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2015

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Behavioral Effects Of Inhibition Of Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterase 2 (Pde2) In Mice, Lindsay M. Lueptow Jan 2015

Behavioral Effects Of Inhibition Of Cyclic Nucleotide Phosphodiesterase 2 (Pde2) In Mice, Lindsay M. Lueptow

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Cyclic nucleotide phosphodiesterases (PDEs) are a super-family of enzymes that regulate intracellular levels of the second messengers, cyclic AMP and cyclic GMP. Multiple PDEs have been shown to play vital roles in the central nervous system, with involvement in mood, reward mechanisms, and learning and memory. PDE2 is of special interest due to its high level of expression in forebrain regions, which are specifically implicated in mood and memory processes. In the first set of experiments, the potential role of PDE2 in depression- and anxiety-like behaviors was investigated using the forced swim test, tail suspension test, elevated plus maze, hole-board …


Study Of Factors Affecting Growth And Development Of Narrow Brown Leaf Spot Of Rice Caused By Cercospora Janseana (Racib.) O. Const., Kirandeep Kaur Mani Jan 2015

Study Of Factors Affecting Growth And Development Of Narrow Brown Leaf Spot Of Rice Caused By Cercospora Janseana (Racib.) O. Const., Kirandeep Kaur Mani

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Studies evaluated the effects of planting date, cultivar susceptibility, fungicide application timing, nitrogen management, and tillage practices on the severity of narrow brown leaf spot of rice (NBLS) caused by Cercospora janseana. All factors evaluated affected NBLS severity. The mid-April planted rice had less NBLS as compared to mid-May, late planted rice. Propiconazole fungicide (Tilt) application at panicle initiation or early boot stage was found equally effective in terms of disease reduction in mid-April planting while panicle initiation stage was the best time to apply fungicide in the late planting (mid-May). Early onset and higher severity of NBLS was observed …


Suicidal Ideation, Attempts, And Associated Psychosocial Risk And Protective Factors In American Indian Youth And Young Adults, Karen Manzo Jan 2015

Suicidal Ideation, Attempts, And Associated Psychosocial Risk And Protective Factors In American Indian Youth And Young Adults, Karen Manzo

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Introduction. Research consistently shows that suicidal ideation and attempts are more prevalent among American Indian youth and young adults than youth and young adults in other racial/ethnic groups. Many of the associated psychosocial risk and protective factors are shared across racial/ethnic groups; however, for most of them, the prevalence is highest in American Indian youth. Research on the relation between suicide risk and culturally unique risk (e.g., childhood adversity, discrimination, parenting, unresolved grief, out-of-home placement) and protective factors (e.g., enculturation, cultural values, spirituality) in American Indian youth and young adults is limited. The goal of this research was to examine …


Development And Characterization Of A Live-Attenuated Vaccine To Combat Equine Herpesvirus Type-1 Infections, Shiliang Anthony Liu Jan 2015

Development And Characterization Of A Live-Attenuated Vaccine To Combat Equine Herpesvirus Type-1 Infections, Shiliang Anthony Liu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Equine Herpesvirus 1 (EHV-1) is an important ubiquitous enzootic equine pathogen and one of the most common pathogens of the horse, causing, respiratory disease, epidemic abortion, occasionally neurological disease in horses, which leads to significant economic losses to the horse industry. EHV-1 induces several clinical signs of disease ranging in severity, from mild respiratory disease to abortion in pregnant mares, neonatal foal death and neuropathogenic disorders. Natural EHV-1 infection stimulated short lived protective immunity and had both humoral and cellular immune responses. Currently vaccination remains the best option to prevent EHV-1 infection and different applications of vaccination have been investigated …


Synthesis, Characterization, And Evaluation Of Small Molecule-Based Fluorogenic Probes For The Detection Of Cellular Thiols, Rasika Ranatunga Nawimanage Jan 2015

Synthesis, Characterization, And Evaluation Of Small Molecule-Based Fluorogenic Probes For The Detection Of Cellular Thiols, Rasika Ranatunga Nawimanage

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Fluorescence methods for disease diagnosis and detection of important analytes are becoming popular route as a technique, as they offer a simple non-invasive approach. Recently, many novel fluorophores and probes have been reported for selectively and sensitively detecting low abundance biological species in disease pathways. Biological thiols, such as glutathione, cysteine, and homocysteine, along with the smallest member hydrogen sulfide, are key thiol analytes in biological environments, and they play a vital role in living systems by maintaining the redox homeostasis of cells. Alteration of their ratios can cause cellular dysfunction and cell death. Furthermore, thiol levels in cells and …


Nucleolar Proteins Are Essential For Ribosome Biogenesis And Nuclear Homeostasis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Yubo Wang Jan 2015

Nucleolar Proteins Are Essential For Ribosome Biogenesis And Nuclear Homeostasis In Drosophila Melanogaster, Yubo Wang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Four nucleostemin-like proteins (NS1-4) were identified previously in Drosophila melanogaster. NS1 and NS2 are nucleolar proteins, while NS3 and NS4 are cytoplasmic. Here we show that NS2 is homologous to the human nucleostemin-like protein, Ngp1, and that endogenous NS2 and exogenous GFP-NS2 enriches within peripheral regions of nucleoli in larval polyploid midgut cells. Like NS1, depletion of NS2 in midgut cells blocked the release of the 60S ribosomal subunit as detected by the accumulation GFP-RpL11 within nucleoli, and this likely led to a general loss of 60S subunit proteins as shown by immunoblot analyses. At the ultrastructural level, nucleoli in …


Design And Application Of Task-Specific Organic Salts For Chemical And Biochemical Sensing, Waduge Indika Subodha Galpothdeniya Jan 2015

Design And Application Of Task-Specific Organic Salts For Chemical And Biochemical Sensing, Waduge Indika Subodha Galpothdeniya

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

There is an increasing demand for development of new sensors and sensor strategies for accurate detection and discrimination of various analytes. In this regard, colorimetric and fluorometric sensor approaches have attracted considerable attention, primarily because they represent facile and inexpensive analytical tools. In this dissertation, I discuss the design and application of sensors and sensor arrays using task specific organic salts: ionic liquids (ILs) and a group of uniform materials based on organic salts (GUMBOS). As compared to typical ionic compounds, these two classes of organic salts exhibit relatively lower melting points due to bulky organic cations and/or anions. Interestingly, …


Dietary Strategies To Influence Appetite: Effects Of Oat Beta-Glucan And Thylakoids From Spinach On Satiety And Reward-Induced Eating Behavior, Candida Joan Rebello Jan 2015

Dietary Strategies To Influence Appetite: Effects Of Oat Beta-Glucan And Thylakoids From Spinach On Satiety And Reward-Induced Eating Behavior, Candida Joan Rebello

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objective of these studies was to examine the effects of oat-based cereals and a spinach extract, on eating behavior. The cereals compared included instant oatmeal (IO), old fashioned oatmeal (SO), and a ready to eat cereal (RTEC), each containing the soluble fiber beta-glucan. The spinach extract containing thylakoids, the internal photosynthetic membrane of plants, was compared with a placebo. The first study, a randomized crossover trial compared the effect of IO and SO on subjective ratings of satiety, with the RTEC. Subjects consumed isocaloric 150kcal servings of the cereals in random order. Visual analogue scale ratings evaluating satiety were …


String Searching With Ranking Constraints And Uncertainty, Sudip Biswas Jan 2015

String Searching With Ranking Constraints And Uncertainty, Sudip Biswas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Strings play an important role in many areas of computer science. Searching pattern in a string or string collection is one of the most classic problems. Different variations of this problem such as document retrieval, ranked document retrieval, dictionary matching has been well studied. Enormous growth of internet, large genomic projects, sensor networks, digital libraries necessitates not just efficient algorithms and data structures for the general string indexing, but indexes for texts with fuzzy information and support for queries with different constraints. This dissertation addresses some of these problems and proposes indexing solutions. One such variation is document retrieval query …


Scanning Probe Investigations Of Nanopatterned And Thermo-Responsive Polypeptoids And The Design Of A Sample Stage For Force Modulation Microscopy, Lu Lu Jan 2015

Scanning Probe Investigations Of Nanopatterned And Thermo-Responsive Polypeptoids And The Design Of A Sample Stage For Force Modulation Microscopy, Lu Lu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Protocols for patterning nanostructures of polymers were developed to enable scanning probe microscopy (SPM) studies of surface properties at the molecular level. A chemically selective surface for patterning polymers was generated by combining particle lithography with organosilane immersion. Poly(N-allyl glycine), a biocompatible and backbone degradable polypeptoid, was grown on Si(111) at confined amine sites using surface-initiated polymerization (also known as the “graft from” approach). A thermo-responsive random copolypeptoid, poly[(N-ethyl glycine)32-r-(N-butyl glycine17)], was pre-synthesized and attached onto a patterned organosilane surface using a thiol-ene click reaction (“graft to” approach). The phase transitions of the copolypeptoid nanostructures in an aqueous environment was …


The Response Of Gossypium Spp. To Biotic And Abiotic Stresses In Louisiana And The Modeling Of Yarn Performance, Bikash Bhandari Jan 2015

The Response Of Gossypium Spp. To Biotic And Abiotic Stresses In Louisiana And The Modeling Of Yarn Performance, Bikash Bhandari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Developing improved cotton cultivars depends on how cotton cultivars perform the best when under stresses. Reniform nematode is a major plant pathogen, causing 4-6% yield loss in southern United States. A variation in reproduction and pathogenicity across reniform isolates collected from Louisiana on susceptible cotton was reported. This study was conducted to determine the response of resistant/tolerant cotton genotypes to multiple reniform isolates by inoculating 10,000 juveniles into seven days old seedlings. Across genotypes, the Evan and Avoyelles isolates had significantly higher vermiform nematodes (33,793 and 27,800/250 g soil, respectively) than other isolates. Across isolates, the number of juveniles on …


Hybrid Electronic Materials: Characterization And Thin-Film Deposition, Kalyan Chakravarthy Kanakamedala Jan 2015

Hybrid Electronic Materials: Characterization And Thin-Film Deposition, Kalyan Chakravarthy Kanakamedala

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Hybrid Electronic Materials (HEMs), as defined for this dissertation, are combinations of organic and inorganic materials as may be used to fabricate active device components in “beyond the transistor” electronics. However, the use of organics is often limited by issues such as thermal stability, compatibility with traditional (semiconductor) materials, and current processing technology. Thus, we began our exploration of HEMs with a “new” class of materials called GUMBOS (Group of Uniform Materials Based on Organic Salts) as derived from ionic liquids. For this first segment of our work, we investigated selected species of GUMBOS and nanoGUMBOS via their current-voltage characteristics, …


A Comprehensive Optimization Framework For Designing Sustainable Renewable Energy Production Systems, Aryan Geraili Nejadfomeshi Jan 2015

A Comprehensive Optimization Framework For Designing Sustainable Renewable Energy Production Systems, Aryan Geraili Nejadfomeshi

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

As the world has recognized the importance of diversifying its energy resource portfolio away from fossil resources and more towards renewable resources such as biomass, there arises a need for developing strategies which can design renewable sustainable value chains that can be scaled up efficiently and provide tangible net environmental benefits from energy utilization. The objective of this research is to develop and implement a novel decision-making framework for the optimal design of renewable energy systems. The proposed optimization framework is based on a distributed, systematic approach which is composed of different layers including systems-based strategic optimization, detailed mechanistic modeling …


Insights Into 5-Lipoxygenase Active Site And Catalysis, Sunayana Mitra Jan 2015

Insights Into 5-Lipoxygenase Active Site And Catalysis, Sunayana Mitra

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Leukotrienes are potent immune-modulatory compounds involved in the inflammatory response. 5-Lipoxygenase (5-LOX) is the enzyme that catalyzes the production of Leukotriene A4 (LTA4), which is further metabolized to pro- and anti-inflammatory compounds derived from the substrate Arachidonic Acid (AA), a polyunsaturated fatty acid. The crystal structure of a stabilized form of 5-LOX has been recently reported (Gilbert, Bartlett et al. 2011). However, the structure does not reveal the mode of substrate entry or recognition. The first step in the enzymatic reaction involves the removal of a hydrogen from the central carbon of a pentadiene present in the substrate. It is …


Modeling Two-Phase Flow And Heat Transfer In Polygonal Microchannels, Sai Sashankh Rao Jan 2015

Modeling Two-Phase Flow And Heat Transfer In Polygonal Microchannels, Sai Sashankh Rao

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Microfluidics is a burgeoning research area with applications ranging from microfluidic cooling to biomolecule synthesis. Here we study two problems to gain an improved understanding of two-phase flow and heat transfer in microfluidic devices. We also study a third problem on boundary layer flow out of theoretical interest. In the first problem, we study the heat and mass transfer in polygonal micro heat pipes under small imposed temperature differences. A micro heat pipe, used in electronics cooling, consists of a closed polygonal microchannel filled with a wetting liquid and a long vapor bubble. We model the evaporation, fluid flow, and …


Image-Based Modeling Of Porous Media Using Fem And Lagrangian Particle Tracking, Paula Cysneiros Sanematsu Jan 2015

Image-Based Modeling Of Porous Media Using Fem And Lagrangian Particle Tracking, Paula Cysneiros Sanematsu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The study of fundamental flow and transport processes at the pore scale is essential to understanding how the mechanisms affect larger, field-scale, processes that occur in oil and gas recovery, groundwater flow, contaminant transport, and CO2 sequestration. Pore-scale imaging and modeling is one of the techniques used to investigate these fundamental mechanisms. Although extensive development of pore-scale imaging and modeling has occurred recently, some areas still need further advances. In this work, we address two areas: (1) imaging of bulk proppants and proppant-filled fractures under varying loading stress and flow simulation in these systems and (2) nanoparticle (NP) transport modeling …


Pathogenic Enteric Viruses In Louisiana Oysters And Environmental Waters, Naim Montazeri Djouybari Jan 2015

Pathogenic Enteric Viruses In Louisiana Oysters And Environmental Waters, Naim Montazeri Djouybari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Norovirus (NoV) and pathogenic enteroviruses are the major causes of gastroenteritis in humans worldwide, and are usually transmitted through direct or indirect exposure to raw or partially treated sewage. Filter-feeding shellfish concentrate virus particles from the water and transmit them to humans. The occurrence of norovirus GI and GII and fecal indicators in Louisiana eastern oysters (Crassostrea virginica) and harvest water were investigated on a biweekly basis for almost one year. Only one oyster sample was positive for NoV GII at 3.5 log10 genomic copies/g digestive tissues. A stool specimen obtained from an infected individual associated with a norovirus outbreak …


Analysis Of Rna Degradation In Dental Pulp To Estimate Postmortem Interval, Amanda Balasko Jan 2015

Analysis Of Rna Degradation In Dental Pulp To Estimate Postmortem Interval, Amanda Balasko

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

There are several methods that are currently used to estimate a postmortem interval (PMI), including physiological, biochemical, entomological, and archeological approaches. However, these methods are not effective in estimating PMI's extending from several weeks to months. The study presented here was performed to create an independent, objective biological method to estimate PMI by analyzing the degradation of 18S ribosomal RNA (rRNA) from porcine and human dental pulp. If successful, this method would overlap and extend the current PMI estimation methods. With a concept similar to that of radioactive carbon-14 dating, this method analyzed two different sized segments -- one large, …


Evolution Of A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase Gene Family In Vertebrates, Shashwati Bhattacharya Jan 2015

Evolution Of A Disintegrin And Metalloproteinase Gene Family In Vertebrates, Shashwati Bhattacharya

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A disintegrin and metalloproteinases (ADAMs) are a family of transmembrane proteins which have diverse functions in various tissues. They play important roles in cellular and developmental processes and are present in various species. ADAMs are classified according to their expression in tissues into the somatic ADAMs (sADAMs) and the testicular ADAMs (tADAMs). The sADAMs are expressed in somatic tissues, and the testicular ADAMs (tADAMs) are expressed predominantly in the testis. The tADAMs are further classified into Group I and Group II, based on the absence or presence of introns. The mechanism of evolution of the tADAMs was unknown. Using bioinformatics …


Phylogenetic Relationships Among Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Species In The Deeply Rooted Archaeosporales (Glomeromycota), Robert J. Bills Jan 2015

Phylogenetic Relationships Among Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungal Species In The Deeply Rooted Archaeosporales (Glomeromycota), Robert J. Bills

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in the phylum Glomeromycota are globally distributed biotrophic fungi that form symbiotic associations with a majority of terrestrial plants. Their global beneficial role in plant and soil ecology warrants a better understanding of their evolutionary history and taxonomic relationships. This project focused on species relationships in two deeply rooted families Ambisporaceae and Archaeosporaceae. In one study, analysis of morphology and 28S ribosomal DNA (LSU) sequences resulted in two major changes that redefined Ambispora to include only species that were dimorphic for both acaulosporoid and glomoid spore types. First, species described as producing only glomoid spores (Am. …


A Quantitative Study Using Constructist Learning Activities To Connect Biology Concepts To Local Environmental Issues In A Non-Major Introductory College Biology Course, Michaelyn Broussard Jan 2015

A Quantitative Study Using Constructist Learning Activities To Connect Biology Concepts To Local Environmental Issues In A Non-Major Introductory College Biology Course, Michaelyn Broussard

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Among the general population, there has continued to be a struggle to improve environmental literacy with the knowledge, attitude, and awareness of basic environmental issues locally and nationally. Despite efforts through many formal and informal programs, the result nationally has indicated little to no understanding of basic environmental issues (Coyle, 2005). Many educators such as Sobel (1996, 2004) and Louv (2005) have documented the lack of positive outdoor experiences or environmental behaviors. The purpose of this study was to incorporate local environmental examples through constructivist learning techniques within a general biology non-major course to promote an increase in environmental literacy …


Curcumin: A Folklore Remedy From Kitchen On The Way To Clinic As Cancer Drug, Debasish Bandyopadhyay Jan 2015

Curcumin: A Folklore Remedy From Kitchen On The Way To Clinic As Cancer Drug, Debasish Bandyopadhyay

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Chemistry)

Numerous compounds are widely distributed in nature and many of these possess medicinal/biological/pharmacological activity. Curcumin, a polyphenol derived from the rhizomes (underground stems) of Curcuma longa Linn (a member of the ginger family, commonly known as turmeric) is a culinary spice and therapeutic used in India for thousands of years to induce color and flavor in food as well as to treat a wide array of diseases. The origin of turmeric as spice and folklore medicine is so old that it is lost in legend. Curcumin has many beneficial pharmacological effects which includes, but are not limited with, antimicrobial, anti-inflammatory, …


In Vitro Biological Activities Of Black Pepper Essential Oil And Its Major Components Relevant To The Prevention Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Pattamapan Lomarat, Kittisak Sripha, Phanida Phanthong, Worawan Kitphati, Krit Thirapanmethee, Nuntavan Bunyapraphatsara Jan 2015

In Vitro Biological Activities Of Black Pepper Essential Oil And Its Major Components Relevant To The Prevention Of Alzheimer’S Disease, Pattamapan Lomarat, Kittisak Sripha, Phanida Phanthong, Worawan Kitphati, Krit Thirapanmethee, Nuntavan Bunyapraphatsara

The Thai Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences

Black pepper oil and its major components were investigated for the biological activities related to the prevention of AD. The inhibition of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) and β-amyloid aggregation, anti-inflammatory and antioxidant activities were examine...


Role Of Diet On Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Updated Narrative Review, Dimitrios Papandreou, Eleni Andreou Jan 2015

Role Of Diet On Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Updated Narrative Review, Dimitrios Papandreou, Eleni Andreou

All Works

© 2015 Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. The purpose of this article review is to update what is known about the role of diet on non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD). NAFLD is the most common cause of chronic liver disease in the developed world and is considered to be a spectrum, ranging from fatty infiltration of the liver alone (steatosis), which may lead to fatty infiltration with inflammation known as non alcoholic steatohepatitis While the majority of individuals with risk factors like obesity and insulin resistance have steatosis, only few people may develop steatohepatitis. Current treatment relies on weight loss and …


The Effect Of Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein Induced Microrna-200 Family Members On Pancreatic Beta Cells, Stephen Filios Jan 2015

The Effect Of Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein Induced Microrna-200 Family Members On Pancreatic Beta Cells, Stephen Filios

All ETDs from UAB

Pancreatic beta cells secrete insulin to maintain normal blood glucose levels and allow cells of the body to use glucose. However, in diabetes, there is beta cell dysfunction and pancreatic beta cells undergo programmed cell death leading to inadequate insulin production and secretion. Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein (TXNIP) is a ubiquitously expressed protein, 46 kDa in size, which is an arrestin protein family member. Unique to this member of the arrestin family, however, is its ability to bind to, and reduce, thioredoxin. The TXNIP gene is increased in pancreatic islets more than any other gene in response to high levels of glucose. …


Safety Culture And Patient Harm, Alfonso Gatmaitan Jan 2015

Safety Culture And Patient Harm, Alfonso Gatmaitan

All ETDs from UAB

SAFETY CULTURE AND PATIENT HARM EVENTS: A CONTINGENCY THEORY PERSPECTIVE IN THE CONTEXT OF COMPLEX ADAPTIVE SYSTEMS ALFONSO GATMAITAN ADMINISTRATION-HEALTH SERVICES ABSTRACT This study examines the correlation between a Culture of Patient Safety as measured by hospital staff surveys and actual patient harm attributed to hospital performance. It is generally accepted by health care management leaders that the presence of a strong culture of patient safety has become a critical component in reducing patient harm. However, little empirical evidence within multiple hospitals over time exists to support this belief. Healthcare managers can utilize this evidence in formulating patient safety improvement …


A Redescription Of The Cretaceous Marine Turtle Ctenochelys Acris Zangerl, 1953 And A Systematic Revision Of The 'Toxochelyid'-Grade Taxa Using Cladistic Analysis, Andrew Douglas Gentry Jan 2015

A Redescription Of The Cretaceous Marine Turtle Ctenochelys Acris Zangerl, 1953 And A Systematic Revision Of The 'Toxochelyid'-Grade Taxa Using Cladistic Analysis, Andrew Douglas Gentry

All ETDs from UAB

Within this thesis are two separate articles, each representing a distinct chapter. The first chapter is a redescription of the ‘toxochelyid’-grade marine turtle Ctenochelys acris Zangerl, 1953. This redescription, based on several nearly complete specimens from the early Campanian Mooreville Chalk of Alabama, reveals multiple previously undescribed autapomorphic characteristics of this species and contributes significantly to our understanding of ‘toxochelyid’ alpha taxonomy. The second chapter is comprised entirely of the results of multiple cladistic analyses of the ‘toxochelyid’-grade taxa that produce a hypothesized phylogenetic system of classification for this clade. 108 characters from the cranium, carapace, plastron, and appendicular skeleton …


Kinomic Profiling And Drug Screening Of Three-Dimensional Glioblastoma Microtumors As A Potential Comparative Model To Orthotopic Xenolines, Ashley Nichole Gilbert Jan 2015

Kinomic Profiling And Drug Screening Of Three-Dimensional Glioblastoma Microtumors As A Potential Comparative Model To Orthotopic Xenolines, Ashley Nichole Gilbert

All ETDs from UAB

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM), the most common form of primary malignant brain cancer in adults, is a devastating disease for which effective treatment has remained elusive for over 75 years. A likely reason for the minimal progress during this time is the lack of accurate preclinical models to represent the patient in vivo environment, causing a disconnect in drug therapy effectiveness between the laboratory and clinic. Our proposed solution to address this disconnect and the issues of traditional preclinical modeling is to use innovative HuBiogel-based MicroTumors as a three-dimensional (3D) drug screening model for GBM. Six subcutaneous patient-derived xenografts (PDXs) prepared …


Consequences Of Trps1 Deficiency On Dentinogenesis, Morgan Goss Jan 2015

Consequences Of Trps1 Deficiency On Dentinogenesis, Morgan Goss

All ETDs from UAB

Dentinogenesis is a complex process of dentin formation. It involves differentiation of odontoblasts, the cells that make dentin, and the formation of a unique extracellular matrix, known as dentin. Dentin is ultimately produced through the interaction of collagen fibers, non-collagenous proteins and hydroxyapatite (HA) crystals. Odontoblasts are cranial neural crest (CNC) ectomesenchymal derived cells. Trps1 is a novel transcription factor believed to play an important role in both tooth formation and the mineralization process. TRPS1 gene mutations are known to result in dental and skeletal abnormalities manifested in humans as tricho-rhino-phalangeal syndrome (TRPS) and Ambras syndrome. Trps1 expression varies throughout …


Lab-On-A-Brane: A Novel Physiologically Relevant Planar Arterial Model To Study Transendothelial Transport, Karim I. Budhwani Jan 2015

Lab-On-A-Brane: A Novel Physiologically Relevant Planar Arterial Model To Study Transendothelial Transport, Karim I. Budhwani

All ETDs from UAB

The tremendous quality of life impact notwithstanding, cardiovascular diseases and Cancer add up to over US$ 700bn each year in financial costs alone. Aging and population growth are expected to further expand the problem space while drug research and development remain expensive. However, preclinical costs can be substantially mitigated by substituting animal models with in vitro devices that accurately model human cardiovascular transport. Here we present a novel physiologically relevant lab-on-a-brane that simulates in vivo pressure, flow, strain, and shear waveforms associated with normal and pathological conditions in large and small blood vessels for studying molecular transport across the endothelial …