Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Development Of A Microwave-Based Dna Extraction Method To Increase The Success Of Direct And Rapid Pcr Technique, Fabiana Taglia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to develop a fast, microwave-based extraction technique that could be employed for direct and rapid DNA analysis. The hypothesis was that the use of a microwave could increase the yield of DNA by opening the cell membrane, rendering the DNA available without the use of any other chemical treatment, and improving results from very low quantity samples.

At present rapid human DNA analysis is mainly restricted to genotyping saliva and sometimes blood samples. We hypothesized that microwave processing could expand the types of samples assessable to these procedures and increase sensitivity.

There were two …

Examining The Effects Of Individual And Neighborhood Factors On Hiv Transmission Risk Potential Among People With Hiv, Semiu Olatunde Gbadamosi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

HIV transmission risk significantly increases in late-diagnosed HIV and at HIV viral load (VL) >1500 copies/mL. The objective of this dissertation was to examine factors associated with HIV transmission risk potential for persons with HIV (PWH) using measures of time from HIV infection to diagnosis and trajectories of VL suppression. Additionally, we sought to determine whether a single yearly VL measure—the current standard to track the HIV epidemic in the United States—is reliable in assessing viral suppression for PWH. The first study estimated the distribution of time from HIV infection to diagnosis in Florida using a CD4 depletion model and …

A Machine Learning Framework For Identifying Molecular Biomarkers From Transcriptomic Cancer Data, Md Abdullah Al Mamun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is a complex molecular process due to abnormal changes in the genome, such as mutation and copy number variation, and epigenetic aberrations such as dysregulations of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). These abnormal changes are reflected in transcriptome by turning oncogenes on and tumor suppressor genes off, which are considered cancer biomarkers.

However, transcriptomic data is high dimensional, and finding the best subset of genes (features) related to causing cancer is computationally challenging and expensive. Thus, developing a feature selection framework to discover molecular biomarkers for cancer is critical.

Traditional approaches for biomarker discovery calculate the fold change for each …

Aptamer-Based Voltammetric Biosensing For The Detection Of Codeine And Fentanyl In Sweat And Saliva, Rosa Lashantez Cromartie

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the many governmental and medicinal restrictions created to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States, opioid abuse and overdose rates continue to rise. The development of an aptamer-based voltammetric sensor and biosensor is described in this dissertation. The aim was to develop a low-cost, sensitive, and specific aptamer-based sensor for on-site, label-free determination of codeine and fentanyl in biological fluids. To do this, the surfaces of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) were modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), followed by the addition of single-stranded DNA aptamers. These were covalently bound to the electrode surface. Operations of the sensors were collected …

Development Of Gaussian Learning Algorithms For Early Detection Of Alzheimer's Disease, Chen Fang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting 10% of the population over the age of 65 and the growing costs in managing AD are estimated to be $259 billion, according to data reported in the 2017 by the Alzheimer's Association. Moreover, with cognitive decline, daily life of the affected persons and their families are severely impacted. Taking advantage of the diagnosis of AD and its prodromal stage of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), an early treatment may help patients preserve the quality of life and slow the progression of the disease, even though the underlying disease cannot …

Exploring The Neural Mechanisms Of Physics Learning, Jessica E. Bartley

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation presents a series of neuroimaging investigations and achievements that strive to deepen and broaden our understanding of human problem solving and physics learning. Neuroscience conceives of dynamic relationships between behavior, experience, and brain structure and function, but how neural changes enable human learning across classroom instruction remains an open question. At the same time, physics is a challenging area of study in which introductory students regularly struggle to achieve success across university instruction. Research and initiatives in neuroeducation promise a new understanding into the interactions between biology and education, including the neural mechanisms of learning and development. These …

Exposure To Estrogenic Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals And Brain Health, Mark Preciados

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The overall objective of this dissertation was to examine exposures to the estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals (EEDCs), phthalates, bisphenol-A (BPA), and the metalloestrogens cadmium (Cd), arsenic (As), and manganese (Mn) in an older geriatric aged-population and examine associations with brain health. Given the evidence that EEDCs affect brain health and play a role in the development of cognitive dysfunction and neurodegenerative disease, and the constant environmental exposure through foods and everyday products has led this to becoming a great public health concern. Using a bioinformatic approach to find nuclear respiratory factor 1 (NRF1) gene targets involved in mitochondrial dysfunction, that …

Carotenoids And Fatty Acids In Early Lactation: A Study Of A Peruvian Population, Vanesa Mendez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lipid soluble carotenoids are micronutrients present in human milk that serve as precursors of vitamin A and also play an important role protecting cells from damage arising from photooxidative processes and reactive oxygen species. Fatty acids comprise about 3-5% of human milk and are mainly present as triglycerides. They are a major energy source for the infant and are necessary to support cell growth required for normal development and maturation of critical organs. Transport of carotenoids into milk has been little studied and there has been no previous investigation of the relationship of carotenoid transport with that of individual fatty …

Conformational Dynamics And Stability Associated With Magnesium Or Calcium Binding To Dream In The Regulation Of Interactions Between Dream And Dna Or Presenilins, Khoa Ngoc Pham

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Downstream regulatory element antagonist modulator (DREAM) is involved in various interactions with targets both inside and outside of the nucleus. In the cytoplasm, DREAM interacts with the C-terminal fragments of presenilins to facilitate the production of β-amyloid plaques in Alzheimer’s disease. In the nucleus, Ca²⁺ free DREAM directly binds to specific downstream regulatory elements of prodynorphin/c-fos gene to repress the gene transcription in pain modulation. These interactions are regulated by Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ association at the EF-hands in DREAM. Therefore, understanding the conformational dynamics and stability associated with Ca²⁺ and/or Mg²⁺ binding to DREAM …

Conjugated Polymer-Based Biomaterials Through Controlled Self-Assembly, Megan Twomey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Synthetic polymeric materials have gained significant use as biological materials (biomaterials) in biomedical and pharmaceutical applications. As a result, a demand for well-defined polymers with tunable properties has emerged. The synthetic versatility of polymeric biomaterials allows the opportunity to understand the structure-property relationship of materials and their cellular interactions. A novel class of polymeric biomaterials are conjugated polymers (CPs), which possess desirable physicochemical and excellent photophysical properties, including inherent fluorescence. The synthetic versatility of CPs allows easy modification of the conjugated backbone to tune emission and side chain structures to adjust biocompatibility through increased water solubility, controlled biodegradability, and incorporation …

Organometallic Rhenium Dyes For Nitric Oxide Detection And Imaging, Lissette I. Lozano-Lewis

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The importance of sensing Nitric Oxide (NO) in physiology and medicine has led us to explore the reactivity of NO with organometallic Re dyes. Rhenium complexes were synthesized with the ability to react with NO and sense it under physiological conditions. Fluorescent 1,10-phenantroline complexes (phen)Re(PPh₃)(CO)₂OSO₂CF₃ (1) and (phen)Re(CH₃CN)(CO)₂OSO₂CF₃ (3) can sense NO in the range of 10 - 150 mM showing a decrease in fluorescence response at 514 nm and 532 nm respectively, upon NO-donor addition (l_exc = 360 nm). (phen)Re(THF)(CO)₂OSO₂CF …

Analysis Of Synthetic Cannabinoids By Direct Analysis In Real Time Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry And Gas Chromatography Quadrupole Time-Of-Flight Mass Spectrometry, Tyler S. Torbet

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The aim of this study was to investigate the utility of direct analysis in real time quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry and gas chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry in the analysis of 162 different synthetic cannabinoids. Direct analysis in real time quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry is shown to be a rapid and accurate analytical method for synthetic cannabinoids. Spectra can be generated with less than 1.5 ng of the drug in under a minute and be successfully searched against previously generated ESI-QTOF libraries in most cases (118/130 drugs tested) as well as can also be applied to the identification of synthetic …

Conjugated Polymer Nanoparticles For Biological Labeling And Delivery, Eladio A. Mendez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer remains one of the world’s most devastating diseases, with more than 10 million new cases every year. However, traditional treatments have proven insufficient for successful medical management of cancer due to the chemotherapeutics’ difficulty in achieving therapeutic concentrations at the target site, non-specific cytotoxicity to normal tissues, and limited systemic circulation lifetime. Although, a concerted effort has been placed in developing and successfully employing nanoparticle(NP)-based drug delivery vehicles successfully mitigate the physiochemical and pharmacological limitations of chemotherapeutics, work towards controlling the subcellular fate of the carrier, and ultimately its payload, has been limited. Because efficient therapeutic action requires drug …

Time Trends And Predictors Of Initiation For Cigarette And Waterpipe Smoking Among Jordanian School Children: Irbid, 2008-2011, Karma L. Mckelvey Phd

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Smoking prevalence among adolescents in the Middle East remains high while rates of smoking have been declining among adolescents elsewhere. The aims of this research were to (1) describe patterns of cigarette and waterpipe (WP) smoking, (2) identify determinants of WP smoking initiation, and (3) identify determinants of cigarette smoking initiation in a cohort of Jordanian school children.

Among this cohort of school children in Irbid, Jordan, (age ≈ 12.6 at baseline) the first aim (N=1,781) described time trends in smoking behavior, age at initiation, and changes in frequency of smoking from 2008-2011 (grades 7 – 10). The second aim …

Covalent Protein Adduction Of Nitrogen Mustards And Related Compounds, Vanessa R. Thompson

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Chemical warfare agents continue to pose a global threat despite the efforts of the international community to prohibit their use in warfare. For this reason, improvement in the detection of these compounds remains of forensic interest. Protein adducts formed by the covalent modification of an electrophilic xenobiotic and a nucleophilic amino acid may provide a biomarker of exposure that is stable and specific to compounds of interest (such as chemical warfare agents), and have the capability to extend the window of detection further than the parent compound or circulating metabolites. This research investigated the formation of protein adducts of the …

Microspheres For Liver Radiomicrospheres Therapy And Planning, Alejandro Amor-Coarasa

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Liver cancer accounts for nearly 10% of all cancers in the US. Intrahepatic Arterial Radiomicrosphere Therapy (RMT), also known as Selective Internal Radiation Treatment (SIRT), is one of the evolving treatment modalities. Successful patient clinical outcomes require suitable treatment planning followed by delivery of the microspheres for therapy. The production and in vitro evaluation of various polymers (PGCD, CHS and CHSg) microspheres for a RMT and RMT planning are described. Microparticles with a 30±10 µm size distribution were prepared by emulsion method. The in vitro half-life of the particles was determined in PBS buffer and porcine plasma and their potential …