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Towards The Development Of Culturally And Contextually Relevant Model Of Coping For Low Income, Urban, African American Adolescents, Kristin Joy Carothers

College of Liberal Arts & Social Sciences Theses and Dissertations

Low income, urban African American adolescents are exposed to disproportionately high rates of stressors in their everyday lives (Allison, Burton, Marshall, Perez-Febles, Yarrington, & Kirsh, 1999; Attar, Guerra & Tolan, 1994; Gaylord-Harden, Gipson, Mance & Grant, 2008). In order to succeed in their own context and beyond, these adolescents must learn to cope effectively with the stressors they face. Little of the extant coping intervention literature has incorporated low income, urban African American adolescents, even though these youth could benefit from such interventions. The following research develops a model of the culturally and contextually relevant factors that contribute to coping …

Development Of A Cubesat Instrument For Microgravity Particle Damper Performance Analysis, John Trevor Abel

Master's Theses

Spacecraft pointing accuracy and structural longevity requirements often necessitate auxiliary vibration dissipation mechanisms.  However, temperature sensitivity and material degradation limit the effectiveness of traditional damping techniques in space.  Robust particle damping technology offers a potential solution, driving the need for microgravity characterization.   A 1U cubesat satellite presents a low cost, low risk platform for the acquisition of data needed for this evaluation, but severely restricts available mass, volume, power and bandwidth resources.  This paper details the development of an instrument subject to these constraints that is capable of capturing high resolution frequency response measurements of highly nonlinear particle damper dynamics.

Go Farm, Goleta: Urban Agriculture Protection For Eastern Goleta Valley, Eli M. Krispi

Master's Theses

This paper explores two potential land use planning strategies that can be used to preserve and enhance the economic viability of agricultural operations surrounded by suburban development in Santa Barbara County’s Eastern Goleta Valley: buffers between agriculture and other land uses, and agritourism. In the case of buffers, academic literature is examined to determine how effective buffers are at various tasks (filtering runoff, mitigating dust and wind, providing habitat, etc.) and how to construct buffers to maximize their effectiveness. Land use plans and codes from several California jurisdictions are studied to see how buffers are put to use. Academic literature …

Intensity And Duration Of Deficit Irrigation On Erythroneura Elegantula (Hemiptera: Cicadellidae) On Grape (Vitis Vinifera), Shawn T. Veysey

Master's Theses

Western grape leafhopper (WGLH) (Erythroneura elegantula Osborn) is a serious pest of grape (Vitis vinifera L.) in many commercial vineyard growing regions of California. WGLH injures vines by removing leaf photosynthetically active area, resulting in the reduction of leaf efficiency, ultimately reducing yield and fruit quality. Regulated deficit irrigation (RDI) is a widely adopted irrigation strategy that reduces irrigation during critical phenological growing points (i.e., berry-set to verasion) to manage vegetative growth and berry size of red varieties. Leafhoppers are known to respond negatively to vine water stress. In a two year study at a commercial vineyard located in Paso …

Role Of Phosphoinositide 3-Kinase – Akt Signaling Pathway In The Age-Related Cytokine Dysregulation In Splenic Macrophages Stimulated Via Tlr-2 Or Tlr-4 Receptors, Mosoka Papa Fallah, R. Lakshman Chelvarajan, Beth A. Garvy, Subbarao Bondada

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Age-associated defects in both B-lymphocytes and macrophages in elderly result in a reduction in the efficacy of vaccines to many Gram positive bacteria like Streptococcus pneumoniae. Splenic macrophages from aged mice have been shown to have a defect in production of pro-inflammatory cytokines (IL-6, IL-12, IL-1β, TNF-α) but exhibit increased production of IL-10 upon TLR4 ligation. Here we showed that aged macrophages demonstrate similar cytokine dysregulation phenotype upon stimulation with TLR2 ligands, or killed S. pneumoniae. We hypothesized that an age-associated increase in activity of phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase (PI3K)-Akt signaling pathway may be playing a causal role in …

Adaptive Significance Of Natural Variations In Maternal Care In Rats: A Translational Perspective, Annaliese K. Beery, Darlene D. Francis

Neuroscience: Faculty Publications

A wealth of data from the last fifty years documents the potency of early life experiences including maternal care on developing offspring. A majority of this research has focused on the developing stress axis and stress-sensitive behaviors in hopes of identifying factors impacting resilience and risk-sensitivity. The power of early life experience to shape later development is profound and has the potential to increase fitness of individuals for their environments. Current findings in a rat maternal care paradigm highlight the complex and dynamic relation between early experiences and a variety of outcomes. In this review we propose adaptive hypotheses for …

Cardiac Effects Of Bee Venom In Rats., Nermine K. Saleh, Hanan A. Saleh

Saudi Medical Journal

OBJECTIVES: To elucidate the possible effects of bee venom (BV) on cardiac electrophysiological properties in vivo, the inotropic and chronotropic properties of the isolated hearts in vitro, and the cardiac responsiveness to progressive adrenergic stimulation by isoproterenol. METHODS: This randomized control study was conducted in the Physiology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Ain Shams University, Cairo, Egypt, from April to June 2010. This work was carried out on 22 female Wistar rats. Rats were allocated into 2 groups; BV-treated group (rats were treated with BV in a dose of 20 microgram/kg body weight, administered subcutaneously for 4 days), and the control …

Physico-Chemical And Microbiological Parameters In The Deterioration Of Virgin Coconut Oil, Ian Ken D. Dimzon, Melodina F. Valde, Jaclyn Elizabeth R. Santos, Mark Joseph Garrovillas, Henson M. Dejarme, Jo Margarette W. Remollo, Fabian M. Dayrit

Chemistry Faculty Publications

The deterioration of virgin coconut oil (VCO) due to physico-chemical oxidation and hydrolysis and microbiological processes was studied. The physico-chemical oxidation of VCO in the air at room temperature was negligible. Oxidation of VCO was observed only in the presence of air, UV radiation, ferric ion (Fe3+), and high free fatty acid (FFA) content. Chemical hydrolysis was performed at varying moisture levels and temperatures. The rate of hydrolysis to produce FFAs was measured using 31P NMR under conditions of saturated water (0.22%) and 80°C was found to be 0.066 µmol/g-hr (expressed as lauric acid). At 0.084% moisture and 80°C, the …

The Epistemology Of Ignorance, Olaf Dana Thomas Stockly

Anthós

Nancy Tuana explores the nature of the epistemology of ignorance in her essay titled, "Coming to Understand: Orgasm and the Epistemology of Ignorance". She describes our current epistemologies as too narrow, lacking in scope and truth because they focus only on the knowledge we have and ignore the knowledge we don’t have. If we want to more fully understand how our culture produces information, “we must also understand that practices that account for not knowing, that is, our lack of knowledge about a phenomena or, in some cases, an account of the practices that resulted in a group unlearning what …

Embedding Parallel Computation In A Stochastic Mesh Network: A Morphogenetic Approach, Max Orhai

Anthós

Many basic techniques in computer science have been founded on the assumption that physical computing resources are scarce but orderly, and that the cost of effective direct communication between physically distant parts of a computer system is affordable. In ubiquitous computing systems such as sensor networks, or in the design of nano-scale systems, these familiar assumptions may not hold.

What if we suppose instead that computing capacity is plentiful, but that only local communication is possible, and the exact structure of the communication network is not known in advance? This is the domain of spatial programming.

How can we program …

Augmented Reality: An Overview And Five Directions For Ar In Education, Steve Chi-Yin Yuen, Gallayanee Yaoyuneyong, Erik Johnson

Journal of Educational Technology Development and Exchange (JETDE)

Augmented Reality (AR) is an emerging form of experience in which the Real World (RW) is enhanced by computer-generated content tied to specific locations and/or activities. Over the last several years, AR applications have become portable and widely available on mobile de­vices. AR is becoming visible in our audio-visual media (e.g., news, entertainment, sports) and is beginning to enter other aspects of our lives (e.g., e-commerce, travel, marketing) in tangible and exciting ways. Facilitating ubiquitous learning, AR will give learners instant access to location-specific information compiled and provided by numerous sources (2009). Both the 2010 and 2011 Horizon Reports predict …

Unexpected Accumulation Of Ncm5U And Ncm5S2U In A Trm9 Mutant Suggests An Additional Step In The Synthesis Of Mcm5U And Mcm5S2U, Changchun Chen, Bo Huang, James T. Anderson, Anders S. Byström

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Background

Transfer RNAs are synthesized as a primary transcript that is processed to produce a mature tRNA. As part of the maturation process, a subset of the nucleosides are modified. Modifications in the anticodon region often modulate the decoding ability of the tRNA. At position 34, the majority of yeast cytosolic tRNA species that have a uridine are modified to 5-carbamoylmethyluridine (ncm⁵U), 5-carbamoylmethyl-2′-O-methyluridine (ncm⁵Um), 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-uridine (mcm⁵U) or 5-methoxycarbonylmethyl-2-thiouridine (mcm⁵s²U). The formation of mcm⁵ and ncm⁵ side chains involves a complex pathway, where the last step in formation of …

Shooting Neural Networks Algorithm For Solving Boundary Value Problems In Odes, Kais I. Ibraheem, Bashir M. Khalaf

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

The objective of this paper is to use Neural Networks for solving boundary value problems (BVPs) in Ordinary Differential Equations (ODEs). The Neural networks use the principle of Back propagation. Five examples are considered to show effectiveness of using the shooting techniques and neural network for solving the BVPs in ODEs. The convergence properties of the technique, which depend on the convergence of the integration technique and accuracy of the interpolation technique are considered.

Rna Interference In Marine And Freshwater Sponges: Actin Knockdown In Tethya Wilhelma And Ephydatia Muelleri By Ingested Dsrna Expressing Bacteria, Ajna S. Rivera, April L. Hill, Et. Al.

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: The marine sponge Tethya wilhelma and the freshwater sponge Ephydatia muelleri are emerging model organisms to study evolution, gene regulation, development, and physiology in non-bilaterian animal systems. Thus far, functional methods (i.e., loss or gain of function) for these organisms have not been available.

Results: We show that soaking developing freshwater sponges in double-stranded RNA and/or feeding marine and freshwater sponges bacteria expressing double-stranded RNA can lead to RNA interference and reduction of targeted transcript levels. These methods, first utilized in C. elegans, have been adapted for the development and feeding style of easily cultured marine and freshwater poriferans. …

Secondary Traumatic Stress: Social Workers In A Veterans Affairs Healthcare Setting, Nikola R. Alenkin

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study is to examine secondary traumatic stress (STS) and the coping of social workers in inpatient and outpatient settings in a Veterans Affairs healthcare system. A convenience sample of 126 master's level and above social workers completed a survey measuring Secondary Traumatic Stress. Rates of reported secondary traumatic stress symptoms and utilization of coping strategies by social work staff were investigated. Setting was not a significant factor in reported secondary traumatic stress scores. Although female social workers in inpatient settings reported higher rates of stress symptomatology than other social workers across settings, the rates were not …

Childhood Depressive Symptoms: Comparison Of Diverse Medical Diagnoses, Ida Babakhanyan

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Childhood depression is a serious problem and has long term implications including increased risk for suicide and comorbid conditions. In addition, depressed children are at greater risk for social difficulties, non-compliance to medical regime, and academic difficulties. Children undergoing a medical illness are at increased risk for developing depression, however, there have been few recent studies looking at emotional distress for this population. With thousands of children hospitalized every day, assessing for depressive symptoms is important in order to provide proper referrals and treatment recommendations following discharge. The purpose of the current study was to increase understanding of pediatric depression …

Navigating Multiple Roles: Physicians Married To Non-Physician Professionals, Carlene Olivia Fider

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

A qualitative study of the lived experiences of dual career couples in which one partner is a physician is being proposed to fulfill the requirements for a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Family Studies. The study will look specifically at how these couples manage the role expectations and demands from the home front as well as from the work front. The study will also investigate how these couples create time for the dyad considering the demands of both careers. While dual career couples have their distinct features, physician families that have dual career attachments have been under studied in regard …

Dna Repair Of 8-Oxo-7,8-Dihydroguanine Lesions In Porphyromonas Gingivalis, Leroy G. Henry Jr.

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The persistence of Porphyromonas gingivalis in the inflammatory environment of the periodontal pocket requires an ability to overcome oxidative stress. DNA damage is a major consequence of oxidative stress. Unlike other organisms, a non-base excision repair mechanism for the removal of 8-oxo-7,8-dihydroguanine (8-oxoG) in P. gingivalis was suggested. Because the uvrB gene is known to be important in nucleotide excision repair, the role of this gene in the repair of oxidative stress-induced DNA damage was investigated. A 3.1 kb fragment containing the uvrB gene was PCR-amplified from the chromosomal DNA of P. gingivalis W83. This gene was insertionally inactivated using …

Novel Molecules That Regulate Bone Formation And Bone Resorption, Gabriel Robert Linares

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Osteoporosis is a disease characterized by decreased bone mass and microarchitectural deterioration of bone. Bone loss occurs when the increased bone resorption that occurs with age is not compensated by a corresponding increase in bone formation. Therefore, understanding the mechanisms which regulate bone formation and bone resorption is important for developing diagnostic and treatment strategies for osteoporosis. In my dissertation, we investigated the role of Glutaredoxin 5 (Grx5), Diabetes and Obesity Related protein (DOR), and Claudin 18 (Cldn-18), novel molecules involved in regulating bone formation and bone resorption. We demonstrated that Grx5 protects osteoblasts from oxidative stress induced apoptosis via …

Adolescents' Perceptions Of Services Received At County Behavioral Health Care Centers, Mary Ann Long

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This quantitative study of 460 adolescents examined levels of satisfaction in a number of different domains such as general satisfaction, access to treatment, cultural sensitivity, functioning of the client, treatment planning, outcome of services, and social connectedness, of adolescents who received mental health treatment in a county's behavioral health care system. Additionally, this study accounted for the differences in age, race/ethnicity, gender, length of time in treatment, and treatment outcomes. While there were no statistical differences found based on the gender, racial/ethnic groups, and contact with the legal system, mean differences in age was observed. That is, younger adolescents reported …

Factors Affecting Phytoplankton Biodiversity And Toxin Production, Tracey Magrann

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This dissertation reports a survey of water quality, algal biodiversity, and toxin production in Southern California lakes, ponds, bays, and lagoons along the California coastline, in five counties from Santa Barbara to San Diego. Samples were analyzed for pH, electrical conductivity, total dissolved solids, dissolved oxygen, alkalinity, chlorophyll–a, total phosphorous, phosphate, total dissolved phosphorous, dissolved organic and inorganic phosphorous, particulate phosphorous, total nitrogen, total dissolved nitrogen, dissolved organic and inorganic nitrogen, nitrate, nitrite, and ammonium. Algal assays were conducted for phytoplankton identification and numbers, and indices of biodiversity (richness and evenness) were calculated to ascertain relationships between nutrients and algal …

Cholera Toxin B Subunit-Diabetes Autoantigen Fusion Proteins Modulate Dendritic Cell Function And T Cell Morphogenesis, Oludare Jeremiah Odumosu

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Type 1 diabetes mellitus is a chronic inflammatory disease in which the insulin and glutamic acid decarboxylase producing β-cells of the pancreatic islets are killed by autoreactive cells of the immune system in response to a loss of tolerance. Early experiments showed that self-tolerance could be partially restored by oral inoculation with small amounts of insulin. Later experiments showed that insulin autoantigen induced immune tolerance could be greatly enhanced by linkage of β-cell autoantigens (Auto Ag) to adjuvant molecules such as the non-toxic cholera enterotoxin B subunit (CTB). To identify mechanisms responsible for CTB-autoantigen fusion protein suppression of diabetes autoimmunity, …

Effects Of Heavy Metal Pollution On The Loggerhead Sea Turtle, Ashley L. Register

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Historically, heavy metal research on sea turtles has been focused on deceased specimens, limiting the ability to determine if the concentrations of heavy metals affected the health of the individuals. More recently, the collection and analysis of blood samples from live turtles has enabled the researcher to investigate the potential health implications of observed metal concentrations. In this thesis, I present two original studies on the blood concentrations of essential and non-essential heavy metals and their potential physiological correlates on the endangered loggerhead sea turtle (Caretta caretta). This work reflects analysis of archived samples collected in 2008 off the southeastern …

Behavioral Ecology, Taxonomy, And Conservation Genetics Of The Bahama Oriole (Icterus Northropi), Melissa R. Price

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

In this dissertation, I examined the Bahama Oriole (Icterus northropi) at multiple scales, with the aim of developing a sound management plan for this critically endangered bird. In the first of five studies, I measured plumage variation among four allopatric populations of the former Icterus dominicensis complex in the Caribbean. Diagnosable plumage differences among populations contributed to the subsequent elevation of each of these populations (including northropi) to species status. In the second study, I examined molecular variation in subpopulations of 1. northropi on North Andros, Mangrove Cay, and South Andros, The Bahamas. I identified several patterns of genetic variation …

The Effects Of Causal Attribution, Religiosity And Shared Beliefs On The Management Of Type 2 Diabetes, Lucretia Smith

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

This dissertation was a secondary analysis of data gathered from 114 couples who had one spouse with type 2 diabetes. Diabetes management was the outcome variable. The predictor variables in this analysis included the couples' causal attribution, religiosity, and congruence regarding the aforementioned. The major theories framing this study were the Family Systems theory and the family stress models. Support was found also in the middle ranged Family Resilience Framework. From a systems approach, families affect, and are affected by, the management of a chronic disease such as type 2 diabetes. The Family Resilience Framework suggests that the family's belief …

Foundation For Evaluating Injured Firefighters Returning To Work, Deanna Stover

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

The purpose of this study was to establish a foundation for developing an evidence-based assessment guideline to be used by nursing and medical personnel when evaluating a firefighter's ability to return to work after a lower extremity injury. Two on-line survey instruments were used to record the opinions and beliefs of healthcare providers and firefighters. The final samples included 63 California healthcare providers (with and without professional work experience with firefighters) and 312 California firefighters. Most of the healthcare providers with professional work experience with firefighters use the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) 1582 Standard on Comprehensive Occupational Medical Program …

African Americans With Diabetes: Couples’ Support Program Development Project, Zanetta Fern Carlene Van Putten

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Diabetes is reaching epidemic proportions in the United States with a record 25.8 million diagnosed in 2010 compared to 20.8 million in 2005. African Americans have the highest prevalence of diabetes in the United States. Social support related to medical conditions has been found effective in increasing treatment adherence. The purpose of this study is to gain a clearer understanding of diabetes support within African American couples’ relationships. This study explores the definition of support from the perspective of African American couples when at least one member has been diagnosed with diabetes. Couples were recruited from Riverside and San Bernardino …

Child And Family Responses To Weight Management Programs : A Qualitative Investigation, Andra Lynn Fjone

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to explore what happens within families in which a child participates in a pediatric weight management program for the treatment of overweight or obesity and identify strategies and processes for successful weight management.

Method: A qualitative approach was used to collect data from seven families. Individual interviews were conducted with parents, target children, and siblings. Data was analyzed within families and compared between families.

Results: Grounded theory analysis revealed three major essential themes: Shared Burden, Family Congruence, and Collaboration. Descriptive analysis was used to identify recommendations for improving family based weight management programs. …

The Association Of Religious Coping On Reports Of Low Back Pain And Inflammatory Markers, Jacqueline D. Bougie

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Chronic pain is the most common cause of disability in the United States with depression, anxiety, and stress often occurring co-morbidly. The purpose of the study was to explore how religion may modulate the frequency of back pain, influence inflammatory markers, influence the use of medications, and impact functional ability.

Participants were from the Biological Manifestations of Religion Study (BioMRS; N= 508) and the Psychological Manifestations of Religion Study (PsyMRS; N = 10,988). All participants completed a 20-page questionnaire and BioMRS participants provided blood, salivary, and urine samples, performance tests, and learning tests all collected within 1 week of …

Perceived Barriers And Benefits Of Hiv Voluntary Counseling And Testing Among University Students In Nigeria, Clara Egbealele Omogbai

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Background. Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa is one of the sub- Saharan nations most affected by HIV and AIDS. However, due to stigma most people at risk of infection refuse testing, thereby likely increasing the transmission of HIV. Voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) has been shown to influence behavior change and it is important to explore how to increase rates of VCT in young people who may experiment with sexual activity in this environment that holds increased risks due to nationally elevated rates of HIV.

Purpose. To examine intention to use HIV voluntary counseling and testing (VCT) services …