Digital Commons Network^™

Examination Of The Capacity Of The Cathelicidins To Control Bacillus Anthracis Pathogenesis, Mark W. Lisanby

All ETDs from UAB

cillus anthracis is a gram-positive, spore forming bacterium that causes infection through three routes: cutaneous, gastrointestinal and pulmonary. Historically, anthrax pathogenesis was thought to be initiated via the uptake of spores by resident macrophages, which then transited to the regional lymph nodes. While en-route, the spores germinated and developed into bacilli within the phagolysosome, escaped into the cytoplasm, killed the cell and eventually the host. Following the recent use of B. anthracis as a biological weapon, researchers began to reevaluate anthrax pathogenesis in order to develop novel treatments. One aspect of anthrax pathogenesis that saw renewed interest was the intracellular …

Contribution Of A Portable Air Plasma Torch To Rapid Blood Coagulation As A Method Of Preventing Bleeding, S. P. Kuo, O. Tarasenko, J. Chang, S. Popovic, C. Y. Chen, H. W. Fan, A. Scott, M. Lahiani, P. Alusta, J. D. Drake, M. Nikolic

Physics Faculty Publications

The effectiveness and mechanism of a low temperature air plasma torch in clotting blood are explored. Both blood droplets and smeared blood samples were used in the tests. The treated droplet samples reveal how blood clotting depends on the distance at which the torch operated, and for how long the droplets have been exposed to the torch. Microscopy and cell count of smeared blood samples shed light on dependencies of erythrocyte and platelet counts on torch distance and exposure time. With an increase of torch distance, the platelet count of treated blood samples increases but is less than that of …

Cultivating An Understanding Of U.S. Veterans: Our Honored Patients, Tausha Allen, Kent D. Blad, Jennifer Bloomfield, Rachel Dudley, Kelsie Egan, Ron S. Ulberg

Faculty Publications

As nursing students, we specifically chose to devote our time to learning how to better care for the veteran population. We worked with veterans as we traveled to Washington, D.C. and completed clinical experiences in Utah. These experiences greatly altered our perspective toward the armed forces and our appreciation for our nation’s freedom.

Disease In The Desert: Las Vegas As A Case Study Of How First Responders And Emergency Managers Understand Novel Threats To Human Health And Plan To Respond During Biological Emergencies, Monique Williamson

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Over recent years it has become clear that technological advancements, globalization, and ecological change, combined with the onset of increased terrorist incidents, are all currently working to create an extremely hazardous environment in terms of pathogenic invasion. Realizing that infectious diseases are both newly emerging and re-emerging in many parts of the world, the question of how prepared an expansive United States will be in the face of an oncoming global pandemic is easily raised. Using Las Vegas as an example of just how unequipped a largely visited U.S. city may be in the face of such a situation, this …

Structure-Activity Relationship And Mechanistic Studies On The Chemopreventive Activity Of Dipyridamole And Its Analogues, Ja’Wanda Shavon Grant

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

There is an escalating demand in the area of cancer prevention and control for the development of novel agents and molecular targets that have potential to reduce the incidence of cancer. In this study, the JB6 mouse epidermal cell-culture based transformation model was used in efforts to identify novel chemopreventive agents and targets. The nucleoside transport inhibitor dipyridamole (DPM) showed potent chemopreventive activity against JB6 P⁺cells (tumor promotion sensitive). To probe the effects of DPM structural features on its antitumor promotion activity, the soft-agar colony forming efficiency assay was used to screen an in-house library of …

American Challenges, Jim Gomes

Mosakowski Institute for Public Enterprise

In the autumn of 2008, with the United States facing myriad problems both foreign and domestic and entering the final stage of a historic election, The Boston Globe asked Mosakowski Institute Director Jim Gomes to write a series of op-ed pieces about critical issues on the nation’s agenda. The result is the six columns collected here in American Challenges. “When I wrote these pieces,” said Gomes, “the country had entered a period of great uncertainty. So much of what had been taken as a given in the last half of the 20th century, from broadly shared prosperity to the health …

‘The Core Resource’ The Role Of Informal Caretakers Of The Mentally Ill As Seen In Uganda, Dana Carroll

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Human experience is constantly mediated by culture. Many new studies have shown the significant role of culture in mental health, mental illness, and mental illness treatment. This project seeks to identify some of the cultural determinants of mental illness treatment in Uganda. Specifically, it has studied the role of family members in a mentally ill patient’s healing process. This study was conducted through semi-structured personal interviews with individuals from three subject groups. Group 1 consisted of mental health professional Group 2 members of organizations offering mental health services, and Group 3 the caretakers of mentally ill persons. All participants consented …

Review Of The Toxicology Of Chlorpyrifos With An Emphasis On Human Exposure And Neurodevelopment, Robert B. Daroff

Faculty Scholarship

This review examines the large body of toxicological and epidemiological information on human exposures to chlorpyrifos, with an emphasis on the controversial potential for chlorpyrifos to induce neurodevelopmental effects at low doses. The results of this review demonstrate that the use of urinary 3,5,6-trichlorpyridinol (TCPy), a metabolite of chlorpyrifos as a biomarker of nonoccupational exposure is problematic and may overestimate nonoccupational exposures to chlorpyrifos by 10-to 20-fold because of the widespread presence of both TCPy and chlorpyrifos-methyl in the food supply. Current "background" (nonoccupational) levels of exposure to chlorpyrifos are several orders of magnitude lower than those required to inhibit …

Using Social Construction Theory As A Foundation For Macro-Level Interventions In Communities Impacted By Hiv And Addictions, David Allen Patterson, Robert H. Keefe

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Many professionals working with people living with HIV and alcohol and other drug addictions rely heavily on micro and mezzo-level interventions. The authors argue that although these approaches are effective for helping people living with some social problems they are too narrow for working effectively with HIV-positive and alcohol and other drug-addicted individuals. The authors use social construction theory to analyze the social problems of HIV/AIDS and addictions and make recommendations for macro-level interventions that may help curtail the dual problems of HIV and addictions.

38th Annual Wku Student Research Conference, Student Research Council, Western Kentucky University

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

Western Kentucky University 38th Annual Student Research Conference program and student abstracts. Saturday, April 12, 2008, Carroll Knicely Conference Center, Bowling Green, Kentucky.

Micro-Etched Platforms For Thermal Inactivation Of Bacillus Anthracis And Bacillus Thuringiensis Spores, Leslie S. Hawkins

Theses and Dissertations

This research developed and applied microlithography techniques to etch microscope slide platforms in order to measure thermal inactivation of Bacillus thuringiensis and Bacillus anthracis spores, two closely related Bacillus species. B.t. is widely used as a surrogate for B.a. in response studies and in some field studies. This work addressed the previously identified problem of measuring both spore growth and spore thermal kill threshold using the traditional method of spreading a diluted spore solution on a plate. The micro-etched platforms forced spore separation thereby preventing neighbor growth from obscuring germination and initial vegetative growth measurements using a microscope. The technique …

Three Models Of Anthrax Toxin Effects On The Map-Kinase Pathway And Macrophage Survival, Daniel J. Schneider

Theses and Dissertations

Lethal factor (LF), a component of anthrax toxin, is the primary virulence factor that allows Bacillus anthracis to evade the immune response by blocking the activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) enzymes. This research modifies three published MAPK models to reflect this signal inhibition and to estimate a first-order reaction rate by fitting the models to published viability data for two macrophage cell lines cultured with the LF-producing Bacillus anthracis-Vollum1B strain. One model appears to be ill-suited for this purpose because not all relevant MAPK components could be integrated into the inhibition equations. Despite different underlying parameters and values, the …

Perceptions Of Mental Health Services For Operation Iraqi Freedom And Operation Enduring Freedom Military Personnel: A Needs Assessment, Chrystal Anne Long, Jeffrey Lee. Soriano

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to assess the perceptions of mental health services for OIF/OEF military personnel among military spouses and mental health practitioners. The professional and personal knowledge of the mental health practitioners and the military spouses provided valuable information about the effectiveness, availability, strengths, and weaknesses of the military's mental health services.

Outlook Magazine, Winter 2008

Outlook Magazine

No abstract provided.

Adaptive Technology Catalog, Cisr

CISR Studies and Reports

By design, the purpose of this Adaptive Technology Catalog is to provide a resource for governments, survivor-assistance and other agencies to help victims of landmines and other explosive remnants of war (ERW) and other disabled workers get back to self-sufficiency and paid work.

Landmine and ERW injuries have a devastating impact on the economic security of individuals, families and communities. Most often, these circumstances exist in countries that lack the basic social welfare infrastructure that might otherwise keep this at-risk population from poverty.

Designing, developing and identifying simple and inexpensive tools and programs that assist with survivor work reintegration is …

Neuroimaging Research Into Disorders Of Consciousness: Moral Imperative Or Ethical And Legal Failure, Stacey A. Tovino

Faculty Articles

In this article I explore the ethical and legal implications of enrolling individuals with disorders of consciousness (DOC) in neuroimaging research studies. Many scientists have strongly emphasized the need for additional neuroimaging research into DOC, characterizing the conduct of such studies as morally imperative. On the other hand, institutional review boards (IRBs) charged with approving research protocols, scientific journals deciding whether to publish study results, and federal agencies that disburse grant money have limited the conduct, publication, and funding of consciousness investigations based on ethical and legal concerns. Following a detailed examination of the risks and benefits of neuroimaging research …

A Call For A Statewide Bioinformatics Institute, John R. Rose

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Parasite Pathoecology Of Salmon Pueblo And Other Chacoan Great Houses: The Healthiest And Wormiest Ancestral Puebloans, Karl Reinhard

Karl Reinhard Publications

Two fields of paleopathological investigation originated in the Southwest. Archaeoparasitology is the study of ancient parasite infection (Reinhard 1990, 1992b). It includes comparisons between time periods of single societies as well as comparisons of parasitism between different, contemporaneous cultures. For example, Fry (1980) compared Fremont and Anasazi parasitism, and also Archaic hunter-gatherer and ancestral Pueblo parasitism. All of these studies fall into the definition of archaeoparasitology.

By contrast, pathoecology is the reconstruction of relationships among behavior, environment, and disease organisms in the development of illness (Martinson et al. 2003; ReinhardandBuikstra2003; Reinhardet al. 2003; Santoro et al. 2003).1his field developed from …

A Child And His Fate: Tuberculosis, Perimortem Trauma And Mummification, Sheila M. M.De Souza, Karl J. Reinhard, Bernardo Tessarollo, Jose Fernando Cardona Zannier, Adauto Araujo

Karl Reinhard Publications

A male child, sitting, 7 years, circumferential deformation, skin marked by coiled fibers, nostril plugs, consistent with Aymara practices was CT scanned. Puppae in the skin suggest exposition of the body previous to the funeral. Dark brown color at the skin suggest blood perfusion. A broken area at the right frontal with the skin partially inside is suggestive of perimorten trauma. There were no bone debris inside the skull and the CT images show two confluent fractures defined by radiating lines extending beyond the missing bone surface. The right eyeball is projected out, the tongue is outside the mouth, the …

Pathoecology And The Future Of Coprolite Studies In Bioarchaeology, Karl J. Reinhard, Vaughn M. Bryant Jr.

Karl Reinhard Publications

Human coprolites currently provide an expanding array of information about the diet, health, and ecology of prehistoric people in the Southwest, but for many years coprolites were not recognized or preserved, or they were not considered important and thus were not saved (Bryant and Dean 2006). With the expansion of archaeological field work during the last half of the twentieth century archaeologists have increasingly explored the "complete" potentials of sites, including the collection and analysis of geomorphologic, botanical, and faunal data. In some ideal habitats (e.g., very dry or frozen) this includes exploring the scientific potential of human coprolite studies. …

Individual Decision Making And The Evolutionary Roots Of Institutions, Richard Mcelreath, Robert Boyd, Gerd Gigerenzer, Andreas Glöckner, Peter Hammerstein, Robert Kurzban, Stefan Magen, Peter J. Richerson, Arthur Robson, Jeffrey R. Stevens

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Just as many aspects of individual decisions are sometimes called "unconscious" or "automatic," we know that some institutions have evolved through "unconscious," nondeliberative mechanisms. Their function can also be largely nondeliberative, as in the case of some institutions that may structure behavior without requiring any reflection on the part of the participants. On the other hand, political institutions exist for the purpose of bringing deliberative mechanisms to bear on institutions in the hope of changing them for the better. The immense project of building an integrated explanation of institutions from individual brains to nations-has only barely begun. In this chapter, …

A Capillary-Based Microfluidic System For Immunoaffinity Separations In Biological Matrices, Michael Peoples

Theses and Dissertations

The analysis of biological samples in clinical or research settings often requires measurement of analytes from complex and limited matrices. Immunoaffinity separations in miniaturized formats offer selective isolation of target analytes with minimal reagent consumption and reduced analysis times. A prototype capillary-based microfluidic system has been developed for immunoaffinity separations in biological matrices with laser-induced fluorescence detection of labeled antigens or antibodies. The laboratory-constructed device was assembled from two micro syringe pumps, a microchip mixer, a micro-injector, a diode laser with fused-silica capillary flow cell, and a separation capillary column. The columns were prepared from polymer tubing and packed under …

2007 Scholars And Artists Bibliography, Michael Schwartz Library, Cleveland State University, Friends Of The Michael Schwartz Library, Joanne E. Goodell Ph.D.

Scholars and Artists Bibliographies

This bibliography was created for the annual Friends of the Michael Schwartz Library Scholars and Artists Reception, recognizing scholarly and creative achievements of Cleveland State University faculty, staff and emeriti. Dr. Joanne Goodell was the guest speaker.

Writing The World: Ursula K. Le Guin And Margaret Atwood’S Literary Contributions To Ecofeminism, Melissa Messer

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Along with the philosophical writings of ecofeminism’s greatest proponents and critics, the growth of ecofeminist philosophy has relied heavily on fiction writers. The term ecofeminism was coined in 1975, and the following year ecofeminism found fertile ground for exploration and growth in March Peircy’s science fiction novel, Woman on the Edge of Time (1976). The social, academic, and literary trends leading up to the emergence of ecofeminism, however, began well before 1975. Both Ursula K. Le Guin and Margaret Atwood are speculative fiction authors whose work before and after 1975 examines important ecofeminist topics and contributes to the growth of …

Deliverance As Part Of The Therapeutic Process, David W. Appleby

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Within the last few years there has been an increased interest in spiritual warfare and, along with it, the deliverance ministry. The increased visibility of this ministry has resulted in a plethora of books and tapes on the subject. The following is an outline of a presentation made at the 2007 American Association of Christian Counselor’s World Conference in Nashville, TN. It is entitled Deliverance as a Part of the Therapeutic Process.

Exclusive Breastfeeding Practices In Rural Haitian Women, Susan B. Roman

UCHC Graduate School Masters Theses 2003 - 2010

No abstract provided.

Trivalent Vaccine Against Botulinum Toxin Serotypes A, B, And E That Can Be Administered By The Mucosal Route, Easwaran Ravichandran, Fetweh H. Al-Saleem, Denise M. Ancharski, Mohammad D. Elias, Ajay K. Singh, Mohammad Shamim, Yujing Gong, Lance L. Simpson

Department of Medicine Faculty Papers

Most reports dealing with vaccines against botulinum toxin have focused on the injection route of administration. This is unfortunate, because a mucosal vaccine is likely to be more efficacious for patients and pose fewer risks to health care workers and to the environment. Therefore, efforts were made to generate a mucosal vaccine that provides protection against the botulinum serotypes that typically cause human illness (serotypes A, B, and E). This work demonstrated that carboxy-terminal peptides derived from each of the three serotypes were able to bind to and penetrate human epithelial barriers in vitro, and there was no cross inhibition …

The Pulse Of Humanitarian Assistance, Kevin M. Cahill, M.D.

Institute of International Humanitarian Affairs

Understanding the complex nature of international humanitarian action—particularly following natural disasters or armed conflicts—has been the mission of this unique series. This book explores the cutting-edge concerns that will affect how assistance is offered in the future.

Featuring twelve original essays by leading practitioners, policymakers, and scholars, the book is a state of the field report on problems, threats, and opportunities facing relief efforts in today’s world.

With contributions from such authorities as Bernard Kouchner, founder of Doctors Without Borders, Charles McCormick, CEO of Save the Children, and physicians, military leaders, field workers, and others, the essays confront the most …

Caring And Treating Post – Traumatic Stress Disorder In Bosnia And Herzegovina, Colleen M. Boley

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

Posttraumatic Stress Disorder is a major issue whenever there is a war or natural disaster. From 1992 through 1995, Bosnia and Herzegovina was subject to one of the most destructive wars of the 20th century. The groups in Bosnia and Herzegovina that are working with posttraumatic stress disorder are investigated to see if they are truly helping people with posttraumatic stress disorder. This paper explores the ways in which posttraumatic stress disorder has affected individuals and the societies of Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as the organizations attempting to help people dealing with posttraumatic stress disorder.

Santa Clara Magazine, Volume 48 Number 4, Spring 2007, Santa Clara University

Santa Clara Magazine

8 - ARCHAEOLOGISTS OF THE CARIBBEAN By Monte Lorenzet. Eye patch and peg leg-we all know what makes a pirate. Or do we? Only recently have scientists taken a serious look at the archeology of piracy, with SCU's Russ Skowronek one of the hearties unearthing facts buried beneath centuries of myth.

12 - ARE PEOPLE GETTING CRAZIER? By Thomas G. Plante. From what the media offers every day, you can't help but think the world is going to hell in a handbasket. What's really going on? And what can we do about it?

21 - A TEACHABLE MOMENT Q&A with …