Digital Commons Network^™

Population Pharmacokinetics Of Therapeutic Monoclonal Antibodies: Examples And Estimation Method Performance Differences, Nathanael Le Dirks

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Over the past two decades, there has been an increase in the research and development and therapeutic application of monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). An application of pharmacokinetic (PK) and pharmacodynamic concepts that has likely contributed to the success of the pre-clinical and clinical drug development of therapeutic mAbs is population PK, which attempts to quantify the typical disposition characteristics and sources of PK variability (such as between-subject, within-subject, and inter-occasion variability) within study populations. Population PK also attempts to identify and quantify the impact of covariates on systemic drug exposure and assess their potential implications for clinical dosing. The general theme …

Determining The Relationship Of Human Enteric Viruses In Clinical, Wastewater, And Environmental Samples Utilizing Molecular And Cell Culture Techniques, Jacquelina Susann Williams Woods

Dissertations

This study was the first to examine five significant enteric viruses in human fecal material, sewage, and oysters to show a genetic relationship between human enteric viruses and different sample matrices. Fecal samples were collected from an area hospital and examined for norovirus genotype I (NoV GI), norovirus genotype II (NoV Gil), hepatitis A virus (HA V), adenovirus (ADV), and enteroviruses. During this study, sewage samples were collected from a Waster Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) in Mobile, ALand oyster sentinels were placed at 0.1 nautical miles (nm) (station 1 ), 0.2nm (station 2}, 1.5nm (station 3), and 4nm (station 4) …

Violence & Hiv/Aids: Violence Against Women And Girls As A Cause And Consequence Of Hiv/Aids, Shirley Kohsin Wang

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

Respecting Working Mothers With Infant Children: The Need For Increased Federal Intervention To Develop, Protect, And Support A Breastfeeding Culture In The United States, Heather M. Kolinsky

Duke Journal of Gender Law & Policy

No abstract provided.

An Analysis Of The Length Of Stay In Traumatic And Non-Traumatic Spinal Cord Injured Patients. A Rehabilitation Unit Experience In Saudi Arabia, Maher Al-Jadid, Asirvatham A. Robert

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To determine and analyze the influence of age, gender, type of injury, and ethnicity in the length of stay (LoS) of in-patient rehabilitation unit patients after traumatic spinal cord injury (TSCI) and non- traumatic spinal cord injury (NTSCI). METHODS: We conducted a retrospective study of all patients who completed the TSCI and NTSCI rehabilitation program at Sultan Bin Abdulaziz Humanitarian City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia from January 2005 to October 2008. Admission records of 495 traumatic spinal cord injured (male 404, female 91; mean age 34.3–0.68 years) and 126 non-traumatic spinal cord injured patients (male 81, female 45; mean age …

United States Food Law Update: Initial Food Safety Restructuring Efforts, Poultry Production Contract Reforms And Genetically Engineered Rice Litigation, A. Bryan Endres, Michaela N. Tarr

Journal of Food Law & Policy

This edition of the food law update will address recent events that may serve as bellwether signs that significant, long sought changes to the food and agricultural production system may be on the horizon. The first section of the update focuses on several general food safety initiatives. These efforts may, in the near term, coalesce into comprehensive food safety legislation. The second section analyzes two food safety actions relating to specific product categories: oysters and eggs. Section three provides a brief overview of poultry production contracts that may signal a broader restructuring of the legal relationships between farmers and the …

Infections And Inequalities: A Cultural Perspective On Theeconomic, Political, And Social Influences That Govern Medical Care In Haiti, Herby Jeanty

Honors College Theses

Medicine is a pivotal aspect in life for any individual. It provides a guideline for an individual well-being, along with nurturing and caring responsibilities he or she has towards another. However, statistics have shown that millions of men, women, and children around the world lack access to basic medical necessities. This paper will focus on diseases, such as tuberculosis that can be easily contained and cured often run rampant amongst families and neighbors living in the slums in Haiti. It will also explain the economic discrepancies, political imbalance, and social issues that govern health care in developing countries such as …

Improving Sexual Health, P.U.L.S.E., And E.R.O.S. At California Polytechnic State University, San Luis Obispo, Megan (Meg) Rust

Psychology and Child Development

This project is designed to update and refine EROS educators’ knowledge of sexual health and to gain insight into Cal Poly students’ general knowledge of sexual health.  Educators are given extensive training during the entire quarter before they begin their positions, but information is constantly changing. This project intends to initiate up to date informational tools that can be revised as new psychological or medical discoveries are made in the realm of sexuality and sexual health.

Hurricane Katrina And The Haitian Earthquake: Appeals For Social Responsibility In Governmental Emergency Management, Shawn Lin

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

Preeclampsia, Autoimmunity And The At1 Receptor, Roxanna A. Irani

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Preeclampsia (PE) is a disease of late pregnancy characterized by maternal hypertension and proteinuria. It is associated with preterm delivery and significant perinatal morbidity and mortality. Despite affecting ~7% of first pregnancies, there is no effective screening method to identify women at risk, nor is there a definitive treatment other than delivery of the baby and placenta. Though the pathogenesis of PE remains unclear, an imbalance in the renin-angiotensin and immune systems are thought to be major contributors. Bridging these two concepts, it has recently been shown that women with PE harbor specific autoantibodies: the angiotensin II type 1 receptor …

The Role Of Map Kinases On The Functional Heterogeneity Of Human Cd8+ T Cell Maturation Subsets, Tae Kon Kim

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

While prior studies have focused on naïve (CD45RA+CD27+) and early stage memory (CD45RA-CD27+) CD8+ T cells, late memory CD8+ T cells (CD45RA+CD27) have received less interest because this subset of T cells is generally recognized as effectors, which produce IFNγ (but no IL-2) and perforin. However, multiple studies suggest that late memory CD8+ T cells may provide inadequate protection in infectious diseases and cancer models.

To better understand the unique function of late memory CD8+ T cells, I optimized multi-color flow cytometry techniques to assess the cytokine production of each human CD8+ T cell maturation subset. I demonstrated that late …

Host-Pathogen Interactions Of Secreted And Surface Staphylococcus Aureus Factors, Vanessa Vazquez

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Staphylococcus aureus is an opportunistic bacterial pathogen that can infect humans and other species. It utilizes an arsenal of virulence factors to cause disease, including secreted and cell wall anchored factors. Secreted toxins attack host cells, and pore-forming toxins destroy target cells by causing cell lysis. S. aureus uses cell-surface adhesins to attach to host molecules thereby facilitating host colonization. The Microbial Surface Components Recognizing Adhesive Matrix Molecules (MSCRAMMs) are a family of cell-wall anchored proteins that target molecules like fibronectin and fibrinogen. The Serine-aspartate repeat (Sdr) proteins are a subset of staphylococcal MSCRAMMs that share similar domain organization. Interestingly, …

The Role Of Mucosal Epithelial Cells In Hiv-1 Infection, Danielle Fontenot

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The predominant route of human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1) transmission is infection across the vaginal mucosa. Epithelial cells, which form the primary barrier of protection against pathogens, are the first cell type at these mucosal tissues to encounter the virus but their role in HIV infection has not been clearly elucidated. Although mucosal epithelial cells express only low levels of the receptors required for successful HIV infection, productive infection does occur at these sites. The present work provides evidence to show that HIV exposure, without the need for productive infection, induces human cervical epithelial cells to produce Thymic Stromal …

Characterization And Optimization Of Antigen-Specific T Cell Responses During Ex Vivo Expansion Of Melanoma Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes, Yufeng Li

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Treatment of metastatic melanoma with tumor reactive T cells (adoptive T cell therapy, ACT) is a promising approach associated with a high clinical response rate. However, further optimization of this treatment modality is required to increase the clinical response after this therapy. ACT in melanoma involves an initial phase (pre-REP) of tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) expansion ex vivo from tumor isolates followed by a second phase, “rapid expansion protocol” (REP) generating the billions of cells used as the TIL infusion product. The main question addressed in this thesis was how the currently used REP affected the responsiveness of the CD8+ T …

Metastasis Suppression In Carcinoma And Melanoma Cells, Sherry Marie Baker

Undergraduate Honors Capstone Projects

No abstract provided.

Host Signaling Response To Adhesion Of Bifidobacterium Infantis, Reed N. Gann

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Investigations of the molecular binding partners of the probiotic bacterium Bifidobacterium longum subspecies infantis (B. infantis) and the pathogen Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium LT2 (Salmonella ser. Typhimurium) found that these two very different bacteria bind gangliosides. However, these organisms lead to completely different host health outcomes when present in the gut. B. infantis is the founding microbial population in the intestinal tract of breast-fed infants. S. typhimurium is the most important food-borne pathogen that results in humans. This study used an in vitro gut epithelial cell model to examine the host cellular response to adhesion …

Natural Caregiving Practices And Mothers' Decisions, Shannon L. Searle

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Mothers care for their infants in various ways, many similar and others more unique, and are influenced by a variety of factors. Influences such as doctors' advice, attending prenatal and child development classes, reading books and magazines, and learning from personal experience contribute to the caregiving decisions mothers make. A type of parenting that focuses on the responsiveness and sensitivity of the mother to the infant's needs is known as natural parenting. Natural parenting involves caregiving practices that are expected to co-occur, such as breastfeeding and frequently maintaining close physical contact with the infant. Two other practices that some mothers …

The Hypericum Perforatum Herb As An Antimycobacterial Agent And Its Implications As An Additional Tuberculosis Medication, Trent W. Mortensen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

An immediate demand exists for new tuberculosis (TB) antibiotics due to the ever-increasing spread of drug-resistant strains. The drug-development process goes through four phases, the first (Phase 0) of which is to demonstrate and investigate drug effectiveness and toxicity. This research investigated the effectiveness of the Hypericum perforatum herb (commonly St. John's wort (SJW)) in its growth inhibition of mycobacteria and its viability effect on human lung cells.

Organic-solvent SJW extracts were effective at inhibiting every nonpathogenic genetically sequenced Mycobacterium isolate currently available (six isolates) in preliminary studies. Quantitative studies of five Mycobacterium isolates showed an order of concentration sensitivity …

Ecology And Relationships Of Rhabdias Spp. (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae) From North American Amphibians And Reptiles, Gabriel J. Langford

School of Biological Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Lungworms of the cosmopolitan genus Rhabdias (Nematoda: Rhabdiasidae) are among the most common parasites of amphibians and squamate reptiles. The life cycles, life histories, host specificities, and evolutionary relationships of Rhabdias spp. were studied through examination of their free-living and parasitic stages in amphibians and reptiles. This study found free-living development of anuran lungworms was primarily limited to heterogonic reproduction, whereas snake lungworms primarily reproduced homogonically. Infective anuran lungworms penetrated the skin of frogs and toads; in contrast, snake lungworms penetrated snake esophageal tissue during per os infections. Our molecular phylogeny strongly supported separate clades for anuran and snake lungworms, …

Multihospital Outbreak Of Clostridium Difficile Infection, Cleveland, Ohio, Usa, Robin L.P. Jump, Ajay K. Sethi, Curtis J. Donskey

Faculty Scholarship

To determine whether a multihospital Clostridium difficile outbreak was associated with epidemic strains and whether use of particular fl uoroquinolones was associated with increased infection rates, we cultured feces from C. difficile-infected patients. Use of fl uoroquionolones with enhanced antianaerobic activity was not associated with increased infection rates.

Occurrence And Formation Of Disinfection By-Products In Indoor Swimming Pools Water, Amer Kanan

All Dissertations

Chlorination is used to prevent the spread of waterborne infectious diseases from swimming pools. This required disinfection practice also results in the formation of undesirable disinfection by-products (DBPs) from the reactions of chlorine with the organic matter (released by swimmers or present in the filling water of the pool) and bromide. Some of these DBPs have important adverse public health effects; as a result their concentrations in drinking waters are regulated. Unfortunately, DBPs formation and control in swimming pools have not been studied and investigated to the same extent as their formation and control in drinking water.
The main objective …

The Influence Of International Aid Allocations On Mortality In Sub-Saharan Africa, Chelsea Wilson Kellum

Theses and Dissertations

Does allocating large amounts of international aid specifically for fighting HIV/AIDS in Sub-Saharan Africa have an influence on mortality rates in this region? This paper explores the relationship between total Official Development Assistance and Official Development Assistance earmarked for HIV/AIDS with AIDS mortality and overall mortality within Sub-Saharan Africa between 2000 and 2006. There are no definitive findings from this study to conclude that the amount of any form of assistance aid has a positive or negative effect on mortality. The results suggest that focusing on establishing greater development and less government corruption would more effectively alleviate the high mortality …

Water Quality And Public Health Monitoring Of Surface Waters In The Kura-Araks River Basin Of Armenia, Azerbaijan, And Georgia, Amy Ewing

Water Resources Professional Project Reports

The Kura-Araks (sometimes spelled Aras) River Basin is an international river basin located in the South Caucasus with five separate countries contributing area to the watershed. These countries are Turkey, Iran, Armenia, Georgia, and Azerbaijan. Surface water from the Kura and Araks Rivers is used for a variety of uses, including municipal, agricultural, industrial, and mining, and the waste products from each of these uses are discharged back into the rivers. Many of the resulting contaminants pose significant risks to human health, including exposure to organic pollution derived from municipal use, organochlorine pesticides and high nitrate from agriculture, chemical contamination …

College Voice Vol. 34 No. 19, Connecticut College

2009-2010

No abstract provided.

The New Hampshire, Vol. 99 [100], No. 48 (April 27, 2010), The New Hampshire

The New Hampshire Print Edition

An independent student produced newspaper from the University of New Hampshire. This volume was printed as 99, but it is the 100th volume in the series. This was corrected in pencil.

Sr-09-10-(34) 80 Apc, Marshall University

Recommendations

No abstract provided.

Image Segmentation And Analysis For Automated Classification Of Traumatic Pelvic Injuries, Simina Vasilache

Theses and Dissertations

In the past decades, technical advances have allowed for the collection and storage of more types and larger quantities of medical data. The increase in the volume of existing medical data has increased the need for processing and analyzing such data. Medical data holds information that is invaluable for diagnostic as well as treatment planning purposes. Presently, a large portion of the data is not optimally used towards medical decisions because information contained in the data is inaccessible through simple human inspection, or traditional computational methods. In the field of trauma medicine, where caregivers are frequently confronted with situations where …

Characterization Of Adherence, Cytotoxicity And Biofilm Formation By Gardnerella Vaginalis, Jennifer Patterson

Theses and Dissertations

Worldwide, bacterial vaginosis (BV) is the most common vaginal disorder in women of childbearing age. BV is of major clinical importance due to its ability to significantly affect pregnancy outcome and enhance the transmission and acquisition of HIV. BV is characterized by a dramatic shift in the vaginal microflora; in most BV cases, the predominant bacterial species is Gardnerella vaginalis. It has been demonstrated that G. vaginalis forms an adherent biofilm on the vaginal epithelium of women with BV. Furthemore, evidence suggests that the high rate of recurrence associated with BV is related to incomplete eradication of the biofilm. The …

2010 Uab Expo, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

Expo Programs

Catalog of undergrauate student research poster presentations with abstracts.

Faith-Based Sexual Education: A Comparison Of Comprehensive And Abstinence-Only Programs, Leanna Fortunato

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to evaluate the effects of faith-based sexual education programs. Participants (ages 13-18, N = 128) were surveyed regarding their religious and sexual attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors prior to completing a sexual education program at their church, synagogue, or religious institution and again after completing the program. The sexual education programs were divided into three groups based on program content and duration: abstinence-only-short, comprehensive-short, and comprehensive-long. The first goal was to assess the within-group effects of attending an abstinence-only or comprehensive sexual education program. Participants from all three groups showed an increase in the degree to which they …