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Full-Text Articles in Medicine and Health Sciences
Cellular Dynamics And Disease Outcome Of Type 3 Streptococcus Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates Differ Between Strains, Taylor Rae Plunkett White
Cellular Dynamics And Disease Outcome Of Type 3 Streptococcus Pneumoniae Clinical Isolates Differ Between Strains, Taylor Rae Plunkett White
Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
Streptococcus pneumoniae is a bacterial pathogen that continues to be a major cause of disease around the world. It is not only the number one cause of bacterial pneumonia but also the cause of about 15% of the deaths of children under 5 around the world. There is a lot of research done on this organism, but with around 100 known serotypes and each one producing a unique capsule, there is still much more to be studied. The Etiology of Pneumonia in the Community (EPIC) study conducted by the CDC observed the burden of hospitalizations caused by pneumonia while determining …
Examining The Pulmonary Response To Repeated Vishniacozyma Victoriae Exposure And Its Association With Allergic Airway Disease, Rachael Erin Rush
Examining The Pulmonary Response To Repeated Vishniacozyma Victoriae Exposure And Its Association With Allergic Airway Disease, Rachael Erin Rush
Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports
Allergic airway diseases such as asthma continue to increase in incidence in industrialized nations like the United States. These diseases are complex inflammatory processes involving numerous cells and mediators and are strongly influenced by fungal exposures. Recent developments in fungal detection methods have highlighted the contribution of Basidiomycota yeast species in indoor environments such as Vishniacozyma (syn. Cryptococcus) victoriae. However, despite the high levels of this yeast detected in indoor environments, very little is known about it or its role in respiratory morbidity. V. victoriae is phylogenetically similar to pathogenic Cryptococcus neoformans but lacks a capsule and is …
Evaluation Of Stratified Antibiograms For Use In Laboratory And Antimicrobial Stewardship, Linsey Donner
Evaluation Of Stratified Antibiograms For Use In Laboratory And Antimicrobial Stewardship, Linsey Donner
Theses & Dissertations
Antibiograms are critical for choosing empiric antimicrobial therapy. Cumulative antibiograms, which aggregate susceptibility data, can mask differences within specific patient subsets or clinical syndromes. This dissertation was done to determine if antibiotic susceptibilities showed substantial differences when comparing stratified antibiograms to cumulative antibiograms.
Antibiotic susceptibility data was retrospectively obtained from Nebraska Medicine January 1, 2017 – December 31, 2019 for Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Staphylococcus aureus, and Enterococcus faecalis. The University of Nebraska Medical Center’s web antibiogram clinical decision support tool was used to export the data. Bacteria-antibiotic susceptibility rates of stratified antibiograms …
Molecular Interactions Of Human Cell Proteins With Sars-Cov-2 Versus Influenza Viruses, Linze Cowman
Molecular Interactions Of Human Cell Proteins With Sars-Cov-2 Versus Influenza Viruses, Linze Cowman
Honors Thesis
Molecular Interactions of Human Cell Proteins with SARS-CoV-2 versus Influenza
Viruses
Linze Cowman
Director: Victor Huber, Ph.D.
The novel Coronavirus Disease 2019, or COVID- 19, shows considerable similarity to a common influenza infection. Over the past year, innumerable studies have been investigating the Vitus in various capacities, from big-picture public health repercussions to the virus' biochemical interactions with human cells for infection. This research provides invaluable information in the ongoing war against infectious diseases. While the influenza virus is fairly well-understood, much surrounding the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) remains unclear, including its longevity, long-term health effects, methods …
Understanding Human Astrovirus From Pathogenesis To Treatment, Virginia Hargest
Understanding Human Astrovirus From Pathogenesis To Treatment, Virginia Hargest
Theses and Dissertations (ETD)
While human astroviruses (HAstV) were discovered nearly 45 years ago, these small positive-sense RNA viruses remain critically understudied. These studies provide fundamental new research on astrovirus pathogenesis and disruption of the gut epithelium by induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) following astrovirus infection. Here we characterize HAstV-induced EMT as an upregulation of SNAI1 and VIM with a down regulation of CDH1 and OCLN, loss of cell-cell junctions most notably at 18 hours post-infection (hpi), and loss of cellular polarity by 24 hpi. While active transforming growth factor- (TGF-) increases during HAstV infection, inhibition of TGF- signaling does not hinder EMT induction. …
Total Salivary Protein Concentration And Its Correlation To Dental Caries, Emyli Peralta
Total Salivary Protein Concentration And Its Correlation To Dental Caries, Emyli Peralta
Honors Undergraduate Theses
Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, dental cavities are the number one chronic disease in children. Saliva coats the teeth all day and can serve many functions to maintain and protect teeth. Saliva has many proteins that can be both detrimental and essential to the preservation of tooth enamel. The purpose of this study is to determine if a correlation exists between the total protein concentration in saliva and the prevalence of cavities in the mouth. We hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation with total salivary protein concentration and the prevalence of cavities in the participant. Methods: …
Factors Affecting Biofilm Formation In Oral Pathogenic Bacteria Of The Red Complex, Sidney Nechacov
Factors Affecting Biofilm Formation In Oral Pathogenic Bacteria Of The Red Complex, Sidney Nechacov
Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)
Periodontal disease, also known as periodontitis, is a dental disease that is estimated to affect 2.4 billion people worldwide. This disease is characterized by chronic inflammation and bleeding of gums, as well as loss of tooth bone density. Currently, treatments for the disease include dental surgeries and various types of antibiotics, but few are targeted specifically at the Red Complex bacteria which are strongly associated with chronic periodontitis. The Red Complex consists of three bacteria: Tannerella forsythia, Porphyromonas gingivalis and Treponema denticola. Each of these bacteria, are anaerobic oral pathogens that reside in the subgingival pocket adjacent to …
Comparing The Effectiveness Of Alternative And Prescription Antibiotics Against Gram-Positive Bacteria, Rachel Jenkins, Roan Dickenson, Sam Turnbull, Marcela Torres
Comparing The Effectiveness Of Alternative And Prescription Antibiotics Against Gram-Positive Bacteria, Rachel Jenkins, Roan Dickenson, Sam Turnbull, Marcela Torres
Senior Theses
The rapid emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global public health concern that threatens the efficacy of antibiotic drugs. We found that natural remedies, specifically coconut oil, honey and cinnamon essential oil, have the potential to be used as a clinical alternative to treat antibiotic-resistant infections. In this experiment, we performed a disk diffusion test and measured the area of inhibition of each treatment to compare the effectiveness of natural and prescription antibiotics. Cinnamon essential oil showed significantly greater antibiotic activity compared to a prescription treatment, amoxicillin. With bacterial resistance continuously expanding, more work needs to be done to determine …
Crosstalk Between Gastrointestinal Epithelial Cells And Resident Microbiota Promotes Immune Homeostasis, Eric William Rogier
Crosstalk Between Gastrointestinal Epithelial Cells And Resident Microbiota Promotes Immune Homeostasis, Eric William Rogier
Theses and Dissertations--Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics
The gastrointestinal tract houses one of the most dense and diverse communities of bacteria on the planet. The mutualistic relationship between the host and commensal microbe permits the microbe an ideal environment to grow and provides the host with increased caloric intake, maturation of the adaptive immune system, and resistance against invading pathogens. To maintain a system in which both parties benefit, the epithelium has evolved numerous strategies to ensure epithelial cells respond to microbes appropriately and that potentially hazardous commensals remain distanced from the soma proper. Breakdown of these propitiating mechanisms elicits unchecked inflammation and can lead to pathology …
Effect Of Dna Base Modification On Polymerase Chain Reaction Efficiency And Fidelity, Jan A. Sikorsky
Effect Of Dna Base Modification On Polymerase Chain Reaction Efficiency And Fidelity, Jan A. Sikorsky
Theses, Dissertations and Capstones
Polymerase stop assays, used to quantify DNA damage, assume single lesions are sufficient to block thermostable DNA polymerase progression. To explore this assumption, 90 base oligonucleotides containing normal or modified DNA bases were amplified using real-time PCR. Data implied that the PCR efficiency was influenced to differing degrees depending on which base lesion was present on the input oligonucleotide; specifically, while reactions with templates containing a single 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2í-deoxyguanosine (8-oxodG) were not noticeably altered, the presence of a single 8-oxo-7,8-dihydro-2í-deoxyadenosine, an abasic site, or a cis-syn thymidine dimer (TT dimer) dramatically delayed amplification. In addition, the presence of two tandem 8-oxodGs …