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Illness Narratives Of Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus And Family Communication: A Mixed Methods Study, Katherine M. Castle

Department of Communication Studies: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prominent, yet under-studied autoimmune condition that is both life limiting and potentially life threatening and affects more than one million Americans, primarily women. Despite this, the disease continues to go undiagnosed and unmanaged, leading to more severe outcomes of the disease process. Though there is growing recognition of the importance of social behaviors in improving health outcomes, particularly family communication and sense-making, there is a paucity of research aimed at understanding the experience of SLE and how women make sense of the disease in family contexts. This exploratory sequential mixed methods project is framed …

Application Of Hierarchical Linear Modeling In A Tourism Context: Understanding Couples' Intention To Purchase Local Food In South Carolina, Guliz Coskun

All Dissertations

Despite the collective nature of tourism activity, the research focusing on group behavior in tourism literature is very rare. People usually travel with groups, mostly with their families who have influence on their travel decisions. Food is one of the unique aspects of a destination which has become a marketing tool for tourism planners and an important travel decision. An understanding of the preference of local food among tourists will create positive impact on the region and exploring the underlying factors of this preference will be beneficial for future marketing plans. The purpose of this study was to understand the …

Designing A Minimal-Knowledge Controller To Achieve Fast, Stable Growth For Recombinant Escherichia Coli Cultures, Matthew E. Pepper

All Dissertations

The biopharmaceutical industry is constantly developing new recombinant Es-cherichia coli strains to bring new products to market. In early stages of development, small scale bioreactors are used to make the product and explore di˙erent growth pro-tocols. Researchers spend significant time finding a feed rate profile that will give fast growth and low byproduct accumulation. The objective for the controller pre-sented in this work is to achieve fast growth and low acetate accumulation for an E.coli fermentation. The controller does not rely on previous characterization data or models but on fundamental metabolic relationships between oxygen and glucose as dictated by the …

Sieve Structures To Control Gully Erosion On The Borana Plateau, D. Layne Coppock, Brien E. Norton, Demisachew Tadele, Jaldesa Doyo, Bedasa Eba, Dereje Teshome

Environment and Society Faculty Publications

Gully erosion is a widespread problem in the Borana plateau. Gullies are the main pathway for sediment accumulation in community ponds, especially during heavy rains, which reduces pond capacity. Sediment movement in gullies can be substantially reduced by installation of sieve structures that slow down water flows and allow sediment to settle out of suspension. Sieves can be easily constructed from trees by community labour at low cost. The community should develop a landscape-level plan and follow a suitable sieve design. Project Kalo collaborators have demonstrated that a series of sieve structures down a secondary gully in the Dikale pond …

Portland’S Food Economy: Trends And Contributions, Jamaal Green, Greg Schrock, Jenny H. Liu

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The primary goal of this report is to document the scope, growth, and contribution of the food economy to the city of Portland and the region. Specifically, this report addresses the following research questions:

• What is the "food economy," and how is it defined?
• What is the size of Portland’s food economy, and how has it changed in recent years?
• How is the food economy distributed spatially within the city and the region? How is this changing?
• What kind of employment opportunities does Portland’s food economy offer? How do they compare to the broader economy?
• Who works in Portland’s food …

Infection Rates And Distribution Of Trypanosoma Cruzi In Triatomine Insects From Several Public Parks Of Starr, Hidalgo And Cameron Counties, Carlos Guzman Jr.

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Chagas disease is caused by the protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and is a major public health concern in many areas of the world, including the United States. The disease is transmitted by insect vectors known as kissing bugs from the subfamily Triatominae. While the majority of studies focus on domestic and peri-domestic collections, this study collected insect vectors from state parks in the Lower Rio Grande Valley. PCR analysis was done to obtain infection rates for collected insects, and a morphological examination was done to check insects for gender. In total 18 insects were captured with 12 of the captured insects …

Loss Of Mitochondrial Dna Causes Decreased Cell Viability, Alan M. Herrera

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Mitochondria are an organellar network involved in cellular bioenergetics and apoptosis, and dynamically balance their organization between fusion and fission events. Mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and nuclear DNA combine to encode polypeptides for the complexes of oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS) in the mitochondrial inner membrane, which generate a transmembrane potential (ΔΨm) to synthesize ATP. Loss of ΔΨm causes mitochondrial fission, which appears to be associated with the progression of apoptosis, a critical cell death mechanism that allows tissue homeostasis, developmental sculpturing, and the removal of unwanted cells. Using cultured human cell models of decreased ΔΨm (both genetic mtDNA-depleted ρ 0 and pharmacological …

Higgs Boson Equation In De Sitter Spacetime: Numerical Investigation Of Bubbles Using Gpus, Jacob N. Banda

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

The Higgs field, along with its corresponding boson, represent a milestone for modern day particle physics. In this work we consider the Higgs boson equation in de Sitter spacetime. Previous work by K. Yagdjian [23] has formulated sufficient conditions for the existence of the zeros of global solutions in the interior of their supports. In searching for such solutions, we turn to heterogeneous parallel computing, which allows for faster computation through graphical processing units (GPUs). Armed with general-purpose computation on graphics hardware (GPGPU) techniques and explicit numerical schemes, we approximate solutions of the equation for the Higgs boson along with …

Sexual Harassment In Las Vegas Nightclub Industry, Ksenia Kondratyuk

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Las Vegas nightclub industry creates awfully ideal conditions for workplace sexual harassment. Considering the history of sexual harassment cases against major Las Vegas nightclub operators, the industry is currently facing the problem of either continuing to follow the “good old days” model of using bottle service girls’ sexuality to attract business or develop safer and more efficient business model to protect themselves and their employees. Analyses of secondary data including academic literature, trade publications and press, showed that similarly to the city itself, Las Vegas nightclub industry expanded and evolved from a boy's town to one of the most visited …

Generation Of Multiple Fluid-Phase C3b:Plasma Protein Complexes During Complement Activation. Functional Significance And Possible Implications In C3 Glomerulopathies, Mahalakshmi Ramadass

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The complement system is tightly regulated in order to safeguard against tissue damage that results from unwanted activation. The key step of C3 cleavage to C3b is regulated by multiple mechanisms that control the initiation and extent of activation. This study demonstrated that C3b:plasma protein complexes form in the fluid-phase during complement activation, and complexes could function as a passive mechanism to intercept C3b from depositing on host cells. Several different plasma proteins displayed a discrete high molecular weight, SDS-resistant band when any of the three complement activating pathways were triggered in normal human serum or plasma. Serum depleted of …

A Novel Role For Ciliary Proteins In Zymogen Granule Secretion Of Pancreatic Acinar Cells, Benjamin Sy Cyge

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Primary cilia are present on nearly all mammalian cells. For many years, they were thought to be functionless, vestigial organelles. In recent years, primary cilia have been found to be essential for many important biological processes. Included in these are chemo - and mechano-sensation, as well as acting as a signaling hub for hedgehog, Wnt, and notch signaling. Further exemplifying their importance, there is a new classification of genetic disorders, collectively referred to as ciliopathies, which manifest due to aberrant growth and regulation of cilia, and aberrant expression of gene products thought to be critical for these processes. Our lab …

Tuftsin And Its Receptor Neuropilin-1 In The Attenuation Of Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, Jillian Cypser Nissen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is an autoimmune disease of the central nervous system (CNS) characterized by progressive demyelination and degeneration of neurons. As MS progresses, T cells that are normally excluded from the CNS cross the compromised blood-brain barrier due to recruitment by the resident CNS immune cells, microglia. Both microglia and T cells can promote either disease progression or disease resolution through polarization into pro- and anti-inflammatory subsets, respectively. Therapeutic approaches in MS focus on diminishing inflammation and promoting expansion of anti-inflammatory immune cell populations. Tuftsin, a stimulator of macrophage/microglial activation, is a naturally occurring tetrapeptide with the sequence T-K-P-R. …

Investigating How P110α Pi3k And Adam10 Contribute To Pancreatic Disease, Jason C. Hall

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) is the 4th leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, with a 6% 5-year survival rate. Chronic pancreatitis (CP) is a debilitating disease that raises your risk for developing PDAC 13 fold. Since current therapies are not improving patient outcome, understanding the molecular mechanisms behind the formation and progression of these diseases are imperative for finding new molecularly targeted therapy. Kras is the earliest and most commonly mutated oncogene in PDAC. Pancreatic mouse models expressing oncogenic Kras spontaneously form pancreatic tumors. Since targeting Kras directly has been unsuccessful many have tried inhibiting other molecules …

Neural Underpinnings Of Anxiety: Multi-Modal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Approach, Jiook Cha

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Anxiety disorders affect about 40 million American adults yearly. Recent conceptualization suggests that abnormal brain connectivity of the corticolimbic network underlies anxiety-related maladaptive behaviors. However, it is still unclear which brain circuits mediate specific behaviors, as well as how such brain-behavior based mechanisms contribute to the pathophysiology of anxiety. In this dissertation, we used both neurobiology and behavior to investigate the etiology of generalized anxiety disorder. Specifically, we hypothesized that distinct neural mechanisms may exist in two different constructs of the negative valence system: reactivity to imminent threat (fear) and to distal and uncertain threat (anxiety). We used behavioral paradigms …

Plasticity Of Cortical Circuit Activation Within The Monocular Region Of Primary Visual Cortex Of The Rat, Trevor Charles Griffen

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

After eye opening, rodent visual cortex undergoes a period of rapid changes in cellular and synaptic properties that coincides with the maturation of visual receptive fields. During this developmental window, cortex is particularly sensitive to manipulations in sensory experience. Here, I used voltage sensitive dye imaging in acute cortical slices to show that the maturation of visual cortex is accompanied by changes in the spatio-temporal propagation of activity through the cortical circuit. The developmental alteration in the voltage signal is mediated in part by changes in the components of the signal mediated by NMDA, AMPA and GABAA receptors. Next, I …

Exploring The Role Of Serotonin On Hypoglossal Motoneuron Excitability And Plasticity Through Postnatal Development Via Mathematical Models, Kyle Graham Horn

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Neuronal plasticity is a key facet of neurons throughout the central and peripheral nervous system. Unlike most forms of plasticity, however, dysfunctions in respiratory motoneuron plasticity can be fatal. With respect to hypoxic conditions, hypoglossal motoneurons (HMs), which participate in a variety of upper airway behaviors, are considered critical for maintaining upper airway patency. Failure in these neurons can disfacilitate the tongue, rendering an obstruction in the upper airway. This can exacerbate hypoxic conditions, and may potentially contribute to sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and obstructive sleep apnea (OSA). Serotonin (5-HT) affects HM excitability through a wide variety of mechanisms, …

Assessment Of Gonadal Hormone Effects On The Glutamatergic Regulation Of Prefrontal Cortical Dopamine Levels And Executive Cognitive Function In Rats, Mallory Locklear

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Schizophrenia, Parkinson's disease, depression, and anxiety, though very different disorders, all feature deficits in the executive functions of the prefrontal cortex. These deficits share properties of greatly reducing quality of life and being poorly responsive to available therapeutics. These cognitive problems also stem at least in part from an imbalance in dopamine control over the prefrontal cortex. Normally, the prefrontal cortex requires dopamine to be held at functionally optimal levels and when dopamine either rises above or falls below this range, prefrontal executive functions become impaired. The disorders in which executive cognitive domains are at risk thus comprise two groups …

The Role Of Nf1 In Drosophila Appetitive Long Term Memory, Chunsu Xu

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

This thesis explores the consequences of mutated neurofibromin gene, NF1, on memory. NF1 disorder is an inheritable genetic disease in humans that is produced by mutation of the gene that encodes the large protein neurofibromin. Mutations in this gene produce fairly non-specific and widespread cognitive defects in human patients, in addition to a variety of other pathologies, such as benign tumors of the peripheral nervous system. It is unknown how NF1 disorder leads to cognitive deficits. Uncovering the mechanism is hampered by the fact that mutations in the NF1 gene have very unpredictable effects. Even identical (monozygotic) twins who have …

Determinants Of Abundance And The Distribution Of Primates In Northern Madagascar, Matthew Alan Banks

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Finding consistent causalities for patterns of wildlife abundance and distribution in the natural world is a central goal of ecology. Insights into how energy and biomass is distributed at particular trophic levels provide important clues towards understanding mechanisms for community structure. Among primates, the lemurs of Madagascar represent a fascinating case study for inquiry given the absence of many other animal taxa; a pattern that reflects a unique biogeographic history. A variety of factors have been proposed to influence community structure in nature and among these empirical work with primates has highlighted in particular, the role that resource availability, predation, …

When So-Called Cozy Home And Mother's Womb Are Not Safe: Intimate Partner Violence And Prenatal Maternal Stress, Ceylan Cizmeli

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) and intimate partner violence (IPV) are both associated with negative maternal and neonatal health outcomes. However, operationalization of these constructs has proved challenging due to the heterogeneity of stress and violence experiences. Little is known about the stability and change in occurrences of different types of IPV across time, and evidence for deleterious effects of PNMS and IPV on maternal and neonatal health is inconclusive. This dissertation aims to build and expand on prior research by addressing these limitations in three studies. Study 1 examined the validity of a multivariate model of PNMS across diverse women …

Faults Not Forgotten, Gina Altadonna

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

My work stems from my own neuroses, obsessions, and insecurities, which reflect the stark and disturbing truths of who I am. The question does not lie in what I see in the mirror, but rather in what society dictates should be there. Using animals to illustrate these echoes, I attempt to rattle the foundations of the normative. The animals become a personification of my confrontations with " girl world policing." Commenting on the impacts of these experiences and their effects on my past, current, and future relationships, I hope to alleviate the internal struggle of finding myself. | 40 pages

Unhomely, Catherine Katsafouros

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The objective of this thesis is to examine the ontology of my artwork and contextualize it within the framework of trauma, horror and feminism. My artwork focuses on the effects of internalized violence on cognitive and bodily processes, which manifest as haunting and repetition. In my artistic production, I use the unconscious methodologically, and I rely on pattern emergence and analysis to refine my works conceptually. In this thesis: I relate visual and conceptual aspects of my MFA Thesis Exhibition artworks to the traits of trauma most relevant to my work, namely haunting and repetition; I outline the patterns that …

Reforming Surfaces, Fatima Shakil

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Being trained as a Miniature Painter, I naturally blend the tradition of pattern making in my work. My thesis paper is a research based on the elaboration of my patterns, and their meaning, and narrative. I also express my experimentation at Stony Brook University, as an artist coming from an eastern traditional background in painting. I have also pondered on the stylization reflected in miniature painting, and how I relate to it as an artist practicing in the west. Moving forward I have also discussed the similarity, and difference of eastern and western influences both on my past and present …

Competition Among Three Primate Species At Way Canguk, Sumatra, Indonesia, Alice Anne Elder

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Microglia Ablation In The Hippocampus Affects Mouse Behavior, Joan Danver

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Microglia are the resident immune cells of the central nervous system (CNS). They are involved in the maintenance of brain homeostasis not only as activated rapid responders to pathological changes in the CNS, but also when non-activated through continually extending and retracting of processes to survey the brain parenchyma and make contacts with neuronal synapses. Recent work has shown that microglia regulate the number of presynaptic terminals and glutamate receptor expression. Elimination of microglia in hippocampal brain slices results in an increase in the frequency of excitatory postsynaptic current (EPSC), and replenishment of microglia restores the EPSC frequency to normal …

Links Between Foraging Strategies, Feeding Competition, And Female Agonistic Relationships In Wild Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla), Jessica Lee Lodwick

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

In wild primates, feeding competition is believed to influence female social relationships, patterns of dispersal, energy gain, and reproductive success. When high– quality foods are distributed in monopolizable patches, high– ranking females can use aggression to exclude low– ranking females from patches, thereby consistently gaining more food. Rank– related differences in female energy gain are expected to arise, and selection for aggression is thought to lead to unidirectional female agonistic relationships and a linear dominance hierarchy. The social and energetic effects of within– group contest competition have been extensively documented in small– bodied monkeys living in cohesive groups. However, the …

Vocal Communication Of Wild Western Gorillas (Gorilla Gorilla), Roberta Salmi

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The communication system of a species is the fundamental basis upon which animal social relationships are built and contributes to a species' social organization. Among group-living anthropoid primates that inhabit forested environments, vocal signals are likely to be one of the most important communication channels because reduced visibility limits the use of visual communication. Accordingly, many primates have different vocalizations that convey meaningful information to conspecifics about caller behavior, external objects or events and cues used in recognizing individuals. Thus, in order to better understand the social and ecological factors that have shaped a species' vocal communication system, we must …

Graphene Based High Performance Magnetic Resonance Imaging Contrast Agent, Shruti Kanakia

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) contrast agents (CA) are increasingly being used to enhance the contrast between normal and diseased tissues, and to help detect various anatomical and functional abnormalities in MRI scans. Today, 40-50% of the MRI procedures worldwide are performed with CAs, majority of them being gadolinium chelate based agents (GBCA). Theory suggests that the relaxivity (a quantitative measure of CA efficacy) of current clinical CAs is sub-optimal, and predicts the possibility of developing new contrast agents with relaxivities up to one to two orders of magnitude greater (depending on the magnetic field), that can allow the same clinical …

Development Of A Novel Immunization Platform, Katarzyna M. Sawicka

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Human skin defends against foreign pathogens with the physical barrier posed by its architecture as well as the large population of resident antigen presenting cells (APCs) that participate in launching both humoral and cellular immune responses. The equipment, storage, and personnel demands posed by intramuscular injection, the gold standard of immunization, hinder rapid distribution of vaccines to large populations under the time constraints of a spreading pandemic. Lower doses of immunogens, successfully delivered into the APC-rich layers of the skin, have been shown to elicit an immune response comparable to that achieved with intramuscular injection. The work disclosed in this …

Mechanotransduction Of Low Intensity Vibration In Human Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells And Macrophages, Suphannee Pongkitwitoon

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Human bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells in bone marrow niches are sensitive to the low intensity vibration. The question of what specific mechanical signals (i.e. fluid shear, frequency, or acceleration) cells sense requires the understanding of the underlying pathways. The cellular and molecular responses to LIV in vivo require fundamental investigation of human MSCs and macrophages in bone marrow niches. We aim to elucidate mechanotransduction pathways of LIV in hBMSCs including macrophages and their functions in bone marrow niches. Understanding mechanotransduction pathways can provide the successful use of LIV in controls of regulatory bone pathways in vivo. We first hypothesized …