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The Role Of Epidermal Enhancer 923 In The Chromatin Architecture And Transcriptional Regulation Of The Epidermal Differentiation Complex, Inez Oh

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The epidermis covers the surface of the skin and provides a functional barrier across the entire body. Epidermal cells or keratinocytes proliferate in the innermost basal layer and migrate upwards into the suprabasal spinous and granular layers as they differentiate, and finally into the terminally differentiated outermost stratum corneum. Keratinocytes undergoing terminal differentiation are marked by tissue-specific concomitant expression of genes encoded in the Epidermal Differentiation Complex (EDC) locus. The EDC genes are organized into four gene families - S100, Sprr, Lce, and Flg-like, which are coordinately expressed upon activation of the terminal differentiation program in keratinocytes. The molecular mechanisms …

Infantile Batten Disease: Effective Therapy And Novel Model, Charles Shyng

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Infantile neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis (INCL, Infantile Batten) is typically an early onset, neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorder. INCL is caused by mutations to the gene CLN1 which codes for the lysosomal enzyme palmitoyl-protein thioesterase-1 (PPT1). PPT1 is a soluble lysosomal enzyme that functions to cleave fatty acyl chains from proteins destined for degradation. Deficiency in PPT1 leads to the accumulation of autofluorescent storage material, a hallmark of the NCLs. The storage material has been implicated in progressive histopathological changes in the brain such as neuronal loss, astrocytosis, microgliosis, and immune cell infiltration. These histopathological changes result in a progression of clinical …

Lactating In St. Louis: Attachments, Technologies, And Disparities, Sarah Sobonya

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation uses the concept of attachments to explicate women’s breastfeeding practices and beliefs in the racially and economically segregated St. Louis, Missouri region. My analysis examines the interplay among attachments at three levels: women’s intrapersonal attachments to specific concepts of self; their attachments to the values and priorities of social groups; and attachments they form in response to larger structural and ideological forces in society. I argue that racial and socioeconomic disparities are manifested through breastfeeding praxis, so that breastfeeding serves as a lens through which these oppressions and disparities can be more fully viewed. To illuminate this, I …

Gene Association Mapping In The Era Of Next-Generation Sequencing And Systems Biology, Tianxiao Zhang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In the past decade, advancement of genotyping technology, first microarray then “next-generation” sequencing, has enabled scientists to examine the susceptible genes that contribute to the risk of complex disorders using a genome-wide, “hypothesis free” strategy. However, despite this “hypothesis free” label, these genome-wide approaches (including genome-wide association and whole genome sequencing studies) depend on two implicit assumptions. The first assumption is that the genetic risk of complex traits is contributed by independent genes/variants (assumption of independence).The second assumption is that different genes have equal potentiality to confer to the genetic predisposition of the complex traits (assumption of equality). Despite the …

Student Needs And Perceptions Of The Learning Environment According To High School Students: A Case Study, Christina J. Hartje

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this study was, according to high school students, how does meeting students’ needs and honoring student voice affect the learning experience? By focusing on the learning experience within the context of students’ needs and voice, this research project aimed to understand the school experience through the student perspective and equip educators with the knowledge of practices deemed most profound in hopes of creating a classroom environment that not only enhances the learning experience, but also increases learner success. Through the collection of student surveys, interviews, and school data reports, findings indicated the average satisfaction of …

Educator Perceptions Of The Disproportionate Experience Of African Americans In Special Education, John Palen Geske

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The research question addressed in this capstone is, what are educators’ perceptions of the causes of the disproportionate experience of African Americans in special education? In this study, the author examines educators’ beliefs about two existing racial trends in special education. The first is the over-identification of African American students as candidates in need of special education. The second part of the disproportionate experience is that African American students tend to make less growth than their White peers once receiving services. In this research, the author provides a historical synthesis of the extensive record of disproportionality literature. The capstone includes …

Actin-Based Feedback Circuits In Cell Migration And Endocytosis, Xinxin Wang

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis, we study the switch and pulse functions of actin during two important cellular processes, cell migration and endocytosis. Actin is an abundant protein that can polymerize to form a dendritic network. The actin network can exert force to push or bend the cell membrane. During cell migration, the actin network behaves like a switch, assembling mostly at one end or at the other end. The end with the majority of the actin network is the leading edge, following which the cell can persistently move in the same direction. The other end, with the minority of the actin …

“I’M Trying To Do The Right Thing”: Competing Responsibilities Among Teen Parents In The Context Of Neoliberalism, Jennifer Kimberly Heipp

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Over 14 months of participant observation at teen mom serving organizations, I examined competing and complimentary ideas between the teen moms and the staff of the organizations about what it means to be "responsible." Within neoliberalism, being a "responsible" person is seen as both an ideal and an obligation, and scholars have elaborated how within neoliberal regimes, processes of "responsibilization" occur. In this dissertation, I advance the notion of "competing responsibilities," in that both the programs and my teen mom informants believe it is important to be a responsible person but they differ on the key question of to whom …

A Phenomenological Approach To Understanding How Women Make Breast Cancer Treatment Decisions Within The Context Of Communities, Lailea Noel

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

African-American women have a 40% higher mortality rate from breast cancer than White women. While there are many factors contributing to this disparity, the timely initiation of treatment is growing area of interest. Certain treatments are associated with increased survival for women with a breast cancer diagnosis, yet evidence suggests that African American women use these treatments less frequently compared to White women with similar tumor characteristics. An under-explored area of attention for scientific studies is how to identify and engage in care women who do not follow up with treatment following a suspicious finding. To date these women have …

Use Of Proteomics To Probe Dynamic Changes In Cyanobacteria, Amelia Yen Nguyen

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Cyanobacteria are unicellular photosynthetic microorganisms that capture and convert light energy to chemical energy, which is the precursor for feed, fuel, and food. These oxygenic phototrophs appear blue-green in color due to the blue bilin pigments in their phycobilisomes and green chlorophyll pigments in their photosystems. They also have diverse morphologies, and thrive in terrestrial, marine water, fresh water, as well as extreme environments. Cyanobacteria have developed a number of protective mechanisms and adaptive responses that allow the photosynthetic process to operate optimally under diverse and extreme conditions. Prolonged deprivation of essential nutrients, such as nitrogen and sulfur, commonly found …

The Non-Masticatory Use Of The Anterior Teeth Among Late Pleistocene Humans, John Charles Willman

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Characteristic patterns of dental wear form through the use of the dentition for non-masticatory manipulative behaviors. The use of “teeth-as-tools” or the dentition as a “third hand” for manipulative behaviors emphasizes the importance of the human dentition in our otherwise extrasomatic tool-kit. The extreme pattern of anterior dental wear found in many Neandertals, together with their large anterior teeth, has led researchers to suggest that the unique craniofacial morphology of Neandertals is the result of functional adaptation to the habitual use of the dentition for manipulative tasks. However, decades of research investigating the adaptive significance and biomechanical properties of Neandertal …

Ecological And Genetic Consequences Of Climate Change Impacting Species Distributions, With Specific Cases In Whitebark Pine (Pinus Albicaulis Engelm.), Jennifer A. Gruhn

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Climate is widely recognized as a primary factor contributing to species distribution limits. In turn, species’ geographic ranges have contracted and expanded in concert with Earth’s climatic history and are predicted to shift in response to future climate change. We investigated the ecological and genetic consequences of species distributions in flux with their historical, current, and projected future climatic environments. Chapter 1 introduces themes and background information related to the thesis research found in Chapters 2 through 4. In Chapter 2, we questioned the extent to which ancestral climate-related traits are conserved through vast periods of evolutionary time spanning the …

Tau Prion Strains In Cells, Mice, And Patients, David Winland Sanders

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Prion-like propagation of tau aggregation may underlie the stereotyped progression of pathology along neuronal networks in neurodegenerative tauopathies such as Alzheimer’s disease. It has become increasingly clear that unique conformations (“strains”) of prion protein (PrP) link aggregate structure to clinical phenotypes in human prion diseases. Intriguingly, vast phenotypic diversity in pathological and clinical presentation is also observed in tauopathies. The mechanisms that account for this phenotypic diversity are completely unknown. During my dissertation work, I put forward and tested the hypothesis that distinct tau amyloid conformations (or “strains”) are responsible for unique tauopathies. First, I found that in experimental models, …

Blowing Away Convention: Enchi Fumiko, Tanabe Seiko And Aging Women In Modern Japanese Literature, Sohyun Chun

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Since the 1970s, Japan's rapidly aging population has prompted a range of narratives addressing the issue of aging, which has disproportionately affected women. Prevailing narratives often present the elderly demographic as either a national burden that exhausts social resources, or a national pride that represents a well-structured healthcare system. This study focuses on aged women—often deemed expendable and unimportant by society—who occupy principal roles in various works by Japanese modern women writers. This study asks the question: why does literature occasionally lure its readers to the oft-ignored voice of the sultry crone? By granting their aging female protagonists unconventional interiorities …

Behavioral And Neurophysiological Mechanisms Of Recovery Post-Stroke, Lenny Eveline Ramsey

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Strokes can affect very different behavioral domains causing deficits in language, memory, visual attention and movement. This range of deficits is caused by stroke lesions that occur in different locations, and it reflects both the local structural damage as well as remote and widespread neurophysiological abnormalities of structurally normal regions of the brain. The recovery of behavioral deficits depends both on psychosocial factors like age and education, whose brain substrates are presently poorly defined, structural variables such as lesion size and location, and neurobiological repair mechanisms both locally near the lesion and network-wide.In the current work we hypothesized that behavioral …

Synthesis Of Simplified Ym-254890 Analogs, Derek Thomas Rensing

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

G Protein Coupled Receptors (GPCR’s) are responsible for a multitude of physiological, cellular, and disease processes. GPCR’s signal through non-receptor based heterotrimeric G proteins and since G proteins effectively mediate GPCR signal transduction they are attractive therapeutic targets. However, little is known about the signaling pathways associated with individual G proteins. For this reason, there is intense interest in the development of chemical probes that can help identify the downstream biochemistry of individual G proteins.One small molecule natural product that shows promise along these lines is YM-254890 (YM). YM has been shown to specifically and potently inhibit the α subunit …

Molecular Mechanisms Mediating The Effects Of Acute Dietary Vitamin A Deficiency On A Defined Model Human Gut Microbiota, Matthew Charles Hibberd

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Micronutrient deficiencies represent a form of "hidden hunger" that afflict two billion people worldwide. To test the hypothesis that dietary micronutrient deficiency has differential effects on members of the human gut microbiota, a consortium containing 92 sequenced phylogenetically diverse bacterial strains was introduced into germ-free mice. Recipient animals were subjected to a diet oscillation that began with highly defined micronutrient-sufficient diet followed by a derivative diet with one of four types of single micronutrient deficiency, or a diet representing combined deficiencies, followed by return to the original sufficient diet. Times-series studies of microbial community structure and transcriptome revealed that acute …

Action Of Snail1 Protein Is Critical For Fibrosis, Hirak Biswas

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

Hypoxic injury to the heart causes cardiac fibrosis leading to cardiac dysfunction and heart failure. SNAIL1 is a zinc finger transcription factor which has been implicated in fibrosis following organ injury. To investigate the role of SNAIL1 in cardiac fibrosis, we used an endogenous SNAIL1 bioluminescence reporter mice, and SNAIL1 knockout mouse models. Here we report that SNAIL1 is expressed in the infarcted myocardium, especially in the myofibroblasts. Utilizing cardiac fibroblasts in-vitro we demonstrate that pro-fibrotic factors and collagen increases SNAIL1 in cardiac fibroblasts. By knocking out SNAIL1 in cardiac fibroblasts in-vitro, we demonstrate that SNAIL1 is required for adoption …

Shining Light On Beta-Lactam Synthesis: The Photochemical Synthesis Of 3-Oh-Beta-Lactams, Tyler L. Morse

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Functions Of The Dna Polymerase Delta Replicase In Lagging Strand Replication, Joseph L. Stodola

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The work described in this dissertation focuses on several aspects of DNA replication in the model organism Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with particular attention paid to the function of the replicative DNA polymerase delta (Pol ), and its functions in Okazaki fragment synthesis and maturation. The first major theme of this dissertation is investigating the role that metal binding motifs play in the structure and function of Pol and other budding yeast polymerases. First, I discuss the role that two metal binding motifs within the catalytic subunit of Pol play in creating the multi-subunit polymerase complex and in promoting crucial interactions with …

Differential Associations Of Stress And Cortisol With Brain Structure And Cognition In Cognitively Normal Older Adults, Ana Kim

Arts & Sciences Graduate Student Theses and Dissertations

The current literature shows discrepant findings as to the degree to which cumulative stress and dysregulation of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis are associated with brain structure and cognitive function in older adults, particularly in brain regions with high expression of receptors for glucocorticoid, and cognitive function reliant upon these regions. Past studies have been heavily focused on total hippocampus while limited studies have examined hippocampal subdivisions or other brain structures. In addition, one key moderator that may influence the associations of cumulative stress and cortisol on brain structure and cognition is the single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) of the stress-system genes, which …

Contribution Of A Putative Up Element Dna Sequence To The Activity Of A Newly Identified Phage Promoter, Courtney Hamilton

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In transcription, a universal step in gene expression, information from a DNA sequence is copied into RNA. A key component in gene expression is the promoter sequence, a region of DNA to which RNA polymerase binds during the initiation of transcription of downstream genes. Most bacterial promoters contain a -10 and a -35 sequence that are bound by the RNA polymerase. Some promoters also contain an Upstream Promoter (UP) element. UP elements have been shown to boost promoter activity. We recently identified a new promoter in a mutant bacteriophage that grows on a bacterial host that prevents antitermination of phage …

Understanding Health Care Costs In A Wisconsin Acute Leukemia Population, Patricia Steinert, Ron A. Cisler

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose

We investigated factors driving health care costs of patients with a diagnosis of acute myeloid and acute lymphoblastic leukemia.

Methods

Standard costs identified in insurance claims data obtained from the Wisconsin Health Information Organization were used in a sample of 837 acute leukemia patients from April 2009 to June 2011. The Andersen behavioral model of health care utilization guided selection of patient and community factors expected to influence health care costs. A generalized linear model fitting gamma-distributed data with log-link technique was used to analyze cost.

Results

Type of treatment received and disease severity represented significant cost drivers, and …

A Pilot Study Of Circulating Tumor Cells In Stage Iv Non-Small Cell Lung Carcinoma, Max Haid, Edward Chesna, Mary Theodoroff, Debra K. Spaeth, Cheruppolil R. Santhosh-Kumar, Zahid N. Dar

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

Purpose

Measurement of the number of circulating tumor cells (CTCs) in the bloodstream has been shown to have prognostic significance in treating breast carcinoma. This pilot study was formulated to determine if stage IV non-small cell lung carcinomas similarly shed malignant cells into the circulation and if their presence has prognostic significance.

Methods

Patients with stage IV non-small cell lung carcinomas were tested once for CTCs in 7.5 ml of their blood prior to receiving any treatments. A proprietary blood collection kit produced by Veridex LLC (Raritan, NJ), which manufactures the instrument that performs the immunomagnetic CELLSEARCH^® CTC assay, …

Abstracts From The 22nd Annual Health Care Systems Research Network Conference, April 13–16, 2016, Atlanta, Georgia

Journal of Patient-Centered Research and Reviews

This proceedings supplement includes selected abstracts presented at the 22nd annual conference of the Health Care Systems Research Network (HCSRN), held April 13–16, 2016, in Atlanta, Georgia. The HCSRN connects the resources and capabilities of research departments from its member health care systems. Collectively, the organization represents more than 1,900 scientists and research staff from an array of disciplines such as epidemiology, economics, disparities, outcomes and quality assessment, trials and genomics.

Perilaku Penggunaan Kondom Dengan Kejadian Gonore Pada Wps Di Lokalisasi Kabupaten Nabire Papua, Gun Gun Rico Ardiyanto, Hesti Wahyuningsih Karyadini, Suryani Yuliyanti

Media Kesehatan Masyarakat Indonesia

Perilaku penggunaan kondom meliputi keteraturan, cara penggunaan, serta jenis kondom yang digunakan merupakan faktor yang dapat memengaruhi terjadinya infeksi Gonore. Perilaku penggunaan kondom yang tidak benar dapat memudahkan akses penularan infeksi Gonore terutama pada orang yang sering berhubungan seksual dan berisiko tinggi terhadap Infeksi Menular Seksual (IMS) seperti Wanita Pekerja Seks (WPS). Tujuan penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui hubungan perilaku penggunaan kondom dengan kejadian Gonore pada WPS. Terdapat 70 WPS yang telah diwawancarai dengan 18 pertanyaan tentang perilaku penggunaan kondom dan diikuti dengan pemeriksaan swab vagina untuk mendiagnosis adanya Neisseria gonorrhoeae menggunakan pengecatan Gram. Dari WPS tersebut, 45 sampel didiagnosis …

The Effect Of Social Networking On Students’ Academic Performance: The Perspective Of Faculty Members Of Periyar University, Salem, Sudha S, Kavitha Es Dr

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The Internet has undergone rapid development, with significant impact on social life and on modes of communication. Social media refers to the means of interactions among people in which they create, share, and exchange information and ideas in virtual communities and networks. This study aimed to study the faculty perception of SNS on academic performance of students. The study also focuses to assess the positive and negative impacts of SNS on students’ academic performance. A structured questionnaire designed and was randomly distributed to 110 faculty members of Periyar University, Salem. After collecting the data, SPSS 16 Software was use for …

Physical Property Interpretation Of Sediments In The Southwestern Slope Of The Ulleung Basin, East Sea, Using Downhole Log Data, Gil Young Kim, Dong Geun Yoo

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

This study focuses on the physical properties of two logged sites (UBGH1-1 and UBGH1-14) in the Ulleung Basin, East Sea. Based on seismic profiles, the upper ~50-m layer at logged sites is dominated by turbidite/hemipelagic sediments, whereas the sediments beneath this depth are characterized by thick mass transport deposits (MTDs). Physical property data (velocity, density, porosity, resistivity, and natural gamma) were acquired using Schlumberger’s logging tools during logging-whiledrilling operations. The variation of physical properties at site UBGH1-1 is likely mostly related to consolidation/compaction effects within typical unconsolidated marine sediment types. Repeated turbidite sequences also affect physical property variability. At site …

Evaluation Of The Effect Of Vitamin D Pharmacokinetics On Bone Health Using A Multi-Scale Systems Pharmacology Model (Mspm), Alanna S. Ocampo-Pelland

Doctoral Dissertations

Objectives: Relationships between Vitamin D dose, 25OHD, and indicators of bone health (serum calcitriol, parathyroid hormone (PTH), and bone mineral density at the lumbar spine (BMDLS)) were explored by considering the combined effects of Vitamin D3 and calcium administration (D3CA) on bone-health endpoints.

Methods: Population PK models were developed to predict D and 25OHD, and the final model was integrated with a previously published MSPM, describing calcium, PTH, and bone-remodeling. Public-source D and 25OHD PK data in healthy or osteoporotic populations, including 74 studies, representing 5684 individuals, were selected using PUBMED. Nonlinear-mixed-effects models were developed simultaneously for D and 25OHD …

Ionophoric Polyphenols Selectively Bind Cu2+, Display Potent Antioxidant And Anti-Amyloidogenic Properties, And Are Non-Toxic Toward Tetrahymena Thermophila, Alberto Martinez, Ralph Alcendor, Tanzeen Rahman, Magdalena Podgorny, Ismaila Sanogo, Rebecca Mccurdy

Publications and Research

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia affecting more than 28 million people in the world. Only symptomatic treatments are currently available. Anticipated tri-fold increase of AD incidence in the next 50 years has established the need to explore new possible treatments. Accumulation of extracellular amyloid-b (Ab) plaques, intracellular tangles in the brain, and formation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) are the major hallmarks of the disease. The active role of some metal ions, especially Cu²⁺, in promoting both Ab aggregation and reactive oxygen species formation has rendered ionophoric drugs as a promising treatment strategy. …