Digital Commons Network^™

Therapeutic Gene Delivery To Human Pancreatic Islets For Treatment Of Diabetes And The Effect Of Tfo On Liver Fibrosis Induced By Bile Duct Ligation, Ravikiran Panakanti

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Ex vivo gene transfer can improve the outcome of islet transplantation for treating Type I diabetes. Earlier we have shown co‑expression of human vascular endothelial growth factor (hVEGF) and human interleukin‑1 receptor antagonist (hI‑1Ra) after transfection of plasmid DNA encoding these two genes. Due to poor transfection efficiency of plasmid DNA and the better known islet transduction efficiency of adenoviral (Adv) vectors, in this study, we constructed Adv‑hVEGF‑hIL‑1Ra by cloning hVEGF and hIL‑1Ra coding sequences and polyA signal under separate cytomegalovirus (CMV) promoters in Adenoquick plasmid (Ad 13.1). There was dose and time dependent expression of these genes after transduction …

The Role Of Pkd1 In Mouse Inner Ear Hair Cells, Katherine Ann Steigelman

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The polycystic kidney disease-1 (Pkd1) gene encodes a large transmembrane protein (polycystin-1 or PC-1) that is reported to function as a fluid flow-sensor in the kidney. As a member of the transient receptor potential (TRP) family, PC-1 has also been hypothesized to play a role in the elusive mechanoelectrical transduction (MET) channel in inner ear hair cells based on PC-1 role of fluid flow sensing and calcium uptake into renal epithelial cells. However, two independent mouse lines with PC-1 mutations exhibit normal MET channel function despite hearing loss and ultra-structural abnormalities of stereocilia that remain properly polarized at …

Development And Evaluation Of Therapeutics In The Setting Of Radiation Injury, Karin Emmons Thompson

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The possibility of an incident involving radiation exposure is at the forefront of public attention in the current global environment. With a greater number of entities possessing nuclear weapons and increased demand for nuclear power, the concern for uncontained exposure to radiation is increasing. In light of these developments, the need for treatments that may be easily stored and administered to large numbers of people who have been exposed to high doses of total body irradiation (TBI) is more urgent than ever before.

Our goal was to identify and develop novel, drug-like small molecules that would exhibit radiomitigating activity for …

Cd151 Reinforces Vascular Stability By Balancing Endothelial Cell Adhesion And Cytoskeletal Tension, Feng Zhang

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

Tetraspanin CD151 is highly expressed in endothelial cells and regulates pathological angiogenesis. However, the mechanism by which CD151 promotes vascular morphogenesis and whether CD151 engages other vascular functions are unclear. We observed that CD151 is required for the maintenance of endothelial capillary-like structures formed in vitro and the integrity of lung endothelial cell-cell contacts in vivo. As a master regulator of endothelial cell-matrix and cell-cell adhesions, CD151 is needed for the optimal functions of various cell adhesion proteins such as integrin, cadherin, and CD44. The loss of CD151 elevates the cellular intrinsic contraction by upregulating RhoA signaling and downregulating of …

Design Of Lipid And Polymeric Carriers For Nucleic Acid Delivery, Lin Zhu

Theses and Dissertations (ETD)

The objectives of the study were to investigate and develop lipid and polymeric carriers for nucleic acid delivery. These included: i) to develop novel cationic lipids for plasmid, oligonucleotide, and siRNA delivery; ii) to develop a novel polymeric delivery system, polyethylene glycol (PEG) based bio–conjugate, for oligonucleotide delivery; iii) to develop a novel bio–conjugate delivery system for siRNA delivery.

In Chapter 2, we discussed the barriers and strategies of nucleic acid delivery, as well as summarized the commonly used lipids, polymers, and the corresponding carriers in terms of their characteristics, applications, advantages and limitations.

Cationic lipids are most commonly used …

Enacting An Assets Pedagogy To Develop Youth Assets: Teaching K-12 Urban Youth In An After-School Visual Arts Program Using Participatory Action Research, Maureen Mccarthy

Art Education Theses

Abstract

After my first years of teaching art within a school that perpetuated a deficit paradigm, I was one of two graduate students who taught with two professors in an alternative site at a community center with urban youth from ages 7-17 years. We enacted an assets model that sought to strengthen learners' artistic thinking. Using qualitative participatory action research, I began a study of the teaching practices of Ruth, one of the art educators, to find what happens when an assets model that strengthens learner's artistic thinking is infused into the goals of an after-school visual arts program. I …

Social Support And Family Criticism: Potential Moderators Of The Relationship Between Functional Impairment, Illness Burden, And Depression., Joshua Paul Hatfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Social support and family criticism variables were examined as potential moderators of the association between illness burden and depression and between functional impairment and depression in a secondary data analysis. Participants (n=735) were older adults aged 65 and older from internal medicine and family medicine primary care offices. It was hypothesized that both illness burden and functional impairment would be associated with increased depressive symptoms and a diagnosis of depression. In addition, it was hypothesized that higher levels of social support and lower levels of family criticism would moderate this relationship. Both linear and logistic multivariate hierarchical regression analyses were …

Targeted Insertion Of Cysteine By Decoding Uga Codons With Mammalian Selenocysteine Machinery, Xue-Ming Xu, Anton A. Turanov, Bradley A. Carlson, Min-Hyuk Yoo, Robert A. Everley, Renu Nandakumar, Irina Sorokina, Steven P. Gygi, Vadim N. Gladyshev, Dolph L. Hatfield

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

Cysteine (Cys) is inserted into proteins in response to UGC and UGU codons. Herein, we show that supplementation of mammalian cells with thiophosphate led to targeted insertion of Cys at the UGA codon of thioredoxin reductase 1 (TR1). This Cys was synthesized by selenocysteine (Sec) synthase on tRNA^[Ser]Sec and its insertion was dependent on the Sec insertion sequence element in the 3′ UTR of TR1 mRNA. The substrate for this reaction, thiophosphate, was synthesized by selenophosphate synthetase 2 from ATP and sulfide and reacted with phosphoseryl-tRNA^[Ser]Sec to generate Cys-tRNA^[Ser]Sec. Cys was inserted in vivo at UGA …

Tuning Of Pid Controller Based On Foraging Strategy For Pneumatic Position Control System, Amjad J.

Iraqi Journal of Computers, Communications, Control and Systems Engineering

Pneumatic servo system has been applied in many industry fields. The system has many advantages, such as high speed, high flexibility and low price. However, the application of the system is restricted because the physical parameters have strong nonlinearity, inaccuracy and uncertainty, so that it is very difficult to find an optimal controller by means of traditional control theory. Proportional integral derivative (PID) control is one of the earlier control strategies; it has a simple control structure and can be easily tuned. Optimization of PID controller parameters is one of the recent control solutions; especially when the system is of …

Concurrent Sexual And Substance-Use Risk Behaviours Among Female Sex Workers In Kenya's Coast Province: Findings From A Behavioural Monitoring Survey, Simon Pierre Tegang, S. Abdallah, G. Emukule, Stanley Luchters, Nzioka Kingola, M. Barasa, Stephen Mucheke, P. Mwarogo

Population Health, East Africa

While many studies confirm the association between HIV, alcohol and injecting drug use by female sex workers (FSWs), little is known about their use of marijuana, khat and other substances and the association of these substances with HIV, risky sexual behaviour, and sexual violence. To better understand this association, data were analysed from a cross-sectional, behavioural survey of 297 FSWs in Mombasa, a well-known tourist destination and the second largest port in Africa and capital city of the Coast Province in Kenya. Among the FSWs, lifetime use of different substances was reported by 91% for alcohol, 71% for khat, 34% …

Neamine Inhibits Cell Proliferation, Migration, And Invasion In H7402 Human Hepatoma Cells, Jia Zhao, Yi-Cun Wang, Lin-Yan Yang, De-Hai Yu, Peng-Tao Pan, Li Wang

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To explore the effect of neamine on cell proliferation, migration, and invasion in H7402 human hepatoma cells. METHODS: This study was conducted at the Institute of Genetics and Cytology, School of Life Science, Northeast Normal University, Changchun, China between October 2008 and February 2010. First, we employed the MTT (thiazol blue tetrazolium bromide) and soft agar assay to detect the effect of neamine on cell proliferation, and investigated the migration and invasion by using a transwell assay in H7402 cells. We, then, investigated nuclear translocation of angiogenin by immunofluorescence staining. Finally, we stable transfected H7402 cells with the plasmids …

Use Of Fibrin Glue In The Management Of Recurrent Pterygium By Conjunctival Autograft, Virendra K. Malik, Sandeep Kumar

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate whether use of fibrin glue instead of sutures for the treatment of recurrent pterygium with conjunctival auto-graft (CAG) further decreases its recurrence. METHODS: A prospective, clinical open trial of 50 eyes of 50 patients with recurrent pterygium, who were randomly assigned to either, pterygium excision and CAG with fibrin glue (Group 1) or with 6 interrupted sutures (Group 2), was carried out from January 2009 to July 2010 at the outpatient department of Subharti Medical College, Meerut, North India. Both groups had 25 patients each. The groups were compared with regards to the surgical time taken, development …

The Relationship Among Human Papilloma Virus Infection, Survivin, And P53 Gene In Lung Squamous Carcinoma Tissue, Yue-Hua Wang, De-Jie Chen, Tie-Nan Yi, Xiao-Hong Liu

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVE: To study the relationship between the infection of human papillomavirus (HPV) type 16, type 18, the expression of survivin, and the mutation of p53 gene in lung squamous carcinoma tissue for the research of pathogenesis of lung carcinoma. METHODS: This study was carried out at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, Xiangfan Central Hospital of Hubei Province, China from September 2008 to May 2010. Forty-five specimens of lung squamous carcinoma tissue confirmed by histopathology were the excisional specimens taken by the Thoracic Surgery of Xiangfan Central Hospital. Normal tissue, closely adjacent to the fresh carcinoma specimens, was used as the …

A Concise Synthesis Of Β-Sitosterol And Other Phytosterols, Jiliang Hang, Patrick Dussault

Patrick Dussault Publications

A convenient synthesis of sidechain-modified phytosterols is achieved via a temporary masking of the stigmasterol 5,6-alkene as an epoxide. Following performance of the desired modification, the alkene is regenerated through a mild deoxygenation. The approach is applied to the syntheses of β-sitosterol and campesterol acetate, and suggests a facile route to the (Z)-isomers of Δ^22–23 phytosterols.

Includes Supplementary Data.

以迷你臨床演練評量評估牙醫系實習醫師之一般醫學臨床能力, 盈盈 楊, 發耀 李, 會祺 徐, 延壽 高, 政宏 戴, 浩民 鄭, 文興 李, 喬琳 莊, 景智 張, 震寰 陳

Journal of Medical Education

背景及目的：為能培養出利用全人醫療概念來提供全民口腔醫療照顧的牙醫師，牙醫學系實習醫師會固定至內、外科實習，此訓練應算是醫學院醫、牙整合課程之一大延伸。本研究目的為，評估牙醫學系實習醫師在內、外科訓練成果。方法：台北榮民總醫院一般醫學內科訓練示範中心自2008年起，固定為國立陽明大學牙醫實習醫師做迷你臨床演練(mini-clinical evaluation exercise, mini-CEX)評量。針對評量結果，分析台北榮總施行牙醫實習醫師的mini-CEX早期成效。結果：自2008年1月至2010年7月間，本中心共進行196名牙醫實習醫師之mini-CEX評量。本研究發現此mini-CEX之內部一致信度在0.79到0.86間，且三年來mini-CEX評量之信度有愈來愈來好的趨勢。另外，本研究也發現隨著在內、外科受訓時問之加長，牙醫實習醫師的mini-CEX之加總平均分數有越來越高之趨勢(p value for trend 0.04)，且mini-CEX表現進步之幅度以醫療面談及人道專業兩項目最顯著。另外本研究也發現，女性牙醫實習醫師在身體檢查及人道專業之表現，優於男性牙醫實習醫師。相反的，在組織效能方面，男性牙醫實習醫師之表現，優於女性牙醫實習醫師。最後，本研究也發現未到本中心受訓前就曾接受mini-CEX評量之學員，其在本中心之mini-CEX表現則優於其他從未接受過mini-CEX評量之牙醫實習醫師。結論：研究結果顯示，將來要積極規劃牙醫實習醫師，在每一內、外次專科實習期間皆安排mini-CEX的評量，累積多次觀察，可提供更可靠mini-CEX評量表現的結果。另外，評估mini-CEX應平均安排於各內、外次專科實習期間，以便能讓臨床教師及牙醫實習醫師有充裕的時問改進教與學的方法。

The Usu Tree Inventory Website: A Case Study Of An Interactive Online Woody Plant Education Resource, Benjamin W. Harris

All Graduate Plan B and other Reports, Spring 1920 to Spring 2023

The USU tree inventory website is an interactive, online tree education resource that I developed to allow students and community members to locate, identify and learn about trees on the USU campus. Students in two USU courses that teach woody plant material used the website during one semester and were surveyed about their experience. Less than half of the students accessed the website, but those that did found it useful as a supplement to traditional instruction. Most students were likely to recommend the website to another person and to use the website in the future.

Acetate Causes Alcohol Hangover Headache In Rats., Christina R Maxwell, Rebecca Jay Spangenberg, Jan B Hoek, Stephen D Silberstein, Michael L Oshinsky

Department of Neurology Faculty Papers

BACKGROUND: The mechanism of veisalgia cephalgia or hangover headache is unknown. Despite a lack of mechanistic studies, there are a number of theories positing congeners, dehydration, or the ethanol metabolite acetaldehyde as causes of hangover headache.

METHODS: We used a chronic headache model to examine how pure ethanol produces increased sensitivity for nociceptive behaviors in normally hydrated rats.

RESULTS: Ethanol initially decreased sensitivity to mechanical stimuli on the face (analgesia), followed 4 to 6 hours later by inflammatory pain. Inhibiting alcohol dehydrogenase extended the analgesia whereas inhibiting aldehyde dehydrogenase decreased analgesia. Neither treatment had nociceptive effects. Direct administration of acetate …

The Essential Structure Of Compulsive Buying: A Phenomenological Inquiry, Letty Workman

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

While many jokes and sales of specialty merchandise have been made that make light of consumers who frequently shop and buy (e.g., "When the going gets tough, the tough go shopping," or "I am a shopaholic"), for 18 million Americans suffering from compulsive buying, the process of shopping and buying has caused their lives to literally go out of control. The outcomes of this disease for individuals, families, and business are all negative. In a marketing era of social responsibility, if marketers either knowingly or unknowingly encourage increased consumption among compulsive buyers, potential negative outcomes stand to impact others well …

The Status Of Dwarfed Populations Of Short-Horned Lizards (Phrynosoma Hernandesi) And Great Plains Toads (Anaxyrus Cognatus) In The San Luis Valley, Colorado, Megan E. Lahti

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The San Luis Valley is a large valley formation in Colorado surrounded on either side by mountain ranges exceeding 4,267 m. Within the Valley, two of the 14 amphibian and reptile species are dwarfed: the short-horned lizard (Phrynosoma hernandesi) and the Great Plains toad (Anaxyrus cognatus). Since its initial reporting in 1968 and confirmation in 1981, no research further investigating this dwarfism has been conducted. I collected morphological measurements to determine the extent and patterns of dwarfism of both species. I then investigated the genetics of both species using mitochondrial DNA to determine whether they are …

Retrieval Of Aerosol Mass Concentration From Elastic Lidar Data, Christian C. Marchant

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Agricultural aerosol sources can contribute significantly to air pollution in many regions of the country. Characterization of the aerosol emissions of agricultural operations is required to establish a scientific basis for crafting regulations concerning agricultural aerosols. A new lidar instrument for measuring aerosol emissions is described, as well as two new algorithms for converting lidar measurements into aerosol concentration data. The average daily aerosol emission rate is estimated from a dairy using lidar.

The Aglite Lidar is a portable scanning lidar for mapping the concentration of particulate matter from agricultural and other sources. The instrument is described and performance and …

Recreation Resource Impacts In The Bear Lake Road Corridor Of Rocky Mountain National Park, Colorado, Usa: An Assessment Of Resource Conditions And Visitor Perceptions, Ashley L. D'Antonio

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Visitor use in parks and protected areas inevitably leads to resource impacts. In order to effectively manage for resource impacts, it is important for managers to not only understand ecological aspects of their system but sociological aspects as well. The two papers presented in this thesis used integrated approaches to better understand the current level of resource impacts within the Bear Lake Road Corridor of Rocky Mountain National Park and to explore visitor perceptions of these impacts. The first paper used traditional monitoring and assessment techniques, as well as recently developed methodologies, to determine the current level of resource impacts …

Maporal Hantavirus Β-Integrin Utilization And Sensitivity To Favipiravir, Kristin K. Buys

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Hantaviruses are members of the Bunyaviridae family of viruses. Pathogenic hantaviruses are the etiologic agents of hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome (HFRS), a disease principally endemic in the Old World, and hantavirus pulmonary syndrome (HPS), a disease primarily restricted to the Americas. Maporal virus (MPRLV), a recently isolated hantavirus, has been found to cause disease in hamsters that resembles HPS in humans. However, the virus has not been linked to human cases of HPS. Considerable evidence suggests that β-integrin usage mediating infection may serve to distinguish hantaviruses pathogenic to humans from nonpathogenic, but this receptor usage pattern information is not …

Effect Of Mica Content On Surface Infiltration Of Soils In Northwestern Kern County, California, Steven Keyes Stakland

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

A soils infiltration rate (IR) is the measured rate that soil is able to absorb water, either from precipitation or irrigation. A low IR can cause damage to crops if the necessary amount of water cannot penetrate to the plant roots in the time needed. The damage can be common in permanent plantings such as almond and pistachio orchards where regular tillage is avoided. This indicates a physical aspect to the problem because tillage increases IR. However, there is also an electrochemical side to infiltration problems because certain calcium surfactant treatments can increase IR. Various other methods have been used …

Therapist-Initiated Addiction Assessment Procedures Of Marriage And Family Therapists In The Southwest United States, Emire Olmeztoprak

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The purpose of this study was to examine the addiction assessment procedures of marriage and family therapists. Addiction prevalence rates are growing therefore it is likely that marriage and family therapists will have clients affected by addiction. Undetected addictions can impede treatment and/or prevent the therapist from making appropriate treatment related decisions. Marriage and family therapists in Nevada, Arizona, and New Mexico were invited to complete a web-based survey containing a series of questions about their assessment procedures for addiction as well as a series of demographics questions. The data from the completed surveys was collected and analyzed. The data …

Testing The Neutralizing Effects Of Nonverbal Teacher Immediacy Cues On Offensive Teacher Misbehaviors In Higher Education Classrooms, Claudia Esther Martinez

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of nonverbal teacher immediacy cues can neutralize the negative impact that offensive teacher misbehaviors have on student perceptions of teacher credibility, affective learning, and motivation. The sample included a total of 140 participants enrolled in various undergraduate communication and theater courses from a southwestern university. Three one-way ANOVA tests were conducted to test the three hypotheses which proposed that nonverbal teacher immediacy cues may neutralize the negative impact that offensive teacher misbehaviors have on students’ perception of teacher credibility, affective learning, and motivation. Ultimately, findings revealed that teacher immediacy …

Resilience In Family Members Of Persons With Serious Mental Illness, Jaclene Zauszniewski, Abir K. Bekhet, M. Jane Suresky

College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications

This integrative review summarizes current research on resilience in adult family members who have a relative with a diagnosed mental disorder that is considered serious. Within the context of resilience theory, studies identifying risk/vulnerability and positive/protective factors in family members are summarized, and studies examining seven indicators of resilience, including acceptance, hardiness, hope, mastery, self-efficacy, sense of coherence, and resourcefulness, are described. Implications for clinical practice and recommendations for future research are presented.

Analysis Of Nitrogen Loading Reductions For Wastewater Treatment Facilities And Non-Point Sources In The Great Bay Estuary Watershed, Philip Trowbridge, Thomas S. Burack, Michael J. Walls, Harry T. Stewart

PREP Reports & Publications

In 2009, the New Hampshire Department of Environmental Services (DES) published a proposal for numeric nutrient criteria for the Great Bay Estuary. The report found that total nitrogen concentrations in most of the estuary needed to be less than 0.3 mg N/L to prevent loss of eelgrass habitat and less than 0.45 mg N/L to prevent occurrences of low dissolved oxygen. Based on these criteria and an analysis of a compilation of data from at least seven different sources, DES concluded that 11 of the 18 subestuaries in the Great Bay Estuary were impaired for nitrogen. Under the Clean Water …

Long-Term Effects Of Timber Management On Forest Breeding Songbirds In The Central Appalachians, Douglas Becker

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

I conducted 50-m fixed radius point counts and monitored nests at the Wildlife and Ecosystem Research Forest (WERF) and Panther Run Tract in Randolph County, WV, from 2007--2009 and incorporated previous research using the same techniques from 1996--1998 and 2001--2003.;In chapter two, my objectives were to identify temporal abundance and nest success trends and identify landscape-scale disturbance thresholds for species and habitat guilds using a variety of harvests. Early successional species increased in relative abundance, while interior-edge and forest-interior guilds peaked in relative abundance mid-study, after which the forest-interior guild declined. Of 44 analyzed species, 9% declined, 36% increased, and …

A Comprehensive Simulation Model For Floating Gate Transistors, Steven Joseph Rapp

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Floating-gate transistors have proven to be extremely useful devices in the development of analog systems; however, the inability to properly simulate these devices has held back their adoption. The objective of this work was to develop a complete simulation model for a floating-gate (FG) MOSFET using both standard SPICE primitives and also MOSFET models taken directly from foundry characterizations. This new simulation model will give analog designers the ability simulate all aspects of floating-gate device operation including transient, AC and DC characteristics. This work describes the development of this model and demonstrates its use in various applications.

Features Extraction Using Random Matrix Theory., Viktoria Borisovna Rojkova

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Representing the complex data in a concise and accurate way is a special stage in data mining methodology. Redundant and noisy data affects generalization power of any classification algorithm, undermines the results of any clustering algorithm and finally encumbers the monitoring of large dynamic systems. This work provides several efficient approaches to all aforementioned sides of the analysis. We established, that notable difference can be made, if the results from the theory of ensembles of random matrices are employed. Particularly important result of our study is a discovered family of methods based on projecting the data set on different subsets …