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Reverse Transcriptase And The Inability Of Samhd1 To Fully Restrict Macrophage Infection By Hiv-1, Timothy Edward Plitnik

Open Access Dissertations

HIV/AIDS continues to cause significant morbidity and mortality across the globe. Even though current drug therapy can reduce the disease burden, a cure to HIV-1 infection remains elusive due to the relatively stable viral reservoir. Infected macrophages are of particular importance to the viral reservoir as they are long-lived cells that are often located in immune privileged sites and resistant to the cytopathic effects of the virus. Invasion of the cell by the primate lentiviruses HIV/SIV, is opposed by cellular restrictions including APOBEC3G, Tetherin/BST2, and SAMHD1. SAMHD1 is a dNTP triphosphohydrorylase that reduces cellular dNTP levels in non-mitotic cells, such …

The Practice Of Religious Law: Pastoral Care And The Resolution Of Family Conflicts: Case Studies Of Islam And Judaism In North America, Natalie A. Ghosn

Open Access Dissertations

Despite the long-term secularization of North American societies, there remain people, native and immigrant, who are committed to the centrality of religion in their lives. Some members of religious communities, as a result, turn inward for help in resolving conflicts they face in everyday life, particularly in matters concerning domestic affairs like courtship, marriage, divorce, childrearing challenges, estate planning, and the like. The practice of seeking a religious form of conflict resolution is not uncommon among Jewish and Muslim communities in North America. American and Canadian law are pluralist by nature in that they permit and partially valorize such conflict …

A Population Neuroscience Approach For Analyzing Regional Structural Brain Mri Data In Cognitive Aging, Michelle R. Caunca

Open Access Dissertations

As the number of older adults increases in the US over the next few decades, the racial and ethnic diversity of the older adult population is also expected to increase. As such, the burden of age-related cognitive impairment in racial and ethnic minorities is an urgent public health priority. Though the most common form of dementia is Alzheimer’s disease, cerebral small vessel disease resulting from cumulative vascular risk factor burden often co-exists with neurodegenerative pathology and brain atrophy. Both brain atrophy and cerebrovascular damage can be imaged in vivo with structural brain magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Global MRI-derived markers of …

Can Studies Of Trait Altruism Be Trusted?, William H.B. Mcauliffe

Open Access Dissertations

Studies using the self-report altruism scale (SRA) to measure trait altruism have found that altruism is uncorrelated with antisocial motives and positively correlated with being female and number of sex partners. However, it is unknown whether the SRA scale meets basic psychometric standards, such as unidimensionality. The act-frequency format of the SRA likely undermines its ability to isolate any one motive for behaving prosocially. In a pilot study (N =276), factor analysis indicated that the SRA contains dimensions related to the performance of favors (Factor 1), charitable giving (Factor 2), and politeness among strangers (Factor 3). Factor 2 predicted laboratory …

The Impact Of Total Caloric And Macronutrient Consumption On Strength And Power During An Off-Season Training Program In Collegiate Volleyball Players., Yvette Figueroa

Open Access Dissertations

Adequate caloric and carbohydrate intakes are necessary for positive adaptations to exercise training, yet there is limited research examining dietary intake in relation to strength and power in female athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine 1) whether there were significant changes in weekly total caloric and macronutrient consumption, strength, and power, and 2) whether total caloric and macronutrient consumption significantly and positively contributed to changes in strength and power across a controlled eight-week, off-season resistance training program. Eleven collegiate-level female volleyball players were examined on macronutrient consumption, strength, and power at two-week intervals using three-day food logs, …

Distributed Adaptive Estimation Of Non-Stationary Signal And Outliers In Time-Varying Graphs, May Zar Lin

Open Access Dissertations

In sensor networks, adaptive algorithms such as diffusion adaptation LMS and RLS are commonly used to learn and track non-stationary signals. When such signals have similarities across certain nodes as captured by a graph, then Laplacian Regularized (LR) LMS and diffusion adaptation LR LMS can be utilized for the respective centralized and distributed estimation cases. What if the ground truth signal’s time-varying co-variance structure is related to a time-varying graph? And what if there exists outlier/anomaly nodes trying to influence the graph signal? In order to answer these questions, we first re-examine the existing adaptive methods, and use graph signal …

Influences Of Amino Acids And Peptide Mutations On Material Morphology And Catalysis, Catherine Munro

Open Access Dissertations

Biomolecules and their conjugates have become widely used templates in the synthesis of metal and metal oxide materials with exact morphologies and enhanced functionalities. Among the many biomolecule options, peptides are short conjugated amino acid chains with inherent material recognition properties that are easy to modify and study. While the current use of biomolecules as templates for material synthesis in the presence of exogenous reducing agents has led to great advancements in biomediated materials and expanding the understanding of the biotic/abiotic interface, additional steps can still be taken so that these biomolecules can not only act as a material morphology …

Il-2 Therapy With A Novel Il-2-Based Fusion Protein Preferentially Targets Regulatory T Lymphocytes And Promotes Immune Tolerance, Natasha Ward

Open Access Dissertations

Produced primarily by CD4+ T cells, IL-2 is a cytokine, which promotes proliferation but more importantly is critical for regulatory T cell (Treg) development, homeostasis, and competitive fitness. For over 20 years, IL-2 therapy has been used in the treatment of malignant disorders, however, with toxic effects. A new and promising therapeutic application for IL-2 uses administration of low doses to selectively expand Tregs in attempt to boost immunity and promote tolerance in patients with autoimmunity. In clinical studies as well as preclinical studies, low-dose IL-2 has been promising in increasing Treg numbers and enhancing their suppressive function. Most importantly, …

Traumatic Brain Injury-Induced Acute Lung Injury: Evidence Of Activation And Inhibition Of A Neural-Respiratory Inflammasome Axis, Nadine Kerr

Open Access Dissertations

Approximately 20-25 percent of Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI) subjects develop Acute Lung Injury (ALI), but the pathomechanisms of TBI-induced ALI remain poorly defined. In my thesis, I investigated whether (Extracellular Vesicle) EV-mediated inflammasome signalling contributed to the etiology of TBI-induced ALI. C57/BL6 male mice were subjected to Controlled Cortical Impact, and the brains and lungs were examined for inflammasome activation and ALI at 4 hours and 24 hours after TBI. I show that TBI releases EV containing inflammasome proteins into serum that target the lung to cause ALI. Administration of a Low Molecular Weight Heparin (Enoxaparin, a blocker of EV …

Design And Optimization Of An Energy Efficient Low Environmental Impact Net-Zero Water Wash Station, Lucien Gassie

Open Access Dissertations

In remote areas with limited access to clean water, disease outbreaks can have a much larger impact than in areas where clean water is available. Portable net-zero greywater (NZGW) systems may be a solution, allowing users to wash hands or shower between patients in areas where fresh water is not typically available, unlike conventional greywater reuse systems. Based on the reviewed literature, an ozone-UV NZGW system was designed, constructed, and operated at the University of Miami. Results of the system are assessed, with water quality goals of meeting WateReuse Research Foundation guidelines for direct potable reuse and federal drinking water …

A Brief Period Of Exercise Improves Cognitive Function After Cardiac Arrest, Holly Stradecki Cohan

Open Access Dissertations

Cardiac arrest effects over half a million people in the United States annually. A lack of brain perfusion results in a global brain ischemia resulting in cell death in several regions including the hippocampus, an area important for learning and memory. Nearly half the survivors of cardiac arrest suffer from cognitive deficits. While there remains no well accepted therapy for these patients, it has been shown that exercise after focal brain ischemia (i.e. stroke) enhances both motor and cognitive function. But this has never been explored in the setting of cardiac arrest. In this study, we determined that a brief …

Development And Regulation Of Two-State Patterned Activity In A Model Serotonin Motor Circuit, Bhavya Ravi

Open Access Dissertations

Neuronal activity accompanies synapse formation and maintenance, but how early activity contributes to behavior development is poorly understood. Here, we used the Caenorhabditis elegans egg-laying motor circuit as a model to understand how coordinated circuit activity patterns emerge during development in relation to behavior. The C. elegans egg-laying circuit is a simple neural circuit which develops during the fourth larval stage and drives a two-state behavior in adult animals. The egg-laying circuit comprises two serotonergic Hermaphrodite Specific Neurons (HSNs) and six cholinergic Ventral C neurons which synapse onto vulval muscles that contract to release eggs from the uterus. During L4, …

Resveratrol Preconditioning Induces Bioenergetic Efficiency In The Brain Within The Long-Term Window Of Cerebral Ischemic Tolerance, Nathalie Khoury

Open Access Dissertations

Neuroprotective agents administered post cerebral ischemia have failed so far in the clinic to promote significant recovery. Thus, numerous efforts were redirected towards prophylactic approaches such as preconditioning as an alternative therapeutic strategy. Our lab has revealed a novel long-term window of cerebral ischemic tolerance mediated by resveratrol preconditioning (RPC) that lasts for two weeks in mice. To identify its mediators, we conducted an RNA-seq experiment on the cortex of mice two weeks post RPC, which revealed 136 differentially expressed genes. The majority of genes (116/136) were downregulated upon RPC and clustered into biological processes involved in transcription, synaptic signaling, …

Regulation Of Limbal Stem Cells By Native Niche In Hc-Ha/Ptx3 Purified From Amniotic Membrane, Szu-Yu Chen

Open Access Dissertations

On the ocular surface, corneal epithelial stem cells (SC) reside in the limbus bordered between the cornea and the conjunctiva. To explore how limbal epithelial progenitor/stem cells (LEPC) control quiescence, self-renewal, and corneal fate decision by their native niche, our laboratory was the first to develop the in vitro isolation and expansion methods of limbal niche cells (LNC) and established a SC-LNC reunion model on 3D Matrigel that mimics the in vivo where there is close contact between LNC and LEPC. Pax6, an evolutionally conserved transcription factor essential for eye development, is expressed in post-natal corneal and limbal epithelia progenitors …

Federalism In Marine Fisheries Governance In Indonesia: An Analysis Of The Stakeholders’ Perceptions, Fery Sutyawan

Open Access Dissertations

This paper analyzes the policy impacts generated by three interconnected regulations that were authorized in the 2014-2015 period pertinent to Indonesian marine fisheries governance. In addition, it also develops policy alternatives and investigates the stakeholders’ attitudes towards these policies.

Employing the mixed-method research approach with the case study research design, this paper explains the impacts caused by the increased fishing fee tariff on the national fisheries revenues, the composition of the Nationally Registered Fishing Vessels (NRFV), and the Fishing Operational Costs (FOC). The latter, the contribution of the increased fishing fee tariff to the FOC, was derived from an analysis …

Molecular And Morphological Investigations Into The Evolution And Development Of Red Algal Parasites, Jillian Freese

Open Access Dissertations

Symbiotic relationships occur on a spectrum from mutualistic to parasitic. Parasitism— where one organism benefits greatly and the other is potentially harmed—is the most common type of symbiosis found throughout the tree of life. Most of the well-studied parasites have detrimental impacts on agriculture and human health as the causative agents of disease. However, these pathogens do not represent the diversity of parasitism. Most eukaryotic parasites have a photosynthetic ancestry but lost the ability to carry out photosynthesis at some point in their transition to parasitism. These parasites have undergone significant morphological and genomic changes as a result of their …

Ultrafast Coherent Spectroscopies And Laser Sources Based On Third-Order Nonlinear Optical Phenomena, Adam D. Card

Open Access Dissertations

This document is composed of four different research efforts. In the first chapter of this dissertation, I present my experimental work on seeded Yb-doped Q-switched fiber laser based on stimulated Brillouin scattering (SBS). I began by experimenting with different types of fiber laser cavity configurations in order to find an ideal cavity that would successfully generate the free-running stochastic nonlinear SBS mirror as well as to reinforce the injected light mode. Experimentally, the ideal configuration involved a diffraction grating as the cavity back-mirror in the Littrow configuration with added cavity losses to enhance the SBS effect. Single SBS pulses exhibited …

Molecular Chains Under Tension And Torque: Activation Of Statistically Interacting Extension, Twist, And Contact Particles, Aaron C. Meyer

Open Access Dissertations

This study presents a statistical mechanical analysis of single molecular chains at thermal equilibrium subject to tension, torque, and contact with a fluid medium. Polymeric chains are modeled as one-dimensional, microscopic groups of monomers. The methodology treats the response of monomers to tension, torque, and fluid medium contact as sets of statistically interacting quasi-particles. Complex elastic behavior and structural transitions as observed in single-molecule manipulation experiments are successfully described using this methodology. Models pertaining to thermal unbending, linear elasticity, torque-twist characteristics, and structural transformations including effects of cooperativity are presented. Dynamic phenomena associated with fluid-medium contact are considered as an …

Cascadia Subduction Zone Coseismic Subsidence Estimates From Northern California And Washington, Jason Scott Padgett

Open Access Dissertations

This study aims to supplement the paleogeodetic database of past Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes and further our understanding of the Cascadia subduction zone seismic and tsunami hazards. I first address a previously identified spatial gap within the Cascadia paleogeodetic database in southern Cascadia by refining the timing and magnitude of Cascadia subduction zone earthquakes over the past 2000 years in northern Humboldt Bay, California (~44.8°N, -124.2°W). There, I mapped wetland stratigraphy consistent with past megathrust earthquakes across three marshes; Jacoby Creek, McDaniel Creek, and Mad River Slough. To improve the existing paleoseismic chronology at northern Humboldt Bay, I employed Bayesian …

Advancements In Biomimetic Underwater Propulsion: Boundary Interactions And Crossflow Compensation, Matthew Perkins

Open Access Dissertations

Biomimetic propulsion is an active area of research in the field of robotics. This work presents advancements to help improve the performance of vehicles employing oscillating foil propulsion. For vehicles operating near the sea floor, ground effect on rolling and pitching foils was investigated in Manuscript 1. The ‘ground effect’ was found to be present and to cause a repulsion force on the foil as well as an increased thrust force. It was also shown that ground effect can be activated by biasing the foil into the ground effect zone while the vehicle maintains a greater distance from the boundary. …

A Phenomenological Study Of Perspectives On Teacher Diversity And The Lived Experiences Of Black Public School Teachers, Michael Browner Jr.

Open Access Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the perspectives and lived experiences of Black public school teachers as related to the underrepresentation of Black teachers in the teaching profession. Data were collected through interviews with ten teachers who identified as Black and were employed by two school districts in northeastern Rhode Island. Through phenomenology as a methodology, and autoethnography as a method, this study sought to explore the lived experiences of Black teachers in contemporary public school settings and their perspectives on teacher diversity. This study provides an in-depth and intimate understanding of what it is like and what …

Krill Motion In The Southern Ocean: Quantifying In Situ Krill Movement Behaviors And Energetics, Mary Kathryn Kane

Open Access Dissertations

Krill are a major link in the transfer of carbon between primary production and upper trophic level organisms, like whales and penguins, in the Southern Ocean. However, not much is known about in situ individual krill behaviors, and there have been no seasonal comparisons of individual krill motility in the Southern Ocean. To address how individual krill movement behaviors and energetic requirements shift between seasons, we used a novel stereo-camera and environmental sensor system to observe krill in three bays in the Western Antarctic Peninsula in May-June 2013 (i.e., the late austral autumn) and December 2014 (i.e., the late austral …

Overcoming Contemporary Obstacles In Drug Delivery Via Acetalated Dextran Particle Formulations, Nishan K. Shah

Open Access Dissertations

Particle-based delivery systems have been investigated for their potential to increase the efficacy of patient diagnoses and treatments. In many cases, these systems increase the bioavailability and/or decrease the toxicity of clinically relevant drugs. These developments have led to improvements in patient compliance, morbidity, mortality, and quality of life. To date, particle-based delivery systems have been evaluated in hundreds of clinical trials around the world. Unlike conventional delivery systems, particle-based delivery systems offer increased surface area, colloidal stability, and system tunability, all of which can be tailored to target the disease state of interest and specific patient population.

Although there …

Dna Damage, Repair And Mutational Spectrum, Ke Bian

Open Access Dissertations

The integrity and stability of DNA is essential to life since it stores genetic information in every living cell. Chemicals from the environment will assault DNA to form various types of DNA damage, ranging from small covalent crosslinks between neighboring DNA bases as seen in cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers, to big bulky adducts derived from benzo[a]pyrene. This resultant damage will lead to replication block and mutation if remain unrepaired and will eventually cause cancer or other genetic diseases. The work presented in this dissertation has illustrated the important role of the AlkB family DNA repair enzymes in cancer and Wilson’s Disease. …

Use Of Hyphenated Mass Spectrometry To Uncover True Nafld Effect On Human Drug Disposition Proteins, Benjamin Joseph Barlock

Open Access Dissertations

Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is growing in prevalence across the world and is associated with a significant economic cost. In addition to life style modification, no pharmacotherapy method is available to treat NAFLD. As the histology of the liver changes over the course of the disease, it can be expected that the liver proteome will change too. Included in the liver proteome are drug disposition proteins comprised of drug metabolizing enzymes and transporters. These proteins are responsible for the removal of drugs and endogenous compounds from the body. The goals of this dissertation were: (1) Develop methodology to accurately …

Nutritional Beliefs And Practices Of Arabic Speaking Middle Eastern Mothers, Maissa Al-Bkerat

Open Access Dissertations

Childhood obesity is recognized as an important health problem in the United States. Researchers have identified culture and acculturation as major factors influencing obesity across several ethnic groups, although little is known about the historically invisible and vulnerable population of those identifying as Arabic speaking individuals from Middle Eastern countries. In Arabic culture, mothers are responsible for creating and maintaining a home environment that fosters healthy eating behaviors among family members including the children. It is assumed, therefore, that mothers in Arabic culture play an essential role in preventing childhood obesity.

The aim of this study was to explore perceptions …

How Birds Respond To Antioxidant Capacity, Oxidative Damage, And Fuel Stores During Migration, Clara Cooper-Mullin

Open Access Dissertations

During migration, birds have an elevated metabolic rate and rely heavily on fat for fuel, creating a state where oxidative stress may be high if not counterbalanced by antioxidants. However, no previous studies have examined how birds utilize different aspects of the antioxidant system to combat oxidative damage during flight training, whether dietary antioxidants are absorbed and transported to the site of reactive species generation, the mitochondria, or how oxidative status interacts with fuel stores to shape decisions birds make during migratory stopovers. In this dissertation, I first introduce the physiological challenges of increased production of reactive species confronted by …

Remotely Activated Biomaterials For Optimizing The Temporal Profiles Of Therapeutic Molecules, Tania T. Emi

Open Access Dissertations

Remotely activated hydrogel-based biomaterials can maximize the therapeutic effects by providing localized deliveries and minimizing off-target side effects. Smart hydrogels respond to an externally applied stimulus by delivering therapeutic molecules. While showing promise in releasing molecules in a precise spatial manner, they do not inherently provide temporally dynamic delivery profiles (e.g., controlled timing, rates, and sequences) required to direct sequences of biological events.

Biological processes are characterized by a sequence of events regulated by a complex interplay of signaling factors. For example, in the instance of ischemia (where a tissue no longer receives oxygen and nutrients due to a lack …

Chemical Synthesis, Characterization And Biological Evaluation Of Methylation And Glycation Dna Adducts, Qi Tang

Open Access Dissertations

The integrity of genomic DNA is constantly challenged by endogenous and environmental agents with the formation of DNA adducts. Some of these adducts are toxic and mutagenic to replication, thus potentially leading to cancer and other genetic diseases. To counteract the undesired DNA modifications from damaging agents, cells have evolved a number of repair pathways, such as base-excision repair, nucleotide-excision repair, mismatch repair, and direct reversal repair, to restore the intact DNA. However, DNA repair is not always efficient, there are many interfering factors, such as inherited deficiency in DNA repair pathways, or the abnormal uptake of substance with inhibitory …

Nanomaterials For Sensing, Heating And Applications In Composites And Emulsion Biofouling, Akram Abbasi

Open Access Dissertations

Nanoscale materials often exhibit fascinating physical, chemical, and biological properties which are considerably different from those of their macro-and/or microscale counterparts. These unique characteristics have led to considerable growth over the last decade in nanomaterial-enabled applications in areas such as biomedicine, environmental sensing and remediation, and energy production and storage. In this dissertation, techniques are presented to create new nanomaterials relevant to these areas.

Gold nanostructures are an example of a nanomaterial with great interest in biomedical therapy and sensing applications due to their high chemical and physical stability, ease of synthesis and surface functionalization and their unique optical properties. …