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Erasure: An Additive And Subtractive Act, Margaret Davids

Theses and Dissertations

MOTIVATION In the simplest form, a pencil mark on a page is removed by a traditional rubber eraser. However, the marks are often never fully removed, and the paper thins with each attempt to rub out an old idea.

But how does one erase a chair? A pilaster? A room? A building?... More importantly, how does the subtractive act of erasing become an additive one?

The historical fabric of a building is important; it is also imperative that it does not remain stagnant. Erasing is an opportunity to design an interior environment that both acknowledges the traces of the pencil …

Assessing The Impact Of Incorporating Residential Histories Into The Spatial Analysis Of Cancer Risk, Anny-Claude Joseph

Theses and Dissertations

In many spatial epidemiologic studies, investigators use residential location at diagnosis as a surrogate for unknown environmental exposures or as a geographic basis for assigning measured exposures. Inherently, they make assumptions about the timing and location of pertinent exposures which may prove problematic when studying long latency diseases such as cancer.

In this work we explored how the association between environmental exposures and disease risk for long-latency health outcomes like cancer is affected by residential mobility. We used simulation studies conditioned on real data to evaluate the extent to which the commonly held assumption of no residential mobility 1) affected …

Fluoxetine Attenuates Mast Cell Function By Targeting Purinergic Signaling, Tamara T. Haque

Theses and Dissertations

Mast cells are tissue resident, innate immune cells that provide protection against parasitic and bacterial infections and venom poisoning. Mast cells also play a pathogenic role in atopy and allergic diseases. Atopy and allergic diseases are increasing in the developed world and are predicted to continue to increase at an alarming rate. Current treatment options include corticosteroids, anti-histamines, anti-IgE and avoidance of allergen. These interventions have limitations: some patients are steroid resistant; anti-histamines have low efficacy since they need to be administered early during allergen exposure; and anti-IgE is costly. Thus there is a clinical need for new treatment options. …

Illumination Of The Golgi Apparatus Of Pathogenic And Nonpathogenic Naegleria Species, Tyler M. Poe

Theses and Dissertations

In this study, Naegleria fowleri, a pathogenic amoeba and the causative agent of Primary Amebic Meningoencephalitis (PAM), was utilized to determine the presence or absence of classically conserved Golgi molecules featured in the expression of a Golgi apparatus. Previous studies concluded no Golgi expression via light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy, but a recent report on Naegleria gruberi indicated the presence of dispersed Golgi tubules. Non-pathogenic species of the Naegleria genus such as Naegleria gruberi 30540 and Naegleria lovaniensis 30569 were utilized in Western immunoblot analysis compared to reduced whole-cell lysate proteins of two strains of N. fowleri and …

Preconditioning Of The Tumor Microenvironment By Means Of Low Dose Chemotherapies For An Effective Immunotherapy Of Breast Cancer, Hussein F. Aqbi

Theses and Dissertations

Breast cancer mortality is mainly due to distant recurrence of the disease arising from dormant tumor cells established by cancer therapies. Patients who initially respond to cancer therapies often succumb to distant recurrence of the disease. It is not clear why people with the same type of breast cancer respond to treatments differently; some escape from dormancy and relapse earlier than others. In addition, some tumor clones respond to immunotherapy while others do not. We investigated how autophagy plays a role in accelerating or delaying recurrence of neu overexpressing mouse mammary carcinoma (MMC) following adriamycin (ADR) treatment, and in affecting …

Stat5b And Stat5 Tetramers Are Essential For Ige-Mediated Mast Cell Function, Kasalina N. Kiwanuka

Theses and Dissertations

Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs) are latent transcription factors that mediate several cellular responses. This protein family consists of seven members, STAT1 – 6 including two closely related molecules, STAT5a and STAT5b, that show 96% amino acid sequence homology and are critical for lymphoid, myeloid and erythroid cell development and function. Activated STAT proteins dimerize and translocate to the nucleus, where they bind to high-affinity DNA motifs to modulate gene expression. We recently identified STAT5b as the critical regulator of IgE-mediated cytokine production in mast cells. STAT5b knockout (KO) cells show decreased sensitivity to IgE-mediated passive systemic anaphylaxis …

Characterization Of Mutations In The Receptor Binding Site Of Influenza A Viruses Determining Virus Host, Tissue, And Cell Tropisms Using Systems Biology Approaches, Feng Wen

Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) cause occasional pandemics and seasonal epidemics, thus presenting continuous challenges to public health. Vaccination is the primary strategy for the prevention and control of influenza outbreaks. The antigenicity matched high-yield seed strain is critical for the success of influenza vaccine. Currently, there are several limitations for the influenza vaccine manufacture: 1) the conventional methods for generating such strains are time consuming; 2) egg-based vaccines, the predominant production platform, have several disadvantages including the emergence of viral antigenic variants that can be induced during egg passage; 3) vaccine seed viruses often do not grow efficiently in mammalian …

Proximate Composition, Retained Water, And Bacterial Load For Two Sizes Of Hybrid Catfish (Ictalurus Furcatus X Ictalurus Punctatus) Fillets At Different Process Steps, Mohammad Manirul Haque

Theses and Dissertations

The overall baseline (as received) moisture, protein and fat content of hybrid catfish (Ictalurus furcatus x Ictalurus punctatus) fillets were 77.8 +/- 1.38%, 16.7 +/- 0.50% and, 5.7 +/- 1.6%, respectively. Small fillets (111 +/- 19 g) had higher (P≤0.05) baseline moisture (78.6 +/- 0.87% vs 76.8 +/- 1.15%) and lower (P≤0.05) fat content (4.7 +/- 0.64% vs 6.8 +/- 1.72%) than large fillets (247 +/- 62 g), whereas protein content was similar (P>0.05) for both sizes. Retained water of the final fresh and frozen fillets was 1.2 +/- 2.03% and 3.1 +/- 1.02%, respectively, irrespective of fillet size. …

Removal Of Dietary Antimicrobials And Effects Of Their Replacement With Bacillus Subtilis On The Growth And Intestinal Health Of Male Broilers, Kacey O'Donnell

Theses and Dissertations

The effects of dietary antimicrobial removal and Bacillus subtilis supplementation on the growth and intestinal health of male broilers were investigated. Birds were fed either a control, antimicrobial, or a B. subtilis probiotic diet at different feeding phases. Birds were challenged with a 10 × dose of a coccidiosis vaccine. Supplementation of B. subtilis in for antimicrobials in the late grower and early finisher phases improved growth similar to birds fed antimicrobials until withdrawal, while antimicrobial removal without B. subtilis supplementation in those periods hindered growth. The improved growth suggests that the probiotic was able to alleviate the stress of …

Social Inequality In The Early Bronze Age At Bab Edh-Dhra, Jordan, Natalie Patience

Theses and Dissertations

Bab edh-Dhra is the most extensively excavated cemetery from Early Bronze Age, Jordan. Despite thorough study, the social structure and existence of social inequality remain unclear. This was addressed using osteological evidence of physiological stress to compare between family tombs. In societies exhibiting social inequality, individuals of lower status experience higher levels of stress. Evidence of physiological stress (femoral length, LEH, metabolic disorders, periosteal reactions, cribra orbitalia, and porotic hyperostosis) was recorded using standard methods for 250 adults. The artifact counts in this study have been previously published. Differences in the frequency of stress indicators were compared using chi-square tests. …

Breeding Of Cool-Season Forage Grasses For Abiotic And Biotic Stress Tolerance In The Southern United States, Eric Douglas Billman

Theses and Dissertations

Abiotic stress tolerance and biotic stress resistance have long been targets for trait improvement in the field of plant breeding. To date, much of the target crop focus has been centered on commodity crops such as corn, soybean, wheat, and rice. However, little work has been conducted on improvement of these traits in forage grasses. This is due to a number of issues, particularly that most species are obligately outcrossing, the traits are governed by many genes at unknown loci, and are greatly affected by environmental variation. This creates major complications in successfully selecting and breeding populations of forage grasses …

System Dynamics Model Of Necrotic Enteritis And Its Predisposing Factors In Broilers, Yu-Bin Chou

Theses and Dissertations

Necrotic enteritis (NE) caused by Clostridium perfringens type A is an important bacterial enteric disease of global broiler production. However, the dynamic interactions of NE and its predisposing factors are not fully presented by current studies. By using the System Dynamics (SD) Model, the epidemiological changes in susceptible-infected-removed models of NE and avian coccidiosis and their interactions in one or multiple grow-out cycles was established; meanwhile, the growth performance was measured by the average weights of infected and non-infected populations at harvest were estimated. The SD model provided direct and persuasive outcomes of the epidemiology and ecology of NE compared …

Rapid Separation Of Bacteria From Blood For Sepsis Diagnosis, Mahsa Alizadeh

Theses and Dissertations

Sepsis is a severe blood infection caused by bacteria entering the blood stream. Sepsis caused by antibiotic resistant bacteria is very dangerous with a high mortality rate. The current clinical diagnostic methods for sepsis require culturing the blood sample prior to other steps of the diagnosis procedure. Culturing the blood samples is a time-consuming step which increases the time required for the diagnostic procedure. Considering the fact that the mortality rate of the sepsis increases as time passes, it is essential to find methods for sepsis diagnosis that do not require culturing the samples. The first step of a new …

Co-Infection Of Zika And Dengue Virus In Aedes Aegypti And Aedes Albopictus Mosquitoes, Felicia Vazquez

Theses and Dissertations

The term co-infection describes an event when multiple pathogens infect a single host. For vector-borne diseases, a vector may become co-infected by feeding either on a single host that has multiple pathogens or feeding multiple hosts, each of which may be infected. Co-infection in non-vector hosts has been shown to influence immune response and eventual outcome of disease, and is likely to have a similar impact on vector species. With multiple vector-borne diseases circulating in South Texas, the potential for co-infection exists. We examined when mosquitoes are infected with one virus and subsequently infected with another. We hypothesized that the …

Paraprofessional Counselors' Perceptions Of Storybooks To Facilitate Children's Communication Following Parental Suicide, Lindsay Jacalyn Regehr

Theses and Dissertations

A parent's death it is one of the most stressful and traumatic events in a child's life (Guldin et al., 2015; Worden, 1996, 2008). In particular, when bereavement is linked to a parent's suicide, children face unique challenges and are more vulnerable to potentially negative outcomes (Brent, Melhem, Donohoe, & Walker, 2009; Haine, Ayers, Sandler, & Wolchik, 2008; Pitman, Osborn, King, & Erlangsen, 2014; Young et al., 2012). Although many factors influence children's recovery following a parent's suicide, the surviving parent's emotional stability and emotional availability to support their children are of critical importance. Additionally, negative outcomes are often linked …

Comparative Genome Analysis Of Fish Pathogens In The Flavobacterium Genus, Salih Kumru

Theses and Dissertations

Aquaculture has potential to support the food supply of increasing world population. Flavobacterial diseases pose a serious problem in wild and aquacultured fish stocks throughout the world. Flavobacterium columnare, F. branchiophilum, and F. psychrophilum are well-known Flavobacterium species that cause important fish losses. Recently, new Flavobacterium species, isolated from diseased fish, have been reported, but their virulence mechanisms are not clear. Thus, the goal of this study was to understand pathogenicity of Flavobacterium species. To this goal, 86 Flavobacterium genomes were analyzed by comparative genomics. Predicted virulence genes were identified for all genomes. For each species, unique and shared virulence …

Antigen Presenting Cells-Mediated Innate And Adaptive Immune Responses To Live Attenuated Edwardsiella Ictaluri Vaccines In Channel Catfish, Adef Kordon

Theses and Dissertations

Vaccination against intracellular pathogens requires generation of pool of memory T cells, which can respond upon infection and mediate immune responses by either killing of infected host cells or induce killing mechanisms in infected cells. T cell-inducing vaccines aim to deliver the antigen to antigen presenting cells (APCs) by presenting on MHC molecules thus bridging innate and adaptive immunity. The intracellular pathogen Edwardsiella ictaluri causes enteric septicemia of catfish (ESC), which is a devastating disease in catfish industry. E. ictaluri can survive in professional phagocytes and use them as an infection source. Two new live attenuated vaccine (LAV) strains, EiDELTAevpB …

Development And Visualization Of Bioluminescent Virulent Aeromonas Hydrophila In Live Catfish, Eda Ozdemir

Theses and Dissertations

Virulent Aeromonas hydrophila (vAh) is an important emerging bacterial pathogen causing motile Aeromonas septicemia (MAS) in farmed catfish. Understanding the pathogenicity of the disease is essential for the development of preventive measures. In this study, we aimed to develop a bioluminescent virulent A. hydrophila (BvAh) strain to understand the pathogen-host interactions during infection. To achieve this, a new bioluminescence expression plasmid, pAKgfplux3, was constructed and mobilized to vAh. Catfish were challenged with BvAh using immersion, injection, and adipose fin clip procedures, and bioluminescence signal was tracked in live catfish during infection. We developed a novel BvAh strain for the first …

Fluorescent Labeling Of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Model Dna, Janice Darko

Theses and Dissertations

Global threats to treatment of bacterial infections due to antibiotic resistance (AR) have been on the rise in recent years. Current diagnostic tests identify bacteria by using blood culture, which takes more than 24 hours. This study focuses on the fluorescent labeling of DNA derived from bacterial AR genes (KPC & VIM) and other model DNAs using oligreen dye (OG) and molecular beacons (MB). A NanoDrop 3300 fluorospectrometer was used to take fluorescence measurements. Linear dynamic range and labeling efficiency were dependent on the following optimized conditions: dilution factor of OG (200 fold), buffer (20 mM Tris HCl, pH 8), …

Survey Assessment Of Community Knowledge And Prevention Of Chagas Disease And Its Vector In Hidalgo And Cameron Counties, Adam Dennis Wiejaczka

Theses and Dissertations

Chagas disease, caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi, kills thousands of people annually and is the dominant cause of infectious myocarditis worldwide. Kissing bugs are vectors that carry T. cruzi . and are found in the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV). There is no vaccination nor cure for Chagas. The best mechanism of prevention is to control vector infestations. Little research is available regarding the level of understanding local communities have about Chagas.

Our goal was to test the knowledge of several communities in the LRGV on Chagas disease. Our hypothesis states that local communities do not have sufficient …

Methods For Detection Of And Therapy For Carbapenem-Resistant Enterobacteriaceae, Olivia Tateoka Brown

Theses and Dissertations

As antibiotic resistant bacterial strains are becoming more prevalent in healthcare settings, it is necessary to find alternative methods of detecting and treating these infections. One of the antibiotic resistant strains of interest is the carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (CRE). CREs have the ability to evade some of the most potent antibiotics currently in use and employ carbapenemases to negate the effect of antibiotics. The three most common carbapenemase genes, found in carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae along with a gene found only in Escherichia coli were chosen to create a qPCR assay for rapid detection of resistant infections. The carbapenemase genes are KPC, VIM …

The Diversity Found Among Carbapenem-Resistant Bacteria, Galen Edward Card

Theses and Dissertations

This work will look at two factors that add to the diversity of carbapenem resistant bacteria. First, it focuses on the diversity of carbapenemase resistance plasmids. 446 plasmids were characterized by size, gene content and replicon groups. We identified that on average, over 30% of the encoded proteins on each plasmid have an unknown function. Plasmid sizes ranged from 1.6kb to 500kb, with an average of around 100kb and median of 80kb. Additionally, six replicon groups account for 80% of all the carbapenemase resistance plasmids. We also highlight the lack of data available for carbapenemase carrying plasmids from bacterial genera …

Antimicrobial Properties And Characterization Of Polymer/Composite Nanofibers, David De La Garza

Theses and Dissertations

Pathogenic bacteria have been the cause of many illnesses worldwide due to their rapid growth and reproduction in food and water. Bacteria-resistant antibiotics and kidney complications due to overuse of antibiotics has remained a large public health concern. The goal of this research project was to find an alternative by producing nanofibers that inhibit microbial growth utilizing Forcespinning technology. The Forcespinning of poly(acrylic acid) (PAA) with Single Wall Carbon Nanotubes functionalized with OH (SWCNT-OH) and Ag + flakes were carried out on solutions with different concentrations. Scanning electron microscopy was used to view fiber morphology and investigate the average nanofiber …

Genetic Basis For Elevated Rheumatic Heart Disease Susceptibility In Samoa, John Bowen Allen

Theses and Dissertations

Rheumatic heart disease is an inflammatory heart disease that affects millions of people around the world. Especially high rates of the disease can be found in Oceania, including the island nation of Samoa. Genetic studies of immune response genes have provided insight into a possible genetic link to increased susceptibility to rheumatic heart disease, including the genes that code for the toll-like receptor (TLR) protein family. One of the functions of TLR proteins is to recognize the presence of bacteria via identification of bacterial flagella. My evaluation of a Samoan family identified a variant in the TLR-5 gene that would …

The Ability Of Novel Phage To Infect Virulent Bacillus Anthracis Isolates, Hyrum Smith Shumway

Theses and Dissertations

Bacillus anthracis is a soil dwelling microbe with pronounced pathogenic potential. Historically, anthrax has infected livestock and man. In the modern-age, anthrax is a bioterrorism concern with major incidents every decade. While the threat of large scale attacks is currently viewed as unlikely, the threat is consistent and constant. Current methods to defend against such an attack focus on antibiotics and containment of public panic. Antibiotic resistance, while not currently an issue for anthrax, could easily become so with genetically engineered weaponized strains created by rogue states or independent actors. This project evolved from collaborations between the Grose lab and …

The Association Between Personality, Coping And Depressive Symptoms In Adult Patients With Chronic Pain, Reem Mohamed Ahmed Deif

Theses and Dissertations

As a rising concern in the medical and mental health fields, this study aims to examine predictors of depressive symptoms in a sample of Egyptian chronic pain patients in terms of coping styles and personality traits. Patients with chronic pain are believed to experience different stressors which include, but are not limited to, pain, disability, reduced productivity and financial difficulties. Such factors, in addition to various psychosocial factors, constitute the disease burden of chronic pain. This study examines the degree to which coping styles and personality traits can influence the disease outcome in terms of comorbid depressive symptoms. A total …

Prevalence And Determinants Of Self-Medication With Antibiotics In High And Low-Income Areas Within Cairo, Shaymaa Mohamed Hassan

Theses and Dissertations

Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) is currently a global threat, and one of the reasons for increasing AMR rates is antibiotics overuse. Antibiotics overuse is not only due to physician prescriptions -although that is also high- but also because of self-medication with antibiotics (SMA). SMA varies across countries and populations depending on multiple factors and among them is the socioeconomic status. Socioeconomic disparities have been linked to SMA rates. In Egypt, namely Cairo, little data is available regarding SMA or surveillance of antibiotic consumption. The aims of this study were to a) estimate and compare the prevalence of SMA in two socioeconomically …

Development Of Affinity Monoliths In 3d Printed Microfluidic Devices For Extraction Of Preterm Birth Biomarkers, Ellen Kelsey Parker

Theses and Dissertations

Preterm birth (PTB) is defined as birth before the 37th week of pregnancy and affects 15 million infants per year. Presently, there is no clinical test to determine PTB risk. A 3D printed microfluidic device is being developed as a clinical test for PTB risk via detection of a panel of biomarkers. A significant step is extraction of the PTB biomarkers from blood serum. In this work, I developed 3D printed microfluidic devices in which monoliths can be polymerized. Using the monolith as a solid support to attach antibody, I show that ferritin, one of the PTB biomarkers, can be …

Serum Banking Of The Mississippi Shelter Dog Population To Estimate Seroprevalence Of Diseases Affecting Animal And Human Health, Kristina Hubbard

Theses and Dissertations

Shelter dog populations in the United States are poorly quantified and characterized, but may be effective targets for measuring the occurrence of select diseases affecting animal and human health. Dogs in this population may have increased risk for disease due to intrinsic and extrinsic risk factors. Accurate estimates of disease in this population require sound sampling strategies within a comprehensive sampling frame. Knowledge of the prevalence of disease in the Mississippi shelter dog population is important for diagnostic test interpretation, shelter allocation of resources, and public health risk assessment. A serum bank provides a valuable resource to investigate both zoonotic …

Evaluation Of A Serine Hydrolase Inhibitor Jzl184 As An Immunomodulator Against Avian Pathogenic Escherichia Coli O78 In Chickens, Cherry Pei-Yee Ho

Theses and Dissertations

Chickens in the poultry industry are reared under intensive conditions where they are often exposed to opportunistic pathogens. Escherichia coli strain O78 is responsible for about half of the cases of avian colisepticemia. Potential therapeutic treatments have been proposed to inhibit the hydrolases that controls the endogenous levels of the endocannabinoid, 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). 2-AG is the full agonist at the CB2 receptors of the endocannabinoid system expressed among leukocytes and it plays a role in mediating the activation of phagocytic macrophages. It is speculated that elevating 2- AG levels could increase macrophage cytokines and promote the recruitment of immune cells …