Digital Commons Network^™

The Effects Of Aerobic Exercise And Lipolytic Stimulation On Skeletal Muscle And Adipose Expression Of Perilipin 3 (Plin3) In Individuals With Type 2 Diabetes And Women With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, Jeffrey Daniel Covington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Ectopic lipid accumulation in skeletal muscle is linked with insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes (T2D). Neutral lipid is stored as lipid droplets, which are coated by lipid droplet coat proteins. One important class of these proteins are the perilipins. Little research has focused on perilipin 3 (PLIN3) and coatomer gtp-ases, theorized to be involved in PLIN3 directed lipid oxidation. Under lipolytic stimulation with epinephrine or palmitate, forskolin, and ionomysin (PFI), primary human myotubes taken from health non-T2D donors showed increased protein content levels of PLIN3. Concordantly, following endurance exercise in non-T2D males—an experimental paradigm shown to increase lipolysis—levels of …

Digital Osteology: 3d Surface Scanning The Os Coxa, Victoria Harrington

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

ABSTRACT This research was designed to isolate a standard 3D scanning methodology using a popular 3D scanner (NextEngine®) used in biological anthropology to reproduce research-quality human skeletal remains. Settings using NextEngine® hardware were determined through three successive studies. The first study used minimum settings to create a topography of nine postcranial bones excavated from a Maya archaeological site, Moho Cay, Belize. The research was conducted in Louisiana State University’s (LSU) Digital Imaging and Visualization in Archaeology (DIVA) Lab. The resulting 3D scans were visually compared to the original bone specimens for similarities in five categories. The similarity ratings were used …

A Graph-Based Taxonomic Intelligent Tutoring System Utilizingbloom’S Taxonomy And Item-Response Theoretic Assessment, Dennis Gordon Castleberry Ii

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation details an intelligent tutoring system which aims to raise student trait abilities across concepts and levels of Blooms taxonomy within an educational program. The system utilizes Item Response Theory, a probabilistic theory of assessment which accounts for item discrimination, difficulty, and probability of guessing in its assessment of student trait ability. A modification to Item Response Theory which accounts for question dependencies is used to assess the probability that a student will answer a given question correctly given prior responses on the dependency questions. It also draws from theories of memory and forgetting present in the ACT-R model …

Survivorship And Growth Among Three Developmental Stages Of Black Mangrove (Avicennia Germinans) Seedlings In Southernmost Texas, Frank W. Judd, Kenneth R. Sunny, Robert I. Lonard, Ruben A. Mazariegos

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

Black mangrove is useful for shoreline stabilization in Texas and Mexico but there is insufficient information regarding propagule survivorship and seedling growth. We compared survivorship and growth of three develop-mental groups of black mangrove seedlings planted on three dredge spoil islands in the Lower Laguna Madre of Texas, to better understand optimum planting strategy. Each spoil island had 100 seedlings without emergent radicles, 100 seedlings with emergent radicles, and 75 head-started seedlings. Survivorship of seedlings with and with-out emergent radicles was low, (0-16%). Survivorship of head-started seedlings was higher, (60 – 62.7%). Varia-tion in survivorship among developmental categories was significant …

Non-Traditional Examination: A Study To Improve Academic And Research Performance Of Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Students#, Bimal K. Banik, Ram Naresh Yadav, Sunena Chandra

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

An investigation of conducting a presentation examination instead of a classical written examination method on academic and research performance of undergraduate chemistry students was performed at the University of Texas-Pan American. The results suggest that chemistry students do much better in the presentation examination compared to the written examination at the advanced organic chemistry course. But, the performances of the students in the lower level courses are mixed. However, students do much better in research work when presentation examination was conducted.

Carbon Dioxide-Mediated Preparation Of Pyrroles In Water Following Paal Knorr Method, Ram Naresh Yadav, Bimal K. Banik

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

Carbon dioxide-mediated new reaction of 2,5-hexanedione and primary amino compounds in water-THF produced N-substituted pyrroles in excellent yield. This method for the preparation of pyrroles is novel, simple, and efficient.

Ammonium Chloride-Induced Synthesis Of Pyrroles Via Paalknorr Reaction, Debasish Bandyopadhyay, Bimal K. Banik

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

Reaction of commercially available 2,5-hexanedione and primary amino compounds in the presence of ammonium chloride produced N-substituted pyrroles in excellent yield. In contrast to other available methods, this current procedure for the preparation of pyrroles is exceedingly simple, efficient, and eco-friendly and therefore, may find numerous applications in this field.

Dihydropyridines As Calcium Channel Blockers: An Overview, Thelma Salazar, Andres Gonzalez, Debasish Bandyopadhyay

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

Cardiovascular disease remains one of the leading causes of death in the United States. It is estimated that 1 in every 3 American adults suffer from high blood pressure. Hypertension, a precursor to most cardiovascular diseases, continues to grow at an alarming rate and is seldom managed carefully. Attempts have been made to manage hypertension and reduce the morbidity and mortality of the cardiovascular organ through methods including diets, increased amount of exercise, and medications. Many commercial drugs have been derived from dihydropyridine due to its antihypertensive property. Dihydropyridine derivatives work by acting as calcium channel blockers blocking the intake …

Identification And Characterization Of A Chemical Compound That Inhibits Methionyl-Trna Synthetase From Pseudomonas Aeruginosa, Sara Robles, Yanmei Hu, Tahyra Resto, Frank Dean, James M. Bullard

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

Background: Pseudomonas aeruginosa is an opportunistic pathogen problematic in causing nosocomial infections and is highly susceptible to development of resistance to multiple antibiotics. The gene encoding methionyl-tRNA synthetase (MetRS) from P. aeruginosa was cloned and the resulting protein characterized.

Methods: MetRS was kinetically evaluated and the KM for its three substrates, methionine, ATP and tRNAMet were determined to be 35, 515, and 29 μM, respectively. P. aeruginosaMetRS was used to screen two chemical compound libraries containing 1690 individual compounds.

Results: A natural product compound (BM01C11) was identified that inhibited the aminoacylation function. The compound inhibited P. aeruginosa MetRS with an …

Efectos Del Cambio Climático En La Interacción Planta-Hormiga: Una Mini Revisión Sobre La Tolerancia Térmica, Florencio Luna Castellanos, Mariana Cuautle, Teresa Patricia Feria-Arroyo, Citlalli Castillo Guevara

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

Sin duda alguna el clima está cambiando debido al aumento de la concentración de gases de efecto invernadero en la atmósfera provocado por la acción humana. Dichos cambios van a tener un efecto importante en algunas actividades humanas tales como la agricultura y también pueden afectar enormemente la distribución geográfica de los organismos vivos y por tanto sus interacciones. Las hormigas y las plantas tienen una larga historia evolutiva de interacción. La actividad de las hormigas y su relación con las plantas en los últimos años ha tenido un número creciente de estudios que están poniendo de relieve su papel …

Assessing The Genetic Status And Factors Leading To The Decline Of The Roanoke Bass (Ambloplites Cavifrons), Jackman C. Eschenroeder

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Although numerous factors have led to the staggering declines in freshwater biodiversity throughout the United States and the world, habitat alteration and introduced species pose some of the greatest challenges to conservation efforts. Learning more about how these two factors lead to the decline of an endemic organism could help prevent the future loss of unique species and the premature conclusion of evolutionary trajectories. Roanoke bass (Ambloplites cavifrons) is a sport fish endemic to portions of the Roanoke, Chowan, Tar, and Neuse river basins of North Carolina and Virginia. This species has been in decline for many years, …

Home Healthcare And Performance: Development And Application Of A Typology For Home Health Agencies, Ronique Nechelle Evans

All ETDs from UAB

This three-paper dissertation sought to examine the existence of strategic groups in the home health industry, the application of Porter’s generic strategies (cost leader, differentiator, “stuck-in-the-middle” and both cost leader/differentiator) in identifying these groups, and the association of group membership with agency performance. The findings of this study will provide researchers and managers with a highlight of the current strategic makeup of the home health industry and its relationship with quality and financial performance. The results of this dissertation provide some evidence that strategic groups do exist in the home health industry and can be described along the basis of …

Role Of Calmodulin In Death Receptor 5-Mediated Apoptosis In Breast Cancer, Romone Markel Fancy

All ETDs from UAB

Drug resistant estrogen receptor positive (ER-positive) and triple-negative (TN) breast cancers, are prolific breast cancers with poor clinical outcome. TRA-8 is a death receptor-5 (DR5) specific agonistic antibody with tumoricidal activity in vitro and in vivo, without inducing normal hepatocyte apoptosis. ER-positive and TN breast cancers have a range of sensitivity to TRA-8 mediated cytotoxicity. TRA-8 activation of DR5 leads to DR5 oligomerization that is critical for formation of the death inducing signaling complex (DISC) at the death domain of DR5 and initiation of apoptotic signaling. Calmodulin (CaM) is overexpressed in breast cancer and is involved in regulating breast cancer …

Neuroanatomical Correlates Of Antisocial Traits In Adolescent Males, Emma Sartin Goodman

All ETDs from UAB

Prior research suggests that antisocial traits and behaviors often found in psychopathy are also present during childhood and adolescence. Thus, understanding the neurobiology of children and adolescents who are displaying early-signs of antisocial behavior can enhance the pace of diagnosis, allow for earlier and more effective intervention, and allow for researchers to record the developmental trajectory of these traits more accurately. This project used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and diffusion weighted imaging (DWI) to examine the neuroanatomy of gray and white matter in 25 adolescent males, which were further analyzed using a regression model and the Youth Psychopathic Traits Inventory …

Non-Markovian Investigation Of An Autonomous Quantum Heat Engine, Ketan Goyal Goyal

All ETDs from UAB

A systematic study of a quantum heat engine is presented in this thesis. In particular, we study heat conduction through a two-two level composite system, which is then connected to a photon cavity to extract work, forming an autonomous quantum heat engine. The question as to what extent quantum effects such as quantum coherence and correlations impact thermodynamic properties of such a system is addressed. The investigated heat engine has been previously studied using the popular Born-Markovian quantum master equation under weak internal coupling approximation. However, we show that the used approach is quite limited in addressing such problems as …

Reducing Acute Cardiovascular Hospitalizations With A Weight Management Program (Reach), Laura A. Graham

All ETDs from UAB

Reducing cardiovascular (CVD) risk factors such as obesity through lifestyle and behavioral interventions like weight management programs should result in better cardiovascular health. However, there is conflicting evidence on the effectiveness of these interventions in reducing long-term CVD outcomes such as acute myocardial infarction or stroke. This reflects an important gap in our understanding about factors affecting recruitment and engagement in these programs and how these factors relate to improvement in long-term cardiovascular health. To address this gap, we will use a retrospective study with up to 11 years of follow up data from the nation’s largest health care system-associated …

Evaluating The Genotype Phenotype Correlations In Cleidocranial Dysplasia, Stephen Lamar Greene

All ETDs from UAB

Cleidocranial dysplasia (CCD, OMIM 119600) is a rare (1 in 1,000,000) human autosomal dominant skeletal disorder with unique craniofacial and dental features caused by mutations the gene coding for transcription factor RUNX2. RUNX2 is a key master regulator of osteoblast differentiation, chondrocyte maturation and tooth formation. CCD is commonly diagnosed based on bone defects with ~90% of cases presenting with supernumerary teeth or a “third dentition”. Mouse Runx2 null models (Runx2+/-), although having similar CCD skeletal defects, do not mimic the human dental phenotype of supernumerary teeth. Instead, Runx2-/- mouse have arrested tooth formation at the cap stage. Furthermore, based …

Transcriptional Dysregulation In Interneurons Causes Altered Modulation Of Hippocampal Synaptic Transmission And Circuit Function By The Dopamine System, Lillian J. Brady

All ETDs from UAB

Genetic deletion of the transcriptional coactivator PGC-1α leads to transcriptional dysregulation in interneurons, and transcriptional dysregulation in interneurons lead to changes in hippocampal synaptic transmission and circuit function. Hippocampal circuit activity and synaptic transmission alterations have implications for symptoms of cognitive impairment in neurological disorders like schizophrenia. Modulation of dopamine receptor activity through pharmacologic application of haloperidol and the specific dopamine D4 receptor antagonist L-745,870 in PGC-1α-/- mice leads to altered effects on inhibitory/excitatory synaptic transmission balance, circuit function, and innate hippocampal dependent nesting behavior. These are key aspects underlying hippocampus dependent cognitive impairment. Specifically, bath application of haloperidol restores …

Strategies Early Childhood Elementary Teachers Use In Order To Provide A Welcoming Environment For Student Who They Perceive To Be Lgbtq Or Exhibit Stereotypical Characteristics, Felecia Brooks-Jones

All ETDs from UAB

STRATEGIES EARLY CHILDHOOD TEACHERS USE IN ORDER TO PROVIDE A WELCOMING CLASSROOM ENVIRONMENT FOR STUDENTS WHO THEY PERCEIVE TO BE LGBTQ OR EXHIBIT STEREOTYPICAL CHARACTERISTICS FELECIA BROOKS-JONES EARLY CHILDHOOD EDUCATION ABSTRACT People who identify as Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer/questioning are becoming more socially accepted today than they were before. Laws have been passed to give same-sex couples equal rights as heterosexual couples. However, they are not always treated the same, especially here in the southeast, which is known as the Bible Belt. There is minimal research or literature in the field of education concerning early elementary LGBTQ students, …

Autism Spectrum Disorders And Social-Ecological Models: Understanding How Context Drives Prevalence, Anne Elizabeth Brisendine

All ETDs from UAB

Background: While there has been significant work done to explore disparities in autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses with respect to individual characteristics, little work has been done to examine the overall system and structure of the environment in which ASD identification is made and how it is related to diagnosis and services. The purpose of this study is to better understand the social-ecological factors that impact ASD diagnoses at the population level. Methods: In the first aim of this dissertation, a tailored social ecological model was developed and examined across variables in the 2011/12 National Survey of Children’s Health. In …

Immunobiology Of The Mucosal Response To Helicobacter Pylori In Children, Kyle Brawner

All ETDs from UAB

Helicobacter pylori colonizes the stomach of approximately one half of the world’s population. However, the vast majority of infected persons remain asymptomatic. The degree of H. pylori-induced gastric inflammation depends on a complex interaction of several factors. In this dissertation, we focus on age as a determinant of gastritis severity. Children are known to respond to H. pylori infection with a stronger T regulatory cell profile compared with infected adults, yet the reason remains unknown. The influence of the microbiota on, and the communication among, cells of the innate immune system shape the nature of the adaptive immune response to …

Interplay Of The Circadian Clock And Growth Hormone Signaling In The Heart, Ryan Darrell Berry

All ETDs from UAB

Growth hormone (GH) signaling plays a critical role in postnatal development and the details of its release, regulation, and influence on the development of a number of organs has been well studied. GH is released from the anterior pituitary in a pulsatile fashion with pulse amplitude being greater at night than during the day in a number of species, including humans. Once in circulation, GH binds to the GH receptor (GHR) on target tissues throughout the body altering gene expression and stimulating the local production of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1). IGF-1 primarily acts in an autocrine and paracrine fashion. …

Optimizing The Non-Ablative Conditioning Regimen For Bone Marrow Transplantation Using A Murine Model Of Sickle Cell Disease, Divya Devadasan

All ETDs from UAB

In this dissertation, we sought to determine if a sub-myeloablative conditioning regimen followed by bone marrow transplantation/hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) using syngeneic donor cells could facilitate donor chimerism using a clinically relevant mouse model of sickle cell disease (SCD). This pre-clinical study determined the feasibility of using sub-myeloablative conditioning in the context of autologous HSCT. The prospect of using less-intense conditioning is particularly appealing in the era of modern gene-editing technologies since its extension to use in humans will allow for HSCT to be less toxic and hence be applicable in all patients. We showed that using a sub-myeloablative …

Effect Of Antihypertensive Drugs On Left Ventricular Traits In Africam American, Anh N. Do

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this dissertation is to evaluate the association of antihypertensive treatment as well genomic variants with left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) -related traits among African Americans (AAs) in five cross-sectional epidemiology cohorts from the United States. AAs especially those with hypertension, are overburdened by left ventricular (LV) hypertrophy (LVH) compared to other ethnic groups. LVH is associated with increased risk for cardiovascular morbidity and mortality. Antihypertensive treatments have been found to improve LVH and related echocardiographic measures (i.e. LV traits) among hypertensive patients. However, the effect of antihypertensive treatments on LVH and related traits in AAs has not …

Factors Guiding Cd4 T Cell Fate Bifurcations, Daniel Francis Ditoro

All ETDs from UAB

Naïve CD4 T cells differentiate into a variety of phenotypically and functionally distinct subsets uniquely tailored to the specific inflammatory context. Despite the extraordinary heterogeneity of potential fate outcomes, two distinct but related functional bifurcations appear common to all inflammatory contexts. Following activation, CD4 T cells either home to the site of inflammation and influence peripheral events or remain in the secondary lymphoid tissue to modulate central processes. Similarly, activated cells either drive or suppress inflammation. These functional bifurcations are coincident and sufficiently independent to allow for the simultaneous generation of all four potential outcomes. Pro-inflammatory cells retained in the …

O-Acetyltransferase Functionality Mediates Pneumococcal Capsular Diversity, Brady Spencer

All ETDs from UAB

Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus) is an important human pathogen that asymptomatically colonizes the nasopharynx but can disseminate opportunistically to cause diseases such as otitis media, pneumonia, septicemia, or meningitis. The pneumo-coccal capsular polysaccharide is necessary to prevent opsonophagocytosis as nonencap-sulated pneumococci are largely avirulent. Currently, 98 antigenically distinct capsule types (serotypes) have been identified, which vary in virulence. O-acetylation, a subtle capsular modification, contributes to pneumococcal capsular diversity and modulates capsular physicochemical properties and interaction with innate or vaccine immunity. Replacement serotypes (and future vaccine types) 33F and 15B have O-acetylated capsules due to membrane-bound O-acetyltransferases (MOATs). We hypothesize that future …

The Role Of Cognitive Reserve In Recovery From Traumatic Brain Injury, Kayla Steward

All ETDs from UAB

Objective: To examine whether cognitive reserve (CR) attenuates the initial impact of TBI on cognitive performance (passive model) and results in faster cognitive recovery rates in the first year post-injury (active model), and whether the advantage of CR differs based on the severity of TBI. Setting: Inpatient/outpatient clinics at academic medical center. Participants: Adults with mild TBI (mTBI; n=28), complicated mild TBI (cmTBI; n=24), and moderate-to-severe TBI (msevTBI; n=57), and demographically-matched controls (n=66). Design: Retrospective; longitudinal cohort assessed at 1-, 6-, and 12-months post-injury. Main Measures: Outcomes were 3 cognitive domains: processing speed/executive function, verbal fluency, and memory. Premorbid IQ, …

An Investigation Of The Neurobiological Heterogeneity In Autism, Adhd, And Typical Development, Melissa Thye

All ETDs from UAB

Standard fMRI studies of healthy as well as clinical populations rely heavily on group-level averages to draw inferences about brain and behavior. This presumes neural and behavioral homogeneity within diagnostic groups resulting in group-level models which may not capture individual variability. This problem is especially relevant for studies of neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism spectrum disorder (ASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) which clinically present with widespread individual differences. The prevalence of comorbidity between these disorders is roughly 28% highlighting the possibility that there may be shared behavioral and neural markers which cut across the diagnostic boundaries delineating the …

Familial Support And Mental Health Service Use: Differences Among First- And Second-Generation Asian American And Latino Older Adults, Jessica Lynn Valles

All ETDs from UAB

While several studies have shown that US-born Asian Americans and Latinos are more likely to use mental health services than their foreign-born counterparts, the effects of generation status and familial support is unclear. Furthermore, little is known about these associations and how they affect older adults. According to the Socioemotional Selectivity Theory (SST), as adults begin transition into advanced age, they begin to withdraw from broader social networks to focus on more intimate relations, such as those with children. In applying modernization theory to the family and aging, this theory would suggest that the status of older adults in families …

Acute And Chronic Regulation Of Skeletal Muscle Mitochondrial Function, Jonathan Lund Warren

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity and type 2 diabetes (T2D) represent a growing global burden on healthcare and financial resources. One hypothesis for the onset and exacerbation of these diseases is related to the role of mitochondria as the end users of products of the metabolism of the nutrients we consume and in mediating the oxidative state of the body through the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS). In order to meet the demands of a metabolic challenge and prevent excessive ROS production, there appear to be adaptations to mitochondrial physiology and morphology that can occur and we hypothesize that the ability of the …