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Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities
Discovering The Genetic Architecture Underlying Exercise Response Using Drosophila Melanogaster, Louis P. Watanabe
Discovering The Genetic Architecture Underlying Exercise Response Using Drosophila Melanogaster, Louis P. Watanabe
All ETDs from UAB
The growth of modern jobs, technology, and transportation has coincided with increased sedentary behavior in many developed nations. In the United States, this increase has contributed partially to rising rates of obesity, leading to more than 78 million obese individuals. The annual medical costs associated with obesity are thought to range from 147 to 210 billion dollars. The initial treatment recommendations for individuals with obesity are increased exercise and changes in diet. Despite the strong narrative pushing exercise as a health benefit, individual responses can vary widely, and little is known regarding the genetic networks modulating exercise response. In order …
Examining The Role Of The Unfolded Protein Response In Depression, Matthew Timberlake
Examining The Role Of The Unfolded Protein Response In Depression, Matthew Timberlake
All ETDs from UAB
Depression is the leading cause of disability worldwide and impacts nearly 350 million people with a disproportionate representation in women with a 1:1.7 ratio of occurrence compared to men. This disorder is characterized by shifts in mood to include feelings of hopelessness, sadness, and lethargy as well as changes in diet, motivation, and sleep patterns. Further, over 50% of patients who struggle with depression also have suicidal ideation and as many as 10% of those commit suicide. At present, treatment plans include behavioral therapy (often) in conjunction with antidepressant medications which act on monoamines and their circuits in the central …
Quality Of Life And Mental Health After Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumor Treated With Surgery Only, Alexandra Cutillo
Quality Of Life And Mental Health After Pediatric Central Nervous System Tumor Treated With Surgery Only, Alexandra Cutillo
All ETDs from UAB
Benign pediatric central nervous system (CNS) tumors treated with surgery alone have been considered relatively harmless to long-term health. However, a developing line of research has identified several late effects experienced in this population including psychological, adaptive, behavioral, neurological, and cognitive problems. Quality of life of children after resection alone has not previously been evaluated, especially in comparison to that of healthy children and children with chronic illness. Further, there has been no research geared toward developing psychosocial programs to address the late effects identified in this population. The following manuscripts contribute to the literature by evaluating and providing potential …
Modeling Stock Prices With Differential Equations, Jessica Barnett
Modeling Stock Prices With Differential Equations, Jessica Barnett
All ETDs from UAB
Forecasting the stock market has long been subject to speculation, especially after the global financial crisis in 2008. In this thesis, we formulate a predictive model of the trend of a chosen stock that is derived from verifiable economic tendencies (absent appropriate economic laws) that interact through a system of nonlinear delay differential equations. The system is populated inversely from current economic data and solved numerically using MATLAB. As a result, we are able to use the forecasted trend to estimate a stock’s drift in order to also incorporate the randomness of the stock market. Lastly, we compare the predictions …
Design And Synthesis Of Highly-Active And Selective Catalysts For The Hydroformylation Of Styrene And Adaptations For The Inorganic Teaching Laboratory, Ethan Cory Cagle
Design And Synthesis Of Highly-Active And Selective Catalysts For The Hydroformylation Of Styrene And Adaptations For The Inorganic Teaching Laboratory, Ethan Cory Cagle
All ETDs from UAB
The synthesis and characterization of a series of novel phosphine-, phosphinite, and phosphite-functionalized transition metal complexes are reported. These compounds have applications as alkene hydroformylation catalysts. The first chapter investigates the coordination of two tartaric acid derived ligands to cis-tetracarbonylmolybdenum(0) and pentacarbonyltungsten(0) metal centers. A cis-trans equilibrium was established for the molybdenum complexes and solid-state structures were obtained for both coordination geometries. The tungsten complexes were used to determine the electronic parameters of the donor ligands. The second chapter investigates a library of ligands derived from 1,2-O-isopropylideneglycerol as catalysts for the hydroformylation of styrene. Model complexes containing molybdenum, palladium, and …
Deciphering The Roles Of Hopd1 In Carbon Metabolism During Pathogen Infection, Yali Sun
Deciphering The Roles Of Hopd1 In Carbon Metabolism During Pathogen Infection, Yali Sun
All ETDs from UAB
Plants are equipped with various immune responses including MAMP-triggered immunity (MTI) and effector-triggered immunity (ETI) to fight against pathogens, while virulent pathogens release virulent proteins (effectors) and phytotoxins to compete with host immune responses. Comprehensively, plant-pathogen interactions involve multi- layered and highly coordinated processes, and dynamic regulation at both transcriptional and translational levels plays a pivotal role in plant defense. For example, NPR1, a key immune regulator, is regulated by hosts and manipulated by pathogens at different levels during different stages of plant-pathogen interaction. However, besides the competition over immune responses, bacterial pathogens also need to gain nutrients from host …
High-Pressure Studies On Borosilicate And Bulk Metallic Glasses, Kathryn Jinae Ham
High-Pressure Studies On Borosilicate And Bulk Metallic Glasses, Kathryn Jinae Ham
All ETDs from UAB
Multi-angle energy-dispersive X-ray diffraction (EDXD) and white-beam radiography studies were conducted on a borosilicate glass sample (17.6% B2O3) to 13.7 GPa in a Paris-Edinburgh (PE) press at Beamline 16-BM-B, HPCAT, The Advanced Photon Source, Argonne National Laboratory. The measured structure factor S(q) to q = 19 Ã -1 was used to determine internuclear bond distances between various species of atoms contained in the glass sample. Bond distances for Si-O, O-O, and Si-Si were determined from the reduced pair distribution function G(r) and were measured as a function of pressure. The sample height, as determined via white-beam radiography, showed an overall …
Photo-Induced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study Of Charge Transfer In Compensated Gallium Nitride Substrates Grown By The High Nitrogen Pressure Solution Method, William Ryan Willoughby
Photo-Induced Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study Of Charge Transfer In Compensated Gallium Nitride Substrates Grown By The High Nitrogen Pressure Solution Method, William Ryan Willoughby
All ETDs from UAB
Charge transfer occurring in semi-insulating GaN crystals grown by the high nitrogen pressure solution (HNPS) method was investigated using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Samples were semi-insulating due to compensation of residual shallow oxygen donors with Mg and/or Be acceptor impurities. EPR was detected after illumination with photon energies greater than 2.7 eV in samples containing at least $10^{17} \textnormal{ cm\textsuperscript{-3}}$ beryllium atoms. The resonance consisted of two Gaussian lines. One was stable at temperatures less than 25 K with isotropic $g=1.989$ and was attributed to a paramagnetic neutral acceptor state. This resonance was quenched with photon energies between 0.5 …
Comparison Of Longitudinal Voxel-Based Morphometry (Vbm) And Tensor-Based Morphometry (Tbm) For Detecting Structural Use-Dependent Neuroplastic Changes After Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy, Brent Maddox Womble
All ETDs from UAB
Constraint-Induced Movement therapy (CI therapy) is an efficacious physical rehabilitation intervention for lateralized upper-extremity motor deficits resulting from neurological injury or disease, which has been shown to result in use-dependent structural and functional neuroplasticity. While use-dependent neuroplasticity has been shown to result in structural changes in brain tissue density, thickness, and volume, the exact cellular mechanisms underpinning this neuroplasticity in humans have yet to be determined. The present study involved a novel use of synthetic data, with the overall aim of elucidating the nature of structural use-dependent neuroplasticity produced by CI therapy. Longitudinal voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and tensor-based morphometry (TBM) …
Relationship Between Frustration Tolerance And Psychological Self-Regulatory Mechanisms In Weight Loss Maintenance, Samantha Kaytana Henry
Relationship Between Frustration Tolerance And Psychological Self-Regulatory Mechanisms In Weight Loss Maintenance, Samantha Kaytana Henry
All ETDs from UAB
The present study investigated the relevance of frustration tolerance and other psychological regulation factors (e.g., trait mindfulness, executive function) to long-term weight maintenance. Using a cross-sectional design, participants (N=91) were recruited from three behavioral weight loss interventions and categorized dichotomously (maintainer vs. regainer) based on their level of success in maintaining weight loss long term. Participants completed the Frustration Discomfort Scale (FDS), objective measures of executive functioning (EF), and self-report questionnaires. Poorer frustration tolerance was significantly associated with lower trait mindfulness, higher negative affectivity, and greater difficulties in self-reported EF. There were no differences by race or weight maintenance status. …
Beyond Access: Predictors Of Unmet Need For Health Care From Adolescence To Young Adulthood, Sarah B. Rutland
Beyond Access: Predictors Of Unmet Need For Health Care From Adolescence To Young Adulthood, Sarah B. Rutland
All ETDs from UAB
Background: Unmet need (UN) can be characterized as a person not getting care even when they think they need it. Younger populations are understudied for UN, even though UN can emerge as early as adolescence. The aim of this dissertation is to use the national Longitudinal Study of Adolescent to Adult Health (Add Health) to examine whether adolescent socioeconomic status (SES) or health factors better predict UN over time, and how UN differs by race/ethnicity. Life course perspective, cumulative advantage and disadvantage hypothesis, and fundamental cause theory inform my hypotheses. Primary hypotheses: 1) The likelihood of UN will increase over …
Predictors Of School Weapon Carrying Among Adolescents, Jonathan Adams
Predictors Of School Weapon Carrying Among Adolescents, Jonathan Adams
All ETDs from UAB
The presence of weapons threatens the safety of all individuals on school grounds. Emergent research suggests factors linked to school weapon carrying may stem from both within and outside the school environment; however, few efforts have been made to identify a comprehensive set of risk and protective factors associated with school weapon carrying. To address this gap, the first manuscript serves as a comprehensive, systematic review of variables associated with higher or lower likelihood an adolescent will carry weapons to school. Results indicated higher rates of weapon carrying among individuals who are male, sexual minority, children of single parents; exhibit …
An Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study Of The Magnesium Acceptor In Gallium Nitride In Different Crystal Field Environments, Ustun Robert Sunay
An Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Study Of The Magnesium Acceptor In Gallium Nitride In Different Crystal Field Environments, Ustun Robert Sunay
All ETDs from UAB
Non-uniform strain phenomena localized to Mg acceptor sites were investigated in Mg-doped GaN single crystals using electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) spectroscopy. Samples in this study were grown either as µm thick thin film or mm thick free standing samples with the Mg concentration ranging from 3 150 x1018 cm-3. In all samples, the Mg related EPR signal was observed but the g-factor, intensity, and lineshape anisotropy characteristics varied significantly depending on the magnitude of the bi axial crystal field Δx local to the Mg acceptor. By modelling the Mg acceptor as basal atomic 2p orbitals, the angular dependent intensity could …
Impact Of Familial Chronic Illness On Adolescent Somatization, Lindsey Elliott
Impact Of Familial Chronic Illness On Adolescent Somatization, Lindsey Elliott
All ETDs from UAB
Somatic symptoms, or physical symptoms that do not have an identifiable organic etiology, have a prevalence of 10-30% in children. They have been associated with poor psychosocial outcomes in children, including emotional and behavioral problems, school absences, and impaired social functioning. Further, these symptoms represent a burden on the health care system as patients with somatic symptoms are frequent users of both primary care physicians and specialists. The etiology of somatic symptoms is thought to be due to a combination of biological, psychological, interpersonal, and healthcare factors. Two theories exist regarding the etiology of somatic symptoms. Brown’s integrative conceptual model …
Genomic Insight Into The Gut Microbiome Of The Sea Urchins Lytechinus Variegatus And Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus Revealed Distinct Community Compositions And Their Metabolic Profiles, Joseph Antoine Hakim
Genomic Insight Into The Gut Microbiome Of The Sea Urchins Lytechinus Variegatus And Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus Revealed Distinct Community Compositions And Their Metabolic Profiles, Joseph Antoine Hakim
All ETDs from UAB
For over 500 million years, our planet’s self-replicating prokaryotes have colonized multicellular host organisms, forging complex interdependent relationships under the selective pressures of the natural environment. Recently, the use of high-throughput sequencing (HTS) technology targeting metacommunity DNA has uncovered the unprecedented diversity and metabolic processes of these communities. Such information has extensively been investigated in the guts of higher bilaterian organisms, such as mammals including humans. One of the early bilaterian organisms that have been linked to humans are the sea urchins, the gut microbiota of which have not been sufficiently studied. Thus, the objective of this dissertation was to …
Quantifications Of Theranostic Polymer-Based Particles For Image-Guided Drug Delivery, Sithira Ratnayaka
Quantifications Of Theranostic Polymer-Based Particles For Image-Guided Drug Delivery, Sithira Ratnayaka
All ETDs from UAB
Modern medicine employs many drugs in its disease treatment methods. This is because they provide the best permanent solutions to complicated ailments. However the usefulness of these drugs is mitigated by several factors, namely that of specific release. Common drug delivery mechanisms lack the specificity needed to ensure that release is limited to the diseased area, which can lead to unnecessary side effects. By utilizing medical imaging, both drug delivery devices and physiology can be observed by physicians, which can greatly increase the specificity of drug delivery. Specifically, utilizing a very inert medical imaging modality, such as ultrasound, guarantees minimum …
Mechanisms Of Dysbindin Abnormalities In Schizophrenia, Kirsten Schoonover
Mechanisms Of Dysbindin Abnormalities In Schizophrenia, Kirsten Schoonover
All ETDs from UAB
The dystrobrevin binding protein 1 (DTNBP1) gene encodes for dysbindin-1 and is a top candidate gene for schizophrenia. Dysbindin-1 modulates copper transport crucial for myelination, monoamine metabolism, and cellular homeostasis. Schizophrenia patients (SZP) exhibit increased plasma copper, while copper-decreasing agents produce schizophrenia-like behavioral and pathological abnormalities. Therefore, we sought to investigate the relationship between dysbindin-1 and copper in postmortem SZP substantia nigra (SN) and hippocampus. Additionally, we analyzed the role of quetiapine treatment and cognitive function in dysbindin-1 knockout (sdy) mice and their wild-type (WT) littermates. Western blot assessment of SN revealed protein domain alterations of copper transporters ATP7A and …
New Authentication And Privacy Paradigms In Mobile And Wearable Computing, Prakash N/A Shrestha
New Authentication And Privacy Paradigms In Mobile And Wearable Computing, Prakash N/A Shrestha
All ETDs from UAB
Mobile devices (e.g., smartphones) have already become ubiquitous, and wearable technology (e.g., embodied in smartwatches or bracelets) is gaining popularity in many – commercial, medical and personal – domains of day-to-day life. Many of the security schemes, particularly authentication paradigms, have been designed and deployed utilizing the general-purpose mobile devices, and many of them have started using wearable devices. The use of these devices, on one hand, improves user experience, while, on the other hand, opens up security and privacy vulnerabilities. In this dissertation work, we explore new authentication and privacy paradigms, from both offensive and defensive perspectives, in/using mobile …
The Effects Of Saha And Egcg On Metastatic Potential In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Kayla Lewis Steed
The Effects Of Saha And Egcg On Metastatic Potential In Triple-Negative Breast Cancer Cells, Kayla Lewis Steed
All ETDs from UAB
About 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer at some time in their lives, and more than 40,000 women will die due to breast cancer this year. Women do not die from localized breast cancer cases but from metastatic, or Stage IV, breast cancer (MBC). Over 150,000 women are currently living with MBC, and treatments focus on length and quality of life considering there is no cure. Triple-negative breast cancers (TNBC) do not respond to targeted therapies as they are lacking estrogen receptor alpha (ER), progesterone receptor (PR), and human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2). They …
The Relationship Between Cortical Excitability And Neuropsychological Functioning In Patients With Idiopathic Generalized Epilepsies (Iges), Lauren Bolden
All ETDs from UAB
Recent advances in neurostimulation and neuromodulation techniques, such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), may offer alternative treatment options to patients with idiopathic generalized epilepsies (IGEs). In a previous study, we utilized TMS to demonstrate a relationship between increased cortical excitability (i.e. hyperexcitability), attentional dysfunction, and mood disturbance in a sample of healthy adults. In general, patients with IGEs are found to exhibit cortical hyperexcitability, cognitive dysfunction, and mood problems; however, a relationship between these variables in IGEs has not yet been investigated. Importantly, patients with treatment-resistant IGEs (trIGEs) are shown to demonstrate greater cortical excitability, cognitive deficits, and mood problems …
A Scalable Nearline Disk Archive Storage Architecture For Extreme Scale High Performance Computing, Hampton Walker Haddock
A Scalable Nearline Disk Archive Storage Architecture For Extreme Scale High Performance Computing, Hampton Walker Haddock
All ETDs from UAB
Parallel file systems that exploit Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Devices (RAID) as the mechanism for greater resilience are primarily intended to provide high bandwidth and low latency. Quantifying and studying the trade-offs among reduced run time (bandwidth and latency), resilience (availability and integrity), and cost (energy and capital) is important. For instance, distributing the checksums of RAID systems appears in conflict with the canonical parallel access patterns in high performance computing such as long sequential reads, random access, and checkpoint operations. Choices consequently have to be made between performance, concurrency, latency, energy, capital, integrity and availability of the data for …
Inverse Problems, Regularization And Its Applications, Abinash Nayak
Inverse Problems, Regularization And Its Applications, Abinash Nayak
All ETDs from UAB
Inverse problems arise in a wide spectrum of applications in fields ranging from engineering to scientific computation. Connected with the rise of interest in inverse problems is the development and analysis of regularization methods, such as truncated singular value decomposition (TSVD), Tikhonov regularization or iterative regularization methods (like Landerweb iterations), which are a necessity in most inverse problems due to their ill-posedness. TSVD can be used when dealing with (small) finite dimensional linear problems, but is computationally very expensive, and sometimes even unfeasible, for large scale linear problems or nonlinear problems. In such scenarios, Tikhonov regularization is an attractive alternative, …
Neurocognition In Patients With Primary Dystonia, Lindsay Niccolai
Neurocognition In Patients With Primary Dystonia, Lindsay Niccolai
All ETDs from UAB
Dystonia is defined as involuntary, sustained muscle contractions often causing twisting and repetitive movements. While dystonia is classified as a movement disorder with marked motor disturbance, there are also non-motor features associated with this disorder such as psychiatric, sensory, and neurocognitive deficits. This dissertation research focuses on the neurocognitive deficits found in patients with primary dystonia. Prior studies examining cognition in primary dystonia have often had the limitations of having small samples and lacking control groups. In addition, cognition is often assessed in deep brain stimulation (DBS) surgical candidacy evaluations, but neurocognitive deficits have not been studied as a predictor …
Synthesis And Ion Conducting Properties Of Barium Zirconate Based Thin Films, Eric Remington
Synthesis And Ion Conducting Properties Of Barium Zirconate Based Thin Films, Eric Remington
All ETDs from UAB
Solid oxide fuel cells are electrochemical systems that convert chemical energy into electricity using ion-conducting oxide ceramics as electrolytes. These devices are widely considered as an important technology in addressing the future demands for low-carbon electrical power generation. Oxide ceramics in which the active ionic species is the proton ion (H+), are of particular current interest because they exhibit ionic conductivities that are two-to-three orders of magnitude higher than ceramics that rely on transport of oxide ions (O2−). Accordingly, these so-called protonic oxide conductors are being investigated vigorously in a variety of bulk and thin film configurations. A major goal …
The Relationship Of Bedside Assessment Of Orientation And Cognition To Treatment Outcome In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Growth Curve Analysis, Amber Marie Fahey
The Relationship Of Bedside Assessment Of Orientation And Cognition To Treatment Outcome In Moderate To Severe Traumatic Brain Injury: A Growth Curve Analysis, Amber Marie Fahey
All ETDs from UAB
Disorientation and cognitive impairment are commonly experienced in acute moderate to severe TBI patients and deficits early in recovery are predictive of worse long-term outcome. Hence, tracking recovery over time is a significant aspect of rehabilitation research. The Orientation-Log (O-log) and Cognition-Log (Cog-log) are important clinical measures used to monitor cognitive progress during treatment and previous research has shown them to be predictive of long-term outcome. This study used two-level growth curve modeling to, 1) determine the growth trajectory of orientation and cognition in persons with moderate to severe TBI in acute rehabilitation, as determined by the O-log and Cog-log, …
Utilization Of The Zebrafish Model System To Predict Effects Of Dietary Lipid Composition On Human Health, Lauren Adele Fowler
Utilization Of The Zebrafish Model System To Predict Effects Of Dietary Lipid Composition On Human Health, Lauren Adele Fowler
All ETDs from UAB
Obesity is a disease that encompasses the interaction of both genetics and life-style factors, and the pathology behind its development remains unclear. Specifically, defining the influence of dietary lipid intake on adiposity and metabolic health continues to be a fundamental challenge, and the use of animal models will be required to gain a full understanding of the processes contributing to diet-induced obesity in humans. The zebrafish Danio rerio has emerged as a powerful model system to study diet-induced obesity and metabolic disease in humans, while simultaneously offering multiple advantages over rodent models. This dissertation addresses multiple aspects regarding the use …
Tensor Decompositions And Rank Approximation Of Tensors With Applications, Ramin Goudarzi Karim
Tensor Decompositions And Rank Approximation Of Tensors With Applications, Ramin Goudarzi Karim
All ETDs from UAB
Tensor decompositions are higher-order analogues of matrix decompositions which have applications in data analysis, signal processing, machine learning and data mining. One of the most challenging problems in the tensor decomposition area is to approximate the rank of a given tensor. Unlike the matrix case there is no simple formula to bound the rank of a tensor. In fact, finding the exact rank of a tensor is an NP hard problem. In this thesis we formulate the tensor rank estimation of a tensor as an optimization problem and estimate the rank via $\ell_1$ minimization. We propose a numerical iterative method …
Racial And Gender Differences In The Relationship Between Adverse Childhood Experience And Chronic Health Conditions In Adulthood, Jalal Uddin
All ETDs from UAB
A growing body of studies highlights that many adult diseases and health disparities in late-life are rooted in childhood adversities. However, there is little research that examines how social stratification processes structure the inequality in early-life stress exposure, and the effects of stress exposure on health outcomes may vary based on the intersections of social stratification categories. Drawing on an integrated framework of the life course stress process and intersectionality theory, this study examines the patterns in childhood adverse experiences (ACEs) by race/ethnicity and gender and how race/ethnicity, gender, and adult socioeconomic status (SES) combine to modify the effects of …
Person Re-Identification By Deep Structured Prediction: A Generative Approach, Xinpeng Liao
Person Re-Identification By Deep Structured Prediction: A Generative Approach, Xinpeng Liao
All ETDs from UAB
Visual appearance based person re-identification (re-ID) is the task of assigning the same identifier to all instances of a particular individual captured in images or videos, even after the occurrence of significant gaps over time or space. The state-of-the-art methods can be categorized into two main approaches: Given a set of gallery images with known IDs, the task is to infer either the ID label of a probe image individually (person re-ID via image retrieval) or the collective ID labeling of all probe images simultaneously (person re-ID via a highly-crafted re-ID structure). This dissertation is primarily focused on exploring the …
Kinetics Of Thermal Decomposition And Polymerization During Continuous Cooling, Tatsiana Liavitskaya
Kinetics Of Thermal Decomposition And Polymerization During Continuous Cooling, Tatsiana Liavitskaya
All ETDs from UAB
The processes that naturally occur on heating such as thermal decompositions and polymerizations can be made to proceed on cooling. Studying the resulting cooling kinetics is the major objective of this work. The kinetics of the reactions are explored by using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) and thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) in combination with isoconversional kinetic analysis. The kinetic parameters obtained on cooling are compared to the ones evaluated on heating and physical insights into the differences and similarities in the kinetics of the processes on heating and cooling are proposed. The study is driven by the hypothesis that the kinetics on …