Digital Commons Network^™

Role Of Amyloid Precursor Protein In Neuroregeneration On An In Vitro Model In Alzheimer's Patient-Specific Cell Lines, Lina S. Bedoya Martinez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Alzheimer's disease (AD) leads to neurodegeneration resulting in cognitive and physical impairments. AD is denoted by accumulation of intracellular neurofibrillary tangles, known as tau, and extracellular plaques of the amyloid beta protein (Aβ). Aβ results from the proteolytic cleavage of the amyloid precursor protein (APP) by β- and gamma-secretases in the amyloidogenic pathway. Although, Aβ has been widely studied for neurodegeneration, the role of APP in both, the healthy and diseased conditions, has not yet been entirely understood. The function that APP has in neural stem cell (NSC) proliferation, differentiation, and migration during adult neurogenesis has been previously studied. Additionally, …

Capillary Electrophoresis Buffer Optimization For Plant Tissue Analysis, Rebekah Davis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) is an analytical chemistry approach that allows for the efficient separation by charge of diverse classes of compounds for analysis, including secondary metabolites. The goal of this work was to optimize a buffer system for plant tissue analysis using micellar electrokinetic chromatography (MEKC), and by doing so to understand the role of buffer components in the performance of this form of capillary electrophoresis. In this experiment we implemented a factorial design to optimize buffer composition for separating plant tissue and secondary metabolites. The results of this experiment will be used to optimize a universal buffer for MEKC …

Total Salivary Protein Concentration And Its Correlation To Dental Caries, Emyli Peralta

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Introduction: According to the World Health Organization, dental cavities are the number one chronic disease in children. Saliva coats the teeth all day and can serve many functions to maintain and protect teeth. Saliva has many proteins that can be both detrimental and essential to the preservation of tooth enamel. The purpose of this study is to determine if a correlation exists between the total protein concentration in saliva and the prevalence of cavities in the mouth. We hypothesized that there would be a positive correlation with total salivary protein concentration and the prevalence of cavities in the participant. Methods: …

Exploring Galvanic Replacement As A Method To Engineer Peroxidase-Mimics Nanoparticles, Kuryn T. Magloire

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Peroxidase enzymes are of critical importance within the scientific community for their applications in biosensing assays. In a living system, natural peroxidases function as catalysts in the oxidation of peroxide (e.g., H2O2) - a harmful byproduct of aerobic processes and convert them into harmless compounds. Such an ability allows peroxidases to serve as labels in biosensing assays, where they are conjugated to antibodies and accurately produce a detection signal by catalyzing substrates. However, due to intrinsic limitations, namely instability, Peroxidase made of proteins substantially inhibit broader applications.

Alternatively, nanoparticles produced from noble metals have been found to exhibit peroxidase-like abilities …

The Effect Of Family And Social Support On Suicidal Ideation In Jails, Megan L. Small

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Suicidal ideation and associated behaviors are up to four times more common among jail inmates than the general community (Jenkins et al., 2005; Hayes, 1986). Research finds a variety of social, biological, and psychological factors interact to influence suicidal thoughts of incarcerated individuals (Bonner, 1992; Borrill et al., 2005). Particularly, psychological distress such as, depression and feelings of hopelessness, along with loss of social support and decreased feelings of connectedness have been linked to suicidal ideation and behaviors (Moscicki, 1997; Hawton & van Heeringen, 2009). Recently, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2017) has emphasized the importance of connectedness …

Health Literacy And Health Information Seeking Behaviors Of Student At The University Of Central Florida, Abigail Mcwhorter

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Health literacy is the skill needed to acquire, read, understand, and use health related information to make informed healthcare decisions. It is also the skill needed to follow and maintain a treatment plan. Having a high or adequate health literacy level is important because possessing poor health literacy skill can have a negative impact on one's overall health. This research is important because there are few studies available on the health literacy levels of undergraduate college students. The majority of health literacy studies focus on at risk or underserved populations with low education. Previous studies have shown that education is …

Do Cognitive Metaphors Moderate The Effectiveness Of Protective Behavioral Strategies?, Skyler M. Hoover

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Past research has shown a positive relationship between alcohol consumption and alcohol related consequences. Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) are able to lower the negative effects of drinking alcohol, however, the protective effects of PBS at times is moderated by situational circumstances or individual differences. This study looks at the cognitive metaphor of being a Head or Heart person and the moderating effects it has on PBS and alcohol consumption and alcohol related consequences. Participants completed the AUDIT-C to measure drinking habits, the PBSS to asses strategy usage, the YAAQC to measure drinking problems and a self-report single item measure for …

The Envelope Stress Response In Sedimentation-Resistant Escherichia Coli, Neel K. Shah

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Previous research discovered the existence of sedimentation-resistant mutants of E. coli. Genomic studies revealed that these mutants resisted sedimentation due to independent modifications to genes that influenced the Rcs signal transduction pathway, causing increased secretion of an exopolysaccharide capsule comprised primarily of colanic acid. The Rcs system is responsible for detecting envelope stressors; consequently, ampicillin and osmotic stress were used to perturb the cellular envelope and study the response of the mutants compared to wild-type cells. It was found that the overproduction of colanic acid in the mutants confers some resistance to envelope stress; however, the mutants still behaved …

Overview Of Direct Thrombin Inhibitors For Use In Staphylococcus Aereus Infections, Joseph C. Risler

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The pathogenicity and intractable nature of the microorganism Staphylococcus aureus (SA) has been long documented and highlighted by many health care agencies, with emphasis on its ability to exploit the human coagulation system to deadly effect. Two drugs from a class of inhibitors known as Direct Thrombin Inhibitors (DTI) have been shown to have a substantial effect on the enzyme secreted by SA known as Staphylocoagulase (SC), but up until now the application of this potential treatment has been limited. This paper strives to supply an overview of these clinical studies and propose a novel protocol for testing DTI's on …

Latinx Student Success In Higher Education: Genres, Racialization, And Generic-Racial Interactions., Delia Garcia

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using a transformative mixed methods approach, I explored the ways in which genres and racial projects are constitutive of each other and contribute to the racialization of Latinx students in higher education and result in disparate outcomes for Latinx students. Latinx research participants revealed the myriad ways in which they are racialized throughout the education system and the numerous ways they encounter whiteness on a daily basis. I focused on two genres in particular: the federally mandated race and ethnicity categories and their intersections with Big Data/Predictive Analytics (BDPA) projects at the university. Rhetorical Genre Studies (RGS) and Racial Formation …

University Of Central Florida Libraries, Annual Report 2018-2019, University Libraries

Libraries' Documents

No abstract provided.

Collaborative Artificial Intelligence Algorithms For Medical Imaging Applications, Naji Khosravan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, we propose novel machine learning algorithms for high-risk medical imaging applications. Specifically, we tackle current challenges in radiology screening process and introduce cutting-edge methods for image-based diagnosis, detection and segmentation. We incorporate expert knowledge through eye-tracking, making the whole process human-centered. This dissertation contributes to machine learning, computer vision, and medical imaging research by: 1) introducing a mathematical formulation of radiologists level of attention, and sparsifying their gaze data for a better extraction and comparison of search patterns. 2) proposing novel, local and global, image analysis algorithms. Imaging based diagnosis and pattern analysis are "high-risk" Artificial Intelligence …

Characterization Of Rare-Earth Doped Thermal Barrier Coatings For Phosphor Thermometry, Quentin Fouliard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Thermal Barrier Coatings have been extensively used to protect and insulate the metallic components in turbine engines from extreme environments to achieve higher turbine inlet temperatures, resulting in an increase in combined engine cycle efficiency, lowering NOx emissions and fuel consumption. Additionally, as the major failure mechanisms determining lifetime are thermally activated during engine operation, uncertainty in temperature measurements affects lifetime prediction. Early detection of Thermal Barrier Coatings spallation symptoms, associated with local delamination induced temperature changes, can reduce forced engine outages. Further improvements are envisioned with the development of more reliable measurement techniques. For this purpose, Phosphor Thermometry has …

The Psychosocial Effects Of Solid Organ Transplantation On Living Donors: A Literature Review, Christopher G. Evans

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Historically the source for most organ donations were from the cadavers of deceased donors. Over time living organ donation has become an important way to address the shortage of organ availability. The purpose of this literature review is to explore the psychosocial effect the organ donation process has on the living donor. The body's physiological response to organ donation had been well documented. However, the psychosocial effect of donation is now being more appreciated and studies are being done to try to elucidate the factors that can influence the living donor's response to the transplant pro The ultimate goal of …

Metabolic Effects Of 17a-Estradiol Are Growth Hormone Independent And Sex Specific, Silvana Sidhom

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Aging is a major risk factor for metabolic syndromes and type two diabetes. With growing elderly populations worldwide and increasing incidence of age-related diseases there is a great need to develop pharmacological interventions that would delay aging and protect from age-related diseases. 17-alpha estradiol (17α-E2) is an epimer of the primary female sex hormone estradiol and has been shown to extend lifespan and downregulate markers of age-related metabolic dysfunction in male mice. Because 17α-E2 does not induce feminization in males it holds potential as a novel therapeutic in humans for age-related metabolic dysfunction. Importantly, we have previously shown that 17α-E2 …

Mechanism Of Nanogp8 In Glioblastoma Multiforme, Jonhoi Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an incurable brain tumor, with patients only expecting to live 15 to 16 months post-diagnosis with the most current treatments options including surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. How GBM resist treatment is still not very well known. However, cancer stem cells (CSCs), a subset of cells in GBM tissue considered responsible for therapeutic resistance and the poor patient prognosis. NANOG, a homeobox gene, is responsible for maintaining pluripotency of embryonic stem cells and is observed in CSCs. NANOGP8, a retrogene in the NANOG family is expressed in CSCs and provides cells with stem-like characteristics previously observed in …

Identification And Functional Characterization Of A Long Non-Coding Rna Associated With Prostate Cancer, Md Faqrul Hasan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the western world. Although early stage prostate cancer is treatable late stage, more specifically, metastatic and drug resistant prostate cancers are mostly incurable. The failure of current treatments obligates the research community to explore novel areas in prostate cancer biology and find better therapeutic targets. Emerging evidences show that non-coding RNAs specifically long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) play regulatory roles in various cellular processes and are frequently dysregulated in cancer including prostate cancer. These aberrantly expressed lncRNAs mostly with unexplored genetic information may drive cancer progression. Previous studies done in our …

Development Of A Functional Testing Platform For The Sensory Segment Of The Neuromuscular Reflex Arc, Alisha Colon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Investigations of human biology and disease have been hindered by the use of animal models. The information obtained from such studies often results in clinically irrelevant results and drug trial failures. Additionally, several governing bodies have been formulating legislation to move away from animal models and toward more ethical and efficient testing platforms for drug discovery and cosmetic research. As an answer to these issues, "body-on-a-chip" systems have been a rapidly developing field which easily recapitulates in vivo functionality, providing a more relevant, repeatable, and ethical testing platform to better predict biology. These systems can be used as human-based testing …

Filling The Gaps: Common Bottlenose Dolphin (Tursiops Truncatus) Population Dynamics, Structure, And Connectivity Within Florida Panhandle Bays, Sounds, And Estuaries, Christina Toms

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

At the time of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in 2010, very little was known about the inshore bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) populations hit hardest by the spill. Without previous population demographic data impacts were challenging to assess. My dissertation was designed to build research capacity moving forward by helping to fill data gaps in the western Florida Panhandle. The first study presented here resulted in the first system-wide assessment of seasonal abundance, survival, and site fidelity patterns of bottlenose dolphins that inhabit the Pensacola Bay system. In contrast to a previous study that reported only 33 dolphins, results from …

Biomass Density Based Adjustment Of Lidar-Derived Digital Elevation Models: A Machine Learning Approach, Khalid Abdelwahab

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Salt marshes are valued for providing protective and non-protective ecosystem services. Accurate digital elevation models (DEMs) in salt marshes are crucial for modeling storm surges and determining the initial DEM elevations for modelling marsh evolution. Due to high biomass density, lidar DEMs in coastal wetlands are seldom reliable. In an aim to reduce lidar-derived DEM error, several multilinear regression and random forest models were developed and tested to estimate biomass density in the salt marshes near Saint Marks Lighthouse in Crawfordville, Florida. Between summer of 2017 and spring of 2018, two field trips were conducted to acquire true elevation and …

An Assessment Of Biosorption Activated Media For The Removal Of Pollutants In Up-Flow Stormwater Treatment Systems, Andrew Hood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nitrogen and phosphorus are often the limiting nutrients for marine and freshwater systems respectively. Additionally, stormwater often contains elevated levels of pathogens which can pollute the receiving water body and impact reuse applications [1-4]. The reduction of limiting nutrients and pathogens is a common primary target for stormwater best management practices (BMPs) [5]. Traditional BMPs, such as retention/detention treatment ponds require large footprints and may not be practical in ultra-urban environments where above ground space is limited. Upflow filters utilizing biosorption activated media (BAM) that can be placed underground offer a small footprint alternative. Additionally, BAM upflow filters can be …

Development Of In Vitro Point Of Care Diagnostics (Ivpcd) Based On Aptamers Integrated Biosensors, Nileshi Saraf

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The global market for the medical diagnostic industry is worth 25 billion dollars in the United States and is expected to grow exponentially each year. Presently available methods for biodetection, such as immunoassays, chemiluminescence and fluorescent based assays are expensive, time consuming and require skilled labor with high-end instruments. Therefore, development of novel, passive colorimetric sensors and diagnostic technologies for detection and surveillance is of utmost importance especially in resource constrained communities. The present work focusses on developing novel and advanced in vitro biodiagnostic tools based on aptamer integrated biosensors for an early detection of specific viral proteins or small …

A Theoretical, Numerical, And Experimental Study Of Trapped Droplet Coalescence And Mixing, Passively And Under Electric Field, Alireza Karbalaei Baba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Passive and electrically active coalescence and mixing of pairs of trapped squeezed nanodroplets were studied in this work. PDMS-glass microfluidic devices were designed and fabricated using multilevel photolithography technique. Flow-focusing method was used to generate nanoliter droplets of died glycerol inside oleic acid. The effect of factors such as flow rates and their ratio, interfacial tension, and viscosities on the size and frequency of droplet generation was studied and concluded by demonstrating the capillary number effect. A passive droplet trapping technique based on minimizing the surface energy of the droplets was employed to minimize the shear flow effects and increase …

Investigation Of Coastal Vegetation Dynamics And Persistence In Response To Hydrologic And Climatic Events Using Remote Sensing, Subrina Tahsin

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal Wetlands (CW) provide numerous imperative functions and provide an economic base for human societies. Therefore, it is imperative to track and quantify both short and long-term changes in these systems. In this dissertation, CW dynamics related to hydro-meteorological signals were investigated using a series of LANDSAT-derived normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) data and hydro-meteorological time-series data in Apalachicola Bay, Florida, from 1984 to 2015. NDVI in forested wetlands exhibited more persistence compared to that for scrub and emergent wetlands. NDVI fluctuations generally lagged temperature by approximately three months, and water level by approximately two months. This analysis provided insight …

The Exploration Of A Nonbinary Gender Identity In The Visual Work Of Claude Cahun, Miranda Debrine

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Claude Cahun, born Lucy Renee Mathilde Schwob, was an author, playwright, surrealist photographer and anti-fascist activist who spent most of their lives in France and the Isle of Jersey from their birth in 1894 to their early death in 1954. Throughout their career they went by various aliases and pennames, settling on Claude Cahun in 1917, a gender-ambiguous name in French. While they considered themselves a writer before a photographer it is their photography that they are probably best known for today, becoming popular for their "modern" content that explores gender identity and its presentation. These self-portraits, along with their …

The Metaphysics Of The Collective Unconscious, Oscar B. Jablon

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis shows how the metaphysical features of the Jungian collective unconscious can be demystified by viewing the collective unconscious through the lens of functionalism. The features of the collective unconscious that will be investigated in this thesis are the possibility of the collective unconscious being present in every person, the archetypes as being the formal feature of some of our modes of perception, psychic energy, and synchronicity. By admitting functionalism, Jung doesn't need to posit synchronicity to explain how it is possible for the archetypes to interact with the body. This is because functionalism can view mental states as …

Women's Work: Materializing Feminist Thought In Lucy Lippard's C.7,500 Exhibition, Francesca Felicella

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This thesis aims to explore the c.7,500 exhibition curated by Lucy Lippard as a culminating point for Lippard's activism in the arts, and more specifically, women's representation in conceptualism. Understanding Lippard's political involvement within the arts and the networks established before c.7,500 further illuminates the activist approach of an all-women's art show. Throughout Lippard's career, she has advanced the exposure of women artists through her curatorial endeavors and written criticism. Her Numbers series is continuously referenced today though little documentation of each show has been easily accessible. By looking at ephemeral artifacts and artworks from c.7,500 I aim to establish …

Black Feminist Articulations Of Race & Gender Within The Horror Film Genre, Katherine M. Ortiz

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The intent of this paper is to explore a black feminist perspective within the film horror genre. A black feminist perspective investigates how black women are portrayed within cinematic horror. It serves as a method to further articulate the particularities of race & gender within cinema. If we leave the cinematic space without a structural model of intervention, then we are left with film that remains unchallenged for ostracizing black women. The paper argues that black women become articulated through themes of motherhood, death, and sexuality.

Culture, Power, And Control: A Discussion Of Autonomy And Responsibility, Loren A. Alonso

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The purpose of this thesis is to explore how power, control, autonomy, and responsibility are active participants in culture and daily human life. First, I discuss two understandings of power, structured and diffused. I examine some different techniques of power that help support and reproduce the current power systems in place and how historically, these systems have been predominantly unjust. I then discuss an alternative view of power that incorporates both structured and diffused forms of power. I explain why this new understanding of power could be more useful in actively shifting the current unjust power structures present in the …

Silent Takeover! Invasive Plants In Florida, Katherine Harris, Linda Walters, Samantha Yuan

CEELAB Children's Books

Native plants in Florida create the beautiful, wild world around us. But they are in danger! Hundreds of invasive plant species are silently taking over Florida's natural environment. These unwelcome plants grow aggressively and can overgrow native plants and animals in many different habitats. Invasive plants are so widespread that there may even be some growing in your backyard. Look inside to learn about Florida's invasive plant problem. Find out about some of the most harmful invasive plants, the problems they cause to natural ecosystems, and how you can help to manage invasive plants to help keep Florida native and …