Digital Commons Network^™

Characterizing A Novel Cocksackievirus B3 Protease Mutant And Its Response To Polyamine Depletion, Bridget Hulsebosch

Master's Theses

Enteroviruses, including Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), are pervasive pathogens that cause significant disease, including cardiomyopathies. Unfortunately, no treatments or vaccines are available for infected individuals. We identified the host polyamine pathway as a potential drug target, as inhibiting polyamine biosynthesis significantly reduces enterovirus replication in vitro and in vivo. Here, we show that CVB3 is sensitive to polyamine depletion through the polyamine analog diethylnorspermidine (DENSpm) which enhances polyamine catabolism through induction of polyamine acetylation. We demonstrate that CVB3 acquires resistance to DENSpm via mutation of the 2A protease, which enhances proteolytic activity in the presence of DENSpm. Resistance to DENSpm occurred …

Plasmodium Tlap-2 Is A Microtubule-Associated Protein With Microtubule Stabilization Properties, Grifin Berge

Master's Theses

Microtubules facilitate major cellular and morphological changes in eukaryotic cells, including the protozoan parasite Plasmodium. Microtubule-associated proteins (MAPs), only very few of which have been characterized in the malaria parasite, regulate the highly dynamic microtubules. Thioredoxin-like associated protein 2 (TLAP2) is a MAP unique to the phylum apicomplexa, which in addition to Plasmodium includes the important human pathogen Toxoplasma. Here we report on the cloning and microtubule-binding activity of TLAP2 of the rodent malaria parasite Plasmodium berghei (PbTLAP2). PbTLAP2 is coded by a single exon gene and consists of 598 amino acids. The protein contains a putative C-terminal microtubule-binding domain. …

Chga-Depleted Urothelial Amp And Immune Response During Urinary Tract Infection, Theadora Jane Ceccarelli

Master's Theses

Women are 8 times more likely than men to experience a urinary tract infection (UTI) with up to 60% of women reporting a UTI in their lifetime. This significant healthcare burden is caused by the infection of uropathogenic Escherichia coli in the urinary tract. At this time, treatment is limited to antibiotic therapy, which is challenged by antibiotic-resistance. These factors make UTIs an NIH priority and are motivation for our research.CgA is a protein of the granin family co-released with catecholamines from neuroendocrine cells throughout the body. Pro-hormone convertases post-translationally cleave CgA into peptides, like catestatin, which can have antimicrobial …

Assessing The Role Of The Interaction Between Polyamines And Heparan Sulfate In Coxsackievirus B3 Viral Infection, Oreoluwa Omoba

Master's Theses

Non-polioenteroviruses are highly infectious viruses that typically cause mild asymptomatic cases but can cause severe disease such as aseptic meningitis and dilated cardiomyopathy. Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3) is a member of this group and is prevalent in the United States and Eastern Asia. Viruses like CVB3 rely on the host cell for many molecules in order to replicate. One such set of molecules is the polyamines. Polyamines are small, positively charged molecules that play a role in a multitude of cellular processes including RNA/DNA stabilization, gene expression, translation, and regulating membrane fluidity. Previous studies have shown CVB3 relies on polyamines for …

Ecology And Open-Minded Cognition: Does Exposure To Pathogens Influence Open-Minded Cognition?, Gabriel Escudero

Master's Theses

This study aimed to examine if a perceived pathogen contamination threat would influence participants level of open-minded cognition. This study obtained an online sample of 300 adults (i.e., 18-years or older) U.S. Amazon Mechanical Turk workers to participate in an online study. This study used a quantitative experimental design to examine if a manipulation of perceived pathogen contamination threat would influence participants level of situation-specific open-minded cognition (SSOMC). Participants were randomly assigned to either a perceived pathogen contamination condition in which they watched a short informative video on pathogens or a control condition in which participants watched a short innoxious …

Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Prophages And Engineered Temperate Phages, Genevieve Johnson

Master's Theses

The rising rate of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a global health concern, and the Pseudomonas aeruginosa is estimated to be a leader in serious threats. Bacteriophages, or viruses that infect bacteria, have gained renewed interest in Western Medicine as an alternative to antibiotics. Phage therapy of P. aeruginosa infections has primarily focused on obligately lytic phages. However, prophages, or phages in the lysogenic life cycle, are estimated to far outnumber obligately lytic phages. In theory, these prophages can be genetically modified to be obligately lytic and thus ideal candidates for phage therapy. To date there has not been a comprehensive analysis …

Temperature Effects On Prevalence Of Sexually Transmitted Infections Among At-Risk Female Sex Workers In India, Rajshri Suresh

Master's Theses

Vulnerability to climate change varies depending on the baseline climate, sensitivity to given exposure, and the presence of social, political, cultural, and institutional inequalities that influence access to essential resources of livelihood, particularly among informal labor market participants. Within the risky informal labor market, the transient nature of sex work implies that sex workers suffer disproportional losses in health, income, protection, and other aspects of general well-being as a result of the effects of climate anomalies. In this paper, I investigate the effect of temperature on the prevalence of sexually transmitted infections in a high-risk population of female sex workers …

Professional Development And Care Planning, Maninder Deol

Master's Theses

The Covid-19 infection trend revealed to the Californian Prison healthcare system the importance of offering top-quality preventive and care services to control diseases. Irrespective of the understanding, there have been challenges in the transitional gap as older nurses are retiring and replaced by new ones. However, the lack of technical experience among the new nurses has exposed the patient population to human errors, which might be costly to amend. As a result, the initiative embarked on a project to train and empower nurses on preventive and care techniques.

Critical areas of concern include reporting, data collection, patient symptomology, results interpretation, …

Effects Of Infection Of The Protist Parasite, Dermomycoides Sp., In Dusky Gopher Frog Tadpoles, Jaime Smith

Master's Theses

Infections of the protist parasite, Dermomycoides sp. are thought to have caused several years of low recruitment in the dusky gopher frog (Rana sevosa) populations. I evaluated the effects of density of the infective zoospores, host developmental stage, and tadpoles' ability to acquire resistance to Dermomycoides sp. on dusky gopher frog tadpoles. Tadpoles were exposed to zoospore densities of 0, 250, 500, and 750 zoospores/µL at Gosner stage 25, and we found no significant differences among treatments in tadpole mortality. In evaluating susceptibility by development stage, I exposed R. sevosa to 50 zoospores/µL as eggs, embryos, hatchlings, and …

Nutrition At Tipu: A Comparative Analysis Of Juvenile Health In Maya Populations, Sydnie A. Bianchi

Master's Theses

The site of Tipu in west central Belize provided a foothold for Spanish missionaries in the 17^th century. The effects of contact on adults among the 550 burials recovered in the cemetery there have been well studied, but the children have received less attention. Therefore, this study examined juvenile health through four markers: Linear Enamel Hypoplasia (LEH), a non-specific marker of health disruptions; Porotic Hyperostosis (PH), an indicator of anemia; and Periostitis, an indicator of infection. Some 131 individuals were evaluated using criteria developed by Steckel, Sciulli, and Rose (2002). The results were compared to Late Classic Copán (Storey, …

The Wakefield Phenomenon: A Rhetorical Examination Of The Resurgence Of The Anti-Vaccination Movement In The 20th & 21st Century, Karen Boger

Master's Theses

This thesis explores the phenomenon of the anti-vaccination movement and existing publications documenting significant points in its resurgence in the late 20^th and early 21^st century following the now redacted publication by the former Dr. Wakefield asserting a correlation between children receiving vaccinations and children exhibiting the onset of developmental disorders, with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) garnering the most public attention. With increasing numbers of parents delaying or forbidding their children from receiving vaccinations, along with the re-emergence of previously eradicated disease outbreaks and casualties, questions about the salience of Wakefield’s anti-vaccination statements arise. Investigation here is key …

Interprofessional Collaboration For Oral Health Education And Screening Of Children With Special Health Care Needs, Lamia Habib

Master's Theses

In 2016, National Survey of Children’s Health conducted by the U.S. Department (HRSA MCHB) identified 18.8% of children aged 0-17 years old with Special Health Care Needs (CSHCN). Of these children, 83.4% are not receiving adequate healthcare. It has been well established that oral health is an integral part of the child’s general health. Medical primary care physicians may play an important role in improving oral health outcomes through oral screening, referral, oral health education and promotion. CSHCN may be at an increased risk for oral health problems throughout their life which may negatively impact their quality of life and …

The Role Of High-Fructose Corn Syrup Imports In Child And Women Obesity, Anna Subirana Bofill

Master's Theses

High Fructose Corn Syrup is believed to be responsible for the increase of the obesity epidemic that is affecting both developed and developing countries, yet to date there are no rigorous analyses that quantify this effect. To estimate the impact of consumption of HFCS on obesity, I have paired country-specific data on imports of HFCS from the United Nations International Trade Statistics Database (UN Comtrade) with women and child health data from around 70 countries from 1985 to 2018. The results show that conditional on space and time fixed effects, imports of HFCS with a high concentration of fructose have …

Predictors Of Willingness Of The Sheltered Homeless To Be Screened For Hepatitis C, Linda Casey

Master's Theses

Background. Homeless individuals are at high risk of contracting the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) given that many use intravenous drugs or have a prison history, common risk factors for the disease. Although there is no vaccine, it is curable.

Methods. This cross-sectional study surveyed residents (n=120) of five homeless shelters in Connecticut to understand their screening willingness and knowledge about HCV.

Results. Those who tested previously (OR=0.46, 95% CI 0.23-0.90) and those who had never spent time in prison (OR=0.39, 95% CI 0.15-0.98) were less willing to be screened. Most did not recognize HCV symptoms and risk factors.

Conclusions. The …

Social Factors Influencing Family Planning Knowledge, Attitudes, And Practices In The Ngäbe Population In Bocas Del Toro And The Comarca Ngäbe-Buglé, Panama, Carolina Vicens Cardona

Master's Theses

Introduction: According to Panama’s 2009 National Sexual and Reproductive Health Survey, only 19% of indigenous women in Panama use modern family planning (FP) methods. Despite the Ngäbe representing 62% of the indigenous population, there is limited research on their use of FP.

Methodology: 14 Ngäbe communities in Bocas del Toro were surveyed. Women between the ages of 18 and 50, and had >2 children completed a survey to assess knowledge, attitudes, and practices regarding family planning.

Results: A total of 148 women were enrolled, mean age was 32.18; mean number of pregnancies was 5. 32.4% of women …

Small Universe: Exploring Microorganisms In Water From An Artistic Perspective, Jingying Zhen

Master's Theses

The scope of this thesis was based on an artistic desire to explore and display microorganisms in water and present the viewers with an opportunity to discover an invisible world. This included research on three artists who have taken interest in unusual life forms. It also included my observation of real microorganisms under a microscope in biology lab. I found the beauty within the details of this miniature world; it was a different perspective. The purpose of this study was to combine biology and art, traveling in the real and imaginary world, researching, exploring, and then showing microorganisms using multiple …

Development Of An Attenuated Zika Virus By Editing The 5’ Untranslated Region, E. Ashley Thompson

Master's Theses

Zika Virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-transmitted flavivirus that usually causes no symptoms to mild febrile in humans, and it has been regarded as an insignificant pathogen to public health. However, recent outbreaks of ZIKV infection have revealed that ZIKV can cause severe neurological effects in adults, such as Guillain-Barre Syndrome (GBS), and in infants whose mothers acquired the virus during pregnancy, causing Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS). Currently, no approved vaccine is available and there is a critical need to develop an effective and safe vaccine. While most vaccine developmental strategies target the viral prM-E protein of ZIKV, we aimed to …

Historical And Contemporary Variables Affecting The Range And Distribution Of Aedes Aegypti, The Yellow Fever Mosquito, In The United States, Nicole Mackey

Master's Theses

Aedes aegypti, the primary mosquito vector of the yellow fever virus, threatens global health by passing on this virus, as well as chikungunya, dengue, and Zika viruses. Through its natural tendency to live in highly urban areas and bite human hosts; understanding the factors that affect the historical and current range of the pest is invaluable (Gubler, 1998). Although these viruses are not normally found in the United States, lack of vaccinations and wide-spread presence of the mosquito could lead to these diseases being reintroduced with potentially devastating effects (Monath, 2001). To determine a partial historical range of A. aegypti …

Characterizing Erad And Antioxidant Response In Ixodes Scapularis Ise6 Cells During Borrelia Infection, Latoyia Downs

Master's Theses

Ticks are hematophagous ectoparasites that transmit a multitude of diseases to humans. Borrelia burgdorferi (BB) and Borrelia miyamotoi (BM) are both tick-borne pathogens that cause disease in humans and are transmitted by the black-legged tick (Ixodes scapularis). A byproduct of blood digestion generates reactive oxygen species that are toxic and cause oxidative stress which promotes cellular damage and dysfunction. The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is especially affected by oxidative stress, resulting in a buildup of improperly folded proteins in the ER lumen called ER stress. To prevent cellular damage, the tick utilizes an antioxidant system to neutralize ROS and mechanisms …

Barriers To Health: Understanding The Barriers Faced By Community Intervention Projects, Vera Landrum

Master's Theses

Health disparities affect significant portions of the population and are most often experienced by marginalized communities (Wilkin, 2013). Health disparities are also impacted by geographical location, and hunger often affects rural areas (Dutta, Anaele, & Jones, 2013; Rural Health Information Hub, 2017). This study aims to understand how nonprofit organizations focused on addressing food insecurity disseminate information to members of the local community and how the input of community members impacted the overall food insecurity campaign. This study was conducted by interviewing five nonprofit directors and conducting three focus groups with clients of the. aforementioned organizations. The author found that …

Risk Factors For Poor Birth Outcomes In Moderately Malnourished Pregnant Women In Sierra Leone, Candice A. Rodriguez

Master's Theses

Background: Maternal malnutrition in developing countries is associated with adverse pregnancy and birth outcomes. Malnourished mothers are often faced with additional risk factors as a circumstance of poverty. Supplementary nutrition can improve the outcomes of both mother and infant. Identifying maternal nutritional and socioeconomic risk factors is critical for developing effective interventions.

Objective: A secondary analysis to evaluate maternal risk factors associated with poor birth outcomes including pregnancy loss, low birth weight, stunting, and preterm delivery among moderately malnourished pregnant women in Sierra Leone. Maternal risk factors in the analysis are age, education, parity, BMI, MUAC, gestational weight gain, and …

Using Crispr-Cas9 As A Restriction Enzyme, Zack Crawley

Master's Theses

Restriction digests are a commonly utilized process for cleaving DNA at specific, but relatively common sites. Restriction enzymes have widespread use in DNA manipulation. CRISPR/Cas9 is a recently identified endonuclease which utilizes a customizable guide sequence to recognize and cut specific ~20 bp sites located in a DNA sequence. This preliminary research aimed to exploit the potential benefit of DNA restriction using the CRISPR/Cas9 procedure through alterations of different components involved in that system. We sought to refine existing CRISPR/Cas9 protocols and make a budget friendly, user-selectable CRISPR/Cas9 restriction digest protocol. The motivation for this research was to simplify and …

The Effect Of Time-Restricted Feeding On Body Weight, Energy, Mood, Sleep, And Hunger Levels Of Adults On Social Media, Rachel Elizabeth Haines

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of time-restricted eighthour feeding on body weight, self-reported energy, mood, and hunger scores, and selfreported sleep patterns of adult men and women on social media. Generally healthy adults ages 18 to 65 were invited on social media to participate in a five-week study which involved a one week of following their normal dietary patterns succeeded by four weeks of practicing time-restricted feeding of eight hours per day, also known as 16 hours of fasting. Daily surveys were created in Survey Monkey and distributed through the messaging platform, Remind, that gathered …

Zika Virus Inactivates Polyamine Catabolism Via Alternative Splicing To Enhance Infection, Marion Lea Graham

Master's Theses

During viral infection, the virus and host must compete for resources inside the cell. One of these resources is polyamines. Polyamines are small, positively charged molecules that are found in all eukaryotic cells. They play a key role in several cellular functions including growth and proliferation, transcription and translation, and membrane stability. Viruses also rely polyamines for productive replication, utilizing them during DNA/RNa polymerization, nucleic acid packaging, and protein synthesis. in response to a virus infecting a host cell, the host cell will begin to regulate polyamine levels as a way to combat the infection. Polyamine levels are regulated by …

Transforming Growth Factor Beta Suppression Of Cd8+ T Cell Proliferation, Shena Geisinger

Master's Theses

Transforming Growth Factor Beta (TGF-beta) is highly suppressive to both CD4+ and CD8+ T cell proliferation and function. in tumor microenvironments, TGF-beta has been described as immune suppressive, particularly to CD8+ T cells, however, the molecular mechanism behind how TGF-beta signaling controls T cell growth is not fully understood. Here, we report that TGF-beta inhibits CD8+ T cell proliferation and reduces expression of the CARMA1/BCL10/MALT1 (CBM) signalosome complex in activated CD8+ T cells. the CBM signalosome is an essential scaffold that forms after T cell receptor (TCR) stimulation, leading to the activation of NF-kB and AP-1. This observed reduction in …

The Characterization Of Inflammatory Extracellular Vesicles, Barak Balva

Master's Theses

One of the driving factors behind innate immunity is the early response of inflammation. While beneficial in controlling infections, when uncontrolled it can lead to a plethora of disorders. Thus, it is essential to understand the driving factors behind inflammation. a cell's ability to recycle, discard, or transfer proteins is integral for survival and intercellular communication. It has been appreciated that inflammatory components, such as caspase-1, play a huge role in driving protein secretion. Thus, inflammation also plays a role in the distribution of proteins released from cells. These proteins are released via non-conventional secretory pathways, and our lab is …

Investigating The Role Of Hypusine In Viral Translation And Infection, Jeremy Joseph Esin

Master's Theses

Polyamines are small, positively charged, molecules found in eukaryotic cells with roles in cellular function and viral infection. in previous work we have shown RNa viruses, including bunyaviruses, to be sensitive to polyamine depletion, but exact mechanisms are unknown. Bunyaviruses are emerging pathogens that cause encephalitis, hemorrhagic fevers, and meningitis. Rift Valley Fever Virus is a bunyavirus that infects both humans and livestock with severe mortality and morbidity. in previous work done with Rift Valley Fever Virus polyamine depleted results in noninfectious interfering particles without affecting the shape or size of the particles. Here, I investigate a specific metabolic pathway …

Characterization Of Caspase 1 Substrate Specificity Utilizing Luminescent Reporter Constructs, Nicholas Rohlfes

Master's Theses

Inflammation is the bodies first response to defend itself against foreign pathogens and damage. Cellular sensors are constantly monitoring the body and checking for homeostatic disruption. Microbial pathogens and tissue damage are sensed by pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which sense pathogen associated molecular patterns and damage associated molecular patterns, termed PAMPs and DAMPs respectively. Within the family of PRRs are sensors that can induce the formation of the multi-protein complex termed the inflammasome following activation. the inflammasome complex is a molecular platform for which caspase 1, a cysteine protease, is incorporated and is responsible for the maturation of pro-inflammatory cytokines …

Enabling The Clinical Detection Of Human Papilloma Virus (Hpv) To Enhance Effective Diagnosis And Research, Jennifer Sackey

Master's Theses

Human Papilloma Virus (HPV) is one of the most common sexually transmitted infections. There are over 150 different genotypes of HPV. Some cause benign warts, while others cause several types of cancer. Subunit vaccines comprised of the capsid protein from an increasing number of HPV genotypes have been developed; however, the vaccines are prophylactic and are documented to protect against only 9 of the HPV genotypes. Importantly, there are also significant limitations in the clinical detection of HPV. Current clinical tests can only specifically identify HPV16 and HPV18. One of the test also detects 12 of the other high-oncogenic risk …

A Susceptibility Study Of Urinary Isolates To Methenamine Hippurate And Its Metabolites, Nancy Sloan

Master's Theses

Urinary Tract Infection (UTI) is one of the most common bacterial infections in adult women. Treatment is one of the most common reasons for antibiotic prescription. the rise of antibiotic-resistant infections coupled with the shortage of new antibiotics creates an urgent need for alternative non-antibiotic treatments. One alternative is methenamine hippurate (MH), which is a non-antibiotic prophylaxis. It is reported to be active against some common uropathogens including Escherichia coli and Enterococcus species, but its effects on the newly discovered bladder microbiota (urobiome) are undocumented. Given this knowledge gap, this study aimed to evaluate the drug's spectrum of susceptibility on …