Digital Commons Network^™

Functionalized Aromatic Organic Scintillators As Tools For Non-Invasive Optogenetics, David French

All ETDs from UAB

Optogenetics is a growing discipline of neuroscience that attempts to control brain circuits using light. Current techniques involving surgically implanted light-emittingdiodes are highly invasive. This limitation could be avoided by the use of a tissuepenetrative light source, such as x-rays, and a locally applied down-converting material. This work describes the design, optimization, and proof-of-concept application of organic aromatic-based scintillators as non-invasive tools for optogenetics. The first chapter describes the synthesis of 2-anthryl methacrylate-co-methyl methacrylate copolymers and an evaluation of their use as x-ray induced scintillators (radioluminescence). The 2-anthryl methacrylate monomer and the copolymers all exhibited radioluminescence in the solid state. …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of The Long-Term Care Partnership Program On The Number Of Lives Covered By Long-Term Care Insurance And Medicaid Expenditures In Nursing Homes, Cheris Kline

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The growing number of people over the age of 65 in the U.S. will exacerbate already inadequate resources for long-term care, producing increased public health costs. The Long-Term Care Partnership Program (LTCPP) was proposed to save Medicaid expenditures by incentivizing the purchase of long-term care insurance. At this juncture, it is unclear if the partnership program saves the government money. This study draws from the expected utility theory and resource dependency theory to determine whether the LTCPP has increased the purchase of private long-term care insurance and reduced Medicaid expenditures in nursing homes in states that have adopted the partnership …

Facial Recognition With Image Signaling: Efficacy Of Two Factor Authentication Utilizing A Single Image Input Mechanism On A Smartphone, Jaret Langston

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Society generates 2.8 quintillion bytes of new data every day. Much of this data is sensitive information that should be protected from unauthorized access. Sensitive information is defined as information that, if compromised or misused, could adversely affect the privacy of the individual or organization. There are many types of information that fit this definition and places it is found, but for this discussion we will focus on: • Personally Identifiable Information (PII) (e.g., birth date, social security number, driver’s license number, passport number). • Medical information (e.g., insurance policy numbers, prescriptions, history). • Consumer information (e.g., credit card, banking, …

Cd8 T-Cell Responses To A Diverse Virus: Adaptation And Cross-Reactivity In Hiv Vaccination, Sushma Boppana

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In the four decades since human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) was discovered, significant progress has been made in treating HIV infection and in understanding the viral and immune dynamics underlying disease pathogenesis. However, in spite of scientific advances, HIV remains a significant global health issue, and an effective preventative vaccine has yet to be created. Many groups have demonstrated the importance of CD8 T cells in viral control during natural HIV infection and believe that CD8 T cells could contribute to vaccine efficacy by alleviating disease course in individuals who became infected despite vaccination. One major obstacle to inducing potent CD8 …

Performance Of Activated Filter Media® (Afm) In Drinking Water Treatment Systems, Jaquice Hughes

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ABSTRACT This dissertation evaluated the performance of activated filter media (AFM), recycled glass media used as a substitute for conventional sand filtration systems. Activated filter media is a direct replacement for sand filter media typically used during the dual media filtration methods employing sand and anthracite. One grade size of activated filter media was used: grade 1 (0.4 – 1.0 mm) to study its performance as a filtration media. This research was conducted at The Birmingham Water Works Board Experimental Pilot Treatment Facility, located at the Shades Mountain Filter Plant (SMFP). The pilot plant includes two independent treatment trains capable …

Early Childhood Quality Of Education And Late-Life Cognitive Function In A Population-Based Sample From Puerto Rico, Cheyanne Celine Barba

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In general, greater years of education is associated with reduced risk of cognitive impairment in older adulthood, but the strength of this association has been found to differ by study population. Additionally, quality of education is understudied, despite evidence that quality of education and, in turn, literacy, may be additional indicators of cognitive reserve. This thesis examined years of education, literacy, and childhood quality of education indicators in relation to late-life cognitive outcomes in an older Puerto Rican population. We hypothesized that greater years of education, literacy, and quality of childhood education would be positively associated with each other, as …

Psychosocial And Physiological Correlates Of Chronic Pain In Persons Living With Hiv, Michael Owens

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Due to recent advancements in antiretroviral therapy (ART), people living with HIV (PLWH) who respond well and remain adherent to their medication regimens are achieving “near normal” life expectancies. As a result, HIV is no longer considered a death sentence, but rather a chronic health condition to be managed. However, the longer a person lives with the virus, the more prone to HIV-associated chronic diseases he or she becomes. One particularly important health condition with the potential to significantly and negatively impact quality of life is chronic pain. The prevalence rates of chronic pain in PLWH are estimated to be …

Self-Awareness Of Functional Deficits In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment, Kayla Ann Steward

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Performance of instrumental activities of daily living (IADLs) can become compromised in older adults with mild cognitive impairment (MCI). Poor self-awareness of deficits, also known as anosognosia, occurs in a substantial minority of those with MCI and varies in extent depending on the domain examined. This dissertation attempts to explain the inter- and intra-patient variability in anosognosia by examining (1) differences in objective IADL performance and self-awareness of functional difficulties between those with amnestic single- (-ASD) and multi-domain (-AMD) MCI, and by examining (2) the neuropsychological and (3) neuroanatomical correlates of anosognosia for IADLs in older adults across a broad …

Psychometric Evaluation Of A Perceived Barriers To Medication Adherence Instrument And Association Between Perceived Barriers And Patient Characteristics, Lynn Andreae

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Medication adherence is an important component of diabetes management, yet nonadherence is common and has substantial patient and economic costs. In order to achieve meaningful improvements in medication adherence, clinicians and researchers need good ways of both identifying those at risk of nonadherence and ascertaining the specific reasons driving nonadherence in those patients. Current options for self-reported medication adherence are limited in their vulnerability to response bias, which may lead to overestimation of adherence. A measure that assesses perceived barriers to medication adherence may be a useful alternative, as it may identify patients at risk of nonadherence while reducing socially …

Novel Mechanisms Of Nitric Oxide Activation In The Kidney, Randee Sedaka

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Globally, adult sodium consumption has far exceeded daily intake recommendations, leading to one in ten cardiovascular deaths. Given the rise in hypertension prevalence, uncontrolled hypertension with antihypertensive medication use, and significant associations between high salt intake and high blood pressure, there is a need to better understand the mechanisms involved in hypertension. Nitric oxide synthase 1 (NOS1) is a well-established regulator of fluid and electrolyte balance in the renal collecting duct (CD) with highest activity in the inner medulla (IM). We previously reported that high salt (HS) intake stimulates CD endothelin B receptor (ETBR)/NOS1-dependent generation of NO, thereby inhibiting the …

Diurnal Dysfunction In Control Of Sodium Excretion In Diet-Induced Obesity, Reham Soliman

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The renal endothelin system plays a key role in sodium excretion, particularly under high salt (HS) diet. HS stimulates renal endothelin-1 (ET-1), which binds and activates the endothelin receptor B (ETB) to excrete the excess salt. Loss of ETB receptor is linked to the development of hypertension under HS. Central clock genes are important in maintaining rhythmic patterns of sodium excretion and ET-1 is identified as a target for clock genes, including Period and Bmal1. ET-1 excretion follows a diurnal rhythm along with sodium excretion. Sexual dimorphism is evident in the diurnal regulation of endothelin-mediated natriuresis and its downstream targets. …

Mitochondrial Priming Of Tumor Initiating Cells Involves Repression Of Mitochondrial Fission Activity Towards Redox Regulation Of The Cell Cycle Regulator Cyclin E, Brian Spurlock

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Mitochondrial dynamics primarily refers to the opposing fission or fusion events between individual mitochondria, which maintains steady-state mitochondrial morphology in cells. Fission and fusion activities maintain the energetics of normal and neoplastic stem cells. We developed the novel approach mito-SinCe2 to study the bidirectional relationship between mitochondrial dynamics and energetics. Application of this method led to the hypothesis that mitochondria-dependent ovarian tumor initiating cells interconvert between 3 states with distinct mitochondrial energetics/dynamics relationships. Cells in one state, characterized by high mitochondrial ROS and low fission activity, appear to be primed for self-renewal by mitochondria. We call these cells mitochondria-primed stem …

Vehicle-Based Structural Health Monitoring Of Bridges, Zhenhua Shi

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Structural health monitoring of bridges serves a critical role in maintaining a safe transportation network. Compared to the traditional resource-consuming direct approaches which usually require labor-intensive inspection and deployment of multiple sensors directly on the bridge, the indirect approach has been gained more and more attention due to its mobility and potential economy characteristics. The indirect approach utilizes the dynamic responses from the vehicle that interacts with the bridge so that the health status of the monitored bridges can be timely and effectively reflected via their structural dynamic characteristics such as frequencies, mode shapes, and damping properties. This research explores …

Role Of Endogenous Tau In Lewy-Like Pathology, Lindsay Stoyka

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Lewy Body Diseases (LBDs) are a group of disorders characterized by intracellular inclusions of misfolded alpha-synuclein (α-synuclein). Of these, Parkinson’s Disease (PD) is the most common neurodegenerative movement disorder, and Dementia with Lewy Bodies (DLB) is the second most common neurodegenerative dementia. PD is characterized clinically by bradykinesia, resting tremor, rigidity, and postural instability. In addition, up to 80% of patients eventually develop dementia, termed Parkinson’s Disease Dementia (PDD). DLB is characterized by onset of dementia before or concurrently with parkinsonism. Currently, no disease-modifying therapies exist for either of these diseases. Lewy pathology is found in regions important for cognition …

Pheochromocytoma: A Systematic Review Of The Diagnosis, Treatment, And Risk Factors, Brandon A. Singletary

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ABSTRACT Pheochromocytomas and extra-adrenal paragangliomas (PGLs) are forms of neuroendocrine tumors which when left untreated lead to debilitating complications of cerebral hemorrhaging, stroke, and death. Typically, the tumors present with symptoms of episodic headaches, sweating, and palpitations, however hypertension is considered one of the more predominant signs. As a result of the rarity of the disease and wide range of symptoms, there are often difficulties in screening and diagnosis to identify these tumors. While there are many case studies and results in small populations, large epidemiologic driven studies are limited. To date the majority of large-scale studies exist in countries …

Assessing The Potential Of Public Transit Utility In Medium-Sized Cities Using Agent-Based Simulation, Taniya Sultana

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At the beginning of the twentieth century, the United States was leading in the public transit sector, but following World War II, private car trips became more affordable and more popular, specially, in the last few decades. Transportation infrastructure investments that increased road capacity enabled the development of suburbs leading to urban sprawl and increase in automobile use at the expense of reduced public transit ridership. With the increase of dependency in automobiles and the continuing growth of private automobile ownership and use, various problems became major challenges in big cities of USA. These include traffic congestion, air pollution, road …

Toxin Secretion By Mycobacterium Tuberculosis, Uday Tak

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Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a highly infectious airborne bacterial pathogen, and the causative agent of human tuberculosis. Mtb infects approximately one-third of the human population, and is responsible for more deaths than any other infectious disease in the history of mankind. Mtb is an intracellular pathogen and primarily infects myeloid cells, such as macrophages in the human lung. In macrophages, Mtb establishes a replication niche within membrane-bound vacuoles named phagosomes, while subverting immunity. The intracellular survival of Mtb depends on manipulation of host cellular processes through secreted effector proteins. Ultimately, this intracellular vacuole is ruptured by the type VII secretion …

A Case Study Of The Beliefs And Perspectives Of Professional Development Consultants While Conducting College, Career, And Community Writers Program, Jameka Thomas

All ETDs from UAB

This qualitative multi-case study examined 12 professional development consultants’ (PDC) beliefs and perspectives while conducting College, Career, and Community Writers Program from two National Writing Project sites. Sage Mountain and Kinship. For this study, there were two theoretical frameworks examined, Peer Coaching (Showers & Joyce, 1996) and Skilled Facilitator Approach (Schwarz, 2005). Other theories that helped ground the framework of this study were Cognitive Coaching (Costa & Garmston, 1994), Zen of Facilitation (Killion & Simmons, 1992), and Typologies of Facilitator Education (Thomas, 2004). Through an integration of the five perspectives, the researcher found that PDCs in both sites shared common …

Creatinine Detection Based On Molecularly Imprinted Technique And Luminescence Of Nano-Diamond As A Signal Transducer, Reim Almotiri

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Creatinine measurement is an important diagnostic test for assessing kidney health. This work represents our current progress in creatinine artificial sensor based on a molecularly imprinted polymer of polyacrylamide hydrogel and nanodiamonds fluorescence change. For a 0.3 mM creatinine rebinding solution, an imprinting factor of 2.54 was measured. Also, a molecularly imprinted polymer was obtained by incorporating nanodiamond into a creatinine-imprinted polyacrylamide hydrogel. The quenching of peak nanodiamond fluorescence was significantly higher in the creatinine-imprinted polymer compared to the non-imprinted polymer, indicative of higher creatinine affinity in the imprinted polymer. Nanodiamond fluorescence from nitrogen-vacancy color centers (NV- and NV0) was …

Mid-Fusiform Sulcus Anatomy And Its Relationship To Face Processing And Social Functioning In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Carla Ammons

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Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a neurodevelopmental disorder characterized by deficits in social communication and restricted and repetitive behaviors and interests. One of the most consistent findings in ASD is reduced attention to and atypical processing of faces. However, the brain basis of aberrant face processing in ASD remains opaque. A novel neuroanatomical feature, the mid-fusiform sulcus (MFS), is strongly associated with face-selective regions of the fusiform gyrus (FG) as well as other large-scale functional and structural divisions in the ventral temporal cortex (Weiner et al., 2014). However, this feature is unexplored in ASD. The overarching goal of this dissertation …

Prediction Of The Optimal Catheter Placement Selection For Therapy Infusion To Treat Brain Tumors, Lisa Hope Antoine

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ABSTRACT In 2020, the National Brain Tumor Society reported that physicians would diagnose more than 87,000 new cases of brain tumors. These cases will add to the approximately 700,000 individuals in the United States living with brain and central nervous system tumors. Almost 18,000 of these cases will prove fatal [1]. The blood-brain barrier (BBB) hinders the effective treatment of brain tumors. The task of this barrier is to protect the brain from composition instabilities in blood plasma and shield the brain from agents that may adversely impact brain functionality. However, by performing its tasks the barrier prevents potential effective …

Exploring The Nursing Work Environment And Patient Outcomes Associated With Nurse-Reported Workplace Bullying: A Mixed Methods Study, Colleen Anusiewicz

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Workplace bullying (WPB) in nursing is a workplace problem that can undermine the safety culture necessary to minimize adverse patient events and improve health care quality. Nurses continue to experience and report WPB despite a substantial and growing body of evidence reflecting the negative effects of WPB on nurses, published position statements and alerts, and the initiation of workplace violence policies and protocols. To decrease WPB and inform the development of effective anti-bullying interventions, there has been a shift in focus from individual factors and interpersonal relationships among nurses and health care workers to organizational factors that contribute to nurse-reported …

Understanding The Impact Of Diet And Obesity On Anti-Tumor Immunity And Therapeutic Efficacy In Kidney Cancer, Rachael Miller Orlandella

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Obesity is regarded as a major risk factor for developing renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Advanced-stage RCC exhibits chemotherapeutic resistance, but is responsive to immunotherapies such as the immune checkpoint inhibitor anti-programmed cell death-1 (anti-PD-1). Despite some clinical successes, response rates remain low for anti-PD-1 monotherapy (20-30%). Preclinical evaluations of immunotherapeutic strategies typically use lean mice and do not account for patient comorbidities. This may explain the underwhelming success rates following clinical translation of new cancer treatments. Recent studies found that obesity was associated with favorable outcomes and responses to immunotherapy in melanoma. However, the effects of obesity on anti-tumor immunity …

Role Of Trib3 In Progression And Pathogenesis Of Diabetic Retinopathy, Priyamvada Milind Pitale

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Diabetic retinopathy (DR) is reported to be one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States by Center for Disease Prevention and Control. As the estimated prevalence of the disease will likely triple by 2020, the research in this area should focus on identifying novel targets and therapeutic approaches. One of the therapeutic approaches for DR is the reprograming of retinal metabolism to delay the progression of the disease. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is recognized as a cellular pathway activated in diabetic retina which interacts with key transcription factors to physiologically regulate glucose, lipid homeostasis, and angiogenic …

Novel Hiv Adaptation Strategy Against Host Cd8 T Cell Immunity, Kai Qin

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Since the 1980s, HIV infection has caused millions of death and tremendous economic losses worldwide. Despite great scientific advances, the only effective therapy to date, antiretroviral therapy (ART), merely delays disease progression yet cannot eradicate viral infection. Therefore, an effective HIV vaccine that can prevent the acquisition of infection would be a desirable alternative. The critical role of CD8 T-cell immunity in HIV infection has been well documented and therefore not surprisingly a great deal of effort has been focused on developing an effective CD8 T-cell based HIV vaccine. However, by far, such CD8 T-cell based HIV vaccine trials have …

Investigating Growth-Related Hormones And Their Roles In Metabolism In Fish Skeletal Muscle, Ross Michael Lee Reid

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The endocrine system is essential for the maintenance and regulation of skeletal muscle growth and metabolic processes, as secretions of growth-related hormones directly regulate these systems. The roles of these growth-related hormones are well understood in mammals yet are not well defined in teleosts. Thus, the work outlined in these chapters provides novel insight for the actions of two growth-related hormones, Growth Hormone (GH) and Teneurin C-terminal Associated Peptide (TCAP), in fish skeletal muscle. First, Chapter 2 highlights the work expanding the application of resazurin as a novel method of in vivo metabolic assessment across fish life-stages, which was utilized …

Investigating The Roles Of The Renal Primary Cilium Through The Use Of Intravital Imaging, Dustin Zachary Revell

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Primary cilia are small microtubule based appendages present on nearly every cell type in the mammalian body, and are highly conserved from organisms as simple as algae to humans. Cilia function as complex signaling centers integrating a variety of pathways and play critical roles throughout development and in maintaining homeostasis. Mutations to ciliary proteins in humans result in a wide array of diseases termed ciliopathies, which have a broad range of symptoms affecting nearly every organ in the body. Renal primary cilia are present on the apical side of tubular epithelium, where they project into the lumen and are thought …

The Comparison Of Two Diabetes Self-Management Education Programs In The Reduction Of Patient A1c Levels, Edward Sharpless

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This dissertation was a quasi-experimental research study exploring the effectiveness of two educational teaching methods with patients with diabetes. One teaching method utilized an education framework called the Conversation Map tools, a group-based, highly interactive learning experience using colorful visual tools, activity cards and sharing of real-life experiences. The other method was a traditional, lecture-style class taught by a health educator using overhead slides and handouts.

Secondary data from a regional health system in the Western U.S. was used to test the hypothesis that participants in the Conversation Map classes would report a larger drop in A1c levels compared to …

Fixed And Variable Costs At Critical Access Hospitals, Jeremy J. Lyman

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Cost structures (the ratio of fixed to variable costs) vary across and within indus-tries. Hospital managers and policymakers can make better decisions when they under-stand cost structures, including marginal costs (the change in the total cost that arises when the quantity produced is increased by one unit). Although some studies have inves-tigated hospital cost structures, the results have been mixed and less than definitive, and very little attention has been given to critical access hospitals and marginal costs specifi-cally. Rural hospitals, including critical access hospitals, have increasingly experienced financial distress. Between 2005 and 2019, 159 rural hospitals closed across the …

Challenges And Promising Strategies For Maximizing Pregnant Women's Adherence And Retention In Niv Care In The Context Of Option B+ In Kenya, Anna Helova

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Under the current Kenyan guidelines, pregnant/postpartum women who test HIV-positive are immediately put on the lifelong antiretroviral (ART) therapy (Option B+) and are initiated into the prevention of mother-to-child (PMTCT) protocol. Gaps at each step of the PMTCT continuum undermine the positive impact of lifelong ART. Challenges at the individual, interpersonal, community, and health facility-levels contribute to these gaps. A community-based mentor mother (cMM) program tested under the Mother-Infant Visit Adherence and Treatment Engagement(MOTIVATE!) Trial (NICHD R01 R01HD080477; ClinicalTrials.gov#14-0331) is a potential approach to address these challenges. The three manuscripts comprising this dissertation used qualitative and quantitative methods with the …