Digital Commons Network^™

Optogenetic Examination Of Salt Taste In Mice, Martin Raymond

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis describes a series of experiments designed to evaluate the hypothesis that Type I taste receptor cells play a critical role in the detection and transduction of sodium taste via of epithelial sodium channels (ENaCs). Experiment 1 validated the function of a simple and affordable behavioral apparatus (hardware and software) for testing taste preference and taste aversion in mice. Experiment 2 demonstrated a pharmacological method for rapid induction of salt appetite in mice. Experiment 3 showed that optogenetic stimulation of Type I taste receptor cells (TRCs) in transgenic mice could drive consumption of tap water under conditions of salt …

Neural Correlates Of Nonverbal Social Communication In High-Risk Infants, Casey E. Swick

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The aim of this study was to replicate and extend a study by Grossmann and colleagues (2008), examining infant neural responses to gaze in 5-month-olds, to older and high-risk infants. Participants were 9-month-old infants (5 preterm, [3 female]; 12 full term [7 female]) who underwent fNIRS while viewing gaze paradigms. Findings revealed that hemisphere predicted peak oxygenated hemoglobin (HbO₂) across groups and conditions, with higher activation in the left hemisphere across groups. Interaction of group by condition predicted peak HbO₂ value, with an increase in activation in the high-risk group during the averted condition. Participants as random …

Employers, Got Vegan?: How Ethical Veganism Qualifies For Religious Protection Under Title Vii, Rebecca Schwartz

Animal Law Review

Currently, employees who decide to go vegan for ethical reasons have no protection at their workplaces. Their employers are free to refuse to accommodate their beliefs whether that be through refusing to accommodate an employee who will not wear the leather piece of a required uniform or refusing to provide a vegan food option at work parties. As more and more Americans make the shift to a vegan lifestyle, this protection is needed now more than ever. This Paper analyzes how an ethical vegan may qualify for employment discrimination protection under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. In doing …

Justice For All?: The Shortcomings And Potentials Of The Capabilities Approach For Protecting Animals, Jennifer Davidson

Animal Law Review

In her book, Frontiers of Justice, Martha Nussbaum sets out to build upon, and re-envision, John Rawls’ theory of justice. Her goal is to establish a conception of justice that extends to three classes that are not adequately captured in Rawls’ work: people with disabilities, people living in different countries, and nonhuman animals. This Note takes on the last of those three extensions, nonhuman animals. Part I presents a brief overview of the major scholarly approaches to conceptualizing animal rights. Part II lays out the capabilities approach in detail, focusing particularly on its application to nonhuman animals. Part III analyzes …

The Wages Of Blood, Vanessa Hemenway

Animal Law Review

Slaughterhouse workers are largely overlooked by both the animal law community as well as the legal protections supplied by statutes addressing the humane treatment of animals. Like the traumatic ordeals of war, slaughterhouse workers undergo physical, psychological, and emotional injuries akin to soldiers on the front line. The few statutes that cover workers’ injuries in the exercise of their position at the slaughterhouse focus mostly on the physical. While slaughterhouse workers have one of the highest injury rates of any job, the state workers’ compensation statutes fail to address the debilitating and desensitizing emotional effect of animal slaughter. Nonetheless, the …

Financing Graduate And Professional Education: How Students Pay, Sandy Baum, Patricia Steele

Commissioned Research

This brief examines how students finance their graduate and professional education. It summarizes the sources of funds used to cover the tuition and fees universities charge, as well as living expenses. Institutions set a “cost of attendance” (COA) for students, estimating the average budget for one academic year (fall through spring). COA includes tuition and fees, books and supplies, room and board, transportation, and other living expenses, and it establishes the maximum amount students can borrow in federal student loans to attend a particular school. These official budgets serve as the foundation for the discussion that follows about how graduate …

Generating Race Specific Research Models To Examine The Role Of Advanced Glycation End Products (Ages) On Cancer Health Disparity, Narges Anbardar

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

African Americans have highest death rate in prostate and breast cancers (BCa), Socioeconomic and environmental risk factors are known to contribute to cancer health disparity [1-5]. Such factors possibly altering cell signaling and gene expression to alter tumor development and progression. To examine the effects of disparity risk factors we need to develop innovative molecular models to test working hypotheses of the biological effects of disparity risk factors and develop potential treatments. Glycation is the non-enzymatic addition of sugar moieties to biological macromolecules which leads to the formation of reactive metabolites known as Advanced Glycation End products (AGEs). AGE accumulation …

Municipal Dissemination Of Utilizable Information With Mobile Applications To Effectuate Lifestyle Changes To Combat And Prevent Obesity, Robert J. Wishnia

Student Works

No abstract provided.

Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (Agep), Population Council

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

For Zambian girls, social isolation, economic vulnerability, and lack of appropriate health information and services are critical problems that prevent a healthy transition from girlhood to womanhood. The challenges that girls are confronted with—high rates of gender-based violence, unsafe sex that puts them at risk for unwanted pregnancy and HIV infection, school dropout, lack of economic resources and income-generating options, lack of agency and participation—are linked together through their root causes. Through the Adolescent Girls Empowerment Program (AGEP), the Population Council and partners implemented a social, health, and economic asset-building program for vulnerable adolescent girls in Zambia. This brief summarizes …

Forced Child Unions: From Legal Reform To Social Disruption—Formative Research In Five Communities In Chisec, Alta Verapaz, Paola Broll, Cecilia Garcés

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Evidence has shown that child early and forced marriage/unions (CEFM/U) are harmful to the rights and development of girls and adolescents. It has also shown that increasing the minimum marriage age is not enough to eradicate this phenomenon because of the underlying practices of social institutions at the community level. This report details an investigation undertaken when a modification to the Civil Code was approved, then modified, in order to increase the minimum age of marriage in Guatemala. The investigation aimed to identify the norms, practices, and attitudes prevailing in the school, family, religion, government, and economy with regard to …

Adolescent Girls' Voices On Enhancing Their Own Productivity In Pakistan, Iram Kamran, Tahira Parveen, Maqsood Sadiq, Rehan M. Niazi

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This study was conducted in the Punjab province of Pakistan to examine the lives, aspirations, and perspectives of the largely invisible and marginalized group of older adolescent girls (ages 15–19 years) who are “not in education, employment for pay or profit, nor in marriage” (“NEEM”). The study seeks to identify the reasons for the exclusion of the NEEM girls from education and participation in paid work; explore opportunities and avenues for changing these girls’ existing opportunity structures; and probe the gender norms and behaviors underlying their marginalization to obtain insights into what it would take to change their situation.

Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya: Midline Results Report, Karen Austrian, Erica Soler-Hampejsek, Joyce Mumah, Beth Kangwana, Yohannes Dibaba Wado, Benta Abuya, Valsa Shah, John A. Maluccio

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Many adolescent girls in Kenya face considerable risks and vulnerabilities that affect their education status, health, and general well-being. In addition to low educational attainment and health risks, other factors that impact education and health outcomes include household poverty, lack of economic independence, limited income-earning opportunities, illiteracy, violence, and social isolation. Younger adolescent girls who live in environments laden with these vulnerabilities are at risk of experiencing negative outcomes such as school dropout, early sexual initiation, unintended pregnancy, early marriage, and sexual and gender-based violence. The Adolescent Girls Initiative–Kenya (AGI-K) delivered multisectoral interventions to over 6,000 girls aged 11–15 in …

A Feasibility Study: Using The Heeadsss Psychosocial Interview Combined With Bright Futures Youth Risk Screening Instruments In The Primary Care Setting, Deanna Bland Hiott

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore adolescent risk screening in the primary care center. The Donabedian Framework of structure, process, outcome was used throughout this dissertation to evaluate the various aspects of adolescent risk screening in the primary care setting. To begin this investigation, an integrative review was completed to determine which adolescent risk screening instruments are available for use in the primary care setting. Next, an integrative review was completed to evaluate the validity and reliability of a commonly used verbal screening instrument called HEEADSSS for use as an adolescent risk screen in the primary care setting. …

Best Practices For Translating Medical Social Work In A Virtual Setting, Shenita Melvin

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

This paper identifies the major differences for social work roles in a virtual environment as compared to traditional environments, and provides a list of recommendations that may support the formulation of best practices for the “virtualist” social worker. The most essential roles for “virtualist” social workers are those of enabler, negotiator, and broker. Best practices for successful functioning as a social worker in a virtual environment includes the ability to: 1) create trust by establishing a “virtual presence”; 2) employ ICT to communicate effectively; 3) recognize importance of verbal elements and barriers to communication by phone; 4) adhere to professional …

Survival Mechanisms Of Porphyromonas Gingivalis In Human Primary Gingival Epithelial Cells: An Investigation Of Host Antibacterial Nox And Autophagy Systems, Joann Simone Roberts

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Porphyromonas gingivalis, an opportunistic pathogen usurps gingival epithelial cells (GECs) as a primary intracellular niche for its colonization in the oral mucosa. P. gingivalis abrogates the effects of host danger molecule, extracellular ATP (eATP)/P2X7 signaling, such as the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS) via the mitochondria and NADPH oxidases (NOX) from primary GECs. Furthermore, P. gingivalis harnesses autophagic machinery to establish a replicative niche inside LC3-positive ER-rich autophagosomes. However, the antimicrobial functions of ROS production and precise characterization of the intracellular trafficking and fate of P. gingivalis in GECs are not well understood. Therefore, using a variety of phenotypic …

Exploring The Role Of Mirna-204 In Low Milk Supply, Clare Elizabeth Burton

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Breastfeeding is the optimal method for mothers to deliver nutrients to her newborn(s), providing both short- and long-term health benefits. Unfortunately, only 24% of infants receive exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months, as recommended by the World Health Organization and American Academy of Pediatrics, with the most often cited reason for this being “low milk supply”. Low Milk Supply (LMS) is a real and growing problem in the United States, with at least 5-10% (approximately 200,000) mothers experiencing LMS in the US each year. We previously observed temporal expression of miR-204 during normal mammary gland development, which led us …

Stories Of Strength: Chicago Latin@S' Navigation Of Health, Well-Being, And Chronic Disease, Lilian L. Milanés

Theses and Dissertations--Anthropology

Health inequalities take many forms related to race, gender, socioeconomic status, ethnic, language and many other axes throughout communities around the world. Type two diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol are examples of conditions (among many others) that disproportionately affect Latino@s in the U.S.. The research of this dissertation is based on fieldwork conducted throughout several predominantly Latin@ neighborhoods in Chicago, IL. This dissertation examines how Latin@s in Chicago navigate health and well-being, and how they engage in agentive strategies in the face of chronic disease. I recorded individual life histories and semi-structured interviews, focus groups, and participant observation …

Parent Rated Importance Of Active Play And Organised Physical Activity For Young Children, Casey Murphy

Theses

Background: Children participate in less daily physical activity, both organised and informal, often referred to as active play (AP), than in the past. For young children, parents are primarily responsible for planning their child’s day including their engagement in physical activity.

Purpose: As there has been little research in this area, the purpose of this study was to examine how parents rated the importance of their child’s level of AP and organised physical activity (OPA), how this affected the amount of time their child participated in these activities, and whether their child’s physical activity (PA) related to their own level …

The Implications Of Marijuana Legalization On The Prevalence And Severity Of Schizophrenia, Samantha M. Caspar, Artem M. Joukov

Health Matrix: The Journal of Law-Medicine

The article discusses how regulation is vital to protect the small proportion of the population that will develop schizophrenia from marijuana use. Topics discussed include marijuana's effects on a user's psyche; triggers and symptoms of schizophrenia; and need to legalize marijuana for people who are at least twenty-five years old or who have been cleared by a psychologist.

Living Well In The Lives Of African American Women With Chronic Illness, Gabrilla Ballard

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

Finding support for African American women with chronic illnesses is challenging. It often requires these women to identify, cultivate, and nurture practice structures that go beyond medical structures already in place to aid in the maintenance of their health conditions. Outside of these structures, the resources needed to support the women are limited. They do not include the scope of modalities necessary to address their unique health presentations and holistic need for medical, emotional and spiritual health. Additionally, intersecting systems of oppression pose challenges to African American women when trying to access resources that could support their overall well-being. This …

Overcoming Obesity-Induced Immunotherapeutic Impairment, Shannon Boi

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity affects ~40% of United States adults and is linked to the development of multiple health-related complications. Obesity is a major risk factor for developing renal cell carcinoma (RCC), the most common type of renal cancer. Metastatic RCC has poor five-year survivals, therefore, new, efficacious therapeutics are needed. One avenue is immunomodulation to generate tumor-specific, systemic anti-tumor responses that are long-lasting against local, metastatic, and recurrent tumors. Despite encouraging results, immunotherapeutic treatment of RCC is underwhelming. Cytokine therapies are largely toxic, while newly FDA-approved ‘checkpoint blockade’ (CB) antibodies have responses <50%. Here, we present a strategy employing a T cell priming therapy (AdTR/CpG) upstream of CB administration. Combinatorial use resulted in improved anti-tumoral immune responses, significantly reduced tumor burdens, and extended overall survival in pre-clinical RCC. Importantly, this approach was more efficacious than either single agent(s). Pre-clinical therapy development is often accomplished using lean, healthy animals–thus, to improve translatability we examined immune responses in the context of obesity as a major patient comorbidity. Subsequently, we investigated AdTR/CpG/CB in diet-induced obese (DIO) mice. Tumor/treatment-naïve DIO mice exhibited obesity-associated features; i.e., increased leptin/insulin and serum cytokines. These effects were not dependent on high-fat diet administration as mice resistant to weight gain had minimal alterations in these factors, and were similar to mice maintained on standard chow. As previously identified, 80% of DIO mice bearing renal tumors failed to respond to AdTR/CpG. AdTR/CpG/CB-treatment dramatically improved response rates against DIO tumors, however, decreased obese responder percentages were observed in both combinatorial therapies and was independent of high fat diet administration alone. Impaired response rates were not model or immunotherapy-specific as similar reductions in tumor clearance were seen in models of melanoma and sarcoma. Furthermore, responses were not due to initial T cell priming or unequal precursor CD8+ T cell frequencies. Detrimental changes in the tumor microenvironment underscored failure in obese mice and revealed therapeutic success was defined by a T cell-myeloid cell-inversion profile, supported by immunogenetic and flow cytometric analyses. Thus, we demonstrate a novel combinatorial approach for improving checkpoint-based outcomes, and identify the ability of host obesity to impede therapy-induced anti-tumor immunity.

Disaster Medical Preparedness In The Birmingham Metropolitan Community, Angela Hollowell

All ETDs from UAB

This research study aims to determine the presence of disaster medical preparedness in residents of the Birmingham metropolitan area. A concurrent collection of qualitative and quantitative data analysis was used to assess the perceived risk of a natural disaster, determine the socioeconomic status of residents, evaluate the health needs of residents, and examine the presence of disaster medical preparedness. Face-to-face interviews of research participants were conducted for six weeks at five churches: 6th Avenue Baptist Church, Avondale Church of Christ, Mountain Brook Community Church, Southside Church of God, and True Love Church of Ensley. In analyzing the results of the …

Racial Differences In Hypertension Claims Rates For Medicaid Patients: Has It Changed Since 1991?, Anthony Bernard Coleman

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the racial differences hypertension claim rates for Medicaid patients has changed since 1991. Age-specific and age-adjusted prevalence rates of hypertension in 2015, and the first 2015 claim rates by race and gender were calculated and compared to age-specific and age-adjusted prevalence rates of hypertension in 1991 and the first 1991 claim rates by race and gender. Gender-specific black-to-white risk ratios were also calculated. The comparison reveled that in both study groups, African-American females were more likely than African-American males, or whites of either sex to have hypertension diagnoses. Using Medicaid data …

Corporate Governance Deviance, Ruth V. Aguilera, William Q. Judge, Siri A. Terjesen

Management Faculty Publications

We develop the concept of corporate governance deviance and seek to understand why, when, and how a firm adopts governance practices that do not conform to the dominant governance logic. Drawing on institutional theory, coupled with both the entrepreneurship and corporate governance literature, we advance a middle-range theory of the antecedents of corporate governance deviance that considers both the institutional context and firm-level agency. Specifically, we highlight the centrality of a firm's entrepreneurial identity as it interacts with the national governance logic to jointly create corporate governance discretion (i.e., the latitude of accessible governance practices) within the firm. We argue …

Exploring Brazilian Immigrant Mothers’ Beliefs, Attitudes, And Practices Related To Their Preschool-Age Children’S Sleep And Bedtime Routines: A Qualitative Study Conducted In The United States, Ana Cristina Lindsay, Carlos André Moura Arruda, Márcia M. Tavares Machado, Gabriela P. De Andrade, Mary Greaney

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

In the United States (US), racial/ethnic minority children, low-income children, and children of immigrant families are at increased risk of childhood obesity. Mounting evidence documents that sleep duration and sleep quality are important modifiable factors associated with increased risk of obesity among preschool-aged children. The number of Brazilian immigrants in the US is increasing, yet no existing research, to our knowledge, has examined factors affecting sleep and bedtime routines of children of Brazilian immigrant families. Therefore, the purpose of this qualitative study was to explore Brazilian immigrant mothers’ beliefs, attitudes, and practices related to sleep and bedtime routines among preschool-aged …

Age Moderates The Effect Of Self-Paced Exercise On Exercise Adherence Among Overweight Adults, Harold H. Lee, Shira Dunsiger, Lauren Connell Bohlen, Holly K. Boyle, Jessica A. Emerson, David M. Williams

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Objective: The present study tested the hypothesis that the effect of self-paced exercise on adherence to exercise programs is more pronounced with increasing age. Method: Fifty-nine low-active overweight adults (18-65 years) were encouraged to walk 30 to 60 min/day and randomized to either self-paced (n = 30) or prescribed moderate-intensity (n = 29) conditions. Results: The effect of study condition was moderated by age (main effect: b = 6.14, SE = 2.54, p = .02; Condition × Age: b = −11.55, SE = 3.77, p < .01), such that among participants >50 years, those in the self-paced condition exercised 6 more min/day than participants …

Affective Response To Physical Activity As An Intermediate Phenotype, Harold H. Lee, Jessica A. Emerson, Lauren Connell Bohlen, David M. Williams

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

Over the past seventy years, biomedical and epidemiological research has shown that regular physical activity (PA) is critical for physical and mental health. Despite this knowledge, physical inactivity is the fourth leading risk factor for global mortality, accounting for 9% (5.3 million) of premature deaths annually. We suggest this mismatch between knowing about the risks of PA and engaging in regular PA can be reconciled by focusing less on expected health benefits of PA and more on how people feel during PA. Specifically, in this position paper, we argue that affective response (feeling good versus bad) to PA is an …

Attraction And Repulsion Of Mobile Wild Organisms To Finfish And Shellfish Aquaculture: A Review, Myriam D. Callier, Carrie J. Byron, David A. Bengtson, Peter J. Cranford, Stephen F. Cross, Ulfert Focken, Erik Petersson, Henrice M. Jansen, Pauline Kamermans, Anders Kiessling, Thomas Landry, Francis O'Beirn, Erik Petersson, Robert B. Rheault, Ølvind Strand, Kristina Sundell, Terje Svåsand, Gary H. Wikfors, Christopher W. Mckindsey

Fisheries, Animal and Veterinary Sciences Faculty Publications

Knowledge of aquaculture–environment interactions is essential for the development of a sustainable aquaculture industry and efficient marine spatial planning. The effects of fish and shellfish farming on sessile wild populations, particularly infauna, have been studied intensively. Mobile fauna, including crustaceans, fish, birds and marine mammals, also interact with aquaculture operations, but the interactions are more complex and these animals may be attracted to (attraction) or show an aversion to (repulsion) farm operations with various degrees of effects. This review outlines the main mechanisms and effects of attraction and repulsion of wild animals to/from marine finfish cage and bivalve aquaculture, with …

Mental Health Interventions For Homeless Young Children Through An Attachment Theory Lens : A Review And Analysis Of The Literature, Kimberly Mckittrick

Theses, Dissertations, and Projects

This thesis is a review and analysis of the literature on mental health interventions that may be effective for treating homeless young children living in emergency shelters or transitional housing. It begins with a discussion of family homelessness in the United States, and continues with a review of the literature on relationships among maternal mental health, children’s mental health, and homelessness. While homelessness is associated with increased maternal mental illness, the association between homelessness and children’s wellbeing appears to be mediated by the mother-child attachment relationship. Therefore, a discussion of attachment theory, attachment in homeless and impoverished children, and the …

Relationship Among Hypovitaminosis D, Maternal Periodontal Disease, And Low Birth Weight, Farhan Raza Khan, Tashfeen Ahmad, Rabia Hussain, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta

Section of Dental-Oral Maxillofacial Surgery

Objective: To determine if low birth weight is associated with hypovitaminosis D and periodontal disease among a sample of Pakistani women residing in district Jhelum, Punjab.STUDY Design: Cross-sectional study nested in a large community-based longitudinal study.PLACE AND DURATION OF STUDY: Tehsil Pind Dadan Khan, District Jhelum, Pakistan from August 2012 to October 2015.METHODOLOGY: Women during 12-16th week of pregnancy were selected. Dental examination was performed. Probing depth >3 mm was labeled as periodontal disease, whereas serum level 2500 g) babies. Odds ratio was applied to measure the strength of association of low birth weight with maternal hypovitaminosis D and also …