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Experimental Investigation On The Relationship Between Lead Exposure And Thyroids In Diabetes, Salah Sumar Ali Al-Zadjali

Dissertations

Lead exposure can cause multiple systemic toxicities, particularly affecting the hematopoietic, nervous and renal systems. However, its effects on the thyroid functions are not well elucidated and the published studies are controversial. In addition, although there are several experimental thyroid models, each one of them has its own limitations. Accordingly, in this dissertation, we investigated the possible relationship between lead exposure, thyroid functions and short-term systemic toxicity in two animal models, namely normal (non-diabetic) and diabetic animals. We also investigated the possibility of developing a hormonal thyroid model. In the non-diabetic model, Wistar rats were divided into five groups and …

Development Of A Therapeutic Model Of Early Liver Cancer Using Crocin-Coated Magnetite Nanoparticles, Rkia El-Kharrag

Dissertations

Hepatocellular carcinoma is one of the most common health problems that is difficult to treat. As a result of the side effects frequently experienced with conventional cancer treatments, there has been a growing interest to develop controlled drug delivery system that can reduce the mortality rate of liver cancer patients and un-harm healthy tissues. Magnetite nanoparticles are potentially important in hepatocellular carcinoma treatment, since they can be used as delivery system. Pure and coated magnetite nanoparticles were synthesized via modified co-precipitation method in air at low temperature. Various reaction parameters and coating materials have been investigated and characterized. Among these …

Mechanisms Underlying Control Of Anti-Microbial Immunity By Acetylcholinesterase Inhibition, Ray M. Esam Al-Barazie

Dissertations

Inflammation is a crucial defense mechanism that protects the body from the devastating effects of invading pathogens. However, an unrestrained inflammatory reaction may result in systemic manifestations with dire consequences to the host. The extent of activation of the inflammatory response is tightly regulated through immunological and neural pathways. Previously, we demonstrated that cholinergic stimulation confers enhanced protection in experimental animals orally infected with a lethal dose of Salmonella typhymurium. In this study, we investigated the mechanism by which this enhanced protection takes place. We showed that cholinergic stimulation enhanced host survival following oral-route infection, which correlated with significantly reduced …

Experimental Investigation On The Relationship Between Lead Exposure And Thyroids In Diabetes., Salah Sumar Ali Al-Zadjali

Dissertations

Lead exposure can cause multiple systemic toxicities, particularly affecting the hematopoietic, nervous and renal systems. However, its effects on the thyroid functions are not well elucidated and the published studies are controversial. In addition, although there are several experimental thyroid models, each one of them has its own limitations. According, in this dissertation, we investigated the possible relationship between lead exposure, thyroid functions and short-term systemic toxicity in two animal models, namely normal (non-diabetic) and diabetic animals. We also investigated the possibility of developing a hormonal thyroid model.

In the non-diabetic model, Wistar rats were divided into five groups and …

Good To Great: A Case Study Of An African American Literacy Coordinator’S Role In Transitioning A School From Dependence On A Scripted Reading Program To Balanced Literacy, Kimberly A. Chase

Dissertations

This study considers the change process and the impact of race on the implementation process as a Literacy Coordinator transitioned an elementary school from Open Court to balanced literacy. A retroactive case study was used to examine the Literacy Coordinator’s actions and decisions, teachers’ perspectives, and the effects of race on the implementation. Findings suggested that the roles of the Literacy Coordinator involved duties that pull from the specific responsibilities of a reading specialist, literacy coach, reading educator, and an administrator. Furthermore, teachers reported a change in their practices and beliefs due to participation in the implementation process. Finally, findings …

Parental Expectations And Perspectives As They Relate To Their Children With Special Education Needs (Sen) During Transition From Early Intervention/Preschool To Kindergarten, Arika Spencer-Brown

Dissertations

Parental Expectations and Perspectives as They Relate to Their Children with Special Education Needs (SEN) During Transition From Early Intervention/Preschool to Kindergarten

By Arika Spencer-Brown

The purpose of this study was to define parent perspective and expectation as it pertains to their children with special needs transition process using a descriptive method. This study was designed to assess the perception and expectation of third year and first year Head Start families and provide insight into how effective their special needs transition was from preschool into kindergarten and the individuals related to the overall development of an Individualized Family Service Plan …

Effects Of High Fidelity Simulation On Knowledge Acquisition, Self-Confidence, And Satisfaction With Baccalaureate Nursing Students Using The Solomon-Four Research Design, Rachel Mattson Hall

Dissertations

High Fidelity Simulation is a teaching strategy that is becoming well-entrenched in the world of nursing education and is rapidly expanding due to the challenges and demands of the health care environment. The problem addressed in this study is the conflicting research results regarding the effectiveness of HFS for students' knowledge acquisition after participating in simulation exercises. Specifically this researcher determined the effects of a formatted simulation scenario on knowledge acquisition among nursing students and the students' satisfaction and self-confidence with the simulation learning activity. Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory (1984) provided the framework for this study.

This study used a …

Identification Of Employee Engagement Practices Viewed As Critical To Retention: A Cross-Generational Comparison, Sharon R. Floyd

Dissertations

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to identify the employee engagement practices that millennial IT workers perceive as important to retention. The secondary purpose of the study was to determine whether a difference exists between the engagement practices that appeal to millennial IT workers and the engagement practices that appeal to remaining IT working groups, which include the baby boomers and generation X.

Methodology. A quantitative, descriptive, survey-based research method was chosen for this study. The population included information technology workers representing three generations of working adults, including baby boomers, generation Xers, and millennials. The sample included technology workers …

Best Practice Guidelines For Uncomplicated Urinary Tract Infections To Reduce Rates Of Antibiotic Resistance: A Ce Module For Clinicians, Romina Lo-Montano

Dissertations

Uncomplicated urinary tract infections (UTIs) accounted for over 8 million visits to ambulatory clinics. The annual cost of evaluation and treatment for uncomplicated UTIs on the health care system is estimated to be approximately $2.14 billion (Barber, et al., 2013). The improper treatment of patients with uncomplicated UTIs will result in increased healthcare expenditures, increase exposure of patients to potential side effects and an increase in antibiotic resistance. This capstone projected addressed the problem of non-adherence to evidence-based guidelines to treat uncomplicated UTI in women, among primary care providers. The purpose of this capstone project was to develop an evidence-based …

A Mixed Methods Analysis On Creative Leadership And Missouri School Administrators, Tiffany Lynn Jarvis

Dissertations

In this mixed methods study, the researcher investigated whether or not Missouri school administrators were prepared to meet the creative leadership demands of the 21st century by measuring their creative capacity, creative styles, and their current creative leadership practices. A convenience sample of Missouri K-12 public school administrators and teachers completed the Abbreviated Torrance Test for Adults, the Creativity Styles Questionnaire – Revisited and an original Organizational Creativity Survey; two homogenous small focus groups discussed their experiences regarding creativity and creative leadership within school organizations. Whereas teachers were statistically significantly more creative than the normed adult population, administrators did not …

Military Resilience And Transformation: A Narrative Inquiry Highlighting The Challenges Faced By Military Veterans Of The Wars In Iraq And Afghanistan During Their Transition From Combat To Civil Society, Russell S. Lowe

Dissertations

This research examines major transitions in military life experienced by veterans of the recent wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. These transitions include reintegration challenges that deployed military members encounter as they blend back into family, community, church and a peacetime setting, from the war-zone to a civilian career and lifestyle. While most military personnel are resilient and have the ability to recover from the difficult circumstances associated with combat, such as experiences and exposure to traumatic situations, many experience problems handling stress over the months or years of transitioning from a war-zone to civil society. The research focused on: the …

Resonating Frequencies Of A Virtual Learning Community: An Ethnographic Case Study Of Online Faculty Development At Columbia College Chicago, David S. Noffs

Dissertations

Despite opportunities for artist educators to locate their practice in online learning environments, many remain reluctant to embrace virtual classrooms. As schools are being forced to create an increasing array of online courses, administrators are reluctant or unable to provide additional resources for equipping faculty with the skills needed to support online course development. Specific guidelines to train faculty how to teach online are often fragmented or local. Programs that demonstrate the ability to grow vibrant and connected online cultures may help guide future faculty development.

The Virtual Learning Community (VLC) Fellowship program at Columbia College Chicago supports informal, faculty …

Assessment Of Risk Factors And Mitigation To Adoption Of The California Community College Online Education Initiative, Scott J. Conrad

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and prioritize a list of implementation risk factors and suggested mitigation measures for the development team of the California Community Colleges (CCC) Online Education Initiative (OEI) to improve the probability of successful implementation. This study led to the development of an authoritative and comprehensive prioritized list of risk factors and user-recommended mitigation strategies for the risks of a large-scale shared learning management system (LMS) implementation. The data collected and the conclusions derived from surveying college administrators and faculty are intended to augment the literature as well as advance the understanding of how …

Elucidation Of The Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Of Missense Mutations Associated With Familial Exudative Vitreoretinopathy And Congenital Myasthenic Syndrome, Reham Mahmoud Mohammed Milhem

Dissertations

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER), within eukaryotic cells, is a hub for protein folding and assembly. Misfolded proteins and unassembled subunits of protein complexes are retained in the ER and degraded by a process termed endoplasmic reticulum associated degradation (ERAD). Frizzled class receptor 4 (FZD4) and muscle, skeletal, receptor tyrosine kinase (MuSK) are Wnt receptors. These proteins contain the frizzled cysteine-rich domain (Fz-CRD) required for dimerization in the ER. Mutations in FZD4 and MuSK genes are known to cause familial exudative vitreoretinopathy (FEVR, an autosomal dominant disease) and congenital myasthenic syndrome (CMS, an autosomal recessive disease), respectively. It was hypothesized that …

Synthetic Approaches To The Understanding Of Dna Nucleobase Methylation, Jagruti Rana

Dissertations

DNA methylation is a major source of genetic variation and cancer. Methylation occurs when nucleophilic DNA bases react with methylating agent methyl methanesulfonate (MMS), dimethyl sulfate (DMS), N-methyl-N-nitrosourea (MNU), N-methyl-N-nitro-N-nitrosoguanidine (MNNG), etc. N7-methyl-2'-deoxyguanosine (N7-methyl-dG, or ^7MedG) adduct is the most abundant DNA methylation products for most methylating agents. DNA polymerase actions on ^7MedG are difficult to study due to its instability against ring- opening hydrolysis and deglycosyl ati on. Oligonucleotides containing a single chemical adduct of ^7MedG cannot be chemically synthesized. In addition, ^7MedG is unstable in vivo …

Location Reliability And Gamification Mechanisms For Mobile Crowd Sensing, Manoop Talasila

Dissertations

People-centric sensing with smart phones can be used for large scale sensing of the physical world by leveraging the sensors on the phones. This new type of sensing can be a scalable and cost-effective alternative to deploying static wireless sensor networks for dense sensing coverage across large areas. However, mobile people-centric sensing has two main issues: 1) Data reliability in sensed data and 2) Incentives for participants. To study these issues, this dissertation designs and develops McSense, a mobile crowd sensing system which provides monetary and social incentives to users.

This dissertation proposes and evaluates two protocols for location reliability …

Developing An Insulin Producing Tissue Using Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Neha Mahendrakumar Jain

Dissertations

This thesis describes derivation of pancreatic insulin producing cells (IPCs) from mouse embryonic stem cells and development of three-dimensional (3D) engineered tissue system to provide physiologic culture conditions for IPCs. Upon using a previously established protocol, IPCs have been successfully derived from mouse embryonic stem cells and characterized in vitro . IPCs not only express classical markers of pancreatic beta cells but also exhibit glucose responsive behavior. Interestingly while deriving IPCs from mouse embryonic stem cells, islet endothelial cells have also been identified and successfully isolated from the culture. Derivation of a pure population of endothelial cells expressing specific markers …

Expert System For Energy Optimization Of Buildings Using Sustainable And Resilient Strategies, Victoria Ann Scala

Dissertations

An expert system is developed using the science of heuristics to better model energy usage in existing commercial buildings and to predict future improvements more accurately. The software performs an initial audit analysis of all the major building systems including building envelope, HVAC, lighting, office equipment and appliances, water and hot water, and waste handling. A novel feature of the expert system is that it analyzes energy flow within the building more interactively and cohesively, as opposed to looking at each system individually as do most energy analysis tools on the current market. Both forward and backward chaining strategies are …

Retrospective Electronic Health Record Review Of Preoperative Screening Of Candidates For Total Joint Replacement, Jill Ann Rude

Dissertations

Advanced practice nurses (APNs) play an important role in preoperative screening. The purpose of this project was to determine the effectiveness of pre-operative screening criterion established February 2012 for patients greater than 40 years old who underwent total knee or hip replacement surgery. Of the 1850 electronic health records reviewed, 1065 (57.6%) total knee and total hip replacement surgeries took place before and 785 (42.4%) took place after screening criteria were implemented. Before implementation of screening criteria 53 (4.98%) patients experienced critical changes (code blue or critical assessment team call); after the implementation of screening 30 (3.82%) patients experienced critical …

An Analysis Of The Predictive Capability Of C5.0 And Chaid Decision Trees And Bayes Net In The Classification Of Fatal Traffic Accidents In The Uk, Aiden O'Connor

Dissertations

Road traffic accidents are a significant cause of deaths worldwide and there is a global focus on understanding accident contributory factors and implementing prevention strategies. Although accident statistics are steadily improving, effective prevention must be persistent, evidence based and properly resourced. This research aimed to extract fatal traffic accident prediction from UK STATS19 accident data using C5.0 and Chaid decision trees and Bayes net classification models. Data was grouped as either fatal or non-fatal. The class imbalance due to fatal accident infrequency was considered and data transformation and sampling techniques were applied to increase prediction likelihood. Chaid was used for …

Effect Of A Substance Abuse Intervention Program On Student Achievement At A Midwest University, Terry Russell

Dissertations

Through empirical research, this dissertation examined whether a substance abuse intervention program implemented at a Midwest university could prove beneficial in addressing the problem of substance abuse on college campuses. Drawing on multiple resources, including Department of Education, psychologists, scholars, and other professional sources, this dissertation provides information on the importance of intervention and behavioral adjustment. This study covered statistical data over a two year period on an intervention program including measurements such as: grade point average, attendance, number of months in the program, and degree persistence. A second area of research was directed at determining the effect of the …

Motivation For Seeking A Nurse Manager Position: A Qualitative Study, Judy L. Jarnigan White

Dissertations

By the year 2020, it is estimated there will be a need for 3.45 million bedside nurses – at least 1.2 million more than the projected supply (American Association of Colleges of Nursing [AACN], 2011). In addition to the lack of bedside nurses, nurse manager vacancy rates are estimated to be as high as 8.3% nationwide. There is limited empirical data available on a nurse’s motivation to choose a nurse manager role. This qualitative research study’s purpose was to explore the factors influencing nurses’ motivation to seek a nurse manager role and to articulate a grounded theory of decision-making. The …

Hope, Uncertainty, And Coping Among Parents Of Children With Cancer, Christine Ann Sloan

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Influence Of Maternal Prior Life Adversity On The Psycho-Neuroendocrine-Immune Profile During Pregnancy, Karen J. Kotz

Dissertations

Pregnancy is accompanied by a multitude of physical and psychological changes. Adaptation to these changes through reduced anxiety and attenuated stress responsiveness is necessary across gestation and into the postpartum period for optimal maternal-infant health. In contrast, exposure to higher amounts of stressors during pregnancy can disrupt neuroendocrine-immune processes required for successful pregnancy outcomes. Evolving evidence demonstrates that exposure to adversity early in life has long-lasting effects on stress response systems that alter stress reactivity during adulthood. Given this evidence, it is posited that women who experience greater pre-pregnancy adversity during their childhood are at greater risk for negative maternal-infant …

The Role Of Alveolar Macrophages In Pulmonary Inflammation After Intoxication And Burn Injury, Jill Ann Shults

Dissertations

A positive blood alcohol concentration is detected in nearly half of burn patients admitted to the emergency room. The combined insult of being intoxicated at the time of burn injury results in more clinical complications, in comparison to non-intoxicated burn patients. Severe burn, with or without inhalation injury, is a common predisposing factor for the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Exacerbated pulmonary inflammation and a net result of insufficient gas exchange underlie the large percentage of burn fatalities due to pulmonary complications. Previous studies in our laboratory indicate a drastic elevation in pulmonary inflammation in a mouse model …

Mechanisms Of Estrogen Receptor Alternative Splicing And The Consequences For Aging In The Female Brain, Cody Lee Shults

Dissertations

The advances in healthcare and scientific knowledge have resulted in longer life expectancies in women. These advanced ages in women now means that they are experiencing the effects of age-related changes in the body for much longer periods of time, mainly reproductive senescence, resulting in the loss of circulating ovarian hormones. The age at which menopause occurs has not changed, resulting in women now living over a third of their lives in a postmenopausal state.

The major circulating estrogen produced by the ovaries, 17β-estradiol (E2), has many homeostatic effects in the body like neuroprotection and cardioprotection. Hormone replacement therapy (HT) …

Effects Of Aggregated Alpha-Synuclein On Cultured Neuronal Cells, David Freeman

Dissertations

α-synuclein dysregulation is a critical aspect of Parkinson's disease pathology. Recent studies have observed that α-synuclein aggregates are cytotoxic to cells in culture and that this toxicity can be spread between cells. However, the molecular mechanisms governing this cytotoxicity and spread are poorly characterized. Recent studies of viruses and bacteria, which achieve their cytoplasmic entry by rupturing intracellular vesicles, have utilized the redistribution of galectin proteins as a tool to measure vesicle rupture by these organisms. Using this approach, we demonstrate that α-synuclein aggregates can induce the rupture of lysosomes following their endocytosis in neuronal cell lines. This rupture can …

Comparing The Clinical Approaches Of Christian Social Workers And Secular Social Workers, Kristin Larsen

Dissertations

This mixed methods research study explores the current interface of religion and social work in clinical practice. A total of 91 National Association of Social Workers, Illinois Chapter members and 120 North American Association of Christians in Social Work members responded to clinical vignettes via an online survey. Subsequently, a small group of Christian social workers and a small group of Secular social workers convened for focus group discussion. This study found that the approaches of Christian social workers and secular social workers were not fundamentally different; however, there was some evidence of significant differences between the groups and their …

Surviving The Presidency: Presidential Failures In South America, Christopher A. Martinez

Dissertations

Since 1979, one out of six South American presidents have failed to complete their terms of office. These "failed presidencies" occur when democratically elected presidents are forced to leave office early, but without compromising the democratic order. This dissertation seeks to solve the puzzle of what drives presidents out of office. Previous studies have found that institutional and political factors, economic issues, and social mobilizations are powerful forces affecting presidential failures. In this research, I examine the impact these factors have on the likelihood of presidential failures.

Additionally, I argue that previous works have failed to find a significant relation …

The Dialectics Of Secularism And Revivalism In Turkey: The Case Of Said Nursi, Zubeyir Nisanci

Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes Said Nursi's revivalist discourse and mobilization strategies in the context of the development of secularism in Turkey. This study starts with the exploration of the development of the secularist movement and its discourse with regard to philosophical foundations of (1) the construction of reality, (2) the self and (3) the society. This is followed by the analysis of Said Nursi's discourse of revivalism before and after the establishment of the Turkish Republic with respect to these three areas and by the exploration of the discourse and mobilization strategies of the Nur Movement (established by Said Nursi) vis-à-vis …