Digital Commons Network^™

Bioactive Indanes: Development And Validation Of An Lc-Ms/Ms Bioanalytical Method For The Determination Of Ph46a, A New Potential Anti-Inflammatory Agent, In Dog And Rat Plasma And Its Application To A Pharmacokinetic Study In Dog, Gaia Scalabrino, Tao Zhang, Neil Frankish, Helen Sheridan

Articles

A new chemical entity, which is a chiral indane dimer, PH46A, has been developed by our research group. As a clinical candidate. PH46A has recently completed Phase I clinical studies in man. Previously, during its pre-clinical development, in in vivo pre-clinical studies PH46A showed potent anti-inflammatory properties, which can be targeted at a range of diseases, including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). To support the pre-clinical development of this drug candidate, we developed a LC MS/MS method for determining PH46 (the acid form of PH46A salt) in both dog and rat plasma using Compound 1 as internal standard (IS). Those species …

Novel Mast Cell-Stabilising Amine Derivatives Of 3,4 Dihydronaphthalen-1(2h)-One And 6,7,8,9-Tetrahydro-5h-Benzo[7]Annulen-5-One, James W. Barlow, Tao Zhang, Orla Woods, Adam J. Byrne, John J. Walsh

Articles

In an investigation of 4-amino-3,4-dihydronaphthalen-1(2H)-ones as novel modulators of allergic and inflammatory phenomena, we have investigated a series of cyclic analogues. Tertiary amines of structural types 9, 10, 20 and 21 were synthesised and evaluated for mast cell stabilising activity. In vitro and in vivo studies showed that of these compounds, the cyclohexenylamino derivatives of tetralone and benzosuberone of series 20 and 21 exhibited interesting activity both in vitro and in vivo.

Mast Cell Stabilisers, Tao Zhang, Deirdre Frances Finn, James William Barlow, John Jarlath Walsh

Articles

Mast cells play a critical role in type 1 hypersensitivity reactions. Indeed, mast cell mediators are implicated in many different conditions including allergic rhinitis, conjunctivitis, asthma, psoriasis, mastocytosis and the progression of many different cancers. Thus, there is intense interest in the development of agents which prevent mast cell mediator release or which inhibit the actions of such mediators once released into the environment of the cell. Much progress into the design of new agents has been made since the initial discovery of the mast cell stabilising properties of khellin from Ammi visnaga and the clinical approval of cromolyn sodium. …

Antidiabetic Activities Of An Lc/Ms Fingerprinted Aqueous Extract Of Fagonia Cretica L. In Preclinical Models, Imran Nazir, Nisar Ur Rahman, Zunaira Alvi, M. Hafizur Rahman, Jandirk Jandirk Sendker, Tao Zhang, Neil Frankish, Helen Sheridan

Articles

Diabetes mellitus is a chronic disease and one of the most important public health challenges facing mankind. Fagonia cretica is a medicinal plant used widely in the Punjab in Pakistan. A recent survey has demonstrated that traditional healers and herbalists frequently use this plant to treat diabetes. In the current study, the traditional medicine was prepared as a tea, and the profile of the main metabolites present in the traditional medicine was analysed via LC/MS/MS. The extract was shown to contain a number of phenolic glycosides including quercetin-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-rutinoside, kaempferol-3-O-glycoside, kaempferol-3(6′-malonylglucoside), isorhamnetin-3-O-rutinoside, and isorhamnetin 3-(6″-malonylglucoside) in addition to two unidentified …

Assessing The Biological Safety Of Atmospheric Cold Plasmatreated Wheat Using Cell And Insect Models, Agata Los, Dana Ziuzina, Daniela Boehn, Paula Bourke

Articles

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) is under investigation for an extensive range of biocontrol applications in food biosystems. However, the development of a novel intervention technology requires a thorough evaluation of the potential for negative effects and the implications for the human and animal food chains’ safety. The evaluations were performed using a contained, high-voltage, dielectric barrier discharge plasma system. The cytotoxicity of two types of food models—a liquid model (wheat model medium (WMM)) vs. a solid model (wheat grain extract (WGE)) was compared in vitro using the mammalian cell line CHO-K1. The residual toxicity of ACP treatment of grains for …

Effect Of Atmospheric Cold Plasma On The Functional Properties Of Whole Wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) Grain And Wheat Flour, Sonal Chaple, Chaitanya Sarangapani, John B. Jones, Ed Carey, Lucie Causeret, Annaik Genson, Brendan Duffy, Paula Bourke

Articles

Atmospheric cold plasma (ACP) has emerged as a novel processing technology, with demonstrated efficiencies in microbial inactivation. However, studies on the effects of ACP and potential to modify the functional properties of foods are sparse. The objective of this study is to determine the effect of ACP on physico-chemical and functional properties of wheat flour. In this study, both whole wheat grains and wheat flour were subjected to a dielectric barrier discharge (DBD) contained plasma reactor for a range of treatment times (5–30 min) at 80 kV. Plasma treatment increased the flour hydration properties of wheat flour. Rapid visco-analyser results …

Food Security And Diet Quality In Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, And Filipino Infants 3 To 12 Months Of Age, Sally Campbell, John J. Chen, Carol J. Boushey, Heather Eicher-Miller, Fengqing Zhu, Marie K. Fialkowski

Articles

Food insecurity and other nutritional risks in infancy pose a lifelong risk to wellbeing; however, their effect on diet quality in Native Hawaiian, Pacific Islander, and Filipino (NHPIF) infants in Hawai‘i is unknown. In this cross-sectional analysis, the association between various indicators of food security and NHPIF infant diet quality were investigated in 70 NHPIF infants aged 3–12 months residing on O‘ahu, Hawai‘i. The dietary assessments of the infants were collected using a mobile food record^TM. Foods consumed across four days were categorized into seven food groups. Indicators for food security were examined through an adapted infant food …

The Power Of A Profound Experience With Nature, Becky N. Mathers

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation explores the long-term influences of a profound experience with nature—an experience that shifts an individual’s view of or relationship with the natural world. Significant life experience research investigates the associations between formative experiences in nature and resulting environmental concern and action, including both singular events and repeated experiences. In the case of a single, memorable experience with nature, little is known about the long-term effects of these experiences or how individuals use the associated memories in their lives. This research investigates these questions through semi-structured interviews with twenty-one adults who had a profound experience with nature, exploring how …

Cultural Constructions Of Sexual Relationships Between Female Teachers And Male Students, Tessa M. Palmer

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

While examples of sexual relationships between male high school teachers and female students have been historically prominent, relationships wherein the respective genders are reversed have received increased attention. Research on perceptions of sexual relationships between female high school teachers and their male students has focused primarily on the perceived differences between these relationships and those between male high school teachers and their female students. To explain the effect that gender appears to have on the perceptions of sexual relationships between female high school teachers and their male students, much of the literature has pointed to cultural constructions of gender, which …

Using Environmental Identity To Promote Environmental Concern And Willingness To Participate In Endangered Species Conservation, Christina M. Wesolek

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Environmental identity (EID), a concept from the social sciences specifically conservation psychology, refers to how we orient ourselves to the natural world, and thereby take action based on our personality, values, and sense of self. The realization that conservation is a human endeavor has prompted the inclusion of the social sciences in conservation research. Research on environmental identity has been conducted in such places as zoos, higher education institutions, and with farmers, and has demonstrated that EID is a good predictor of environmental concern and proenvironmental behaviors. There is a gap in the literature regarding whether environmental identity can be …

The Use Of Mobile Social Technology As Transitional Objects Impact On Personality Functioning, Peter Gleiberman

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine the impact unlimited connectivity and unlimited access to voice, text, and video communication as well as multimedia content consumption through mobile social technology has on personality integration. The increased use of mobile social technology has changed how the user engages social relationships. Through mobile social technology, the user places importance in an inanimate object for engagement of social relationships. A reliance on the inanimate object as a social relationship is thought to compromise the ability to internalize integrated object relations and develop stable personality organization. This theoretical research uses hermeneutic analysis of …

Adolescent Perspectives On Media Use: A Qualitative Study, April Fiacco

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study looks at adolescents’ engagement with media and explores their perceptions of how media plays a role in their lives. For the purpose of this study, media includes watching television shows, watching and reading the news, and involvement in various types of social media. The influence of parents and peers is also explored to examine adolescents’ views of whether parent and peer opinions affect the types of media with which the adolescent participants choose to engage. The study used a semi structured interview to collect data with participants from a Massachusetts public high school. The data were analyzed …

A Drama-Based Group Intervention For Adolescents To Improve Mentalization, Michael S. Goddard

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This dissertation is an innovative intervention design to improve mentalization in preadolescents. The intervention presented is conducted in a group format and using techniques drawn from drama-based therapy. I have provided a brief literature review on mentalization, and relevant topics in group treatment and drama therapy. I have outlined key concepts from mentalization theory including: (a) the development of the self, (b) its relationship to attachment, (c) psychic equivalence and pretend mode functioning, (d) marked-affect mirroring, (e) the various facets of mentalization, and (f) mentalization treatment with children. After outlining these concepts, I discuss psychodynamic group treatment, mentalization-based group therapy, …

The Potential Role Of Payment For Ecosystem Services In Protected Area Management In Rwanda: A Case Study From Gishwati-Mukura National Park, Yves Gakunde

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The demand for ecosystem services (ES) by communities around the world especially from developing countries is increasing, and creates conflict between protected ecosystem management and community socioeconomic wellbeing needs, particularly around protected areas. Taking into consideration globalization, capitalism, weak policies, and population growth as some of the majors driving factors to land change, increased demand for ES comes in part from societies’ changing economic demands and opportunities, such as food and commercial crop production, timber extraction, urbanization, and infrastructural development. Many biodiversity conservation approaches and initiatives have been used to protect and maintain healthy ecosystems. While the fence and fine …

Emotional Response To Climate Change Learning: An Existential Inquiry, Jennifer Hutchinson

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

This qualitative study aims to explore and explain the existential underpinnings of learning about climate change and potential emotional responses to climate change learning. Undergraduate students in environmental sciences and studies classes at the University of Washingrounded theory on in Seattle, WA participated in semi-structured interviews. Participants were asked about their experiences learning about climate change and how they responded emotionally to the learning. This dissertation examines the responses from those interviews and builds a theory out of the data analyzed. Constructivist Grounded theory as outlined by Kathy Charmaz (2014) was used to analyze the interviews. Codes were created and …

Examining Optimism And Caregiver Strain In Parents With Youth And Young Adults Diagnosed With Anxiety And Unipolar Mood Disorders, Jennifer M. Gross

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

An anonymous online survey investigated optimism and caregiver strain in parents of youth and young adults diagnosed with anxiety and unipolar depression. Caregiver strain is a

well-researched phenomenon where the experience of parenting youth with serious psychological disorders has a potentially negative impact on parents and caregivers. Optimism is a trait that confers resiliency and improved coping to the individual. The relationship between caregiver strain and optimism is not well understood. This inquiry utilized the Caregiver Strain Questionnaire (CGSQ) to measure caregiver strain and the Life Orientation Test, Revised

(LOT-R) to measure optimism. Participants endorsed significantly higher scores on the …

Traditional Ecological Knowledge And Opportunities For Reducing Human-Wolf Conflicts In Mongolia, Tuul Sukhbaatar

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Conflicts between humans and wolves occur anywhere these two inhabit the same area. This research explored traditional ecological knowledge (TEK) of Mongolians and potential opportunities that this knowledge could offer to improve relationships between humans and wolves (Canis lupus) in Mongolia. Research questions include: what is the local understanding of TEK as it applies to wolves; what are the perceptions of different stakeholder groups on the wolves; and what opportunities are there to draw upon TEK to reduce human-wolf conflicts? This research, using the case study and mixed methods, involved 128 individuals who represented four stakeholder groups (herders, urban residents, …

Internet Addiction And The Relationship To Self And Interpersonal Functioning Within The Alternative Model For Personality Disorders (Ampd): Implications For Psychosocial Development, Lori L. Woehler

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Internet addictive use inclusive of inextricably interconnected mobile devices, applications, and social media predicts diminished Self and Interpersonal functioning. Internet addiction research is burdened by conflicting theoretical views, lack of standardized definitions and criteria, and the use of assessment measures adapted from those used for substance use disorders. Alternative and dimensional diagnostic models for internet addiction through a psychosocial developmental lens might further understanding of Internet addiction and reduce challenges which impact the ability to advance research and achieve clinically useful, culturally informed, and evidence-based practices for the assessment and treatment of Internet addiction.

Prediction Of Warner-Bratzler Shear Force, Intramuscular Fat, Drip-Loss And Cook-Loss In Beef Via Raman Spectroscopy And Chemometrics, Raquel Cama-Moncunill, Jamie Cafferky, Caroline Augier, Torres Sweeney, Paul Allen, Alessandro Ferragina, Carl Sullivan, Andrew Cromie, Ruth Hamill

Articles

Rapid prediction of beef quality remains a challenge for meat processors. This study evaluated the potential of Raman spectroscopy followed by chemometrics for prediction of Warner-Bratzler shear force (WBSF), intramuscular fat (IMF), ultimate pH, drip-loss and cook-loss. PLS regression models were developed based on spectra recorded on frozen-thawed day 2 longissimus thoracis et lumborum muscle and validated using test sets randomly selected 3 times. With the exception of ultimate pH, models presented notable performance in calibration (R2 ranging from 0.5 to 0.9; low RMSEC) and, despite variability in the results, promising predictive ability: WBSF (RMSEP ranging from 4.6 to 9 …

Safety Evaluation Of Plasma-Treated Lettuce Broth Using In Vitro And In Vivo Toxicity Models, Caitlin Heslin, Daniela Boehm, Brendan F. Gilmore, Julianne Megaw, Paula Bourke

Articles

Cold atmospheric plasma is a promising new non-thermal technology for improving the microbiological safety and shelf-life of food products, particularly fresh produce and minimally processed fruit and vegetables. Limited research has been conducted on the safety of plasma-treated foods for human or animal consumption. This study focuses on basic safety studies by investigating lettuce broth treated with a di-electric barrier discharge plasma device as a fresh produce model in terms of in vitro cytotoxic and mutagenic effects on mammalian cells and its in vivo toxicity on Galleria mellonella larvae. Low cytotoxic effects were detected in vitro and mutagenic events were …

The Effect Of Lauric Arginate On The Thermal Inactivation Of Starved Listeria Monocytogenes In Sous-Vide Cooked Ground Beef, Vijay K. Juneja, Marangeli Osoria, Uma Tiwari, Xinran Xu, Chase E. Golden, Sudarsan Mukhopadhyay, Abhinav Mishra

Articles

The aim of this study was to examine the efficacy of lauric arginate (LAE, 1000 ppm – 3000 ppm) as an assisting tool to reduce starved Listeria monocytogenes population in ground beef following sous-vide processing at different temperatures (55–62.5 °C). Ground beef mixed with LAE was vacuum sealed and a laboratory water bath was used for sous-vide cooking. Loglinear and Weibull models were fit to the survival microbial population and the D and Z-values were determined at 55–62.5 °C. Calculated D-values ranged from 33.62 to 3.22 min at temperature 55–62.5 °C. LAE at higher concentration is an effective antimicrobial to …

Pilot Scale Pyrolysis Of Activated Sludge Waste From Milk Processing Factory, Marzena Kwapinska, Alen Horvat, Yupeng Liu, James Leahy

Articles

The majority of the sludge from the treatment of wastewater in milk processing plants is land spread. The drawbacks of land spreading include local oversupply due to high transport costs, which results in sludge being spread on lands in the vicinity of the dairy factories. Local oversupply can lead to accumulation of certain substances in soil through annual application over many years. Therefore, in the long term, there is a need for alternative methods to recover energy and nutrients from increasing volumes of sludge generated from dairy processing. Pyrolysis ofers a potential alternative to land spreading, which can reduce health …

Ethics Committees For Clinical Experimentation At International Level With A Focus On Italy, Zakira Naureen, Tommaso Beccari, Robert S. Marks, Richard Brown, Lorenzo Lorusso, Derek Pheby, Stanislav Miertus, Karen L. Herbst, Liborio Stuppia, Gary T. Henehan, Benedetto Falsini, Ludovica Lumer, Munis Dundar, Matteo Bertelli, International Bioethical Study Group

Articles

Guiding legislation and associated bureaucracy for the ethical review of clinical trials observational studies and food related research play an important role in the competitiveness of a nation in the face of tough global competition to attract sponsors and investigators. This is of particular relevance in the case of multicentre trials and multidisciplinary research. Accordingly, in this report we tried to gather in-depth knowledge of the current role and practices of ethics committees nationwide in both clinical and research settings. This mini-review aims to describe the formulation and organization of ethical committees in Italy in order to provide a focus …

Juvenile Bonefish (Albula Vulpes) Show A Preference To Shoal With Mojarra (Eucinostomus Spp.) In The Presence Of Conspecifics And Another Gregarious Co-Occurring Species, Petra Szekeres, Christopher R. Haak, Alexander D.M. Wilson, Andy J. Danylchuk, Jacob W. Brownscombe, Aaron D. Shultz, Steven J. Cooke

School of Biological and Marine Sciences

No abstract provided.

Universal Norm Psychology Leads To Societal Diversity In Prosocial Behaviour And Development, Bailey R. House, Patricia Kanngiesser, H. Clark Barrett, Tanya Broesch, Senay Cebioglu, Alyssa N. Crittenden, Alejandro Erut, Sheina Lew-Levy, Carla Sebastian-Enesco, Andrew Marcus Smith, Süheyla Yilmaz, Joan B. Silk

School of Psychology

Recent studies have proposed that social norms play a key role in motivating human cooperation and in explaining the unique scale and cultural diversity of our prosociality. However, there have been few studies that directly link social norms to the form, development and variation in prosocial behaviour across societies. In a cross-cultural study of eight diverse societies, we provide evidence that (1) the prosocial behaviour of adults is predicted by what other members of their society judge to be the correct social norm, (2) the responsiveness of children to novel social norms develops similarly across societies and (3) societally variable …

Improving Rabies Aftercare By Educating Emergency Department Providers Of Care, Gloria Denise Evans

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

According to an evaluation completed by the local health department in the state where the project was conducted, patients were not returning to the emergency department (ED) for post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) rabies vaccine as recommended. Educating the ED providers on care, who are usually the first point of contact after an animal bite with possible rabies virus transmission, is critical to improving patients' outcomes secondary to rabies postexposure. The focused for this project is educating ED personnel about rabies PEP administration after rabies virus exposure which will their increase knowledge regarding rabies follow-up care. Lewin's change theory provided the theoretical …

Comparative Study Of The Fife And Drum Blues Traditions Of Othar Turner And The Preservation, Development, And Innovation Of Sharde Thomas And The Rising Stars Fife And Drum Band, Donnie Ryan Jobe

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Othar Turner held the Fife and Drum Blues traditions of North Mississippi for decades. Since his passing in 2003, his granddaughter Sharde Thomas has taken over as the keeper of these traditions. The musical characteristics of Othar are still present in Sharde’s music today, however her interpretations have shaped these current traditions. This research discusses heritage and folklore theories of scholars Rodney Harrison, Martha Sims, and Martine Stephens as a lens to evaluate Sharde’s musical interpretations and compares them to Othar’s last recordings before his passing. This document provides a model for how these musical characteristics and interpretations relate and …

An Interactive Mobile Equipment Task-Training With Virtual Reality, Lazar Zujovic

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Improving the quality of equipment training for the Heavy Equipment Operators (HEO) is a critical task in the ever-lasting effort to improve safety and eliminate equipment-related injuries in mining environments. Traditional miner training includes the use of hardcopy documents and video instructions. However, modern mobile and computer technology offers tremendous potential to improve the training process. One major responsibility for the heavy-machine operators is proper machine inspection. Establishing new training methods that utilize modern technologies—such as 360-degree images, videos, and Virtual Reality—and implementing computers for training purposes have a potential to help new operators learn how to conduct proper machine …

Advancing Quantitative Understanding Of Escherichia Coli Concentrations In A Contemporary Mixed Land-Use Watershed, In West Virginia, Usa, Fritz Petersen

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A scarcity of field-based research investigating the relationships between E. coli (fecal matter) concentration, suspended particulate matter (SPM; including size distribution), physicochemical parameters (water temperature, pH, SPC, DO, chloride) and land use practices and the importance of these relationships, particularly for human health, policy makers, and water resource managers, provided the impetus for this research. A 22-site, nested-scale, experimental watershed study design was implemented to investigate E. coli concentrations and the aforementioned relationships in a contemporary mixed land use watershed in the Appalachian region of the eastern United States. Results from a reduced (n=4 sites) study showed SPM in the …

The Role Of High-Fat Diets In Exacerbating Cognitive Deficits After Traumatic Brain Injury, Michelle A. Frankot

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Traumatic brain injury (TBI) can cause chronic psychiatric-like impairments that may be driven by inflammation in the brain. In the current study, inflammation was upregulated using a high-fat diet (HFD) to assess the role of inflammation in TBI-induced deficits. Rats were randomly assigned to receive an HFD or calorie-matched low-fat diet (LFD) for the duration of the experiment. After two weeks of free access to their respective diets, rats began behavioral training on the Rodent Gambling Task (RGT), during which they were allowed to freely choose to nosepoke in one of four holes in a standard operant chamber. Responses in …