Digital Commons Network^™

The Associations Between Socioeconomic Status And Childhood And Adult Psychosocial Experiences Among Men Living In El Paso, Texas, Sophia Marie Ornelas

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Substantial evidence indicates that low levels of Socioeconomic Status (SES) can have adverse psychosocial health implications in early childhood that can persist into adulthood. While there is extensive research about this relationship very little is known about the relationship between SES characteristics and adult psychosocial burden among Hispanic men. OBJECTIVE: This research aims to explore the associations between SES characteristics and childhood adverse experiences, adult perceived stress burden, and depressive symptoms among Hispanic men living in El Paso, Texas. METHODS: This research used data from a cross-sectional study of 100 adult men residing in El Paso, Texas in 2018. …

Inhibition Of Glycine Transporter 2: An Emerging Target For Chronic Pain, Elvia Lilia Padilla

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Chronic pain is a complicated, completely unknown condition that has been studied based on its severe impact on the population. According to the American Academy of Pain Medicine, 1.5 billion people suffer from tension-type headaches, one of the most common symptomatic chronic conditions. Christopher L. Cioffi, 2019; mentioned approximately in US 116 million adults are explicitly afflicted by chronic pain. Chronic pain is described as dysfunction in nerves that have been continuous during a long period (Mills, 2019). Treatments for chronic pain are different types of common analgesics that relieve the pain for short periods such as aspirin, ibuprofen, paracetamol, …

Discovery Of Glycan-Based Biomarkers For Cutaneous Leishmaniasis And Chagas Disease By Reversed Immunoglycomics, Alba Lucia Montoya

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Protozoa are the causative agents of a number of diseases that affect humans and mammalian animals. Several forms of leishmaniasis are caused by different Leishmania species (Leishmania spp.), while Chagas disease (CD) is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi (T. cruzi). These members of the Trypanosomatidae family have characteristic glycoconjugates broadly distributed on their cell surfaces, which can be useful for diagnosis and follow-up of chemotherapy for the diseases.

Leishmania spp. expresses an “exotic” surface glycocalyx mainly composed of a number of glycosyl-phosphatidylinositol (GPI)-anchored proteins, a complex lipophosphoglycan (LPG) and a family of low-molecular mass glycoinositol-phospholipids (GIPLs), some of them …

Caregiver Experiences With The Dyslexia Identification Process In A Borderland Community In Texas, Angela Victoria Enriqueta Owens

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This phenomenological study (Moustakas, 1994; Peoples, 2020) uses critical disability theory (Devlin & Pothier, 2006) and intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989) as a lens for investigating the experiences of caregivers in a borderland community in Texas during their childâ??s dyslexia identification process. I used Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) which has roots in hermeneutic phenomenology (Heidegger, 1971) as a research method to answer the research question, how do caregivers from minoritized backgrounds in a Texas Borderland community experience the Dyslexia identification process in public schools. The three caregivers in this study were able to participate through face-to-face and virtual formats, due to the …

Assessing The Relationship Between Diabetes Causation Beliefs, Diabetes Risk, And Intent To Engage In Healthy Lifestyles Among Mexican American Men, Brisa Evet Rodriguez Alcantar

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Background: The Hispanic population is the largest growing ethnic group and is estimated to reach 27% of the US population by 2050. Compared to non-Hispanic groups and other racial/ethnic minority groups they have the highest diabetes related mortality rate. Income, education, and health insurance put the Hispanic population at greater risk for diabetes, diabetes related complications, and diabetes mortality. Objectives: The objective of this research is to: 1) identify which diabetes causation beliefs (i.e., biological, psychological, socioenvironmental, behavior, fatalistic) are the most common among Hispanic men; 2) examine the relationship between men's diabetes causation belief and diabetes risk (HbA1c); and …

Sex Differences In The Mechanisms That Modulate The Neurochemical Effects Of Nicotine, Kevin Uribe

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Prior behavioral studies in our laboratory revealed that overexpression of the stress peptide, corticotrophin-releasing factor (CRF), in the mesocorticolimbic reward pathway enhanced the reinforcing effects of nicotine. The latter effect was greater in female versus male rats, suggesting that females are uniquely susceptible to the effects of stress on nicotine reinforcement. The goal of this dissertation was to examine the neurochemical mechanisms by which overexpression of CRF in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a terminal region of the mesocorticolimbic pathway, modulates the behavioral effects of nicotine. Specifically, we examined whether nicotine-induced dopamine levels are altered by CRF overexpression via excitatory (glutamate) …

Impact Of Cryptococcus Neoformans Polysaccharide Capsule On Astrocytes, Yeon Hwa Woo

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Cryptococcus neoformans is a neurotropic, opportunistic, encapsulated, yeast-like fungus that causes life-threatening meningoencephalitis in both healthy and immunocompromised individuals. C. neoformans infects 1,000,000 people and causes 210,000 deaths worldwide annually, mostly in sub-Saharan Africa. The polysaccharide capsule of C. neoformans is the fungus major virulent factor. Glucuronoxylomannan (GXM), the main component of the capsule is abundantly released into brain tissue during C. neoformans infection, causing immunosuppressive defects in the host. C. neoformans is inhaled from the environment, disseminate via bloodstream, and crosses the blood brain barrier (BBB) to cause cryptococcal meningoencephalitis (CM). Although CM causes significant mortality in HIV/AIDS patients, …

Antioxidant Intervention In Radical-Induced Protein Damage, Emmanuel Zubia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Many environmental toxicants are known to increase free-radical production, which can create cellular havoc and lead to a myriad of ailments. Antioxidants can be used to ameliorate the prevalence of free radicals, potentially serving as prophylactics against radical-induced disorders. Many exogenous antioxidants are phytochemicals in origin, such as ascorbic acid, gallic acid, and ellagic acid. Some of these antioxidants can be found in traditional medicine, like tanshinone and brazilin, which have been studied and are known to have low cytotoxicity. Here we test the radical rescue capacity of a selected group of phytochemical antioxidants on protein rescue models. Specifically, our …

Ictus Or Rebound? The Experience Of Behind-The-Beat Playing In Orchestral Conducting, Sey Ahn

Theses and Dissertations--Music

The origin of playing behind-the-beat is attributed to the Hungarian conductor Arthur Nikisch (1855-1922), who is one of the most important figures in the history of the art of conducting. Nikisch, serving as Music Director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, and the Leipzig Gewandhaus Orchestra during a critical moment in the development of orchestral playing, influenced a generation of conductors who followed. Behind-the-beat playing, as many conductors and musicians refer to in describing experiences of top professional orchestral musicians, is a prevailing characteristic of theirs, not often observed in amateur orchestras and their conductors. It is an …

Applying Stable Isotopes Of Carbon (Δ$^{13}$C) And Nitrogen (Δ$^{15}$N) To Examine The Role Ofpikeperch (Sander Lucioperca Linnaeus, 1758) In Structuring The Food Web Oflake Eğirdir (Central Anatolia), Turkey, Meral Apaydin Yağci, Şenol Akin, Ahmet Alp, Abdulkadi̇r Yağci, Mehmet Cesur, Rahmi̇ Uysal, Fuat Bi̇lgi̇n, Vedat Yegen

Turkish Journal of Zoology

The aim of this study was to examine the role of pikeperch (Sander lucioperca L., 1758) in structuring the seasonal food web of Lake Eğirdir using carbon (δ$^{13}$C) and nitrogen (δ$^{15}$N) stable isotopes. The samples for stable isotopes were collected during the spring and autumn seasons. Sander lucioperca, as expected, was determined as a top predator with a substantially higher trophic position during both seasons (3.96, spring, δ$^{15}$N (mean ± SE = 13.09 ± 0.17) and δ$^{13}$C (mean ± SE = -17.23 ± 0.19) (4.10, autumn, δ$^{15}$N (mean ± SE = 14.14 ± 0.19) and δ$^{13}$C (mean ± SE = …

Insecticidal Effect Of Diatomaceous Earth And Dolomite Powder Against Corn Weevilsitophilus Zeamais Motschulsky, 1855 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae), Alyssa Cristina Oliveira Freitas, Adriana Aparecida Sinopólis Gigliolli, Ronaldo Roberto Tait Caleffe Caleffe, Helio Conte

Turkish Journal of Zoology

Sitophilus zeamais Motschulsky, 1855 (Coleoptera: Curculionidae) which develops inside the grain, is an aggressive pest of stored grains. Here, we evaluated the efficiency of diatomaceous earth (DE), Diatomita CI/325 CX, and dolomite (DOL), Dolomita Dr. Kanyo, against S. zeamais reared on corn under laboratory conditions and observed external alterations on treated insects using scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Insects treated with both DE and DOL were impregnated with particles on the body surface, and they showed 100% mortality after 10 days of exposure. Damages caused by inert dusts may have contributed to dehydration and desiccation, consequently, leading insects to death. Thus, …

The Impact Of Ryegrass On A Fragipan Soil, Keegan Patrick Smith

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Fragipans are soil horizons which negatively impact row crop yields due to their cemented nature. Annual ryegrass has been proposed as a cover crop to help remediate these dense horizons. The objectives of this study were to (1) evaluate potential ryegrass root exudates and their ability to solubilize proposed fragipan cementing agents, aluminum (Al), iron (Fe), and silica (Si) in stirred-batch reactor studies; and (2) evaluate annual ryegrass’ ability to remediate the fragipan through an 8-week greenhouse growth study using non-destructive, mini-rhizon samplers installed on soil cores for in situ pore water sampling, and non-invasive soil porosity calculations using X-ray …

Extracting Secondary Metabolites From Bacterial Endophytes To Suppress Or Promote Sweet Sorghum And Weeds, Mohammad R. Alsabri

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Endophytic bacteria are ubiquitous in agricultural settings and have the potential to drastically affect plant growth both positively and negatively. These complex relationships play a key role in plant nutrition and are therefore of great interest to the agricultural community and beyond. With my dissertation work, I have had the opportunity to examine the relationship between endophytic bacteria and plants in various ways. The first part of my dissertation investigated how the microbial diversity found in soil affects the below- and above-ground traits of Sorghum bicolor. In the second section, I focused on a particular strain of bacteria that …

Plant-Soil Interactions Dominate Soil Microbial Respiration And Soil Organic Carbon Sequestration In A Subtropical Moist Evergreen Broadleaved Forest In China, Zhijie Yang

Theses and Dissertations--Plant and Soil Sciences

Tropical forest soils contain one-third of global soil carbon (C). The warm and moist climate in tropical forests leads to rapid soil organic carbon (SOC) decomposition, with the highest soil microbial respiration rates in the world, so even a slight change in soil C and microbial respiration could affect atmospheric carbon dioxide concentration. However, there remains a lack of understanding of the mechanisms driving microbial respiration in tropical forests, due to different climate and biophysical drivers compared to temperate or boreal forests. Furthermore, forest conversions (from natural forests to plantations) are most widespread in tropical regions, leading to a loss …

Acute Sensitivity And Tolerance To Alcohol As Predictors Of At-Risk Drinking, Holley Allen

Theses and Dissertations--Psychology

Laboratory studies have reliably shown that reduced sensitivity to alcohol’s subjective intoxicating effect is associated with heavier drinking. More recently, there has been research to suggest that heightened sensitivity to the disinhibiting effects of alcohol might also contribute to at-risk drinking. Most research on the acute effects of alcohol has focused on drinking magnitudes averaged across participants with little attention to how individual differences influence abuse potential. This study overcomes previous limitations by testing the degree to which individual differences in acute sensitivity and tolerance to the subjective intoxicating and disinhibiting effects of alcohol predict drinking behavior in a large …

The Current Role Of The Environment In Reinforcing Acts Of Domestic Terrorism: How Fear Of A Climate Change Apocalypse May Strengthen Right-Wing Hate Groups, Hope M. Babcock

Georgetown Law Faculty Publications and Other Works

Right-wing extremist organizations, like white supremacists and nativists, are using the environment as a rallying cry to gain supporters of their anti-social agendas. Apocalyptic rhetoric about climate change and the lack of action to combat it has frightened some people into accepting the simplistic, violent worldview of these groups. Although the violence is new, the coupling of racism and anti-immigration rants with environmental goals is not—it is part of our cultural history. This Article provides some background on the threats of environmental and domestic terrorism facing our nation and describes how the present-day rhetoric of fear of an environmental Armageddon …

Who Smokes In Europe? Data From Twelve European Countries In The Tackshs Survey (2017-2018), Silvano Gallus, Alessandra Lugo, Xiaoqiu Liu, Panagiotis Behrakis, Roberto Boffi, Cristina Bosetti, Giulia Carreras, Liliane Chatenoud, Luke Clancy, Xavier Continente, Ruaraidh Dobson, Tobias Effertz, Filippos T. Filippidis, Marcela Fu, Gergana Geshanova, Giuseppe Gorini, Sheila Keogan, Hristo Ivanov, Maria J. Lopez, Angel Lopez-Nicolas, Jose Precioso, Krzysztof Przewozniak, Cornel Radu-Loghin, Ario Ruprecht, Sean Semple, Joan B. Soriano, Polina Starchenko, Marta Trapero-Bertran, Olena Tigova, Anna S. Tzortzi, Constantine Vardavas, Vergina K. Vyzikidou, Paola Colombo, Esteve Fernandez, Tackshs Project Investigators

Articles

Background: Population data on tobacco use and its determinants require continuous monitoring and careful inter-country comparison. We aimed to provide the most up-to-date estimates on tobacco smoking from a large cross-sectional survey, conducted in selected European countries.

Methods: Within the TackSHS Project, a face-to-face survey on smoking was conducted in 2017–2018 in 12 countries: Bulgaria, England, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, and Spain, representing around 80% of the 432 million European Union (EU) adult population. In each country, a representative sample of around 1,000 subjects aged 15 years and older was interviewed, for a total of …

Methods To Integrate Genetic And Clinical Data For Disease Subtyping, Diana Mabel Diaz-Herrera

Wayne State University Dissertations

Enormous efforts have been made to collect genetic and clinical data from cancer patients to advance the understanding of disease development and progression. Processing and analyzing these flows of data is challenging. Many computational methods have been proposed to help different fronts of biology and medicine. The integration of clinical and genetic data using computational methods towards personalized medicine is considered the future for oncology studies, and this thesis contributes in this direction. This thesis presents three new data integration approaches to elucidate granular and meaningful disease sub-types from high-dimensional complex genetic and clinical variables, which is an essential step …

Weapons Of Mass Destruction, Strategic Deterrence, And Great Power Competition, Paul I. Bernstein, Diane Dieuliis, Gerald L. Epstein, Amanda Moodie

Books and Book Chapters

Chapter 8 of Strategic Assessment 2020: Into a New Era of Great Power Competition

Weapons of mass destruction (WMD)—nuclear, biological, and chemical weapons and the means to deliver them—are an important feature of the global security environment and a key element of Great Power competition. For Russia and China, WMD contribute to multiple goals: conflict deterrence at the strategic and regional levels; regime survival; coercion of rival states; and, potentially, as an adjunct to conventional forces to support operations. U.S-Russia competition in nuclear weapons has been constrained in recent decades by various arms control agreements, but the erosion of this …

Facies Distribution, Paleoenvironment And Sequence Stratigraphy Model Of The Oligo-Miocene Asmari Formation (Fars Province, South Of Iran), Fereshteh Kamalifar, Mohsen Aleali, Vahid Ahamadi, Akram Mirzaiee

Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences

The Oligocene (Rupelian-Chattian) to Miocene (Aquitanian)-aged Asmari Formation is considered one of the most significant petroliferous reservoirs in the Middle East. The Oligocene-Miocene Asmari Formation represents diverse facies patterns in different parts of Zagros, so analysis of its facies in different provinces of the Zagros Basin is necessary. In this study, the sedimentary depositional sequences of Asmari Formation in the Firuzabad (south of Shiraz) and Bastak (west of Bandar-Abbas) sections in the Zagros Basin (Fras Platform) have been analyzed for distinguishing facies characteristics, interpreting the paleoenvironment and determining dominant depositional sequences. Based on field investigations and laboratory studies, 13 microfacies …

Screening For And Management Of Adult Obesity, Lisa Schafer

Doctor of Nursing Practice Projects

Purpose: To examine the interest of obese adults in participating in a weight management program based on Intensive Behavioral Therapy as recommended by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF). Methods: During a three-week period, a non-probability consecutive sample of 73 patients with scheduled healthcare appointments at a primary care setting in eastern Arkansas were recruited to complete a 15-item Obesity questionnaire. Eligible participants included non-pregnant, mentally competent adults between the ages of 18 to 65 years with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater. Results: Typical demographic characteristics reflected middle-aged (47 years of age), African American …

Hsp90 Inhibition And Modulation Of The Proteome: Therapeutical Implications For Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (Ipf), Ruben Manuel Luciano Colunga Biancatelli, Pavel Solopov, Betsy Gregory, John D. Catravas

Bioelectrics Publications

Idiopathic Pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is a catastrophic disease with poor outcomes and limited pharmacological approaches. Heat shock protein 90 (HSP90) has been recently involved in the wound-healing pathological response that leads to collagen deposition in patients with IPF and its inhibition represents an exciting drug target against the development of pulmonary fibrosis. Under physiological conditions, HSP90 guarantees proteostasis through the refolding of damaged proteins and the degradation of irreversibly damaged ones. Additionally, its inhibition, by specific HSP90 inhibitors (e.g., 17 AAG, 17 DAG, and AUY-922) has proven beneficial in different preclinical models of human disease. HSP90 inhibition modulates a complex …

Body Image/Imagining Bodies: Trauma, Control, And Healing In Graphic Memoirs About Anorexia, Kristine M. Gatchel

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past decade, there has been a significant increase of graphic narratives focusing on the intersection of comics and medicine, a subgenre known as graphic medicine. These memoirs, known as graphic pathographies, are written from those who interact with disease in various capacities from patient, to doctor, to caregiver. This project closely examines three graphic pathographies written about the eating disorder anorexia nervosa. Prior writing, both fictional and personal memoir, on anorexia has often been considered as problematic for its ability to function as a how-to manual for anorexics. Anorexia is a complex disease that exists largely within the …

Evaluation Of Pediatric Acute Ulcerative Colitis Management Protocol, Samantha Simons

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Pediatric patients with ulcerative colitis (UC) represent a high-risk population with severe disease that requires hospitalization. This study evaluates the impact of implementing an acute UC management protocol on 39 pediatric patients. After analysis, significant trends were shown for admitted pediatric patients post-protocol implementation, helping to coordinate multidisciplinary care sooner during a hospital stay. The patients were more likely to have a surgical consult, and the surgical consult was completed closer upon admission. The median length of hospital stay did not change, total parenteral nutrition use was increased, and oral steroids upon discharge were decreased. Anti-tumor necrosis factor alpha was …

Review Of Drug And Biologics Recalls: 2009 Through 2019, Vimala Devi Gollamudi

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study analyzed drugs and biologics recalls for the period of 2009 and 2019. The data used in the study was generated from Food and Drug Administration records. A total of 466 drugs and 84 biologics were recalled during the 11-year period. The common causes of drug product recalls included contamination, defective products, and mislabeling. Defective product, mislabeling, and defective packaging were observed to be the common causes of recall for biologics. Injectables have the highest percentage of recalls in drug products, and blood and blood products had the highest percentage of recalls in biologics. Controlling the contamination of injectable …

Polymer Chemistry Education To Increase Student Awareness Of Plastic Pervasiveness And Environmental Impact, Victoria Hill

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

A polymer-pollution-focused laboratory sequence was written to teach general chemistry concepts in a course for pre-service elementary teachers. Students experienced the difficulties related to polymer pollution clean-up and made bio-based materials to see possible alternatives. In order to determine whether this laboratory sequence changed student understanding of the importance of polymers and their environmental impact, student opinions were gathered with pre/post-course sequence surveys, observations, post-laboratory surveys, and focus group interviews. These same data collection methods were also used to determine the likelihood that the pre-service elementary teachers would teach these polymer and environmental laboratories or their concepts in the future. …

Rapid Adaptation To Changing Mechanical Load By Ordered Recruitment Of Identified Motor Neurons, Hillel J. Chiel

Faculty Scholarship

As they interact with their environment and encounter challenges, animals adjust their behavior on a moment-to-moment basis to maintain task fitness. This dynamic process of adaptive motor control occurs in the nervous system, but an understanding of the biomechanics of the body is essential to properly interpret the behavioral outcomes. To study how animals respond to changing task conditions, we used a model system in which the functional roles of identified neurons and the relevant biomechanics are well understood and can be studied in intact behaving animals: feeding in the marine mollusc Aplysia. We monitored the motor neuronal output of …

Modulation Of Epileptogenesis: A Paradigm For The Integration Of Enzyme-Based Microelectrode Arrays And Optogenetics, Corwin R. Butler, Jeffery A. Boychuk, Francois Pomerleau, Ramona Alcala, Peter Huettl, Yi Ai, Johan Jakobsson, Sidney W. Whiteheart, Greg A. Gerhardt, Bret N. Smith, John T. Slevin

Physiology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Genesis of acquired epilepsy includes transformations spanning genetic-to- network-level modifications, disrupting the regional excitatory/inhibitory balance. Methodology concurrently tracking changes at multiple levels is lacking. Here, viral vectors are used to differentially express two opsin proteins in neuronal populations within dentate gyrus (DG) of hippocampus. When activated, these opsins induced excitatory or inhibitory neural output that differentially affected neural networks and epileptogenesis. In vivo measures included behavioral observation coupled to real-time measures of regional glutamate flux using ceramic-based amperometric microelectrode arrays (MEAs).

RESULTS: Using MEA technology, phasic increases of extracellular glutamate were recorded immediately upon application of blue light/488 nm …

Black And Yellow Letter Law: Managing Rusty Patched Bumble Bee Conservation Under The Endangered Species Act, Daniel Franz

Colorado Environmental Law Journal

No abstract provided.

The Construction And Analysis Of Dream Metaphors From The Standpoint Of Co-Creative Dream Theory, Gregory Scott Sparrow

Counseling Faculty Publications

Co-creative dream theory posits that the dream is co-determined through the reciprocal interplay between the witnessing dream ego and the emergent content. Consequently, the resulting dream can be seen as one of many contingent outcomes based on the dreamer’s range of response through the course of the dream, as well as the broad constraints of underlying domains that account for the nature and thrust of the emergent content. From this relational view of the dream, the visual imagery is not the content itself, but rather the “mutable interface” (Sparrow, 2013) between the dream ego and the emergent content. The purpose …