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Insights Into The Cyclooxygenase Pathway In A Progressive Rat Model Of Parkinson’S Disease Induced By Prostaglandin J2: Protection With Ibuprofen, Chuhyon Corwin

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is a neurodegenerative disease with aging as a major risk factor. Its defining symptoms are motor deficits that are primarily associated with dopaminergic neuronal loss in the substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) in the midbrain. Post-mortem PD brains exhibit abnormal intraneuronal inclusions of α-synuclein and ubiquitinated protein aggregates known as Lewy bodies, a hallmark of PD pathology.

Currently, there is no validated biomarker for PD. Especially the early stage of PD is difficult to detect as the pathology develops progressively. While symptom-managing treatments are available, there is no neuroprotective treatment as of yet, mainly due to the …

Nurses' Knowledge, Attitudes, And Perceived Self-Competency Regarding Individualized Developmental Care In The Neonatal Intensive Care Unit, Patricia Macho

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Infants born prematurely are at a greater risk for developing both cognitive and motor development delays related to continuing their development outside the normal uterine environment. Because of the potential adverse effects of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) environment on the quality of life of premature infants and their families, researchers have investigated, developed, and tested different developmentally supportive interventions to improve outcomes and decrease the negative effects of the NICU. The majority of successful interventions are based on the Synactive Theory of Individualized Developmental Care (IDC)-a form of patient/family- centered care for the neonate.

The majority of published …

Essays On Environmental Conditions In Cuba, Gonzalo Cordova

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Cuban environmental conditions have not attracted the attention received by otherareas of Cuba's economic performance. Chapter 1 examines selected ambient air pollutants and the use of fossil fuels in Cuba, indicators for which there are relatively better available data, as of the “Special Period” extending into recent years. In contrast with prior anecdotally-driven approaches, the empirical examination aims to specifically identify Cuba's performance and international standing on these indicators through the use of a heterogeneous individual country adaptation of the income-pollution relationship known as the Environmental Kuznets Curve. In response to critiques in the literature, extensive testing of the panel …

Mechanisms For Survival And Drug Resistance In Cancer Cells, Matthew B. Utter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

PART I

Prostate cells are hormonally driven to grow and divide. Typical treatments for prostate cancer involve blocking the hormone androgen from activating the androgen receptor (AR) and thus inhibit growth and proliferation of the cancer. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) can lead to the selection of cancer cells that grow and divide independently of androgen receptor activation. Prostate cancer cells that are insensitive to androgens commonly display metastatic phenotypes and reduced long-term survival of patients. In this study, we provide evidence that androgen-insensitive prostate cancer cells have elevated phospholipase D (PLD) activity relative to the androgen-sensitive prostate cancer cells. PLD …

Anti-Proliferative Effects Of Garcinia Fruits In Breast Cancer Cells, Harini Anandhi Senthilkumar

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Breast cancer continues to be the second leading cause of death in women, even with the recent advances in research that has led to an improved understanding of molecular pathways and targets. Increasing mortality due to recurrence and lack of targeted drugs, especially in aggressive breast cancer subtypes such as triple negative breast cancer, has gained attention from the research community. With nearly 50% of the commonly used cancer drugs being sourced from plants, bioactive small molecules derived from a natural origin have immense potential as therapeutics. This study focuses on the anti-proliferative activities of benzophenones isolated from the edible …

Positive Outcomes: Strategies For Assessing The Progress Of Youth Involved In The Justice System, Jeffrey A. Butts, Emily K. Pelletier, Lila Kazemian

Publications and Research

This report examines the shift in U.S. youth justice systems toward using adolescent development science to improve interventions and measure youth success. It emphasizes the adoption of Positive Youth Development (PYD) principles, which focus on fostering positive relationships and skills rather than just preventing recidivism. The report highlights various frameworks—such as the Developmental Assets model and Positive Youth Justice model—that align with PYD principles and research on desistance from crime. These frameworks offer a path for transforming youth justice systems into strengths-based approaches that promote long-term positive outcomes.

Open Access Religious Journals - An Analytical Study Of The Doaj, Fayaz Ahmad Loan Dr., Jahangeer Iqbal Quraishi Mr., Refhat-Un-Nisa Ms., Wasim Hussain Mr.

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

The main purpose of the paper is to study the publishing trends of the open access religious journals available in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). The data were collected online from the Directory of Open Access Journals and quantitative method was applied for data analysis. The data were collected in December 2017 and later presented in tabular forms to reveal the findings. The findings show that 119 religious journals are registered in the DOAJ, published from the 27 countries by 114 publishing agencies in 14 languages. The maximum number of journals (21, 17.65%) is published from Indonesia in …

Lipid Nanocapsules For Brain Targeting Of Nimodipine, Karim Mohsen

Theses and Dissertations

Subarachnoid hemorrhage (SAH) is the leading cause of death in stroke patients who suffer from vasospasms with incidence of 70%. SAH prevents sufficient oxygen supply to the brain causing ischemia and death. FDA approved only nimodipine (NM) for treatment of vasospasm associated with SAH. Nevertheless, NM has poor pharmacokinetic properties, which limit its clinical efficacy. NM is susceptible to first-pass metabolism and has low solubility and thereby poor bioavailability. The objective of this study is to assess the nose-brain pathway in brain targeting of NM-loaded lipid nanocapsules (LNCs) after intranasal administration. Solvent-free phase inversion temperature technique was used to prepare …

Nanostructured Mg-Zk50 Sheets Fabricated For Potential Use For Biomedical Applications, Peter Mabrouk Morcos

Theses and Dissertations

Magnesium (Mg) alloys are widely used in biomedical applications thanks to their combination of exceptional mechanical properties, biocompatibility, and biodegradability. Mg-ZK alloy series; for instance, ZK40, ZK60 and ZK61; is an example of the most commonly used Mg bio-alloy. Zirconium (Zr) acts as a grain refiner when added to Mg, which manipulates the material structure by producing a refined internal structure and enhancing its properties. In addition, when Zinc (Zn) is added to a Mg-Zr alloy, strength is improved. Therefore, given the favorable properties of ZK alloys in biomedical applications, the current research aimed for the fabrication and the evaluation …

Nanophotonic Structures For Biosensing Applications, Ahmed Bassam Emam

Theses and Dissertations

Photonics -“ science of optics“ - has become one of the emerging sciences in many applications nowadays. The study of light interaction with matter has opened a lot of interesting phenomena that differ in their applications including sensing, modulation, demultiplexing, etc. Sensing applications represent a major part in the photonics field owing to their crucial role in the detecting and diagnosis of diseases in many medical applications. On the other hand, gas sensing is considered an important application in many industrial centers. During the manufacturing of several products, toxic gases may be generated and hence the ability to detect such …

Emg-Based Eye Gestures Recognition For Hands Free Interfacing, Ahmed Zahran

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the utilization of an Electromyography (EMG) based device to recognize five eye gestures and classify them to have a hands free interaction with different applications. The proposed eye gestures in this work includes Long Blinks, Rapid Blinks, Wink Right, Wink Left and finally Squints or frowns. The MUSE headband, which is originally a Brain Computer Interface (BCI) that measures the Electroencephalography (EEG) signals, is the device used in our study to record the EMG signals from behind the earlobes via two Smart rubber sensors and at the forehead via two other electrodes. The signals are considered as …

Evaluation Of Cytotoxic Potential Of Loratadine And The Combination Of Loratadine And Cisplatin On Hepatocellular Carcinoma Cell Lines, Nouran Adly

Theses and Dissertations

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) has been a major health problem in Egypt with extensive efforts and studies done in enhancing chemotherapeutic drugs for more optimal results. Existing chemotherapeutic drugs are costly with problematic side effects. Recent studies have demonstrated the anticancer potential of antihistamines on different types of cancer, including HCC. Antihistamines have been proven to induce cell cycle arrest and/or apoptosis through different mechanisms depending on their role on different cancer types. The second generation antihistamine, loratadine (LOR), was found to have tumor inhibiting effects on human colon carcinoma cell line. However, no studies were done neither on the influence …

Fabrication Of Zinc Oxide Nanoparticles And Films By Banana Peel Extract Food Waste And Investigation On Their Antioxidant And Antibacterial Activities, Omar Hamed

Theses and Dissertations

Food waste is one of the major problems of today's world and thus there is a need to utilize it in innovative applications to reduce the problems associated with it. One of those is the utilization of banana peels in the green synthesis of nanoparticles where the extract of such peels was found to contain polyphenolic compounds that would serve as capping agents for the growing nanoparticles. Our aim in this study was to investigate the use of banana peel extract (BPE) in the synthesis of zinc oxide nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and to compare the prepared NPs with commercial bulk …

The Experience Of Art: Between Arthur Schopenhauer And Sigmund Freud, Sarah Hammad

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis aims to juxtapose Freud's and Schopenhauer's doctrines, in the hopes of reaching a richer understanding of both thinkers. Both Freud and Schopenhauer believed that the way we viewed the world and ourselves was lacking, to a certain extent even distorted, and that such lack was due to our constitutional focus on ourselves, a focus developed from the absolute need for self-preservation. They both also called for a truer less distorted form of knowledge, a knowledge that could reach the essence of ourselves and therefore of the world. This thesis attempts to bring those two daring minds closer together …

The Interplay Of Genetic Variation And Regulation Of Long Noncoding Rnas In Colorectal Cancer, Amany Abdel-Motaleb

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the third leading cause of death worldwide comprising ~8% of cancer deaths per year. The survival rates of metastatic CRC is 13% because of the lack of successful treatment due to a lack of understanding of the scope and environment of stage IV CRC. Materials and Methods: The transcripts of five normal colon mucosa tissue samples and their matched five stage IV CRC samples were chosen and analyzed from the dataset with the GEO Accession GSE50760. The Tuxedo Suite pipeline was used to determine the differentially expressed genes (DEGs) with a fold change cut off …

Therapeutic Potential Of Curcumin In A Spinal Cord Injury Model: Local Application Versus Dietary Supplement, Sarah Kamel Farahat Abu Hussein

Theses and Dissertations

Spinal cord injury is a debilitating disability that is characterized by a sequence of tragic events that occur following the primary impact aggravating the condition, collectively called secondary spinal cord injury. Oxidative damage and inflammatory surge are two hallmarks of the secondary spinal cord injury cascade. Curcumin is a polyphenolic compound extracted from the rhizome of Curcuma longa that has been well known to possess antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties. The objective of this study was to evaluate the potential of curcumin as an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory agent following spinal cord injury, and to compare its therapeutic effects following local application …

Assessing Parenting: Adaptation Of The Home Inventory For Use In Egypt, Khadiga Abdellatif Alsharif

Theses and Dissertations

A study of violence against children in Egypt found that in 2014, 93% of children between the ages of 0-14 were subject to some form of violent discipline. While Egyptian law protects children from abuse, in practice it is challenging for social workers and other child protection practitioners to intervene. There is a lack of protocols for home visitation and family intervention, and there are no standardized procedures for assessing parenting practices and determining the safety of children’s homes. The HOME inventory, short for Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment, is a tool that has been adopted internationally and …

Expression Analysis Of Liver-Specific Circulating Micrornas In Hcv-Induced Hepatocellular Carcinoma In Egyptian Patients, Lobna Mohamed Mourad

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: The prevalence of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) in Africa is higher compared to the rest of the world due to the high incidence of chronic infection with hepatitis C virus (HCV). In Egypt, HCV infection is the leading cause for the high HCC incidence, which is usually diagnosed at late stages. Due to the absence of reliable and accurate biomarkers for early detection of liver cancer, circulating microRNAs have recently emerged as great candidates for early diagnosis of HCC. These small non-coding RNA molecules are responsible for regulating gene expression and RNA stability. Therefore, the aim of this study is …

Systematic Size Control In The Synthesis Of Zero-Valent Iron Nanoparticles, Grant C. Bleier

Chemistry and Chemical Biology ETDs

A novel synthetic method for the production of highly magnetic, low size-dispersity nanoparticles through reversible magnetic agglomeration is introduced and studied in detail. Initially, a weakly coordinating surfactant (3-octadecyl-2,4-pentanedione) is employed to produce a wide range of nanoparticle sizes ranging from 8 to 20 nm in diameter. The kinetics faced in these reactions by cheap and widely available iron complex precursors can be avoided in this method with the introduction of thermodynamic control, which occurs in the form of a magnetic precipitation event that essentially halts nanoparticle growth. Utilizing this synthetic method, the length of the alkyl chain on the …

Motor Output Variability Impairs Driving Ability In Older Adults: Reply To Stinchcombe, Dickerson, Weaver, And Bedard, Evangelos A. Christou, Basma Yacoubi, Changki Kim, Hwasil Moon, Tanya Onushko, Neha Lodha

Biomedical Engineering Faculty Research and Publications

Driving is a complex skill, as indicated by Stinchcombe and colleagues in their letter. It requires the integration of sensory inputs, cognitive processing, and motor execution. Although our title is broad, we clearly indicate that our findings only address a single component of driving, namely reactive driving. We also indicate that these findings are based on a simulated task and recommend that future studies should examine the contribution of motor output variability to on-road driving performance (see Considerations in the Discussion section). Thus, we share the consideration of Stinchcombe and colleagues that the current results only address a small portion …

Echelon Defense: The Role Of Sea Power In Chinese Maritime Dispute Strategy, Ryan D. Martinson

CMSI Red Books

On April 10, 2012, two Chinese law-enforcement cutters on joint patrol in the South China Sea received orders to proceed immediately to Scarborough Shoal, a disputed cluster of rocks 140 nautical miles west of Subic Bay, the Philippines. Earlier that day, a Chinese fisherman aboard one of several boats moored in the lagoon had transmitted an alarming message to authorities in his home port in Hainan: “Philippine Navy ship number 15 heading this way.”

Ship number 15 was BRP Gregorio del Pilar, an elderly former U.S. Coast Guard (USCG) cutter now serving as a frigate in the Philippine navy. …

Ingestion And Fragmentation Of Plastic Carrier Bags By The Amphipod Orchestia Gammarellus: Effects Of Plastic Type And Fouling Load, D. J. Hodgson, A. L. Bréchon, R. C. Thompson

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

Inappropriate disposal of plastic debris has led to the contamination of marine habitats worldwide. This debris can be ingested by organisms; however, the extent to which chewing and gut transit modifies plastic debris is unclear. Detritivores, such as amphipods, ingest and shred natural organic matter and are fundamental to its breakdown. Here we examine ingestion and shredding of plastic carrier bags by Orchestia gammarellus. A laboratory experiment showed these amphipods shredded plastic carrier bags, generating numerous microplastic fragments (average diameter 488.59 μm). The presence of a biofilm significantly increased the amount of shredding, but plastic type (conventional, degradable and biodegradable) …

Novel Combination Bmp7 And Hgf Gene Therapy Instigates Selective Myofibroblast Apoptosis And Reduces Corneal Haze In Vivo, Suneel Gupta, Michael K. Fink, Arkasubhra Ghosh, Ratnakar Tripathi, Prashant R. Sinha, Ajay Sharma, Nathan P. Hesemann, Shyam S. Chaurasia, Elizabeth A. Giuliano, Rajiv R. Mohan

Pharmacy Faculty Articles and Research

PURPOSE. We tested the potential of bone morphogenic protein 7 (BMP7) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) combination gene therapy to treat preformed corneal fibrosis using established rabbit in vivo and human in vitro models.

METHODS. Eighteen New Zealand White rabbits were used. Corneal fibrosis was produced by alkali injury. Twenty-four hours after scar formation, cornea received topically either balanced salt solution (BSS; n ¼ 6), polyethylenimine-conjugated gold nanoparticle (PEI2-GNP)-naked plasmid (n ¼ 6) or PEI2-GNP plasmids expressing BMP7 and HGF genes (n ¼ 6). Donor human corneas were used to obtain primary human corneal fibroblasts and myofibroblasts for mechanistic studies. …

3d Printed High Density, Reversible, Chip-To-Chip Microfluidic Interconnects, Hua Gong, Adam T. Woolley, Gregory P. Nordin

Faculty Publications

Our latest developments in miniaturizing 3D printed microfluidics [Gong et al., Lab Chip, 2016, 16, 2450; Gong et al., Lab Chip, 2017, 17, 2899] offer the opportunity to fabricate highly integrated chips that measure only a few mm on a side. For such small chips, an interconnection method is needed to provide the necessary world-to-chip reagent and pneumatic connections. In this paper, we introduce simple integrated microgaskets (SIMs) and controlled-compression integrated microgaskets (CCIMs) to connect a small device chip to a larger interface chip that implements world-to-chip connections. SIMs or CCIMs are directly 3D printed as part of the device …

Economic And Health Predictors Of National Postpartum Depression Prevalence: A Systematic Review, Meta-Analysis And Meta-Regression Of 308 Studies From 56 Countries, Jennifer Hahn-Holbrook, Taylor Cornwell-Hinrichs, Itzel Anaya

Psychology Faculty Articles and Research

Background: Postpartum depression (PPD) poses a major global public health challenge. PPD is the most common complication associated with childbirth and exerts harmful effects on children. Although hundreds of PPD studies have been published, we lack accurate global or national PPD prevalence estimates and have no clear account of why PPD appears to vary so dramatically between nations. Accordingly, we conducted a meta-analysis to estimate the global and national prevalence of PPD and a meta-regression to identify economic, health, social, or policy factors associated with national PPD prevalence.

Methods: We conducted a systematic review of all papers reporting …

Force For Good, Staff

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No abstract provided.

With Only Seconds To Spare, Researchers Open A New Window On Alzheimer's Disease, Cancer And More, Staff

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No abstract provided.

Additive Genetic Variation In The Craniofacial Skeleton Of Baboons (Genus Papio) And Its Relationship To Body And Cranial Size, Jessica L. Joganic, Katherine E. Willmore, Joan T. Richtsmeier, Kenneth M. Weiss, Michael Mahaney, Jeffrey Rogers, James M. Cheverud

School of Medicine Publications

Objectives

Determining the genetic architecture of quantitative traits and genetic correlations among them is important for understanding morphological evolution patterns. We address two questions regarding papionin evolution: (1) what effect do body and cranial size, age, and sex have on phenotypic (VP) and additive genetic (VA) variation in baboon crania, and (2) how might additive genetic correlations between craniofacial traits and body mass affect morphological evolution?

Materials and Methods

We use a large captive pedigreed baboon sample to estimate quantitative genetic parameters for craniofacial dimensions (EIDs). Our models include nested combinations of the covariates listed above. We also simulate the …

Mckee Minute February 2018, Southern Adventist University

McKee Minute – McKee Library This Month

The February 2018 McKee Minute features several books and films in honor of Black History Month, including Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup and The Underground Railroad by Colson Whitehead. Other recommended items include the books The Four Loves by C.S. Lewis and Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers, as well as the film In the Shadow of Hollywood Race Movies, and the Birth of Black Cinema. This edition also highlights the display of works by Georges Cuvier.

Incidence Of Dementia In Elderly Latin Americans: Results Of The Maracaibo Aging Study, Gladys E. Maestre, Luis J. Mena, Jesus D. Melgarejo, Daniel C. Aguirre-Acevedo, Gloria Pino-Ramírez, Milady Urribarrí, Inara J. Chacon, Carlos A. Chavez, Luis Falque-Madrid, Ciro A. Gaona

School of Medicine Publications

Introduction—There are few longitudinal studies of dementia in developing countries. We used longitudinal data from the Maracaibo Aging Study (MAS) to accurately determine the age- and sex-specific incidence of dementia in elderly Latin Americans.

Methods—The DSM IV-R was used to diagnose dementia, which was classified as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), vascular dementia (VaD), or other. Age- and sex-specific incidence was estimated as the number of new cases of dementia divided by person-years of follow-up (p-y).

Results—The incidence of all dementia diagnoses was 9.10 per 1000 p-y (95% CI 7.13–11.44; 8026 total p-y), 5.18 for AD (95% CI 3.72–7.03; …