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The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program And Its Effect On Drug Overdose Mortalities, Charles Lee Jan 2024

The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program And Its Effect On Drug Overdose Mortalities, Charles Lee

All ETDs from UAB

The opioid epidemic is a growing concern, and the health and economic impacts on rural and urban counties are increasing. Between 1999 and 2019, approximately 841,000 people died from drug overdoses involving heroin, synthetic opioids, and prescribed opioids with 71,000 dying in 2019. This study examined the relationship between drug overdose mortalities and three independent variables, (a) Medicaid expansion, (b) Years PDMP active, and (c) Academic detailing engagement. Results of this study will contribute to the literature by determining if the Medicaid expansion, years prescription drug monitoring programs active, and academic detailing engagement decrease drug overdose mortalities. This study includes …


The Effect Of The Chemical And Physical Properties Of Cotton On The Retention Of Spermatozoa, Brynnen Hendrix Jan 2024

The Effect Of The Chemical And Physical Properties Of Cotton On The Retention Of Spermatozoa, Brynnen Hendrix

All ETDs from UAB

Studies have shown that spermatozoa persist on cotton fabric under various conditions after being washed multiple times. The purpose of this study was to observe the number of sperm cells removed from cotton fabric over the course of multiple wash cycles. This study also explored how various treatment methods impact the rate of removal and number of cells removed. In this study, sperm cells were counted using a hemacytometer to estimate the average number of cells in a 20 µL semen stain. Twenty stains were prepared on cotton fabric and washed in a microfuge tube with 200 µL of reverse …


Development Of Radiochemistry Of 52mn For Pet Imaging Applications, James Mokaya Omweri Jan 2024

Development Of Radiochemistry Of 52mn For Pet Imaging Applications, James Mokaya Omweri

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


The Role Of Altered Cell-Cell Communication Between Glia And Neurons In Alzheimer’S Disease, Tabea Marga Soelter Jan 2024

The Role Of Altered Cell-Cell Communication Between Glia And Neurons In Alzheimer’S Disease, Tabea Marga Soelter

All ETDs from UAB

Alzheimer’s disease is the most prevalent neurodegenerative disease and is characterized by progressive memory loss and cognitive decline, affecting behavior, speech, and motor abilities. The neuropathology includes the formation of extracellular amyloid-β plaques and intracellular neurofibrillary tangles of phosphorylated tau. Additionally, neurons become functionally impaired before degenerating and dying. While neuronal loss is a disease hallmark, glia maintain neuronal health and homeostasis through cell-cell communication with neurons. Cellular crosstalk is mediated through the release of chemical intermediates (i.e., ligands), which are taken up by cell surface membrane receptors. Previous studies have shown dysregulation of global cell-cell communication patterns and communication …


Optical Absorption Of Defects In Aluminum Nitride, Mackenzie Siford Jan 2024

Optical Absorption Of Defects In Aluminum Nitride, Mackenzie Siford

All ETDs from UAB

Aluminum nitride (AlN) is an ultrawide bandgap semiconductor material known for its applications in high power microelectronic and optoelectronic devices due to its high thermal conductivity and high electrical resistivity. Point defects are known to hinder the material’s properties and are therefore a subject of interest in semiconductor materials research. The samples used in this work were grown by physical vapor transport (PVT) at Hexatech and they exhibit amber and clear coloration as well as a nonuniformity of charge, which was investigated. Experiments were carried out by electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) and photo-EPR spectroscopy in order to detect the defect …


Growing Need For A Standardized Response To Radiopharmaceutical Extravasations, Michael Richard Drelich Jan 2024

Growing Need For A Standardized Response To Radiopharmaceutical Extravasations, Michael Richard Drelich

All ETDs from UAB

Extravasations are medical occurrences where an injected or infused pharmaceutical is unintentionally deposited into the soft tissue near the injection site, rather than into the bloodstream. With radiopharmaceuticals, extravasations can result in potentially large radiation doses to skin and tissue. The current rate of extravasations in clinical settings is estimated to be between 3-23%. In the interest of patient safety, a clearer understanding of the dosimetry and differences in extravasation scenarios to simplify dose estimation is needed. Similarly, the NRC is considering modifying regulations to include extravasations as reportable medical events rather than to continue considering them as patient interventions. …


Towards A Biobehavioral And Social-Structural Model Of Inflammation And Executive Function In Pediatric Obesity: A Pilot Longitudinal Study, Kathryn P. King Jan 2024

Towards A Biobehavioral And Social-Structural Model Of Inflammation And Executive Function In Pediatric Obesity: A Pilot Longitudinal Study, Kathryn P. King

All ETDs from UAB

Pediatric chronic health conditions (CHCs) prevalence has increased post-COVID- 19, and CHCs affect children’s psychosocial development while representing significant family and societal financial burden. Interventions addressing CHC outcomes and psychosocial sequelae would benefit from examining and targeting biobehavioral and social-structural influences on such outcomes. Chronic inflammation and executive function (EF) deficits represent cross-cutting biobehavioral processes, promising novel targets, are vulnerable to social-structural influences, and common across CHC populations. Pediatric obesity represents a model CHC to examine, given its strong ties to chronic inflammation, EF deficits, health behavior, and SES, in addition to its increased prevalence in the wake of COVID-19. …


Education Attainment And Health: Outside The Gender Binary, Brianna Patterson Jan 2024

Education Attainment And Health: Outside The Gender Binary, Brianna Patterson

All ETDs from UAB

Transgender and gender nonbinary individuals, hereafter referred to as trans, report worse health outcomes than trans individuals whose gender identity matches their sex assigned at birth, hereafter referred to as cisgender (Bauer, Hammond, Travers et al. 2009, Cicero, Reisner, Merwin et al. 2020). Past research has indicated that social determinants of health, such as education attainment, may be responsible for these inequities (Low 2006, The Lancet Public 2020). Education’s influence on health is well known from previous research, but the association is not distributed equally. In the United States (US) educational system, state and local governments have control, not the …


Environmental Influences On The Physiology Of Cnidarians And Their Symbionts, Shelby Gantt Jan 2024

Environmental Influences On The Physiology Of Cnidarians And Their Symbionts, Shelby Gantt

All ETDs from UAB

Corals and other cnidarians maintain complex symbioses that include photosynthetic endosymbiotic dinoflagellates (Symbiodiniaceae), protozoans, fungi, bacteria, archaea, and other metazoans, collectively known as the holobiont. The stability of these associations is crucial for holobiont resilience and adaptation to environmental conditions and are the results of long-term ecological and evolutionary processes. Environmental factors such as light availability, seasonal environmental fluctuations, and warmer, more acidic conditions can disrupt these symbiotic associations and alter holobiont functioning. To understand the influence of different environments on cnidarian host and symbiont physiology, two framework coral species (Acropora palmata and Orbicella faveolata) from nursery-raised and wild populations …


The Efficiency Impact Of Gershgorin Circle Theorem For Feature Extraction In Computer Vision And Biomedical Signal Analysis, Sahaj Anilbhai Patel Jan 2024

The Efficiency Impact Of Gershgorin Circle Theorem For Feature Extraction In Computer Vision And Biomedical Signal Analysis, Sahaj Anilbhai Patel

All ETDs from UAB

In graph theory, a fundamental problem arises when signals or images are transformed into graphs where they are subsequently represented in the form of matrices, typically as Adjacency or Laplacian matrices. As the number of the samples increases, the dimensionality of these matrices also increases, leading to the "curse of dimensionality." This increase in dimensionality poses significant computational challenges, particularly in biomedical signal analysis or computer vision applications, where the computational efficiency of large-scale data is crucial. Traditional methods of feature extraction and then clustering become computationally intensive and less effective in handling of high-dimensional data, underscoring the need for …


Exploring The Associations Between Cognitive Training, Social Determinants Of Health, And Driving Behaviors: A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Active Study, Katie Wheeler Jan 2024

Exploring The Associations Between Cognitive Training, Social Determinants Of Health, And Driving Behaviors: A Longitudinal Analysis Of The Active Study, Katie Wheeler

All ETDs from UAB

As the average lifespan increases, older adults are remaining independent into older ages than before. The ability to drive a vehicle is an essential part of daily living that helps older adults maintain independence. Cognitive training, specifically speed of processing training (SOPT), is an intervention that has consistently shown to benefit older adult’s driving abilities and driving behaviors. This dissertation examined the longitudinal association between cognitive training and primary driving location on crash risk across 20 years (Paper 1), investigated the effects of cognitive training and dosage on driving mobility across 10 years (Paper 2), and explored social determinants of …


Fundamentals Of Vehicle Modeling For Mobility And Maneuver, Jordan Whitson Jan 2024

Fundamentals Of Vehicle Modeling For Mobility And Maneuver, Jordan Whitson

All ETDs from UAB

The direction of research for off-road ground vehicles is an ever-growing interdisciplinary field. The strategies and modeling methods range from simple terramechanics mathematical models to complex terramechanics that involve the use of high-performance computing (HPC) systems with varying vehicle metric and performance analysis and information extraction. Current advanced methods based on terrain properties and dynamic models utilize conventional performance metrics that have been supported through decades of research. As automated driving systems (ADS) and unmanned ground vehicles (UGVs) research and development progress, more complexities are unraveled and present the need for novel directions of research. Whereas on-road vehicles have the …


Multi-Enclave Blockchain Architecture Integrating Useful Work For Member Selection In Committee-Based Consensus, Shawn C. Adams Jan 2024

Multi-Enclave Blockchain Architecture Integrating Useful Work For Member Selection In Committee-Based Consensus, Shawn C. Adams

All ETDs from UAB

Blockchains offer an alternative approach to centralized systems for data and record storage by using independently operated nodes in a distributed and decentralized network. Within a blockchain network, each node maintains an identical version of all data, without being directly controlled or managed by any centralized entity. Nodes maintain the synchronization of data through the network's consensus mechanism, a protocol built into the nodes to determine which node is given the right to append data to the network. Once chosen, the data added by the node is propagated to other nodes which update their local records to maintain synchronization. Common …


Identification Of The Synthetic Cannabinoids Bzo-Poxizid And Mda-19 Using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry, Samantha Way Jan 2024

Identification Of The Synthetic Cannabinoids Bzo-Poxizid And Mda-19 Using Gas Chromatography- Mass Spectrometry, Samantha Way

All ETDs from UAB

Synthetic cannabinoids are synthetic compounds created to mimic the effects of naturally derived cannabis. They are up to 100 times more potent than natural cannabis, and due to their cannabinoid-like activity, they are considered schedule one drugs in Alabama. They are also the most common new psychoactive substance in the state of Alabama. The possible threat to public health and their schedule one status makes it necessary to develop a method for the detection of these substances. BZO-POXIZID and MDA-19 are two synthetic cannabinoids of recent interest. This study was conducted to validate a method for the detection of these …


The Modification Of Single Domain Antibody Framework And Variable Regions To Impart Novel Pharmacodynamic And Pharmacokinetic Properties, Lucinda Ann Hall Jan 2024

The Modification Of Single Domain Antibody Framework And Variable Regions To Impart Novel Pharmacodynamic And Pharmacokinetic Properties, Lucinda Ann Hall

All ETDs from UAB

In recent years, nanobodies have become important theranostic molecules, and research has focused on improving their pharmacokinetics and binding for novel targets. Nanobodies are characterized by their high kidney uptake, leading to potentially unsafe exposure of the kidneys when delivering cytotoxic payloads. Researchers hypothesize that positively charged amino acids contribute to this kidney uptake. To address this, we assessed the impact of substituting lysine residues within the 2Rs15d HER2 nanobody scaffold to alanine on its in vivo pharmacokinetics using positron emission tomography (PET) imaging. We found that nanobodies bearing lysine-to-alanine substitutions maintained their affinity for HER2. Characterization of the K88A …


A Case Of Amyloidosis Presenting With Nephrotic Syndrome And Acute Renal Failure, Ahmed Ali, Ahmed Abdelhaleem, Farrah Ibrahim, Ali Hachem Jan 2024

A Case Of Amyloidosis Presenting With Nephrotic Syndrome And Acute Renal Failure, Ahmed Ali, Ahmed Abdelhaleem, Farrah Ibrahim, Ali Hachem

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


Psyched For Surgery — Preoperative Evaluation Of A Patient With Extensive Psychiatric History, Ashely Archer, Fizza Mahmood, Tarak Vasavada Jan 2024

Psyched For Surgery — Preoperative Evaluation Of A Patient With Extensive Psychiatric History, Ashely Archer, Fizza Mahmood, Tarak Vasavada

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


Id: Identifying Best Practices For Patients With Intellectual Disabilities, Jacqueline Beard, Nikki Ahuja, Yesenia Lopez, Meredith Lewis Jan 2024

Id: Identifying Best Practices For Patients With Intellectual Disabilities, Jacqueline Beard, Nikki Ahuja, Yesenia Lopez, Meredith Lewis

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Leading To Diagnosis Of Acute Post‐Infectious Glomerulonephritis In A Pediatric Patient: A Case Report, Samuel B. Hayworth, Desalyn L. Johnson, Erinn O. Schmit Jan 2024

Posterior Reversible Encephalopathy Syndrome Leading To Diagnosis Of Acute Post‐Infectious Glomerulonephritis In A Pediatric Patient: A Case Report, Samuel B. Hayworth, Desalyn L. Johnson, Erinn O. Schmit

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


The Mental Health Crisis In Schools, Madison Jeziorski, Clinton Martin, Zachary Gilliam, Janaki Nimmgadda Jan 2024

The Mental Health Crisis In Schools, Madison Jeziorski, Clinton Martin, Zachary Gilliam, Janaki Nimmgadda

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


A Calamity With The Mammary, Shelby Kaup, Elijah Fox Jan 2024

A Calamity With The Mammary, Shelby Kaup, Elijah Fox

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


It’S A Heartache: A Case Of Chlamydial Myocarditis, Abigail Zane, Aesha Patel, Kelsey Ivey Jan 2024

It’S A Heartache: A Case Of Chlamydial Myocarditis, Abigail Zane, Aesha Patel, Kelsey Ivey

UAB Huntsville Research Day - All Presentations

2024 clinical vignette poster


Use Of Psilocybin And Other Classic Psychedelics In Fibromyalgia: A Survey Study, Kathleen Hodgin Jan 2024

Use Of Psilocybin And Other Classic Psychedelics In Fibromyalgia: A Survey Study, Kathleen Hodgin

All ETDs from UAB

Psilocybin and other classic psychedelics may have potential for treatment of fibromyalgia, a chronic condition characterized by widespread musculoskeletal pain and other symptoms including fatigue, cognitive difficulties, and sleep problems. In this exploratory, descriptive study, an online survey was distributed among individuals with fibromyalgia to gather reports of any changes in pain related to past classic psychedelic use. Sixty-four participants with fibromyalgia completed the study, with most having used psilocybin mushrooms or LSD. In addition to recreational use and other reasons, use of psychedelics for mental health or pain-related reasons was frequently endorsed. Of the participants who reported experiencing any …


Examining Anti-Racist Attitudes In Maternity Care Workers, Angelina Aduke Toluhi Jan 2024

Examining Anti-Racist Attitudes In Maternity Care Workers, Angelina Aduke Toluhi

All ETDs from UAB

Racism in maternity care has been identified as one of the major contributors to the persistent racial disparities in maternal health outcomes in the United States (US). Antiracism is a term used to describe the practice of actively identifying and opposing racism with the goal of changing policies, attitudes, behaviors, and beliefs that continue to foster racist ideas and actions. The results of this convergent mixed method research study reveal that racism and other forms of racial discrimination during maternity care may lead to adverse pregnancy outcomes in Non-Hispanic Black (NHB) pregnant patients in Southern US. In the first aim, …


Non-Catalytic Regulators Of The Secretory Pathway, Peyton Vanwinkle Jan 2024

Non-Catalytic Regulators Of The Secretory Pathway, Peyton Vanwinkle

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This thesis focuses on two key questions: 1) how are bone development and regeneration regulated by the CREB3L1 transcription factor; and 2) what is the mechanism of action of the endoplasmic reticulum resident protein JAGN1, which when dysregulated, causes severe congenital neutropenia (SCN)? CREB3L1 regulates bone development and regeneration in mammalian models by facilitating the expression of COL1A1 and components of the secretory pathway required for collagen secretion. We generated two zebrafish models of Creb3l1 dysfunction (creb3l1ΔbZIP/ΔbZIP and creb3l1TA+/TA+). Both models showed that Creb3l1 functions in regulating col1a1a transcription and overall regenerate size are conserved in zebrafish. However, we also …


Screening For And Addressing Social Determinants Of Health In Hospitals Participating In Accountable Care Organizations, Heather Lee Jan 2024

Screening For And Addressing Social Determinants Of Health In Hospitals Participating In Accountable Care Organizations, Heather Lee

All ETDs from UAB

There is a growing recognition among hospitals, payers, and policymakers in the United States that addressing social needs of patients is important to improving quality of care, patient outcomes, and lowering health care spending. Accountable care organizations (ACOs) may be especially incentivized to address social needs of patients to meet population health goals related to patient outcomes and costs. This cross-sectional study used data from the American Hospital Association Annual Survey to explore to explore how hospitals participating in or leading ACOs are screening for and addressing individual-level HRSNs of patients and to understand the extent to which ACOs are …


The Multifaceted Role Of Neutrophil Heterogeneity In Covid-19 Pathogenesis, Marcus Darrell Davis Jan 2024

The Multifaceted Role Of Neutrophil Heterogeneity In Covid-19 Pathogenesis, Marcus Darrell Davis

All ETDs from UAB

COVID-19 is a respiratory illness caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. The disease is characterized by an excessive inflammatory response and dysfunction of the immune system triggered by immunopathological mechanisms. Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating leukocytes, playing a critical role in the pathogenesis of multiple inflammatory conditions. Several studies have demonstrated that neutrophils are key contributors to COVID-19 disease pathogenesis; however, their role in disease progression remains unclear. Here, we demonstrate immune dysregulation in COVID-19 patients characterized by a significant expansion of neutrophil numbers and reduced frequency of T-cell populations. We identify an immature …


Knocking At The Door: The Life And Legacy Of Dr. James Montgomery, Haley Eloise Wells Jan 2024

Knocking At The Door: The Life And Legacy Of Dr. James Montgomery, Haley Eloise Wells

All ETDs from UAB

The life and work of Black Birmingham cardiologist, Dr. James T. Montgomery, demonstrates the importance of viewing the history of health activism and Birmingham civil rights history as two interconnected histories that influenced each other. Traditionally, secondary scholarship on the Birmingham civil rights movement and scholarship on the history of healthcare have been treated as two separate areas of study. Scholars such as Glenn Eskew and Diane McWhorter have written extensively on the civil rights movement in Birmingham, but their scholarship excludes any comprehensive discussion of the fight for racial justice within Birmingham’s medical field. Conversely, scholars such as Thomas …


Unmasking Molecular Mechanisms Of Multiple Maladies Through Multiomic Methodologies, Luke Potter Jan 2024

Unmasking Molecular Mechanisms Of Multiple Maladies Through Multiomic Methodologies, Luke Potter

All ETDs from UAB

Much modern biomedical research is invested in determining causative molecular mechanisms and identifying potential therapeutics within human disease or injury. Traditional experiments such as over-expressing or “knocking out” the level of a gene’s abundance can determine the specific contribution of a single gene to a pathology and are a vital component of scientific research. However, taking a big picture approach through the application of ‘omics technologies can lead to a broader overall understanding of a pathology and can potentially generate numerous specific hypotheses to be tested using the more traditional molecular approaches. In this dissertation, transcriptomic and epigenomic technologies, measuring …


Barbara Dane: The Forgotten Activist, Jacob Kennedy Jan 2024

Barbara Dane: The Forgotten Activist, Jacob Kennedy

All ETDs from UAB

Barbara Dane is best understood as an unsung hero of the New Left and Folk Revival because since her graduation from high school in 1945, she has used every resource at her disposal to support and grow various movements. She has picketed for the labor movement, canvassed for the Progressive party, traveled to Mississippi to perform for the civil rights movement and SNCC, marched for peace as part of the anti-war movement, and performed and advocated for the Feminist movement throughout her lifetime. Dane has traveled the globe from war-torn Prague in 1947, Cuba in 1966, and Northern Vietnam in …