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Investigating The Role Of Amyloid Beta Peptides In Inflammation And Alzheimer’S Disease Pathogenesis, Nguyen Le

Theses and Dissertations

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by severe memory decline and cognitive impairments. In AD patients’ brains, aggregates of amyloid beta (Aβ) peptides, called amyloid plaques, are hypothesized to trigger innate immune responses that contribute to AD pathogenesis. Interestingly, recent studies demonstrated that an increased level of Aβ protected the host against pathogen infections. Using Drosophila as a model organism, our preliminary data showed that the loss of the Drosophila APP homolog, APPL, led to immune deficits against parasite infection, and that overexpression of Drosophila Aβ produced an inflammatory phenotype. These findings suggested that Aβ might be required …

Biomimetic Strategies To Control Therapeutic Release From Novel Dna Nanoparticles, Robert J. Mosley

Theses and Dissertations

The inherent chemical, mechanical, and structural properties of nucleic acids make them ideal candidates for the formulation of tunable, personalized drug nanocarriers. However, none so far have exploited these properties for the controlled release of therapeutic drugs. In this dissertation, a biomimetic approach to controlling drug release is exhibited by specifically manipulating the architecture of novel, DNA nanoparticles to take advantage of drug binding mechanisms of action. Rationally designed DNA strands were immobilized on gold surfaces via a terminal thiol modification. Immobilized monomers can be manipulated to form distinct monolayer architectures including flat, folded, coiled, or stretched structures. Increasing the …

Data As A Service Ecosystem For Data-Driven Research, Leonardo Vieira

Theses and Dissertations

For the last two decades, the cloud computing ecosystems has become a major defining force for America, because of their unique economic, social and national importance. These ecosystems have now taken their place alongside the nation’s other infrastructure such as the food/agricultural, energy healthcare, and roads/highways. Scientists, engineers, and researchers over the same period have experienced a tremendous growth in the need for resources to that support assorted research. Cloud computing enables these communities to undertake wide-ranging research efforts, while requiring no maintenance, management or significant invest of local resources. The genius of this project examines how create on-ramps for …

The Influence Of Sex On Cognitive Control Performance And Frontoparietal Network Integrity In First Episode Psychosis, Kaitlyn Mcfarlane Greer

Theses and Dissertations

Cognitive deficits in first-episode psychosis (FEP) are well documented including deficits in cognitive control, but how sex may influence or impact these cognitive deficits is not well known. Cognitive deficits may impact multiple neural networks, including the fronto-parietal network (FPN). How sex may influence the structural integrity of regions in the FPN is also an important area of research in FEP that may provide further insight into the beginnings of the disease. The current study aimed to examine sexual dimorphisms in structural integrity of the frontoparietal network (FPN) and its role in cognitive control in FEP. A total of 111 …

We Might Be Salvaged, Hannah Kroonblawd

Theses and Dissertations

We Might Be Salvaged is a dissertation that hinges upon poetic loci of disaster, survival, despair, and hope. The dissertation includes a critical preface, “Beyond Repair,” which contextualizes the central creative work alongside the concerns of the Anthropocene, as well as the collective necessity of environmental justice and disability activism. The creative work, “We Might Be Salvaged,” explores contemporary catastrophes and the lingering hope of an unknown future. The final chapter, “Teaching in the Anthropocene,” provides a pedagogical link through the design of online undergraduate creative writing workshop courses during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mindfulness To Promote Healthy Aging In Older Adults With Mild Cognitive Impairment And Their Caregivers: A Mixed Methods Feasibility And Acceptability Study, Emma Mcbride

Theses and Dissertations

Mild cognitive impairment (MCI), thought be a precursor to dementia, is characterized by cognitive decline without functional impairment. As the population ages and the prevalence of MCI increases, non-pharmacologic interventions are needed to address well-being and disease progression in this population of older adults and their caregivers. In response to growing interest in mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) as an adjunct to integrated care for this population, this single arm, mixed methods pilot study trialed a lightly adapted, 6-week MBI for both MCI patients and their caregivers (n=24). The intervention was feasible and acceptable in both groups. There was a trend toward …

Ethical Considerations Concerning The Dignity Of Patients With Terminal Disabling Illness, Hebatallah Rashed

Theses and Dissertations

Almost everyone agrees that they should be treated and treat others in a dignified manner; however, people have different views about dignity and what gives people honour and worth. There are different philosophical ideas about the meaning of this concept and its conditions. The concept of human dignity has been a fundamental yet controversial area in the field of bioethics, especially with the ongoing debate over euthanasia.

The aim of this thesis was to evaluate different philosophical views about the concept of dignity, and how the evolution of this concept throughout history affected our understanding of the moral permissibility of …

The Flow Of (Re)Memory In African American And Nubian Egyptian Literature: Morrison, Oddoul, And Mukhtar, Bushra Hashem

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to define the term rememory, which Toni Morrison coins in her novel Beloved, and explore its interplay with water imagery in the novel and in two Nubian short stories, namely Haggag Oddoul’s “The River People” and Yahya Mukhtar’s “The Nile Bride.” The three narratives have core common features: they centralize water bodies as key sites of events, they depend heavily on the retelling of history and mythology, and they are told predominantly from the perspective of women. How do the writers weave rememory, history, and mythology to produce these narratives? Are they attempting to …

"Newstead And I Stand Or Fall Together": Memorial Ecology And Multispecies Agency In Byron's Early Poetry, Taylore Ann Wintch

Theses and Dissertations

Scholars studying memory, literary tourism, and Byron all note the cooperation between author and audience at work in memorials--be it in terms of speech and response, hospitality and reception, or memory and forgetting. None, however, address the environment at Newstead as an agentic being involved with Byron's memorial legacy. Byron acknowledged multispecies beings as important actors in his eventual legacy. Through some of his early poems, we see the land under and around Newstead Abbey, as well as its nonhuman life, exercising agency and affecting Byron's memory. I limit my analysis to Byron's early poetry partly to trace how a …

International Water Quality: Global Patterns Of Water Pollutants And Pathogens, Leslie Lange

Theses and Dissertations

Water quality is an essential component of vibrant societies and ecosystems. For decades, researchers, managers, and policymakers around the world have struggled to accelerate societal progress while preserving and enhancing water quality and human health. This thesis consists of two studies that I hope will contribute to better understanding, policy, and management. In the first study, I evaluated spatial and temporal patterns in global water quality and their relationship to gross domestic product (GDP) per capita, as a metric of socioeconomic development status. Using global water quality datasets containing over 2.7 million observations, I tested the Environmental Kuznet Curve (EKC) …

Optofluidic Manipulation With Nanomembrane Platforms Used For Solid-State Nanopore Integration, Zachary J. Walker

Theses and Dissertations

Nanopore technology has introduced new techniques for single particle detection and analysis. A nanopore consists of a small opening in a membrane on the nanometer scale. Nanopores are found in nature and are utilized for transporting molecules through biological membranes. Researchers have been able to mimic naturally forming biological nanopores and utilize them for a variety of sensing applications. Nanopores, fabricated either organically or inorganically, can be used for detecting biomarkers such as proteins, nucleic acids, and metabolites that translocate the membrane by way of the nanopore. Constant ionic current flow is measured through the nanopore by way of a …

Concurrent And Incremental Validity Of Parent- And Teacher-Report And Neuropsychological Measures Of Executive Functions, Attention, And Hyperactivity In An Outpatient Community Mental Health Clinic Pediatric Sample, Lindsay Morgan Fruehauf

Theses and Dissertations

Attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is a common neurodevelopmental disorder that affects academic, social, and health functioning. The psychometric properties of measures commonly used in diagnostic settings to assess the constructs of attention, hyperactivity, and executive functioning, including concurrent and incremental validity with other commonly used measures, are not well-established. Additionally, these specific psychometric properties within ecological samples of children and adolescents presenting to community-based clinics is infrequent. The purpose of this dissertation was to describe a sample of children and adolescents presenting to a community-based mental health clinic and to test the concurrent and incremental validity of parent- and teacher-report questionnaires …

Sleep And Eating Behavior Among Adolescent Females With Overweight Or Obesity: The Role Of Appetite-Related Cognitive Processes, Kirandeep Kaur

Theses and Dissertations

Insufficient sleep duration and poor sleep quality can potentiate weight gain and obesity in adolescents. Furthermore, overweight and obese females are at unique risk for insufficient sleep and associated health complications. We examined self-reported sleep duration and self-reported adequacy of sleep duration as potential moderators of the relationship between eating behavior and several cognitive processes including hedonic hunger, executive dysfunction, and self-control. We used a multisystemic conceptual framework to highlight the pathways that may explain the relationship between sleep behaviors and the Healthy Eating Index (HEI). The study employed a cross-sectional design. Participants completed baseline measures of height and weight, …

Affective Transfer In Writing: Utilizing Affect In Teaching For Transfer, Emily Morgan

Theses and Dissertations

According to current scholarship in writing studies, students with a positive affect toward writing are more likely to transfer writing knowledge and skills. Yet my findings from an IRB-approved longitudinal study suggest that this is not always the case. This study was designed to see what students transfer from their first-year composition course, focusing especially on rhetoric, process, genre, and mindfulness. In annual semi-structured interviews that took place over the course of three years, two study participants described having positive writing affect but did not discuss transfer, even when prompted. These students express caring much more about a writing task …

Mirnas Levels In A Streptozocin Model Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Nada Moustafa

Theses and Dissertations

Dementia entails a progressive decrease in cognitive functions, with 50%-75% of cases attributed to Alzheimer’s disease (AD); an aging-associated condition characterized by the build-up of tangled phosphorylated Tau (p-Tau) protein and beta-amyloid (Aβ) depositions. Sporadic AD (sAD) is multifactorial in nature, resulting from a combination of environmental and genetic predisposing factors. Type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) is a leading risk factor for dementia, and deregulation of brain glucose metabolism is associated with early cognitive affection in sAD. Thus, the diabetogenic agent Streptozotocin (STZ) is used to experimentally create an AD model in animals (STZ-induced sAD), in which abnormalities in cerebral …

Studying Female Engineers' Experiences In The Egyptian Labor Market, Nada Abdelhay

Theses and Dissertations

With an aim to investigate and analyze the active participation of female engineers in the Egyptian labor market, this qualitative research study argues that gender-biased cultures embedded within formal educational and employment engineering institutions marginalize and undermine the representation of highly educated female engineers. Based on women’s shared experiences, it becomes apparent that their personal interests are not sufficient to ensure an engineering career. Other determinants–primarily in the form of impending challenges–during the pre-university, university and employment stages of life impact women’s lived experiences. On the one hand, challenges faced before graduation include: a) gender-based stigmas and stereotypes surrounding specific …

Promoting Secure Attachment In Children Without Parental Care In Egypt, Manar Nada

Theses and Dissertations

In Egypt, if not living with extended family members, the majority of children without parental care are placed in care homes. Research shows that children without parental care, particularly those raised in care homes, generally receive low-quality care. This can lead to adverse effects on their mental health, physical health, developmental growth, sense of belonging, intimacy, social and behavioral competence, and academic performance. Studies also relate institutionalization to problems in attachment and caregiver-infant relationships. The Secure Base Model is a therapeutic caregiving framework that target children who were abused and neglected or experienced loss and separation. The model has five …

Labor Transitions Between Formal And Informal Employment In Egypt, Alaa Mahmoud Al-Barrawi

Theses and Dissertations

Informal employment is the hallmark of developing economies. Egypt is no exception to this trend. Those who are informally employed are exceptionally vulnerable as they lack social protection. Moreover, large informal sectors are symptomatic of underdevelopment and have negative repercussions on the economy. Few studies examine the determinants of labor market transitions in Egypt with a focus on transitions between formal and informal labor market states. This study focuses on determinants of labor market transitions in Egypt, relying on the Egyptian Labor Market Panel Surveys of 2012 and 2018. It develops four multinomial logistic regression models to achieve this goal. …

Enhanced Data Sampling And Feature Generation For Machine Learning-Based Lithography Hotspot Detection, Mohamed Ismail

Theses and Dissertations

Technology scaling has increased the complexity of integrated circuit design. It has also led to more challenges in the field of Design for Manufacturing (DFM). One of these challenges is lithography hotspot detection. Hotspots (HS) are design patterns that negatively affect the output yield. Identifying these patterns early in the design phase is crucial for high yield fabrication. Machine Learning-based (ML) hotspot detection techniques are promising since they have shown superior results to other methods such as pattern matching. Training ML models is a challenging task due two main reasons. Firstly, industrial training designs contain millions of unique patterns. It …

The Behavioral And Neurophysiologic Relationships Between Sensory Processing And Autistic Traits In Emerging Adults, Savanah Calton

Theses and Dissertations

The majority of individuals diagnosed with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience sensory processing difficulties that are also associated with greater presence of autistic traits, psychiatric difficulty, and intolerance of uncertainty (IU). These relationships are also expressed in the neurotypical (NT) population, termed the Broader Autism Phenotype (BAP), and present with impacts to daily functioning/well-being just as prominently. However, little is known concerning the neurophysiologic nature of these behavioral relationships, especially in young adults. Thus, the purpose of the current study was to examine the behavioral and neurophysiologic nature of the relationships between sensory processing, autistic traits, and related behavioral functions …

Auditory Brainstem Response In Autistic Children: Potential Implications For Sensory Processing, Madelyn Cate

Theses and Dissertations

Autistic people frequently experience sensory processing difficulties. For many on the autism spectrum, such difficulties can significantly impact important functions and quality of life. We are only beginning to understand the neural mechanisms of atypical sensory processing. However, one established way to measure certain levels of auditory processing is with auditory brainstem responses (ABR). While ABR has been primarily hypothesized in the current literature as a means of early detection/diagnosis in autism, additional research is needed to determine the ABR’s utility in examining sensory processing in this population. Thus, we evaluated ABR in 19 young children with autism during various …

Synthesis And Applications Of Α,Β-Dehydroamino Acid-Containing Peptides, Diego A. Moya

Theses and Dissertations

Yaku’amide A (YA) is a linear anticancer peptide that is rich in bulky dehydroamino acids (ΔAAs) and β-hydroxyamino acids (β-OHAAs). In our recent total synthesis of YA, we featured a one-pot anti dehydration–azide reduction–O→N acyl transfer process for the stereospecific construction of Z- and E- ∆Ile residues. Despite previous total syntheses and our efforts, the synthesis of YA remains lengthy. Via computational studies, we identified two analogue peptides that closely resemble the conformation of YA. The use of simpler and symmetrical bulky ΔAAs such as dehydrovaline (ΔVal) and dehydroethylnorvaline (ΔEnv) as surrogates of ∆Ile, along with azlactone chemistry for their …

Design And Control Of Modular Soft Robotic Actuators With Architected Structures, Nicholas Pagliocca

Theses and Dissertations

Soft robotic systems composed of highly compliant materials offer unparalleled advantages compared to rigid-body systems in applications such as fragile material handling and human-machine interactions. Often, their motions are prescribed by structural anisotropy and reinforcement materials to directionally limit motion. The continuum motion and non-linear material response intrinsic to soft robotics makes their design, modeling, and control a formidable challenge for engineers. Leveraging the deformation driven response of soft robotic actuators, highly versatile compliant architected structures whose local deformations dictate global material response can be integrated into soft robotic actuators for tunable mechanical responses. In this thesis, flexible center-symmetric perforated …

Synthesis Of Yaku’Amide A Analogues And Impact Of Dehydroamino Acids On The Structure And Stability Of Incipient 310 Helical Peptides, Daniel Joaquin

Theses and Dissertations

The first project in this dissertation describes the total synthesis of yaku’amide A analogues. Natural product yaku’amide A possesses potent anticancer activity and exhibits a novel mode of action. However, due to its complex asymmetrical isoleucine dehydroamino acids, the synthesis of this polypeptide poses a unique challenge. Despite the efficient synthesis developed in our lab, the total synthesis of this natural product remains lengthy. In order to simplify the overall synthesis, symmetrical dehydroamino acids were incorporated to replace the dehydroisoleucine residues yielding two analogues of yaku’amide A that closely resembles the conformation of the natural product. Biological testing of the …

Development Of Cooperative Catalytic Systems And Bimetallic Catalysts For Organic Synthesis, Kelton Guy Forson

Theses and Dissertations

The development of new catalysts for organic synthesis is an important pursuit that enables the discovery of new and more efficient reactions and the identification of new reaction mechanisms. Cooperative catalytic systems and bimetallic catalysts represent unique approaches to catalyst development that achieve reactivity that cannot be obtained with a single catalyst or metal. These types of catalysts can activate substrates in unique ways, facilitate reactions under mild conditions, increase substrate scope, and provide access to completely new transformations. The first part of this work describes the development of a cooperative nickel-titanium-catalyzed amination of allylic alcohols. The cooperative effects of …

Climate Change And The Global Nutrient Overload: The Microbial Response Of Extreme Waterbodies To Environmental Change, Samuel P. Bratsman

Theses and Dissertations

One of the defining characteristics of our current epoch—the Anthropocene—is modification of nutrient cycles. At regional to global scales, humans have fundamentally reshaped the availability of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus. These changes are particularly apparent in freshwater ecosystems, which receive surface and groundwater inputs of nutrients from agriculture, fossil fuel use, and wastewater. In this thesis, I investigated how the addition of nutrients affects microbial community and biogeochemistry in two extreme environments: the hypereutrophic shallow Utah Lake and nutrient-limited Arctic permafrost streams. In my first chapter, I used bioassay and dilution bioassay experiments to identify what factors control harmful algal …

Relationships Among Aa-Genome Chenopodium Diploids And A Whole-Genome Assembly Of The North American Species, C. Watsonii, Lauren Amillicent Young

Theses and Dissertations

Chenopodium quinoa Willd., an ancient Andean pseudocereal almost exclusively consumed in South America, jumped onto the global stage when Western cultures noted quinoa's advantageous nutritional profile. Quinoa seed's high protein content, nutritionally balanced amino acid profile, low glycemic index, and high fiber, vitamin, and mineral content, make it a highly sought-after 'superfood'. Pitseed goosefoot (C. berlandieri Moq.), a closely related North American species sharing quinoa's genome composition (AABB), grows across the North American continent, inhabiting diverse environments including the saline coastal soils of the Gulf of Texas and the drought-prone regions of the Southwest. Quinoa and pitseed goosefoot, along with …

The Incorporation Of And Engagement In Engineering Design In High School Biology, Margaret Elizabeth Parker

Theses and Dissertations

The Framework for K-12 Science Education and the Next Generation Science Standards propose that students learn concepts and practices related to engineering as well as science. Currently the research surrounding how engineering practices through engineering design are implemented in the life sciences such as high school biology is limited. To explore how engineering design is included in a biology class, a case study was conducted in two high school biology classrooms. This qualitative case study examined how high school biology teachers incorporated an engineering design project into a science curricular unit and how high school biology students engaged in an …

Improvement Of Ex Vivo Testing Methods For Spine Biomechanical Characterization, Aubrie Lisa Taylor

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation contributed three main areas to flexibility testing and biomechanical characterization of human spinal segments. The first was a literature review of existing testing methodology, the second examined common spine fixation procedures, and the third developed an improved fixation method. Spine biomechanical characterization is the primary technique for assessing the healthy, diseased, and surgically treated response of spinal tissues. However, despite decades of use, no standard testing protocol or reporting methodology for flexibility testing conditions has been established. As part of the present work, a comprehensive, systematic literature review was performed, and the methods sections of 242 relevant journal …

The Default Network And Autism Spectrum Disorder: Characterizing Sub-Networks And Behavioral Correlates, Alyssa K. Kozlowski

Theses and Dissertations

The default network (DN), and specifically its sub-networks default network A (DN A) and default network B (DN B), has been strongly implicated in social cognition. This study examined its role in predicting social behavior, and also differences that may exist across diagnostic groups that may explain discrepancies in social cognition and behavior. One of the popular methods of study is functional connectivity, or analyzing correlated activity in the brain. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a disorder characterized by social impairment and abnormal social behavior. To date, much of the functional connectivity research in ASD has focused on global connectivity, …