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Unraveling The Lymphatic Landscape In The Normal And Injured Kidney, Gelare Ghajar-Rahimi Sep 2024

Unraveling The Lymphatic Landscape In The Normal And Injured Kidney, Gelare Ghajar-Rahimi

All ETDs from UAB

The lymphatic vascular system, tasked with managing interstitial fluid homeostasis, clearing cellular debris, and trafficking immune cells, is a promising yet largely untapped area for therapeutic intervention in kidney diseases. Clinically, kidney biopsies of patients with acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) show evidence of injury-associated lymphangiogenesis. Recent pre-clinical studies have established that manipulation of the lymphangiogenic response greatly impacts the pathophysiology of serval kidney diseases. However, conflicting results in the literature, unresolved knowledge gaps, and technical challenges hinder the development of lymphatic-modifying therapeutics. Here, we interrogate the long-term effects of ischemia-reperfusion and aging in AKI and …

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Biomedical Informatic Analysis Of Critical Care Outcomes & Chronic Sequelae Of Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Michael John Patton Sep 2024

Biomedical Informatic Analysis Of Critical Care Outcomes & Chronic Sequelae Of Sars-Cov-2 Infection, Michael John Patton

All ETDs from UAB

Infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the causative pathogen of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), resulted in an unprecedented loss of life over the past 4 years and has left an indelible mark on nearly every facet of medical care. Unlike pandemics of the 20th century or earlier, global adoption of electronic medical records (EMR) in the decade prior to the COVID-19 pandemic provided the bedrock for real-time healthcare innovation guided by biomedical informatics research. Mirroring the needs of healthcare providers, early informatics studies focused on identifying biomarkers and risk factors for severe presentations of COVID-19 and their …

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Factors Associated With Early Onset Anal Cancer And Facilitators And Barriers To Screening Among Men Living With Hiv And Their Providers In The Deep South: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Anna Junkins Sep 2024

Factors Associated With Early Onset Anal Cancer And Facilitators And Barriers To Screening Among Men Living With Hiv And Their Providers In The Deep South: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Anna Junkins

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For my dissertation work, I aimed to 1) determine the occurrence of early onset (diagnosis at <50 years) anal cancer and the impact of HIV infection and other risk factors, and 2) utilize a mixed methods research approach to identify and explain factors associated with screening among men living with HIV (MLHIV) and their providers. In Aim 1, I used logistic regression to estimate the odds of early onset cancer by sociodemographic and clinical characteristics among anal cancer patients in the Alabama cancer registry from 2012-2018. Among 519 patients, 17.7% were diagnosed at <50 years. Male sex, Black race, and HIV infection were associated with younger age at diagnosis. Black patients had a 4-fold increased odds of early onset anal cancer compared to White patients and disproportionately lived in areas with higher social vulnerability. In Aim 2, I used logistic regression to estimate the odds of anal cancer screening by sociodemographic and sexual risk characteristics among MLHIV using retrospective survey data from 1917 Clinic in 2018. Among 1,114 men, 52% had received an anal pap within one year of completing the survey. Men who were screened were more likely to have multiple sexual partners. Heterosexual men had lower odds and men who reported unprotected anal sex had higher odds of screening. Older Black men were less likely to be screened. In Aim 3, I used thematic analyses to identify themes related to health beliefs, barriers and facilitators, and perceived and evaluated need of screening using in-depth interviews among MLHIV and their providers. Benefits of screening among MLHIV were early detection and awareness about one’s body. Suggestions for overcoming barriers to screening among providers included screening guidelines, patient education, inclusion of screening into routine care, and self-collection. Among men that were aware of HPV-associated cancers, there was perceived risk and desire to receive HPV vaccination. Individuals who are male, Black, or living with HIV may be at increased risk of developing anal cancer younger. Among MLHIV, improving education about HPV-associated cancer, and offering self-collected screening as part of routine care could facilitate screening in the South.

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Phylogenetic Diversity Of Flagellin Differentiates Commensal Gut Bacteria That Induce Distinct Intestinal Epithelial Cell Responses, Melissa Simone Jennings Sep 2024

Phylogenetic Diversity Of Flagellin Differentiates Commensal Gut Bacteria That Induce Distinct Intestinal Epithelial Cell Responses, Melissa Simone Jennings

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Flagellins belonging to bacteria from the Lachnospiraceae family are immunodom-inant antigens in inflammatory bowel disease. Flagellin, the basic unit of flagella utilized by bacteria for motility, is recognized by the host via toll-like receptor 5 (TLR5). Due to the diversity of flagellated bacteria, we investigated if this diversity results in distinct interac-tions between the bacteria and the host. Phylogenetic analysis on over 200 flagellin se-quences, primarily from Lachnospiraceae bacteria, revealed two divergent clusters we refer to as Group 1 (G1) and Group 2 (G2). In gnotobiotic mice colonized with G1 or G2 bacte-ria, both groups induce colonic interleukin 10 (IL-10)-producing …

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Spatiotemporal Characterization Of The Immune Response In Acute Kidney Injury And Pig-To-Human Kidney Xenotransplantation, Matthew David Cheung Sep 2024

Spatiotemporal Characterization Of The Immune Response In Acute Kidney Injury And Pig-To-Human Kidney Xenotransplantation, Matthew David Cheung

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The kidney is an intricate organ responsible for filtering our blood, maintaining bone health, regulating blood pressure, and numerous other vital functions. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a temporary loss of kidney function, affecting up to 20% of hospitalized and 60% of critically ill patients. Despite the high mortality rate and frequency of occurrence, targeted therapies to treat AKI have not been successfully developed. Unresolved AKI confers an increased risk for the development of chronic kidney disease (CKD) and ultimately end-stage kidney disease (ESKD). Although dialysis can sustain life for individuals with ESKD, transplantation is the only definitive cure. With …

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Effect Of Correlation Boundaries On Collinearity And Bias In Ordinary Least Square Regression, Yumo Xue Sep 2024

Effect Of Correlation Boundaries On Collinearity And Bias In Ordinary Least Square Regression, Yumo Xue

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Linear regression (LM) stands as one of the prevailing methods used to assess the association between a dependent variable and independent variables, typically estimated using ordinary least squares. However, this approach frequently faces obstacles when applied to biomedical data, due to the issue of correlated independent variables (collinearity). Collinearity is a potential issue in observational studies, where researchers might omit less significant correlated variables from their model. This is often guided by the rule of thumb that a Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) of 10 indicates severe collinearity. Our hypothesis is that relying on this rule of thumb is arbitrary, and …

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Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study To Determine The Prevalence Of Periodontal Bone Loss As A Function Of Age In The Predoctoral Clinic Patient Population, Lincoln Nguyen Sep 2024

Cross-Sectional Retrospective Study To Determine The Prevalence Of Periodontal Bone Loss As A Function Of Age In The Predoctoral Clinic Patient Population, Lincoln Nguyen

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Age has a significant effect on the body’s ability fight off disease, recover, and maintain collagen structures, and it has been observed that older adults have a higher prevalence of periodontal diseases. Studies have shown that age is a risk factor for alveolar bone loss. However, there is a lack of research done looking at if this is a linear progression or if there is a specific age that susceptibility increases. The aim of this study is to investigate (1) changes in radiographic bone loss in varying age groups in the University of Alabama patient population and (2) to evaluate …

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Improving Direct Oncolytic Effect Of Oncolytic Hsv To Overcome Therapeutic Resistance Of Brain Tumors, Sam Edward Gary Sep 2024

Improving Direct Oncolytic Effect Of Oncolytic Hsv To Overcome Therapeutic Resistance Of Brain Tumors, Sam Edward Gary

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Central nervous system tumors, especially malignant brain tumors, account for the most years of potential life lost in adults and children with cancer. Malignant brain tumors are typically fatal cancers due to their highly aggressive nature, inability to obtain gross total resection, location in sensitive brain areas, and intra- and intertumoral heterogeneity, making therapeutic targeting difficult. High-grade glioma (HGG), malignant brain tumors of glial cell origin invariably recur due to intrinsic and adaptive resistance mechanisms against standard therapies. Therefore, novel treatments that overcome therapeutic resistance are desperately needed. One promising approach is oncolytic viruses (OVs), which achieve tumor regression by …

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Uncovering The Contribution Of Desmoplakin Isoforms To Desmosome Structure And Function, Krishna Patel Sep 2024

Uncovering The Contribution Of Desmoplakin Isoforms To Desmosome Structure And Function, Krishna Patel

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UNCOVERING THE CONTRIBUTION OF DESMOPLAKIN ISOFORMS TO DESMOSOME STRUCTURE AND FUNCTION KRISHNA PATEL MULTIDISCIPLINARY BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE ABSTRACT Desmosomes are cell-cell junctions that maintain the integrity of tissues that experience significant mechanical stress, such as the skin and heart. Desmosomal plaque proteins are connected to the intermediate filaments by desmoplakin (DP), and genetic variants in DP are associated with several skin and heart pathologies, including erythrokeratodermia and arrhythmogenic cardiomyopathy. DP contains three domains: an N-terminal plakin head, a central rod, and an intermediate filament-binding C-terminal tail. Furthermore, DP has three splice isoforms (DPI, DPIa, and DPII) that differ only in the …

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Biochemical Characterization Of Rna Polymerases Across The Domains Of Life, Stephanie Lois Cooper Sep 2024

Biochemical Characterization Of Rna Polymerases Across The Domains Of Life, Stephanie Lois Cooper

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RNA polymerases perform the essential function of RNA synthesis from a DNA template. This process, known as transcription, is critical for all living species and a key point for regulation of gene expression. The function of RNA polymerases allow species from all domains of life to not only survive, but also respond to environmental changes such as heat and nutrient deprivation. In biological taxonomy, the highest classification is domain. The three domains are Eukarya, Bacteria, and Archaea. The domain Eukarya contains all eukaryotic organisms, ranging from yeast, to plants, to metazoans. Bacteria and Archaea are both prokaryotic domains, the species …

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Drug Resistance Mechanisms Of Trichomonas Vaginalis, Keonte Graves Sep 2024

Drug Resistance Mechanisms Of Trichomonas Vaginalis, Keonte Graves

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Trichomonas vaginalis is a facultative anaerobic parasitic protozoan and the main causative agent of the most common non-viral sexually transmitted infection, trichomoniasis. Trichomoniasis affects both men and women but is more commonly observed in women. The majority of infections are asymptomatic, but those with symptomatic infections often experience malodorous and discolored vaginal discharge, pruritis, dysuria, and/or dyspareunia. T. vaginalis infections have been associated with multiple adverse health outcomes including an increased risk of acquiring HIV and other STIs, infertility, adverse birth outcomes, and cervical cancer. The only current FDA-approved treatments come from the 5-nitroimidazole class of drugs (metronidazole, tinidazole, and …

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Identifying Links Between Cardiovascular Disease And Insomnia Using Human Genetics And Drosophila Models, Farah Abou Daya Sep 2024

Identifying Links Between Cardiovascular Disease And Insomnia Using Human Genetics And Drosophila Models, Farah Abou Daya

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Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death worldwide and its in- cidence remains on the rise globally. In addition to other factors, CVD is associated with insomnia, which is the most common sleep disorder. It is defined as the persistent diffi- culty in initiating and/or maintaining sleep. Insomnia symptoms were found to double the risk of incident CVD. However, the specific shared causal pathways remain poorly un- derstood, making it difficult to identify new therapeutic targets that ameliorate insomnia- related CVD risks. Recently, genome-wide association studies (GWAS) identified genet- ic loci significantly associated with insomnia symptoms. Here, we …

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Investigating Molecular Mechanisms Behind Neuronotypic Gba1 Mutations In Lewy Body Dementias, Casey Mahoney-Crane Sep 2024

Investigating Molecular Mechanisms Behind Neuronotypic Gba1 Mutations In Lewy Body Dementias, Casey Mahoney-Crane

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Nonmotor deficits are present in nearly all Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients, with ~80% of these patients developing dementia. Importantly, expression of the severe GBA1 L444P heterozygous mutation increases the risk for Parkinson’s disease devel-opment by 5.43 times compared to mild mutation carriers. Currently, many PD treat-ments predominately focus motor symptoms, while treatments for nonmotor symptoms, such as visual-spatial difficulties and dementia, focus on symptom management and continue to remain elusive. Therefore, understanding the molecular mechanisms behind these nonmotor symptoms is essential for the development of effective therapeutics leading to slower disease progression. The work presented in this dissertation sought to …

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Health Systems' Adaptations To "Disruptive Primary Care Models", Jolynn R. Suko Sep 2024

Health Systems' Adaptations To "Disruptive Primary Care Models", Jolynn R. Suko

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Since the 1990s, hospitals and health systems have built primary care networks to establish market share and ensure sustainability. At this same time, the under?performance of the U.S. primary care system in terms of quality, service, and access has been widely documented. Value-based payment models have emerged. These trends created opportunities for new primary care market entrants. These market entrants may erode the primary care base of established health systems. This study examined how health systems may be adapting to a subset of new, disruptive primary care market entrants or disruptive primary care models. This study included disruptive primary care …

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The Role Of Micromobility In The Changing Urban Mobility Landscape, Mostafa Jafarzadehfadaki Sep 2024

The Role Of Micromobility In The Changing Urban Mobility Landscape, Mostafa Jafarzadehfadaki

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The growing prevalence of micromobility has significantly impacted urban mo-‎bility, offering a sustainable and convenient alternative for short trips in urban settings. ‎As cities grapple with increasing congestion, pollution, and the demand for efficient ‎mobility solutions, micromobility options like e-scooters and e-bikes have emerged as ‎popular modes of transportation, particularly in densely populated areas. While earlier ‎research has contributed to understanding micromobility and its impact on urban set-‎tings, significant knowledge gaps still exist. Therefore, a comprehensive study is neces-‎sary to explore the multifaceted dimensions of e-scooter adoption, usage patterns of mi-‎cromobility, and their implications for urban transportation systems and traffic …

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O-Glcnacylation And Modulation Of Gabaergic Transmission, Shekinah Phillips Sep 2024

O-Glcnacylation And Modulation Of Gabaergic Transmission, Shekinah Phillips

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Changes in the strength of GABAergic transmission is heavily influenced by posttranslational modifications and allosteric modulators like benzodiazepines and neurosteroids. O-GlcNAcylation (O-GlcNAc) is a post-translational modification that is tightly regulated by O-GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O-GlcNAcase (OGA), which add or remove the O-GlcNAc moiety of β–N-acetylglucosamine to serine and threonine residues on proteins, respectively. Published reports from our lab have demonstrated that an acute increase in O-GlcNAcylation induces a long-term depression (LTD) of evoked GABAAR mediated IPSCs (eIPSCs) and reduces the amplitude and frequency of spontaneous IPSC (sIPSC) in hippocampal principal cells, however the mechanism in which this occurs is …

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Clinical Practice And Perspectives On Addressing Biomechanical Maladaptations After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction And A Potential Novel Solution, Kyle Southall Sep 2024

Clinical Practice And Perspectives On Addressing Biomechanical Maladaptations After Anterior Cruciate Ligament Reconstruction And A Potential Novel Solution, Kyle Southall

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Gait is one of the most daily cyclic events an otherwise healthy human will experience. After an orthopedic injury such as an anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) injury that is commonly reconstructed (ACLR), gait can be largely affected, both acutely after injury, and long-term affecting the long-term knee health of the individual. As those individuals who sustain an ACL injury and subsequent reconstruction are commonly young, typically in their teens to early 30 years of age, the long-term effects of an ACLR procedure can have decades of impact on their respective quality of life. This dissertation used a variety of experimental …

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Individualized Cellular Response To Influenza-A Infection, Abel Lopez Sep 2024

Individualized Cellular Response To Influenza-A Infection, Abel Lopez

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Influenza A Virus (IAV) presents a significant threat to global health, causing millions of severe cases and substantial mortality annually. This study uses single-cell RNA sequencing to investigate the individualized cellular response to IAV infection in human bronchial epithelial cells (HBECs). We employed air-liquid interface (ALI) cultures to model the respiratory epithelium and differentiated HBECs into basal, ciliated, secretory (goblet/club), and rare cell types (Ionocytes). Following IAV infection, we analyzed transcriptional changes across these cell types, focusing on differential gene expression and pathway activation. Our results highlight the variability in IAV infection and the distinct cellular responses. Ciliated cells, the …

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The Effects Of Acute Beetroot Juice Intake On Glycemic And Blood Pressure Responses When Controlling For Medication In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes, Andrew Tyler Sep 2024

The Effects Of Acute Beetroot Juice Intake On Glycemic And Blood Pressure Responses When Controlling For Medication In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes, Andrew Tyler

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The prevalence of cardiometabolic diseases has continued to rise within the United. Physical activity and poor dietary choices are two factors that are known to contribute to the rise in cardiometabolic diseases. Thus, it is critical to identify strategies that may mitigate the negative impact from these behaviors. Several recent studies have shown that consumption of dietary inorganic nitrate (diNO3) may improve vascular health and glucose regulation in animal models and some human studies. However, the improvements in glucose regulation have yet to be corroborated in humans with type 2 diabetes (T2D). Thus, the purpose of this study was to …

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Measuring Resilience In Black Families, Destiny Shanell Kelly Sep 2024

Measuring Resilience In Black Families, Destiny Shanell Kelly

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Black families play a unique role in navigating risk and adversity, operating as a source of various protective factors to combat challenges faced. Given the historical and current role that racism plays in the everyday lives of Black individuals, culturally specific protective mechanisms have manifested as a defense for these encounters. Many of these protective factors are instilled at the family level, helping all family members maintain healthy functioning or be resilient, such as social support, ethnic-racial socialization, and racial identity. However, current measures of family resilience do not incorporate these culturally relevant protective mechanisms into the measures, preventing Black …

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Elementary Cone Photoreceptor Signals In V1 Neurons, Cyril Nyankerh Sep 2024

Elementary Cone Photoreceptor Signals In V1 Neurons, Cyril Nyankerh

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Daylight vision is initiated by the activation of cone photoreceptors in the retina in response to light, thereby generating spatial and temporal patterns of photoreceptor signals. Subsequent to this, the signals are combined and processed in downstream neural circuits, ultimately contributing to the formation of receptive fields of neurons in primary visual cortex (V1). Recent advances in adaptive optics (AO) have enabled imaging of the retina with near diffraction limited resolution, allowing for the probing of the visual system's processing at the resolution of individual cones. The central theme of this dissertation characterizes quantitively and qualitatively the physiological responses of …

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Prenatally-Derived Macrophages Regulate Choroidal Health And Are Depleted In Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Seth Daniel Fortmann Sep 2024

Prenatally-Derived Macrophages Regulate Choroidal Health And Are Depleted In Age-Related Macular Degeneration, Seth Daniel Fortmann

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The ocular choroid is the pigmented vascular bed that lies immediately deep to the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE). The principal function of the choroid is to supply the photoreceptors with oxygen and nutrients and to remove waste products from the outer retina. In age-related macular degeneration (AMD), the choroid is dysfunctional as evidenced by hallmark histopathological findings including accumulation of extracellular lipid and vasodegeneration of the choriocapillaris. How and why the choroid fails in AMD remains incompletely understood. To this end, much attention has been paid to the RPE and endothelium but less is known about the contributions of other …

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Blood Transfusion Factors That Affect The Outcomes Of Patients Who Experienced Trauma-Related Hemorrhage, Justin Lee Miller Sep 2024

Blood Transfusion Factors That Affect The Outcomes Of Patients Who Experienced Trauma-Related Hemorrhage, Justin Lee Miller

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Trauma is a leading cause of death in the United States and in the world. It is the leading cause of death of Americans between the ages of one to 45 years old and is expected to increase due to increase over the next ten years. Most trauma deaths are attributed to hemorrhage and are considered preventable. The current standard of care for trauma-related hemorrhage (TRH) is damage control resuscitation using either whole blood (WB) or blood components (BC) in a ratio of 1 unit of red blood cells to 1 unit of plasma to 1 unit of platelets. The …

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Sleep And Stigma: Novel Factors In The Relationship Between Weight Status And Cognitive Function?, Lindsay M. Stager Sep 2024

Sleep And Stigma: Novel Factors In The Relationship Between Weight Status And Cognitive Function?, Lindsay M. Stager

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U.S. obesity rates are rising. Impaired cognitive function (CF) negatively correlates with obesity and may impact food consumption. However, the mechanisms of action demand assessment. This study aimed to identify adiposity-based differences in adolescent CF and food consumption and determine the roles of sleep and stigma within these relationships. Adolescents completed questionnaires including the Behavior Rating Inventory of Executive Function and Brief Version of the Stigmatizing Situations Inventory assessing weight stigma. Actigraphy and food diaries assessed typical sleep duration and food consumption. Participants then completed two sleep conditions in a randomized order: adequate (AS; >8 hours asleep) and restricted (RS; <5 hours asleep) sleep. Each condition was preceded by a 2-night washout period (9 hours in bed per night) and followed by a morning lab visit involving a cognitive battery and self-serve breakfast. Adolescents with healthy weight (HW) demonstrated greater performance-based episodic memory compared to adolescents with overweight/obesity (OWOB), but self-reported poorer inhibition, self-monitoring, and planning/organizing. Findings were similar in models using total body fat percent (TBF%) as a predictor, and stigma did not mediate these relationships. Adiposity did not relate to typical self-reported food consumption. RS predicted poorer performance-based global cognition, fluid cognition, and cognitive flexibility for adolescents with OWOB and improved cognitive flexibility among adolescents with HW. Adolescents with OWOB also had poorer attention compared to adolescents with HW following RS, while there were no group differences following AS. Findings were similar in models using TBF% as a predictor. However, adolescents with TBF% elevated above 42, also had poorer processing speed following RS, and the relationship between sleep and attention did not vary based on TBF%. RS also predicted decreased consumption of total calories, calories from processed foods, and fat for both BMI groups. This study increases understanding of the relationships among weight, CF, and food consumption, and the roles of sleep and stigma within these relationships. Adolescents with OWOB were more vulnerable to the negative cognitive effects of RS and RS predicted decreased consumption of calories and fat. Promotion of improved sleep hygiene and duration may be critical for the cognitive health of adolescents with OWOB.

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Elucidating The Nanoscale Architecture Of The Desmosome, William F. Dean Sep 2024

Elucidating The Nanoscale Architecture Of The Desmosome, William F. Dean

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Desmosomes are intercellular anchoring junctions that are crucial for maintaining the mechanical integrity of tissues routinely subjected to large forces, such as epithelia and cardiac muscle. Adhesion in desmosomes is mediated by a specialized class of transmembrane glycoproteins known as the desmosomal cadherins (DCs). Defects in desmosomal adhesion are associated with severe disease of the heart and skin and are frequently linked to mutations in the DCs. It is therefore important to understand the relationship between DC architecture and desmosome function. Accordingly, several groups have attempted to elucidate DC architecture—primarily using electron tomography (ET). However, ET studies of the desmosome …

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Pubertal Timing In Relation To Epigenetic Aging And Mortality Risk In Young Adulthood, Marlon Goering Sep 2024

Pubertal Timing In Relation To Epigenetic Aging And Mortality Risk In Young Adulthood, Marlon Goering

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Early pubertal timing is associated with adverse health outcomes in adulthood, which may be mediated by DNA methylation-based epigenetic changes associated with accelerated aging and mortality risk. However, only few studies examined links between pubertal timing and epigenetic aging and these focused mainly on females, relied on retrospective reports of single pubertal events, and did not examine protective factors and underlying mechanisms. Thus, this dissertation examined two distinct dimensions of pubertal timing (i.e., phenotypical pubertal timing relative to age and self-perceived pubertal timing relative to peers) in relation to subsequent epigenetic aging and mortality risk in adulthood together with sex …

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The T Cell Response In A Mouse Model Of Multiple System Atrophy, Nicole Jane Corbin-Stein Sep 2024

The T Cell Response In A Mouse Model Of Multiple System Atrophy, Nicole Jane Corbin-Stein

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Multiple System Atrophy (MSA) is a fatal and rare demyelinating synucleinopathy, characterized by the accumulation of alpha-synuclein (α-syn) in glial cytoplasmic inclusions (GCIs) within oligodendrocytes. This condition is marked by neuroinflammation, demyelination, and neurodegeneration in areas showing GCI pathology, involving antigen presentation by myeloid cells and infiltration of CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. Despite strong evidence of neuroinflammation in post-mortem MSA tissue, the specific mechanisms driving the disease pathogenesis remain elusive. In prior research using the Olig001-SYN mouse model, which involves the modified AAV vector, it was shown that depleting CD4+ T cells can reduce neuroinflammation and demyelination. Notably, this …

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Testicular Phenotypes Of Rdhe Dko Mice, Aja Slay Sep 2024

Testicular Phenotypes Of Rdhe Dko Mice, Aja Slay

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The bioactive form of vitamin A, all-trans-retinoic acid (RA), plays a critical role in cell differentiation, metabolism, and cellular proliferation by regulating gene transcription. RA signaling is critical during embryogenesis to ensure proper development and during adulthood for tissue maintenance. Disruption of the RA signaling pathway induced by vitamin A deficiency and genetic defects in vitamin A metabolizing enzymes results in embryonic malformations. Previous studies implicate the short-chain dehydrogenase/reductase (SDR) family members as important in RA synthesis. Among the SDR family are retinol dehydrogenase epidermal 2 (RDHE2) and RDHE2-similar (RDHE2S)- collectively RDHE. To gain insight into how RDHE influences the …

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Understanding Factors Influencing Employee Behaviors Towards Cybersecurity Awareness And An Alternative Training Method, Ryan L. Allen Sep 2024

Understanding Factors Influencing Employee Behaviors Towards Cybersecurity Awareness And An Alternative Training Method, Ryan L. Allen

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BACKGROUND : Healthcare organizations face an unprecedented challenge in protecting vital operations and patient data from cyber-attacks such as phishing attacks targeting employees. Current training programs generally consist of online courses as part of annual compliance training, meeting the requirements for HIPAA and most cyber-insurance companies; however, phishing continues to be the primary cause of healthcare data breaches. Combining aspects of the Theory of Planned Behavior and Organizational Commitment Theory, this study focuses on factors influencing employee behavior and ability and willingness to appropriately respond to phishing emails. This study introduces an additional training component focusing on short, targeted delivery …

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Hope In Hyperbaric Medicine: A New Approach To Treat Neurological Injury, Lucas Andrew Lowe Sep 2024

Hope In Hyperbaric Medicine: A New Approach To Treat Neurological Injury, Lucas Andrew Lowe

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Hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) has emerged as a promising adjunctive treatment approach for various neurological diseases. This literature review explores the role of HBOT in the treatment of spinal cord injuries. The review discusses the mechanisms of action by which HBOT exerts its effects on neural tissues, such as oxygen delivery, anti-inflammatory actions and neuroprotection. The analysis also highlights the findings from cellular biology, animal studies and clinical trials, offering insights into the potential benefits of HBOT in improving neurological injury outcomes and enhancing patients' quality of life. Furthermore, it addresses the safety considerations and guidelines for the application of …

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