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Exopolysaccharide: A Multi-Faceted Role In Mycoplasma Pulmonis, Jeffrey R. Bolland Jan 2011

Exopolysaccharide: A Multi-Faceted Role In Mycoplasma Pulmonis, Jeffrey R. Bolland

All ETDs from UAB

The recently characterized exopolysaccharide of Mycoplasma pulmonis, EPS-I, has been identified as modulating the susceptibility to complement-mediated lysis and binding to host mucosal epithelium. M. pulmonis produces family of size- and phase-variable lipoproteins called Vsa. Previous evidence has strongly demonstrated that the length of the tandem repeat region of the M. pulmonis Vsa protein is associated with the susceptibility to the host innate immune system through complement-mediated lysis. Mycoplasmas producing a long form of Vsa, containing about 40 repeats, are resistant complement whereas strains that produce the short form of Vsa, 5 repeats or fewer, are susceptible. Furthermore, the size …

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Multilayered Nanostructured Diamond Coatings For Temporomandibular Joint Prostheses, Leigh Booth Jan 2011

Multilayered Nanostructured Diamond Coatings For Temporomandibular Joint Prostheses, Leigh Booth

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Disorders of the temporomandibular joint (TMJ) may lead to pain, discomfort and reduced function in many patients. When less invasive treatment methods have been exhausted, a TMJ prosthesis may be used to restore joint mobility and function. Currently available TMJ prosthesis designs feature metal-polyethylene or metal-on-metal wear couples; though these devices have been used to successfully restore joint function, the generation of wear debris may lead to adverse reactions at the implant site (such as inflammation or osteolysis). To further reduce wear and potentially increase the lifetime of these devices, nanostructured diamond (NSD) coatings on the articulating surfaces of Ti-6Al-4V …

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A Qualitative Multiple Case Study Exploring The Factors Influencing Middle Class African American Parental Choice In Education In Central Alabama, Paula G. Boyd Jan 2011

A Qualitative Multiple Case Study Exploring The Factors Influencing Middle Class African American Parental Choice In Education In Central Alabama, Paula G. Boyd

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One key issue facing urban schools is the mass exodus of middle class African American families to peripheral areas of the city center. Current research specific to Central Alabama documents how the creation of small school districts have affected both the out-migration of African Americans and the resegregation of urban schools; however, the analysis does not consider why middle class African American residents choose to live in a certain municipality. This qualitative study attempts to address the "why" aspect by exploring the perceptions of middle class African American parents in Central Alabama in regard to the educational choices they make. …

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Mechanisms And Consequences Of Thy-1 Shedding, John Edwin Bradley Jan 2011

Mechanisms And Consequences Of Thy-1 Shedding, John Edwin Bradley

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Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) is characterized by chronic fibrosis in the lung interstitium of unknown etiology, and causes death within 2 to 4 years after diagnosis. There are no clinical interventions save for lung transplantation that give any survival benefit. Aberrant collagen deposition and aggregates of proliferating fibroblasts and myofibroblasts called fibroblastic foci (FF) are the classic features of IPF. Therefore, the cell type most often implicated as pathogenic in IPF is the fibroblast, especially its differentiated phenotype, the myofibroblast. Fibroblasts are a remarkably heterogeneous cell type. Expression of the cell surface glycoprotein Thy-1 (Thymocyte differentiation antigen 1) delineates a …

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Estrogen Increases Stress Resilience And Hippocampal Synaptic Physiology In The Learned Helplessness Model Of Depression In Female Rats, Teruko Michelle Bredemann Jan 2011

Estrogen Increases Stress Resilience And Hippocampal Synaptic Physiology In The Learned Helplessness Model Of Depression In Female Rats, Teruko Michelle Bredemann

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A recent focus of psychiatric research is estrogen related mood disorders such as postpartum depression and major depressive disorder in women. It is now clear that women are more susceptible to depression in response to stress during reproductive events when ovarian hormones are low or fluctuating. Depressive episodes are characterized by feelings of helplessness and despair as well as learning and memory impairments that have been linked to the hippocampus. Thus, decreased functioning of hippocampal circuits likely contributes to the cognitive symptoms associated with depression. Preclinical research shows that stress, which triggers depressive episodes, decreases the ability of excitatory synapses …

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The Predictability Of C-Reactive Protein, Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2, And Depression On Later Health Outcomes In Patients Experiencing A First-Time Stroke, Mary King Brethour Jan 2011

The Predictability Of C-Reactive Protein, Lipoprotein-Associated Phospholipase A2, And Depression On Later Health Outcomes In Patients Experiencing A First-Time Stroke, Mary King Brethour

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Stroke is the third leading cause of death and the most common cause of neurologic disability for adults in developed nations. Strokes trigger an acute inflammatory response prompted by brain tissue injury at the infarct site and the surrounding ischemic penumbra raising plasma levels of inflammatory markers. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute-phase inflammatory marker, has been significantly correlated with infarct size and post-stroke complications. Lipoprotein-associated phospholipase A2 (Lp-PLA2) may also predict long-term cardiovascular risk in the stroke population. In addition to physiologic changes, up to 60% of all stroke survivors are known to experience depression, which may contribute to decreased …

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Mitochondrial Genetics And Function In Cardiovascular Disease Susceptibility, Jessica L. Fetterman Jan 2011

Mitochondrial Genetics And Function In Cardiovascular Disease Susceptibility, Jessica L. Fetterman

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While progress has been made in understanding the development and progression of cardiovascular disease (CVD), the mechanisms of CVD risk and initiation are not completely understood. It is widely accepted that CVD is the result of a combination of genetic and environmental factors but it is not known why some populations with otherwise similar risk factors appear more susceptible to CVD than others. It is also known that different strains of laboratory mice have distinct susceptibilities to CVD development. For example, C3H mice are resistant to diet induced atherogenesis whereas C57 animals are susceptible. We have also found that the …

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Experimental Determination Of Shielding Requirements For Pet Medical Facilities, Bradley Scott Brinkley Jan 2011

Experimental Determination Of Shielding Requirements For Pet Medical Facilities, Bradley Scott Brinkley

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Purpose: Shielding considerations are important for designing a positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT) imaging facility, because of the high energy (511 keV) of electron-positron annihilation photons. Since radiation emitted from patients administered PET radiopharmaceuticals includes lower-energy scattered photons, a given thickness of lead attenuates more of the radiation than it would for a monoenergetic beam of 511 keV photons. A more accurate determination of the effective attenuation coefficient of lead for the spectra of photon energies emitted from PET/CT patients could reduce the shielding requirements necessary to adequately protect public health. In this work, the spectra of energies emitted from …

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Role Of Ras Proteins In Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors, Nicole Marie Brossier Jan 2011

Role Of Ras Proteins In Malignant Peripheral Nerve Sheath Tumors, Nicole Marie Brossier

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Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumors (MPNSTs) arising in patients with neurofibromatosis type I (NF1) are null for the tumor suppressor neurofibromin, a negative regulator of signaling from both classic Ras (H-Ras, N-Ras and K-Ras) and R-Ras (R-Ras, R-Ras2/TC21, M-Ras/R-Ras3) subfamily members. Treatment of these tumors with Ras-targeted agents such as farnesyltransferase inhibitors has proven unsuccessful, likely due to the inability of these agents to successfully target all of the Ras isoforms regulated by neurofibromin. Thus, determining which Ras isoforms are critical for MPNST pathogenesis would be of therapeutic value. In this dissertation, we first review the clinical manifestations of NF1 …

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The Marriage Proposal In The Nineteenth-Century British Novel, Kimberly Ann Broughton Jan 2011

The Marriage Proposal In The Nineteenth-Century British Novel, Kimberly Ann Broughton

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The proposal scene, as utilized by Jane Austen, Charlotte Brontë, and Charles Dickens, is a volatile and instrumental moment in the course of the marriage plot. Entering the marriage conversation through the narrow window of the proposal scene provides a new understanding of the nineteenth-century British author's working commentary on marriage. In the nineteenth-century British novel, the marriage proposal becomes a finite moment that the author uses to encapsulate a couple's central challenge and/or crystallize one of the novel's prevailing tensions. Total bliss and contentment rarely appear in the proposal scene; in fact, more often than not, the proposal uncovers …

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Identification And Characterization Of Novel Adenosine Cleavage Enzymes In Mycobacteria, Kajal Buckoreelall Jan 2011

Identification And Characterization Of Novel Adenosine Cleavage Enzymes In Mycobacteria, Kajal Buckoreelall

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Tuberculosis (TB) is one of the leading infectious diseases in the world. An estimated one third of the world's population is infected with Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative pathogen of TB. With the emergence of drug resistant strains of the mycobacterium, and the HIV-TB coinfection epidemic, TB remains a global health emergency. Purine metabolism is an essential cellular component to all living cells. Previous studies have shown that differences exist between mycobacterial and human purine metabolism. One of the differences was in the metabolism of adenosine (Ado), whose cleavage was observed in mycobacterial cells whereas Ado cleavage is inefficient in human …

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Responses Of Two Heterokonts (Classes Phaeophyceae And Bacillariophyceae) To Environmental Variables Throughout Their Microenvironments, Anthony Philip Bucolo Jan 2011

Responses Of Two Heterokonts (Classes Phaeophyceae And Bacillariophyceae) To Environmental Variables Throughout Their Microenvironments, Anthony Philip Bucolo

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Behavioral responses to variations in the microenvironments of motile spores of the Antarctic epiphyte E. antarctica and the motile epiphytic diatom, Navicula sp. were investigated. Most macroalgal species along the Western Antarctic Peninsula are chemically defended against predation and are also mostly devoid of free living filamentous algal epiphytes. However, one endo/epiphyte, Elachista antarctica, is found growing exclusively out of the palatable rhodophyte Palmaria decipiens. Choice and no choice feeding assays with tissues of epiphyte and host were conducted in three different trials with four amphipods commonly found on P. decipiens to test whether meso-grazers prefer the host over the …

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Neighborhood Context As A Predictor Of Nursing Home Placement Among Older Adults, David Russell Buys Jan 2011

Neighborhood Context As A Predictor Of Nursing Home Placement Among Older Adults, David Russell Buys

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Persons who are aging face an increased risk of adverse health events and decreased levels of personal competencies, potentially inhibiting their ability to age in place. Sometimes, nursing home placement (NHP) may be imperative, especially if persons experience environmental docility-- an incongruence of their physical capacity with their environment. This study links the neighborhood disadvantage literature with Lawton's environmental press and environmental docility theories to examine how the environment interacts with individual level variables to impact likelihood of NHP. Findings suggest that there is not a direct link between living in a disadvantaged context and likelihood of NHP, but that …

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The Traveling Bartender, Sara Christine Campbell Jan 2011

The Traveling Bartender, Sara Christine Campbell

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The Traveling Bartender is the first third of a longer, novel-length work exploring the challenges of relationships between real people in fantastical settings. The characters are faced with real life challenges in the relationships between spouses, partners, family, and friends.

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Trust Or Consequences: The Relationship Between Faculty Trust And Faculty Learning Communities In Higher Education, Gaye R. Wilson Jan 2011

Trust Or Consequences: The Relationship Between Faculty Trust And Faculty Learning Communities In Higher Education, Gaye R. Wilson

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The purpose of this study was to investigate relationships between FLC membership and faculty trust in higher education colleagues and faculty trust in higher education administration in public and private universities in the United States. This quantitative study examines trust in colleagues and trust in administration in higher education, two factors of faculty trust that Hoy, Tschannen-Moran and others have shown to contribute to the relationship of teacher trust in administration and colleagues, collaboration, and to positive student outcomes in K-12 public schools. Grounded in trust theory as conceptualized by Castelfranchi and Falcone (2010) and using Hoy and Miskel's (2008) …

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Statistical Methods In The Analysis Of Copy Number Variation Data, Nathan Wineinger Jan 2011

Statistical Methods In The Analysis Of Copy Number Variation Data, Nathan Wineinger

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Copy number variation is a significant form of genetic variation that has been shown to influence many traits. However, current methods used to estimate copy number variation are imprecise and prone to errors. This property is demonstrated in a study examining copy number variation in African Americans recruited into the Hypertensive Genetic Epidemiology Network study, and who were genotyped on the Affymetrix 6.0 array. The effect this has on downstream association analyses is explored, an alternative methods are proposed. Finally, a method is proposed that uses linkage disequilibrium between copy number variants and single nucleotide polymorphisms to improve the accuracy …

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The Impact Of Stressful Neighborhoods On The Mental Health Of Emerging Adolescents, Vicki P. Winstead Jan 2011

The Impact Of Stressful Neighborhoods On The Mental Health Of Emerging Adolescents, Vicki P. Winstead

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Life within the ecological context of a disadvantaged and disordered neighborhood is characterized by daily exposure to chronic stressors which are often outside the realm of control of the individual and have negative consequences for the mental health of its residents and in particular, adolescents Using data from Healthy Passages, a multilevel, multi-method longitudinal study which examines health trajectories of adolescents over a ten year period, this paper examines whether daily exposure to a threatening environment in disadvantaged and disordered neighborhoods lead to depression in young people who are on the verge of adolescence. The current study tested the relationships …

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Daoist Elements In Cai Guo-Qiang's Inopportune And Head On, Kelley Wockenfuss Jan 2011

Daoist Elements In Cai Guo-Qiang's Inopportune And Head On, Kelley Wockenfuss

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This thesis explores the Daoist elements in two of contemporary Chinese artist Cai Guo-Qiang's (1957 - ) largest installations to date, Inopportune (2004) and Head On (2006). Comprising multi-media works including gunpowder paintings, simulated animal forms, and firework displays, the two installations explore themes related to the global threat of terrorism in Inopportune and the history of the Berlin Wall in Head On. In exploring these themes, Cai attempts to create a globally accessible dialogue by emphasizing universal elements related to the forces of creation and destruction. For this reason he implements the Daoist characteristics of yin and yang in …

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Enamel Demineralization Around Bonded Orthdontic Appliances Using Resin Coatings, Michael Brett Wood Jan 2011

Enamel Demineralization Around Bonded Orthdontic Appliances Using Resin Coatings, Michael Brett Wood

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Introduction: Orthodontists work to achieve a favorable esthetic and functional result, only to have the outcome tainted by the presence of demineralization upon appliance removal. The presence of WSL's is a disappointment to both orthodontists and patients. Several products have been developed to prevent this unfortunate damage to tooth structure, including "Opalseal" and "Ortho-coat". Opalseal is a 38% filled primer that releases and recharges fluoride. Ortho-coat is a fluoride releasing, light cure, hydrophilic resin that coats both the bracket and tooth surface preventing decalcification. The aim of this study was to investigate the barrier effect of Opalseal and Ortho-coat compared …

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Nobody Knows How It Got This Good, Amos Jasper Wright Jan 2011

Nobody Knows How It Got This Good, Amos Jasper Wright

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"Nobody Knows How It Got This Good" is a collection of three interlocked short stories set in Birmingham, Alabama. Drawing heavily upon urbanism, economics, Marxism and Birmingham's social and urban history, as well as a varied literary tradition including authors as diverse as James Joyce and Barry Hannah, these lyrical narratives aspire to universal themes and concerns by exploring the particularity of place and subjective experience. The first story, "The Jaguars of Southtown," is narrated by a used car salesman. "Wells Fargo" is narrated by an executive investment banker on the anniversary of the 1929 stock market crash and "Tilting …

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High Resolution Analysis Of Clonal Pluripotent Stem Cell Lentiviral Gene Therapy In A Mouse Model Of Beta-Thalassemia, Rui Yang Jan 2011

High Resolution Analysis Of Clonal Pluripotent Stem Cell Lentiviral Gene Therapy In A Mouse Model Of Beta-Thalassemia, Rui Yang

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Gene therapy for hematopoietic disorders using viral vectors has achieved significant clinical benefit. However this approach has been held back by adverse genotoxic events due to random viral integration into the genome. A better understanding of viral transgene chromosomal position effects is critical for the design of safer viral vectors and clinical protocols. However, detailed analysis of viral transgenes is hampered by the heterogeneity of the viral-transduced bone marrow cell populations. I hypothesized that viral transduction of pluripotent stem cells would enable the clonal analysis of viral transgene expression, safety, and efficacy both in vitro and in vivo. Here I …

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Mining Canonical Views From Internet Image Collections, Lin Yang Jan 2011

Mining Canonical Views From Internet Image Collections, Lin Yang

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Recent years have seen an explosion of internet image collections. The explosion was brought about by the popularity of photo sharing sites such as Flickr and Picasa Web Albums, where millions of internet users upload their personal photos online and share these photos with the public. The wealth of images provides an excellent resource for perceiving the world through the eyes of others. However, the gigantic volume of images also poses a challenge to the consumption of this unorganized visual information. In this dissertation, we present research on canonical view mining. Given an image collection, we leverage a combination of …

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Role Of Vdr In Host Immune Response To Porphyromonas Gingivalis Infection, Gulam Yezdani Jan 2011

Role Of Vdr In Host Immune Response To Porphyromonas Gingivalis Infection, Gulam Yezdani

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Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the etiologic factors of periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by the destruction of periodontal connective tissue and the subsequent loss of alveolar bone. Epidemiological and genetic studies have indicated an association between periodontal disease and the vitamin D system. However, little is known regarding how vitamin D signaling regulates the inflammatory immune process of this disease. The purpose of the study was to understand the role of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in regulating the host response to P. gingivalis infection by using a dual chamber mouse model. These chambers served both as …

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Assessment Of Mitochondrial Stressors On Cellular Bioenergetics, Blake Reid Zelickson Jan 2011

Assessment Of Mitochondrial Stressors On Cellular Bioenergetics, Blake Reid Zelickson

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The mitochondrion plays a central role in the maintenance of bioenergetic function through the production of ATP and essential metabolites. The development of mitochondrial bioenergetic defects is a hallmark of important pathologies such as cardiovascular and liver diseases. It is well established that a decrease in mitochondrial function, typically of 20-40%, is associated with the progression of these pathologies. Causal relationships have been more difficult to establish because of the challenge of assessing mitochondrial function in a cellular setting. Specifically, it is known that mitochondria function at less than their maximal respiratory capacity and the remainder, known as reserve or …

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Piggybac Transposon Mutagenesis In Human And Mouse Stem Cells, Tingting Zhang Jan 2011

Piggybac Transposon Mutagenesis In Human And Mouse Stem Cells, Tingting Zhang

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The most common genetic diseases worldwide, £] thalassemia and Sickle Cell Anemia (SCA) result from mutations in the adult £] globin gene. One promising therapeutic method to ameliorate these diseases is to reactivate the endogenous fetal f× globin gene. I hypothesize that an erythroid mutagenic transposon system can be used to activate f× globin gene expression. To test this hypothesis three lines of genetically modified mice were generated and bred together. The first is a transgenic mouse line that contains a multicopy array of erythroid mutagenic PiggyBac (PB) transposons. The second transgenic mouse line expresses the PB transposase (TPase) from …

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Parallel Confocal Recording Of Localized Retinal Photoreceptor Responses, Qiuxiang Zhang Jan 2011

Parallel Confocal Recording Of Localized Retinal Photoreceptor Responses, Qiuxiang Zhang

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The primary purpose of my thesis research is to validate parallel confocal recording of intrinsic optical signals (IOSs) correlated with localized retinal photoreceptor responses. IOS imaging promises a noninvasive method for retinal disease detection and treatment evaluation. However, IOS identification of localized retinal dysfunction is still challenging due to the complexity of retinal structure. Stimulus-evoked IOSs have been observed in both photoreceptors and inner retinal neurons. IOS pattern of retinal photoreceptor layer may contain cross-talk noise from inner retinal layers. In order to detect localized retinal photoreceptors response without significant contamination from other retinal volumes, we designed a rapid functional …

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Modeling Incident And Emergency Management From A Regional Perspective, Ozge Cavusoglu Jan 2011

Modeling Incident And Emergency Management From A Regional Perspective, Ozge Cavusoglu

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Traffic incidents and natural or man-made disasters can impose significant safety risks and disruptions on traffic flows, often resulting in non-recurring congestion. Congestion, in turn, may impede the ability of EMS (Emergency Medical Services) to provide timely response to those in need of medical attention. Thus, it is important to understand the potential impacts of incidents and emergencies on traffic network operations and develop response strategies with a potential of minimizing such impacts on traffic operations, emergency response and the safety of the traveling public. The objective of the dissertation was twofold: a. Study incident management options and benefits from …

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Pathophysiology Of Dyt1 Dystonia: Targeted Mouse Models, Chad Christopher Cheetham Jan 2011

Pathophysiology Of Dyt1 Dystonia: Targeted Mouse Models, Chad Christopher Cheetham

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DYT1 dystonia is an inherited movement disorder caused by a trinucleotide deletion (DeltaGAG) in the DYT1 (TOR1A) gene, which codes for the torsinA protein. Dr. Yuqing Li's laboratory previously reported the characterization of a DYT1 dystonia mouse model, a knock-in carrying DeltaGAG in Dyt1 (KI), which displays a motor learning deficit of motor skill transfer. We report here that this motor learning deficit was reversed with an anticholinergic drug, trihexyphenidyl (THP), a drug commonly used to treat movement problems in dystonia patients. We further show a potential substrate for the pathophysiology, a reduction in D2 receptors in the striatum in …

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Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities, Stephanie Chopko Jan 2011

Exploration Of Attitudes Toward Individuals With Intellectual Disabilities, Stephanie Chopko

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Individuals with disabilities, and with intellectual disabilities/mental retardation (ID/MR) in particular, have a long history of being overlooked in many different areas, including research, service provision, health care, education, and treatment. Recent research has suggested that the attitudes that are held by individuals in the general population toward individuals with ID/MR has not changed significantly over the past 50 years, both nationally and internationally. Attitudes can be powerful. Social psychologists have documented how the perception or attitude that an individual holds about another can lead to confirmation of that perception, even if it is not valid, by means of the …

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The Devil You Know, Laura M. Clements Jan 2011

The Devil You Know, Laura M. Clements

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The Devil You Know is part of a larger work of creative nonfiction that chronicles an unprofessional relationship between a student and her undergraduate professor and advisor. While living with her professor over the course of a year, the student experiences and explains her participation in each of the seven deadly sins.

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