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Estrogen Regulation Of Daily Metabolic Rhythms In Female Mice, Oluwabukola Omotola

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Circadian rhythms are approximately 24-hour cycles of behavior, physiology, and gene expression. In mammals, these circadian rhythms are generated by clocks located in nearly every tissue in the body. The function of circadian clocks is to synchronize physiology and behavior with environmental cycles such as the light-dark cycle. After menopause, when circulating levels of estrogens are very low, women are more susceptible to obesity comorbidities such as metabolic syndrome and cardiovascular disease, suggesting that estrogens regulate these processes. Estrogens could protect females from metabolic dysfunction by regulating circadian rhythms. Consumption of diets that are high in fat contribute to obesity. …

The Revised Systematics And Paleoecology Of The Devonian Stemless Crinoid Genus Edriocrinus Hall, 1858, Catherine E. Herbert

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

New morphological observations of Edriocrinus Hall, 1858, enable a modern, holistic view of this unusual crinoid genus, previously included in the Superorder Flexibilia (Zittel, 1895) Wright et al., 2017. Re-analysis of Edriocrinus suggests that the genus should now be assigned to the Order ‘Dendrocrinida’ within the Magnorder Eucladida Wright, 2017 based on the five infrabasals, single radianal in the cup, absent anal sac, and non-pinnulate arms with rectangular uniserial brachials. Moreover, examination of the slight variations separating the current 14 Edriocrinus species indicates that these “species” are likely ecophenotypes. The current Edriocrinus species are revised based on firmly bound calyx …

Tryptophan-Like Fluorescence And Non-Point Source Pollution In Karst Basins, Inner Bluegrass Region, Kentucky, Ryan Dapkus

Theses and Dissertations--Earth and Environmental Sciences

Typically, the degree of fecal contamination of water is assessed by the concentration of thermotolerant coliforms, like E. coli. This method is time-consuming, taking > 18 hours between the start of incubation and subsequent enumeration. The current study examines the utility of monitoring tryptophan-like fluorescence (TLF) using in-situ fluorometers as a proxy for fecal contamination, particularly E. coli. Relative timing of discharge peaks and TLF peaks is considered, as well as differences in E. coli concentrations and major anion concentrations between two different basins that were monitored weekly. Results indicate that TLF is somewhat useful in the prediction of …

The Role Of Sox4 In Ocular Morphogenesis And Retinal Differentiation, Rebecca Petersen

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

Visual impairment ranges from mild forms that can be corrected with glasses to more severe cases that result in permanent loss of vision. Microphthalmia, anophthalmia, and coloboma (collectively referred to as MAC) account for 11% of cases of pediatric blindness and are a result of improper ocular morphogenesis. Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP) is a retinal degenerative disease that affects 1 in 3000 people worldwide. It is a progressive disorder that initially begins with loss of vision in low light settings due to rod photoreceptor degeneration but progresses to complete blindness upon loss of cone photoreceptors. Currently, there is no cure for …

Gender And Remittances: Lived Experiences Of Women In Oaxaca, Mexico, Araby Smyth

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation project analyzes the ways that migration and remittances, the money that migrants send to people in their place of origin, intersect with the political and social dynamics in an Indigenous community in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec region of Oaxaca, Mexico. Drawing on 16 months of ethnographic fieldwork, which included semi-structured interviews and participant observation alongside historical archival investigation, this dissertation examines the following questions: What international organizations, national government, and private sector policies govern remittances? How does Indigenous collective work and communal governance shape remittance management? How do the responsibilities of family members shift with migration and how …

"It's Not Rainbows And Unicorns": Regulated Commodity And Waste Production In The Alberta Oilsands, Hugh Deaner

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation examines the regulated oilsands mining industry of Alberta, Canada, widely considered the world’s largest surface mining project. The industrial processes of oilsands mining produce well over one million barrels of petroleum commodities daily, plus even larger quantities of airborne and semisolid waste. The project argues for a critical account of production concretized in the co-constitutional relations of obdurate materiality and labor activity within a framework of regulated petro-capitalism. This pursuit requires multiple methods that combine archives, participant observation, and semi-structured interviews to understand workers’ shift-to-shift relations inside the “black box” of regulated oilsands mining production where materiality co-constitutes …

Affective Registers Of Displacement: Eviction And Gentrification In Post-Earthquake Mexico City, Jess Linz

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

This dissertation contributes to understandings of the affective and emotional register of urban politics by analyzing how affective dynamics influence struggles over displacement in Mexico City amid rapid gentrification and in the wake of the 2017 earthquake. Drawing primarily on feminist and queer/cuir theory and trauma studies, I aim to show the relevance of an often-overlooked dimension of urban political struggles. This dissertation is based on data collected through ethnographic methods over the course of 2018-2021. The primary source of data is long-form semi-structured interviews, supported by participant observation in meetings, protests, and WhatsApp groups. The dissertation studies the following …

Elephants In The Room: Covid-19 Pandemic Political Ecologies Of Tourism In Tanzania, Helen C. Richardson

Theses and Dissertations--Geography

The COVID-19 pandemic brought forth unprecedented and ever-changing crisis and disruption to societies and economies around the globe.[1] As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to interrupt travel worldwide, the tourism industry, and the countries who rely on it as a major source of income, are in crisis. These processes have reconfigured economic capital flows and foreign investment in the global south. This is particularly the case in Tanzania, as tourism was Tanzania’s highest foreign exchange earner and accounted for 17% of Tanzania’s gross domestic product in 2019.[2] This project draws upon a political ecology framework to examine the Tanzanian …

Short Story Collection, Kevin Bond

Theses and Dissertations--English

This thesis consists of four pieces of short fiction workshopped as part of the Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing program at the University of Kentucky. Themes and topics explored include familial dynamics, depictions of childhood and coming of age, solitude, adverse psychological effects of toxic masculinity, natural sphere as sanctuary and source of spiritual renewal, and sense of place.

A Corpus Study Of The Development Of The Adjective Phrase In French Children, Avery Elizabeth Baggett

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

In this thesis I attempt to answer three questions:

H1) Do children use proportionally more prenominal or post-nominal placement of adjectives than adults?

H2) Are children more conservative or more creative in their behavior in alternating prenominal and post-nominal placement of adjectives?

H3) If colored terms are more frequent in child speech will they pattern more like prenominal adjectives or more like post nominal adjectives, as in adult speech?

To do this, I examine two general semantic viewpoints, opting to use Scontras & Goodman (2017) subjectivity hypothesis. Next, I provide a general overview of First Language Acquisition research and then …

Fighting 'Stance': The Role Of Conversational Positioning In League Of Legends (Multiplayer Online Battle Arena) Discourse, William Breslove

Theses and Dissertations--Linguistics

For researchers, the study of video game players - how they behave, interact, and cooperate in a virtual world – presents a challenge: what methodologies are best suited to approaching these interactions? From a sociolinguistic approach, how do gamers converse, and what do these conversations reveal about epistemic, affective, and political relationships? This study uses John DuBois’ Stance Theory (2007) and recent modifications of it (Kiesling 2022), to analyze data gathered from the popular multiplayer online battle-arena (MOBA) game League of Legends. It focuses on in-game interlocutors’ conversation samples to show their positioning, intersubjective alignment, and evaluation of a …

The Role Of Sexual Difference In Plato's Timaeus, Mary Cunningham

Theses and Dissertations--Philosophy

My dissertation is a reading of Plato’s Timaeus that centers sexual difference and in particular femininity. I analyze the role of sexual difference in the framing of the dialogue as well as its accounts of body in the first and second discourse and its account of health in the third discourse. I argue that sexual difference, and, in particular, sexual reproduction, serves as a guiding paradigm of Timaeus’ entire project. I argue in each part of my dissertation that various aspects of the Timaeus depend on a certain notion of sexual difference—even aspects which are seemingly causally prior to the …

Out Of Sight, Out Of Mind: An Evaluation Of Secondary Agricultural Textbooks, Tara Elizabeth Rojas

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

Students are impacted by representation present within their lives in the media they consume, organizations in which they participate, and school interactions. Among school interactions with primarily White school staff, students interact with textbooks to learn about industry norms and concepts. Missing representation can harm students’ sense of belonging which can lead to feelings like solo-status or isolation. Using both critical race theory and social semiotics, this work explores the representation present within secondary agricultural textbooks. The first study utilizes photos and case studies, observing both gender and race as mutually exclusive variables and compares data to the current public-school …

Membrane Palmitoylated Protein Magu-3 Regulates The C. Elegans Locomotor Circuit Via Modulation Of Cholinergic Activity, Henry Richburg

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Precise coordination of the activity and transmission in excitatory and inhibitory neural circuits is essential for healthy information flow. Synaptic scaffolding proteins play a key role in the regulation of circuit activity through the localization and organization of receptors, channels, and other synaptic machinery to facilitate signal transduction. Using the C. elegans motor circuit which has both cholinergic (excitatory) and GABAergic (inhibitory) inputs onto muscles, we revealed an unexplored role of a family of scaffolding molecules known as membrane palmitoylated proteins (MPPs). Here, we examined magu-3, a C. elegans ortholog within the membrane palmitoylated protein family, using GFP tagging …

Investigating The Effects Of In-Vivo Therapeutics Hypoxia Treatment Paradigms In Neurite Outgrowth Patterns, Jae Hyun Yoo

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Spinal cord injury, specifically in the cervical C3-C4 region of the cervical spine, contributes to impaired breathing and a diminished quality of life. Therefore it is important to find effective and safe therapeutics to restore breathing function. Indeed, there are a myriad of research being performed in addition to valuable collaboration amongst different institutions. As such, inspired by a previous experiment, we decided to test our hypothesis that an enriching environment consisting of different hypoxic environments - sustained and intermittent hypoxia alongside normoxia - would result in neurite outgrowth. Moreover, we hypothesized that sustained hypoxia would result in the greatest …

Mammalian Target Of Rapamycin Cell Signaling Pathway In Phosphatase And Tensin Homolog Induced Kinase 1 Knockout Rat Model Of Familial Parkinson's Disease, Martha Helena Mortell

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

More than 10 million people are living with Parkinson’s disease (PD), one million of which are people in the United States. PD is the second most common age-related neurodegenerative disorder, after Alzheimer’s disease, and is characterized by the accumulation of a-synuclein aggregates and the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons. The loss of endogenous dopamine in PD brain accounts for the motor decline presented clinically in PD patients. Etiological factors of PD include oxidative damage and inflammation, although the detailed mechanisms remain unknown. Risk factors for PD include gender, age, environmental factors, and gene mutations.

The current thesis research employed phosphatase and …

Apoe Genotype And Sex Modulate Ketogenic Diet Enhancements To Metabolism And Gut Microbiome In Young Mice, Andrew T. Yackzan

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

The apolipoprotein ε (APOE) allele in humans has been associated with risk for development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). There are predominately three variations of the allele – ε2 (E2), ε3 (E3), and ε4 (E4) – with E4 contributing the greatest risk of AD development. Recent research has unveiled evidence of neurometabolic and neurovascular deficits in E4 carriers present decades before the onset of dementia; it is believed these chronic defects play a major role in the development of AD, thus making them a potential target for preventative intervention. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of a …

Classification And Effect Of Correctors On Sitosterolemia-Associated Mutants In Abcg8, Brittney Poole

Theses and Dissertations--Medical Sciences

Objective: To classify mutants of ABCG8 identified in subjects with clinically confirmed Sitosterolemia, a rare form of Familial Hypercholesterolemia distinguished by the accumulation of phytosterols in plasma and tissues and determine the effects of correctors and/or regulators of proteostasis on maturation of the ABCG5/ABCG8 sterol transporter.

Methods: Disease-causing missense mutants within the cytosolic domain of ABCG8 were generated through site-directed mutagenesis. Normal and mutant proteins were expressed in human hepatocytes. Cellular proteins were prepared, and maturation was assessed by SDS-PAGE and immunoblotting. Formation of the higher molecular weight, mature form of glycoproteins was used as a bioassay for trafficking the …

Evaluating The Microbiome To Boost Recovery From Stroke: The Embrs Study, Tyler Hammond

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Accumulating evidence suggests that gut microbes modulate brain plasticity via the bidirectional gut-brain axis and may play a role in stroke rehabilitation. A severely imbalanced microbial community has been shown to occur following stroke, causing a systemic flood of neuro- and immunomodulatory substances due to increased gut permeability and decreased gut motility. Here we measure post-stroke increased gut dysbiosis and how it correlates with gut permeability and subsequent cognitive impairment.

We recruited 12 participants with acute stroke, 12 healthy control participants, and 18 participants who had risk factors for stroke, but had not had a stroke. We measured the gut …

Evaluating The Role Of Mmp9 In Hyperhomocysteinemia Induced Cerebrovascular Pathology, Alexandria Linton

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Vascular contributions to cognitive impairment and dementia (VCID) is one of the leading causes of dementia, along with Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and often manifests as a comorbidity of AD. Elevated plasma homocysteine, known as hyperhomocysteinemia (HHcy), is a risk factor for VCID; however, the mechanism underlying the connection between HHcy and development of VCID pathology remains elusive. Understanding this mechanism would reveal novel therapeutic targets with the potential to be disease modifying, which are a critical need for a disease that lacks any approved treatment. Previous studies from our lab have strongly associated neuroinflammation and blood brain barrier (BBB) dysregulation …

Peripheral And Central Glucose Flux In Type I Diabetes, Jelena Anna Juras

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Diabetes is a complex metabolic disorder, of which high blood glucose concentration is the primary hallmark. Type I diabetes mellitus (T1DM) is characterized by the lack of insulin production, due to a poorly understood autoinflammatory cascade. In the words of historian Barnett “Diabetes may no longer be a death sentence, but for more and more people in the 21st century, it will become a life sentence”, making it the focal point of many research groups. It is estimated that around 20 million individuals worldwide live with T1DM.

Effects of long-term chronically elevated blood glucose are not only seen in micro/macro-vascular …

Interleukin-1 Receptor 1 Signaling In Mild Tbi: Do Endothelial Cells Play A Major Role?, Colleen N. Bodnar

Theses and Dissertations--Neuroscience

Across the world, over 69 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) per year making TBI a major health concern worldwide. Of all the TBIs that occur each year, it is suggested that up to 90 percent are mild in nature. Even a mild TBI causes both physical damages to the cells of the brain and activation of a variety of biochemical cascades. Inflammation is an extremely common pathology seen in the brains of TBI survivors of all severities. Chronic inflammation can cause detrimental effects within the brain including neurodegeneration. A major pro-inflammatory cytokine, interleukin-1 (IL-1), is upregulated within …

Conceptualizing Attorney Motivation: A Study Of The Representatives For Parents And Children In The Child Welfare System, Shannon Moody

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Background. Attorneys who represent parents and children in dependency, neglect, and abuse (DNA) proceedings are key in influencing the outcomes of the cases they carry. These influences include the length of time a child spends in the custody of the state or the necessity for foster care, visitation with family members, length of time to reunification, and recommended services for the child and parents (Courtney & Hook, 2012; Goldman, 1993; Thornton & Gwin, 2012; Zinn & Peters, 2015). The American Bar Association’s analysis is that there are “four constants: high caseloads, low compensation, inadequate training, and lack of supervision” …

Building Tools For Improved Modulation Of The Human Gabaa Receptor, A Central Nervous System Target For The Treatment Of Anxiety, Garrett Edward Zinck

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

In the U.S., anxiety is recognized as an increasing range of mentally and physically debilitating psychiatric health disorders with significant economic repercussions. Over the last 20 years, several novel anti-anxiety therapies have entered the drug development pipeline, but none have made it to market.

The work in this dissertation focused on structurally modifying valerenic acid (VA), a structurally unique carboxylated sesquiterpene acid found in Valeriana officinalis. VA is putatively reported to have allosteric modulatory activity of the human GABA_A receptor, a ligand-gated ion channel responsible for attenuating neurotransmissions. Structural modeling of VA’s GABA_A receptor interaction suggests that …

Studies Toward The Development Of An Improved Countermeasure For Synthetic Opioid Overdose, Sidnee L. Hedrick

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

One of the most prominent opioid analgesics in the United States is the high potency agonist fentanyl. It is used in the treatment of acute and chronic pain and as an anesthetic adjuvant. When used inappropriately, however, ingestion of just a few milligrams of fentanyl or other synthetic opioid can cause opioid-induced respiratory depression (OIRD), often leading to death. Currently, the treatment of choice for OIRD is the opioid receptor antagonist naloxone. Recent reports, however, suggest that higher doses or repeated dosing of naloxone (due to recurrence of respiratory depression) may be required to fully reverse fentanyl-induced respiratory depression, rendering …

Response Of Dopaminergic System To Cocaine Exposure, Recovery After Cocaine Abstinence, And Impact Of A Long-Acting Cocaine Hydrolase, Jing Deng

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Cocaine produces its physiological effects by targeting multiple proteins in the central nervous system, particularly by binding with dopamine transporter (DAT) to block the normal dopamine (DA) recycling process. This process along with the pleasure feeling would wear off shortly after the abstinence from the drug. However, chronic cocaine use is associated with neuroadaptations in the dopaminergic system, including increases in the density of DAT on plasma membrane of dopaminergic neurons. Given the critical role of DAT in neurotransmission, various studies have been carried out on animal models to learn its structure, function, and distribution. Long-standing evidence supports that DAT …

Liposomal Technologies To Improve Gene Delivery, David Nardo Padron

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Lipid based nanoparticles (LBNs) are used in myriad applications in medicine from small molecule drug delivery to mRNA vaccines. A major contributing factor to the development of the field has been the ongoing development of novel compounds that retain the functionality of natural lipids but expand upon them through inclusion of functional moieties that can be applied to specific scientific and biomedical questions. In the body of this dissertation, an extensive overview of LBNs is provided, focusing primarily on their use in immune modulation. The research presented herein begins with the synthesis of a novel class of lipids based on …

The Relative Contribution Of Liver And Intestine In Reverse Cholesterol Transport, Rupinder Kaur

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Despite decades of advances in research, death due to cardiometabolic disease remains the largest contributor to mortality in the US. While present therapies oppose “forward cholesterol transport,” and atherosclerotic plaque progression, they do not remove cholesterol from established atherosclerotic plaques. Reverse cholesterol transport (RCT) is the active process of mobilizing peripheral cholesterol for excretion through the hepatobiliary (transhepatic cholesterol elimination, THCE) or intestinal (transintestinal cholesterol elimination, TICE) pathways. Currently, there are no clinically approved therapeutics that target RCT. Elucidation of the mechanisms that govern RCT and TICE, and the subsequent identification of novel targets is of importance. The present work …

Development Of Zafirlukast Derivatives Active Against Porphyromonas Gingivalis, Kaitlind C. Howard

Theses and Dissertations--Pharmacy

Periodontal diseases are inflammatory diseases that can lead to damage of the soft tissue and bone supporting the teeth. Gingivitis is the reversible early stage of gum disease, which consist of gums that bleed when brushing or flossing teeth. When left untreated, the preventable but irreversible late stage of periodontal disease, periodontitis, can lead teeth to loosen or even fall out. Oral bacterial species, such as the Gram-negative anaerobic pathogen Porphyromonas gingivalis trigger these inflammatory diseases through oral dysbiosis. P. gingivalis is a keystone pathogen, meaning that the damage caused by P. gingivalis is not proportional to its abundance. Treatment …

Investigation Into, & Analysis Of Temperature & Strain Data For Coal Mine Seal Material During Curing, Stephanus Jaco Van Den Berg

Theses and Dissertations--Mining Engineering

On Monday, January 2, 2006, an underground explosion occurred at the Sago Mine WV, resulting in the death of 12 miners and seriously injury to one miner. On Saturday, May 20, 2006, an underground explosion occurred at the Darby Mine No.1 KY, resulting in five miner’s deaths and one miner’s injury.

The explosion of methane gas and coal dust result in many fatalities in the coal mining industry.

The coal mining industry uses mine seals to optimize the ventilation network. Those structures are designed not only to direct the air appropriately, but also, they should be capable of withstanding some …