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Role Of Porcine Reproductive And Respiratory Syndrome Virus Non-Structural Protein 1 In Viral Replications And Pathogenesis, Lalit Kumar Beura

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) is an infectious agent of significant concern to the global swine industry. PRRSV infection of pigs is initiated by a long viremia after which the virus enters in an extended persistent phase of 3-4 months that ultimately is resolved by the immune system. The delayed and weak host adaptive response is responsible for the protracted convalescence period. An initial sub-optimal innate immune response is postulated to be the reason behind such meager adaptive immune response. A major focus of the studies undertaken in this dissertation was to identify the viral non-structural proteins (nsps) …

Redefining Security In Sub-Saharan Africa, Winta Sintayehu Gebremariam

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

New and challenging threats to humans are currently on the rise. These threats to human well being have been neglected and ignored within the traditional conception of security. Security studies have mainly focused on traditional threats, mostly military and political. Although still important, this perspective lacks the ability to address nontraditional threats that are killing and injuring millions each year. Each year, millions die of diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria, hunger, and water related diseases among others. Although these threats are widespread throughout the world, Sub-Saharan Africa bears the brunt of these threats. This thesis proposes an ecological approach …

Cultural Perspectives On The Interactions Between Nutrition, Health, And Psychological Functioning, Frances E. Aboud

Online Readings in Psychology and Culture

Food and nutrition occupy the daily thoughts of most people, particularly the 178 million children who are malnourished and have been since their first birthday. While malnutrition is directly and indirectly responsible for one-third of child deaths in developing countries, overweight has been declared the number one health problem in other countries. More food is therefore not necessarily better when talking about health. This reading presents information on the major nutrients important for health and psychological functioning, including energy, protein, vitamin A, zinc, iron, and iodine. It also discusses how cultures differ in their food preferences and their beliefs about …

Extracellular Atp Acts On P2y2 Purinergic Receptors To Facilitate Hiv-1 Infection, Claire Séror, Marie-Therese Melki, Frederic Subra, Syed Qasim Raza, Marlene Bras, Hela Saïdi, Roberta Nardacci, Laurent Voisin, Audrey Paoletti, Frederic Law, Isabelle Martins, Alessandra Amendola, Ali A. Abdul-Sater, Fabiola Ciccosanti, Olivier Delelis, Florence Niedergang, Sylvain Thierry, Najwane Said-Sadier, Christophe Lamaze, Didier Métivier, Jerome Estaquier, Gian Maria Fimia, Laura Falasca, Rita Casetti, Nazanine Modjtahedi, Jean M. Kanellopoulos, Jean-Francois Mouscadet, David M. Ojcius, Mauro Piacentini, Marie-Lise Gougeon, Guido Kroemer, Jean-Luc Perfetini

All Dugoni School of Dentistry Faculty Articles

Extracellular adenosine triphosphate (ATP) can activate purinergic receptors of the plasma membrane and modulate multiple cellular functions. We report that ATP is released from HIV-1 target cells through pannexin-1 channels upon interaction between the HIV-1 envelope protein and specific target cell receptors. Extracellular ATP then acts on purinergic receptors, including P2Y2, to activate proline-rich tyrosine kinase 2 (Pyk2) kinase and transient plasma membrane depolarization, which in turn stimulate fusion between Env-expressing membranes and membranes containing CD4 plus appropriate chemokine co-receptors. Inhibition of any of the constituents of this cascade (pannexin-1, ATP, P2Y2, and Pyk2) impairs the replication of HIV-1 mutant …

G (Alpha) 12 Is Required For Thromboxane A2 To Regulate Tumor Cell Motility, Babar Malik

Theses

Thromboxane (TX) A₂ is a prostaglandin produced by metabolism of arachidonic acid through cyclooxygenases and thromboxane synthase. TXA₂ is biologically active, mainly through activating its cognate, seven transmembrane, G protein coupled receptor. It was previously reported that thromboxane A₂ receptor (TP) was expressed in prostate cancer, and further activation of this receptor elicited cell contraction and modulated tumor cell motility through regulating small GTPase RhoA[1]. This study aims to identify G alpha protein(s) involved in thromboxane A₂ signaling in tumor cell motility. Methods: The expression of G alpha proteins in the PC3MM cells was studied by …

Contribution Of The Rv1985c Transcriptional Regulator To Mycobacterium Tuberculosis Intracellular Adaptation., Nicholas B. Wantland 1984-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes the often-fatal infectious disease Tuberculosis, and infects approximately one third of the world's population. Gaining a better understanding of how these bacteria regulate gene expression for intracellular survival will likely aid in developing ways to reduce disease. Studies of bacterial RNA expression in experimentally infected primary human macrophages indicated open reading frame Rv1985c, encoding a putative transcriptional regulator, may contribute to intracellular survival. Comparison of a strain constitutively expressing Rv1985c and the isogenic wildtype parent by array hybridization identified genes potentially regulated by Rv1985c. These included a group encoding factors likely relevant to cell wall remodeling, particularly …

Experimental Infection Of Jamaican Fruit Bats (Artibeus Jamaicensis) With Tacaribe Virus, Ann C. Hawkinson

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Glutaredoxin 2 Prevents H2o2-Induced Cell Apoptosis By Protecting Complex I Activity In The Mitochondria, Hongli Wu, Kuiyi Xing, Marjorie F. Lou

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

Glutaredoxin 2 (Grx2) belongs to the oxidoreductase family and is an isozyme of glutaredoxin 1 (Grx1) present in the mitochondria, however its function is not well understood. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the potential anti-apoptotic function of Grx2 by examining its ability to protect complex I in the mitochondrial electron transport system using human lens epithelial cells as a model. We found that cells treated with 200 μM hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) for 24 h exhibited decreased viability and became apoptotic with corresponding Bax up-regulation, Bcl-2 down-regulation, caspase 3 activation and mitochondrial cytochrome c leakage. Grx2 over-expression (OE) …

The Predictive Value Of Serum Mannan-Binding Lectin Levels For Diabetic Control And Renal Complications In Type 2 Diabetic Patients., Gamal Elawa, Ahmad M. Aoudallah, Ali E. Hasaneen, Amr M. El-Hammady

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the predictability of estimation of serum mannan-binding lectin (MBL) for the presence of infectious complications in type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) and its relation to the extent of diabetes control. METHODS: A comparative cross-sectional study was conducted at the Departments of Clinical Pathology and Internal Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Benha University, Benha, Egypt from October 2009 to December 2010. Sixty adult patients with T2DM were divided into 2 groups: Group B and Group C and Group A as the control group. All subjects evaluation of insulin sensitivity (Homeostasis Model Assessment of Insulin Resistance [HOMA-IR]), and blood samples …

Vaccination Against Pandemic Influenza A H1n1 Among Health Care Workers. Lessons For The Next Pandemic., Alpay Azap, Gülden Y. Bozkurt, Fehminaz Temel, Banu Çakir, Sebahat Tezcan

Saudi Medical Journal

No abstract provided.

The Use Of Remote Sensing For Mapping Possible Vectors Of West Nile Virus In Mississippi, Brian Matthew Moore

Master's Theses

There is renewed interest in disease surveillance due to the persistence of numerous vector-borne diseases. Though the life-history processes of disease vectors are known to dictate their distribution patterns, it has been hypothesized that vectors, such as local mosquito abundance, could be predicted from factors such as climate and land use/land cover. Remote sensing has been used as a supplement to traditional methods of mosquito surveillance and to map the spatial distribution of mosquito habitats. This, in turn, affords optimism for improved vector/disease management to identify the best use of remote sensing data and geo-statistical techniques to predict and map …

Development And Evaluation Of An On-Line Educational Module For Volunteer Leaders On Bio-Security In Washington State 4-H Livestock Projects, Jill L. Stevenson, Dale A. Moore, Jerry Newman, Janet L. Schmidt, Sarah M. Smith, Jean Smith, Susan Kerr, Michael Wallace, Pat Boyes

Journal of Extension

A module on disease prevention was created for 4-H volunteer leaders who work with livestock projects in Washington to better prepare them to teach youth about bio-security and its importance in 4-H livestock projects. Evaluation of the module and usage statistics since the module's debut were collected and evaluated. The module increases awareness of disease prevention and provides practical approaches to implementation of bio-security, but is underused by the target audience, possibly due to leaders' lack of computer access, time, or awareness of the module. Promotion of the module and incentives must be explored to increase module usage.

Determining The Roles Of Dendritic Cells And Icam-1 In The Transpresentation Of Il-15 To Cd8 T Cells, Spencer W. Stonier

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The maintenance and generation of memory CD8 T cells is dependent on the cytokine IL-15. IL-15 is delivered by a novel mechanism termed transpresentation: IL-15 is presented by a cell expressing IL-15Ralpha to the CD8 T cell which responds via IL-2Rbeta/gamma_c. The identity of what cells transpresent IL-15 to support the survival and homeostatic proliferation of memory CD8 T cells is unknown. Using a transgenic mouse model that limits IL-15 transpresentation to DCs, I have demonstrated that DCs transpresent IL-15 to CD8 T cells. DCs transpresent IL-15 to CD8 T cells during the contraction of an immune response …

Enforced Expression Of Tbx1 In Fetal Thymic Epithelial Cells Antagonizes Thymus Organogenesis, Kim T. Cardenas

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Enforced expression of Tbx1 in fetal thymic epithelial cells antagonizes

thymus organogenesis

Kim T. Cardenas

The thymus and parathyroid glands originate from organ-specific domains of 3rd pharyngeal pouch (PP) endoderm. At embryonic day 11.5 (E11.5), the ventral thymus and dorsal parathyroid domains can be identified by Foxn1 and Gcm2 expression respectively. Neural crest cells, (NCCs) play a role in regulating patterning of 3rd PP endoderm. In addition, pharyngeal endoderm influences fate determination via secretion of Sonic hedgehog (Shh), a morphogen required for Gcm2 expression and generation of the parathyroid domain. Gcm2 is a downstream target of the transcription factor Tbx1, …

Stat3 Controls The Neutrophil Migratory Response To Cxcr2 And Its Ligand Mip-2 (Cxcl2), Hoainam Nguyen-Jackson

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Among the first white blood cells to respond to bacterial and fungal infections, neutrophils are produced in the bone marrow, released into circulating blood, and recruited to inflamed tissue. The cytokine granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G��CSF) is used clinically to induce neutrophil mobilization from the marrow. This process was previously demonstrated to require the STAT3 transcription factor (signal transducer and activator of transcription 3), the principal signaling molecule activated upon G-CSF-binding of its receptor, but the mechanism was unknown. The chemokines KC (Cxcl1) and MIP-2 (Cxcl2), and their shared receptor CXCR2 (l8rb), also stimulate neutrophil mobilization, in contrast to SDF-1 (Cxcl12), …

Upregulation Of Reactive Oxygen Species During The Retrovirus Life Cycle And Their Roles In A Mutant Of Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus, Ts1-Mediated Neurodegeneration, Soo Jin Kim

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Viral invasion of the central nervous system (CNS) and development of neurological symptoms is a characteristic of many retroviruses. The mechanism by which retrovirus infection causes neurological dysfunction has yet to be fully elucidated. Given the complexity of the retrovirus-mediated neuropathogenesis, studies using small animal models are extremely valuable. Our laboratory has used a mutant moloney murine leukemia retrovirus, ts1-mediated neurodegneration. We hypothesize that astrocytes play an important role in ts1-induced neurodegeneration since they are retroviral reservoirs and supporting cells for neurons. It has been shown that ts1 is able to infect astrocytes in vivo and in …

Novel Mechanisms Of Antigen Processing That Enhance Bcg Vaccine Efficacy, Christopher R. Singh

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Mycobacterium tuberculosis, the causative agent of tuberculosis, is the most lethal single infectious agent afflicting man today causing 2 million deaths per year. The World Health Organization recommends a vaccine as the best option to prevent this disease. The current vaccine, BCG, has a variable efficacy and does not protect adults. It is known that BCG vaccine becomes sequestered in special phagosome compartments of macrophages that do not fuse with lysosomes. Since lysosome fusion is necessary for peptide production and T cell priming leading to protective T_H1 immunity, we hypothesized that vaccine efficacy is reduced and occurs perhaps …

Eluding Antibiotic Resistance: Capitalizing On Antimicrobial Peptides Interaction With The Lipid Bilayer, Danielle M. Mcgrath

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

It is widely accepted that the emergence of drug-resistant pathogens is the result of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics. Infectious Disease Society of America, Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization continue to view, with concern, the lack of antibiotics in development, especially those against Gram-negative bacteria.

Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) have been proposed as an alternative to antibiotics due to their selective activity against microbes and minor ability to induce resistance. For example, the Food and Drug Administration approved Daptomycin (DAP) in 2003 for treatment of severe skin infections caused by susceptible Gram-positive organisms. Currently, there are 12 …

Effect Of Goldenseal (Hydrastis Canadensis) On Bacterial Multi Drug Resistant Efflux Pumps, Jyothi Rangineni

All Dissertations

Multi-Drug Resistance (MDR) efflux pumps have been increasingly reported in Gram negative and Gram positive bacteria. These efflux mechanisms pump out a wide variety of structurally unrelated antimicrobials thus leading to a low susceptibility due to lowered intracellular concentrations. The activity of such antimicrobials can be restored by the inhibition of the multi drug efflux pumps. Several MDR pump inhibitors which inhibit the efflux mechanisms in bacteria have been identified. Reserpine and verapamil are two such inhibitors, showing considerable effect on the MDR pumps. But the concentrations required to achieve these effects are too high to be clinically relevant. Reserpine …

Sexual Health Of Older Patients: Attitudes And Perceptions Of Healthcare Providers, Mary Alice O'Brien

Nursing Doctoral

Background: Recent research has demonstrated an alarming rate of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) among sexually active heterosexual individuals > age 40 years . Literature suggests that healthcare providers give minimal attention to the sexual health of their older patients and admit to decreased confidence and comfort in broaching the subject of sex with these patients and may not include STDs in a list of differential diagnoses when patients present with uro-genital or other symptoms. Objective: To explore healthcare providers‟ perceptions, awareness, and level of comfort in managing their older patients‟ sexual health. Older patient : individual > age 40 years Methods: Ten …

Testing Mediated Effects Of A Sex Education Program On Youth Sexual Activity, Paul James Birch

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Empirical investigations have identified hundreds of factors that predict whether youth engage in sexual activity (YSA). To promote optimal health and the avoidance of unhealthy or problematic outcomes that can result from YSA, sex education programs have been extensively developed and evaluated. Many evaluations have identified the effect of the program on immediate outcomes such as attitudes and intentions, others have examined subsequent behavioral and health outcomes, and some have done both. The purpose of this study was to extend the evaluation literature by testing a mediated effects model. A sex education program was found to have significant immediate effects …

Stressors Across The Lifespan And Dementia Risk: A Statistical Method Analysis, Megan Platt Borrowman

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

The Cache Lifespan Stressors and Alzheimer's Disease (LSAD) study has access to data from the Cache County Study on Memory Health and Aging (CCS) that have been linked to the extensive genealogical and vital records from the Utah Population Database (UPDB). Information about stressful life events experienced by the original 5092 CCS participants has been extracted objectively from the UPDB, without the possibility of recall bias. This information was then statistically analyzed to look for relationships between key stressors and dementia risk. The LSAD study made it possible to examine the correlation between stressors as well as look at patterns …

Isolation Of Obligately Alkaliphilic Magnetotactic Bacteria From Extremely Alkaline Environments, Christopher T. Lefevre, Richard B. Frankel, Mihály Pósfai, Tanya Prozorov, Dennis A. Bazylinski

Physics

Large numbers of magnetotactic bacteria were discovered in mud and water samples collected from a number of highly alkaline aquatic environments with pH values of ~ 9.5. These bacteria were helical in morphology and biomineralized chains of bullet-shaped crystals of magnetite and were present in all the highly alkaline sites sampled. Three strains from different sites were isolated and cultured and grew optimally at pH 9.0–9.5 but not at 8.0 and below, demonstrating that these organisms truly require highly alkaline conditions and are not simply surviving/growing in neutral pH micro-niches in their natural habitats. All strains grew anaerobically through the …

Lipid Metabolism In Trypanosoma Brucei: Molecular Characterization Of Fatty Acid Synthesis And Uptake, Patrick Vigueira

All Dissertations

My doctoral studies focused on the fatty acid metabolism of the deadly protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma brucei. Fatty acid metabolism in T. brucei can be broadly divided into two pathways, synthesis and uptake. In Chapters 2-4 I describe experiments investigating the parasite's fatty acid synthesis pathway. Chapter 2 contains the initial characterization of acetyl-CoA carboxylase (ACC) in T. brucei. Knockdown of TbACC by RNA interference (RNAi) reduced parasite virulence in a mouse model, suggesting that TbACC has the potential to be utilized as a drug target. Chapters 3 and 4 explore the effects of two known ACC inhibitors, the …

Anticipating U.S. Population-Level Health And Economic Impacts Using Discrete-Event Simulation To Guide Health Policy Decisions, Odette Reifsnider

All Dissertations

This dissertation presents two applications of discrete-event simulation (DES) to represent clinical processes: (1) a model to quantify the risk of the maternal obese and diabetic intrauterine environment influence on progression to adult obesity and diabetes, and (2) a model to evaluate health and economic outcomes of different smoking cessation strategies. The first application considers the public health impact of the diabetic and obese intrauterine environment's effect on the prevalence of diabetes and obesity across subsequent generations. We first develop a preliminary DES model to investigate and characterize the epidemiology of diabetes during pregnancy and birth outcomes related to maternal …

Mathematical Modeling And Analysis Of Epidemiological And Chemical Systems, Calistus N. Ngonghala

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This dissertation focuses on three interdisciplinary areas of applied mathematics, mathematical biology/epidemiology, economic epidemiology and mathematical physics, interconnected by the concepts and applications of dynamical systems.;In mathematical biology/epidemiology, a new deterministic SIS modeling framework for the dynamics of malaria transmission in which the malaria vector population is accounted for at each of its developmental stages is proposed. Rigorous qualitative and quantitative techniques are applied to acquire insights into the dynamics of the model and to identify and study two epidemiological threshold parameters reals* and R0 that characterize disease transmission and prevalence, and that can be used for disease control. It …

Study On Surface Tension And Evaporation Rate Of Human Saliva, Saline, And Water Droplets, Tian Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cough, sometimes shedding plenty of germs and virus, is the human body's way of cleaning the breathing passages. The virus and germs spread rapidly through ambient air among humans and may cause infection. To reduce ultimately the infections caused by the germs and virus contained in human saliva droplets, it is necessary to understand the vaporization process of human saliva and its role on virus transmission. Virus-laden droplets, shed by an infected person through coughing and sneezing, evaporate until becoming droplet nuclei which will remain airborne for a long time and can infect other people. In other words, evaporation rate …

Generic Continuity Of Operations/Continuity Of Government Plan For State-Level Transportation Agencies, Research Report 11-01, Frances L. Edwards, Daniel C. Goodrich, William M. Medigovich

Mineta Transportation Institute

The Homeland Security Presidential Directive 20 (HSPD-20) requires all local, state, tribal and territorial government agencies, and private sector owners of critical infrastructure and key resources (CI/KR) to create a Continuity of Operations/Continuity of Government Plan (COOP/COG). There is planning and training guidance for generic transportation agency COOP/COG work, and the Transportation Research Board has offered guidance for transportation organizations. However, the special concerns of the state-level transportation agency’s (State DOT’s) plan development are not included, notably the responsibilities for the entire State Highway System and the responsibility to support specific essential functions related to the State DOT Director’s role …

Factors Associated With Duration Of Breastfeeding In Ireland: Potential Areas For Improvement, Roslyn Tarrant, Katherine Younger, Margaret Sheridan Pereira, John Kearney

Articles

There is a need to comprehensively examine why mothers in Ireland discontinue breastfeeding early and to explore thefactors influencing duration of breastfeeding during the first 6 months postpartum. Findings from this study provide valuabledirection for future strategies and interventions aimed at increasing breastfeeding duration rates in Ireland.

Strong Ties And Strong Influences: Social Networks And Hiv Prevention, Nicole M. Wengerd

Master's Theses - Sociology and Anthropology

This research builds on the social-oriented literature of HIV-risk behaviors in Gondar, Ethiopia by investigating influential social networks and why individuals would deviate from the norms established by their community.