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Application Of Synthetic Organic And Medicinal Chemistry Toward Medical Advances In Cancer, Antibiotics, And Drug Delivery, Marlon Lutz

Dissertations

Cancer and bacterial infections are a great concern in our society and have affected populations worldwide. The objective of this research was to discover new therapies for treating bacterial infections and cancer, and for promoting drug delivery.

DapE is an essential component in succinylase biosynthetic pathway, which is critical to production of lysine and m-DAP which both are essential in protein synthesis and bacterial peptidoglycan cell wall construction. Synthetic approaches were developed to prepare a new substrate for the N-succinyl-L,L-diaminopimelic acid desuccinylase (DapE) enzyme enabling the discovery of new antibiotics that inhibit DapE.

MMPs are over expressed in cancer, in …

The Impact Of Sociodemographic Factors On Health-Related, Neuropsychological, And Psychosocial Functioning In Youth With Spina Bifida, Jaclyn Lennon Papadakis

Dissertations

Objective: There is a lack of research on the impact of sociodemographic factors on youth with spina bifida (SB). This is concerning given the pervasive health disparities that exist in pediatric chronic illness groups. The aims of this study were to examine: (1) differences in health-related, neuropsychological, and psychosocial functioning among youth with SB based on sociodemographic risk; (2) cumulative risk as a predictor of youth outcomes, as moderated by age; (3) SB-related family stress as a mediator of the associations between sociodemographic/cumulative risk and youth outcomes, longitudinally. Methods: Participants (M age = 11.43, 53.6% female) were recruited as part …

Studying The Antagonistic Relationship Between Nkg2d And Tgf-Β Signaling In Cd8+ T Cells, Kushal Prajapati

Dissertations

Despite the remarkable success of cancer immunotherapies in treating patients with hematological cancers, the clinical response rates of immunotherapies in the case of solid tumors have been dismal. One major reason for the lower response rates is tumor-induced immune-suppression mediated by TGF-?, which directly suppresses the functionality of CD8+ T cells by inhibiting their activation, proliferation, and acquisition of inflammatory cytokines, granzyme B and perforin. On the other hand, NKG2D, a potent co-stimulatory receptor, has effects on CD8+ T cells opposite to that of TGF-?. In T cells from 22 healthy human donors, we found that the suppression by TGF-? …

Regulation Of Bacterial Glycogen Synthesis: Structure-Function Relationship Of Adp-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase, Hiral Priyank Patel

Dissertations

Starch is an important source for energy, and it has become a significant resource for bio-fuel production. ADP-glucose pyrophosphorylase is the enzyme that controls the synthesis of starch in plants, and glycogen in bacteria. This regulation is mainly driven by allosteric activators (Fru6P, FBP, and Pyruvate) in bacteria. It has been hypothesized that inter-subunit communications are important for the allosteric effect in this enzyme. Here we show that one specific subunit interface and the interaction between amino acids Arg11 and Asp141 are critical for the regulatory signal in the enzyme from Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Manipulation of this regulatory signal is critical …

Heteromerization Of G Protein-Coupled Receptors In Human Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells: Identification Of Hetero-Oligomeric Receptor Complexes Between Α1-Adrenergic Receptors, Arginine Vasopressin Recptor 1a, Chemokine (C-X-C Motif) Receptor Type 4, And Atypical Chemokine Receptor 3., Lauren J. Albee

Dissertations

G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) heteromerization is rapidly evolving field. Traditionally, GPCRs were thought to behave has independent entities or protomers. However, that line of reasoning has since been brought into question. Currently, it appears that many, if not all, GPCRs signal and function as heteromeric receptor complexes. The roles of GPCR heteromerization are vast and can include: maturation and trafficking; dynamic regulation; allostery and cooperativity; signal transduction; and receptor internalization.

The majority of studies identifying and characterizing GPCR heteromers were performed using recombinant receptors. Only four receptor pairs have been identified and validated in native tissues. The overall objective of …

Examining The Experiences Of Latinx Stem Baccalaureates, Marlene Chavez

Dissertations

Examining the Experiences of Latinx STEM Baccalaureates is a qualitative research study of Latinx who graduated with a bachelor's degree in an area of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM). The purpose of this dissertation was to learn about the experiences of Latinx who have attained a STEM degree at a four-year university. This study holds implications for educational institutions, policymakers, and educational researchers that serve Latinx populations. More importantly, this dissertation will share the voices and knowledge of Latinx that have attained STEM.

This dissertation examined the following questions: What are the undergraduate educational experiences of Latinx students who …

The Relationship Between Secondary Students' Mathematics Identities, Problem Solving, And Self-Regulation, Katie Laskasky

Dissertations

This mixed methods study explores secondary students' math identities. The primary purpose of this dissertation is to examine the relationships among students' math identities, their perceived problem solving practices, and their perceived self-regulated learning strategies. This study holds implications for teachers, school administrators, instructional coaches, teacher preparation professionals, policy makers, and educational researchers who influence the education of secondary math students.

This dissertation examines the following research questions: What is the relationship between secondary students' math identities, their perceived problem solving practices, and their perceived self-regulated learning strategies? What is the relationship between problem solving, self-regulation, and math identity given …

Social Scientists' Conceptualization And Implementation Of Research Ethics And Integrity, Heather A. Pease

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to identify core themes, values, and principles through which social scientists conceptualize and implement research ethics and integrity. Periods of rapid growth and interest in research ethics and integrity often coincide with significant scientific discoveries (e.g., mapping of the human genome) or scientific misconduct (e.g., Tuskegee studies). Even though research policies are being developed, they are done in a manner which does not maximize the opportunities to regulate ethics and integrity within social science research. The laws and programs aimed at mitigating acts of misconduct were originally intended for biomedical sciences, yet they …

Counter-Narratives Of Latino Men And Machismo In Higher Education, Hiram Ramirez

Dissertations

This dissertation study addresses the gaps in research concerning the gendered experiences of successful Latino men in higher education. As Latino men in postsecondary education continue to enroll and persist in low numbers, new lenses are needed to consider their educational experiences. This study attempts to add a gendered lens, in the form of machismo, to consider ways in which successful Latino men are persisting. Machismo, a construct with both positive and negative attributes, has the potential to influence Latino men's navigation of higher education. Research documents the negative ways in which machismo has hampered Latino men in education, however …

Use Of Hyperspectral Images (Hsi) And Convolutional Neural Network (Cnn) To Identify Normal, Precancerous And Cancerous Tissues, Pallavi Jain

Dissertations

Cancer detection has been a great topic of research for a long time, as early detection of cancer can help in increasing the survival rate of patients by providing on time better treatment. A robust system is required in order to detect early-stage cancer as its difficult to identify early-stage cancer from the normal clinical process. The computer vision techniques provide a new way to understand the challenges related to the medical image analysis. This thesis presents the medical image analysis using a combination of Convolutional Neural Network and Hyperspectral Images of cancer patient's tissues. The idea behind choosing the …

Longitudinal Stratified Structure As Tunable Platform Using Liquid Crystal At Terahertz Regime, Abubaker Mustafa Tareki

Dissertations

In recent years, the terahertz (THz) band of the electromagnetic spectrum has received considerable attention. The THz region falls above the RF (radio frequency- gigahertz frequencies) engineering and falls below IR (infrared frequencies). The region has been referred to as the terahertz gap because it has been highly underutilized in spite of the fact that THz waves have unique properties that provide advantages in medical and defense applications. The increase in THz research has been a result of the significant advances in THz sources and detectors. To continue the advancement of THz technology, component research that can actively manage the …

Comprehensive Functional And Transcriptional Analysis Of Human Pancreatic Islets From Controls And Individuals With Type 1 Diabetes (T1d), Shristi Shrestha

Dissertations

Type 1 Diabetes is chronic disease where immune moderated destruction of insulin producing β cells disrupts normal glucose homeostasis in the body. Recent findings show that few β cells remain in the pancreatic islets decades after disease onset challenging the previous understanding that β cells are completely destroyed. Overcoming the limited availability of T1D tissues, we studied functional and molecular features of pancreatic islets from individuals with T1D and investigated the nature of the remaining β cells. We found that remnant β cells have normal insulin secretory function and normally express key transcription factor that regulates β cell function. On …

Student Evaluations Of Teaching, Course And Student Characteristics At Andrews University, Fatimah Al Nasser

Dissertations

Problem

This research examined the type of rating of specific Student Evaluation of Teaching (SET) dimensions and overall rating students tended to give for the courses that they took, identified the dimensions that predicted the overall rating, and assessed the association of gender, student academic status, course level, course type, academic school and the effect on SET scores.

Method

The researcher used a quantitative research method to explore the type of score that students give to the courses they took, examine the relationship between dimensions of SET and overall rating, and the influence of gender, student status, course level, course …

Ethnic Identity And Adult Attachment As Correlates Of Relationship Satisfaction Among White, Black, And Interracial Couples, Donalea Mcintyre

Dissertations

Problem

Relationship satisfaction is a broad construct that has been extensively researched. However, there are gaps in the literature pertaining to relationship satisfaction in minority and interracial couples. This present study examines the extent of the relationship between ethnic identity and adult attachment to relationship satisfaction in White, Black, and Interracial couples.

Method

Participants completed surveys that measure a) ethnic identity, b) adult attachment, and c) relationship satisfaction. Several statistical analysis methods were used to answer two research questions. These methods included descriptive statistics, one-way MANOVA, and Path Analysis. Six hundred and seven adults in the United States general population …

Leadership Development Among Youth In Latino Congregations: The Relationship Of Religious Participation To Social Service Involvement And Engagement In Leadership Tasks, Elizabeth Tamez Mendez

Dissertations

Problem

Personal observations and anecdotal accounts attest that some of the young people in U.S. Latino churches are developing as leaders within their congregations. This seems to come as a result of the organic or less-formalized leadership development dynamics and practices present within Latino congregations, where leaders often develop by being actively involved in leadership actions without necessarily first following a curriculum of study, completing a training program, or fulfilling a set of theological education requirements. In this way, many are acquiring roles and responsibilities by which they actively contribute towards local congregational and community life, and by which they …

A Psychometric Investigation Of The Short Interpersonal Reactions Inventory: An Exploratory Factor Analysis Of The Short Interpersonal Reactions Inventory And An Assessment Of The Validity Of The Type 1 (Cancer-Prone) Personality Category, Jason Taller

Dissertations

Purpose

The purpose of this study was to determine if the 6 personality Types, as measured by Grossarth-Maticek and Eysenck’s (1990) Short Interpersonal Reactions Inventory (SIRI), were present in a sample of cancer and cancer-free individuals and to examine if the Type 1 personality category (cancer-prone personality) could significantly differentiate cancer from cancer-free subjects. Using an ex post facto research design and a sample of 648 English speaking adults selected from North America, overall findings from a confirmatory factor analysis suggested that contrary to results from some prior studies which validated the 6-personality factor structure of the SIRI, the six …

Can You Feel The Spirit? Towards A Sensory Sociology Of Relgion, Beth Laurel Dougherty

Dissertations

How do the embodied senses play into ritual efficacy? In this dissertation, I argue that the relationship between ritual and This mixed-methods dissertation focuses on the ways individuals, local ritual coordinators, and larger organizations use and understand the senses and embodiment as tools for shaping and experiential results of ritual encounters. Establishing an understanding of the role of the sensory in sociological literature and the historical shifts in the sociology of religion, I build an analysis that models ways that the sensory can be used to understand and analyze religious rituals. Using ethnographic and content analysis of rituals in Pagan, …

Chemical Modification Of Poly(Hydroxyalkanoate)S (Pha)S Via "Click' Chemistry, Samuel Nkrumah-Agyeefi

Dissertations

Poly(hydroxyalkanoate)s, PHAs, due to their biocompatibility and biodegradability have found many useful applications in biomedicine, prominently in the cardiovascular area. The spectrum of applications can be further expanded for PHAs by post biosynthetic chemical modification of terminal functional side chain groups. This should allow for the development of PHA platforms suited for specialized applications such as coatings, temporary medical implants, wound dressings etc. and for which novel applications can be envisioned. In this dissertation, four specific “click” chemistry tools, copper catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition (CuAAC), strain promoted azide-alkyne cycloaddition (SPAAC), thiol-yne radical “click” reaction and thiol-halogen nucleophilic substitution, have been studied …

Nanostructure Plasmonics For Biochemical Sensing, Hong Guo

Dissertations

In this dissertation work, several surface plasmon resonance nanostructure devices were investigated for biochemical sensing applications. First, optical resonance properties of diabolo nanoantenna arrays were investigated. Diabolo nanoantenna arrays with different waist widths and periods were fabricated and characterized. It was found that the waist width is critical to control the plasmon resonant wavelength. Second, a hybrid plasmon photonic crystal superperiod nanohole grating array was fabricated on a glass substrate and characterized. It was found that the new optical resonance spectrometer based on hybrid photonic crystal and plasmonic structure can measure plasmonic resonance that cannot be measured with a regular …

Global Stability And Traveling Wave Solutions For A Two-Competing-Prey And One-Predator Lotka-Volterra Model, Cuiping Wang

Dissertations

This dissertation consists of four chapters. In Chapter 1, I give an introduction of background, models to be investigated, and main goal of this dissertation. In Chapter 2, I study the space homogeneous model. The existence and local stability analysis of nonnegative equilibrium points in three cases, as well as the sufficient and necessary conditions for the existence of the positive interior equilibrium point are geiven in Section2.1. In Section 2.2, I perform a careful analysis to show the global stability of the boundary equilibrium point at which two prey coexist with extinction of predator for case 1. In Section …

Evaluation Of Electric Solid Propellant Responses To Electrical Factors And Electrode Configurations, Andrew Timothy Hiatt

Dissertations

Some electric solid propellants repeatedly ignite and extinguish through application and removal of electrical energy. Responses to electrical factors and electrode configurations were evaluated at atmospheric conditions using the Design of Experiment methodology for development of valid correlations. Experiment results were compared with an existing electrolytic theory describing electrochemical reactions occurring proportional to current. The high performance electrical propellant 501a formulation containing a hydroxylammonium nitrate ionic liquid and polyvinyl alcohol polymer binder was used in all experiments. External flame impingement produced charring without energetic ignition, no self-sustained burning, and extinguishment upon flame removal. Application and removal of electrical energy through …

Worship Music As Spiritual Identity: An Examination Of Music In The Liturgy Among Black And White Adventists In The United States From 1840 To 1944, David A. Williams

Dissertations

The Topic

This study examined Black and White Seventh-day Adventist music in the liturgy in the United States from 1840 to 1944. Little scholarly attention has been given to the development of Adventist liturgical practice, the function of music in the liturgy, and the effect of music upon the spiritual identity. This study utilized liturgical history, ritual studies, musicology, and liturgical theology to derive and compare the spiritual identity fostered through music in the liturgy by these ethnic groups. This study considered both the shared and distinct spiritual identities of Black and White Adventists, as cultivated by the music in …

The Effects Of Using Expressive Intervention In Group Counseling On Acculturative Stress And Depressive Symptoms Among Korean Immigrant Women In South And Central Texas :A N Experimental Study, Sun-Kyung Chung

Dissertations

This study evaluated the relationship between acculturative stress and depressive symptoms in Korean immigrant women and evaluated the use of expressive group counseling interventions for these women's acculturative stress and depressive symptoms. Participants were randomly assigned to the intervention or control group. The intervention group received a total of four sessions of expressive group counseling interventions while the control group was asked to color pictures at home. Pearson correlations found statically significant relationships between acculturative stress and depressive symptoms in Korean immigrant women. The results of a one-way analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) indicated no statistically significant difference in the effect …

Trauma-Focused Cognitive Behavioral Therapy With A Teacher Component: Outcomes Examined In A School Setting, Kelly Marie Holmes

Dissertations

Trauma exposure among youth is common and can result in long-term social-emotional, behavioral, and academic problems (Finkelhor, Turner, Hamby, & Ormrod, 2011; Kronenberg et al., 2010). Fortunately, there are interventions that can ameliorate these problems. In particular, trauma-focused, interventions are effective in reducing trauma related symptomatology and problems among youth (Cary & McMillen, 2012). Trauma exposure among youth is common and can result in long-term social-emotional, behavioral, and academic problems (Finkelhor, Turner, Hamby, & Ormrod, 2011). Additionally, most youth receive mental health services in schools (Green et al., 2013). Fortunately, there are school-based, trauma-focused interventions that have been found to …

Teachers' Perceptions Of And Collaboration Practices With Non-Traditional Families, Bonnie Kilfoyle

Dissertations

The "typical" American family is becoming more diverse with more families encompassing different configurations of individuals, such as blended families, multi-generational families, foster families, and single parent families (Lambie, 2011). This research study used qualitative research methods (teacher interviews) to investigate the extent to which teachers in a Catholic school received training on collaborating with non-traditional families and family diversity. Additionally, this study investigated the perceptions teachers had about working with foster families, kinship care-givers, grandparents raising grandchildren, and divorced parents and whether these perceptions changed after receiving a brief professional development on working with these types of families. Although …

Hannah Arendt's Political Action: A Dialectic Of Expression And Deliberation, Paul Richard Leisen

Dissertations

Commentators disagree about what Hannah Arendt means by political action. One interpretation emphasizes that political action is rational deliberation, another interpretation identifies political action with expressiveness or the performative expression of personal virtuosity and greatness. Both interpretations fall short. The deliberative model captures the aspect of constituting political power through collective agreement based on reason-giving (combining a plurality into a polity). The expressive model captures the aspect of natality, originality, spontaneity, and freedom from conventional ways of reasoning. The deliberative and expressive models of Hannah Arendt's political action can be reconciled contrary to a claim that her theory is incoherent. …

The Impact Of Mood On Health Behaviors And Quality Of Life For Women With Cardiovascular Disease, Jacqueline Ann Tulley

Dissertations

Methods/Measurements: A cross-sectional correlational design explored the relationships between symptoms, functional status, health perceptions and QoL in women with CVD. The aims of the study were: 1) to determine the relationship of symptoms (depression/anxiety) to functional status (health-promoting behaviors), health perceptions (illness perception), and QoL; and 2) to determine whether age is a factor contributing to negative mood symptoms, functional status, health perceptions, and QoL after controlling for social support. Measurements were collected at one time-point to address these aims that included the following: biological function (Framingham Recurrent Risk Model and Functional Comorbidity Index), symptoms (Patient Health Questionnaire-8 and Generalized …

Political Essentialism And Affective Polarization, Chase Wilson

Dissertations

Affective polarization, the phenomenon of liberals and conservatives treating each other as disliked outgroups, is increasingly intense (Iyengar & Westwood, 2015; Pew, 2016). In the present research, I used the construct of psychological essentialism (Medin & Ortony, 1989) to help understand this intergroup phenomenon. Specifically, I measured political essentialism, or the belief that political ideologies are strongly determined, informative, discrete and/or immutable, and tested the relationship between these beliefs and affective polarization. I approached this question with both correlational and experimental methods. In a correlational study, political essentialism overall is found to covary positively with affective polarization and social avoidance …

Mechanisms And Consequences Of Epigenetic Inheritance Following Parental Preconception Alcohol Exposure, Annadorothea Asimes

Dissertations

Recent advances in genomics research have revealed that preconception behaviors and experiences of mothers and fathers, including diet, environmental toxicants, and drug abuse, can impact future offspring through epigenetic mechanisms. This means that the risky behaviors of young people, such as the extremely popular practice of binge drinking, have potentially far-reaching consequences for generations to come. While there has been considerable research into fetal alcohol exposure and parental alcoholism, there has yet to be sufficient investigation into the mechanism of epigenetic inheritance or the functional consequences of parental preconception binge pattern alcohol abuse. The hypothesis tested herein is that parental …

How Does The Classroom Teacher Promote Academic Success In The Spanish Native Speaker Class: A Study Of Classroom Teachers' Perceptions Of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In The Spanish Native Speaker Course At The High School Level, Michael Angelo Ayala

Dissertations

The achievement gap between Latino and White students is a significant problem, prompting the need to address the cultural conflicts that hinder relationships and compromise learning opportunities for Latino students in the United States. This exploratory qualitative study focused on Spanish Native Speaker (SNS) teachers' perceptions and use of Culturally Relevant Pedagogy (CRP) at the high school level. Framed with theory related to CRP, data were collected through interviews and classroom observations with four SNS teachers who teach a SNS class at various high schools in the suburbs of Cook County. A thematic analysis and an analysis using Herrera's (2010) …