of food handling were given to 276 seniors, aged 55 to 90, from ten mobile home parks randomly selected from San Bernardino and Riverside counties. As an indicator of possible foodborne illness, the questionnaire asked …

Effect Of Age On The Structure Of Meissner Corpuscles In Forepad Digital Pads Of Mice, Roger C. Mathewson

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Meissner corpuscles in forepaw digital pads of albino mice were examined by light and electron microscopy to determine structural age-changes. After 1.5 months of age, no intraepidermal nerve fibers were seen extending from corpuscles. From young (1.5-6 months) to middle age (9-15 months), corpuscles became larger and more complex, gaining more horizontally arranged terminals, associated lamellae and connective tissue. At old age (18-26 months), corpuscles became small and lobulated, appearing disorganized. There was no loosening of the corpuscle-epidermal interface. An increase in collagenous connective tissue and basal lamina duplication occurred with advancing age. Ultrastructural age-changes consisted of disorganization of the …

Serum Vitamin B-12 Levels And Urinary Methylmalonate Excretion In Total Vegetarians, Shari H. Patchett

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this research project was threefold: 1) to determine the present serum vitamin B-12 status in a select group of strict or total vegetarians all of whom had been vegetarian for six months or more. 2) to determine the daily intake of vitamin B-12, total calories, protein, % calories as fat, folic acid, and crude fiber on a total vegetarian diet. 3) to observe if subjects with low serum vitamin B-12 levels and low intakes of oral vitamin B-12 also had elevated methylmalonic acid (MMA) in the urine.

Six of the 19 serum vitamin B-12 levels were below …

Molecular Genetics Of Endocrine Induced Regression Of Mouse Leydig Cell Tumors, Milton Rolando Drachenberg

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Chronic estrogen treatment results in malignant Leydig cell tumor formation in genetically susceptible strains of mice. The hypothesis that the mechanism of estrogen induced carcinogenesis includes a gene amplification event was tested using this in vivo endocrine carcinogenesis model. High molecular weight DNA isolated from liver, hyperplastic chryptorchid testes, primary Leydig cell tumors and transplanted tumor lines progressing to estrogen nondependence for growth, was studied using Southern blot analysis and the in-gel renaturation technique to identify amplification of characterized and anonymous sequences. No consistent gene amplification event could be demonstrated either in carcinogenesis or tumor progression to an estrogen nondependent …

Anticarcinogenic, Antitumor, And Antifungal Properties Of Allium Sativum (Garlic), Padma P. Tadi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In this study the antimutagenic/anticarcinogenic, immune enhancing, antitumor and antifungal effects of a crude extract and organosulfur compounds of garlic were determined. Diallyl sulfide (DAS), and ajoene each at 100 /xg/ml, and garlic extract (GE, 12.5 mg/ml) inhibited rat liver 9000 X g supernatant (S- 9) dependent mutagenesis in Salmonella typhimurium TA100 induced by either aflatoxin B1 (AFB^ or benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P). The garlic compounds were shown to inhibit the binding of [³H]AFB₁ to calf thymus DNA and the formation of specific AFB_1-DNA adducts. These effects on mutagenesis and DNA binding correlated with an inhibition of …

Histomorphometric Analysis Of Primate Periodontal Tissues Following Corticotomy In Orthodontics, Wuiteng Koh

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of specific cell types and structures at the active tooth movement site in corticotomized and non-corticotomized specimens obtained from a previous study, and to consider the hypothesis that corticotomy facilitated orthodontics is efficacious due to an inflammatory response rather than tooth-bone block movement. Specimens from 3 monkeys, each of which had a treatment and control quadrant in each arch, were sectioned, mounted on glass slides, and stained with Giemsa, haematoxylin, and Safranin stains. A histomorphometric analysis was performed with DataVoice™, a voice activated computer system which allowed for digitization of …

Aerotaxis In Halobacterium Halobium, Jemima Clara Lindbeck

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Aerotaxis, previously studied in eubacteria was investigated in the archaebacterium Halobacterium halobium. A quantitative temporal assay for aerotaxis of H. halobium was developed using computer assisted motion analysis. Aerotaxis was most pronounced in early log phase cultures. Peak aerotaxis was found to coincide with peak respiration consistent with a model in which respiration is required for aerotaxis. In a spatial assay a mutant strain lacking the proton motive force (pmf)-generating pigments, bacteriorhodopsin (bR) and halorhodopsin (hR), exhibited enhanced aerotaxis bands relative to the bR⁺hR⁺ parent. The enhanced aerotaxis in the mutant cells was not due solely to …

A Flow Cytometric Analysis Of Immunocyte Populations In Peripheral Blood And Pleural Effusions Of Patients With Cancer, Mandy L. Bohn

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Two-color flow cytometric analysis was performed on paired samples of peripheral blood (PB) and pleural effusions (PE) of patients with metastatic malignancies. The purpose of these analyses was to test the hypothesis that there are significant differences in the distribution of immunocyte populations in the PE compared to that of the PB.

The majority of the pleural fluid immunocytes were CD3+ cells. The ratio of CD4+ to CD8+ cells was higher in the PE compared to PB. Levels of CD8+, CD19+ and CD14+ cells were not significantly different in the PE compared to the levels in the PB. CD16+CD56+ cells …

The Role Of T Cells In The Pathogenesis Of Periapical Lesions, John B. Wallstrom

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The pulps of mandibular molars of 15 athymic and 15 conventional rats were surgically exposed and left open to their oral flora. Each group was divided into 3 subgroups of 5 animals each. The rats were sacrificed after their pulps were exposed for 2, 4, or 8 weeks. After fixing, decalcifying, and embedding, the specimens were sectioned and stained with H and E. They were then examined under a microscopic grid and quantified by percentages of surface areas of bone, connective tissue, bone marrow, intrabony spaces, periapical lesions, and numbers of osteoclasts. This was done using a DataVoice computerized data …

Gaba As A Putative Neurotransmitter In The Optic Lobes Of The Crab Hemigrapsus Nudus, Carol L. Fulenwider

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Gamma-aminobutyric acid ( GABA ) is a widely occurring inhibitory neurotransmitter in vertebrate and invertebrate neural tissue. To explore the role of GABA as a putative neurotransmitter in the optic lobes of the crab Hemigrapsus nudus,

light microscope autoradiography ( LM ARG ), light microscope immunocytochemistry ( LM ICC ), and neurochemical techniques were employed. ARG labeling of ³H-GABA was observed over specific neuronal cell bodies and axon fibers in the two outer optic neuropils, the lamina ganglionaris and the medulla externa. Biochemical analysis of ³H-GABA uptake revealed little surface receptor binding as picrotoxin and bicuculline did not …

Molecular Mechanism Of The Stimulation Of Alkaline Phosphatase Activity In Human Bone Cells By 1,25(Oh)2 D3, Eru Kyeyune-Nyombi

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

To facilitate this study an in vitro human model system was established that exhibited many aspects of normal osteoblasts. The human osteosarcoma cell line (TE85 cells) expressed a skeletal alkaline phosphatase activity (an accepted bone cell differentiation marker) which was stimulated by 1,25(OH)₂D₃ (a potent differentiating agent), under serum-free conditions in a dose-dependent, time-dependent, and cell density-dependent manner. Cytochemical analysis of the stimulation of ALP activity by 1,25(OH)₂D₃ showed that 1,25(OH)₂D₃ increased the number of TE85 cells that expressed detectable ALP activity, suggesting that 1,25(OH)₂D₃ promoted the process …

Catecholamines And The Regulation Of Uterine Contractions In The Pregnant Rhesus Macaque, Cahleen Mae Mcnutt

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This study was designed to test the hypothesis that: 1) maternal and/or amniotic fluid catecholamines or prostaglandins display nocturnal activity rhythms similar to those of the myometrial contractility in the pregnant rhesus macaque and, 2) catecholamines stimulate prostaglandin production by fetal membranes. Paired maternal arterial blood and amniotic fluid samples were collected at 0900 h (AM) and 2100 h (PM) from chronically catheterized rhesus macaques until delivery and analyzed for prostaglandin metabolites (PGFM and PGEM-II) and catecholamines (norepinephrine, epinephrine, and dopamine). Uterine activity data was continuously recorded. A rhythm in uterine contractility was observed, with peak activity between 1900 and …

Topographic Development Of The Corticocollicular Projection In The Neonatal Rat, F. Allen Richburg Ii

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The density and distribution of labeled cortical cells was examined following discrete deposits of retrograde tracers into the superior colliculus (SC) of neonatal and adult rats to study the topographic order of SC afferents from the cortex during the initial phase of axon ingrowth. Small deposits of red and green latex microspheres (0.02-0.05ul) were placed into the SC of rats ranging in age from birth to adulthood using glass micropipettes (tip diameter 25-35um). The animals, following a 48hr survival period, were deeply anesthetized and perfused with normal saline followed by a 10% formal-saline solution. The brains were sectioned coronally at …