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2009

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Living With Stress: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Social Capital, And Depression, John Porter Lillis Jan 2009

Living With Stress: Neighborhood Disadvantage, Social Capital, And Depression, John Porter Lillis

All ETDs from UAB

This study's objective was to determine the effects of personal and neighborhood stressors on depressive symptomology for community dwelling adults aged 65 and over. The psychosocial resource model was employed as social capital is hypothesized to be a resource and play a mediating role in the effect of both types of stressors on depressive symptomology. Individual level data utilized came from the UAB Study of Aging (N = 919) and the neighborhood level data came from the 2000 Decennial Census. Logistic regression analysis determined that neighborhood stressors had no direct or indirect effect on depressive symptomology. This analysis did show …

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Mouse Modeling Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (Pdac); Search For Early Diagnostic Markers And Therapeutic Targets, Kyoko Kojima Jan 2009

Mouse Modeling Of Pancreatic Ductal Adenocarcinoma (Pdac); Search For Early Diagnostic Markers And Therapeutic Targets, Kyoko Kojima

All ETDs from UAB

PDAC is a highly malignant neoplasm that carries a very poor prognosis. PDAC development is a multistage transformation process that involves multiple genetic alterations that include activation of EGFR/HER2 and KRAS, and loss-of-function mutations in INK4A/ARF, p53 and SMAD4. In recent years, several genetically engineered mouse models that accurately recapitulate human pancreatic neoplasia have been developed. Histological characterizations of those models have revealed possible roles for the mutated RAS, INK4a/ARF and p53 in pancreatic tumorigenesis. However, the role of SMAD4 mutation, which is associated with late stages of tumor progression, has yet to be explored. Additionally, those models that would …

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Occupational Stress, Dietary Self-Efficacy, Eating Habits And Body Composition In Police Officers, Rebecca Witten Grizzle Jan 2009

Occupational Stress, Dietary Self-Efficacy, Eating Habits And Body Composition In Police Officers, Rebecca Witten Grizzle

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity is a paramount public health threat in the U.S. as approximately twothirds of the adult population is overweight. Police officers have an even higher prevalence of overweight and obesity and other cardiovascular risk factors. Police officers often attribute their above average cardiovascular disease risk to shift work, jobrelated stress, and poor dietary habits while working. Occupational stress is a major concern among police officers. Therefore, it is important to understand the relationships among occupational stress, obesity, and diet habits. However, few research studies have characterized these relationships in police officers. The specific aims of this study were to determine …

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Determinants Of Growth Hormone Receptor Downregulation, Luqin Deng Jan 2009

Determinants Of Growth Hormone Receptor Downregulation, Luqin Deng

All ETDs from UAB

Growth hormone (GH), a 22 kD polypeptide primarily produced in the anterior pituitary gland, is a key regulator of postnatal growth and affects carbohydrate, protein and lipid metabolism. Growth hormone receptor (GHR) is a single membrane-spanning type Ⅰ glycoprotein of the cytokine receptor family and is initially synthesized as a precursor and undergoes carbohydrate processing during transport through the Golgi. It has no intrinsic kinase activity. One molecule of GH binding to predimerized GHR on the cell surface induces the receptor conformational change activating the cytoplasmic domainassociated tyrosine kinase, Janus Kinase 2 (JAK2), which phosphorylates GHR, followed by the activation …

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Evolutionary And Conservation Implications Of Sex Determination And Hatchling Depredation In Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles, Anne Marie Leblanc Eich Jan 2009

Evolutionary And Conservation Implications Of Sex Determination And Hatchling Depredation In Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtles, Anne Marie Leblanc Eich

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation examines the arribada, or group nesting, phenomenon of ridley turtles and its' ecological and evolutionary significance regarding certain aspects of reproduction such as egg survival, hatchling survival, and sex ratios. The initial two chapters test the role of non-steady moisture or temperature on sex ratios produced by the arribada nesting behavior. The first chapter addresses the potential effects of a nest's hydric environment on sex ratios using the red-eared slider, Trachemys scripta, as a laboratory model since it possesses a temperature-dependent sex determination (TSD) pattern similar to that of sea turtles. The results indicate that daily water treatments …

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Insulin Signaling And Function In Osteoblasts, Keertik S. Fulzele Jan 2009

Insulin Signaling And Function In Osteoblasts, Keertik S. Fulzele

All ETDs from UAB

Insulin and insulin-like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) are evolutionarily conserved hormonal signaling pathways with structurally similar ligands and receptors. Recent stu-dies suggest that that insulin and IGF-1 exert distinct as well as overlapping functions to regulate different aspects of skeletal development. A major problem in distinguishing the actions of insulin and IGF-1 is the fact that the receptors are co-expressed in many cell types and each ligand is able to cross-activate the other ligands' receptor. To distinguish direct skeletal actions of insulin from that of IGF-1, we have conditionally disrupted each receptor in vitro and in vivo specifically in osteoblasts. Studies …

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Patterns Of Differential Mrna And Protein Expression During Minus Lens Compensation And Recovery In Tree Shrew Sclera, Hong Gao Jan 2009

Patterns Of Differential Mrna And Protein Expression During Minus Lens Compensation And Recovery In Tree Shrew Sclera, Hong Gao

All ETDs from UAB

During the juvenile period of human development, an emmetropization mechanism uses visual signals to precisely guide the axial length elongation rate of the eyes to the optical power to keep the images in sharp focus. However, almost a third of the U.S. population develops axial myopia, in which the eye is elongated relative to the focal plane. The aims of the study were to examine 27 genes and 6 proteins in tree shrew sclera for potential differential expression patterns during minus lens compensation and dur-ing recovery. The study hypothesized that, in response to hyperopia produced by a -5 D lens, …

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Regulation Of The Human Heme Oxygenase-1 Gene By Nitro-Linoleic Acid, Macienne M. Wright Jan 2009

Regulation Of The Human Heme Oxygenase-1 Gene By Nitro-Linoleic Acid, Macienne M. Wright

All ETDs from UAB

Nitro-fatty acids (NO-FA) exert anti-inflammatory effects in the vasculature. Heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) degrades heme into iron, biliverdin, and carbon monoxide and is up-regulated as an adaptive and protective response to inflammatory processes. This dissertation examined whether nitro-linoleic acid (LNO2) induced HO-1 gene expression and evaluated the molecular mechanism of induction in human aortic endothelial (HAEC), human embryonic kidney 293 (HEK 293) and mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) cells. LNO2 induced HO-1 mRNA and protein in HAEC at the level of transcription. NO scavenging by carboxy-PTIO partially reversed LNO2–mediated induction of HO-1, suggesting that LNO2 acts via NO-dependent and NO-independent mechanisms of …

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Protective Mechanisms Of Apoa-I Mimetic Peptide Action In Sepsis-Induced Tissue Injury, Zhenghao Zhang Jan 2009

Protective Mechanisms Of Apoa-I Mimetic Peptide Action In Sepsis-Induced Tissue Injury, Zhenghao Zhang

All ETDs from UAB

Sepsis is among the top ten causes of death in the US, and it is associated with severe inflammatory tissue damage and organ dysfunction. Reduced plasma high density lipoprotein (HDL) is associated with increased mortality in septic patients. Since raising plasma apolipoprotein (apo) A-I and HDL may reduce sepsis complications, we tested the hypothesis that the apoA-I mimetic peptide 4F confers similar protective effects in two animal models of sepsis, and explored the possible mechanisms. In endotoxemic rats, inflammatory mediators were significantly induced while blood pressure was significantly reduced by 6hr. The impaired arterial response to vasoconstrictors was related to …

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Molecular Characterization Of Neural Apoptosis, Ken C. Walls Jan 2009

Molecular Characterization Of Neural Apoptosis, Ken C. Walls

All ETDs from UAB

Neural cell death plays a critical role in normal nervous system development and dysregulated neural stem cell death contributes to brain malformation, tumorgenesis, and possibly, neurodegenerative disease. The two major forms of cell death in the nervous system are apoptotic and autophagic. Altered clearance of proteins may lead to neuronal dysfunction and neuron loss via apoptotic and/or autophagic pathways. The research presented here examined the molecular regulation of the autophagic and apoptotic pathways in vivo and in vitro by using models of lysosome dysfunction and hypoxia. In vivo investigation of lysosome dysfunction-induced death utilized the cathepsin D (CD)-deficient mouse model. …

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The Effects Of P-Glycoprotein Deficiency On Intestinal Integrity And Homeostasis, Elizabeth Marie Staley Jan 2009

The Effects Of P-Glycoprotein Deficiency On Intestinal Integrity And Homeostasis, Elizabeth Marie Staley

All ETDs from UAB

THE EFFECTS OF P-GLYCOPROTEIN DEFICIENCY ON INTESTINAL INTEGRITY AND HOMEOSTASIS ELIZABETH M. STALEY MICROBIOLOGY ABSTRACT P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an ATP-binding transmembrane pump associated with substrate extrusion in cells of epithelial and hematopoietic lineage. Polymorphisms in multidrug resistance genes (MDR), which encode this protein, are associated with development of inflammatory bowel disease in patient subsets. Furthermore, FVB/N animals deficient in P-gp expression develop spontaneous colitis. Disease in FVB.mdr1a-/- animals is reported to be the result of P-gp deficiencies in intestinal epithelial cells. We developed a neonatal model of bone marrow reconstitution to accurately evaluate the contribution of P-gp deficiencies in either …

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Regulation Of Tissue Remodeling Through The Calreticulin Binding Domain Of Thrombospondin-1, Mariya Ts'ana Sweetwyne Jan 2009

Regulation Of Tissue Remodeling Through The Calreticulin Binding Domain Of Thrombospondin-1, Mariya Ts'ana Sweetwyne

All ETDs from UAB

Thrombospondin-1 (TSP1) is a multifunctional matricellular protein released by platelets in response to injury and secreted by cells under stress. TSP1 is cleaved into functional N- and C-terminal domain fragments, which have paradoxical actions with respect to angiogenesis, cell survival, and cell adhesion. Wound healing studies by others demonstrated that TSP1 knockout mice have delayed rates of wound closure, which was attributed to actions of the C-terminal domain. We wished to investigate the specific role of the N-terminal domain in tissue remodeling. Previously, we established that a sequence (aa 17-35) in the N-terminal domain of TSP1 induces focal adhesion disassembly, …

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Characterization Of The Induction And Regulation Of Early B Cell Development, Melissa Ann Thal Jan 2009

Characterization Of The Induction And Regulation Of Early B Cell Development, Melissa Ann Thal

All ETDs from UAB

Hematopoiesis is a highly regulated process directed by the microenvironment or niche in the bone marrow and the transcription factors those signals activate. Gene knockout experiments have identified critical cytokine signals and transcription factors required for promoting the differentiation of a hematopoietic stem cell to a B cell, but the regulatory mechanisms have yet to be fully elucidated. In early B cell development, a transcriptional hierarchy exists wherein E2A proteins activate early B-cell factor (Ebf1), which in turn activates expression of the B cell commitment factor, Pax5. In our studies, we use IL-7 receptor alpha chain (IL-7Rα) knockout animals that …

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A Novel & Efficient Method To Produce High Titers Of Infectious Hpv In Organotypic Cultures Of Primary Human Keratinocytes, Hsu-Kun Wang Jan 2009

A Novel & Efficient Method To Produce High Titers Of Infectious Hpv In Organotypic Cultures Of Primary Human Keratinocytes, Hsu-Kun Wang

All ETDs from UAB

Infections by the high-risk human papillomavirus type 18 (HPV-18) or type 16 (HPV-16) can lead to cancers of the anogenital tract. Because the propagation of HPVs is restricted to differentiated human squamous epithelia, experimental studies of the productive program are conducted in organotypic cultures. The current methods are of low efficiency and time consuming and have relied on immortalized epithelial cell lines that do not support efficient viral DNA amplification or virion production, compromising HPV genetic analyses and obscuring normal virus-host cell interactions. I used Cre-loxP site-specific recombination to develop a relatively simple, fast and highly efficient system to produce …

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The Status Of White Matter In Patients With Hemiparesis Given Ci Therapy: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study, Christi Perkins Hu Jan 2009

The Status Of White Matter In Patients With Hemiparesis Given Ci Therapy: A Diffusion Tensor Imaging Study, Christi Perkins Hu

All ETDs from UAB

While attempts have been made to identify the cause and mechanism of motor deficit and subsequent recovery, there are several aspects of hemiparesis, especially in the chronic phase of acquired brain injury, that are still unclear. This study used diffusion tensor imaging (DTI) to study the role of white matter in upper extremity motor function in chronic hemiparesis, especially after administration of an efficacious therapy, Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy (CI therapy). This therapy has been proven effective in treating chronic motor deficit and has recently been associated with structural changes in the gray matter tissue in the brain. The goal of …

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A System Genetics Analysis Of Energy Metabolism Traits In Drosophila Melanogaster, Patricia Paola Jumbo-Lucioni Jan 2009

A System Genetics Analysis Of Energy Metabolism Traits In Drosophila Melanogaster, Patricia Paola Jumbo-Lucioni

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity is emerging as a global public health problem and it has shown to precede and predict the development of type 2 diabetes, a complex disease that has also reached epidemic proportions in the US and worldwide. Despite that obesity-related traits are highly heritable, the genetic basis underlying their natural variation and the loci playing pleiotropic roles among organismal traits have not been fully elucidated. The overall goals of these present studies were: to shed light on the architecture of the genetic co-expression networks regulating variations in obesity-related traits, elucidate the extent to which they are regulated by pleiotropic loci, …

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Regulation Of Vh Replacement In Human Immature B Cells By B Cell Receptor (Bcr) - Mediated Signaling, Jing Liu Jan 2009

Regulation Of Vh Replacement In Human Immature B Cells By B Cell Receptor (Bcr) - Mediated Signaling, Jing Liu

All ETDs from UAB

VH replacement occurs through RAG-mediated secondary recombination to change unwanted IgH genes. In this dissertation, I focused on studying the molecular mechanism that regulates VH replacement in human immature B cells. In part I, our results show that VH replacement is regulated by B cell antigen receptor (BCR) mediated signaling. Using the human EU12 mHC+ cells as an experimental model system, crosslinking BCR with F(ab')2 anti-IgM antibodies results in BCR internalization, cell proliferation arrest, and induction of VH replacement. Pretreatment of human EU12 mHC+ cells with the protein tyrosine kinase inhibitor Genistein, Syk kinase inhibitors, and a Src kinase inhibitor …

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Counterregulatory Roles Of Transforming Growth Factor (Tgf)-Beta And Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (Anp) In Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Remodeling And Fibrosis, Jason Anthony Lucas Jan 2009

Counterregulatory Roles Of Transforming Growth Factor (Tgf)-Beta And Atrial Natriuretic Peptide (Anp) In Pressure Overload-Induced Cardiac Remodeling And Fibrosis, Jason Anthony Lucas

All ETDs from UAB

Pressure overload stress (eg. hypertension or aortic stenosis) results in excessive cardiac fibrosis, changes in left ventricular (LV) geometry, and disruption of LV contractility, ultimately leading to heart failure. We hypothesize that transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta), a pro fibrogenic factor, and atrial natriuretic peptide (ANP), an anti fibrogenic factor, interact directly in a counterregulatory manner to balance the production of extracellular matrix (ECM) under pressure overload induced cardiac stress or hypoxia-induced pulmonary vascular adaptation. In this report, we examine structural and functional responses of the intact heart to pressure overload stress in vivo. We then utilize isolated rat pulmonary artery …

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Mechanisms Of Growth Hormone Action In Skeletal Muscle, Mahendra Devaraj Mavalli Jan 2009

Mechanisms Of Growth Hormone Action In Skeletal Muscle, Mahendra Devaraj Mavalli

All ETDs from UAB

Growth hormone (GH) and insulin like growth factor-1 (IGF-1) exert profound growth promoting actions during pre and postnatal skeletal muscle development. GH and IGF-1 seem to promote their anabolic actions by influencing skeletal muscle cell prolif-eration and fusion. However, because GH stimulates the production of IGF-1 from the liver and other GH-responsive peripheral tissues, including skeletal muscle, the individual contributions of these two growth factors to anabolic responses in skeletal muscle remains poorly defined. In this dissertation research, I sought to distinguish the mechanisms responsible for growth hormone's (GH) anabolic actions in skeletal muscle. To accomplish this, I analyzed the …

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Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (Cftr) Modulators And Their Mechanistic Basis: Relevance To Emerging Therapies For Cystic Fibrosis, Louise Clare Pyle Jan 2009

Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (Cftr) Modulators And Their Mechanistic Basis: Relevance To Emerging Therapies For Cystic Fibrosis, Louise Clare Pyle

All ETDs from UAB

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a lethal genetic disorder leading to pulmonary decline and premature death. The gene responsible for CF, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR), serves as a chloride and bicarbonate channel situated at the apical cell surface of epithelia. The discovery of small molecules that augment channel gating of mutant CFTR (so-called `potentiators') represents a major theme of CF research, and offers hope for new therapeutic interventions. High-throughput screening (HTS) provides a means to test millions of agents in an unbiased manner for CFTR potentiating properties. New agents identified by HTS have undergone extensive pre-clinical and clinical …

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Effects Of Endocrine Disruptors On Biomarkers Of Reproductive Function In The Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia Affinis, Samiksha Ashok Raut Jan 2009

Effects Of Endocrine Disruptors On Biomarkers Of Reproductive Function In The Western Mosquitofish, Gambusia Affinis, Samiksha Ashok Raut

All ETDs from UAB

Chemicals introduced into the environment by anthropogenic activities have the capacity to interfere with the endocrine system of living organisms and act as endocrine disrup-tors. To date, most studies have focused on estrogenic endocrine disruptors but reports of androgenic endocrine disruptors continue to increase. In the current study, the western mosquitofish, Gambusia affinis was utilized as a model organism to assess the effects of some known and suspected androgenic and estrogenic endocrine disruptors on various reproductive biomarkers. The biomarkers utilized were: anal fin elongation and differen-tiation, expression of the vitellogenin gene, and sperm production in males. In the studies described …

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The Role Of Mitochondria And Plasma Membrane Ca2+ Transport Systems In Ca2+-Dependent Glutamate Release From Rat Cortical Astrocytes, Reno Cervo Reyes Jan 2009

The Role Of Mitochondria And Plasma Membrane Ca2+ Transport Systems In Ca2+-Dependent Glutamate Release From Rat Cortical Astrocytes, Reno Cervo Reyes

All ETDs from UAB

Astrocytes, a type of glial cell in the central nervous system, are recognized for their support roles to neurons. They supply neurons with metabolites, maintain ion homeostasis and clear the synaptic space of neurotransmitters. However, it has been found that some astrocytes have receptors for neurotransmitter and neuroligands, exhibit Ca2+ excitability when stimulated via these receptors, and secrete gliotransmitters as an output of this Ca2+ excitability. In the Ca2+-dependent release of glutamate, it has been shown that the endoplasmic reticulum is the predominant source and the extracellular space is the auxiliary source of free Ca2+ necessary for triggering exocytosis. Because …

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Neuroinflammation And Fragile X Syndrome: Regulation By Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3, Christopher Joseph Yuskaitis Jan 2009

Neuroinflammation And Fragile X Syndrome: Regulation By Glycogen Synthase Kinase-3, Christopher Joseph Yuskaitis

All ETDs from UAB

Neuroinflammation and Fragile X syndrome (FXS) are two particularly devastating neurologic conditions for which no adequate treatment exists and much is still unknown about the underlying cellular and molecular processes. Neuroinflammation contributes to the pathogenesis of many neurologic and psychiatric disorders, thus treatment of the underlying inflammation has broad implications. FXS is the most common cause of inherited intellectual and developmental delay and one of the few known genetic causes of autism. Neuroinflammation and FXS have potential links with glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) and its inhibitor, lithium. Therefore, the overall goal of this research was to examine the role of …

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The Remnant Motif In The Dead Sea Scrolls, Franklin A. Marti Jan 2009

The Remnant Motif In The Dead Sea Scrolls, Franklin A. Marti

Papers

In this research I will try to answer the following questions: Do the men at Qumran consider themselves the remnant of their time? Which are the implications that could be drawn from the perspective of considering themselves the remnant of God? What biblical support did they use? What were their religious lifestyle and characteristics as the remnant? How was their relationship with others and, at the same time, how did they consider others in relationship to God?

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Recent Publications Jan 2009

Recent Publications

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

No abstract provided.

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On Hanging Laundry: The Place Of Beauty In Managing Everyday Life, Pauliina Rautio Jan 2009

On Hanging Laundry: The Place Of Beauty In Managing Everyday Life, Pauliina Rautio

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

The data of my empirical research in the field of education discussed in this paper consist of letters produced through correspondence. I asked the participants to write about beauty in their everyday lives, giving substance to the concept as freely as they could. In this paper it is only the letters of one participant, Laura, which I limit my attention to. The aim is to find out what kind of place beauty, as defined and used by herself, holds in the managing of her everyday life. The concept of beauty is virtually missing from educational research or is misguidedly restricted …

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From The Enlightenment To Crawford To Holmes, Ronald J. Allen Jan 2009

From The Enlightenment To Crawford To Holmes, Ronald J. Allen

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Foreword, Editorial Board Jan 2009

Foreword, Editorial Board

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Evidence Code Section 802: The Neglected Key To Rationalizing The California Law Of Expert Testimony, Edward J. Imwinkelried, David L. Faigman Jan 2009

Evidence Code Section 802: The Neglected Key To Rationalizing The California Law Of Expert Testimony, Edward J. Imwinkelried, David L. Faigman

Loyola of Los Angeles Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Two Minute Training In Class Significantly Increases The Use Of Professional Formatting In Student To Faculty Email Correspondence, Nancy Aguilar-Roca, Adrienne Williams, R Warrior, Diane O’Dowd Jan 2009

Two Minute Training In Class Significantly Increases The Use Of Professional Formatting In Student To Faculty Email Correspondence, Nancy Aguilar-Roca, Adrienne Williams, R Warrior, Diane O’Dowd

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Many university faculty value email as an important tool for communicating with colleagues, but express frustration with a high incidence of unprofessional email correspondence from students. The goals of this study were to document the frequency of specific formatting mistakes that contribute to faculty’s unfavorable perception of student emails and to determine if training could reduce these errors. We analyzed emails from students to three instructors of different rank and gender co-teaching two sections of a large introductory biology class: one section received two minutes of basic email etiquette training, the second section served as the control. We report a …

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