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Regulation Of Immune Response Genes By Vitamin D In Mammary Epithelial Cells With An Emphasis On Cd14, Katrina Marie Simmons

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Vitamin D is primarily known for its role in bone health, however recently vitamin D has been identified as a potent immunomodulator. Most research studying the effects of vitamin D on immune properties have focused on immune cells. Few have evaluated how vitamin D affects the immune functions of barrier epithelial cells, such as human mammary epithelial (HME) cells, that are exposed to pathogens both locally and systemically. The goals of the studies described in this thesis were to comprehensively and mechanistically evaluate the immune effects of vitamin D metabolites, 1α,25-dihydroxyvitamin D (1,25D) and 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25D), on HME cells. …

Predictors Of Attrition Among Participants In A Worksite Wellness Program, Yvonne A. Johnston

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Objectives: The purpose of this secondary data analysis was to examine "stage of change" as a predictor of attrition among participants in a worksite wellness program. A Conceptual Model of Attrition was developed to examine health screening, health risk appraisal (HRA), and demographic predictors of attrition as well.

Military Contamination And Persistent Organochlorine Pesticide Exposure Among Alaska Natives, Samuel Byrne

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

St. Lawrence Island Alaska is located in the Bering Sea, only 36 miles from Siberia. The island is home to approximately 1600 Siberian Yupik residents, who rely heavily on subsistence hunting and gathering. There are two formerly used defense (FUD) sites on the island, one of which has been the subject of an approximate $110 million cleanup effort. Environmental monitoring suggests localized soil and watershed contamination with PCBs, organochlorine pesticides and heavy metals. Previous research suggests the site may be a source of PCB exposure for local residents. The primary aim of the study was to determine whether subsistence activities …

An Evaluation Of Factors Leading To The Risk And Detection Of Thyroid Cancer, Thomas James O'Grady

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract:

Paternal Occupational Pesticide Exposure And Neural Tube Defects In The National Birth Defects Prevention Study, Stacy Marie Pettigrew

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

The Dieting Paradox : Using I³ Theory To Explain Counter-Regulatory Eating, Lindsay C. Morton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Counter-regulatory eating occurs when dieters engage in disinhibited overconsumption after a transgression of their diet. It may be one reason why efforts to control one's weight through dietary restriction so often fail. Unfortunately, the causal mechanisms behind this behavior are a source of contention. To resolve the disagreement over what exactly triggers counter-regulatory eating, this dissertation applied I3 theory, which posits that three factors interact to determine disinhibited behavior: instigation, impellance, and inhibition. Three-hundred twenty-two female undergraduate participants were recruited for participation in this study. Instigation was examined using the traditional milkshake pre-load, in which participants' perceptions of caloric content …

Sleep Duration And Diabetes In An Adult Population Of Rural Upstate New York, Tarak Shrestha

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Introduction: Within the past five decades, there has been a rapid increase in the number of diabetic cases in the US. The number of diabetic cases increased from 1.5 million in 1959 to 25.8 million in 2011. Around the same time period, the average sleep duration per night decreased from 8 hours to 6.9 hours.

Genomic And Physical Analysis Of Rnr1-Containing Autophagosomes During Environmental Stress, Tamir Danon

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Physical & Genetic Analysis of Rnr1 autophagosomes during the DNA damage response

A Biocultural Perspective On The Transition To Agriculture In Ukraine, Jordan Kenneth Karsten

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The development of agriculture and its spread around the globe is one of the most consequential events in the history of our species. The transition to agriculture is associated with many cultural developments, such as craft specialization, urbanization, and the creation of social hierarchies. Many social theorists believe that these changes associated with the adoption of farming were beneficial to the human condition, however, not all agree. The goal of this research is to evaluate the impact of the adoption of agriculture on human health. To do this, bioarchaeological analysis is employed, comparing the skeletal and dental health of Mesolithic …

Toward An Early Start For Head Start Children : Evidence From An Academic-Enriched Literacy Initiative, Haiyan Zhang

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to address the question of whether it is developmentally appropriate to expose preschool children to a comprehensive instructional program designed to facilitate the acquisition of early literacy skills. The primary means of addressing this question was to assess the development of emergent literacy skills in four-year-old children enrolled in a literacy-enriched Head Start program for a period of one year, as compared with those of four-year-old children who entered at age three and enrolled in the program for two years. Related questions of special interests are to what extent the three and four-year-old children …

The Role Of The Simple Natures And Method In Descartes' Meditations, Thomas C. Fowler

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

ABSTRACT

Atrazine In Maternal Drinking Water Supply Below The Federal Maximum Contaminant Level And Risk Of Preterm Birth, Small For Gestational Age, Cryptorchidism And Hypospadias, Daniel Rice

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The prevalence of preterm birth, small for gestational age (SGA), and hypospadias has been increasing for several decades in the U.S resulting in significant morbidity and mortality and direct costs to society. Drinking water provides a mechanism for prolonged chronic exposure to environmental contaminants but is one of the least assessed environmental exposures in pregnancy and birth outcomes. To test the hypothesis that maternal exposure to atrazine through drinking water during pregnancy, or one or more trimesters of gestation, is associated with an increased risk of preterm birth, small for gestational age, cryptorchidism and hypospadias a retrospective cohort study was …

Improving The Microbial Source Tracking Toolbox : Evaluating The Use Of Selective Enrichments And Artificial Sweeteners In A Multi-Tiered Approach, Stacey A. Helming

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Microbial contamination of surface waters is a public health concern world-wide, with non-point source fecal input contributing to millions of cases of waterborne illness annually. Numerous techniques have been proposed to monitor for non-point source fecal contamination, but few studies have explored the correlation of multiple chemical and microbial fecal source tracking markers in ambient waters. Therefore, the purpose of these studies was to evaluate the use of multiple "ideal" markers of fecal contamination and improve upon any analytical techniques required to identify species-specific fecal contamination in surface waters. The use of selective enrichments to improve the sensitivity of end-point …

Early Health And Human Capital Accumulation : An Econometric Analysis Using The Psid-Cds, 1997-2007, Dohyung Kim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The first chapter estimates the effect of fetal growth on academic achievement in childhood using a nested error-component two-stage least squares (NEC2SLS) estimator that draws on internal instruments from alternative dimensions of the multi-level panel data structure of the panel data set. This estimation method increases efficiency by exploiting information on children with no siblings in the sample as well as identifies coefficients for the time-invariant, mother-specific regressors, all of which are not feasible with conventional mother-fixed effects estimation. We estimate modest but statistically significant effects of birth weight and fetal growth rate on math and reading scores, with the …

Novel Partner Notification Approaches In New York State, And Antibiotic Resistance In The Management Of Chlamydia Trachomatis Infections, Christopher Frank Davis

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Chlamydia trachomatis (chlamydia) is the most frequently reported notifiable disease in the United States. This dissertation provides an evaluation of chlamydia treatment and control through three different lenses: 1) patient views on a novel strategy to facilitate treatment, 2) student perceptions about materials to promote treatment of sexual partners, and 3) evidence regarding recurrent infection etiology.

Maternal Characteristics And Factors Associated With Hepatitis C (Hcv) Infection Among Hiv-Positive Pregnant Women In Ukraine, 2010-2011, Liudmyla Slobodianyk

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Objective: Determine the association between risk factors for Hepatitis C and hepatitis C (HCV) infection among HIV-positive pregnant women in Ukraine.

A Divisive Shuffling Approach (Vista) For Gene Expression Analysis To Identify Subtypes In Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, Jörg Menche, Amitabh Sharma, Michael H. Cho, Ruth J. Mayer, Stephen I. Rennard, Bartolome Celli, Bruce E. Miller, Nick Locantore, Ruth Tal-Singer, Soumitra Ghosh, Chris Larminie, Glyn Bradley, John H. Riley, Alvar Agusti, Edwin K. Silverman, Albert-László Barabási

Journal Articles: Pulmonary & Critical Care Med

BACKGROUND: An important step toward understanding the biological mechanisms underlying a complex disease is a refined understanding of its clinical heterogeneity. Relating clinical and molecular differences may allow us to define more specific subtypes of patients that respond differently to therapeutic interventions.

RESULTS: We developed a novel unbiased method called diVIsive Shuffling Approach (VIStA) that identifies subgroups of patients by maximizing the difference in their gene expression patterns. We tested our algorithm on 140 subjects with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) and found four distinct, biologically and clinically meaningful combinations of clinical characteristics that are associated with large gene expression …

Essays On Failure Management Of Nonprofit Organizations, Junesoo Lee

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

No matter how well an organization is managed, we face some inevitable failures such as deficient volunteers, excess demands for service, unstable grants, etc. Paradoxically however, successful organizations have been using their failures creatively. Beyond such successful use of failure, can benefits of failure be systematically described? What would be the generic ways to benefit from failure? In order to answer that question, three essays were written with the following details.

Perfluorinated Compounds, Thyroid Function, And Neuropsychological Status In Older Residents Of Upper Hudson River Communities, Srishti Shrestha

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) are widespread in the environment. Minimal data exist regarding the neurotoxicity and thyroid disruptive property of PFCs in aging populations and the possible mediating effects of thyroid hormones (THs). In this study, we assessed associations among PFCs, thyroid function, and neuropsychological status, and determined if the neurotoxic effects of PFCs are mediated by changes in THs in an aging population. We measured perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA), perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH), total thyroxine (T4), free T4 (fT4), and total triiodothyronine (T3) in serum and performed neuropsychological tests in men and women aged 55-74 years and living …

Examining The Risk And Protective Factors That Influence Falls Among Native American Older Adults, Kelly Winjum

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The risk factors for falls and the adverse outcomes of falls have been well documented among the general older adult population. However, fall frequency, fall risk factors, and fall outcomes have rarely been studied among minority groups specifically. Furthermore, to date there are no known studies that exclusively examine falls among Native American older adults. The purpose of this study is to examine falls among Native American older adults, in order to understand the risk and protective factors for falling among this population, and to develop recommendations for intervention. The theoretical framework of the Disablement Process guides this study. The …

Relationships Between Breastfeeding, Maternal Cigarette Smoking During Pregnancy, And The Cognitive Functioning Of Akwesasne Mohawk Adolescents Exposed To Environmental Pollution, Georgia Brooke

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Previous research has suggested that breastfeeding is beneficial for children's health and that maternal cigarette smoking during pregnancy is harmful for children's health. However, there is not a consensus in the existing literature about whether or not these two maternal behaviors impact the cognitive development of children. Furthermore, understanding the role of breastfeeding in children's development is complicated by the fact that breastfeeding transmits toxicants that are stored in the mother's body, including polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), to the infant. Existing research suggests that PCBs negatively impact children's cognitive functioning. The current study examined relationships between breastfeeding, maternal cigarette smoking during …

Instructional Scientific Humor In The Secondary Classroom, Francine Wizner

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This study is an examination of the manner in which educators employ scientific content humor and how that humor is perceived by their students. Content humor is a useful strategy in drawing the attention of students and improving their receptivity toward scientific information. It is also a useful tool in combating the growing distractions of the electronic classroom. Previous studies have found that humor has a positive effect on knowledge, memory, and understanding. However, few studies have been conducted below the undergraduate level and mainly quantitative measures of student recall have been used to measure learning. This study employed multiple …

Outpatient Treatment Approaches, Services And Outcomes For Older Addicted Adults, Nicole Sarette Macfarland

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract

A Population-Based Case-Control Study Of The Association Between Extreme Heat Events And Neural Tube Defects And Oral Clefts, Aida Soim

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

With climate change it is expected that extreme weather events will become more frequent and longer in duration. The health consequences of maternal exposure during pregnancy to extreme heat events are not well understood in spite of biological plausibility for adverse effects suggested by prior findings. There is very limited research that explores the relationship between extreme heat events and birth defects. The overall goal of this line of research was to determine whether heatwaves (HW) are associated with two major classes of birth defects: neural tube defects (NTDs) and oral clefts. One component of this project aimed to describe …

Effects Of Acute Stress And Gender On Decision-Making, Stephanie Elaine Wemm

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The current study examined the effects of a social stressor on subsequent performance on the Iowa Gambling Task (IGT), and the role of sex on this relationship. Fifty-six participants (24 men and 32 women) were assigned randomly to a social stressor (Trier Social Stress Test) or a control condition while their subjective emotional reactions and their physiological arousal (skin conductance and heart rate) were measured. Findings showed that participants in the stress condition responded with higher skin-conductance levels and heart rate during the social stressor, in addition to reporting greater negative affect directly following the social stressor. They also made …

Engineering Liposomes, Ushna Vaid

Honors Capstones

The purpose is to design and evaluate the liposomal formulations to overcome disadvantages such as short half-life, prone to oxidation and hydrolysis, leakage and fusion in vitro. Liposomes are prepared using different techniques like lipid hydration and extrusion, reverse phase evaporation, ethanol injection, sonication, ethanol destabilization and mannitol freeze thaw methods. The formulations made using each of these methods were evaluated based on particle size and encapsulation efficiency. The particle size was measured using Dynamic light scattering and the encapsulation efficiency was measured using fluorescence spectroscopy. Finally, the suitable formulations were tested for dye release studies using SOT AX dissolution …

Risk Perceptions Of Cardiovascular Disease In College Students, Antonia Kolas

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

College students oftentimes underestimate their risk perception of cardiovascular disease (CVD). This study examined undergraduate students' perception of efficacy and perception of threat of cardiovascular disease. A paper survey was distributed to three undergraduate student classes (n = 127; 66.9% female; 33.1% male; 83.5% White/Caucasian; M age = 20.00). This 17-item survey assessed demographics, perception of general health, perception of efficacy of cardiovascular disease, and perception of threat of cardiovascular disease. Analyses included Cronbach's alpha, descriptive, frequencies, and independent sample t-test. College students have a higher perception of efficacy (M = 24.45 out of 30.00; SD = 4.35) and a …

Ahat 412.01: Advanced Practicum In Athletic Training Ii, Valerie Rich Moody, Jessica L. Moore

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Ahhs 389.01: Recent Advances In Clinical Medicine, Kimberly A. Madson

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.

Enst 555.01: Research Methods For Social Change, Neva Hassanein

University of Montana Course Syllabi

No abstract provided.