Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Articles 1 - 30 of 42

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

The Hepatic Glucagon Receptor As A Novel Regulator Of Lifespan, Alexander Tate Lasher Sep 2025

The Hepatic Glucagon Receptor As A Novel Regulator Of Lifespan, Alexander Tate Lasher

All ETDs from UAB

In developed nations the average lifespan has nearly doubled over the last 200 years, and the proportion of humans living into old age is ever increasing. While this is certainly a testament to the effectiveness of modern medicine and infrastructure, it presents a unique challenge to public health. Gains to health have not necessarily kept pace with the gains in lifespan, and the expanding aged population positions age-associated diseases to reach unprecedented prevalence. In light of this challenge, a mechanistic understanding of the aging process is necessary to identify factors that control longevity and to ultimately develop strategies for healthy …


A Hybrid Data And Hypothesis-Driven Model For Software Development In Support Of The Machine-Learning Paradigm, Anthony D. Bowman Jan 2022

A Hybrid Data And Hypothesis-Driven Model For Software Development In Support Of The Machine-Learning Paradigm, Anthony D. Bowman

All ETDs from UAB

istorically, research has often been conducted in a hypothesis-driven manner with software development methodologies created to support those efforts. However, in recent years data-driven approaches to research have seen a dramatic rise in prominence. While software development methodologies such as agile development, extreme programming, and the waterfall model have allowed developers to tackle increasingly complex problems, they were not designed to efficiently support data-driven approaches such as the machine learning paradigm. To address the need to support the different programmatic requirements of both classical, hypothesis-driven as well as data-driven development, novel development strategies are warranted. In this research, we adapted …


Investigation Into The Structure And Function Of Streptococcal Antigen I/Ii Family Of Proteins, Joshua L. Mieher Jan 2021

Investigation Into The Structure And Function Of Streptococcal Antigen I/Ii Family Of Proteins, Joshua L. Mieher

All ETDs from UAB

Streptococci are involved in the infections of the oral cavity as well as at various sites throughout the body. Their initial contact with tissues/surfaces is enabled by adhesins present on the microbial surface. Among these the Antigen I/II- family (AgI/II) of adhesins are known be important factors in these infections as they enable adherence to multiple host proteins thus allowing the bacteria to gain a foot hold. In this thesis, we have structurally and functionally characterized yet another adhesin on S. mutans, the glucan binding protein C, which resembles the V-region of AgI/II. In addition, we have also resolved the …


Network-Based Analytics For Discovering Gene Modules And Biomarkers In Complex Diseases, Zongliang Yue Jan 2020

Network-Based Analytics For Discovering Gene Modules And Biomarkers In Complex Diseases, Zongliang Yue

All ETDs from UAB

With rapidly increasing novel discoveries of associations between genomic data and complex disease phenotypes, the translation of those associations into knowledge and the identification of critical molecular mechanisms are essential to guild clinical decisions such as the diagnosis of symptomatic individuals, the prediction of disease risk, reproductive genetic counseling, and determining pharmacogenetic profiles for treatment. To decipher the genome of complex diseases, gene-centric analyses focus on detecting molecular mechanisms lead by driver genetics variants, abnormally expressed genes and high-abundance proteins through gene module construction. Additionally, the gene module construction approaches implement systems biology analysis to reveal the causative co-expressed gene …


Novel Hiv Adaptation Strategy Against Host Cd8 T Cell Immunity, Kai Qin Jan 2020

Novel Hiv Adaptation Strategy Against Host Cd8 T Cell Immunity, Kai Qin

All ETDs from UAB

Since the 1980s, HIV infection has caused millions of death and tremendous economic losses worldwide. Despite great scientific advances, the only effective therapy to date, antiretroviral therapy (ART), merely delays disease progression yet cannot eradicate viral infection. Therefore, an effective HIV vaccine that can prevent the acquisition of infection would be a desirable alternative. The critical role of CD8 T-cell immunity in HIV infection has been well documented and therefore not surprisingly a great deal of effort has been focused on developing an effective CD8 T-cell based HIV vaccine. However, by far, such CD8 T-cell based HIV vaccine trials have …


Targeting The Nad Salvage Pathway For The Treatment Of The Parasitic Disease Schistosomiasis, Michael David Schultz Jan 2019

Targeting The Nad Salvage Pathway For The Treatment Of The Parasitic Disease Schistosomiasis, Michael David Schultz

All ETDs from UAB

Schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia, is the third most common parasitic infection worldwide and a major source of morbidity and mortality in developing countries. Caused by trematodes in the genus Schistosoma, this parasitic disease has no vaccine therapy and resources for drug development are scarce. Despite an unknown mechanism of action, praziquantal has become the primary source of treatment due to its efficacy against all species of Schistosoma. However, with increased drug resistance in endemic areas and low activity against immature parasites, relying on this single drug is unsustainable and risky. Hence, there is a growing need for new, safe …


Discovering The Genetic Architecture Underlying Exercise Response Using Drosophila Melanogaster, Louis P. Watanabe Jan 2019

Discovering The Genetic Architecture Underlying Exercise Response Using Drosophila Melanogaster, Louis P. Watanabe

All ETDs from UAB

The growth of modern jobs, technology, and transportation has coincided with increased sedentary behavior in many developed nations. In the United States, this increase has contributed partially to rising rates of obesity, leading to more than 78 million obese individuals. The annual medical costs associated with obesity are thought to range from 147 to 210 billion dollars. The initial treatment recommendations for individuals with obesity are increased exercise and changes in diet. Despite the strong narrative pushing exercise as a health benefit, individual responses can vary widely, and little is known regarding the genetic networks modulating exercise response. In order …


Polymeric Stimuli-Sensitive Self-Assembled Micro- And Nano-Particles For Controlled Drug Delivery, Fei Liu Jan 2017

Polymeric Stimuli-Sensitive Self-Assembled Micro- And Nano-Particles For Controlled Drug Delivery, Fei Liu

All ETDs from UAB

The research presented in this thesis is focused on the design and development of stimuli-responsive polymeric particles for drug delivery, including tannic acid-based layer-by-layer capsules with pH- and ionic strength-dependent permeability as well as size- and structure-tunable poly-(N-vinylcaprolactam)-based temperature-responsive polymersomes and micelles. Polymer-based particles play essential roles in controlled drug delivery due to their tunable sizes and nanostructures, and can be further advanced through functionalization, allowing pH-, ionic strength- and temperature-sensitivities to alter the therapeutics’ pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution. Two typical pathways for engineering polymeric drug delivery vehicles are introduced in this thesis, layer-by-layer self-assembly at inter-faces and self-assembly from block …


Rural Hos[Ital Closure In Alabama - Post Aca, Dennis Otto Mccay Jan 2016

Rural Hos[Ital Closure In Alabama - Post Aca, Dennis Otto Mccay

All ETDs from UAB

RURAL HOSPITAL CLOSURES IN ALABAMA: POST ACA DENNIS O. MCCAY HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT Rural hospitals differ from their urban counterparts with regard to two main areas. First, rural hospital patients are usually older, of lower income, and less healthy than those in urban areas. Second, their facilities tend to be smaller, older, and more prone to staff shortages than those in an urban environment. Rural hospitals have been closing at higher rates than their urban counterparts for a number of years, but more so since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The objective of this research …


Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 And Heterochromatin Protein 1 Beta Regulate Neural And Neural Crest Development, Chih-Liang Tien Jan 2016

Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 And Heterochromatin Protein 1 Beta Regulate Neural And Neural Crest Development, Chih-Liang Tien

All ETDs from UAB

Epigenetic factors control gene expression via modulating chromatin conformation. Current studies on epigenetics mainly focus on biochemical mechanisms or functions of epigenetic factors in cancer or neurobiology. The underlying mechanism for epigenetic regulation in early embryonic development, particularly neural and neural crest development, is not well understood. In this thesis, the model organism, Xenopus laevis, is used to study epigenetic factors – polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) and heterochromatin protein 1 beta (HP1β) in neural and neural crest development. In chapter one, the processes of neural and neural crest development are described, and the concepts of epigenetic mechanisms, such as …


Investigating The Role Of Myristoylated Alanine Rich C Kinase Substrate's (Marcks's) Effector Domain In Lung And Brain Cancer Biology, Timothy D. Rohrbach Jan 2015

Investigating The Role Of Myristoylated Alanine Rich C Kinase Substrate's (Marcks's) Effector Domain In Lung And Brain Cancer Biology, Timothy D. Rohrbach

All ETDs from UAB

In this study, we investigated the role MARCKS's Effector Domain plays in lung and brain cancer biology. Initially, we identified that MARCKS was present in a range of lung cancer histologies including: squamous cell, adenocarcinoma, and normal lung tissues among others. In addition, lung adenocarcinoma patients with a mutation in the MARCKS gene correlated with decreased survival as determined by The Cancer Genome Atlas. In vitro studies identified that the phosphorylation status of MARCKS's Effector Domain was able to influence lung cancer radiation sensitivity. When MARCKS's Effector Domain was in a non-phosphorylated state, A549 lung cancer cell lines experienced increased …


Molecular Profiling In Cervical Carcinogenesis And Progression, Kathryn Elizabeth Royse Jan 2014

Molecular Profiling In Cervical Carcinogenesis And Progression, Kathryn Elizabeth Royse

All ETDs from UAB

Coexisting lesions can reduce genomic heterogeneity in precancer progression analysis by reducing variation and bias that can mask gene effects. Our goal was to use novel methodologies to depict the neoplastic stage effect (Normal v. LSIL v. HSIL) in cervical precancer. We analyzed the neoplastic stage effect via in silico and in vivo methodologies. For in silico analyses, we calculated differential expression (DE) estimates from a systematic review of DNA methylation and gene expression literature. Significant genes (FC≤2.0 or p-value≥0.05) were grouped by histology for pathway analysis. For in vivo analyses, we performed RNA-seq on microdissected FFPE coexisting cervical tissue …


Optimization And Characterization Of Multifunctional Polymeric-Nanodiamond Electrospun Scaffolds, Amanee Salaam Jan 2011

Optimization And Characterization Of Multifunctional Polymeric-Nanodiamond Electrospun Scaffolds, Amanee Salaam

All ETDs from UAB

Due to the lack of treatment options available for patients suffering from bone abnormalities, current research focuses on developing novel biomaterials for bone tissue engineering. Since a tissue scaffold is implanted in vivo, it could also serve as a substrate for localized, systemic delivery of therapeutics. Particularly in primary bone cancer after removal of a cancerous lesion, there is a need for a system that can support the generation of new tissue while delivering localized chemotherapy. However, a complex molecule is needed to serve as a vehicle for delivering the drug and targeting only cancerous cells. Detonation nanodiamond (DND) is …


Gas Phase Laser Synthesis And Processing Of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles For Biomedical Applications, Parimal Vilas Bapat Jan 2011

Gas Phase Laser Synthesis And Processing Of Calcium Phosphate Nanoparticles For Biomedical Applications, Parimal Vilas Bapat

All ETDs from UAB

Biochemical processes make pervasive use of calcium and phosphate ions. Calcium phosphate salts that are naturally nontoxic and bioactive have been used for several medical applications in form of coatings and micropowders. Nanoparticle-based calcium phosphates have been shown to be internalized by living cells and be effective in DNA transfection, drug delivery, and transport of fluorophores for imaging of intracellular processes. They are also expected to interact strongly with cell adhesive proteins and are therefore promising elements in approaches to mimic the complex environment of the extra cellular matrix of bone. Harnessing this biomedical potential requires the ability to control …


Challenge Difficulty And Cardiovascular Responses In Mild Cognitive Impairment, Christopher Conley Stewart Jan 2010

Challenge Difficulty And Cardiovascular Responses In Mild Cognitive Impairment, Christopher Conley Stewart

All ETDs from UAB

This study examined the effect of challenge difficulty on cardiovascular responses in patients with Alzheimer's disease and amnestic mild cognitive impairment. It extended from a model characterizing the determinants and cardiovascular consequences of effort in people confronted with performance challenges. One component of this model holds that ability has the potential to accentuate, attenuate, or have no effect on cardiovascular responses. Specifically, lower ability should accentuate cardiovascular responses so long as performers' view a challenge possible and worthwhile. However, lower ability should attenuate cardiovascular responses when it leads to the perception that a challenge is excessively difficult or impossible. The …


Investigation Of Lipoteichoic Acid Structure And Function To Establish Its Role In Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections, Ho Seong Seo Jan 2008

Investigation Of Lipoteichoic Acid Structure And Function To Establish Its Role In Gram-Positive Bacterial Infections, Ho Seong Seo

All ETDs from UAB

Lipoteichoic acid (LTA) is an essential bacterial membrane polysaccharide (cell wall component) that is linked to a glycerol backbone with two acyl chains. Since an antibody to LTA has been shown to protect from Gr+ bacterial infections or colonization, and the mutant Gr+ bacteria which produce less amount of LTA have less pathogenic than WT, LTA may be an important role in Gr+ bacterial infection and inflammation. The currently accepted structure of pneumococcal LTA has the pentameric repeating unit bound to the lipid anchor {Glc(β1��3)AATGal(β1��3)Glc(α1��3)-acyl2Gro}. Unlike the lipid anchor of other Gr+ bacterial LTA, this pneumococcal LTA lipid anchor has …


Fluorescence Based Optical Sensor For Protein Detection, Kailiang Sun Jan 2008

Fluorescence Based Optical Sensor For Protein Detection, Kailiang Sun

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Embedded Clustering Systems With Biological Data Mining Applications., Yonghui Chen Jan 2006

Embedded Clustering Systems With Biological Data Mining Applications., Yonghui Chen

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Maternal Oral Health And Preterm Low Birth Weight In Pakistan., Amyn Lakhani Jan 2005

Maternal Oral Health And Preterm Low Birth Weight In Pakistan., Amyn Lakhani

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Spinal Prostaglandin E(2): Role In Hyperalgesia And Allodynia., Meredith Elizabeth Turnbach Jan 2002

Spinal Prostaglandin E(2): Role In Hyperalgesia And Allodynia., Meredith Elizabeth Turnbach

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Regulation Of Sodium(+)/Chlorine(-)-Coupled Neurotransmitter Transporters., Matthew Lee Beckman Jan 2000

Regulation Of Sodium(+)/Chlorine(-)-Coupled Neurotransmitter Transporters., Matthew Lee Beckman

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Identification And Characterization Of Tumor-Associated Antigens., Tracy Anne Hampton Jan 1999

Identification And Characterization Of Tumor-Associated Antigens., Tracy Anne Hampton

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Modification Of The Viral And Cellular Requirements For Adenovirus Entry Into Cells., Christopher Ryan Miller Jan 1999

Modification Of The Viral And Cellular Requirements For Adenovirus Entry Into Cells., Christopher Ryan Miller

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Crystal Structures Of Complement Factor D, Profactor D, And Factor B Serine Protease Domain Reveal Novel Mechanisms Of Serine Protease Activation., Hua Jing Jan 1998

Crystal Structures Of Complement Factor D, Profactor D, And Factor B Serine Protease Domain Reveal Novel Mechanisms Of Serine Protease Activation., Hua Jing

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Characterization Of The Mitochondrial Genome Of Onchocerca Volvulus., Elise Marie Keddie Jan 1997

Characterization Of The Mitochondrial Genome Of Onchocerca Volvulus., Elise Marie Keddie

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Molecular Studies Of The Paramyxovirus F Protein And Virus-Induced Cell Fusion., Xiaolei Hu Jan 1993

Molecular Studies Of The Paramyxovirus F Protein And Virus-Induced Cell Fusion., Xiaolei Hu

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Altering Heparin Biosynthesis In Stable Mastocytoma Cell Lines., Rebecca Iris Montgomery Jan 1993

Altering Heparin Biosynthesis In Stable Mastocytoma Cell Lines., Rebecca Iris Montgomery

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Studies Of The Precursor To Terminal Protein Of Adenovirus Serotype 2 And 5., Jeffrey Norman Fredman Jan 1993

Studies Of The Precursor To Terminal Protein Of Adenovirus Serotype 2 And 5., Jeffrey Norman Fredman

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


The Salmonella Typhimurium Hemf And Hemn Genes Encode The Oxygen-Dependent And -Independent Coproporphyrinogen Iii Oxidases Required For Heme Synthesis., Kaiping Xu Jan 1993

The Salmonella Typhimurium Hemf And Hemn Genes Encode The Oxygen-Dependent And -Independent Coproporphyrinogen Iii Oxidases Required For Heme Synthesis., Kaiping Xu

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.


Human Brain Sodium Channels I And Ii: Molecular Cloning, Chromosomal Localization And Regional Distribution., Chiung-Mei Lu Jan 1992

Human Brain Sodium Channels I And Ii: Molecular Cloning, Chromosomal Localization And Regional Distribution., Chiung-Mei Lu

All ETDs from UAB

No abstract provided.