Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Digital Commons Network™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

2018

Discipline
Institution
Keyword
Publication
Publication Type
File Type

Articles 160651 - 160680 of 170934

Full-Text Articles in Entire DC Network

Functional Analysis Of Cdc45 In The Replication Fork And In Response To Replicative Stress, Amanda Debrot Jan 2018

Functional Analysis Of Cdc45 In The Replication Fork And In Response To Replicative Stress, Amanda Debrot

All ETDs from UAB

DNA replication is a highly conserved and tightly regulated process, with a variety of factors acting to ensure faithful duplication and stability of chromosomal DNA. During replication, positive supercoils form ahead of the advancing replication fork. DNA topoisomerase 1 (Top1) acts to prevent DNA damage by relieving the torsional strain created by these supercoils. The camptothecin (CPT) class of chemotherapeutics target Top1, creating a long-lived DNA-Top1-CPT covalent complex, which leads to S-phase specific DNA lesions and cellular death. Our lab previously performed a genetic screen to isolate mutant proteins that enhance cell sensitivity to Top1-mediated DNA damage. One of the …

Go to article

Investigating Instructional Practices Of Pre-K Teachers And How It Influences A Child's Readiness For Kindergarten, Dorielle Dixon Jan 2018

Investigating Instructional Practices Of Pre-K Teachers And How It Influences A Child's Readiness For Kindergarten, Dorielle Dixon

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate the significance of how pre-kindergarten teachers implement instruction to prepare children for kindergarten. The study was guided by the research question: What instructional practices are preschool teachers implementing towards the support, preparations, and instruction they are implementing to shape children for kindergarten? This research study sought to answer four sub-questions. First, what do pre-k teachers report as instructions they use to prepare children for kindergarten? Second, how are pre-k teachers implementing their instruction to prepare children for kindergarten? Third, how does the pre-k program prepare the children for the rigor of …

Go to article

Immunosuppression And Risk Prediction Of Sepsis Following Solid Organ Transplantation, John Patrick Donnelly Jan 2018

Immunosuppression And Risk Prediction Of Sepsis Following Solid Organ Transplantation, John Patrick Donnelly

All ETDs from UAB

Solid organ transplant (SOT) recipients typically need immunosuppressive therapy (IST) to protect graft function and regimens may include an induction agent (e.g., anti-thymocyte globulin [ATG] or alemtuzumab) with maintenance medications (e.g., tacrolimus, mycophenolate mofetil [MMF], mycophenolic acid [MPA], or azathioprine [AZA]). Sepsis, or organ dysfunction resulting from a dysregulated host response to infection, is a common complication among SOT recipients. Using national data from the United States Renal Data System (USRDS), we sought to determine the associations of IST regimens and maintenance medication exposure with sepsis risks and outcomes among kidney transplant recipients (KTRs). Using USRDS and single center data, …

Go to article

Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy To Improve Gait And Mobility Of People With Chronic Stroke: A Mixed Methods Study, Sarah Monteiro Dos Anjos Jan 2018

Constraint-Induced Movement Therapy To Improve Gait And Mobility Of People With Chronic Stroke: A Mixed Methods Study, Sarah Monteiro Dos Anjos

All ETDs from UAB

Walking impairment after stroke impacts on participation and quality of life. Different techniques have been developed in the last decades to overcome walking difficulties after stroke, however, few have been shown to be efficacious. Constraint-induced Movement Therapy (CIMT) is a family of techniques that has been reported as one the most effective intervention for improving functional use and motor skills of a more-affected upper extremity (UE). The intervention protocol includes: 1) intensive supervised training; 2) use of shaping as a strategy for the motor training, 3) a group of behavioral strategies called the transfer package, and 4) procedures to increase …

Go to article

Drive-By Bridge Damage Inspection And Monitoring, Ahmed Elhattab Jan 2018

Drive-By Bridge Damage Inspection And Monitoring, Ahmed Elhattab

All ETDs from UAB

Recently, drive-by bridge inspection has become an intriguing topic in the bridge health monitoring domain. The technique utilizes indirect measurements from the suspension system of a vehicle passes over the bridge to infer the bridge structural health condition. A number of studies have given confidence, hypothetically, in the feasibility of the approach in detecting, quantifying and localizing the damage. However, there is a scarcity of work investigating the fidelity of this technique to full-scale field applications. Whereas the wide number of uncertainties that governs the vehicle bridge interaction dynamics could significantly impact hypothetical techniques when applied in the field, the …

Go to article

Cerebral Vasospasm Detection And Treatment Using Transcranial Doppler Signal Analysis And Adaptive Medication Pump Mechanism, Khaled Elzaafarany Jan 2018

Cerebral Vasospasm Detection And Treatment Using Transcranial Doppler Signal Analysis And Adaptive Medication Pump Mechanism, Khaled Elzaafarany

All ETDs from UAB

In the United States, many patients pass away due to delayed detection of Cerebral Vasospasm (CV). Transcranial Doppler (TCD) is an efficient noninvasive, reliable device that can monitor the blood flow in various parts of the human brain like middle cerebral artery and basilar artery without any surgical intervention. It can help neurologists to diagnose many brain problems like edema, trauma, hemorrhage, and aneurysm. Unfortunately, continuous or even daily TCD monitoring is challenging due to the operator expertise and certification required in the form of a trained technologist, and certified physician to perform these studies. This barrier exists due to …

Go to article

Endodontic Post Retention With Resin Cements (Ilumi Fiber Post), Faimeena Farheen Jan 2018

Endodontic Post Retention With Resin Cements (Ilumi Fiber Post), Faimeena Farheen

All ETDs from UAB

Objectives: Loss of post retention is the leading cause in the cemented post. There is no good method of bonding a fiber post in a post space with resin cements because adhesive cementation into a prepared post space is difficult- due to an inability to place, dry and light cure the adhesive and the cement. A new post system (iLumi) that transmits light to the apex of the post has recently been developed. We want to know if this system will improve post retention in each section (coronal, middle and apical) of the prepared post space and if this curing …

Go to article

Simulation Of Correlated Variables, Mixture Distributions, And Repeated Measures And Comparison Of Pharmacogenetic Prediction With Machine Learning Methods, Allison Cynthia Fialkowski Jan 2018

Simulation Of Correlated Variables, Mixture Distributions, And Repeated Measures And Comparison Of Pharmacogenetic Prediction With Machine Learning Methods, Allison Cynthia Fialkowski

All ETDs from UAB

Pharmacogenetics aims to improve individualized medicine by combining genetic information with clinical data when assigning drug treatments. Different diseases are often associated with different factors, each with its own distributional characteristics. For rare or complex diseases, these characteristics may not be well understood and standard analysis methods may not be appropriate. In psychiatric disorders, for example, multiple drug treatments need to be compared across small sample sizes with heterogeneous patient populations, making implementation of standard methods difficult. Simulating data that mirrors clinical data is important because it allows investigators to determine which method is best suited for data from their …

Go to article

An Interdisciplinary Model For The Development Of Alabama Oil Sands, Daniel Edward Smith Jan 2018

An Interdisciplinary Model For The Development Of Alabama Oil Sands, Daniel Edward Smith

All ETDs from UAB

In July 2013, a memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed by the Governors of the states of Alabama and Mississippi to jointly conduct a comprehensive geologic, engineering, and legal assessment of oil sands resources associated with the Hartselle Sandstone formation including the identification of environmental best practices associated with developing these resources. Pursuant to the MOU, the Geological Survey of Alabama (GSA) began a limited geological evaluation of the potential development of Alabama’s oil sand resources. This dissertation compliments those GSA efforts by identifying and assessing environmental and social sustainability risks associated with the potential development of Alabama’s oil sands …

Go to article

The Influence Of Perceived Stress And Sleep Disturbance On Fatigue And Blood Pressure As Mediated By Cortisol In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Heather Carol Soistmann Jan 2018

The Influence Of Perceived Stress And Sleep Disturbance On Fatigue And Blood Pressure As Mediated By Cortisol In Children With Sickle Cell Disease, Heather Carol Soistmann

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT Introduction: Life expectancy is improving for those with sickle cell disease (SCD); however, with this improvement come increasing risks for long-term health complications. Early identification of health concerns could lead to improved long-term health outcomes. Two health concerns in school-age children with SCD are fatigue and blood pressure (BP). Previous research with other populations indicates perceived stress and sleep disturbance may influence outcomes of fatigue and BP. Further, cortisol, a stress hormone, may mediate the proposed relationships. Therefore, the purpose of the study was to determine effect sizes of relationships between fatigue, BP, perceived stress, and sleep disturbance in …

Go to article

The Primary Cilium Regulates Interstitial Immune Cells During Renal Cystogenesis, Cheng Song Jan 2018

The Primary Cilium Regulates Interstitial Immune Cells During Renal Cystogenesis, Cheng Song

All ETDs from UAB

Renal cysts are a pathological condition that can lead to end-stage renal failure and death. The mechanisms that underlie renal cyst development are under active investigation, and emerging evidence has revealed defects in a number of proteins required for cilia assembly or signaling, such as intraflagellar transport (IFT) proteins and the polycystins. Characterization of mice harboring conditional IFT mutations suggests that the rate of cyst formation is dependent upon the timing of cilia loss. Induction of cilia loss in juvenile mice results in rapid cyst development, while induction of cilia loss in adult mice leads to a slower progressing form …

Go to article

Stellar Mass Density Dependence Of Hot Gas Retention In Local (Z < 0.03) Early-Type Galaxies, Chris Spradlin Jan 2018

Stellar Mass Density Dependence Of Hot Gas Retention In Local (Z < 0.03) Early-Type Galaxies, Chris Spradlin

All ETDs from UAB

Hot gas characteristic to early-type galaxies (ETG) has been well-studied; this hot gas is the result of high velocity dispersions intrinsic to galaxies with low net angular momentum, in conjunction with stellar mass loss of highly-evolved red giant stars. Accordingly, one would expect the extent of these hot gas halos to trace very well with stellar mass, which is typically calculated with tightly-constrained mass-to-light ratios in the infrared K-band. However, ETGs exhibit a large dispersion between their X-ray hot gas luminosities and their K-band luminosities, indicating that the presence of ETG hot gas halos is only loosely related to their …

Go to article

The Role Of Pim Kinases In Hepatoblastoma Tumorigenicity, Stem Cell-Like Cancer Cell Maintenance, And Chemoresistance, Laura Lee Stafman Jan 2018

The Role Of Pim Kinases In Hepatoblastoma Tumorigenicity, Stem Cell-Like Cancer Cell Maintenance, And Chemoresistance, Laura Lee Stafman

All ETDs from UAB

Hepatoblastoma is the most common primary liver malignancy in children. Despite increasing incidence, treatment has not changed significantly in the past 20 years, making the need for novel therapeutics imperative. Proviral Integration site for Moloney murine leukemia virus (PIM) kinases are a family of serine/threonine kinases that have been implicated in multiple other cancer types including the adult liver cancer, hepatocellular carcinoma. Emerging evidence has begun to elucidate a role for PIM kinases in stem-cell like cancer cells (SCLCCs). This subpopulation of cells is thought tobe responsible for tumor maintenance, recurrence, metastasis, and chemoresistance. Chemoresistance is a significant barrier to …

Go to article

Morphological And Functional Characterization Of A Murine Garp2-Specific Knockout, Delores Stacks Jan 2018

Morphological And Functional Characterization Of A Murine Garp2-Specific Knockout, Delores Stacks

All ETDs from UAB

GARP2, found exclusively in retinal rod photoreceptors, has been proposed to function as a structural protein, a calcium binding protein, and a modulator of the phosphodiesterase regulating visual phototransduction cascade kinetics. GARP2 is a splice variant of the Cngb1 gene which also encodes the β-subunit of the phototransduction cyclic nucleotide-gated cation channel and another glutamic acid-rich protein, GARP1. Mutations of the β-subunit and, recently discovered regions shared with the GARP en-coding regions of Cngb1cause retinitis pigmentosa (RP), while overexpression of GARP2 in the absence of the β-subunit accelerates the observed Cngb1-mediated retinal degeneration in mouse β-subunit knockout disease models. In …

Go to article

Establishing Control: An Investigation Into An Alternate Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs) Control Condition As A Replacement For Traditional Sham, Carl Edward Stevens Jan 2018

Establishing Control: An Investigation Into An Alternate Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation (Tdcs) Control Condition As A Replacement For Traditional Sham, Carl Edward Stevens

All ETDs from UAB

Transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS) is a neuromodulation technique with promise to improve numerous diseases, but results are inconsistent. A strong candidate explanation for conflicting evidence is that imbalances in expectation effects arise because participants frequently discern full-session current in “real” tDCS from mostly absent current in “fake” tDCS (sham, or control) conditions. Therefore, we conducted a study to test a better control procedure. The real tDCS condition targeted dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) with a right-anode/left-cathode montage expected to suppress food craving and eating. The control targeted sensorimotor cortex with a left-anode/right-cathode montage. Twenty-eight adults with overweight or obesity body …

Go to article

The Role Of Glycosylation Initiation By Galnac-Ts In Iga Nephropathy, Tyler Stewart Jan 2018

The Role Of Glycosylation Initiation By Galnac-Ts In Iga Nephropathy, Tyler Stewart

All ETDs from UAB

The autoimmune disease IgA nephropathy (IgAN) is a common cause of primary glo-merulonephritis, often resulting in end-stage renal disease. IgAN patients have elevated serum levels of immunoglobulin A1 (IgA1) with autoantigenic galactose-deficient (gd) O-glycans. The gd-O-glycans occur at specific sites within IgA1 hinge-region. We hy-pothesized that GalNAc-Ts play a role in the formation of gd-IgA1, due to their role in determining glycosylation sites and densities. To better understand how GalNAc-Ts may change O-glycans of IgA1 in IgAN we characterized the complex glycosylation mecha-nism involved in mucin-type O-glycan synthesis of IgA1 hinge-region. In the first section of this work, we explore …

Go to article

Protein O-Glcnacylation In Hippocampal Hyperexcitability & Gabaergic Neurotransmission, Luke Thomas Stewart Jan 2018

Protein O-Glcnacylation In Hippocampal Hyperexcitability & Gabaergic Neurotransmission, Luke Thomas Stewart

All ETDs from UAB

Plasticity at central synapses is a vital component of neuronal function and an intensively studied phenomenon thought to underlie learning and memory processes in brain structures including the hippocampus and cerebral cortex. A principle mechanism at work during long-term plasticity is the rapid and heavily regulated post-translational modification of synaptic proteins such as phosphorylation and ubiquitination. A comparatively understudied modification is ‘O-GlcNAcylation’, a distinct form of monoglycosylation with rapid intracellular signaling capacity as opposed to the structural and extracellular signaling roles of O- and N-linked polysaccharide chains on conventionally glycosylated proteins. O-GlcNAcylated proteins are found in every cell type/tissue system …

Go to article

The Habitual Offenders, Beth Shelburne Storr Jan 2018

The Habitual Offenders, Beth Shelburne Storr

All ETDs from UAB

The Habitual Offenders is a work of literary journalism, written as a piece of first-person creative nonfiction. The collection of chapters explores a specific class of prison inmates in Alabama, sentenced to life without parole under a three strikes law. Major themes include fairness and disparity in the criminal justice system, politics, race and the community fallout from mass incarceration. This work reflects writing traditions from both investigative/narrative journalism and personal memoir.

Go to article

Centrifugal Microfluidics For Label-Free Isolation Of Leukocytes Subpopulations From Whole Blood, Yuxi Sun Jan 2018

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.

Go to article

Cancer Survivorship In Young Adults: Addressing Disparities In An Invisible Population, Debran Tarver Jan 2018

Cancer Survivorship In Young Adults: Addressing Disparities In An Invisible Population, Debran Tarver

All ETDs from UAB

Young adult survivors are an understudied group and have been considered invisible in cancer care and research. This population has unique medical and psychosocial needs that can influence health outcomes and behaviors. There are also health disparities that exist within this population in treatment and survivorship. Receiving a survivorship care plan (SCP) can equip young adults with the knowledge to advocate for risk-based cancer follow-up and impact health outcomes and behaviors. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between receipt of an SCP and age at diagnosis, health outcomes, and health behaviors. Study data were obtained from …

Go to article

Pharmacological Inhibition Of Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein To Protect Against Diabetes, Lance Thielen Jan 2018

Pharmacological Inhibition Of Thioredoxin-Interacting Protein To Protect Against Diabetes, Lance Thielen

All ETDs from UAB

The loss of functional beta cell mass represents a major factor in the pathogenesis of type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Inadequate production of insulin, a glucose-lowering hormone, and elevated glucagon production, a gluconeogenic hormone, contribute to impaired glycemic control and hyperglycemia. This promotes a vicious cycle involving glucotoxicity and additional beta cell dysfunction. Currently there are no therapies that halt this process; however, thioredoxin-interacting protein (TXNIP) has recently emerged as a promising therapeutic target. TXNIP was found to be the top glucose-induced gene in a human pancreatic islet microarray, is increased in mouse models of diabetes and diabetic human …

Go to article

Reaching Consensus On Global Health Nursing Competencies For Baccalaureate Nursing Education In The United States: A Delphi Method Study, Herica Maria Torres-Alzate Jan 2018

Reaching Consensus On Global Health Nursing Competencies For Baccalaureate Nursing Education In The United States: A Delphi Method Study, Herica Maria Torres-Alzate

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this study was to reach consensus among experts on global health competencies for baccalaureate nursing students in the United States. A Nursing Global Health Competencies Framework (NGHCF) was created to guide identification of the domains and competencies for BSN nursing education. A three-round modified Delphi study intersected with a mixed methods research approach to reach consensus from experts in global health on essential global health competencies in nursing. The first phase revised the original list of competencies based on: (a) qualitative responses to the surveys conducted by Wilson et al. (2012), Ventura et al. (2014), and Warren …

Go to article

The Effect Of Allergic Airway Sensitization On The Immune Response To Pulmonary Bacterial Infection., Arthur Harold Totten Jan 2018

The Effect Of Allergic Airway Sensitization On The Immune Response To Pulmonary Bacterial Infection., Arthur Harold Totten

All ETDs from UAB

Asthma is a chronic respiratory disease associated with small airway obstruction and hy-perreactivity. Greater than 300 million people are estimated to live with asthma world-wide, and in the United States (US), estimated cost-of-care is over $50 billion per year. Allergic sensitization and infections have proven to be important in both asthmatic development, as well as recurrent exacerbations. Diversity and number of bacterial species are increased in asthmatics compared to non-asthmatics, and is also predictive of increased incidence of res-piratory infections. Mycoplasma pneumoniae (Mpn) is an atypical bacterial pathogen of the class Mollicutes, which lacks a cell wall and is an …

Go to article

Analysis Of The Gtp Cyclohydrolase I/Tetrahydrobiopterin Pathway In Glioblastoma Biology, Anh Tran Jan 2018

Analysis Of The Gtp Cyclohydrolase I/Tetrahydrobiopterin Pathway In Glioblastoma Biology, Anh Tran

All ETDs from UAB

Glioblastomas (GBMs) are the most common primary malignant brain tumors in adults and one of the most aggressive cancers with high rates of recurrence and therapeutic resistance. In GBMs, subpopulations of highly tumorigenic cells called brain tumor initiating cells (BTICs) have the unique capacity to promote tumor maintenance, therapeutic resistance, and angiogenesis. Depending on the level, differentiation state, and tumor stage, reactive nitrogen and oxygen species inhibit or increase cancer growth and BTIC maintenance. GTP cyclohydrolase 1 (GCH1) is the rate limiting enzyme in a pathway that can regulate reactive species production but has not been thoroughly investigated in GBM. …

Go to article

Novel Insights Into Neurofibromin Function And Human Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Mutations Using Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, Ashley Nicole Turner Jan 2018

Novel Insights Into Neurofibromin Function And Human Neurofibromatosis Type 1 Mutations Using Genetically Engineered Mouse Models, Ashley Nicole Turner

All ETDs from UAB

Loss of NF1 in different developmental and cellular contexts leads to unique physiological outcomes due to loss of neurofibromin function, including embryonic lethality, sporadic cancers, and the genetic disorder NF1. Neurofibromin acts as a tumor suppressor by modulation of RAS signaling, with other functions of this multi-domain protein being less clear. Even within the monogenic disorder of NF1, the clinical heterogeneity and mutational spectrum are immense, revealing the complexity underlying this disorder. There is a huge urgency and need for NF1 therapeutic treatments, and the same urgency to develop in vivo models to better understand NF1 that can be utilized …

Go to article

Synaptic Mechanisms Underlying The Integration Of Adult-Generated Neurons In The Dentate Gyrus, Ryan Vaden Jan 2018

Synaptic Mechanisms Underlying The Integration Of Adult-Generated Neurons In The Dentate Gyrus, Ryan Vaden

All ETDs from UAB

The dentate gyrus is a region in the adult brain where new neurons continue to be generated throughout life. While most adult-generated neurons undergo apoptosis within the first few weeks of maturation, a fraction survives and integrates into the existing circuit. It is well established that γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA) receptor-mediated mechanisms contribute to the activity-dependent regulation of adult-neurogenesis. GABAergic interneurons regulate stem cell quiescence, progenitor proliferation, and the synaptic integration of newborn neurons, however the synaptic interactions underlying integration are not fully understood. Furthermore, the impact of adult-generated neurons integrating into the existing circuit is not completely known. The collective …

Go to article

Clinical And Histomorphometric Outcomes Following The Use Of Small Versus Large Particle Sized Bone Allografts In Ridge Preservation Procedures: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Gentiane Valiquette Jan 2018

Clinical And Histomorphometric Outcomes Following The Use Of Small Versus Large Particle Sized Bone Allografts In Ridge Preservation Procedures: A Randomized Clinical Trial, Gentiane Valiquette

All ETDs from UAB

Alveolar ridge preservation at the time of tooth extraction is a commonly performed procedure as it significantly minimizes ridge resorption and allows for more optimal implant placement. The amount of new vital bone has been shown to vary with the use of different types of bone replacement grafts, however, the effect of bone graft particle size on the outcomes following ridge preservation has not been elucidated in the scientific literature. The present randomized clinical trial compared clinically, radiographically and histomorphometrically the use of small- (0.25-1.0mm) versus large- (1.0- 2.0mm) sized particle mineralized cortico-cancellous bone freeze-dried bone allografts (FDBAs) in ridge …

Go to article

Assessing Barriers And Facilitators To Appropriate Care For Chronic Pain And Prescription Opioid Abuse, Allyson Varley Jan 2018

Assessing Barriers And Facilitators To Appropriate Care For Chronic Pain And Prescription Opioid Abuse, Allyson Varley

All ETDs from UAB

The objective of this study was to understand and assess barriers and facilitators to the uptake of appropriate care for co-occurring chronic noncancer pain (CNCP) and opioid use disorder. Rates of CNCP and opioid overdose have doubled in the past decade. When a patient transitions from appropriate use to misuse, significant changes must be made to their treatment plan. Considering most CNCP is treated with opioids in the primary care setting, primary care providers (PCPs) are potential change agents to remediate the epidemic of opioid abuse. Although studies have explored opioid stewardship, we still lack an understanding of the factors …

Go to article

Endothelialization Of Microchannels In A Three Dimensional Breast Cancer Tumor Surrogate Model, Derek Van Vessem Jan 2018

Endothelialization Of Microchannels In A Three Dimensional Breast Cancer Tumor Surrogate Model, Derek Van Vessem

All ETDs from UAB

Drug discovery and testing commonly employs two dimensional (2D) human cell line monolayers for lead compound identification before becoming a candidate therapy to be studied in animal models. Culturing cells in 2D produces a homogenous disbursement of nutrients and anticancer-therapeutics resulting in a response specific to 2D that does not necessarily translate to a three dimensional (3D) response. This method unfortunately distorts the in vivo human drug response. The lack of physiologic dimensionality in 2D cell monolayers distort cellular responses relative to 3D systems that can be attributed to minimal drug approvals. Oncology drugs are the least successful with only …

Go to article

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Breast Cancer Survivors, Jacqueline B. Vo Jan 2018

Cardiovascular Disease Risk Among Breast Cancer Survivors, Jacqueline B. Vo

All ETDs from UAB

Background: There are nearly 3.5 million breast cancer survivors in the U.S., and approximately 10% are diagnosed prior to age 45 and considered “young.” The overall five-year survival rate for breast cancer survivors is approaching 90%. Living longer, many breast cancer survivors are at risk for developing cardiovascular disease due to cancer treatment, such as anthracyclines and/or trastuzumab. This study’s purpose was to examine cardiovascular disease risk, measured using excess heart age, among young breast cancer survivors. Methods: A retrospective, two-year longitudinal design was used to review electronic medical records of breast cancer survivors diagnosed between 30 and 44 years …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last