Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Dna Methylation And Its Association With Prenatal Exposures And Pregnancy Outcomes, Jennifer Straughen

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Altered DNA methylation may lead to suboptimal fetal programming, increasing the risk of adverse pregnancy outcomes such as small for gestational age (SGA); however, few studies have examined the associations between DNA methylation, prenatal exposures, and fetal outcomes. Cross-sectional data from a larger, ongoing study were used to assess the impact of prenatal smoking on gene specific methylation of umbilical cord blood derived DNA and to investigate the association between gene-specific methylation and risk of SGA. The association between gene-specific DNA methylation and birthweight was also assessed. Maternal and infant covariates were abstracted from medical records, cigarette smoke exposure was …

Evaluation Of Common Inherited Variants In Mitochondrial-Related And Microrna-Related Genes As Novel Risk Factors For Ovarian Cancer, Jennifer Permuth Wey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) is a leading cause of morbidity and mortality among women in the United States, and the etiology is incompletely understood. Common, low penetrant genetic variants such as single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) likely contribute to a significant proportion of EOC. We examined whether SNPs in two understudied yet biologically important types of genes, mitochondrial-related and miRNA-related genes, may contribute to EOC susceptibility using data from a large, homogeneous study population of 1,815 EOC cases and 1,900 controls (frequency-matched on age-group and race/ethnicity) genotyped through stage 1 of an ongoing genome-wide association study. Inter-individual variation in genes involved …

Epidemiological Study Of Contributing Factors In The Development Of Peptic Ulcer And Gastric Cancer Initiated By Helicobacter Pylori Infection In India, Rahul Suresh Mhaskar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Background: Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection is a significant risk factor for peptic ulcer (PU) and gastric cancer (GC). Apart from the virulent CagA genotype of H. pylori environmental and dietary factors influence disease outcomes. There have been no studies addressing these factors in Western India. Hence, we conducted a case control study enrolling PU, GC patients and controls at Pune, India.

Methods: Risk factors for PU and H. pylori infection were assessed in participant interview. H. pylori status was assessed from stool by monoclonal antigen detection. To understand treatment effect, we followed 100 H. pylori positive patients.

Results: We …

Inactivation Of Ascaris Suum By Ammonia In Feces Simulating The Physical-Chemical Parameters Of The Solar Toilet Under Laboratory Conditions, Ligia Maria Cruz Espinoza

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Access to sustainable sanitation systems is a determining factor in human health and economic development. However, more than a third of the world’s population lives without access to improved sanitation facilities. To meet the sanitation United Nations Millennium Development target, "halve, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and basic sanitation", a wide range of non conventional sanitation technologies have been implemented in developing countries, including waterless systems. These systems function by diverting urine away from feces and collecting, storing, and dehydrating the fecal material in watertight dehydration vaults. From a public …

Characterization Of The Role Of Nicotine And Delta 9-Thc In Modulation Of Neuroinflammation, Jared C. Ehrhart

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neuroinflammation is a major driving force in the progression of neurodegenerative disorders. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, as well as cannabinoid CB2 receptors, have been shown to have strong anti-inflammatory properties when activated. These effects are shown, in vivo, to be a result of stimulation of α7 nAChRs and CB2 cannabinoid receptors. Microglia cells, an immune cell in the brain, are shown to express both of these receptor subtypes. The studies detailed herein, investigated the ability of two compounds, nicotine and Δ9-THC, in modulation of inflammatory processes. Stimulation of these receptors on microglia using nicotine and Δ9-THC blocked the activation of these …

Phenotypic And Genotypic Analysis Of In Vitro Selected Artemisinin Resistant Plasmodium Falciparum, Matthew Scott Tucker

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Artemisinin and its derivatives provide faster clearance of parasitemia than any other antimalarial drugs and these drugs are part of frontline combination therapies in areas where drug-resistant Plasmodium falciparum exists. Clinical resistance to artemisinins is emerging on the Thailand-Cambodia border, making it imperative to investigate mechanisms of artemisinin resistance. Previous work in our laboratory showed ring-stage parasites enter a dormant state after exposure to artemisinin. We hypothesize that this period of dormancy is directly related to recrudescence and prolonged parasite clearance times in patients, and possibly resistance. The target of artemisinin is currently unknown, and potential resistance mechanisms are not …

Core Promoter Function In Brugia Malayi, Michelle Bailey

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous studies have indicated that the promoters of the human filarial parasite Brugia malayi are unusual in that they do not exhibit the CAAT or TATAA sequences usually found in the core domains of promoters of most eukaryotic organisms. Analysis of the promoters of the ribosomal proteins showed that the region flanking the splice leader (SL) addition site plays an important role in transcription and may function as the core promoter domain in B. malayi. To test the hypothesis that the SL addition domain is the most important essential region of the ribosomal protein promoters, the SL addition site of …

Connecting Kids To Coverage, Florida Covering Kids & Families

Florida Covering Kids & Families

This issue provides examples of application assistance strategies that can be used to enroll the uninsured in health coverage programs.

School-Based Outreach: A Way In, Florida Covering Kids & Families

Florida Covering Kids & Families

According to the Urban Institute, 3.4 million U.S. children aged 6-18 are eligible for Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but are uninsured. These school-aged children make up about 68% of the total eligible but uninsured population. Child and family advocates have long considered schools to be valuable partners for Florida KidCare outreach.

Neuroprotection With Anesthetics In Two Models Of Cerebral Ischemia, Rafael Eduardo Chaparro Buitrago

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Neuroprotection with anesthetics has been studied for many decades; important advances in this field have modified the way Anesthesiologists treat patients in the operating room. Animal models have played an important role in the study of ischemia in the operating room. Recent studies have demonstrated that the effect of anesthetics seems to be different in different animal models. We decided to evaluate anesthetics in a well-known model of cerebral ischemia and also in hypotensive models designed by us. We used a model of cerebral ischemia (MCAO) to test anesthetics neuroprotective effect in a two-week period. Then, we used a model …

Serum Antibodies To Human Papillomavirus Type 6, 11, 16 And 18 And Their Role In The Natural History Of Hpv Infection In Men, Beibei Lu

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our understanding of humoral immune response to human papillomavirus (HPV) infection has been mainly derived from studies in women. Very little is known about humoral immune response to HPV in men. There is also a growing interest in understanding the burden of HPV exposure in the subgroups of the male population, including men who have sex with women (MSW), men who have sex with men (MSM) and men who have sex with both men and women (MSMW). This dissertation was undertaken to understand and characterize humoral immune response, measured by detectable serum antibody IgG, to HPV 6, 11, 16 and …

Heat Stress Evaluation Of Protective Clothing Ensembles, Amanda Lee Pease

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Clothing directly affects the level of heat stress exposure. Useful measures to express the thermal characteristics are WBGT (wet bulb globe temperature) clothing adjustment factor (CAF) or apparent total evaporative resistance (R_e,T,_a). The CAF is assigned through laboratory wear trials following a heat stress protocol in which the air temperature and humidity are progressively increased until the participant clearly loses the ability to maintain thermal equilibrium. The critical condition is the point of thermal transition and from these conditions both the CAF and Re,T,a are computed. The first objective of this study is to compare the …