Digital Commons Network^™

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 …

Methods For Measuring Individually Experienced Temperature And Food Intake In Controlled Thermal Environments, Molly Bernhard

All ETDs from UAB

The three studies to be presented assess individual-level heat exposure in free-living urban and rural environments and assess food intake in randomized controlled trials in a 2-hour exposure, and a 7-hour crossover heat exposure. The first interest was broad: examining heat exposure and its relation to potential health outcomes. To examine whether heat exposure could be measured in free-living organisms, a light and temperature monitoring device was repurposed and used in a pilot study of individual-level heat exposure in urban and rural community members. Differences between the current and most commonly accepted way of estimating heat exposure, weather station datasets, …

A Comparison Of Soft Tissue Topographical Norms For The Local Ethnic People Of Zimbabwe And African American Norms Based On 3dmd Soft Tissue Photography, Elvin Bhaskar

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: The purpose of this study is to determine the soft tissue topographical norms for the local ethnic people of Zimbabwe and compare them with the African American norms based on 3dMD soft tissue photography. The rationale for the study is to evaluate how the soft tissue drape over the facial skeleton correlates with the different soft tissue analysis widely available today. This study seeks to establish an average base on which clinicians can treat people according to their cultural esthetic perceptions. Previous reported studies only evaluate small numbers of populations and it is well known that different races and …

Structure-Function Relationships In The Sec7 Guanine Nucleotide Exchange Factor Gbf1, Jay Manoj Bhatt

All ETDs from UAB

All eukaryotic cells contain a secretory pathway composed of membrane-bound compartments connected by vesicles that transport cargo from the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) through the Golgi apparatus to various destination within and outside the cell. The Golgi Brefeldin A-resistant Factor 1 (GBF1) is required for protein traffic between ER and Golgi and within the Golgi. GBF1 belongs to a family of Guanine nucleotide Exchange Factors (GEFs) that stimulate the nucleotide exchange of GDP for GTP on small GTPases called ADP-ribosylation factors (ARFs). Once GTP-bound, ARFs become active and initiate a cascade of events that lead to vesicle formation. Thus, GBF1 is …

Calcium Carbonate Composition And Other Measures Of Vulnerability Of The Skeletons And Shells Of Echinoderms And Gastropods Challenged By Ocean Acidification Or Climate Warming, Ashley Duquette Douglas

All ETDs from UAB

Marine invertebrate calcium carbonate (CaCO3) composition will likely be impacted by climate warming and ocean acidification (OA). Elevated temperature alters physiological processes that can induce stress, and OA alters the ability of calcareous marine invertebrates to maintain acid-base balances, calcify, and repair skeletal dissolution. The first of three chapters of this dissertation exploits a natural CO2 seep to evaluate impacts of chronic exposure to OA on the shells of four gastropods: the limpets Patella caerulea and P. rustica, top-shell snail Osilinus turbinatus, and whelk Hexaplex trunculus. All four gastropods experienced shell dissolution to various degrees and reduced shell integrity as …

The Function Of Prmt1 In Normal And Abnormal Megakaryopoiesis, Hairui Su

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Protein arginine methylation is a common type of post-translational modifications. Protein arginine methyltransferase 1 (PRMT1) is the predominant PRMT that is involved in diverse physiological and pathological processes in mammalian cells. Dysregulation of PRMT1 is often positively correlated with cancer development, yet many aspects of PRMT1’s role in cancer, especially in acute megakaryoblastic leukemia (AMKL) remain unclear. We identified two PRMT1-methylated substrates and how they impact normal and abnormal megakaryopoiesis. In this dissertation, we demonstrate that dual-specificity protein phosphatase 4 (DUSP4) and RNA binding motif protein 15 (RBM15), two crucial factors for megakaryocytic (MK) differentiation, are methylated by PRMT1 and …

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

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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 …

The Roles Of Il-21 And Il-10 In Cellular And Humoral Immune Responses, Yuan Tian

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values, it may be more appropriate to use CH

An Investigation Into The Developmental Response Of The Amphipod Hyalella Azteca To Different Predator-Related Chemical Cues, William Ryan James

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Predator chemical cues have been widely demonstrated to influence developmental plasticity in aquatic prey. However, understanding the role that conspecifics have on an individual’s anti-predator response has received little attention. The present thesis investigated the developmental plasticity of individual and groups of the amphipod Hyalella azteca chronically exposed to kairomones from predatory sunfish. Previous field studies have suggested that small body size in H. azteca is a likely adaptive response to reducing predation by sunfish, but no experimental studies have been carried out to test if the amphipods have a developmental response to the presence of sunfish. Containers with single …

Egesta Of The Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus Promote Weight Gain In The Shrimp Litopenaeus Vannamei, Karen Elizabeth Jensen

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Long-term economic and environmental sustainability of aquaculture will be dependent on utilization of novel nutrient sources and remediation of effluent streams. Integrated Multi-Trophic Aquaculture (IMTA) is a method intended to maximize productivity and minimize waste by strategically reusing effluent from a primary, fed species in the production of one or more secondary, extractive species. Such relationships are based on the trophic role of the fed and extractive species in question. Sea urchin egesta are thought to play a role in nutrient cycling in natural habitats by providing an energy source for many coprophagous deposit feeders, suspension feeders, and microbes. The …

Extrema Based Signal Transforms For Biomedical Signal Analysis, Bhadhan Roy Joy

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Signal transforms are very important tools to extract useful information from scientific, engineering, or medical raw data. Unfortunately, traditional transform techniques impose unrealistic assumptions on the signal, often producing erroneous interpretation of results. Well-known integral transforms, such as short time Fourier transform, though have fast implementation algorithms (e.g., FFT), are still computationally expensive. They have multiple parameters that should be tuned, and it is not readily clear how to tune them for long-duration nonstationary signals. To solve these problems, one needs a computationally inexpensive transform with no parameters that will highlight important data aspects. We propose a simple transform based …

Malaria, Changes In Angiogenesis Factors, Cytokine Profiles And Birth Outcomes, John A. Keenan

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Malaria remains an important public health problem, with over three billion people at risk of infection and as many as 214 million new cases each year. Of particular concern is the effect Plasmodium falciparum malaria has on reproductive health. Malaria is responsible for a wide array of adverse birth outcomes including infant death, low birth weight, preterm delivery and small for gestational age. The mechanism by which malaria influences adverse birth outcomes remains poorly understood. Cross-sectional data from 291 women delivering infants in Ghana are used to investigate whether malaria during pregnancy was associated with select cytokines or angiogenesis factors …

The Effect Of The Combination Of Low Income And Low Education, Access To Care, And Social Isolation On Chd Outcomes In The Reasons For Geographic And Racial Differences In Stroke (Regards) Cohort Study, Marquita Lewis

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Coronary heart disease (CHD) disparities persist for low socioeconomic populations, in spite of declines globally. In order to reduce these disparities, it is critical that investigators better understand determinants of health that exacerbate these disparities. This study investigated the association between the combination of low income and low education on CHD incidence, and the mediating effects of access to care and social isolation on this association. Data was used from participants recruited between 2003-2007 free of CHD at baseline from the national biracial prospective Reasons for Geographic and Racial Differences in Stroke (REGARDS) cohort study of participants aged >45 years. …

Regulation Of Breast Cancer Metastasis By Sin3 Chromatin Remodeling Complexes, Monica Jeanene Lewis

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Metastasis continues to be the most difficult clinical challenge for breast cancer. Survival rates for patients with metastatic breast cancer have not significantly changed in the past 20 years. Therefore, we need a better understanding of the molecular mechanisms that regulate breast cancer metastasis to develop effective therapies. SIN3 chromatin remodeling complexes have been implicated in breast cancer progression. Mammalian cells have two paralogs of SIN3 (SIN3A and SIN3B) that are encoded by distinct genes and have unique functions during development. However, specific roles for SIN3A and SIN3B in breast cancer progression have not been characterized. To better understand how …

Development Of A Split Luciferase Complementation Assay To Investigate Growth Hormone Receptor/ Prolactin Receptor Homo-/ Hetero-Association, Ying Liu

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Growth hormone receptor (GHR) and prolactin receptor (PRLR) are transmembrane glycoproteins cytokine receptors that are structurally homologous. Each can pre-homodimerize and ligand binding of each activates JAK2-STAT signaling pathways by inducing conformational change within the receptor homodimer. Human GHR can be activated by growth hormone (GH) while human PRLR can be activated by both GH and prolactin (PRL). We devised a split luciferase complementation assay, in which one receptor is fused to the N-terminal fragment of luciferase and the other receptor is fused to the C-terminal fragment of luciferase. When the two receptors approximate, luciferase activity (complementation) results. Using this …

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

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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 …

Changes In Intrinsic Local Functional Connectivity In Children With Autism Followed By A Visualizing/Verbalizing Reading Intervention, Jose Omar Maximo

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Deficits in language are a major clinical feature of autism spectrum disorders (ASD). Previous studies suggest that individuals with ASD may rely on visuospatial skills to compensate for these deficits. Existing intervention programs in autism have not been tested at the neural level, thus falling short of quantifiable neurobiological changes underlying behavioral improvement. The current study takes a translational neuroimaging approach to test the impact of a structured visual imagery-based reading intervention on improving reading comprehension and its underlying neural circuitry. Changes in connectivity of a set of brain regions commonly known as the “reading network” were examined in children …

Rural Hos[Ital Closure In Alabama - Post Aca, Dennis Otto Mccay

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RURAL HOSPITAL CLOSURES IN ALABAMA: POST ACA DENNIS O. MCCAY HEALTH SERVICES ADMINISTRATION ABSTRACT Rural hospitals differ from their urban counterparts with regard to two main areas. First, rural hospital patients are usually older, of lower income, and less healthy than those in urban areas. Second, their facilities tend to be smaller, older, and more prone to staff shortages than those in an urban environment. Rural hospitals have been closing at higher rates than their urban counterparts for a number of years, but more so since the implementation of the Affordable Care Act in 2010. The objective of this research …

Cell-Specific Pgc-1Α-Dependent Transcription: Implications For Cognitive And Motor Dysfunction, Laura Mcmeekin

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health beliefs in young women. The Prevention of Osteoporosis in Women (POW)

A Comprehensive Investigation Of Hp1b, A Chromatin Protein, And Its Role In Aging, Benjamin Mills Mills

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Genetic regulation determines which genes are expressed, in which tissues, at which time, and to which level. This regulation is necessary for proper organismal development, and loss of gene regulation can result in phenotypic consequences. As organisms grow older, gene regulation often begins to fail, resulting in negative phenotypic outcomes associated with aging. The exact reason for this failure of gene regulation remains unknown, but current models suggest that chromatin, and its associated proteins, plays a large role. The structure of chromatin impacts gene expression, directly affecting several phenotypes including aging. In this study, we investigate HP1B, a chromatin protein, …

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

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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 …

Fabrication And Characterization Of Buckypapers For Use In Air Sampling, Jonghwa Oh

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FABRICATION AND CHARACTERIZATION OF BUCKYPAPERS FOR USE IN AIR SAMPLING JONGHWA OH ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH SCIENCES ABSTRACT Occupational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) is a concern from a public health perspective. In many industrial activities, workers’ exposure to VOCs can be sufficiently high to induce adverse health effects, so their monitoring is necessary. In exposure assessment, post sampling extraction and quantification are the typical analytical procedures. Recently, our group developed the photothermal desorption (PTD) technique in which a pulse of light thermally desorbs an analyte directly from a sorbent. Advantages of this technique are; it is solvent free, repeated analysis …

Department Of Community Health Sciences Medical College (Report 2009 - 2016), Department Of Community Health Sciences, Medical College

Department of Community Health Sciences Archives

This report comprehensively documents the academic, research, and service accomplishments of the Department of Community Health Sciences (CHS) at the Aga Khan University from 2009 to 2016. It highlights the department’s mission to strengthen public health education and systems through innovative programs, strategic partnerships, and impactful research. Topics covered include CHS faculty profiles, educational programs, strategic initiatives, community outreach, grant-funded projects, and the vision for establishing a School of Public Health.

Research Outlook : January 2016, Office Of Research & Graduate Studies

Office of Research and Graduate Studies Archives

Content

- Up to Date

- Research Projects

- Research in the News

- Extending Network

- Narratives

- Expanding Facilities

- Grants

Early-Life Programming Of Emotional Behaviors And Cardiovascular Function, Samir Rana

All ETDs from UAB

Extensive evidence implicates bi-directional relationship between mood disorders and cardiovascular disorders. Early-life experience can have strong effects both on emotional development and cardiovascular function throughout life. Studies in humans are limited to correlational analyses, which are necessarily limited in terms of revealing mechanistic underpinnings of these associations. Thus, various pre-clinical models are utilized to investigate the effects of early-life experience in various domains, such as behavior and cardiovascular function, which are likely mediated by epigenetic mechanisms. Previous studies have used maternal separation and neonatal handling in developing rodents as a way to model differences in early-life experience. The effect of …

Reorganization Of The Golgi Apparatus During Human Cytomegalovirus Infection, George Michael Rebmann

All ETDs from UAB

Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the largest and most structurally complex of all the herpesviruses. HCMV is an important human pathogen that results in significant morbidity and disease in immunocompromised individuals. The assembly of herpesviruses is complex and involves a nuclear and cytoplasmic phase. The nuclear events of capsid assembly and genome incorporation as well as nuclear egress are believed to be similar in all herpesviruses and as such, are more clearly defined then the cytoplasmic phase; including the process of tegument and envelope acquisition. Human Cytomegalovirus induces the reorganization of the cellular secretory pathway including the Golgi apparatus and membranes …

Examining Hiv-Associated Symptom Burden And Microbial Translocation In The Veterans Aging Cohort Study: A Secondary Data Analysis, Natalie Lynn Wilson

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group of 50 women (group 1) received computer-tailored feedback with brief counseling.

The Impact Of Rrna And Trna Synthesis On Chromatin Structure And Cell Fate, Jessica Makofske Woolnough

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The Central Dogma of molecular biology describes the process by which genetic material is faithfully converted into functional molecules across all domains of life. Originally, RNA was solely understood as an intermediate in this process. However, mounting evidence over the past 50 years has made clear that RNA have diverse functional roles as a class of molecule termed non-coding RNA. Two of the first described non-coding RNA have essential roles within the Central Dogma, itself: ribosomal RNA (rRNA) and transfer RNA (tRNA). These two non-coding RNA are highly abundant, collectively accounting for up to 90% of the total transcript in …

Modeling And Analysis Of Systems Using The Least Action Principle In Information Theory, Serkan Guldal

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The Least Action Principle (LAP) is widely applied to search for solutions to problems of classical mechanics. It claims that if an infinitesimal change does not affect the action of a system, that action would be the least action. In classical mechanics, if a particle moves from point A to point B, it will search for the path that requires the least energy consumption. Modeling physical phenomena utilizing LAP helps to predict an equation of motion and this principle is applicable for all known systems. In this dissertation, we use the maximum independent set from graph theory as a guiding …

Leukemia Stem Cell Markers And Inv(16) In Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Jason Legrand

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Although greater than 85% of inv(16) acute myeloid leukemia patients are able to achieve first complete remission after anthracycline- and cytarabine-based therapy, only about 60% of patients survive the disease long-term due to relapsed disease or treatment-related mortality. Multiple studies have shown that acute myeloid leukemia is composed of heterogeneous populations of leukemic clones that can exhibit a wide degree of genetic, epigenetic, and functional diversity, accounting for different outcomes in response to therapy. Genomic analysis of leukemic clones in paired diagnostic and relapse samples of acute myeloid leukemia has shown that all relapses stem from surviving leukemic or ancestral …