Digital Commons Network^™

Impact Of Site Development Techniques In The Soft Tissue Height On Single Implant Supported Prosthesis In The Anterior Maxilla, Juan Francisco Pardo

All ETDs from UAB

Background: Implant placement should be based on a restoration-oriented treatment plan with correct three-dimensional positioning to allow optimal support and stability of surrounding hard and soft tissues. After tooth extraction the alveolus remodels producing changes in the soft tissues contours. This may translate into the inability to place the implant or in a non-esthetic restoration. In contemporary esthetic implant dentistry, the main objective is to maintain the socket dimensions and soft tissue contours to allow ideal implant placement and to provide a harmonious restoration. Objective: To evaluate if socket grafting with FDBA with or without PRP or rhPDGF in site …

The Effects Of Apolipoprotein Mimetic Peptides On Inflammation And Oxidative Stress, Toral Rohit Patel

All ETDs from UAB

Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is the leading cause of deaths worldwide, including the United States. Atherosclerosis remains the primary cause of CAD, and is a leading target for drug treatments. Despite advances in treatments, many questions remain unanswered pertaining to the mechanisms of the treatments on inflammation and oxidative stress. We hypothesize that peptides 4F and Ac-hE18A-NH2 act as anti-inflammatory factors and reduce oxidative stress. We also hypothesize that these peptides require apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) to increase paraoxonase-1 (PON-1) activity. The effects of administering peptides 4F and Ac-hE18A-NH2 on oxidative stress were evaluated through the analysis of plasma from apoA-I-null …

Which Components Of Joint Attention Are Critical For Children With Autism Spectrum Disorders To Learn New Words?, Dana Smith

All ETDs from UAB

Though established that language deficits comprise a core element of a definitive autism diagnosis, relatively less research has been conducted to understand the bases for impaired language abilities as compared to understanding the social deficits associated with the disorder. Children with an autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have impoverished joint attention (JA) abilities, evidenced by their relative difficulty both in initiating bids for JA as well as responding to them. Once accepted that JA was crucial in lexical development in typically developing (TD) children, recent trends have diverged from this perspective, shedding light on JA's role in lexical development in an …

Ultrasound Elasticity Measurements As A Predictor For Arteriovenous Fistula Maturation, Anna Sorace

All ETDs from UAB

This research thesis examines the applicability of using ultrasound imaging to quantify arterial elasticity and assess potential of arteriovenous fistula maturation in chronic kidney disease (CKD) patients. Tissue-specific abnormalities have proven useful for identifying disease states within oncology, cardiovascular and musculoskeletal system. Using ultrasound-based imaging to evaluate arterial elasticity is a noninvasive and novel technique. It has the potential to contribute further insight into chronic kidney disease fistula failure and become a noninvasive prognostic indicator. Reliable vascular access is critical for delivery of adequate hemodialysis treatment to CKD patients and to maintain long-term connections for dialysis. An arteriovenous fistula is …

Molecular Piracy In The Mobilization Of Staphylococcus Aureus Pathogenicity Island 1, Michael Spilman

All ETDs from UAB

Staphylococcus aureus bacteriophage 80α is a temperate, double-stranded DNA phage that serves as a "helper" phage for the mobilization of several S. aureus pathogenicity islands (SaPIs), including SaPI1. When mobilized by 80α, SaPI1 genomes are packaged into smaller phage-like transducing particles composed of 80α capsid (gp47), scaffolding (gp46) and portal (gp42) proteins. In this dissertation, I utilize electron microscopy and biochemistry to tease apart the structural and genetic controls and consequences of SaPI1 as a molecular pirate. More specifically, I show that two SaPI1 proteins shift assembly from 63-nm, T = 7 icosahedral capsids to 47-nm, T = 4 capsids, …

The Money Blind: How To Stop Industry Bias In Biomedical Science, Without Violating The First Amendment, Christopher Robertson

Faculty Scholarship

The pharmaceutical and medical device industries use billions of dollars to support the biomedical science that physicians, regulators, and patients use to make healthcare decisions—the decisions that drive an increasingly large portion of the American economy. Compelling evidence suggests that this industry money buys favorable results, biasing the outcomes of scientific research. Current efforts to manage the problem, including disclosure mandates and peer reviews, are ineffective. A blinding mechanism, operating through an intermediary such as the National Institutes of Health, could instead be developed to allow industry support of science without allowing undue influence. If the editors of biomedical journals …

Calcium Dynamics Of Glial Cells And Genetic Influences On Behavior Of The Nematode Caenorhabditis Elegans, Randy Franklin Stout

All ETDs from UAB

A major challenge in neuroscience is understanding how the different neural cell types work together to process information and produce a behavioral output. Glial cells of the human brain have long been thought to act as support for the fundamental cell to cell communication at the core of cognition: neuronal synaptic communication. Research over the past several decades measuring glial activity and experimentally controlling glial cells in rodent model systems has shown that the two macroglia sub-types of glial cells (astrocytes and oligodendrocytes) have active roles in establishment, maintenance, and modulation of synaptic communication in the mammalian brain. Much of …

Protective Factors Against Relapse For Practicing Nurse Anesthetists In Recovery From Anesthetic Opiates, Elizabeth Laura Wright

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: Addiction to anesthetic opiates is an occupational hazard for anesthesia providers, which includes nurse anesthetists. Several factors influence this hazard risk, including, genetic make-up, personality traits, and job stress. Also of great concern is the risk of relapse if an anesthesia provider returns to work, which can be as high as 40%. However, there are nurse anesthetists who have successfully returned to the practice of anesthesia while in recovery from addiction to anesthetic opiates. These nurse anesthetists have first-hand experience with the challenges of recovery when faced with continual access to opiates, and their experience can help others in …

Role Of Vdr In Host Immune Response To Porphyromonas Gingivalis Infection, Gulam Yezdani

All ETDs from UAB

Porphyromonas gingivalis is one of the etiologic factors of periodontal disease, a chronic inflammatory disorder characterized by the destruction of periodontal connective tissue and the subsequent loss of alveolar bone. Epidemiological and genetic studies have indicated an association between periodontal disease and the vitamin D system. However, little is known regarding how vitamin D signaling regulates the inflammatory immune process of this disease. The purpose of the study was to understand the role of the vitamin D receptor (VDR) in regulating the host response to P. gingivalis infection by using a dual chamber mouse model. These chambers served both as …

Biological, Ecological, And Conservational Implications Of Temperature-Dependent Sex Determination In Sea Turtle Populations, Jennifer Estes Layton

All ETDs from UAB

Various aspects of TSD were examined in two different sea turtle populations, representing two sea turtle species. Sex ratio was examined in the juvenile portion of the loggerhead sea turtle population in the southeastern U.S. Turtles were captured in the intake channel of the St. Lucie Nuclear Power plant on the central Atlantic coast of Florida. Blood samples were collected from a total of 111 juvenile turtles from May 2005 through April 2007, and the samples were analyzed in a testosterone radioimmunoassay that was validated for use as a sexing technique for sea turtles. The results suggest a significant female-biased …

The Relationship Between Family Structure And Social Anxiety In Young Adults, Brandie Michelle Wagner

Honors Capstones

No abstract provided.

The Intestinal Extracellular Matix As An Innate Regulator Of Effector T-Cell Responses, Kayci Renee Huff

All ETDs from UAB

Extracellular matrix (stroma) regulation of mucosal T-cell function is incompletely understood. Here we uncovered a role for intestinal stromal products in the innate regulation of effector T-cells. Stroma-conditioned media (S-CM) derived from normal human intestinal stroma (TGF-&betahi/IL-6lo/IL-1ßlo) significantly down-regulated T-cell proliferation and IFN-&gamma production compared to S-CM derived from inflamed Crohn's mucosa (TGF-&betahi/IL-6hi/IL-1&betahi). Antibody neutralization studies showed that TGF-&beta in normal S-CM inhibited T-cell proliferation and IFN-&gamma production, whereas IL-6 plus IL-1&beta in Crohn's S-CM promoted T-cell proliferation, and the IL-1&beta alone promoted IFN-γ and IL-17 release. Importantly, stromal cells in normal tissue produce TGF-&beta and contribute to mucosal homeostasis …

Exhaustion Renders Cd8 T Cells Unresponsive To Antigen-Independent Activation And Is Characterized By Il-18 Receptor Downregulation, Jennifer T. Ingram

All ETDs from UAB

During many chronic infections virus-specific CD8 T cells succumb to exhaustion as they lose their ability to respond to antigenic activation. Combinations of interleukin (IL)-12, IL-18, and IL-21 have been shown to induce the antigen-independent production of IFN-γ by effector and memory CD8 T cells. In this study we investigated whether exhausted CD8 T cells are sensitive to activation by these cytokines. We show that effector and memory, but not exhausted, CD8 T cells produce interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) and upregulate CD25 following exposure to certain combinations of IL-12, IL-18, and IL-21. This unresponsiveness was associated with downregulation of the IL-18 receptor …

Effects Of Growth Factor Induced Pathways On Differentiation Of The Human Neuronal Cell Line Sh-Sy-5y., Ashish D. Dwary

All ETDs from UAB

Background: The VSNL1 gene product, Visinin-like-protein-1 (VILIP-1), is a member of the neuronal EF-hand Ca2+-sensor protein family. Previously, VILIP-1 mRNA and protein expression were shown to be altered in animal models and in schizophrenia patients. VILIP-1 influences cytosolic cAMP levels, cell migration, exocytotic processes and differentiation in the periphery. This raises the question, whether similar to other potential schizophrenia susceptibility genes, such as Disc1, PDE4B and Akt, VILIP-1 may be associated with schizophrenia-related measures, and if it could mechanistically affect cAMP signaling and neurite outgrowth in neurons. Methods: 627 people with schizophrenia and 541 control subjects were ascertained and the …

Shakespeare's Soundscape: Vocal Song In The Plays Of William Shakespeare And In Early Modern Culture., Julie Marcia Dhossche

Honors Theses

In evaluating song in early modem times we see the traveling of music through the culture, an omnipresent current that flow's through social strata and situations and can be interpreted to connect all. However, while music was pervasive in early modem society and the dominant theory of music w'as a totalizing one outlining a harmony inherent of and inspired by music, music in fact had a variety of uses among interests groups and could be a main indicator of social division. In this thesis I analyze song in Shakespeare within the frame of this seemingly paradoxical phenomenon of music as …

Subject To Surveillance: Genocide Law As Epistemology Of The Object, Tawia Baidoe Ansah

Faculty Publications

This article analyzes the discourse on genocide from two angles: the legal genesis of the term in the 1940s and subsequent legal "capture" of the concept of genocide, and a recent socio-political critique of the legal meaning of genocide. The article suggests that a cross-disciplinary critique of genocidal violence not only describes the event and the victim, but also produces knowledge of them as discursive "objects." The key issue is the "surveillance" role of the outside observer, also produced as such in discursive relation to the object. At stake in this view of genocide law as epistemology is the capacity …

Instrument Independent Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy, Bing Yu, Henry L. Fu, Nirmala Ramanujam

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Diffuse reflectance spectroscopy with a fiber optic probe is a powerful tool for quantitative tissue characterization and disease diagnosis. Significant systematic errors can arise in the measured reflectance spectra and thus in the derived tissue physiological and morphological parameters due to real-time instrument fluctuations. We demonstrate a novel fiber optic probe with real-time, self-calibration capability that can be used for UV-visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy in biological tissue in clinical settings. The probe is tested in a number of synthetic liquid phantoms over a wide range of tissue optical properties for significant variations in source intensity fluctuations caused by instrument warm …

New But Hardly Improved: Are Multiple Retranslations Of Classics The Best Cultural Use To Make Of Translation Talent?, Timothy D. Sergay

Russian Language Journal

The notion of audio remastering seems to inform the way literary “consumers” conceive of retranslations of classic works today. This is almost certainly because the two operations—remastering and retranslation—are such natural cousins. Retranslation seems to imply, at the very least, continuous improvement of the literary product in the target language, that is, the elimination of earlier translators’ errors in construing the source text and the ever more adequate recreation of the original author’s stylistics. How close this seems to the idea of “cleaning up” an audio signal, improving the “signal‐to‐noise ratio,” enhancing fidelity—this critical term, along with loss, is common …

A Standardized Terminology For Describing Reproductive Development In Fishes, Nancy J. Brown-Peterson

Faculty Publications

As the number of fish reproduction studies has proliferated, so has the number of gonadal classification schemes and terms. This hasmade it difficult for both scientists and resourcemanagers to communicate and for comparisons to be made among studies. We propose the adoption of a simple, universal terminology for the phases in the reproductive cycle, which can be applied to all male and female elasmobranch and teleost fishes. These phases were chosen because they define key milestones in the reproductive cycle; the phases include immature, developing, spawning capable, regressing, and regenerating. Although the temporal sequence of events during gamete development in …

John Savage, John Klyczek

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Extinction Of Fibroblast-Specific Gene Expression In Somatic Hepatic Hybrids Using Cdna Microarray Technology, Sushma K. Shrestha

Masters Theses

Extinction of tissue-specific genes in mammalian somatic cell hybrids is a well known epigenetic phenomenon and knowledge of this process is useful in understanding molecular mechanisms underlying tissue specific gene expression. Signaling proteins critical for the activation of transcription including transcription factors, co-activators, and repressors, play a role in the establishment and maintenance of tissue-specific phenotypes. Tissue-specific transcription factors are the key driving force of tissuespecific gene expression. However, mechanisms responsible for gene silencing are largely unknown.

Extinction of liver specific traits in somatic hybrids generated by the fusion of hepatoma and fibroblast cells has been well documented and is …

Interactions Of Diet And Behavior In A Death-Feigning Snake (Heterodon Nasicus), Andrew Michael Durso

Masters Theses

Studies of animal behavior in captivity are limited in their ability to explain the influence of a natural environment on behavioral ecology. Defensive behaviors vary among individual animals, between sexes and with age, as well as with other less well-known factors. The toxin-rich diet of many toad-eating snakes might enable or cause their passive terminal defensive behavior of death-feigning. I videotaped death-feigning behavior in wild Plains Hog-Nosed Snakes (Heterodon nasicus) subjected to standardized harassment. Using stable isotopes, I also described the diet of the same individuals subjected to behavioral analysis (n = 40). Heterodon had broader diets than other snakes …

Increasing Male Volunteering One Motivation At A Time, Matthew C. Nance

Masters Theses

Much research had shown that men volunteer at a lesser rate than women do. Additionally, research had shown that the motivations to volunteer differ for each gender. Two samples of college students who participated in single day service projects were surveyed using the Volunteer Functions Inventory-an instrument that assesses the importance of six possible motivations that range from a focus on others to a focus on gains for one's self-by the Student Community Service office. The data from the VFI was divided along gender lines to see to which motivations millennial males adhered. In an effort to further understand the …

Work Adjustment Of Survivors Of Tbi: Subjective Reporting And Indicators Of Work Status., Laura Kay Artman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This study investigated the use of self-reported functional limitations to indicate employment status of traumatic brain injury (TBI) survivors after returning to work. This study used data from the Job Accommodation Network (JAN) to examine the utility of self-reported functional limitations in indicating the work status of survivors of TBI. The first research question concerned the most common functional limitation reported by survivors of TBI. The second question asked which functional limitations, if any, could correctly classify the work status of TBI survivors. Results of binary logistic regression suggested that the presence of medical symptoms and emotional dysregulation were reliably …

Imsa 2011 Profile, Office Of College And Academic Counseling

IMSA Profile

Independent Study - is a student-selected learning experience that provides the opportunity to personalize learning beyond the IMSA course offerings. An Independent Study may be conducted by a senior (or junior with Princi- pal's permission) under the direction of an IMSA faculty member for one or two semesters.

School-Based Support As A Mediator Between Homophobic Bullying And Depression In Sexual Minority Youth, Jamie Henkelman

Masters Theses

School-based support as a mediator between the relationship of homophobic bullying during high school and depression later on was examined retrospectively using a sample of 195 participants who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, or questioning. Participants were recruited from a Midwestern state via email and social networking sites through their college campus' Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender campus groups. The survey was conducted online and used the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression scale to measure depression symptoms. The modified version of the Gay Lesbian and Straight Education Network's Community Climate survey was used to measure schoolbased support and homophobic bullying. Results …

Synthesis, Assembly, And Characterization Of Monolayer-Protected Gold Nanoparticle Films For Protein Monolayer Electrochemistry,, Tran T. Doan, Michael H. Freeman, Adrienne R. Schmidt, Natalie T. Nguyen, Michael C. Leopold

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Colloidal gold nanoparticles protected with alkanethiolate ligands called monolayer protected gold clusters (MPCs) are synthesized and subsequently incorporated into film assemblies that serve as adsorption platforms for protein monolayer electrochemistry (PME). PME is utilized as the model system for studying electrochemical properties of redox proteins by confining them to an adsorption platform at a modified electrode, which also serves as a redox partner for electron transfer (ET) reactions. Studies have shown that gold nanoparticle film assemblies of this nature provide for a more homogeneous protein adsorption environment and promote ET without distance dependence compared to the more traditional systems modified …

Anglo-American Choice Of Law And The Recognition Of Foreign Same-Sex Marriage In Israel - On Religious Norms And Secular Reform, Yuval Merin

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Putting Shoulder Pads On Schleck: How The Business Of Professional Cycling Could Be Improved Through A More American Structure, Chris Deubert

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.

Trips On The High Seas: Intellectual Property Rights On Marine Genetic Resources, Angelica Bonfanti, Seline Trevisanut

Brooklyn Journal of International Law

No abstract provided.