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2010

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The Role Of The Intracellular Signaling Pathway In Ehrlichia Canis Infection In Vitro, Chang-Hyun Kim Jan 2010

The Role Of The Intracellular Signaling Pathway In Ehrlichia Canis Infection In Vitro, Chang-Hyun Kim

All ETDs from UAB

Ehrlichia canis is a pleomorphic obligatory intracellular gram-negative bacterium that causes tick-borne canine ehrlichiosis. A systematic investigation on the pathogenesis of the disease has been hindered largely by lack of a reliable quantitative assay. Using quantitative real time PCR (qPCR), a quantitative assay for E. canis was developed and validated. Using the qPCR, the intracellular proliferation kinetics of E. canis in the canine 030F cell-line was studied for the first time. Many intracellular bacterial pathogens have been shown to use Ca2+ signaling in the host cells to induce their own internalization and proliferation. However, it is not clear how Ca2+ …

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Identification And Characterization Of Downstream Target Genes Of The Bmp Signaling Pathway, Nam Chul Kim Jan 2010

Identification And Characterization Of Downstream Target Genes Of The Bmp Signaling Pathway, Nam Chul Kim

All ETDs from UAB

During nervous system development, neurons proliferate, differentiate, project their axons to their targets and make synapses with them. At the neuromuscular junction of Drosophila, these functional synapses enlarge as the body grows to maintain physiologically effective synaptic transmission with the muscles. Drosophila Bone Morphogenetic Protein (BMP) type II receptor, Wishful thinking (Wit), is important in this proper synaptic growth and function. To identify transcriptional targets of Wit signaling, we performed microarray experiments comparing normal controls to wit mutants. Through this study, we found that some of the verified target genes showed isoform-specific regulation in wit mutants, and that several neuropeptide …

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Development Of A Multiscale Material Model For Brain Tissue And Its Application To The Impact Response Of The Human Head, Sandeep Kulathu Jan 2010

Development Of A Multiscale Material Model For Brain Tissue And Its Application To The Impact Response Of The Human Head, Sandeep Kulathu

All ETDs from UAB

The development of a finite element model capable of predicting brain injury sustained as a result of an impact load to the head is of considerable importance not only for the development of adequate protection systems but also in deciding an appropriate mode of treatment for an individual. With advancements in imaging technologies, it is now possible to visualize the neuron fiber structures in the brain. In the first half of this project, an analytical micro-mechanical model was developed from the individual isotropic behaviors of the Cerebro-Spinal Fluid (CSF) and brain tissue present in the brain, such that the resultant …

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Identification And Characterization Of Virulence Factors Of Mycoplasmas, Wenyi Luo Jan 2010

Identification And Characterization Of Virulence Factors Of Mycoplasmas, Wenyi Luo

All ETDs from UAB

Mycoplasmas cause a group of diseases that are characterized by their chronicity and resistance to treatment. Diseases caused by the murine pathogens Mycoplasma pulmonis and Mycoplasma arthritidis are often studied as models of human diseases caused by a variety of chronic pathogens that induce a similar pathology. Among several candidate pathogenic factors, superantigens and degradative enzymes such as glycosidases are potentially important but not well characterized. The M. arthritidis mitogen (MAM) is a superantigen secreted by M. arthritidis. Its role with respect to arthritogenicity and toxicity is unclear. To improve the efficiency of transformation and hence enhance efforts to generate …

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Lim Kinase 1 And Twinstar In Synaptic Plasticity Of Drosophila Motoneurons, James Brian Machamer Jan 2010

Lim Kinase 1 And Twinstar In Synaptic Plasticity Of Drosophila Motoneurons, James Brian Machamer

All ETDs from UAB

Modification of the actin cytoskeleton is essential for synaptic plasticity, which is believed to underlie the brain's capacity for learning and memory. Regulation of the actin cytoskeleton by LIM Kinases (LIMK1 and LIMK2) and their downstream targets Actin Depolymerization Factor/Cofilin (ADF/Cofilin) in the mouse forebrain modulates dendritic spine morphology, synaptic function, long-term potentiation (LTP), and learning and memory, but appear dispensable for the regulation of most forms of presynaptic plasticity. However, these analyses were performed in mice mutant for single members of these gene families, and thus the interpretation of these results is confounded by potential compensatory activity of homologous …

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A Comparative Study Of Radiological Threat Environments And Radiation Control, Lisa C. Mccormick Jan 2010

A Comparative Study Of Radiological Threat Environments And Radiation Control, Lisa C. Mccormick

All ETDs from UAB

Radiation Control Programs (RCPs) differ from state to state as does their integration with public health agencies. The purpose of this study was threefold: to describe and compare across states the environmental radiological attributes of RCPs, to describe how these programs are organized structurally within state government, and to identify if RCPs differ structurally in environments of differing radiological attributes. Publicly available information from the Nuclear Regulatory Commission and state agency websites was used to determine both the environmental attributes and the different approaches states use to organize RCPs. States were grouped based on environmental attributes by employing a principle …

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Specialization And Integration Of Brain Responses To Object Recognition And Location Detection, Mark Ryan Pennick Jan 2010

Specialization And Integration Of Brain Responses To Object Recognition And Location Detection, Mark Ryan Pennick

All ETDs from UAB

Visual information in the brain is processed by two distinct pathways, the dorsal and the ventral visual streams, which operate in a parallel and distributed manner. While the dorsal stream, associated with locating objects in space, extends from the occipital towards the parietal lobe, the ventral stream, associated with recognizing objects, projects from occipital to the temporal lobes (Ungerleider & Mishkin, 1982). This division of labor evidenced from lesion studies in monkeys may be rather reductionistic in the context of humans where the experience-driven knowledge base is rich and may prompt neural integration (Mesalum, 2008). The present fMRI study investigated …

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Regulation Of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 In The Pathophysiology And Treatment Of Mood Disorders, Abigail Marie Polter Jan 2010

Regulation Of Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 In The Pathophysiology And Treatment Of Mood Disorders, Abigail Marie Polter

All ETDs from UAB

Mood disorders are devastating psychiatric illnesses that will affect as many as one in every five persons worldwide over the course of their lifetime. Significant gaps still remain in our understanding of these illnesses and outcomes for many patients are far from optimal. Glycogen Synthase Kinase 3 (GSK3) is a protein kinase that is increasingly recognized as playing an important role in a number of neuronal functions, as well as in pathological states such as mood disorders. GSK3 is inhibited in the brain by phosphorylation on an N-terminal serine. Several treatments for mood disorders, including lithium, antidepressants, and atypical antipsychotics …

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Response Dynamics Of Retinal Ganglion And Early Visual Cortical Cells To Simulated Optical Blur, Michael Lance Risner Jan 2010

Response Dynamics Of Retinal Ganglion And Early Visual Cortical Cells To Simulated Optical Blur, Michael Lance Risner

All ETDs from UAB

Visual neurons are highly sensitive to changes in luminance around the mean level of light. The effects of changes in luminance contrast on the responses of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) and V1 neurons have been extensively studied. Sharp transitions in luminance signify edges, which are key features in the visual environment. However, edges are rarely sharp and may be blurred. Edges are generally blurred because eyes have a restricted depth of field, sources of light are rarely point sources, edges are typically smooth, and rapid motion induces blur. The purpose of this research was to understand how RGCs and V1 …

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Heparanase Drives The Aggressive Myeloma Phenotype: Preclinical Development Of A Heparanase Inhibitor For The Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma, Joe Ritchie Jan 2010

Heparanase Drives The Aggressive Myeloma Phenotype: Preclinical Development Of A Heparanase Inhibitor For The Treatment Of Multiple Myeloma, Joe Ritchie

All ETDs from UAB

Heparanase, an endoglycosidase which cleaves heparan sulfate chains at specific sites, is rarely expressed in normal tissues but becomes evident in many human cancers. We have previously shown that heparanase promotes myeloma growth and angiogenesis through modulation of the tumor microenvironment. Recognition that heparanase drives the aggressive myeloma phenotype has led to new strategies designed to therapeutically target this enzyme. SST0001, a non-anticoagulant heparin that is 100% N-acetylated and 25% glycol split, was previously described as a potent inhibitor of heparanase activity in vitro, and, in limited in vivo experiments, SST0001 was identified to have efficacy as an anti-tumor agent …

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Therapeutic Interventions For Chlorine Gas Induced Lung Injury, Amit Kumar Yadav Jan 2010

Therapeutic Interventions For Chlorine Gas Induced Lung Injury, Amit Kumar Yadav

All ETDs from UAB

Rationale: Nitrite (NO2-) has been shown to limit injury to the heart, liver and kidneys in various models of ischemia-reperfusion injury. Currently, potential protective effects of systemic NO2- in limiting lung injury or enhancing repair have not been documented. Objectives: To assess the efficacy and mechanisms by which post-exposure intra-peritoneal injections of NO2- mitigate Cl2 induced lung injury in rats. Methods: Rats were exposed to Cl2 (400 ppm) for 30 minutes and returned to room air. Nitrite (1mg/Kg) or saline were administered intraperitoneally at 10 min, 2, 4 and 6 hrs post exposure. Rats were sacrificed at 6 hrs or …

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The Role Of Map Kinase Cascade In Msp Signaling Response, Youfeng Yang Jan 2010

The Role Of Map Kinase Cascade In Msp Signaling Response, Youfeng Yang

All ETDs from UAB

The MSP domain is an evolutionarily conserved immunoglobulin-like structure of about 120 amino acids (Miller et al., 2001). A P56S missense mutation in the MSP domain of the human vapb gene is associated with a dominantly inherited form of Amyotropic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA) (Nishimura et al., 2004). In C. elegans, secreted MSP binds to the VAB-1 Eph receptor and other receptors on oocyte and ovarian sheath cell surfaces (Miller et al., 2003). We have recently shown that the P56S mutation prevents secretion of the VAPB MSP domain, suggesting that the signaling function is important in …

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Cardiovascular Endothelial Regeneration On An Electrospun Scaffold, Xing Zhang Jan 2010

Cardiovascular Endothelial Regeneration On An Electrospun Scaffold, Xing Zhang

All ETDs from UAB

A bi-layer electrospun nano-fibrous scaffold comprising synthetic polymers and natural proteins was constructed as the prototype of an arterial substitute for coronary ar-tery disease. This scaffold featured a highly porous microstructure analogous to native extracellular matrix. Uni-axial tensile test suggested that its excellent mechanical strength could restore normal blood flow immediately after implantation. Subsequent biocompati-bility study demonstrated that scaffolding materials, either traditional or degraded, were non-toxic to the regenerated human endothelium on the luminal layer. Moreover, this re-generated endothelium possessed critical functions, such as the formation of tight junc-tions, the secretion of prostacyclin, and the prevention of platelet adhesion. Thereafter, …

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Effect Of Overexpressing Apolipoprotein A-I In An Animal Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Terry L. Lewis Jan 2010

Effect Of Overexpressing Apolipoprotein A-I In An Animal Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Terry L. Lewis

All ETDs from UAB

Apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) is the major protein component of high density lipoprotein (HDL) in circulation and is expressed mainly by the liver and intestine. The levels of apoA-I/HDL are inversely related to the incidence of cardiovascular disease. Because of the connections between heart disease and Alzheimer's disease (AD), it is conceivable that high levels of apoA-I/HDL may be protective against AD. However, the limited literature shows mixed results on the role of apoA-I/HDL in the development of AD. It is hypothesized that increased expression of human apoA-I will ameliorate the behavioral deficits and characteristic amyloid-ß (Aß) plaque formation in a …

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Protective Antibodies To The Proline-Rich And Alpha Helical Regions Of Pneumococcal Surface Protein A And Their Detection In An In Vitro Surrogate Assay, Calvin Clay Daniels Jan 2010

Protective Antibodies To The Proline-Rich And Alpha Helical Regions Of Pneumococcal Surface Protein A And Their Detection In An In Vitro Surrogate Assay, Calvin Clay Daniels

All ETDs from UAB

Current pneumococcal vaccines containing pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide antigens protect against infection by pneumococci. However, this protection is limited to strains expressing the capsule types included in the vaccine. Since the introduction of these vaccines, the increase in incidence of infection by serotypes not targeted by the vaccine, a process called "serotype replacement," and the growing antibiotic resistance of replacement strains both stress the need for vaccines with broader protection. The alpha-helical region of a protein present on all clinical isolates of pneumococci, Pneumococcal Surface Protein A (PspA), elicits protective immunity. Downstream of the alpha-helical region is a highly conserved region …

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Characterization Of Explanted Endovascular Stents: A Study Of In-Vivo Corrosion And The Role Of Vascular Calcification In Stent Fracture, Dina Halwani Jan 2010

Characterization Of Explanted Endovascular Stents: A Study Of In-Vivo Corrosion And The Role Of Vascular Calcification In Stent Fracture, Dina Halwani

All ETDs from UAB

The electrochemical and mechanical stability of endovascular stents in-vivo is essential for their biocompatibility. Limited information is available regarding the condition of stents following interaction with vascular tissue, as a result, twenty seven stented vessels containing 45 stents (33 bare metal and 12 drug eluting) were retrieved during autopsy and vascular surgery. The stent/tissue components were carefully separated using a rigorous tissue dissolution protocol. Stent surfaces were characterized using 3D digital optical and scanning electron microscopy. Transferred metallic elements in dissolved tissue were measured using mass spectroscopy. Histopathologic assessment of stented tissue, when available, was also performed. Fifteen out of …

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Exploration Of The Crosslinks Between Saccadic And Vergence Eye Movement Pathways Using Motor And Visual Perturbations, Kevin Paul Schultz Jan 2010

Exploration Of The Crosslinks Between Saccadic And Vergence Eye Movement Pathways Using Motor And Visual Perturbations, Kevin Paul Schultz

All ETDs from UAB

ANCOVA models to be non-orthogonal, we get similar results to the ANCOVA with

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Poxvirus Evolution: The Role Of Horizontal Gene Transfer, Mary Rebecca Odom Jan 2010

Poxvirus Evolution: The Role Of Horizontal Gene Transfer, Mary Rebecca Odom

All ETDs from UAB

We have investigated the set of all poxvirus proteins for information about the origins of protein coding genes of the Poxviridae family of viruses. A global assessment of all poxvirus proteins for levels of similarity to proteins of other organisms, including eukaryotes, viruses, and prokaryotes, has suggested trends and relationships informative about poxvirus evolution and poxvirus interactions with hosts. Our research has focused on the poxvirus proteins subset this assessment identified as likely to have evolutionary histories involving horizontal gene transfer (HGT). We have used phylogenetic reconstructions to individually determine the sources of more than 70 horizontally transferred genes present …

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Tragic Consequences Of Deadly Dilemmas: A Response To Allen And Laudan, D. Michael Risinger Jan 2010

Tragic Consequences Of Deadly Dilemmas: A Response To Allen And Laudan, D. Michael Risinger

Seton Hall Law Review

No abstract provided.

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Rodrigo's Reconsideration: Intersectionality And The Future Of Critical Race Theory, Richard Delgado Jan 2010

Rodrigo's Reconsideration: Intersectionality And The Future Of Critical Race Theory, Richard Delgado

Articles

No abstract provided.

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Art And Memory: An Examination Of The Learning Benefits Of Visual-Art Exposure, James Tyler Rosier Jan 2010

Art And Memory: An Examination Of The Learning Benefits Of Visual-Art Exposure, James Tyler Rosier

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Past research has indicated that art education can be beneficial to students' education, possibly through beneficial effects related to learning and memory. Although some prior research has explored effects of art education for children, relatively little research has investigated beneficial effects of art in relation to adult learners. The aim of the current study was to explore whether a beneficial relationship exists between art and memory for adults in the context of an experimental study. Participants were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: Engaging in creative art, viewing art, discriminating among visually presented shapes, and writing a description of …

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Immigration As Invasion: Sovereignty, Security, And The Origins Of The Federal Immigration Power, Matthew Lindsay Jan 2010

Immigration As Invasion: Sovereignty, Security, And The Origins Of The Federal Immigration Power, Matthew Lindsay

All Faculty Scholarship

This Article offers a new interpretation of the modern federal immigration power. At the end of the nineteenth century, the Supreme Court and Congress fundamentally transformed the federal government’s authority to regulate immigration, from a species of commercial regulation firmly grounded in Congress’ commerce authority, into a power that was unmoored from the Constitution, derived from the nation’s “inherent sovereignty,” and subject to extraordinary judicial deference. This framework, which is commonly referred to as the “plenary power doctrine,” has stood for more than a century as an anomaly within American public law. The principal legal and rhetorical rationale for the …

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An Examination Of The Association Of Selected Toxic Metals With Total And Central Obesity Indices: Nhanes 99-02, Miguel A. Padilla, Mai Elobeid, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison Jan 2010

An Examination Of The Association Of Selected Toxic Metals With Total And Central Obesity Indices: Nhanes 99-02, Miguel A. Padilla, Mai Elobeid, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

It is conceivable that toxic metals contribute to obesity by influencing various aspects of metabolism, such as by substituting for essential micronutrients and vital metals, or by inducing oxidative stress. Deficiency of the essential metal zinc decreases adiposity in humans and rodent models, whereas deficiencies of chromium, copper, iron, and magnesium increases adiposity. This study utilized the NHANES 99-02 data to explore the association between waist circumference and body mass index with the body burdens of selected toxic metals (barium, cadmium, cobalt, cesium, molybdenum, lead, antimony, thallium, and tungsten). Some of the associations were significant direct relationships (barium and thallium), …

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Endocrine Disruptors And Obesity: An Examination Of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Nhanes 1999-2002 Data, Mai A. Elobeid, Miguel A. Padilla, David W. Brock, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison Jan 2010

Endocrine Disruptors And Obesity: An Examination Of Selected Persistent Organic Pollutants In The Nhanes 1999-2002 Data, Mai A. Elobeid, Miguel A. Padilla, David W. Brock, Douglas M. Ruden, David B. Allison

Psychology Faculty Publications

Recent evidence suggests that endocrine disrupting chemicals (EDCs) may cause perturbations in endogenous hormonal regulation that predispose to weight gain. Using data from NHANES (1999-2002), we investigated the association between body mass index (BMI), waist circumference (WC) and selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) via multiple linear regressions. Consistent interaction was found between gender, ln oxychlordane and ln p,p' DDT. Also, we found an association between WC and ln oxychlordane and ln hpcdd in subjects with detectable levels of POPs, whereas an association between WC and ln p,p' DDT was observed in all subjects. Furthermore, ln Ocdd showed an increase with …

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The Harmony Way: Integrating Indigenous Values Within Native North American Theology And Mission, Randy Stephen Woodley Jan 2010

The Harmony Way: Integrating Indigenous Values Within Native North American Theology And Mission, Randy Stephen Woodley

ATS Dissertations

No abstract provided.

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Effect Of Pineapple (Ananas Comosus L. Merrill) And Papaya (Carica Papaya L.) Fruit Extracts On Sericin Removal From Silk Moths Cocoons In Kenya, Pauline Wairimu Wainaina Jan 2010

Effect Of Pineapple (Ananas Comosus L. Merrill) And Papaya (Carica Papaya L.) Fruit Extracts On Sericin Removal From Silk Moths Cocoons In Kenya, Pauline Wairimu Wainaina

All Master’s Theses

Sericulture (Silk farming) is the rearing of silk moths for the production of raw silk. Silk farming originated from China where it was secretly practiced for many years before spreading to other parts of the world. Silk moths are grouped into mulberry silk moths (domesticated) and wild silk moths. Silk moth cocoon has a double filament made of insoluble protein known as fibroin which is embedded in a water soluble protein called sericin. Prior to processing cocoons, are boiled in strong alkali so as to dissolve the sericin a process called degumming. Proteinases enzymes such as papain from papaya (Carica …

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Morphormetrics And Dna Barcoding For The Identification Of Wild Silk Moths From Selected Sites In Kenya, Peter Kuria Kamau Jan 2010

Morphormetrics And Dna Barcoding For The Identification Of Wild Silk Moths From Selected Sites In Kenya, Peter Kuria Kamau

All Master’s Theses

Wild silk moth farming is a unique eco-friendly agro-practice with the potential of raising people's standards of living. However, the species identity is poorly understood in East Africa. This undermines efforts in conservation practices. Accurate identification is important in understanding the biology and ecology of the different species. Cocoons of wild silk moths were collected from Eastern and Rift valley provinces in Kenya. The samples included Gonometa species, Epiphora bauhiniae, and Argema besanti. Morphometric studies of the Kenyan wild silk moth species were performed based on three morphometric characters, which included forewing length, forewing width and body length measurements. Voucher …

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Can Islamizing A Legal System Ever Help Promote Liberal Democracy: A View From Pakistan, Clark B. Lombardi Jan 2010

Can Islamizing A Legal System Ever Help Promote Liberal Democracy: A View From Pakistan, Clark B. Lombardi

Articles

Over the past twenty-five years, academics in Europe and the United States have written a great deal about the relationship between Islam and democracy, and between Islam and human rights. This scholarship often fails to acknowledge or take into account similar debates that occurred earlier during a period of decolonization. This article discusses the work of a Christian judge who served on the Supreme Court of Pakistan. This judge, A.R. Cornelius, was a famous Cambridge-educated legal liberal who courageously tried in the 1950s and 60s to protect human rights as Pakistan came under martial rule. Cornelius came to argue shockingly …

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What Scribner Wrought: How The Invention Of Modern Dialysis Shaped Health Law And Policy, Sallie Thieme Sanford [email protected] Jan 2010

What Scribner Wrought: How The Invention Of Modern Dialysis Shaped Health Law And Policy, Sallie Thieme Sanford [email protected]

Articles

In March 1960, Clyde Shields, a machinist dying from incurable kidney disease, was connected to an "artificial kidney" by means of a U-shaped Teflon tube that came to be known as the Scribner shunt. By facilitating long-term dialysis, Dr. Belding Scriber’s invention changed chronic kidney failure from a fatal illness to a treatable condition. This medical advance has, in turn, had a profound impact on key areas of health law and policy. This paper focuses on the historical roots and current context of three interrelated areas: ethical allocation of scarce medical resources; public financing of expensive health care; and decisions …

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Dynamic Federalism And Patent Law Reform, Xuan-Thao Nguyen Jan 2010

Dynamic Federalism And Patent Law Reform, Xuan-Thao Nguyen

Articles

Patent law is federal law, and the normative approach to patent reform has been top down, looking to Congress and the Supreme Court for changes to the broken and complex patent system. The normative approach thus far has not yielded satisfactory results. This Article challenges the static approach to patent reform and embraces the dynamic-federalism approach that patent reform can be an overlapping of both national and local efforts. Patent reform at the local level is essential as locales can serve as laboratories for changes, vertically compete with national government to reform certain areas of the patent system, and become …

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