Digital Commons Network^™

The Relationship Between Select Demographic Characteristics And Body Mass Index Among Native Hawaiian And Other Pacific Islander Caregiving Adults, Katrina Duncan

Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Native Hawaiian and other Pacific Islanders (NHOPIs) have the highest prevalence of overweight and obesity in the world. This study identified the proportion of our NHOPI sample in each body mass index (BMI) category and explored relationships between demographic characteristics and BMI. Design: This descriptive correlational study included 364 NHOPI caregiver adults in Utah (n=155) and Hawaii (n=209). We gathered demographic information with a questionnaire. Height and weight were measured for BMI calculations. Results: According to the CDC's BMI categories, 84.3% of our sample was overweight (BMI=25.0-29.9) or obese (BMI ≥30). Participants in Utah had significantly higher BMIs than …

Culvert Roughness Elements For Native Utah Fish Passage: Phase Ii, Suzanne Kim Monk

Theses and Dissertations

Native fishes have become an increasingly important concern when designing fish passable culverts. Many operational culverts constrict waterways which increase velocities and prevent upstream passage of small fish species. The current method to ensure fish passage is to match the average cross sectional velocity to the sustained swim speed of the fish. This study investigates the passage rates of leatherside chub (Lepidomeda aliciae) and speckled dace (Rhinichthys osculus) at three sites (an arch culvert with substrate bottom, box culvert with bare bottom, and a stream section with no culvert) located on Salina Creek near Salina, UT. It was found that …

Assessment Of Student Achievement In Introductory Physical Geology: A Three -Year Study On Delivery Method And Term Length, Marianne O'Neal Caldwell

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Physical Geology is a popular general education course at Hillsborough Community College (HCC) as at many other colleges and universities. Unlike many science courses, most students taking Physical Geology are not majoring in a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) discipline. Typically most students enrolled in Physical Geology are majoring in business, education, or pursuing a general A.A degree for transfer to a four-year university. The class is likely to be one of the few, if not the only, physical science classes that many of these students will take in their academic career. Therefore, this class takes on increased importance, …

Design, Synthesis And Evaluation Of Novel Diazirine Photolabels With Improved Ambient Light Stability And Fluorous-Based Enrichment Capacity, Arun Babu Kumar

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Photoaffinity labeling is a quintessential technique in studying and analyzing the interaction between a ligand and receptor. Diazirines are one of the important photo-labile moieties used in photoaffinity labeling due to their superior photo labeling characteristics. Herein, we report the investigations we conducted with diazirine photolabels on (a) photochemical aspects leading to enhancement of their ambient light stability and (b) equipping them with fluorous tags to enable fluorous enrichment of labeled proteins. Furthermore, we report a pilot study to develop BACE-1 inhibitors, which have potential to be developed into photoaffinity probes.

3-Trifluoromethyl-3-phenyldiazirine offers good selectivity and protection against pseudolabeling but …

Design And Optimization Of A Miniature Radiation Pattern Reconfigurable Antenna For 2.4 Ghz Band And A Dual Tuned Birdcage Coil For Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Manoj Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis describes development of a miniature reconfigurable antenna and optimization of a dual tuned birdcage coil. The design goals for the miniature reconfigurable antennas are resonance center frequency of 2.44 GHz, bandwidth of 2.4 GHz - 2.48 GHz, size of 0.8 cm x 1.2 cm, radiation efficiency of 70%, pattern correlation coefficient of 0.3 and input impedance of 50 Ω. The main goals to be achieved from the birdcage coil are the better homogeneity and higher signal to noise ratio than the existing coil. The design and optimization of both antenna and birdcage coil were done using simulation software …

Medical School Watercooler Newsletter - July 8, 2012, Lindsey Lyle

Watercooler Newsletter

This is the July 8, 2012 edition of the Frederick P. Whiddon College of Medicine's newsletter - Watercooler.

Contents Include:

• College of Medicine Welcomes Dr. Javier Laurini
• USA Physician Featured on Episode of 'The Dead Files'
• USA Researchers’ Work Published in Science Signaling Journal
• July Med School Café - 'Finding a Cure for Epilepsy'
• Pulmonary Researchers Participate in Pulmonary Hypertension Association's International Conference

Loss Of Circuits Promoting Appetite Are Associated With Increases In Circuits Promoting Satiety: Where Is The Plasticity Occurring?, Nicole Dominguez, Ellen M. Walker, Arshad M. Khan*

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Hindbrain catecholamine (CA) neurons promote feeding, whereas arcuate hypothalamic alpha melanocyte-stimulating hormone (αMSH) neurons promote satiety. A key brain region receiving these CA feeding and αMSH satiety signals is the paraventricular hypothalamus (PVH). We have observed that the αMSH inputs unexpectedly increase if the feeding-promoting CA inputs are lesioned. Here, we asked whether the increased αMSH inputs reflect altered numbers of αMSH neurons in the arcuate hypothalamus after the lesion or represent only local changes at the level of the PVH. Immunofluorescently labeled ARH αMSH neurons from 28 control and lesioned rats were counted as follows: confocal images from left …

Concentrated Flow Erodibility For Physically Based Erosion Models: Temporal Variability In Disturbed And Undisturbed Rangelands, Osama Z. Al-Hamdan, Frederick B. Pierson, Mark A. Nearing, C. Jason Williams, Jeffry J. Stone, Patrick R. Kormos, Jan Boll, Mark A. Weltz

Articles

Current physically based overland flow erosion models for rangeland application do not separate disturbed and undisturbed conditions in modeling concentrated flow erosion. In this study, concentrated flow simulations on disturbed and undisturbed rangelands were used to estimate the erodibility and to evaluate the performance of linear and power law equations that describe the relationship between erosion rate and several hydraulic parameters. None of the hydraulic parameters consistently predicted the detachment capacity well for all sites, however, stream power performed better than most of other hydraulic parameters. Using power law functions did not improve the detachment relation with respect to that …

Mathematical Modeling And Simulation Of 1 Acute And Chronic Phase Hiv-1 Dynamics, Frank Nani, Mingxian Jin

Math and Computer Science Faculty Working Papers

• Aims: To construct a clinically plausible mathematical model of the patho-physiological dynamics of HIV-1 induced AIDS during the acute and chronic phases which incorporates the interactions between uninfected CD4+ T cells, HIV-1 infected CD4+ T cells, HIV-1 virions in the blood plasma, and specific cytotoxic CD8+ T cells. In particular, the model describes quantitatively the time evolution of AIDS in the patient during the acute phase and the asymptomatic chronic clinical latency phase and elucidates the effect of latent HIV-1 reservoirs on the prognosis of AIDS. The major objective is to derive mathematical criteria depicting the necessary and sufficient conditions …

Generalized Necessary And Sufficient Conditions For Annihilation Of Hiv-1 Virions During Haart, Frank Nani, Mingxian Jin

Math and Computer Science Faculty Working Papers

In this paper, the patho-physiological dynamics of Human Immuno-deficiency Virus type 1( HIV-1) induced AIDS during Highly Active Anti Retroviral Therapy (HAART) is modeled using a system of non-linear deterministic differential equations. The physiologically relevant and clinically plausible equations depict the dynamics of uninfected CD4+ T cells (x1), HIV-1 infected CD4+ T cells (x2), HIV-1 virions in the blood plasma (x3), HIV-1 specific CD8+ T cells (x4), and the concentration of HAART drug molecules (x5). Criteria for the existence of therapeutic outcomes are presented. In particular, the necessary and sufficient conditions for the annihilation of HIV-1 virions, and HIV-1 infected …

Automated Identification Of Binding Sites Forphosphorylated Ligands In Protein Structures, Dario Ghersi, Roberto Sanchez

Interdisciplinary Informatics Faculty Publications

Phosphorylation is a crucial step in many cellular processes, ranging from metabolic reactions involved in energy transformation to signaling cascades. In many instances, protein domains specifically recognize the phosphogroup. Knowledge of the binding site provides insights into the interaction, and it can also be exploited for therapeutic purposes. Previous studies have shown that proteins interacting with phosphogroups are highly heterogeneous, and no single property can be used to reliably identify the binding site. Here we present an energy-based computational procedure that exploits the protein three-dimensional structure to identify binding sites involved in the recognition of phosphogroups. The procedure is validated …

Characterization And Preliminary Demonstration Of Microcantilever Array Integrated Sensors, Ryan R. Anderson

Theses and Dissertations

I characterize the behavior of microcantilever arrays which utilize the in-plane photonic transduction that I've previously developed and evaluate the performance of the microcantilever arrays in simple sensing scenarios with integrated microfluidics. First the thermal responses of microcantilevers with a variety of patterns of deposited gold films are compared. Using a scanning electron microscope, I observe the deflection thermal sensitivities of 300 µm long microcantilevers to be -170.82 nm/K for a full gold coating and -1.93 nm/K for no gold coating. Using the photonic transduction method I measure a thermal sensitivity of -1.46 nm/K for a microcantilever array with no …

Mr. Nathaniel Wagner Sr

African American Funeral Programs

No abstract provided.

Racial And Ethnic Health Disparities In Incarcerated Populations, Meghan E. Borysova, Ojmarrh Mitchell, Dawood H. Sultan, Arthur R. Williams

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Alarming disparities in population health and wellness in the United States have led to multi-disciplinary research efforts to create health equity. Identifying disparities, elucidating the etiological bases of disparities, and implementing solutions to eliminate disparities are part of the U.S. national health agenda. Racial and ethnic disparities have been identified throughout the cancer control continuum, in cardiovascular disease, diabetes and a multitude of other conditions. The causes of disparities are complex, condition specific, and conjectured to result from combinations of biological and socio-behavioral factors. Racial and ethnic health disparities within the vast incarcerated communities have been excluded from most studies, …

Smoke-Free Policies In The Workplace And In The Home Among American Indians, Carla Berg

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

Objectives: American Indians are more likely to smoke, less likely to have smoke-free homes, and potentially less likely to have worksite smoke-free policies. We examined correlates of smoke-free policies at home and work among a community-based sample of American Indians in the Midwest.

Methods: We examined correlates of smoke-free policies at home and work in a sample of American Indians in the Midwest using a community-based participatory research approach.

Results: 66.7% were nonsmokers, 15.6% smoked on some days, and 17.6% smoked every day. The majority (72.4%) had complete smoke-free home policies, 13.1% had partial restrictions, and 14.5% …

Building Trust And Collaboration With Rural Minorities: Experiences With Minority Farmers In The Mississippi Delta, Ari Mwachofi

Journal of Health Disparities Research and Practice

The paper focuses on the question “What research approach is effective in building trust with minority farmers?” The question is answered through a documentation of researchers’ experiences building trust and collaboration with minority farmers in the lower Mississippi Delta. The researchers applied two research paradigms -logical positivism and paradigm of praxis. The logical positivism research approach was met with mistrust and open animosity and had to be abandoned for one based on the paradigm of praxis. Through this approach, and cognizant of the historical-social-political context, the researchers included insiders from the focus population as collaborators and researchers and succeeded in …

Ethnicity And Benefit Finding In Hiv+ Msm, Julia Seay

Open Access Theses

HIV+ men who have sex with men (MSM) in ethnic minority groups have significantly poorer psychosocial and health-related outcomes as compared with HIV+ individuals in majority groups (e.g. white, heterosexual). The current study seeks to examine a positive psychological pattern found in previous studies comparing ethnic minority and white patients with chronic disease; specifically, that ethnic minorities tend to exhibit higher levels of benefit finding in response to chronic disease. Understanding the factors that may uniquely contribute to benefit finding in minority HIV+ MSM may aid in the development of interventions designed to improve psychosocial and health-related outcomes for this …

Cytochrome B5 And Cytokeratin 17 Are Biomarkers In Bronchoalveolar Fluid Signifying Onset Of Acute Lung Injury, Antoine Ménoret, Sanjeev Kumar, Anthony T. Vella

UCHC Articles - Research

Acute lung injury (ALI) is characterized by pulmonary edema and acute inflammation leading to pulmonary dysfunction and potentially death. Early medical intervention may ameliorate the severity of ALI, but unfortunately, there are no reliable biomarkers for early diagnosis. We screened for biomarkers in a mouse model of ALI. In this model, inhalation of S. aureus enterotoxin A causes increased capillary permeability, cell damage, and increase protein and cytokine concentration in the lungs. We set out to find predictive biomarkers of ALI in bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid before the onset of clinical manifestations. A cutting edge proteomic approach was used to …

The Gas/Dust Ratio Of Circumstellar Disks: Testing Models Of Planetesimal Formation, David Horne, Erika Gibb, Terrence Rettig, Sean Brittain, David Tilley, Dinshaw Balsara

Physics Faculty Works

We present high-resolution, near-infrared NIRSPEC observations of CO absorption toward six class II T Tauri stars: AA Tau, DG Tau, IQ Tau, RY Tau, CW Tau, and Haro 6-5b. 12CO overtone absorption lines originating from the circumstellar disk of each object were used to calculate line-of-sight gas column densities toward each source. We measured the gas/dust ratio as a function of disk inclination, utilizing measured visual extinctions and inclinations for each star. The majority of our sources show further evidence for a correlation between the gas/dust column density ratio and disk inclination similar to that found by Rettig et al.

Textbook Bling: An Evaluation Of Textbook Quality And Usability In Open Educational Resources Versus Traditionally Published Textbooks, Jennifer Lynn Price

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods study evaluated quality, usage, and perceptions of open educational resources compared to traditionally published textbooks. Because textbooks and other related materials make up a significant portion of educational costs, open educational resources have been explored for potential cost savings at all levels of education. These resources use public domain or open-licensed materials as the content component of free eTextbooks or low-cost printed textbooks. This evaluation explores how teachers and students use textbook resources both in and out of the classroom and the degree to which the content and design of open textbooks compares in quality and value to …

Il-6 Regulation On Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Remodeling During Cancer Cachexia In The ApcMin/+ Mouse, James P. White, Melissa J. Puppa, Shuichi Sato, Song Gao, Robert L. Price, John W. Baynes, Matthew C. Kostek, Lydia E. Matesic, James A. Carson

Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND:

Muscle protein turnover regulation during cancer cachexia is being rapidly defined, and skeletal muscle mitochondria function appears coupled to processes regulating muscle wasting. Skeletal muscle oxidative capacity and the expression of proteins regulating mitochondrial biogenesis and dynamics are disrupted in severely cachectic Apc^Min/+ mice. It has not been determined if these changes occur at the onset of cachexia and are necessary for the progression of muscle wasting. Exercise and anti-cytokine therapies have proven effective in preventing cachexia development in tumor bearing mice, while their effect on mitochondrial content, biogenesis and dynamics is not well understood. The purposes of …

July 6, 2012 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Inhibition Of Pokeweed Antiviral Protein (Pap) By Turnip Mosaic Virus Genome-Linked Protein (Vpg), Artem V. Domashevskiy, Hiroshi Miyoshi, Dixie J. Goss

Publications and Research

Pokeweed antiviral protein (PAP) from Phytolacca americana is a ribosome-inactivating protein (RIP) and an RNA N-glycosidase that removes specific purine residues from the sarcin/ricin loop of large rRNA, arresting protein synthesis at the translocation step. PAP is also a cap-binding protein and is a potent antiviral agent against many plant, animal, and human viruses. To elucidate the mechanism of RNA depurination, and to understand how PAP recognizes and targets various RNAs, the interactions between PAP and turnip mosaic virus genomelinked protein (VPg) were investigated. VPg can function as a cap analog in cap-independent translation and potentially target PAP to uncapped …

Evaluation And Validation Of Tumor-Associated Antigen P53 As Biomarker In Liver And Lung Cancer, Marissa R. Velazquez, Liping Dai, Rosalia Ortega, Jianying Zhang

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

During cellular stress, p53 can slow down cell cycle progression, allowing DNA to either be repaired or lead to cell apoptosis. In human cancer, the most common changes in p53 are missense point mutations within the coding sequences of p53 gene. These point mutations can alter a protein’s functions and increase their stability. Antibodies to p53 have been found in many types of human cancer. The aim of this project is to evaluate and validate whether p53 and its antibody can be used as a biomarker for liver and lung cancer. First, expression and induction of p53 was done. Purification …

Insights Into The Role Of The N-Terminus Of The Neuronal Glycine Transporter 2, Diego A. Escobar-Garcia, Ana Garibay, Miryam Pando, Manuel Miranda

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Hyperekplexia is distinguished by exaggerated muscle tension, sudden shock and even death in response to touch/acoustic stimuli. Genetic analysis showed that mutations on glycinergic proteins on the presynaptic neurons are responsible for the attacks. Mutations in the Glycine Transporter 2 (GlyT2) have been suggested to be the second major cause of hyperekplexia. The GlyT2 consist of twelve transmembrane domains, a 201 amino acid long N-terminus and a shorter C-terminus, both intracellular. Dysfunction of this transporter prevents the intake of glycine from the synapse back to the presynaptic neuron. Our goal is to better understand the role of N-terminus on protein …

Chronic Ethanol Exposure Causes Disinhibited Behavior In Drosophila, Estrella Padilla, Kyung-An Han

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Ethanol consumption is frequently associated with disinhibited sexual and locomotor behaviors in humans. Dopamine, a major monoamine found in vertebrates and invertebrates, is implicated in these processes since it regulates motivation, reward, motor control, and sexual behaviors. The goal of this study is to elucidate the role of dopamine in ethanol-associated behavioral disinhibition using the genetically tractable model system Drosophila melanogaster. Previous studies have shown a requirement for normal dopamine neurotransmission for ethanol-induced courtship disinhibition. Furthermore, genetic manipulation of the dopamine system revealed that D1 receptor activity is important for disinhibition and D2 for sensitization. The current study focuses …

Cytotoxic Effects Of Creosote (Larrea Tridentata) Plant Extracts On Human Lymphoma Cells Lines, Emanuel Cordero, Yahaira Santiago, Carolina Lema, Armando Varela-Ramirez, Renato J Aguilera

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

Larrea tridentata also known as Creosote is a North American shrub, whose leave extracts are proposed to contain anti-cancer properties. The main metabolite in this plant is the nordihydroguaiaretic acid (NDGA) has been shown to have anti-neoplastic, anti-viral and anti-inflammatory properties. NDGA is a strong anti-oxidant that can scavenge or inhibit reactive oxygen spices production, stimulate nitric oxide production, increase immune function, enhance central nervous system function, and prevent cardiovascular or other diseases. Although extracts from this plant are currently used in Mexico as an herbal medicine, the Food and Drug Administration and Health Canada have issued health hazard warming …

In Vitro Evaluation Of Human Her2-Positive Breast Cancer Cells, Karla Parra, Howard West, Paloma Valenzuela, Eduardo D. Ramirez, Natzidielly Lerma, Courtney Becerril, Irving Miramontes, Cynthia M. Rodriguez, Guido Bocci, Giulio Francia

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

One in four cases of breast cancer shows over expression of the Her-2 protein, and there is an urgent need to improve therapies for this disease. We have evaluated two Her-2 positive human breast cancer cell lines, MDA-231H2N and HCC1419. MDA-231 human breast cancer cell, which are Her-2 negative, were used as a control. The cell lines were evaluated in vitro for their relative growth rate, their growth under reduced (i.e. 3% serum) conditions, or as spheroid cultures, and for their sensitivity to drugs such as ceramide analogs and tyrosine kinase inhibitors (i.e. CLM3, CLM29, and CLM94) that are being …

Identification Of Two Functional Sumo Interacting Motifs (Sims) In The Non-Structural Protein Of Influenza A Virus Ns1a, Lorellie M. Lewis, German Rosas-Acosta

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

We have previously shown that the non-structural protein of Influenza A virus NS1A is post-translationally modified by conjugation of the Small Ubiquitin-like MOdifier (SUMO). Our functional studies have also demonstrated that SUMO conjugation (SUMOylation) affects NS1A's ability to neutralize the cellular interferon response of the host cell and other functions associated to NS1A. Importantly, we have also shown that influenza infections trigger a global increase in cellular SUMOylation and have recently demonstrated that such an increase is mediated by NS1A. This observation led us to investigate the molecular mechanism endowing NS1A with the ability to increase global cellular SUMOylation. Sequence …

Generation And Characterization Of Sequence-Independent Sumoylated Lens Epithelium-Derived Growth Factor (Ledgf) Protein P75 Chimeras., Alfredo Roman, Denisse Gutierrez, Manuel Llano

COURI Symposium Abstracts, Summer 2012

LEDGF/p75 is a transcriptional coactivator required for efficient lentiviral cDNA integration. LEDGF/p75 has been found to be SUMOylated at four lysine residues, and mutation of these residues to arginine inhibits LEDGF/p75 SUMOylation and impairs the HIV-cofactor activity of this protein. However, we still do not understand how SUMOylation influences the HIV cofactor activity of LEDGF/p75. It has been demonstrated that attachment of SUMO to transcription factors in a non-sequence specific fashion recapitulates the effect of sequence-specific SUMOylation on the activity of these proteins. These results have suggested that is SUMO per se and not the modification of the target protein …