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Validation Of Bioimpedance Spectroscopy By Assessing Precision And Accuracy Of In Vivo Body Composition In Mice, Matthew S. Carle Jan 2010

Validation Of Bioimpedance Spectroscopy By Assessing Precision And Accuracy Of In Vivo Body Composition In Mice, Matthew S. Carle

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No abstract provided.


O-Glcnac Transferase Modulates Jnk1 And Foxo4 Transcription Factor To Resist Acute Oxidative Stress, Shiuh-Rong Ho Jan 2010

O-Glcnac Transferase Modulates Jnk1 And Foxo4 Transcription Factor To Resist Acute Oxidative Stress, Shiuh-Rong Ho

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O-GlcNAcylation is an abundant and dynamic post-translational modification on serine and threonine residues of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. O-GlcNAc Transferase (OGT) and Nuclear Cytoplasmic O-GlcNAcase and Acetyltransferase (NCOAT) are the only two enzymes and major regulators in this process. In the past two decades, many studies have demonstrated its important modulation roles in nutrient sensing, protein turnover, cell cycle progression, transcription, translation as well as stress resistance. Among these biological functions, the understanding of O-GlcNAcylation dependent oxidative stress is relatively unknown. This study aims to examine the effects of O-GlcNAcylation on JNK1 and FOXO4 transcription factors under acute oxidative stress …


Cardiometabolic Risk And Risk Perception Among Oklahoma American Indian Women With Previous Gestational Diabetes, Emily Jean Jones Jan 2010

Cardiometabolic Risk And Risk Perception Among Oklahoma American Indian Women With Previous Gestational Diabetes, Emily Jean Jones

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Introduction: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of women in the United States (US). Increasing rates of CVD have been associated with the epidemic rates of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) in the US. Minority women, particularly American Indian women, experience a greater burden of health risk factors and significant disparities in health status related to CVD and T2DM. Furthermore, women who have had gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) during pregnancy are at greater risk for these diseases than women who have not had GDM. However, these women often do not perceive themselves to be at risk, or, if …


Increasing The Accuracy Of Dietary Assessments By The Use Of Photogrammetry, David John Brasher Jan 2010

Increasing The Accuracy Of Dietary Assessments By The Use Of Photogrammetry, David John Brasher

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Dietary assessments are plagued by a host of logistical and accuracy problems. The measurement of food consumed is either prohibitively expensive for logistical reasons, or the accuracy is left to the study subject's ability to measure or guess quantities consumed. This dissertation presents a method by which accuracy problems can be reduced with minimal logistical impact. Previous studies have used single photographs to assist in making food measurements during dietary assessments. These single photographs give a twodimensional representation of the food, with extrapolated three-dimensional data. This dissertation adds the third dimension to the volume calculation through the use of photogrammetry. …


Project-Induced Displacement, Secondary Stressors, And Health, Yue Cao Jan 2010

Project-Induced Displacement, Secondary Stressors, And Health, Yue Cao

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It is estimated that 15 million migrants displaced by development projects every year in the world. However, research on health impacts of project-induced displacement is insufficient. The existing literature concerning the causal effect of migration on health is inconclusive due to the selective nature of migration and other methodological problems. This study employs the stress process model as the major theoretical framework, components from Cernea's IRR model as well as Scudder and Colson's framework are also incorporated to examine the short-term health impact of the displacement resulting from China's Three Gorges Dam Project. I also explore whether the displacement's effect …


Determinants Of Self-Efficacy To Seek Care For Tuberculosis And Complete Tuberculosis Treatment Among Hiv-Positive Patients Attending Government Hiv/Aids Clincis In Honduras, Mayra Silvana Arias Jan 2010

Determinants Of Self-Efficacy To Seek Care For Tuberculosis And Complete Tuberculosis Treatment Among Hiv-Positive Patients Attending Government Hiv/Aids Clincis In Honduras, Mayra Silvana Arias

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control


Chemically Mediated Macroalgal-Mesograzer Interactions Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Craig Farrar Aumack Jan 2010

Chemically Mediated Macroalgal-Mesograzer Interactions Along The Western Antarctic Peninsula, Craig Farrar Aumack

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In the following dissertation, we explore benthic communities along the Western Antarctic Peninsula, specifically, interactions between the immense macroalgal and mesograzer assemblages and how these relationships are chemically mediated. Despite the widespread production of various chemical feeding deterrents throughout the macroalgal community, the system supports an abundant and diverse array of crustacean amphipods. Gut content analysis and stable isotopic signatures indicate that filamentous macroalgae and epiphytic diatoms probably play an important role as dietary constituents, despite their visible absence in the sub-tidal zones. Subsequent palatability and extract feeding assays revealed that none of the filamentous macroalgal material found in amphipod …


Age Bias In Physicians' Recommendation For Physical Activity, Adherence, And Health Related Quality Of Life Among Individuals With Arthritis, Shamly Austin Jan 2010

Age Bias In Physicians' Recommendation For Physical Activity, Adherence, And Health Related Quality Of Life Among Individuals With Arthritis, Shamly Austin

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The association between individuals' ages, physicians' recommendations for physical activity, adherence, and health related quality of life among individuals with arthritis was examined using the 2007 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System. The sample included 33,071 individuals with self-reported, physician-diagnosed arthritis who were 45 years or older. To answer the research questions, three sets of data were created: a whole sample (n=33,071), those 45-64 years old (n=17,607), and those 65 years or older (n=15,464). The conceptual framework for the study was based on the Behavioral Model of Health Services Utilization. The variables of interests were physicians' recommendations for physical activity, adherence …


The Role Of Wnt5a In Mammary Gland Development, Sarah Baxley Jan 2010

The Role Of Wnt5a In Mammary Gland Development, Sarah Baxley

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Transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) negatively regulates mammary gland development and requires Wnt5a to exert some of these effects on mammary gland development. Wnt5a is a non-canonical signaling Wnt that is expressed in all stages of mammary gland development except lactation. Using slow release pellets containing Wnt5a, as well as Wnt5a null tissue, we previously showed that Wnt5a also acts to limit mammary development. Initial studies revealed a potential role for TGF-beta and Wnt5a in regulating mammary gland progenitor cells, indicating they may act to regulate the stem and progenitor cell population. In order to study the role of Wnt5a on …


Radiographic Damage And Functional Disability In African American Patients With Recent-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis, Jie Zhang Jan 2010

Radiographic Damage And Functional Disability In African American Patients With Recent-Onset Rheumatoid Arthritis, Jie Zhang

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we adjust for heterskedasticity using a HCCM estimator, we find no significant evidence


Roles Of Nr4a3 In Insulin Sensitivity In Skeletal Muscle, Xiaolin Zhu Jan 2010

Roles Of Nr4a3 In Insulin Sensitivity In Skeletal Muscle, Xiaolin Zhu

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For the past several decades, the prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes and the metabolic syndrome has been increasing. Insulin resistance is the central pathogenic event for these diseases. We previously reported that the NR4A family of orphan nuclear receptors augments insulin sensitivity in adipocytes. We now found that lentiviral mediated NR4A3 hyper-expression increased insulin stimulated glucose transport (ISGT) in C2C12 myocytes while NR4A3 knock-down exhibited opposite effect. We also examined the effects of prostaglandin A2 (PGA2) on insulin action and NR4A3 trans-activation in C2C12 myocytes. PGA2 augmented ISGT and insulin stimulated AKT phosphorylation in C2C12 myocytes. Importantly, PGA2 treatment led …


Cystic Fibrosis And Vitamin D Supplementation, Lindsay Clare Ball Jan 2010

Cystic Fibrosis And Vitamin D Supplementation, Lindsay Clare Ball

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No abstract provided.


Self -Blood Pressure Monitoring, Stage Of Change, Medication Adherence, Self -Efficacy And Blood Pressure Control In Hypertensive Workers, Tonya Breaux-Shropshire Jan 2010

Self -Blood Pressure Monitoring, Stage Of Change, Medication Adherence, Self -Efficacy And Blood Pressure Control In Hypertensive Workers, Tonya Breaux-Shropshire

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No abstract provided.


Effect Of Dietary Protein An D Carbohydrate Levels On Weight Gain And Organ Production In The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Laura E Wright Heflin Jan 2010

Effect Of Dietary Protein An D Carbohydrate Levels On Weight Gain And Organ Production In The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Laura E Wright Heflin

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No abstract provided.


A Missionary's Journey, Denise Turner Jan 2010

A Missionary's Journey, Denise Turner

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No abstract provided.


Potential Chemical Defenses Against Diatom Fouling In Macroalgae From The Antarctic Peninsula: Insights From Bioassay Guided Fractionation, Hamel P. Sevak Jan 2010

Potential Chemical Defenses Against Diatom Fouling In Macroalgae From The Antarctic Peninsula: Insights From Bioassay Guided Fractionation, Hamel P. Sevak

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No abstract provided.


Racial Disparities In Healthcare Utilization Betwee N African Americans And Caucasians With Mild Cognitve Impairment, Bridgett P. Hill Jan 2010

Racial Disparities In Healthcare Utilization Betwee N African Americans And Caucasians With Mild Cognitve Impairment, Bridgett P. Hill

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No abstract provided.


An Assessment Of The Factors That Affect The Self-Care Behaviors Of Diabetics, Gregory Ellis Jan 2010

An Assessment Of The Factors That Affect The Self-Care Behaviors Of Diabetics, Gregory Ellis

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various heteroskedastic analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) models with orthogonal


Maternal Gestational Glucose Concentration And Offspring Body Composition, Insulin Sensitivity, And Ss-Cell Function, Nikki C. Bush Jan 2010

Maternal Gestational Glucose Concentration And Offspring Body Composition, Insulin Sensitivity, And Ss-Cell Function, Nikki C. Bush

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Background: Evidence suggests that intrauterine exposure to elevated glucose concentrations may be a mediating factor in prenatal programming of offspring disease risk. However, studies examining the effects of maternal glucose concentration on measures of body composition, insulin sensitivity, and ß-cell response in prepubertal children are limited. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the associations of maternal glucose concentration with children's fat mass, insulin sensitivity, and ß-cell response using robust and physiologic measures. Methods: Participants were 40 children aged 5-10 years. Children's insulin sensitivity index (SI) and measures of basal, static, dynamic, and total ß-cell response were determined …


Diversity, Commonality, And Stability Of Mutans Streptococci In High Caries Risk Children, Kyounga Cheon Jan 2010

Diversity, Commonality, And Stability Of Mutans Streptococci In High Caries Risk Children, Kyounga Cheon

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Mutans streptococci (MS), Streptococcus mutans and Streptococcus sobrinus are associated with the initiation of dental caries in humans. Initially, a single S. mutans genotype has been shown to colonize primary molars soon after eruption. More genotypes can be acquired with age and further dental development. Current methods used to genotype isolates from an individual have not systematically determined the minimum number required to demonstrate an individual's genetic diversity. The purpose of this study was to determine the optimum number of oral isolates of MS (i.e., from plaque samples) to genotype in order to demonstrate diversity. This study also initiated a …


Examining The Association Between Body Mass Index And Weight Related Quality Of Life In Black And White Women, Tiffany Lashaun Cox Jan 2010

Examining The Association Between Body Mass Index And Weight Related Quality Of Life In Black And White Women, Tiffany Lashaun Cox

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Obesity not only increases risk for morbidity/mortality, but also impacts the quality of life of obese individuals. In the United States, black women have the highest prevalence of obesity of any other group with approximately 80% of black women over age 20 having a body mass index (BMI) ≥ 25 kg/m2. We aimed to examine the association between weight and quality of life in this high risk population and compare it to weight-related quality of life in white women using the Impact of Weight on Quality of Life (IWQOL)-Lite questionnaire. Data for 343 women were analyzed (172 black, 171 white). …


The Effects Of Weight Reduction On Obesity-Related Cancer Biomarkers And In Vitro Cancer Cell Growth, Maria Azrad Jan 2010

The Effects Of Weight Reduction On Obesity-Related Cancer Biomarkers And In Vitro Cancer Cell Growth, Maria Azrad

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Obesity increases the risk for breast and endometrial cancers while weight loss reduces the risk for these cancers. One aim of this dissertation was to determine the effects of weight loss from an overweight state [body mass index (BMI) 27-30] to a normal weight state on several obesity-related cancer biomarkers in African-American (AA) and European-American (EA) premenopausal women. We also sought to determine whether the method of weight loss, caloric restriction alone (CR) or combined with exercise resulted in similar changes in cancer biomarkers. The biomarkers of interest were urinary estrogen metabolites, and serum adiponectin, leptin, insulin-like growth factor (IGF)-1, …


The Role Of Post-Translational Modifications And Valosin-Containing Protein In The Turnover And Stability Of The Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau, Philip James Dolan Jan 2010

The Role Of Post-Translational Modifications And Valosin-Containing Protein In The Turnover And Stability Of The Microtubule-Associated Protein Tau, Philip James Dolan

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Alzheimer Disease (AD) is pathologically characterized by the appearance of senile plaques composed of ß-amyloid and neurofibrillary tangles composed of the microtubule-associated protein tau. During the development of AD pathology, tau is hyperphosphorylated and aberrantly cleaved, both of which potentially contribute to its pathogenic and fibrillogenic nature. The accumulative nature of these post-translational products, and their contribution to tau pathology, has led to a great deal of study regarding mechanisms for both the maintenance of tau stability and degradation. The first part of this study reviews the developments regarding the contribution of phosphorylated tau to different physiological and pathological processes. …


Self-Blood Pressure Monitoring, Stage Of Change, Medication Adherence, Self-Efficacy And Blood Pressure Control In Hypertensive Workers, Tonya Lynn Breaux-Shropshire Jan 2010

Self-Blood Pressure Monitoring, Stage Of Change, Medication Adherence, Self-Efficacy And Blood Pressure Control In Hypertensive Workers, Tonya Lynn Breaux-Shropshire

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ABSTRACT According to the World Health Organization, hypertension is the leading cause of death in the world and it is one of the primary reasons patients seek health care. Prior to 2010, uncontrolled blood pressure (BP) rates were approximately 18%, despite the fact that prescribed medical treatment is available to adequately control patients' BP. It has been established that medication adherence is a major factor in controlling BP, and self-BP monitoring is highly recommended by the national guideline to improve blood pressure control. However, information related to assessing hypertensive patients' readiness to engage in health care treatment and self-monitoring is …


Methods For Estimating Mediation Effect In Survival Analysis: Does Weight Loss Mediate The Undernutrition-Mortality Relationship In The Older Adults?, Yanhui Sun Jan 2010

Methods For Estimating Mediation Effect In Survival Analysis: Does Weight Loss Mediate The Undernutrition-Mortality Relationship In The Older Adults?, Yanhui Sun

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The influence of undernutrition on mortality and other adverse outcomes through the mechanism of unintentional weight loss in older adults is often assumed, but the analytic methods to test these mediation mechanisms are not well-developed, and the need for methodological advances in this area motivated this program of research. We first examined the test-retest reliability and predictive validity of self-reported caloric intake as a measure of undernutrition. Acceptable reliability was observed, consistent with previous reports, but the evidence for predictive validity was inconsistent and self-reported caloric intake deficiency was not found to be related to observed weight loss. We then …


Identification And Characterization Of Virulence Factors Of Mycoplasmas, Wenyi Luo Jan 2010

Identification And Characterization Of Virulence Factors Of Mycoplasmas, Wenyi Luo

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Mycoplasmas cause a group of diseases that are characterized by their chronicity and resistance to treatment. Diseases caused by the murine pathogens Mycoplasma pulmonis and Mycoplasma arthritidis are often studied as models of human diseases caused by a variety of chronic pathogens that induce a similar pathology. Among several candidate pathogenic factors, superantigens and degradative enzymes such as glycosidases are potentially important but not well characterized. The M. arthritidis mitogen (MAM) is a superantigen secreted by M. arthritidis. Its role with respect to arthritogenicity and toxicity is unclear. To improve the efficiency of transformation and hence enhance efforts to generate …


Translocation And Function Of Akt In The Mitochondria, Keri A. Mans Jan 2010

Translocation And Function Of Akt In The Mitochondria, Keri A. Mans

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The ubiquitously expressed kinase Akt is a known survival protein, and is involved in multiple cell signaling cascades, notably the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) pathway. Active Akt translocates from the plasma membrane to different subcellular compartments, including mitochondria, where it phosphorylates compartment-specific substrates. The mechanism of this translocation and the specific function of Akt within the mitochondria remains a mystery. The goals of this study were to elucidate the mechanism by which Akt enters the mitochondria and examine the role of Akt in mitochondrial function. Finally, the possibilities of using post-mortem human brain tissue to study mitochondrial function in normal and …


Translation Initiation Signaling Components Altered By Mechanical Load Dictate Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy, David Lawrence Mayhew Jan 2010

Translation Initiation Signaling Components Altered By Mechanical Load Dictate Skeletal Muscle Hypertrophy, David Lawrence Mayhew

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The regulation of protein synthesis (i.e., mRNA translation) is an energetically costly and extensively regulated process, which is primarily regulated at the initiation step. Mechanical load is a potent stimulus of translation in skeletal muscle, and thus this tissue provides an excellent model system to study the plasticity of the translational apparatus. We investigated the effects of alterations in translation initiation cell signaling pathways in skeletal muscle using a variety of in vitro and in vivo mouse and human model systems. Collectively, our results suggest that, although many proteins in translational signaling pathways are responsive to mechanical load, the response …


Genotyping Of Streptococcus Mutans Using Multilocus Sequence Typing, Stephanie Momeni Jan 2010

Genotyping Of Streptococcus Mutans Using Multilocus Sequence Typing, Stephanie Momeni

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ABSTRACT The role of Streptococcus mutans has been extensively studied using a variety of genotyping techniques. Repetitive extragenic palindromic polymerase chain reaction (rep-PCR) is an effective tool for screening large-scale epidemiological studies with high discriminatory power and reproducibility. For this study, multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analysis is used to evaluate genotypes previously identified as unique using rep-PCR. Twenty-two unique S. mutans rep- PCR genotypes were selected from a longitudinal study. Four additional isolates were selected from each genotype group of the 6 most commonly occurring genotypes (n=30) for further analysis. Real-time PCR was performed using eight housekeeping S. mutans gene …


The Role Of Parental Autonomy Support In The Motivation Of The Health Behaviors Of Diet And Exercise In Older Adolescents, Shannon A. Morrison Jan 2010

The Role Of Parental Autonomy Support In The Motivation Of The Health Behaviors Of Diet And Exercise In Older Adolescents, Shannon A. Morrison

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regardless of the degree of heteroskedasticity. Moreover, in the presence of high leverage