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Nueva Especie De Aleuropleurocelus Drews Y Sampson (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) Y Clave Para Especies Del Grupo De Forma Oval, Oscar Ángel Sánchez-Flores, Vicente Emilio Carapia-Ruiz

Insecta Mundi

En este estudio se describe una nueva especie de mosca blanca Aleuropleurocelus chamaedoreaelegans Sánchez-Flores y Carapia-Ruiz sp. nov. (Hemiptera: Aleyrodidae) encontrada en el envés de las hojas de Chamaedorea elegans Mart. en el Estado de Puebla (México). Se proporcionan microfotografías de estructuras morfológicas de puparios, se discute la separación con otras especies cercanas de Aleuropleurocelus Drews y Sampson, y se propone una clave para especies del grupo de forma oval.

Experiences Of Women Stem Professors Who Are Considering Leadership Positions At Research Universities, Cheri Liebow

Doctoral Dissertations

Empirical evidence is needed to discern the reasons for inequities among those with doctorates hired in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. It is necessary to create a successful and motivational atmosphere for various types of female leaders who are seeking opportunities to become leaders, especially in STEM fields. This qualitative-method study used an exploratory design. The study first sought to gather information about female STEM professors’ experiences through open-ended qualitative interviews to explain gaps in details of women’s experiences as professors in STEM departments of universities. Second, the researcher sought to discern common themes in interview responses for …

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.

St6gal-I Sialyltransferase Regulates The Activity Of Surface Receptors To Control Cell Signaling In Cancer And Immune Cells, Andrew Holdbrooks

All ETDs from UAB

Among the four classes of biological macromolecules, glycans are essential for proper cellular functioning. However, our knowledge of the contribution of these sugars, including the glycosyltransferases that add them, to cell signaling is limited. This dissertation focuses on the role of the ST6Gal-I sialyltransferase in modulating receptor-mediated signal transduction in cancer and inflammation. ST6Gal-I is a Golgi enzyme that conjugates α2-6-linked sialic acids to N-linked glycans on select glycoproteins. Through its sialylation of surface receptors, ST6Gal-I activity can significantly modify their function. The first section of this dissertation concentrates on the ST6Gal-I-mediated regulation of the signaling pathway of TNFR1, which …

The Association Between Perceived Discrimination And Depressive Symptomatology Among The Children Of Caribbean Immigrants, Fabrice Stanley Julien

All ETDs from UAB

Caribbean societies often speak to the in-between, acknowledging the race categories that exist between and within the “black” or “white” designations. But outside of this context and particularly in American society, individuals from the Caribbean pursue identity through a more categorical approach. What influences these decisions is often the occupied status of families. These occupied statuses offer different advantages and disadvantages, which can inform perceptions/experiences of daily stressors. Using a modified version of Pearlin’s stress process model, this research assesses how ethnic self-identification colors perceptions of stressors such as discrimination, and how this in turn influences one’s depressive symptomatology. Using …

Kean University Institutional Profile 2018, Kean University

Evidence Inventory

No abstract provided.

Novel Mediators Of The Blood Pressure Response To Acute Psychosocial Stress In Health And Disease, Brandon Fox

All ETDs from UAB

Psychosocial stress occurs in response to threatening or uncertainty-provoking stimuli and triggers a complex physiological reaction that facilitates survival and adaptation. In the cardiovascular system, acute psychosocial stress elicits a rapid increase in blood pressure, and importantly, cumulative exposure to psychosocial stress is a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. The present studies examined the impact of psychosocial stress on the cardiovascular system in both health and disease. Circulating endothelin-1 (ET-1) levels are induced by psychosocial stress. We hypothesized that endothelium-derived ET-1 contributes to the pressor response to stress via activation of the endothelin A (ETA) receptor. Vascular endothelium-specific ET-1 knockout …

Centrifugal Microfluidics For Label-Free Isolation Of Leukocytes Subpopulations From Whole Blood, Yuxi Sun

All ETDs from UAB

Leukocytes carry critical information regarding the immediate immune and inflammation status of the patients. Analysis of leukocytes requires isolation from blood since the leukocytes only consist <1% of all blood cells. Commonly used isolation processes exploit physical or biochemical differences between different cell types to enable separations. Current isolation methods inevitably subject cells to physical or biochemical stress that can activate leukocytes and change their natural state. Thus, information contained within isolated leukocytes is a combination of the natural state of the cell and an artifact of the isolation process. Microfluidics which takes advantage of scaling effects within microscale structures can ensure rapid and gentle alternatives to conventional isolation methods and is ideal for sorting, and analysis of cells and particles. The precise control of flow/particles and scaling effects of microfluidics have been applied for blood cells sorting and isolation. However, the limited processing capability and throughput as well as complex fabrication and operations have hampered widespread adoption of these approaches for replacement of conventional methods. My goal was to develop a simple yet powerful microfluidic tool that enables rapid separation of leukocytes while ensuring sufficient throughput, and minimizing isolation process induced activation without the need any sample pre-processing. This project is divided into two specific aims: i) to miniaturize the conventional density gradient centrifugation using centrifugal microfluidics for PBMC isolation and evaluate separation efficiency and activation status of isolated cells in comparison to conventional techniques; ii) develop new approach for PBMC sorting using microfluidic phase partitioning to enable separation of cells based on differences in cell surface energy. For specific aim 1, PBMCs were isolated based on differences in densities using microfluidic density gradient centrifugation. We show that PBMCs can be isolated from 100µl whole blood within 5 minutes. Evaluation of leukocyte activation via profiling of expression of surface integrins and chemokine receptors shows that our microfluidic approach significantly reduced PBMC activation in comparison to conventional isolation approaches. In specific aim 2, we sought to isolate cells based on differenced in surface energy using two-phase partitioning of dextran (DEX) and polyethylene glycol (PEG). Proof of concept demonstrations was accomplished using with polystyrene and silicon dioxide microbeads which represent a mixture of white blood cells and red blood cells. The DEX and PEG mixtures were introduced into a circular channel and phase separated under centrifugal force into unique DEX and PEG phases. The bead mixture was isolated via differences in their affinity to the two phases.

Implementation Costs Of Spiking Versus Rate-Based Anns, Lacie Renee Stiffler

Theses and Dissertations

Artificial neural networks are an effective machine learning technique for a variety of data sets and domains, but exploiting the inherent parallelism in neural networks requires specialized hardware. Typically, computing the output of each neuron requires many multiplications, evaluation of a transcendental activation function, and transfer of its output to a large number of other neurons. These restrictions become more expensive when internal values are represented with increasingly higher data precision. A spiking neural network eliminates the limitations of typical rate-based neural networks by reducing neuron output and synapse weights to one-bit values, eliminating hardware multipliers, and simplifying the activation …

Measuring Agricultural Drought And Uncertainty In Future Drought Projections, Junyu Lu

Theses and Dissertations

Drought is a devastating, recurring, and widespread natural hazard that affects natural habitats, ecosystems, and economic and social sectors. Within the agricultural sector, droughts can reduce soil-water availability, affect water and soil quality, contribute to crop failures and pasture losses, and severely reduce crop yield. Effective drought quantification and early warning are critical for drought risk adaptation. Moreover, future drought risks could be exacerbated due to climate change. Modeling how climate change might influence future drought risks is of great importance in natural resources and water resources planning management. This dissertation has three parts. 1) The first part compares and …

Eagle Executive Magazine, Georgia Southern University

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Pain And Academic Performance In Youth With Spina Bifida: The Mediating Role Of Neuropsychological Functioning, Diana Margaret Ohanian

Master's Theses

Objective: The current literature has identified few modifiable condition parameters associated with academic performance in youth with spina bifida (SB). Nevertheless, youth with SB are more likely to struggle academically than their typically developing (TD) peers. Therefore, identifying areas for clinical intervention is paramount. Pain, an understudied secondary condition in youth with SB, has been found to be associated with poorer academic performance in TD youth. Further, neuropsychological functioning has been found to be both negatively associated with pain and positively associated with academic outcomes. The aims of this study were to examine (1) the relationship between pain and academic …

Consistency Of Health Behaviors And Relations To Bmi In First Year College Students, Laura Nicholson

Master's Theses

Existing research suggests that individuals with erratic schedules (e.g., shift workers) may be at greater risk for weight gain. This may be due, in part, to the inconsistent timing of health behaviors, such as sleep. Little is known, however about the relevance of the consistent timing of health behaviors among other populations, including college students who are risk for weight gain. The current study examined the consistency of three health behaviors (i.e. sleep, eating occurrences, and physical activity) and relations with body weight among first year college students at a large Midwestern university. Daily diary methods were used to collect …

The Neurobiological Correlates Of Savoring, Ian James Kahrilas

Master's Theses

Personality traits pertaining to positive emotion may be a key factor in deriving vitality from our lives. Positive affectivity refers to one's disposition to experience intense and frequent episodes of positive affect, while savoring capacity refer to one's ability to regulate positive affect. Both traits have been positively associated with happiness, self-esteem, prosocial behaviors, improved health outcomes, as well as attenuated depressive symptomatology and neuroticism. The late positive potential (LPP) is an electroencephalography (EEG) component that is theorized to index a visual cortical/amygdala pathway that is involved in evaluating the affective salience of stimuli. LPP is sensitive to the emotional …

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 …

The Roles Of Macrophages And Alternative Complement Signaling In Auditory Nerve Development And Function, Lashardai Neniara Brown

MUSC Theses and Dissertations

Hearing relies on the transmission of auditory information from sensory hair cells to the brain through the auditory nerve. This relay of information requires hair cells to be innervated by spiral ganglion neurons (SGNs) in an exclusive manner and for SGNs and their axons to be ensheathed by myelinating and non-myelinating glial cells. In the developing auditory nerve, mistargeted SGN axons undergo retraction or pruning, and excessive neural cells are eliminated to obtain the characteristic innervation pattern seen in the mature cochlea. The mechanisms governing auditory nerve maturation remain unclear. However, in peripheral nerves, key contributors to the establishment of …

Sociodemographic Disparities In Adult Child Informal Caregiving Intensity In The United States: Results From The New National Study Of Caregiving, Sarah K. Cook, Steven A. Cohen

Kinesiology Faculty Publications

The objective of the current study was to assess socioeconomic and demographic disparities in caregiving intensity among informal caregivers. Using a randomized, nationally representative sample of 1,014 adult child informal caregivers from Medicare enrollment databases, the associations between informal caregiving intensity and age, race/ethnicity, and income were examined using binary and ordinal logistic regression. Caregiving intensity varied by demographics. Activities of daily living (ADL) caregiving was highest among Black, non-Hispanic caregivers. Instrumental ADL caregiving and number of hours spent caregiving was highest in female and non-White caregivers. Although the overall association between caregiving intensity and income was not significant, when …

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 …

R2h And The Prospects For Peace: An Essay On Sovereign Responsibilities, David Luban

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

This essay examines novel threats to peace – social and political threats as well as military and technological. It worries that familiar conceptions of state sovereignty cannot sustain a legal order capable of meeting those threats, not even if we understand sovereignty as responsibility to protect human rights. The essay tentatively proposes that recent efforts to reformulate state sovereignty as responsibility to humanity – ‘R2H’ for short – offer a better hope. Under this reformulation, states must take into account the interests of those outside their sovereign territory as well as those of the of their own people – in …

Use Of Multimedia Games For Biology Vocabulary Instruction, Ian Murray

Doctoral Dissertations

Vocabulary knowledge is considered fundamental to learning. However, students typically find learning scientific vocabulary quite difficult, and that is especially true for biology vocabulary. Games are well established as effective tools for vocabulary instruction. Multimedia instruction is likewise recognized as aiding vocabulary learning. To date, however, there seems have been little examination of the use of multimedia games in biology vocabulary instruction. This study, therefore, compared the effectiveness of digital multimedia games and traditional instruction in teaching biology vocabulary.

A two-group, quasi-experimental study was carried out over the course of 61 days. Participants were a convenience sample of 10 high …

Fundamental Aspects Of A Novel Technology For Abatement Of Indoor Allergens, Odell Lendor Glenn Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

The overall goal of this research was to develop a novel approach to reduce the potency of certain asthma triggers, namely, proteins produced by pests or pets in indoor environments. The broad hypothesis of the research was that naturally occurring essential oils will demonstrate enhanced denaturing ability. In any indoor environment, allergens are bound to dry dust particles. In this work, the effectiveness of using dry ice and CO2 with potential for essential oils on dry allergenic proteins through CFD modeling and ELISA methods were evaluated.

There are three objectives central to this work. The first objective was to apply …

Determining The Subsidence Rate Of The Cascade Seamount Using Strontium Isotope Stratigraphy, Sarah L. Vorsanger

Theses and Dissertations

The Cascade Seamount is a wave-planated feature located on the microcontinent of the East Tasman Plateau (ETP). The minimum subsidence rate of the Seamount and the ETP can be estimated by dividing the present-day depth of the wave-cut surface (640 m) by the age of Cascade Seamount basalts as determined by potassium-argon (K-Ar) dating (33.4 and 36 Ma). This approach yields a subsidence rate of 18 m/Myr. However, a significantly more rapid subsidence rate of the ETP since the Eocene-Oligocene transition has been proposed based on sedimentological and biostratigraphic techniques. The late Eocene paleodepths determined by Stickley et al. (2004) …

Organic Chemistry 1 Lab, Steelman Library, Ralph N. Salvatore Dr.

Syllabus Repository

No abstract provided.

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 …

Valuasi Ekonomi Objek Wisata Pantai Parangtritis, Bantul Yogyakarta, Rifki Khoirudin, Uswatun Khasanah

Jurnal Ekonomi dan Pembangunan Indonesia

The valuation of Pantai Parangtritis becomes very important along with the micro issue concerning the plan of infrastructure development, facilities and infrastructure in south region. Development of infrastructure in process is Jalur Lintas Selatan Street which includes the area around Parangtritis Beach. The analytical tool used to know variable that influence number of traveler to Parangtritis tourist attraction and the economic value of Parangtritis Beach is Travel Cost Method. Based on the research findings that the variable of total cost, income level, age, and education level influence the number of visits to Parangtritis Beach. While the economic valuation of Parangtritis …

Utilisation Des Composés Organiques Volatils Microbiens Comme Biomarqueurs De L'Exposition Aux Moisissures En Milieu De Travail : Étude De Faisabilité, Badr El Aroussi, Geneviève Marchand, Simon Aubin, Michèle Bouchard, Sami Haddad

États de la question, rapports d’expertise et revues de littérature

La problématique de la qualité de l’air est un aspect important de la santé et de la sécurité au travail. Les moisissures et leurs composés sont des contaminants auxquels les travailleurs peuvent être exposés. Ces microorganismes sont responsables de nombreux problèmes de santé (maladies ou inconforts), incluant des allergies aiguës, de l’asthme, des sinusites/rhinites, des céphalées, de l’hypersensibilité environnementale, des irritations et des inflammations.

La surveillance classique de la présence fongique se base sur des méthodes d’évaluation directe de la flore mycologique ou sur l’exploitation de la méthode PCR quantitative. Ces approches requièrent néanmoins le recours à une procédure minutieuse …

Evolution Of Psychotherapy 2017: Quick Review Of The Conference, Ulkar Isayeva

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

No abstract provided.

Reforming Georgian Education: Recommendations For Using Classroom Assessment To Improve Student Outcomes, Gregory C. Sales, Sonja Sentočnik, Jayson W. Richardson, Sophia Gorgodze

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

In post-Soviet Georgia, much of the teaching and learning in grades 7-12 is conducted in a manner very similar to that used generations ago. Teachers stand at the front of the classroom dispensing information as they lead students through a page-by page review of the text. The concept of using classroom assessment techniques to gather individualized data that will inform instructional practices is unknown to the majority of Georgia’s teachers. This article describes efforts to explore the education context in Georgia and to develop project recommendations for effective support of teacher growth and their integration of classroom assessment practices into …

Meta-Cognitive Learning Strategies: The Effect Of Training Strategies On Memorizing, Comprehension And The Speed Of Reading, Mohammad Asgari, Maryam Rafiee

Khazar Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of Meta-cognitive learning strategies training on memorizing, comprehension and the speed of reading easy and difficult courses for the high school first grade male students of Hamadan. To do so, 60 students were chosen in random cluster sampling and were randomly replaced in two experiment and control groups. The research designed, the pre- test post-test with control group in the curry study pre-tested was done for both group by using research-made academic achievement test that reliability and validity of it was confirmed. The experimental group was educated with cognitive learning …