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Escape Home, Liliann Kane Jan 2014

Escape Home, Liliann Kane

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the effects of specific temperatures on sex ratios in the Kemp’s ridley sea turtle, giving a

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The Expression And Function Of Icam-2 In Neuroblastoma, Joseph Feduska Jan 2014

The Expression And Function Of Icam-2 In Neuroblastoma, Joseph Feduska

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Neuroblastoma (NB) is the most common extracranial solid tumor in childhood, accounting for 15% of all childhood cancer deaths. At the time of initial diagnosis, the majority of patients present with NB that has already metastasized. While initial remission is often achieved following treatment, roughly 50% of these patients will relapse and die from the development of intractable metastatic progression. Intercellular adhesion molecule-2 (ICAM-2) is a transmembrane glycoprotein, normally expressed only in endothelial cells and subsets of leukocytes. ICAM-2 expression in cancer cells had not been previously investigated, until our lab recently reported the novel finding of endogenous ICAM-2 expression …

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Effects Of Biological, Environmental, And Nutritional Factors On Fecal Pellet Size And Morphology In The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Lacey Nicole Dennis Jan 2014

Effects Of Biological, Environmental, And Nutritional Factors On Fecal Pellet Size And Morphology In The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Lacey Nicole Dennis

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Sea urchins are an important economic resource for many international fisheries and are an important animal model in developmental biology. Currently, health of cultured sea urchins is evaluated by behavior or through invasive examination of internal tissues. Destructive sampling is not conducive to longitudinal studies and a non-invasive method of evaluating sea urchin health would have practical application. Evaluation of the egesta could provide a valuable predictor of physiological well-being. The size and morphology of fecal pellets produced by the sea urchin Lytechinus variegatus under a variety of environmental and nutritional conditions were characterized in terms of 2-dimensional area, length, …

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Abnormalities Of Glutamate Neurotransmission Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Christopher Dorsett Jan 2014

Abnormalities Of Glutamate Neurotransmission Following Traumatic Brain Injury, Christopher Dorsett

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This project aims to investigate abnormalities in glutamate neurotransmission in the rat cortex following traumatic brain injury (TBI). The overarching hypothesis is that excessive glutamate release originating at the site of injury begins an excitotoxic cascade leading to increased intracellular calcium and cell death. Glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the mammalian central nervous system, facilitates learning, memory, and other cognitive functions via activation of metabotropic and ionotropic glutamate receptors. A family of Na+- dependent excitatory amino acid transporters (EAATs) on the plasma membranes of neurons and glial cells facilitate the rapid removal of glutamate from the synaptic cleft, maintaining …

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Evidence Of Altered Ampa Receptor Localization And Regulation In Schizophrenia, Jana Drummond Jan 2014

Evidence Of Altered Ampa Receptor Localization And Regulation In Schizophrenia, Jana Drummond

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Although the glutamate hypothesis of schizophrenia posits altered glutamatergic transmission is occurring in this illness, the precise mechanisms be-hind these proposed changes in schizophrenia brain remain elusive. Recent evidence from our laboratory supports a model of altered forward trafficking of glutamate receptors to synaptic membranes in schizophrenia, which could contribute to changes in neurotransmission. The AMPA subtype of ionotropic glutamate receptor (AMPAR), is the main facilitator of fast, excitatory neurotransmission in the brain, and changes in AMPAR number at synapses may control synaptic strength and plasticity. One mechanism that could alter AMPAR trafficking to synapses is abnormal expression of AMPAR …

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Development Of A Concept Exploration Based Teaching Methodology For Undergraduate Chemistry Education, Nicole D. Gray Jan 2014

Development Of A Concept Exploration Based Teaching Methodology For Undergraduate Chemistry Education, Nicole D. Gray

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Science in general has traditionally been noted as a difficult subject because of its specialized language, mathematical and abstract concepts, and the amount of content to be learned in a semester. In particular, students are believed to base their attitudes towards science-related disciplines on their perceived abilities in understanding or succeeding in a course. Other factors may also contribute to this lack of interest, such as students' metacognitive skills. Concept mapping and computer-aided tools may be used to assist students in building hierarchical knowledge bases that allow them to visually represent connections between concepts. Therefore, the purpose of this study …

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Elucidating The Role Of Gsk3 In Synaptic And Cognitive Deficits In Fragile X Syndrome, Aimee Vinson Franklin Jan 2014

Elucidating The Role Of Gsk3 In Synaptic And Cognitive Deficits In Fragile X Syndrome, Aimee Vinson Franklin

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Fragile X Syndrome (FX) is the most common inherited form of mental retarda-tion. Prominent characteristics of FX are mimicked in a mouse model with deleted fmr1 including hyperactivity, anxiety, developmental delay and social deficits. Additionally, FX mice display deficits in n-methyl-d-aspartate receptor (NMDAR) dependent long-term potentiation (LTP) at medial perforant path synapses onto dentate granule cells (MPP-DGC synapses). Because LTP is a cellular correlate of learning and memory, defi-cits in LTP at this synapse are thought to underlie impairments in pattern separation, a form of learning and memory dependent on proper DG function. Identifying the patho-logical mechanisms that cause impaired …

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Stress And Myostatin In Salmoninae, Nicholas Galt Jan 2014

Stress And Myostatin In Salmoninae, Nicholas Galt

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The relationship between the muscle growth inhibitor, myostatin, and the stress response has been extensively studied in mammals, and myostatin is now known to partially mediate the degradative effects of stress in skeletal muscle. In fish, this relationship has not yet been clearly described. Herein, the effects of two stress mimetics, cortisol treatment and crowding, on myostatin-1a, -1b, and -2a expression in rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss), cutthroat trout (Oncorhynchus clarki), Chinook salmon (Oncorhynchus tshawytscha), brook trout (Salvelinus fontinalis), and Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) are described. In study I, no clear effects on myostatin mRNA expression were detected in rainbow trout …

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Tumorgraft Models As A Platform For Molecular Characterization And Drug Evaluation In Pancreaticobiliary Malignancies, Patrick Lee Garcia Jan 2014

Tumorgraft Models As A Platform For Molecular Characterization And Drug Evaluation In Pancreaticobiliary Malignancies, Patrick Lee Garcia

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arribada nesting behavior. The first chapter addresses the potential effects of a nest’s

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Innate Immune Defense Against The Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus Fumigatus, Melissa Ann Gessner Jan 2014

Innate Immune Defense Against The Fungal Pathogen Aspergillus Fumigatus, Melissa Ann Gessner

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The opportunistic fungal pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus is a ubiquitous mold that causes severe, invasive life-threatening infections in patients that are severely immunocompromised. Major risk factors include neutropenia, neutrophil dysfunction and immunosuppressive therapies. Recently, however, rising incidences of colonizing A. fumigatus have been reported in patients without classical risk factors. We sought out to elucidate non-classical pre-disposing conditions that may render a lung environment susceptible to fungal colonization as well as mechanisms involved in immune defense against the invading fungal pathogen. Further defining a role for Dectin-1 in an Aspergillus fumigatus infection, we demonstrated a critical role for Dectin-1 dependent interleukin-22 …

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The Role Of Il-7 And C-Kit Signaling Pathways In Specification Of B Lymphocytes, Oleg Kolupaev Jan 2014

The Role Of Il-7 And C-Kit Signaling Pathways In Specification Of B Lymphocytes, Oleg Kolupaev

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B-lymphocyte commitment from common lymphoid progenitors (CLP) is orchestrated by a number of transcription factors and extracellular developmental cues. Most prominently, IL-7 signaling acts as a critical factor for promotion of B cell differentiation through its role in upregulation of the B-cell commitment factor, Ebf1, by activation of Jak-Stat5 signaling. Other cytokines and growth factors secreted by bone marrow stromal cells, such as Flt3 ligand, are known to modulate developmental outcomes by regulating the IL-7R-Jak-Stat5 pathway. The role of stem cell factor (SCF), the ligand of the receptor tyrosine kinase (RTK) c-Kit, and the mechanism by which it affects cell …

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Characterization Of Murine And Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells In Vitro And In Vivo, Carnella Lee Jan 2014

Characterization Of Murine And Human Breast Cancer Stem Cells In Vitro And In Vivo, Carnella Lee

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Breast cancer stem cells (BCa-SC) are considered as a rare population of cells which cause resistance to chemotherapy in breast cancer (BCa). This population is characterized in humans and mice by CD24- CD44+ ALDH1+ phenotype and expresses mesenchymal properties that differ from the normal epithelial CD24+ CD44+ phenotype expressed in the majority of BCa cells. It has been widely accepted that tumor growth is sustained by BCa-SC that are similar to normal stem cells in which they have the ability to self-renew and differentiate. However, unlike their normal counterparts, BCa-SC are rare cells within tumors with the ability to self-renew …

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Osteomimmunology Of Bone Fracture Healing And Cell And Gene Therapy Approaches For Nonunion Bone Defects, Seth G. Levy Jan 2014

Osteomimmunology Of Bone Fracture Healing And Cell And Gene Therapy Approaches For Nonunion Bone Defects, Seth G. Levy

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Despite the body's ability to repair bone fractures under normal circumstances, up to 10% of the 7.9 million fractures suffered in the United States each year do not achieve bony union. Bone fractures heal with overlapping phases of inflammation, cell proliferation, and bone remodeling. Osteogenesis and angiogenesis are known to work in concert to control many stages of this process, but when one is impaired it leads to failure of bone healing, referred to as a nonunion. Such nonunion fractures often result from critical-size defects that will not completely heal over the natural lifetime of the animal. Based on this …

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Assessing The Active Kinome Of Influenza Virus Infected A549 Cells, Colm Atkins Jan 2014

Assessing The Active Kinome Of Influenza Virus Infected A549 Cells, Colm Atkins

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Influenza A Virus is a respiratory pathogen of the family Orthomyxoviridae and causes significant worldwide morbidity and mortality during seasonal epidemics and periodic pandemics. As with all viruses, influenza's limited coding capacity requires the use of host proteins and processes in its replication and release cycle. Phosphorylation, mediated by cellular kinases and phosphatases, represents a significant mechanism of post-translational modification of cellular products, and is responsible for regulating the activi-ty, lifespan and localization of many lipids and proteins in host-cells. Several cellular kinases have been associated with various steps of the Influenza lifecycle, including PKC-ßII (viral entry), PKR (host defense), …

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Il-8 Is Necessary And Sufficient For X-Ray Radiation Enhanced Endothelial Adhesion., Stephen Kyle Babitz Jan 2014

Il-8 Is Necessary And Sufficient For X-Ray Radiation Enhanced Endothelial Adhesion., Stephen Kyle Babitz

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Ionizing radiation (IR) is a potent inflammatory stimulus to the human body. In the vasculature, inflammation is a major contributing factor for atherosclerosis. In addition, radiation from several sources has been linked with increased risk for multiple cardiovascular complications. A key compnent of radiation associated inflammation is an increase in the adhesiveness of the endothelium which leads to a pathogenic accumulation of leukocytes in the vascular wall. This is one of the initial steps in vascular inflammation and leads to a number of adverse complications such as heart disease and stroke. The molecular mechanisms behind radiaton enhanced endothelial adhesion have …

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Targeted Delivery Of Osteoinductive Peptides To Bone Graft Utilizing A Calcium Binding Domain To Enhance The Regenerative Potential, Jennifer Leigh Bain Jan 2014

Targeted Delivery Of Osteoinductive Peptides To Bone Graft Utilizing A Calcium Binding Domain To Enhance The Regenerative Potential, Jennifer Leigh Bain

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Bone grafting procedures are common practice. Autogenous bone is considered optimal, however, complications associated with bone harvesting often lead clinicians to use off-the-shelf materials that have limited osteoinductivity. Alternatively, bioactive factors passively adsorbed onto various carriers are available. These materials, while effective, are expensive to produce, require supraphysiological doses, and have adverse side effects due to dissemination from the graft site. This dissertation aims to reintroduce osteoinductive factors to bone grafts to enhance regenerative capacity. Specifically, we utilized negatively-charged calcium-binding domains (polyglutamate) to anchor two osteoinductive peptides bone graft materials including an allograft, xenograft, alloplast, and bone cement. The peptides …

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Ap2 Clock Mutant Mice: Baseline Characteristics And Novel Responses To A Lipopolysaccharide Challenge, Tana Birky Jan 2014

Ap2 Clock Mutant Mice: Baseline Characteristics And Novel Responses To A Lipopolysaccharide Challenge, Tana Birky

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Circadian rhythms are the daily biological changes present within most organisms that occur in a predictable, approximately 24 hour pattern, even in the absence of external stimuli. These rhythms occur both at a global and cellular level, and although the molecular mechanics are highly conserved, their functions may vary depending on the tissues in which they are expressed. These functions include various aspects of metabolic processes such as satiety signaling and cellular proliferation. In order to explore the specific functions of circadian rhythms within adipocytes, a mouse model with Clock disruption driven by the fatty acid-binding protein 2 (aP2) promoter …

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Effect Of Upper-Extremity Rehabilitation On Effort Required To Use The More Affected Arm After Acquired Brain Injury, Brad Sokal Jan 2014

Effect Of Upper-Extremity Rehabilitation On Effort Required To Use The More Affected Arm After Acquired Brain Injury, Brad Sokal

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Constraint-Induced Movement therapy, or CI therapy, is one of the few techniques that controlled, randomized studies show to substantially reduce the incapacitating motor deficit of the more-affected upper-extremity of patients with mild to moderately severe hemiparesis. The therapy for individuals with mild to moderate motor impairment of their more-affected arm involves a) training of more-affected arm for 3.5 hours per day for 10 consecutive weekdays, b) following shaping principles when conducting the training, c) restraining the less-affected arm for a target of 90% of waking hours, and d) administering a package of behavioral techniques designed to transfer gains to daily …

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Effects Of Storage On The Red Blood Cell And Its Implications For Transfusion, Ryan D. Stapley Jan 2014

Effects Of Storage On The Red Blood Cell And Its Implications For Transfusion, Ryan D. Stapley

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Transfusion with red blood cells (RBC) remains a frontline therapy in critically ill patients. Recent studies have documented an association between storage duration and an increased incidence of transfusion-related toxicities. This transfusion-related toxicity is characterized by both a pro-inflammatory state and a microcirculatory dysfunction and is associated with changes that occur to the RBC and its media during storage referred to as the storage lesion. These changes that occur to the RBC include an increase in cell-free hemoglobin, heme, free iron, microparticles, as well as changes to the RBC itself. This thesis explores how these elements could contribute to transfusion-related …

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Effects Of Early Life Exposure To Methylmercury On Predator Response In Daphnia Pulex, Megan Lisa Steed Jan 2014

Effects Of Early Life Exposure To Methylmercury On Predator Response In Daphnia Pulex, Megan Lisa Steed

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Knowledge of the health effects of toxic chemicals is largely based on single chemical models rather than a multi-factor model, which more accurately captures realworld exposures. This study investigated how methylmercury affects Daphnia pulex in the presence of predatory stress chemical. A kairomone is an infochemical released by an animal that can be detected by another animal. Daphnia pulex detects kairomone released by Danio rerio resulting in the induction of morphological and life history changes. Danio rerio were kept in COMBO media for 24 hours at a density of 2 fish per liter. Daphnids were then housed in kairomone-containing COMBO …

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Translocation Of Shed Syndecan-1 To The Nucleus: A Novel Mechanism Of Tumor-Host Crosstalk, Mark Stewart Jan 2014

Translocation Of Shed Syndecan-1 To The Nucleus: A Novel Mechanism Of Tumor-Host Crosstalk, Mark Stewart

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Multiple myeloma is a hematological malignancy of plasma cells that disseminates throughout the body. Crosstalk between myeloma and host cells is critical to the establishment of a microenvironment conducive to tumor growth and progression. An important mediator of this crosstalk is syndecan-1, a heparan sulfate proteoglycan. Syndecan-1 is proteolytically shed from the surface of myeloma cells and is abundant in the bone marrow microenvironment and serum of myeloma patients. Shed syndecan-1 facilitates tumor-host crosstalk within the microenvironment to drive tumor growth, angiogenesis, and metastasis. We now report for the first time that shed syndecan-1 can be taken up by a …

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Usp16 And Histone H2a Deubiquitination In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Function, Wei Yang Jan 2014

Usp16 And Histone H2a Deubiquitination In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cell Function, Wei Yang

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In eukaryotic cells, genomic DNA is packaged into a chromatin structure by association with histone and non-histone proteins. Posttranslational modifications of histones play important roles in the regulation of chromatin structure and function. Ubiquitination of histone H2A (ubH2A) represents a predominate modification, occurring on ~10% of total cellular H2A. While H2A ubiquitination is primarily conferred by Polycomb Repressive Complex 1 (PRC1), H2A deubiquitination has been attributed to multiple H2A deubiquitinases. Our laboratory previously reported the purification and functional characterization of a H2A-specific deubiquitinase, USP16 (initially named as Ubp-M) in human cells. However, whether USP16 represents a general and important regulator …

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The Roles Of Mammalian Tribbles Homolog 3 (Trib3) In Coordinating Energy Metabolism And Development Of Insulin Resistance, Wei Zhang Jan 2014

The Roles Of Mammalian Tribbles Homolog 3 (Trib3) In Coordinating Energy Metabolism And Development Of Insulin Resistance, Wei Zhang

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Insulin resistance in diabetics comprises of a reversible component treatable with intensive glycemic control and a non-reversible component present in pre-diabetes that may lead to the development of overt diabetes. The reversible component is induced and exacerbated by hyperglycemia in both uncontrolled type 1 and type 2 diabetes, a process known as glucose-induced insulin resistance (GIIR) or glucose toxicity. The tribbles homolog 3 (TRIB3) has been identified as a pseudokinase that inhibits Akt activity by physically blocking its phosphorylation site. Expression of TRIB3 has been associated with various signals such as endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress and nutrient availability in pancreatic …

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A Low-Power Multichannel Telemetry System For High-Speed Wireless Neural Recordings, Yang-Guo Li Jan 2014

A Low-Power Multichannel Telemetry System For High-Speed Wireless Neural Recordings, Yang-Guo Li

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The advances in microelectronics and wireless communication are going to change our lifestyles and benefit our healthcare system in the foreseeable future. New conception named "Ubiquitous Healthcare" has been proposed. It envisions a continuous, real-time, remote monitoring on the health conditions of people through the wireless communication network. Traditional biosignal monitoring devices need wire-connections for the recording, which may cause skin rupture and body infection. The physical connections also limited the number of the integrated recording channels. A low-power implantable multichannel telemetry system which can be implanted in the body and transmit recordings wirelessly can solve the problem of the …

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Expression Of The Influenza Protein M2 During Viral Infection Inhibits Cftr Activity, James David Londino Jan 2014

Expression Of The Influenza Protein M2 During Viral Infection Inhibits Cftr Activity, James David Londino

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The purpose of these dissertation studies was to 1) determine whether influenza infection alters CFTR activity in polarized epithelium; 2) measure CFTR expression and activity in cells co-expressing influenza M2 protein; and 3) examine the role of M2 on the alteration of CFTR during viral infection. We determined that infection of polarized primary epithelial cells with influenza decreases CFTR expression and activity. In addition, individual cells infected with influenza had decreased CFTR conductance as measured by whole-cell patch clamp. We also found that the influenza ion channel, matrix protein 2 (M2), alone reduced CFTR expression and activity. M2 is expressed …

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Interaction Between A Low-Iron Diet And Early-Life Methylmercury Exposure In Daphnia Pulex, Sherri Hudson Jan 2014

Interaction Between A Low-Iron Diet And Early-Life Methylmercury Exposure In Daphnia Pulex, Sherri Hudson

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Methylmercury (MeHg) is a known neurotoxicant and bioaccumulates in fish, with exposure to humans in utero being of highest concern. Iron deficiency (ID) accounts for approximately 50% of anemia cases. Anemia is estimated to affect 1.62 billion people worldwide, and is particularly problematic during pregnancy and early life. Previous studies have shown that ID exacerbates toxicity associated with exposure to metals, including lead, manganese, and cadmium. The overall purpose of this thesis research is to investigate the interaction between a low-iron (Fe) diet and early-life exposure to MeHg in Daphnia pulex. I hypothesized when D. pulex are fed a low-Fe …

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Starlings Fell On Alabama, Sarah Hayden Jennings Jan 2014

Starlings Fell On Alabama, Sarah Hayden Jennings

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Starlings Fell on Alabama is a collection of stories that explores the impact of relationships. The characters in this collection have been deeply affected by another person or are affecting another person. They are all in the grip of deep psychological and emotional turmoil as they deal with loss, desire, illness, and grief. And in order to find themselves, Walter, Louise, Robin, and Rose must confront their invisible tethers. Some will find a way to exist without those tethers, those relationships, and others will find themselves pulled deeper into the connections that sustain them.

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Relationship Between Diabetes And Indoor Air Pollution: An Exploratory Analysis, Sandeep Mishra Jan 2014

Relationship Between Diabetes And Indoor Air Pollution: An Exploratory Analysis, Sandeep Mishra

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India has the second highest number of people with diabetes. The high prevalence of diabetes in India cannot be explained on the basis of established risk factors like obesity. The role of air pollution in diabetes has recently received attention. Studies have indicated the possibility that air pollution generated by traffic might be associated with increased risk of diabetes. Published literature lacks studies that assess the relationship between indoor air pollution and diabetes, although indoor air pollution can lead to higher levels of pollutants in house compared to traffic pollution. The current study determined the relationship between indoor air pollution …

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Osteoblast And Odontoblast Specific Regulatory Actions Of Runx2 For The Development Of Mineralized Tissues, Mitra Darice Adhami Jan 2014

Osteoblast And Odontoblast Specific Regulatory Actions Of Runx2 For The Development Of Mineralized Tissues, Mitra Darice Adhami

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The Runx2 transcription factor is necessary for commitment and differentiation of mesenchymal cells into the chondroblasts, osteoblasts and odontoblasts. Runx2 induces the expression of several key genes involved in mineralization of both the bone and dentin matrices. Global Runx2-null mice are completely void of mineralized tissue and do not express osteoblast markers, indicating that Runx2 is required for commitment to the osteoblast lineage. Tooth development in Runx2-null mice is arrested in the bell stage, prior to the differentiation of odontoblasts. Thus, Runx2 is essential for development of osteoblast and odontoblast lineages. However, the functional requirements of Runx2 after commitment to …

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Formaldehyde Exposure In Pregnant Women And Its Relationship To Fetal Growth, Azita Amiri Jan 2014

Formaldehyde Exposure In Pregnant Women And Its Relationship To Fetal Growth, Azita Amiri

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Formaldehyde exposure during pregnancy has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes such as poor fetal growth, although few studies have examined formaldehyde exposure during pregnancy and its relationship to fetal growth. The purpose of this study was to determine the level of formaldehyde exposure during pregnancy and examine the relationship between formaldehyde exposure and fetal growth. Formaldehyde exposure was examined, using vapor monitor badge and urine formic acid, in 140 women in their second trimester of pregnancy. One time urine samples were collected during a routine prenatal visit, and women wore the vapor badges for 24 hours. Fetal growth was …

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