Digital Commons Network^™

Double Dissociation Of The Anterior And Posterior Dorsomedial Caudate-Putamen In The Acquisition And Expression Of Associative Learning With The Nicotine Stimulus, Sergios Charntikov, Steven T. Pittenger, Natashia Swalve, Ming Li, Rick A. Bevins

Department of Psychology: Faculty Publications

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable deaths worldwide. This habit is not only debilitating to individual users but also to those around them (second-hand smoking). Nicotine is the main addictive component of tobacco products and is a moderate stimulant and a mild reinforcer. Importantly, besides its unconditional effects, nicotine also has conditioned stimulus effects that may contribute to the tenacity of the smoking habit. Because the neurobiological substrates underlying these processes are virtually unexplored, the present study investigated the functional involvement of the dorsomedial caudate-putamen (dmCPu) in learning processes with nicotine as an interoceptive stimulus. Rats were trained …

Elderly Patients’ Perception Of Pain Management After Open And Reduction Internal Fixation Surgery, Sharon M. Whyte-Daley

The Qualitative Report

Little is known about pain and pain management in older adults who experience open reduction and internal fixation (ORIF) surgery. This qualitative descriptive phenomenological study explored two research questions: (a) What are the perceptions of pain and pain management in patients between 65 and 75 years of age, 48 hours after ORIF surgery in a community hospital? (b) What are the perceptions of adaptation after ORIF? A pilot study included four patients in two units of a Southern California hospital, followed by open ended, semi-structured interviews with 10 participants. Four themes emerged: (a) elderly patients experience different patterns of pain …

Identification Of Coliphages In The Aviary At Brookgreen Gardens And The Factors That Might Influence Coliphage Population Dynamics In This Cypress Swamp Environment, Olivia Shirley, Lisa Pieterse, Paul E. Richardson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

It has been understood that the presence of coliphages (bacteriophages specific for E. coli) in water is an indirect measurement of fecal contamination. Bacteriophages have been suggested to hold an important role in regulating the bacterial population. This pilot study analyzes the relationship between the presence of coliphages in the water in the aviary at Brookgreen Gardens and how environmental factors such as temperature, pH, and turbidity affect the presence of these viruses over the time period of three months (June 2017 through August 2017). Coliphages found in volary water sources were speculated to be deposited directly by birds that …

Using Ecosystem-Based Modeling To Describe An Oil Spill And Assess The Long-Term Effects, Lindsey N. Dornberger

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The goal of the research conducted in this dissertation was to define and test methods to incorporate oil spill effects into an ecosystem-based assessment model. It was instigated by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, an unprecedented oil spill in the United States for both depth and volume, with unknown implications for the health of the region. Using an ecosystem-based assessment model like Atlantis, with integrated oil spill dynamics, was the ideal candidate to predict long-term impacts such as decreased abundance or population recovery time. However no previous methodology existed for doing so in any ecosystem-based assessment model. Therefore, first I …

Niemann-Pick C1, Its Connection To Obesity, And Its Impact On Human Evolution, Joseph Joshua Castillo

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Niemann-Pick type-C disease is a rare autosomal recessive neurodegenerative disease that classically presents in the first decade, leading to ataxia, vertical-gaze palsy, loss of communication skills, epileptic seizures, and eventually death. The stark reality about NPC disease underlines the important role the NPC1 protein plays in whole-body lipid homeostasis. It is no surprise, then, that the NPC1 gene has been associated with other diseases as well, such as obesity, diabetes, and Ebola virus infection. In this manuscript, a connection will be made that intertwines genetics, biochemical and molecular mechanisms, physiology, and evolutionary pressures, and will explain how a gene, discovered …

Visual Inspection Of Sequential Data: A Research Instrument For Qualitative Data Analysis, Alaa A. Aldahdouh

The Qualitative Report

Sequence analysis has been widely used to investigate the patterns of similarities and differences of sequential data in biology and sociology. However, the debate on the usage of sequence analysis in social sciences has not been settled yet. Among a long list, sequence analysis methods have been criticized for ignoring the qualitative information behind the sequences. This paper presents a new instrument for inspecting sequential data visually in qualitative studies. The method includes building a hierarchical tree of relations among the categories which is then used to recode the categories systematically. The recoding process is meant to give meaning to …

Conjugation Of Nanomaterials And Nematic Liquid Crystals For Futuristic Applications And Biosensors, Thomas George, Amit Choudhary, Guoqiang Li

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

The established role of nematic liquid crystals (NLCs) in the recent rapid development of displays has motivated researchers to modulate the electro-optical properties of LCs. Furthermore, adding nanomaterials into NLCs has led to enhancements of the properties of NLCs, like reduced threshold of the operating voltage, variation in pretilt angle, reduced switching time, etc. These enhanced properties, due to interfacial dynamics, are enabling wider applications of NLCs and nanomaterials. The recent literature of nanomaterial-doped NLCs is rich with various kinds of nanomaterials in a variety of NLCs. The light has been focused on the most widely used and studied gold …

Data-Driven Uncertainty Quantification Interpretation With High Density Regions, Matthew Gregor Peterson

Computer Science ETDs

In a time when data is being constantly generated by phones, vehicles, sensor net- works, social media, etc. detecting anomalies with in the data can be very crucial. In cases where we know little prior knowledge about the data, it becomes difficult to extract uncertainty about our results. In this thesis, we will propose a framework in which we can extract uncertainty distributions from data-driven modeling prob- lems. We will show some concrete examples of how to apply framework and provide some insight into what the uncertainty distributions are telling us using High Density Regions (HDRs).

Salts Of Therapeutic Agents: Chemical, Physicochemical, And Biological Considerations, Deepak Gupta, Deepak Bhatia, Vivek S. Dave, Vijaykumar B. Sutariya, Sheeba Varghese Gupta

Pharmacy Faculty/Staff Publications

The physicochemical and biological properties of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) are greatly affected by their salt forms. The choice of a particular salt formulation is based on numerous factors such as API chemistry, intended dosage form, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics. The appropriate salt can improve the overall therapeutic and pharmaceutical effects of an API. However, the incorrect salt form can have the opposite effect, and can be quite detrimental for overall drug development. This review summarizes several criteria for choosing the appropriate salt forms, along with the effects of salt forms on the pharmaceutical properties of APIs. In addition to a …

Metal Reactivity In Laboratory Burned Wood From A Watershed Affected By Wildfires, Asifur Rahman

Civil Engineering ETDs

Massive amounts of wood ash are deposited into nearby streams as a result of runoff from storm events after increasing frequency of wildfire events that negatively affect water quality. Ash and debris from burned vegetation can alter the pH, turbidity and dissolved oxygen (DO) in water and can release heavy metals, organic matter, and nutrients. We investigated interfacial processes affecting metal mobility in wood ash burned under laboratory-controlled conditions using aqueous chemistry, microscopy and spectroscopy analyses. Wood was collected from the Valles Caldera National Preserve in New Mexico which has experienced two wildfires since 2011 that have caused devastating effects. …

Analyzing The Medical Definition Of Death In Criminal Homicide Prosecution, Mariah Wood

Nursing ETDs

I investigated the use of the medical definition of human death in the criminal justice system and the impact of this definition on the prosecution of criminal homicide. The units of design for this research were two violent crimes cases investigated by the Homicide Unit of the Albuquerque Police Department. Data was collected from officer interviews, case files, Office of the Medical Investigator reports, media and social media.

I identified the themes of pursuit of justice, frustration, and family from the collected data. Key findings include that the medical definition of human death causes confusion and delay in the criminal …

Effect Of Undergraduate Research Programs On Retention Of Hispanic Students, Kiyoko N. Simmons

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

The Hispanic population in the United States has been increasing, which is affecting the number of Hispanic student population in the higher education. In spite of the rapid increase of Hispanic student population, little empirical research has been conducted on the Hispanic student’s college success. This study investigated the effect of participating in holistic undergraduate research programs on retention outcome of Hispanic students at The University of New Mexico. UNM is a public Hispanic-Serving Institution where 47.3 percent of undergraduate students are Hispanic in 2016.

The Vincent Tinto’s theory of student departure and the five critical factors of retention developed …

Development Of On-Shore Behavior Among Polar Bears (Ursus Maritimus) In The Southern Beaufort Sea: Inherited Or Learned?, Kate M. Lillie, Eric M. Gese, Todd C. Atwood, Sarah A. Sonsthagen

Wildland Resources Faculty Publications

Polar bears (Ursus maritimus) are experiencing rapid and substantial changes to their environment due to global climate change. Polar bears of the southern Beaufort Sea (SB) have historically spent most of the year on the sea ice. However, recent reports from Alaska indicate that the proportion of the SB subpopulation observed on-shore during late summer and early fall has increased. Our objective was to investigate whether this on-shore behavior has developed through genetic inheritance, asocial learning, or through social learning. From 2010 to 2013, genetic data were collected from SB polar bears in the fall via hair snags …

Quaternary Climate Instability Is Correlated With Patterns Of Population Genetic Variability In Bombus Huntii, Jonathan B. Koch, Rémy Vandame, Jorge Mérida-Rivas, Philippe Sagot, James Strange

All PIRU Publications

Climate oscillations have left a significant impact on the patterns of genetic diversity observed in numerous taxa. In this study, we examine the effect of Quaternary climate instability on population genetic variability of a bumble bee pollinator species, Bombus huntii in western North America. Pleistocene and contemporary B. huntii habitat suitability (HS) was estimated with an environmental niche model (ENM) by associating 1,035 locality records with 10 bioclimatic variables. To estimate genetic variability, we genotyped 380 individuals from 33 localities at 13 microsatellite loci. Bayesian inference was used to examine population structure with and without a priori specification of geographic …

Co-Expression Of Cd39 And Cd103 Identifies Tumor-Reactive Cd8 T Cells In Human Solid Tumors., Thomas Duhen, Rebekka Duhen, Ryan Montler, Jake Moses, Tarsem Moudgil, Noel F De Miranda, Cheri P Goodall, Tiffany C Blair, Bernard A Fox, Jason E Mcdermott, Shu-Ching Chang, Gary Grunkemeier, Rom Leidner, Richard Bryan Bell, Andrew D Weinberg

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Identifying tumor antigen-specific T cells from cancer patients has important implications for immunotherapy diagnostics and therapeutics. Here, we show that CD103+CD39+ tumor-infiltrating CD8 T cells (CD8 TIL) are enriched for tumor-reactive cells both in primary and metastatic tumors. This CD8 TIL subset is found across six different malignancies and displays an exhausted tissue-resident memory phenotype. CD103+CD39+ CD8 TILs have a distinct T-cell receptor (TCR) repertoire, with T-cell clones expanded in the tumor but present at low frequencies in the periphery. CD103+CD39+ CD8 TILs also efficiently kill autologous tumor cells in a MHC-class I-dependent manner. Finally, higher frequencies of CD103+CD39+ CD8 …

Investigation Of Vaporization Enthalpies And Vapor Pressures Of Organic Compounds By Correlation Gas Chromatography, Carissa Nelson

Dissertations

Thermodynamic properties of organic compounds are useful to scientists and manufacturers in many areas of research and technology. This work focuses on measuring and reporting these properties on materials of commercial, environmental and scientific interest. Vaporization enthalpies and vapor pressures of several organic compounds have been studied using correlation gas chromatography (CGC) and are reported here as well as in recent publications. The CGC method allows for the indirect measurement of these properties in instances where these materials are available only in mixtures or in very small amounts.

The qualities of these measurements for any chosen target are directly related …

Soil Properties Explain Changes In Soil Microbial Enzyme Activity With Depth In A Piñon-Juniper Woodland, Amanda B. Sacks

Biology ETDs

Semi-arid ecosystems play a major role in the global carbon cycle. These ecosystems, including piñon-juniper (PJ) woodlands, are experiencing extreme drought. As such, it is vital to characterize both above and below-ground processes in these systems in order to understand their vulnerability to future drought and other changes in climate.

Soils microbial communities play a critical role in nutrient cycles, as well as carbon storage, within PJ woodlands. More specifically, microbes aid the decomposition and mineralization of key nutrients, including carbon, nitrogen and phosphorus, through the use of extracellular enzymes. Measuring microbial enzyme activity, therefore, can provide insight into how …

Recurrent Tumor-Specific Regulation Of Alternative Polyadenylation Of Cancer-Related Genes., Zhuyi Xue, René L Warren, Ewan A Gibb, Daniel Macmillan, Johnathan Wong, Readman Chiu, S Austin Hammond, Chen Yang, Ka Ming Nip, Catherine A Ennis, Abigail Hahn, Sheila Reynolds, Inanc Birol

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

BACKGROUND: Alternative polyadenylation (APA) results in messenger RNA molecules with different 3' untranslated regions (3' UTRs), affecting the molecules' stability, localization, and translation. APA is pervasive and implicated in cancer. Earlier reports on APA focused on 3' UTR length modifications and commonly characterized APA events as 3' UTR shortening or lengthening. However, such characterization oversimplifies the processing of 3' ends of transcripts and fails to adequately describe the various scenarios we observe.

RESULTS: We built a cloud-based targeted de novo transcript assembly and analysis pipeline that incorporates our previously developed cleavage site prediction tool, KLEAT. We applied this pipeline to …

Doxorubicin-Induced Elevated Oxidative Stress And Neurochemical Alterations In Brain And Cognitive Decline: Protection By Mesna And Insights Into Mechanisms Of Chemotherapy-Induced Cognitive Impairment ("Chemobrain"), Jeriel T. R. Keeney, Xiaojia Ren, Govind Warrier, Teresa Noel, David K. Powell, Jennifer M. Brelsfoard, Rukhsana Sultana, Kathryn E. Saatman, Daret K. St. Clair, D. Allan Butterfield

Chemistry Faculty Publications

Chemotherapy-induced cognitive impairment (CICI) is now widely recognized as a real and too common complication of cancer chemotherapy experienced by an ever-growing number of cancer survivors. Previously, we reported that doxorubicin (Dox), a prototypical reactive oxygen species (ROS)-producing anti-cancer drug, results in oxidation of plasma proteins, including apolipoprotein A-I (ApoA-I) leading to tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α)-mediated oxidative stress in plasma and brain. We also reported that co-administration of the antioxidant drug, 2-mercaptoethane sulfonate sodium (MESNA), prevents Dox-induced protein oxidation and subsequent TNF-α elevation in plasma. In this study, we measured oxidative stress in both brain and plasma of Dox-treated mice …

Religiosity/Spirituality And Cancer Risk Assessment For Hereditary Breast And Ovarian Cancer: Latina And Non-Latina Women In New Mexico, Belinda Vicuna Tellez

Psychology ETDs

Introduction: Although cancer risk assessment for high-risk individuals and families can offer life-saving information and options for cancer risk management, Latinas have historically underutilized cancer prevention services. Much needed is a better understanding of what encourages and discourages engagement in cancer risk assessment services among Latino populations. Religiosity/spirituality is potentially relevant to such engagement given religion has often been a central coping resource for Latina cancer survivors.

Aim: This study explored the potential impact of religiosity/spirituality and psychological processes on how Latinas and non-Latinas approach decisions regarding preventative health behaviors.

Methods: As a small subset of a larger research project, …

Evolving Paradigms In Biological Carbon Cycling In The Ocean, Chuanlun Zhang, Hongyue Dang, Farooq Azam, Ronald Benner, Louis Legendre, Uta Passow, Luca Polimene, Carol Robinson, Curtis A. Suttle, Nianzhi Jiao

Faculty Publications

Carbon is a keystone element in global biogeochemical cycles. It plays a fundamental role in biotic and abiotic processes in the ocean, which intertwine to mediate the chemistry and redox status of carbon in the ocean and the atmosphere. The interactions between abiotic and biogenic carbon (e.g. CO₂, CaCO₃, organic matter) in the ocean are complex, and there is a half-century-old enigma about the existence of a huge reservoir of recalcitrant dissolved organic carbon (RDOC) that equates to the magnitude of the pool of atmospheric CO₂. The concepts of the biological carbon pump (BCP) …

Exploring The Moderating Effects Of Racial/Ethnic Socialization, Academic Motivation And African American Racial Identity On The Relation Between Microaggressions And Mattering Of African American Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Lawrence Chatters

College of Education and Human Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

African Americans remain underrepresented in higher education (Thompson, Gorin, & Chen, 2006) and experience subtle forms of racism called microaggressions (Sue et. al, 2007). The impact of microaggressions in post-secondary institutions may manifest in the achievement gaps that exist between African American and White people; moreover, they may influence the inequitable treatment of African American students by staff, teaching assistants and faculty (Ancis, Sedlacek, & Mohr, 2000; Becker & Luther, 2002). 108 African American undergraduate students at three Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) participated. The current study employed an online survey to explore relationships of microaggressions, racial/ethnic socialization, African American racial …

Investigating The Lytic Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteriophage Reservoir Amongst A South Carolina University Population: Discovery, Characterization, And Identification Of A Potential Bacteriophage Treatment For Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus, Lisa Pieterse, Amy Powers, Derek Pride, Lisha Van Onselen, Giovanna E. Leone, Paul E. Richardson

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

Bacteriophages are viruses that only infect bacterial cells and can be used to treat antibiotic resistant bacterial infections. This study focused on the isolation and characterization of bacteriophages lytic to Staphylococcus aureus at Coastal Carolina University (CCU) in Conway, South Carolina, as a means to isolate bacteriophages that can potentially be used to treat methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), an antibiotic-resistant S. aureus variant. From 2014 to 2018, collection of ear and nose samples from 225 randomly selected CCU volunteers was conducted. Filter sterilization, amplification, microbial tests, and PCR analyses were performed in order to identify and characterize bacteriophages. Coliphage populations …

Combined Use Of Edna Metabarcoding And Video Surveillance For The Assessment Of Fish Biodiversity, Michael Stat, Jeffrey John, Joseph D. Dibattista, Stephen J. Newman, Michael Bunce, Euan S. Harvey

Fisheries Research Articles

Monitoring communities of fish is important for the management and sustainability of fisheries and marine ecosystems. Baited remote underwater video systems (BRUVs) are among the most effective nondestructive techniques for sampling bony fishes and elasmobranchs (sharks, rays, and skates). However, BRUVs sample visually conspicuous biota; hence, some taxa are undersampled or not recorded at all. We compared the diversity of fishes characterized using BRUVs with diversity detected via environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding. We sampled seawater and captured BRUVs imagery at 48 locales that included reef and seagrass beds inside and outside a marine reserve (Jurien Bay in Western Australia). Eighty-two …

Coupling Of Smoothened To Inhibitory G Proteins Reduces Voltage-Gated K, Lan Cheng, Moza Al-Owais, Manuel Covarrubias, Walter J. Koch, David R. Manning, Chris Peers, Natalia A Riobo-Del Galdo

Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Faculty Papers

SMO (Smoothened), the central transducer of Hedgehog signaling, is coupled to heterotrimeric G_i proteins in many cell types, including cardiomyocytes. In this study, we report that activation of SMO with SHH (Sonic Hedgehog) or a small agonist, purmorphamine, rapidly causes a prolongation of the action potential duration that is sensitive to a SMO inhibitor. In contrast, neither of the SMO agonists prolonged the action potential in cardiomyocytes from transgenic G_iCT/TTA mice, in which G_i signaling is impaired, suggesting that the effect of SMO is mediated by G_i proteins. Investigation of the mechanism underlying the change …

An Investigation Of The Order Of Applying An Emollient With A Topical Steroid In The Treatment Of Atopic Dermatitis, Andrea Conner, Ashlee Tietje

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

In 2007, the prevalence of Atopic Dermatitis had increased two to three-fold within the last three decades and affected 15-20% of young children (Buys, 2007). Current treatment includes the use of both steroid and emollient creams. Current suggestions for the order of application are contradictory. This study aims to examine the role of the order of application of treatments for Atopic Dermatitis (AD). Hairless mice (SKH-1) were induced to a mild AD flare-up using 2,4-dinitrochlorobenzene (DNCB) and treated with either 1% hydrocortisone (Maximum Strength Cortizone 10 cream) alone, 1% hydrocortisone followed by Cetaphil (emollient), or Cetaphil followed by 1% hydrocortisone. …

Impact Of Suburban Landscape Features On Gene Flow Of The Model Invasive Grass, Brachypodium Sylvaticum, Tina Marie Arredondo

Dissertations and Theses

Rapid range expansion of newly invasive species provides a unique opportunity for studying patterns of dispersal and gene flow. In this thesis, I examined the effect of landscape features on gene flow in the invasive grass Brachypodium sylvaticum at the edge of its expanding range. I used genome-wide Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) surveys of individuals from 22 locations in the Clackamas Watershed in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan region to assess genetic diversity and structure, to identify putative source populations, and to conduct landscape genetic analyses. Resistance surfaces were created for each landscape feature, using ResistanceGA to optimize resistance parameters. My …

A Multi-Level Study Of Clearance: The Role Of Gender, Jenna Dole

Sociology ETDs

Objective. To examine the role that gender plays in the clearance of a reported criminal incident, and whether it varies across places. Methods. Using multi-level logistic regressions, data from the 2014 National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS), 2010 Census data, 2013 Law Enforcement Management Statistics, and the 2010 Municipal Yearbook are used to examine the effects of a victim’s sex on crime clearance. Results. Women are initially advantaged in clearance before controlling for any evidentiary factors. However, most of the relationship is explained away when controlling for the relationship between the victim and the offender. Women are more likely to be …

Laterality In The Power Five And Group Of Five Conferences In Women's College Softball, Jon C. Nachtigal

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Females in sport are under-represented in data and analysis when compared to their male counterparts. This disparity also applies to women’s softball in comparison to men’s baseball. To help fill this gap, this study evaluated the extent and impact of laterality in women’s college softball’s Power Five and Group of Five conferences from 2015-2017.

This study focused on the extent of a left-sided lateral preference in women’s college softball, possible interactions between throwing hand and batting preference, to what extent the platoon effect exists in the sport, and the extent of positional bias in the sport. As one of the …

"Tindersluts" & "Tinderellas:" Examining Young Women's Construction And Negotiation Of Modern Sexual Scripts Within A Digital Hookup Culture, Mackenzie A. Christensen

Dissertations and Theses

While a growing body of literature exists examining how intersecting social identities and structural organizations shape the on-campus hookup script, research examining the impact of technology on the hookup culture has been virtually nonexistent. Addressing this gap, this study adds to a current body of literature on the hookup culture and online dating by exploring how a diverse sample of young women and non-binary, femme individuals understand and negotiate interpersonal sexual scripts through the mobile dating app Tinder. Ultimately, findings from 25 in-depth interviews reveal how Tinder has shaped the sexual scripts of young adult dating into a "hybrid hookup …