Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

From Heart Beats To Health Recipes: The Role Of Fractal Physiology In The Ancestral Health Movement, Aaron P. Blaisdell, Brent Pottenger, John S. Torday

Journal of Evolution and Health

The human body—an amazing biological system that scales up fractally from its cellular building blocks—exhibits an incredible ability to self heal. Why then, are chronic diseases and degeneration on the rise in the population? Why are we sicker, more obese, and more depressed and stressed than ever before in human history? Why can’t we heal? The answers to these questions may lie in our ancestry, and modern departure from the human ecological niche. The ability to heal requires proper spatio-temporal inputs—nutrition, sleep, stress, activity, and socialization—in order for cellular signaling to occur properly across semi-permeable ...

Toxic And Repellent Effects Of Pyrethroids Used In Orchards On The Honey Bee, Apis Mellifera L. (Hymenoptera: Apidae), Erin M. Ingram

Dissertations and Student Research in Entomology

Managed honey bee colonies provide valuable pollination services and are rented by fruit orchards to improve fruit quality and yield. The placement of colonies in this agricultural setting increases the possibility of exposure to pyrethroids used for broad-spectrum pest control in orchards. Although highly toxic to bees, pyrethroids are believed to pose a relatively low hazard due to their low application rates in the field as well as their contact repellent properties. Previous studies have noted a decrease in foraging visits following pyrethroid application possibly preventing bees from acquiring a lethal dose in the field.

This research quantified behaviors associated ...

Non-Mass Transfer Limited Crystal Growth, Ryan J. Smyth, Caitlin Schram, Stephen P. Beaudoin

The Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF) Symposium

There are many different active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) that have been discovered in research labs all around the world that can be used to treat and cure patients with a variety of different ailments. The challenge with these APIs in treatments is that they are not soluble in water, thus they low absorption into the blood stream (bio-availability). The key to making these APIs more bio-available is to understand how they grow as crystals and drop out of the aqueous solutions. One of the ways these APIs were made more bio-available is to render them amorphous and suspend them in ...

Wash Education: Need For More Than Water Treatment For Floating Villages In Cambodia, Kevin Curry

2013 New England Association for Asian Studies Conference

Point of use (POU) water treatment systems are widely used around the world to provide microbiologically safe drinking water in developing countries. Work done in Cambodia by Brown et al. (2007) and Liang et al. (2010) have documented ceramic and biosand filters as cost effective point of use treatment systems capable of removing over 95% E. coli bacteria when properly used and maintained. Bridgewater State University and Water for Cambodia (WfC) explored using BioSand filters (BSF) to provide microbiologically safe drinking water for people in the Moat Khla floating village on the Tonle Sap Lake in Siem Reap Province. All ...

Iraqi Birth Defects And The Who Report, Mozhgan Savabieasfahani

Class, Race and Corporate Power

Since the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq in 2003, epidemics of birth defects and cancers are rising in many Iraqi cities. In 2012, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Iraqi Ministry of Health (MoH) undertook a large-scale epidemiological study to determine the prevalence of birth defects in the Iraqi population. A report which appeared on the WHO website in September 2013, claims that "The rates for spontaneous abortion, stillbirths and congenital birth defects found in the [Iraq] study are consistent with or even lower than international estimates." This article discusses the severe shortcomings of this report and questions ...

Novel Antipsychotic Drug Carriers: The Development Of Nanoparticle And Microgel Drug Carriers For Antipsychotic Delivery In The Treatment Of Schizophrenia, Justin E. Piazza

Open Access Dissertations and Theses

Lectin-functionalized, Poly [oligo(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate] (POEGMA) loaded with 3(R)-[(2(S)-pyrrolidinylcarbonyl)amino]-2-oxo-1-pyrrolidineacetamide (PAOPA) and poly(ethylene glycol)–block-poly(D,L-lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PEG-PLGA) nanoparticles loaded with haloperidol were prepared with narrow size distributions and sizes < 135 nm. The microgels and nanoparticles exhibited high Solanum tuberosum lectin (STL) conjugation efficiencies, encapsulation efficiencies, and drug loading capacities. The in vitro release of PAOPA and haloperidol was slow in physiological conditions over 96 hours, demonstrating minimal drug leakage and the potential for efficient drug transport to the targeted brain tissue. POAPA, POEGMA and the STL-functionalized POEGMA microgels were found to be non-toxic in both cell lines ...

Welcome To The Journal Of Evolution And Health, Aaron Blaisdell, Paul Jaminet, David C. Pendergrass

Journal of Evolution and Health

Welcome to the first issue of the Journal of Evolution and Health! The Journal of Evolution and Health is the peer-reviewed, open-access journal of the Ancestral Health Society, a community of scientists, healthcare professionals, and laypersons who collaborate to understand health challenges from an evolutionary perspective.

The Ral Exchange Factor Rgl2 Promotes Cardiomyocyte Survival And Inhibits Cardiac Fibrosis, Rebecca L. Scotland, Leah Allen, Leah J. Hennings, Ginell R. Post, Steven R. Post

Molecular and Biomedical Pharmacology Faculty Publications

Cardiomyocytes compensate to acute cardiac stress by increasing in size and contractile function. However, prolonged stress leads to a decompensated response characterized by cardiomyocyte death, tissue fibrosis and loss of cardiac function. Identifying approaches to inhibit this transition to a decompensated response may reveal important targets for treating heart failure. The Ral guanine nucleotide disassociation (RalGDS) proteins are Ras-interacting proteins that are upregulated by hypertrophic stimuli. The Ral guanine nucleotide dissociation stimulator-like 2 (Rgl2) is a member of the RalGDS family that modulates expression of hypertrophic genes in cardiomyocytes. However, the pathophysiologic consequence of increased Rgl2 expression in cardiomyoctyes remains ...

Defining The Requirements For Early Gene Expression In Bacteriophage Hk639, Amanda L. Seaton

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Lambdoid phages suppress transcription termination to fully express their genes. Antitermination of early gene expression in most lambdoid phages is mediated by an interaction between the N protein and a number of host-encoded factors. Bacteriophage HK022 does not rely on a protein for antitermination. To promote full expression of early phage genes, the transcripts of the HK022 put sites interact directly with RNA polymerase to convert it to a termination resistant form. Bacteriophage HK639 also uses RNA-mediated antitermination. However, it only possesses a single put-like element in its left operon. Because most lambdoid phages, including HK022, have antiterminator elements in ...

Juxtaposing Nasa’S Aeronet Aod With Carb Pm Data Over The San Joaquin Valley To Facilitate Multi-Angle Imaging Spectroradiometer (Misr) Pm Pollution Research, John Kanemoto

STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program Posters

Airborne particulate matter (PM) has been shown to increase the risk for asthma, chronic bronchitis, cardiopulmonary complications, and respiratory cell membrane damage/infection/leakage. PM levels are currently analyzed from two perspectives: stationary land-based monitoring (LBM) sites and total Aerosol Optical Depth (AOD) atmospheric column measurements. Both perspectives often leave miles of space between measuring locations and will have a continually increasing cost from introducing/maintaining sites. The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) satellite team hopes to begin investigating/archiving PM levels comprehensively via inputting MISR AOD measurements into a function/model which predicts the amount of ground level PM.

In ...

Physiologically-Based Pharmacokinetic Modeling For Predicting Caffeine/Theophylline-Ciprofloxacin Interactions, David M. Ng, Ali Navid

STEM Teacher and Researcher (STAR) Program Posters

Dynamics of interactions between the drugs caffeine, theophylline, and ciprofloxacin are predicted using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling. Pharmacokinetic means the model determines where the drugs are distributed in the body over time. Physiologically-based means the anatomy and physiology of the human body are reflected in the structure and functioning of the model. Multiple drugs can interact to increase or decrease their beneficial and/or undesired effects. This is important because some common substances, such as caffeine in coffee, soft drinks, and energy drinks, are actually drugs that affect the body. Ciprofloxacin is an inhibitor of caffeine and theophylline metabolism; such ...

Multimodal Therapeutic Strategy For Pancreatic Cancer: Egfr-Targeted Gelatin-Based Nanoparticles For Combination Wild-Type P53 Gene And Cytotoxic Drug Delivery, Jing Xu

Pharmaceutical Science Dissertations

Pancreatic adenocarcinoma is the fourth lethal cancer in the United States. Many therapeutic strategies such as the chemotherapy and gene therapy have been applied as therapeutic reagents. However, there are still many limitations for ideal therapeutic outcome, which reflect drug resistance, inefficient delivery and short residence in tumor. Urgent need exists for development of novel therapeutic strategies, which could improve the dismal survival statics for pancreatic cancer patients.

The main objective of this doctoral dissertation was to develop a novel combination therapeutic strategy with wild-type p53 plasmid DNA and gemcitabine for pancreatic cancer. For gene therapy, the major hurdle is ...

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying The Early Life Programming Of The Liver, Gurjeev Sohi

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Clinical studies have demonstrated that intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR) offspring, faced with a nutritional mismatch postpartum, have an increased risk of developing the metabolic syndrome. The maternal protein restriction (MPR) rat model has been extensively studied to investigate the adverse effects of a nutritional mismatch in postnatal life of IUGR offspring. Previous studies have demonstrated that MPR leads to impaired function of the liver, an important metabolic organ. However the underlying mechanisms which predispose these offspring to the metabolic syndrome remain elusive. In the following studies, low protein diet during pregnancy and lactation led to IUGR offspring with decreased liver ...

Selected Neuropharmacology Of Resurgence, Adam D. Pyszczynski

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Aisha Bano - The Role Of Kcnq (Kv7) Potassium Channels In Schizophrenia Deficits, Aisha Bano

Ronald E. McNair Scholars Program 2013

For years, studies have been conducted to treat the positive and negative symptoms and cognitive deficits of schizophrenia; it has allowed to treat the positive symptoms through regulation of dopaminergic neurons and dopamine pathways; however, we still do not know how to treat the negative symptoms and cognitive deficits. The reason we cannot treat them is due to a lack of adequate understanding of the underlying pathology which manifests itself in the behavior. Over the years, there have been multiple proposed hypotheses regarding the underlying pathology, and accordingly, medication were developed to regulate the variety of pathways in the brain ...

N-Acetylcysteine As A Chemoprotectant Against Ifosfamide Nephrotoxicity; From Mechanism To Prevention, Lauren Hanly

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The chemotherapy drug ifosfamide is used in the treatment of several childhood cancers. While effective, its use in children results in a 30% incidence of nephrotoxicity, and 5% incidence of Fanconi syndrome. This late effect is caused by oxidative damage, generated by chloroacetaldehyde, a toxic metabolite of ifosfamide cytochrome P450-mediated bioactivation in the kidney tubules. N-acetylcysteine has been identified as a promising strategy to mitigate nephrotoxicity through its antioxidant and glutathione stimulating properties. Furthermore, with current use in children for acetaminophen poisoning, its clinical utility is evident. Both cell and animal models have demonstrated n-acetylcysteine’s effectiveness in mitigating ifosfamide ...

Estudios Científicos En El Estado De Hidalgo Y Zonas Aledañas, Volumen Ii, Griselda Pulido-Flores, Scott Monks

Zea E-Books

Los 16 capítulos que conforman este libro son una contribución al conocimiento de la biodiversidad y conservación de los recursos naturales en el estado de Hidalgo, México.

Se aborda el derecho de propiedad intelectual en la biodiversidad, citando algunos ejemplos de México. Así mismo, se presenta un estudio de la biodiversidad y distribución de la herpetofauna en cuatro tipos de vegetación. Desde el punto de vista de la helmintología se presentan dos estudios de los helmintos parásitos de vertebrados silvestres; con nuevos registros de hospederos y localidades de algunas especies de helmintos para Hidalgo. También, se aborda el uso de ...

Lower San Luis Obispo Creek Stewardship Plan, Raven Lukehart, Daniel Bohlman

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

No abstract provided.

Impact Of Hydraulic Fracturing On Ground And Surface Water Resources, Reyna Schenck

Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences

The following study examines hydraulic fracturing operations in the United States in relation to groundwater contamination, withdrawals of freshwater resources, and jurisdictional authority over the activity with the purpose of producing objective analysis of research findings. With a growing population and increasing energy needs, hydraulic fracturing is expanding across the nation, as is public concern over the risks to freshwater resources. Because of the difficulty in identifying non-point sources of water pollution, a lack of legitimate water samples representing baseline conditions, and incomplete lists of chemical additives used, study results are often inconclusive as to the correlation between hydraulic fracturing ...

Mechanism Of Ascorbate Protection Against Sepsis-Induced Capillary Blood Flow Impairment, Dan Secor

University of Western Ontario - Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Sepsis is a systemic inflammatory response to an infection. The overwhelming inflammation has many deleterious effects, including cessation of capillary blood flow. This cessation may lead to organ failure and subsequent death, but the cause of cessation during sepsis is not fully understood. Ascorbate (reduced vitamin C) has been shown to restore capillary blood flow by an unknown mechanism. I hypothesized that activation of both platelets and the coagulation pathway in sepsis contributes to the cessation of capillary blood flow and that ascorbate protects against cessation by reducing platelet activation.

Using intravital microscopy in the mouse hindlimb skeletal muscle in ...