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Mortality, Survivorship, And Institutionalization: Demographic Analysis Of The Mississippi State Asylum In Context, Taylor A. Emery

Theses and Dissertations

This study analyzed demographic differences and differential mortality between the Mississippi State Asylum (MSA) and the state of Mississippi. Using census records, Biennial Reports, death certificates, and vital statistics from the Mississippi State Board of Health, statistical methods including Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazard analysis were employed to explore significant differences in population demographics, hazard of death, and survivorship in general and with tuberculosis. Key results include proportionally more females in the MSA, increased hazard of death/decreased survivorship within the MSA compared to the State, and increased hazard of death/decreased survivorship for Black/AA individuals compared to their White/EA …

Survival, Persistence, Regrowth And Morphotype Variation Of Listeria Monocytogenes Strains After Exposure To First Generation And Second Generation Quaternary Ammonium Compounds In Water, Stephen Schade

Theses and Dissertations

Listeria monocytogenes is one of the toughest challenges the food industry is facing today. While quaternary ammonium compounds (QAC) are typically applied at very high concentrations to kill L. monocytogenes, there are some factors that can cause its reduced efficacy in the food processing environment. Sublethal concentrations of stagnated QAC have been found both in processing plants and in waste waters released to the environment. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate the ability of two L. monocytogenes strains, Bug600 (serotype 1/2a) and ScottA (serotype 4b) to persist in lethal and sublethal concentrations of first generation QAC (benzalkonium …

Evaluating The Role Of The Bovine Vaginal Microbiome In Neonatal And Maternal Health Outcomes, Riley D. Messman

Theses and Dissertations

The dam vaginal microbiota is the first major microbial inoculating community within the neonate. The composition of the dam vaginal microbiota has implications in calf commensal microbiota development. Alterations of the dam microbial community prior to parturition could alter inoculating communities and immune responses in both the dam and calf. Thus, authors aimed to elucidate the microbial community composition of the bovine dam vaginal and calf nasal microbiota post-partum after utilizing betadine lavages (BL). The dam vaginal and calf nasal microbial communities and immune responses were evaluated at 0-, 15-, 30- and 60-day post-partum. Microbiota composition of the dam haircoat, …

Metabolic Adaptation Of Staphylococcus Aureus Pathogenesis And Therapeutic Approach In Diabetic Foot Ulcers., Carol L. Baker

Theses and Dissertations

37.3 million Americans (11.2% of the US population) currently have Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) with over 1.5 million new cases being diagnosed each year. The multifactorial etiology of the patient having neuropathy, overweight/obesity, foot deformities, ischemia, and infection leads to a condition called diabetic foot ulcer (DFU). One in six patients with a DFU will require amputation with infected DFUs have a 155-fold increased risk of amputation. Staphylococcus aureus is the most common bacteria isolated from severe DFU infections that require amputation. Interestingly, diabetics are more heavily colonized with S. aureus compared to non-diabetics suggesting a unique advantageous adaptation …

Evaluating The Immunogenicity Of Colonization Proteins Of S. Pneumoniae For Identification Of Vaccine Candidates, Isidora Fereday

Theses and Dissertations

Streptococcus pneumoniae is typically an asymptomatic colonizer of the upper respiratory tract but can cause invasive disease in susceptible populations. Pneumococcal vaccines which are currently in use have failed to significantly reduce colonization by S. pneumoniae. To control invasive pneumococcal disease, novel strategies must be utilized. One such strategy is to reduce or eradicate colonization by pneumococcus. Supplementary vaccination with pneumococcal proteins important for colonization could serve to prime the immune system against these targets. This study serves as an initial step towards identification of crucial pneumococcal colonization proteins which may previously have been uncharacterized. Assessing the immune reactivity …

Vaccination And Immune Response Of Channel Catfish (Ictalurus Punctatus) Against Virulent Aeromonas Hydrophila, Basant Mahmoud Ali Gomaa

Theses and Dissertations

Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) is a causative agent of motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in catfish. There are limitations in the current therapeutic and preventative strategies against vAh. The pathogenesis of MAS as well as the immune response of catfish to vAh infection are poorly understood. The aim of this study is to: 1) develop a dual live attenuated vaccine against MAS and enteric septicemia of catfish caused by Edwardsiella ictaluri; and 2) evaluate the vAh bacterial load and gene expression patterns in catfish tissues following vAh infection. Previously, six recombinant vAh …

Nutritional Strategies To Reduce Salmonella Enteritidis Infections In Laying Hens: Prebiotic, Probiotic, And Precision Biotics, Ishab Poudel

Theses and Dissertations

Salmonella Enteritidis (SE) infections in laying hens is a significant cause of foodborne illness linked to the consumption of contaminated eggs. This dissertation encompasses novel strategies aimed to explore appropriate in-vitro and in-vivo models to evaluate the effects of these novel strategies to reduce SE in laying hens. Firstly, we investigated the potential probiotics, prebiotics, and essential oil combinations to reduce SE in-vitro. The results showed that probiotics and prebiotics are equally effective to reduce SE. In subsequent studies, we evaluated the role of vaccination history on cecal microbiota and SE infections with various doses of oral SE challenge. …

Advancing Poultry Nutrition Through Statistical Strategies To Reduce Experimental Variation And Novel Protease Enzyme Research, Caleb Morgan Marshall

Theses and Dissertations

Increasingly, nutritionists are challenged to optimize broiler genetic capacity, while considering varying ingredient qualities and pricing, to meet production goals and profitability. Due to scale and cost, university and private research is often used by nutritionists to help make these decisions; thus, requiring these facilities to detect small, incremental improvements. In Chapters 1 and 2, processing data from several nutrition research trials were utilized to evaluate the impact of processing personnel, sample size, and unit of analysis on the detection of dietary differences. By accounting for potential variability between personnel (as a covariant) and selecting an adequate sample size for …

Use Of Comparative Genomics And In Vitro Screening Approach To Identify Vaccine Candidates For The Food-Borne Pathogen Campylobacter Jejuni, Sabin Poudel

Theses and Dissertations

Campylobacteriosis is a leading foodborne illness worldwide, primarily caused by Campylobacter jejuni (C. jejuni) which is associated with poultry consumption. The emergence of antibiotic resistance has emphasized the need for alternative strategies to control C. jejuni colonization in poultry. To assess the prevalence of C. jejuni in poultry, 270 cloacal swab samples were collected from broilers raised under No-Antibiotics Ever system. Among these samples, 16.3% were identified as C. jejuni positive. Notably, these isolates exhibited a diverse range of virulence factors and antimicrobial resistance genes, with 61.36% of isolates showing hyper-motile and 20.45% demonstrating multidrug resistance. Following isolation, whole genome …

Expanding One-Dimensional Game Theory-Based Group Decision Models: Extension To N-Dimension And Integration Of Distributed Position Function, Mirhossein Mousavi Karimi

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation aims to expand the current one-dimensional game theory based model to a multidimensional model for multi-actor predictive analytics and generalize the concept of position to address problems where actors’ positions are distributed over a position spectrum. The one-dimensional models are used for the problems where actors are interacting in a single issue space only. This is less than an ideal assumption since, in most cases, players’ strategies may depend on the dynamics of multiple issues when dealing with other players. In this research, the one-dimensional model is expanded to N-Dimensional model by considering different positions, and separate salience …

Black College Students Perceptions Of The Covid-19 Vaccine Mandate, Rickae Rodney

Theses and Dissertations

This study explored Black college students’ perceptions of COVID-19 related mandates. Black college students with higher perceptions of racism, stronger ethnic identity, and greater distrust in science were expected to have more negative attitudes about COVID-19 vaccine and mask mandates. Results varied when relationships were tested.

Vertical Transmission Of Zika Virus In Monodelphis Domestica, Mohini Moulick

Theses and Dissertations

Zika Viral infection in pregnant women may lead to infants born with microcephaly and other neurological complications, making Zika viral research imperative. Prior research demonstrated Monodelphis domestica to be a unique animal model for Zika virus studies, and viral proteins were detected in brain tissue of juveniles after intracerebral inoculation of infants. We wanted to determine if we can detect a viral protein, non-structural protein 1 (NS1), in brain tissue after intraperitoneal inoculation and we found it to be possible through immunohistochemistry (IHC) analysis. We also investigated if inoculated dams (mothers) would give rise to Zika positive pups (natural inoculation), …

Emotion Regulation Difficulties And Couple Relationship Quality Across Eight Sessions: A Dyadic Analysis With Latent Growth Curve Modeling, Min Xu

Theses and Dissertations

While previous studies have demonstrated significant associations between partners' emotion regulation and overall well-being, few studies provide knowledge on emotion regulation in clinical couples, especially across couple therapy sessions. With 168 heterosexual couples who attended at least the initial eight sessions of couple therapy, the current study was designed to examine the intra- and inter-personal effects of emotion regulation difficulties (i.e., lack of awareness, nonacceptance, limited strategies, and impulsivity) on the development of relationship quality over the course of couple therapy. The results of the current study provide a few important findings. First, gender differences exist in emotion regulation and …

Investigating The Antibiotic Potentiating Effects Of A Novel Reactive Oxidant Species-Generating Antimicrobial., Gracious Yoofi Boafo Donkor

Theses and Dissertations

Due to the rise in antimicrobic resistance and the decline in antibiotic discovery, drug development has expanded into alternative antimicrobial compounds, such as silver. Silver-containing compounds have emerged as a promising alternative due to their multi-specific effects on inhibiting bacterial growth. Our work focuses on the antimicrobial effects of AGXX, a novel antimicrobial which has been shown to exert its broad-spectrum effects through the production of highly cytotoxic reactive oxygen species (ROS). Although preliminary studies have demonstrated the potency of AGXX in gram-positive pathogens, its effects on gram-negative pathogens remain largely unknown. The goal of my thesis was to examine …

Laboratory Management Models In Core Facilities, Karmen Michael Owen

Theses and Dissertations

Core biotechnology facilities are often defined as laboratories that house shared resources for research. These laboratories are of great importance to research communities because a large portion of scientific research data is generated at these facilities. Different investigators can use core facilities to help further their research. In a university setting, there are several management strategies from small cores that house a specific type of instrument, to large cores that house many different technologies. Funding strategies also differ significantly, from those that are funded by a small group of well-funded investigators, to cores managed by a specific department or school, …

An Exploratory Study Of The Impact Of Quality Management Practices On Data Integrity Fda-483 Observations Received By Pharmaceutical Manufacturers In Florida, Sarah Mary Christie

Theses and Dissertations

Quality management systems and regulatory compliance have been studied in academic and practitioner settings (Andersson et al., 2006; Beattie & Sohal, 1999; Berrouiguet, 2013; McDowall & Ratcliff, 2016; Unger, 2019; Wechsler, 2019). While research has been performed on both topics independently, there has not been a definitive analysis of the relationship between quality management practices and regulatory compliance, especially in an FDA-regulated manufacturing environment. This research study attempts to link quality management practices and regulatory compliance and provides valuable insights for working managers on the practitioner level.

Long-Chain Fatty Acid Sensing And Catabolism In Commensal Escherichia Coli Impact Murine Gut Colonization, Tessa Carolina Cox

Theses and Dissertations

The gastrointestinal tract is home to trillions of microbes that collectively influence host physiology, immunity, nutrient metabolism, and infectious disease. The overgrowth of naturally-occurring Escherichia coli in the gut is a common signifier of microbiome dysfunction and occurs in many chronic diseases including obesity. Recent studies have shown that higher fat intake is associated with increased gut E. coli growth. However, it remains unknown whether gut E. coli utilize lipids such as long chain fatty acids (LCFAs) as carbon sources to colonize the mammalian gut. Therefore, the central objective of my dissertation was to utilize bacterial genetics and various mouse …

Bayesian Spatial And Spatio-Temporal Models For Complex Data Sets, Rongjie Huang

Theses and Dissertations

The cost of testing for infectious diseases can be high, and analyzing large amounts of historical data to forecast disease prevalence can be a time-consuming process. Group testing techniques offer a way to decrease the expenses associated with testing, but this comes at the cost of increased complexity of the data structure due to grouping and imperfect testing when compared to individual-level testing. In this dissertation research, we propose two Bayesian mixed effects spatial group testing regression models: one for areal data and the other for point process data. The former model utilizes a conditional autoregressive (CAR) prior for areal …

Leveraging Church Environments To Promote Rural Physical Activity And Healthy Eating, Kelsey Rothera Day

Theses and Dissertations

Rural residents experience a greater burden of chronic disease related to physical inactivity and poor diet than their urban counterparts. A promising strategy to improve these health behaviors in rural areas is to leverage existing structures that may support physical activity and healthy eating, such as churches, in public health interventions. Three studies were conducted as part of this dissertation. They were designed to: 1) examine whether the walkability and healthy food density of neighborhoods surrounding rural and urban churches are associated with race, socioeconomic status, and rural/urban status; 2) examine rural church leaders’ views on the role of faith-based …

Patient Experiences And Disparities In Telehealth Hiv Care During The Covid-19 Pandemic: Study Results From The Southern United States, Valerie Yelverton

Theses and Dissertations

Background: To maintain HIV care continuity during the COVID-19 pandemic, most HIV care facilities in the United States adopted telehealth. However, not everyone was participating in telehealth equally. This dissertation seeks to understand experiences with and the use of telehealth in HIV care, and decision processes guiding the selection of visit type during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Methods: Qualitative interviews explored people living with HIV’s (PWH) and HIV care provider’s experiences with telehealth HIV care and visit type decision processes. Quantitative analyses of electronic health record (EHR) data characterized patterns of and disparities in telehealth HIV care during the COVID-19 pandemic. …

High-Risk Fertility Behaviors: Impact On Child And Risks Of Maternal Mortality In Kenya, Mercy Chepkosgei Kiprop

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid population increase in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) over the last several decades and limited healthcare interventions have exacerbated child and maternal mortality. The maternal mortality ratio (deaths per 100,000 live births) in Sub-Saharan Africa accounts for at least 50 percent of maternal deaths globally. In 2020 alone, 5 million children under 5 years died in Kenya. Research also points out that, tragically, many of the mothers and children died of preventable or treatable conditions. Previous research has focused on biological or socioeconomic determinants of child mortality rather than their joint influences. In this study, we investigate the premise that all …

Design, Synthesis And Immunological Testing Of Minimal Oligosaccharide Epitopes For Glycoconjugate Vaccines Targeting Capsular Polysaccharides Of Serotypes 3, 4, 7f And 9v Of Streptococcus Pneumoniae, Seth A. Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

The rise in antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria has led to the need for new methods of combatting bacterial infection. Since the surfaces of bacteria are covered in uniquely patterned capsular polysaccharides, vaccines targeting these polysaccharides have become a popular field of research for protection against pathogenic bacteria. Though licensed polysaccharide vaccines are commercially available, they lack the efficiency to protect patients that are immunocompromised or at high risk because they elicit T cell independent immune responses, resulting in low-affinity antibodies. To elicit a T cell dependent response and thereby recruit B cells that produce high-affinity antibodies, a vaccine was …

Developing Microfluidic Devices For Biomolecule Analysis, Jacob Brent Nielsen

Theses and Dissertations

Microfluidics can take laboratory processes and miniaturize them, which led to the term lab-on-a-chip. Microfluidic devices are fabricated with a variety of materials and methods, each offering distinct advantages for bioanalysis. This dissertation describes two methods to create these devices, with the use of four different materials to achieve different assay needs. In the first application in this dissertation, hot-embossed cyclic olefin copolymer was used to create microdevices to electrophoretically separate seven preterm birth biomarkers. One biomarker, thrombin-antithrombin III, cannot be purchased commercially so I developed methods for its assembly in the lab. Dot blots and mass spectrometry were used …

Global Health Governance And Its Role In Health Equity: The Case Of Covid-19, Wafa Abu El Kheir-Mataria

Theses and Dissertations

In the globalized world, we are living in, health became the joint responsibility of individuals, their governments, and the global health governance system. Moreover, based on the right to health, health equity is increasingly in demand, and adopting it to a global level has become an even more complex task to realize. This thesis is focuses on health equity at a global level. The main research questions addressed are: Is health equity present at an intercountry /global level? how is it related to Global Health Governance (GHG)? Is GHG performing well in achieving health equity? what are the reasons behind …

A Qualitative Exploration Of Food Literacy In International Schools In Egypt, Amy Pugsley

Theses and Dissertations

Food literacy is an essential part of good physical and psychological health, however, food literacy is not a mandatory part of K-12 education in all schools. Many factors can influence food literacy levels including familial culture, socioeconomic status, and education levels. This research seeks to examine perceptions of food literacy in high school students and educators at two private American international schools located in Cairo, Egypt. Through the use of observations and interviews, the researcher used a qualitative approach to understand the self-perceptions of food literacy in students studying the American curriculum. The study revealed that students from high-socio-economic backgrounds …

Predictive Modeling The Impact Of Engineered Products In Dynamic Sociotechnical Systems: An Agent-Based Approach, Christopher S. Mabey

Theses and Dissertations

The impact of engineered products is a topic of increasing concern in society. The impact of a product can fall into the categories of economic, environmental, or social impact; the last category is defined as the effect of a product on the daily lives of people. Design teams lack sufficient tools to help improve the impact of products and understand the impact of products at scale in society. This dissertation aims to provide insight and methods for improving the social, environmental, and economic impact of engineered products. The majority of the research focuses on the prediction of product impacts on …

This Too Shell Pass: Investigating The Function Of B Cells During An Immune Response In The Red-Eared Slider, Trachemys Scripta, Christen Renee Fairow

Theses and Dissertations

B cells are crucial components of the immune system during an infection that produce antibodies. It is not known how B cells function or if different cell subsets exist in reptiles. Understanding how B cells function in reptiles can help protect endangered species by clarifying how their immune system may be different from other vertebrates but may also allow for the development of new human medicines. First, we aimed to identify turtle leukocytes based on their morphological characteristics. Blood smears were made and photos were taken on a light microscope equipped with a digital camera. Using this method, we were …

Non-Tuberculous Mycobacterium Correlation With Geochemical Characteristics Of Soil And Basalt In Hawaii, Leeza Marie Wells

Theses and Dissertations

Non-tuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) cause opportunistic lung disease though environmental exposure pathways. Among the United States, Hawaii has a significantly higher infection rate. Preliminary studies have shown certain environmental factors, such as phosphorus and other select soil geochemical characteristics, to be statistically significant to NTM occurrence. However, a model to predict NTM occurrence based on soil geochemistry had yet to be attempted. A selection of 40 NTM positive and 40 NTM negative soils from Oahu were selected for a geochemical analysis to search for possible correlations to mineralogy and elemental abundances that may promote, or inhibit, NTM growth in the environment. …

Examining The Determinants Of Timeliness In Crises Policy Responses: The Case Of Covid-19 In Egypt, Abdelhalim Abdalla

Theses and Dissertations

Timely responses to crises and pandemics play a significant role in navigating and minimizing the adverse impacts of such critical periods on the public and governments worldwide. COVID-19 could show and prove how a single virus originating in a single country can rapidly spread throughout the world, transforming an epidemic in China into a global pandemic. The virus caused more than 6.5 million deaths and around 660 million confirmed cases worldwide, according to the WHO, and sparked the worst economic catastrophe globally in more than a century, as estimated by the World Bank. Evidence suggests that the extent of the …

Development Of Live Attenuated A. Hydrophila Vaccines And Understanding Of Macrophage-Aeromonas Hydrophila Interactions, Eda Ozdemir

Theses and Dissertations

Channel catfish farming is the largest aquaculture industry in the U.S., and virulent Aeromonas hydrophila is an important re-emerging bacterial pathogen of farmed catfish. A. hydrophila is ubiquitous in the aquatic environment and causes motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in farmed catfish. A. hydrophila infection is challenging to treat due to rapidly progressive mass mortalities. Although florfenicol has been used in managing outbreaks, acute onset of anorexia, drug cost, and emergence of antimicrobial-resistant strains are significant concerns. Prevention of MAS by vaccination could be a promising approach, but a commercial vaccine is not available. Thus, it is critical to develop effective …