Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Analysis Of Streptococcus Mutans Genetic Diversity For The Epidemiological Study Of Oral Disease, Stephanie Stahlbuhk Momeni

All ETDs from UAB

Dental caries is chronic global infectious disease. Streptococcus mutans are most frequently associated with dental caries. The goal of this work is to use molecular genotyping methods to investigate the genetic diversity and evidence for transmission of S. mutans for the epidemiological study of dental caries. It was first necessary to validate methods proposed in this study including choice of selective media, choice of multilocus sequence typing (MLST) scheme, and the frequency of clonality. Analysis included 13,906 S. mutans isolates obtained from oral samples collected from children and their household members in an 8-year longitudinal epidemiological study. Two genotyping methods …

A Coin Vibrational Motor Swimming At Low Reynolds Number, Alice C. Quillen, Hesam Askari, Douglas H. Kelley, Tamar Friedmann, Patrick W. Oakes

Mathematics Sciences: Faculty Publications

Low-cost coin vibrational motors, used in haptic feedback, exhibit rotational internal motion inside a rigid case. Because the motor case motion exhibits rotational symmetry, when placed into a fluid such as glycerin, the motor does not swim even though its oscillatory motions induce steady streaming in the fluid. However, a piece of rubber foam stuck to the curved case and giving the motor neutral buoyancy also breaks the rotational symmetry allowing it to swim. We measured a 1 cm diameter coin vibrational motor swimming in glycerin at a speed of a body length in 3 seconds or at 3 mm/s. …

Exploring The Lived Experience Of Young African American Breast Cancer Survivorship To Inform The Adaptation Of A Psychoeducational Intervention: Y-Ambient, Timiya S. Nolan

All ETDs from UAB

In the United States, 26,393 young women (≤ 45 years) will be diagnosed with breast cancer in 2016. Though survival rates are improving, there are health disparities among young African American women when compared to young Caucasians (e.g., poorer quality of life). Despite recommendations to provide targeted evidence-based survivorship care, there are about 23,000 young African American breast cancer survivors (YAABCS) in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi for whom this care does not exist. Few studies have examined survivorship experiences and/or tested intervention efficacy among this group. Further study is warranted to understand the experiences of YAABCS and adapt targeted interventions …

Evaluation And Attitude Towards Homosexuality In The Irish Context: A Corpus-Assisted Discourse Analysis Of Appraisal Patterns In 2008 Newspaper Articles, Leanne Bartley, Miguel-Angel Benitez-Castro

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

The analysis of newspaper discourse offers valuable insights into how society represents or misrepresents certain social participants and their actions. In view of the bias claimed to exist in journalistic prose (Bednarek, 2006; White, 2006), it is not uncommon to find evidence of the mistreatment directed towards particular minorities (Baker et al., 2008; Fowler, 1991). In this paper, the ideological stance associated with a specific minority group (i.e. homosexuals) is brought to the forefront in 2008, when Ireland’s vibrant economy took a dramatic turn for the worse. Incidentally, this coincided with homosexuality taking centre stage in Ireland’s political agenda, as …

Three Kings: Migrant Masculinities In Irish Social Practice, Theoretical Perspective And Theatre Performance, Jason King

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

This article examines deprivedmale migrants’ conceptions and performative expressions of hegemonic masculinity in Ireland.It explores their widespread propensity to develop hypermasculine self-images based on ideals of cultural loyalty and economic prosperity that are, in fact, compensatory for their sense of emasculation, marginalization and social failure as a result of economic difficulties within their host societies.The first section surveys perceptions and preconceptions about migrant men and young male immigrants in a variety of Irish media, political and social discourses. The second section considers recent research and the development of theoretical perspectives about migrant masculinity in Ireland. In the third section, it …

Social Misfits Or Victims Of Exclusion? Contradictory Representations Of Irish Travellers In The Irish Press, Zeynep Cihan Koca-Helvaci

Irish Journal of Applied Social Studies

One of the most significant current discussions in discourse studies is the media representation of socially disadvantaged groups (KhosraviNik, 2009; Baker et al., 2008; van Dijk, 1991). The aim of this study is to examine the Irish media’s attitude towards Irish Travellers who have been pushed to the fringes of society with allegations that their nomadic lifestyle is incompatible with industrialised Irish society (Moore, 2012; van Hout, 2011; McVeigh, 1997). The dataset for this paper is comprised of newspaper texts from The Irish Times, The Irish Independent and The Irish Daily Mail printed between January 2012 and September 2014. Data …

Establishing And Organ Culture To Study Scleral Collagen Remodeling In Myopia, Sarah Baldivia

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether quantitative ultrasound (QUS)

Exploring Bacteriophage P22 As A Selective Molecular Scaffold And Molecular Sensor, Gregory Joseph Bedwell

All ETDs from UAB

The virus capsids of many dsDNA bacteriophage are finely tuned macromolecular machines. Their functionality begins at assembly, when their capsids are built under the guidance of a class of proteins referred to as scaffolding proteins. The scaffolding protein of bacteriophage P22 is a flexible, highly elongated protein that binds to the interior surface of the P22 procapsid via its C-terminal domain. The finding that N-terminus is dispensable for procapsid binding prompted the development of chimeric scaffolding protein molecules, wherein N-terminal residues of scaffold are replaced with a variety of different peptide sequences or functional proteins that are then encapsidated within …

1,1-Diamino-2,2-Dinitroethylene (Fox-7) Under High Pressure-Temperature, Matthew Marc Bishop

All ETDs from UAB

The high pressure-temperature (P-T) phase diagram of 1,1-diamino-2,2-dinitroethylene (FOX-7) was determined by in situ synchrotron infrared radiation spectroscopy and resistively heated diamond anvil cell (DAC) techniques. The stability of the high P-T FOX-7 polymorphs is established from ambient pressure up to 10 GPa and temperatures until decomposition. The phase diagram indicates two near isobaric phase boundaries at ~2 GPa (  I) and ~ 5 GPa ( I  ) that persists from 25oC until the onset of decomposition at ~300oC. In addition, the ambient pressure, high-temperature    phase transition (~111oC) lies along a steep boundary (~100oC/GPa) with …

Clustering Phish Using The Simple Set Comparison Tool, Jason Robert Britt

All ETDs from UAB

Phishing has been a problem since before the early 2000s and has only become more prevalent and diverse since. Phishing countermeasures have been developed and used to prevent or mitigate phishing attacks. However, each countermeasure has pros and cons and not every countermeasure is effective in every situation. Choosing the best suited phishing countermeasure or combination of phishing countermeasures to use and track their effectiveness requires grouping phish based upon common characteristics and tactics used by phish or phish grouping. To be effective phish grouping needs to produce dependable groupings, quickly produce groups, and analyze large volumes of phish. This …

Sea Urchins Under Predicted Near-Future Ocean Conditions: The Effects Of Ocean Warming And Acidification On Physiology And Behavior, Cecilia Joy Brothers

All ETDs from UAB

Sea urchins (Class Echinoidea) play important economic and ecological roles in the marine ecosystems they inhabit. However, climate change is causing seawater temperatures to increase and pH and the saturation state of polymorphs of calcium calcite to decrease at unprecedented rates, and these changes may have serious implications for the fitness and survival of sea urchin populations. The purpose of the present dissertation was to determine the effects of ocean warming and acidification on the physiology and behavior of sea urchins. This research was conducted on three sea urchin taxa (Lytechinus variegatus, Heliocidaris erythrogramma, and Sterechinus spp.) representing species that …

Mending Rural America: Disaster Recovery In Small Municipalities, Marybrook Burchfield

All ETDs from UAB

Long-term disaster recovery is an important aspect of public administration, especially as the United States is more frequently affected by natural disasters. Federal, state and local governments must adapt and respond to their citizens’ needs. This research analyzes one small Alabama community’s recovery following a devastating series of tornados. This case study on the City of Cordova is conducted via a document analysis of local newspaper articles, government documents and personal communication. The experiences of Cordova are analyzed using principles outlined in FEMA’s National Disaster Recovery Framework. The analysis suggests that disaster recovery in a small city or town is …

Tinker Tortured: The Scope Of Student Off-Campus Viral Speech Rights In The Federal Circuits, Kevin Nathaniel Troy Fowler

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Use Of False Dna Evidence To Gain A Confession During Interrogation Is Classic Coercion: Why Such Coerced Confessions Should Not Be Admissible In A Criminal Trial, Andrea Reed

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Human Development As A Core Objective Of Global Intellectual Property, J. Janewa Osei'tutu

Kentucky Law Journal

Global intellectual property obligations shape domestic laws and policies. More than twenty years since the first multilateral trade-based intellectual property agreement, critics contend that global intellectual property law prioritizes intellectual property rights over other interests, and profits over people. Faced with international intellectual-property obligations, nations have been forced to justify laws and policies designed to promote human development in areas such as health and education as exceptions to intellectual property protection. This is the result of legal interpretations that treat the objectives of intellectual property protection and human development as inconsistent with one another. Drawing on the objectives of trade …

Digging Out Of The Hole: Arguments Against The Use Of Juvenile Solitary Confinement In Kentucky, Mary Ann Lee

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

Table Of Contents For Volume 105, Issue 3, Kentucky Law Journal

Kentucky Law Journal

No abstract provided.

#Advocacy: Social Media Activism's Power To Transform Law, Stacey B. Steinberg

Kentucky Law Journal

Attorneys influence the actions of legislators, courts, and community leaders by working alongside social movements. Together, these advocates seek to challenge the status quo by setting precedent that will ensure equality and justice for all individuals. While social movements often use social media to convey their message or to gather support for their cause, many attorneys are unfamiliar with leveraging this powerful new technology.

Social media platforms provide a low-cost, fast, and easy-to-use tool that effectively disseminates information and helps advocates garner support for their cause. However, some social change advocates, including lawyers and policymakers, are hesitant to get involved …

Understanding Protein-Protein Interactions In Plantae In Network Biology Utilizing A Novel Y2h Liquid Assay Approach, Jessica Lopez Lopez

All ETDs from UAB

The Yeast-2-Hybrid (Y2H) assay is a heterologous system that is expanding network biology knowledge via in vivo investigations of binary protein-protein interactions. Traditionally, the Y2H protocol entails the mating or co-transformation of yeast in solid agar media followed by visual analysis for diploid selection. Having played a key role in identifying protein-protein interactions for nearly three decades, the Y2H system includes the interaction between two proteins of interest which result in a reconstituted transcription factor allowing a reporter gene to be transcribed. In this thesis, two primary objectives were pursued to expand the knowledge of protein-protein interactions. The primary objective …

Trustworthy And Efficient Digital Forensics In The Cloud, D M Shams Zawoad

All ETDs from UAB

The rise of cloud computing has changed the way of using computing services and resources. However, the black-box nature of clouds and the multi-tenant cloud models have brought new security risks, especially in terms of digital forensics. Current cloud computing architectures often lack support for digital forensic investigations since many of the assumptions that are valid for traditional computing environment are invalid in clouds. Current digital forensics tools and procedures rely on the physical access to the evidence. In clouds, computing and storage resources are no longer local and these resources are also shared between multiple cloud users. Hence, even …

Cultural Competence Practices Implemented In Hospitals And Health Systems By Minority Executives On The Top Management Team, John H. Cunningham

All ETDs from UAB

The study examined whether hospital implementation of cultural competence practices was influenced by the racial/ethnic composition of top management. With one-third of the U.S. population identifying with a racial or ethnic group other than non-Hispanic White, and that population continuing to grow increasingly diverse, racial and ethnic minorities are increasingly accessing health care services. Yet they represent less than 1% of the top management teams (TMT) of health care organizations. The study sought to determine the extent to which health care organizations with TMTs that are representative of the racial and ethnic compositions of the communities in which they serve …

Utility-Scale Solar Energy Use Optimization By Using A Home Energy Management System, Mustafa A. Syed

All ETDs from UAB

Home energy management systems encourages the users coupled to the grid to modify their electricity consumption in response to fluctuating electricity rates. The purpose of this research is to develop a distributed home energy management system for the end-user to employ in order to minimize costs. Using the home energy management system, the end-user will find and optimal start times for their appliances in response to varying electricity prices. First, the cost for each user and time-constraints for the appliance is modeled. Then, an iterative greedy algorithm is employed by the user to create an appliance schedule. The only variable …

Natural Variation Of The Ire1a Gene Of Arabidopsis Thaliana And Its Effects On Abiotic Stress Tolerance, Brenna Cathryn Terry

All ETDs from UAB

The IRE1a protein is a key player in the response of plant cells to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by activating bZIP60, a transcription factor implicated in effective ER stress response. Natural variation has been observed in the expression of the IRE1a gene in natural accessions of Arabidopsis thaliana, a model plant organism. Here, an attempt is made to correlate basal natural variation of IRE1a with response of the plant to abiotic stress. Abiotic stress response through IRE1a activity, specifically bZIP60 transcript splicing, does correspond to basal IRE1a expression. Additionally, alleles of the IRE1a gene were determined to exist as a …

Managing Data Flow Through The Storage Hierarchy Of Extreme Scale Hpc Systems, Sagar Thapaliya

All ETDs from UAB

Scientific applications running on extreme scale high performance computing (HPC) machines require high performance I/O and storage system to carry out operations including checkpointing, analysis and visualization of simulation outputs. However, there is significant imbalance in I/O and compute capabilities in HPC systems, and as a result, applications often have to spend a large amount of time to complete I/O. Such imbalance is projected to be higher in the future exascale systems. The I/O problem is exacerbated by I/O interference that occurs when processes of an application or multiple applications simultaneously access the shared storage systems, such as a parallel …

Liberty And Collaboration For All: A Case Study On Collective Impact, Social Capital, And Community Inclusion, Laura Peyton Vickery

All ETDs from UAB

Disenfranchised communities often face exclusion at the hands of outside organizations trying to assist. Citizens within the community are excluded and left with few means of actively participating in the conversation and development surrounding these communities. This paper takes the position that the imbalance of power dynamics, where citizens become subjects, does not fully utilize the potential of those inside and those from outside the community. As discussed in Chapter 1, utilizing social capital to build networks and integrate insider and outsider organizations and resources will ultimately create optimization. Chapter 2 uncovers historical examples of civic life and a new …

Cell Signaling Pathways As Targets For Precision Medicine In Head And Neck Squamous Cell Carcinoma, Alice Weaver

All ETDs from UAB

Head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is a heterogeneous disease with high rates of recurrence and mortality. Unlike other cancer types, genome sequencing studies have failed to produce clinically actionable targets to improve HNSCC management. Therefore, alternative methods are needed to study the molecular mechanisms responsible for disease progression and response to therapy. The focus of this research was to determine how dysregulation of cell signaling pathways affects outcomes in HNSCC. In HPV-positive HNSCCs, we hypothesized that HPV induces dysregulation of the DNA damage response which mediates differences in therapeutic sensitivity and survival. We identified a defect in DNA …

Interplay Between Her2, Parp1, And Nf-Κb In Breast Cancer: Potential Therapeutic Implications, Monicka Ewa Wielgos

All ETDs from UAB

We previously reported that HER2+ breast cancers are susceptible to Poly (ADP-Ribose) polymerase inhibitors (PARPi) alone, agents that are efficacious against homologous recombination (HR) deficient tumors. However, this phenomenon was determined to be independent of a HR repair deficiency but rather due to suppression of NF-κB activity and signaling by PARP inhibition. Further, HER2 overexpression itself was necessary and sufficient to confer this susceptibility. Interestingly, PARP1 and phosphorylated RelA/p65 (NF-κB) levels were found to be elevated in human HER2+ breast cancers compared to luminal breast cancers. These data suggest a possible interplay between HER2, PARP1, and NF-κB, and how this …

Microbiological Control And Mechanisms Of Action Of High Voltage Atmospheric Cold Plasma, Lu Han

Doctoral

Dielectric barrier discharge-atmospheric cold plasma (DBD-ACP) is a promising non-thermal technology effective against a wide range of microorganisms. These studies were performed using a custom built DBD-ACP system. The inactivation efficacy was found to be governed by a series of critical control parameters, including treatment time, mode of exposure (Direct/Indirect exposure), applied voltage, applied gas content but was also very dependent on the characteristics of treatment targets. In this study, these parameters were investigated using in-package design along with a post-treatment storage procedure to align with industrial processing times as well as mitigation of post-process contamination. A range of food …

Anode Catalysts For The Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell, Daryl Fox

Doctoral

The anodic reaction of the Direct Ethanol Fuel Cell has been studied with various catalysts such as electrodeposited platinum, palladium, nickel and gold electrodes. The mechanism of bimetallic catalysts was used to reduce the platinum content needed for ethanol oxidation. The effects of increased temperature, ethanol concentration, electrolyte pH and scan rate have been examined. The impact of different carbon surfaces such as carbon ink, carbon paper and commonly used Vulcan XC72 have also been analysed in order to determine the optimum conditions for the EOR in a fuel cell.

Electrochemical methods were used to analyse catalyst performance such as …

Structural Basis For Lipid-And Calmodulin-Mediated Akt Activation In Breast Cancer Cells, Constance Agamasu

All ETDs from UAB

Growth and survival signals initiated at the cell surface by receptor-ligand interactions often involve a downstream activation of Akt, a serine/threonine kinase critical in regulating cell survival, apoptosis and oncogenesis. Hyper-activation of Akt is a common tumorigenic event, thereby making the Akt activation pathway a prime target for cancer therapy. The translocation of Akt to the plasma membrane (PM) for phosphorylation is a critical step in the Akt activation pathway. It has been established that membrane binding of Akt is mediated by direct interactions between its pleckstrin homology domain (PHD) and membrane lipid phosphatidylinositol 3,4,5-trisphosphate [PI(3,4,5)P3]. There is now emerging …