Digital Commons Network^™

Glycoprotein 340 Expression In Dry Eye Disease And Ocular Surface Infection, Kwaku Antwi Osei

All ETDs from UAB

Glycoprotein 340 (Gp340) is a 340-kDa multi-domain pattern recognition receptor (PRR) belonging to the scavenger receptor cysteine-rich superfamily of proteins. On the ocular surface, Gp340 is expressed in the tear film, lacrimal gland, cornea, and conjunctiva. By their nature, PRRs detect pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) on microbial organisms and damage-associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) released from injured, stressed, necrotic, and apoptotic cells. This, in turn, induces the expression of nuclear factor-κB- and the interferon regulatory factor-dependent expression proinflammatory cytokines and chemokines, eliciting both innate and adaptive immune response activation. Thus, as a PRR, Gp340 has the potential to modulate microbial infection …

Evaluating The Regulation And Effect Of Innate Immune Gene Expression On Melanocyte Biology, Alex D. Dawson

All ETDs from UAB

Anecdotally, humans can experience loss of hair color or hair graying after infection or vaccination yet our understanding of how melanocyte biology and the innate immune system interact is incomplete. Mouse models of hair graying have been used to reveal numerous mechanisms that adversely affect the melanocyte system within the hair follicle, and one such mouse model highlights a molecular link between the transcription factor SOX10, melanogenesis and innate immune dysregulation. SOX10 is a transcription factor critical for neural crest development and melanogenesis, and when overexpressed in the Tg(Dct-Sox10)CF1-10 mouse line causes a sensitivity to viral mimic Poly(I:C) that results …

Transcriptional Regulation And Islet Transplantation Advantages Of Brown Adipose Tissue, Jessica D. Kepple

All ETDs from UAB

Metabolic disease encompasses various disorders, including obesity and diabetes, that negatively impact glucose and lipid homeostasis and increase the risk of co-morbidities. Adipose tissue, which regulates whole-body energy balance and acts as a specialized endocrine tissue, is negatively affected by obesity and diabetes. Brown adipose tissue (BAT) functions to dissipate excess energy as heat and therefore is an attractive target against metabolic disease. To develop more effective therapeutic strategies, BAT physiology and genetic regulatory mechanisms need to be better understood. This dissertation highlights studies seeking to illuminate novel transcriptional regulation and islet transplantation applications of BAT. We investigated the requirement …

De Novo Generation Of Cardiomyocytes For Regenerative Medicine Treatment, Yawen Tang

All ETDs from UAB

Cardiovascular disease, till now, is still the leading cause of death in the United States. As a consequences of heart attack event, cardiomyocytes death is an irreversible process accompanied with scar formation and loss of heart function. As mammalian cardiomyocytes exit cell cycle shortly after birth, with no replacement of the necrotic cardiomyocytes, the damages caused by heart attack often progress into more severe symptoms such as heart failure. To replenish damaged cardiomyocytes (CMs), many therapies, such as differentiate the induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into cardiomyocytes and direct reprogram fibroblasts into CMs, have been developed. During this dissertation study, …

Analysing The Contribution Of Snare-Dependent Exocytosis From Astrocytes To Huntinton's Disease Pathogenesis Using The Bachd Mouse Model, Annesha C. King

All ETDs from UAB

Huntington’s disease (HD) is a dominantly inherited neurodegenerative disease caused by a polyglutamine expansion in the huntingtin protein. Multiple studies have indicated the importance of mutant huntingtin (mHTT) in astrocytes to HD pathogenesis. Increased extracellular glutamate levels were observed after evoking SNARE-dependent exocytosis from cultured mHTT expressing astrocytes. To determine whether astrocytic SNARE-dependent exocytosis contributed to behavioral and neuropathological changes in vivo, we crossed BACHD mice to dominant negative SNARE (dnSNARE) mice and analyzed behavioral and neuropathological phenotypes. First, we found that reduc-ing astrocytic SNARE-dependent exocytosis had differential effects on the psychiatric-like and motor phenotypes observed in BACHD mice where …

The Assessment Of Neuro-Mechanics Of Inspiratory Muscles During Mechanical Ventilation, Hassan Y. Abunurah

All ETDs from UAB

The decline in inspiratory muscles function for patients undergoing mechanical ventilation may further extend the duration of mechanical ventilation leading to lethal complications. Thus, the assessment of neuro-mechanics of inspiratory muscles may help us understand the pathophysiology for mechanical ventilation failure to avoid its complications. In this dissertation, we assessed the characteristics of inspiratory neuromechanics under different conditions. This dissertation is reported in three different papers. In the first paper, we sought to assess the quality of the available literate that used surface EMG of extra-diaphragmatic muscles during invasive mechanical ventilation. We demonstrated that the use of sEMG of extra-diaphragmatic …

From Classrooms To Polluted Communities: Scientific Inquiry In Birmingham, Alabama And Beyond, Sarah Jeanne Adkins-Jablonsky

All ETDs from UAB

Nearly half of all U.S. students who declare science majors in college do not graduate with science degrees within six years. Improvements in science outcomes are linked with active-learning pedagogies such as Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). However, despite the need for education reform particularly in Alabama, active-learning interventions are severely understudied in Alabama universities. Chapter 1 describes novel CUREs at four colleges in Birmingham, AL: The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB); Jefferson State Community College (JSCC), Samford University (SU), and Birmingham Southern College (BSC). Chapter 2 shows how an agar art CURE, The Art of Microbiology, impacts student …

Joint Specificity Of Stretch-Shortening Cycle Potentiation, Marzouq Khalaf Almutairi

All ETDs from UAB

The stretch-shortening cycle (SSC) is a well-known phenomenon to enhance an individual’s muscular performance, and it is an area of active focus of research scientists for decades. However, it is not known whether SSC potentiation is a joint-specific event and shows a joint-specific temporal behavior. It is also unclear if constraints of joint and movement specificity of SSC potentiation can be captured via isokinetic dynamometer. Therefore, the purposes of this dissertation were to examine joint specificity of SSC potentiation via isokinetic dynamometer and kinetic-kinematic analysis of jump test performance and investigate joint-specific temporal behavior of SSC potentiation. My first study …

Socioeconomic Status In Adolescence And Dna Methylation In Young Adulthood, Malcolm Barker-Kamps

All ETDs from UAB

Children from low socioeconomic status (SES) families are at a greater risk of negative health outcomes in adulthood, in part from chronic stress. The chronic stress of these experiences may become biologically embedded through DNA methylation in stress-related genes. However, the effects of specific SES dimensions during childhood or adolescence on later epigenetic profiles in adulthood are not well understood. The present study examined the roles of two objective SES dimensions and two subjective SES dimensions experienced in early adolescence in DNA methylation in young adulthood. The analyses focused on two genes, NR3C1 and SLC6A4, because their methylation has been …

Beyond Apoptosis: Insight Into The Complex Intracellular Networks That Govern Cell Fate, Hayley Neal Widden

All ETDs from UAB

The determination of cell fate is a dynamic process regulated by hundreds of proteins that converge into complex cell signaling pathways. Upon irreparable intracellular stress, a cell undergoes programmed cell death, a process known as intrinsic apoptosis. Apoptosis is regulated by the Bcl-2 family, a class of proteins that act either as pro-survival or pro-death signaling molecules. Due to the oncogenic upregulation of pro- survival Bcl-2 family proteins across human cancer cell types, a novel class of small molecule inhibitors called ‘BH3-mimetics’ have emerged as promising anti-cancer therapeutics currently under clinical investigation. Here, we highlight the crosstalk between anti-apoptotic Bcl-2 …

Importance Of The Zebrafish Model For Understanding Nutrition, Michael Britt Williams

All ETDs from UAB

The common zebrafish Danio rerio is a useful model for human health. Effective utilization of this model required development of husbandry and reproductive protocols as well as genomic sequencing and creation of relevant molecular techniques. However, the dietary needs of the species remain woefully under investigated. At this time no chemically-defined open source diets are available to the zebrafish research community. Consequently, those labs utilizing the zebrafish model rely on commercial diets that may not provide adequate nutrition and lack consistency needed for rigorous and reproducible research. The first focus of these studies was to examine the current state of …

Hyperphosphatemia Contributes To Functional Iron Deficiency And Skeletal Muscle Wasting, Brian Anthony Czaya

All ETDs from UAB

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a global health threat that increases risk of death, which is credible to both impaired renal function and a multitude of CKD- associated comorbidities such as systemic inflammation, anemia and skeletal muscle dys- function. A distinctive feature of CKD is the dysregulation of mineral metabolism, where excess serum levels of phosphate (hyperphosphatemia) and of fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23) are not only viewed as biomarkers for disease severity but also exert deleterious effects towards various CKD-associated pathologies. Elevated levels of FGF23 can lead to the activation of FGF receptor 4 (FGFR4) in cell types that …

Targeting Oncogenic Microrna In Lung Cancer, Mackenzie Lauren Davenport

All ETDs from UAB

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer-related death both in the United Statesand the world. While several genetic drivers of lung cancer have been identified, major improvements in patient outcome are lacking, highlighting the need to further understand the genetic and molecular mechanisms of this disease. The microRNA miR-31 has been implicated in oncogenesis in a variety of cancer types, and prior data from our laboratory has shown it to be overexpressed in human lung adenocarcinoma tumors compared to normal lung, high miR-31 levels correlate with decreased patient survival, and overexpression of miR-31 alone in the mouse lung epithelium …

Upregulation Of Somatostatin Receptor 2 In Neuroendocrine Tumors Using Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors, Rachael Elizabeth Guenter

All ETDs from UAB

Neuroendocrine cancer is complex disease of the diffuse neuroendocrine system. Neuroendocrine tumors (NETs) can arise throughout the body, including the lungs and pancreas. These tumors are phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous, making accurate diagnoses difficult with current imaging standards. New diagnostic options, coupled with a better understanding of neuroendocrine cancer etiology, is urgent and necessary to provide patients with better futures. Many NETs overexpress somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) on their cellular surfaces, making patients eligible for [68Ga]-DOTATATE PET/CT imaging and SSTR2-based therapies. However, patients that lack sufficient SSTR2 overexpression cannot benefit from SSTR2-targeted imaging or therapeutic options. We found that histone …

The Effects Of A Social Skills Intervention On Neural Processing In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abbey Jane Herringshaw

All ETDs from UAB

Difficulties in social interaction are considered a core characteristic of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and have significant negative effects on quality of life in this population. Such deficits may reflect alterations in key areas of the “social brain” in ASD. Many clinical interventions for ASD seek to improve social interaction abilities, including the Program for Education and Enrichment of Relational Skills (PEERS®). PEERS® has demonstrated significant benefits for participants, but little is known about: 1) generalizability of the specific social knowledge gained to broader social cognitive processes, and 2) potential neuroplastic changes within the social brain in response to social …

A Randomized Controlled Trial To Compare The Histomorphometric And Clinical Outcomes Of Soft Tissue Augmentation At The Time Of Lateral Ridge Augmentation Procedures, Kenneth Liu

All ETDs from UAB

Guided bone regeneration (GBR) can be used to augment deficient alveolar ridges in preparation for dental implant placement. Mucogingival deformities can result from the periosteal releasing incision during GBR. This can be addressed by additional soft tissue augmentation procedures to increase the width of keratinized tissue and vertical soft tissue thickness, both of which have demonstrated clinical benefits around implants. The drawbacks of soft tissue augmentation following ridge augmentation include an additional procedure, increased patient morbidity, and less patient acceptance of treatment. In general, soft tissue augmentation can be performed at various time points throughout treatment, but literature on soft …

An Analysis Of The Relationship Between Student Achievement And The Emotional Intelligence Quotient Of Secondary Principals In Alabama Schools, Dorothiann Martin

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertational work provides an analysis between school leader emotional intelligence and academic achievement using selected indicators of student achievement in Alabama high schools. Emotional intelligence levels were measured by administering The Shutte Self-Report Emotional Intelligence Test to willing high school principal participants in the state of Alabama. The student achievement measures include: (a) high school graduation rate, (b) performance on the American College Test (ACT), and (c) chronic student absenteeism. After running several numerical analyses between emotional intelligence (independent variable) and student achievement (dependent variable) and controlling for certain subpopulations, the statistical analyses data revealed that there were no …

Characterization Of The Metabolic And Cognitive Features Of A Novel Alzheimer’S Disease Rat Model Along With Investigation Of Its Gut Microbiota Change Over Time, Akash Nagarajan

All ETDs from UAB

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is currently the fifth highest cause of death in the United States and affects primarily individuals of very old age (>80 yrs.). Aging is known to be the biggest risk factor of AD. Recent studies have shown that AD patients have an altered gut microbiota composition. To investigate whether the Alzheimer’s disease pathology in the brain could drive gut microbiota changes during the adult and late life stage of the rat, we performed 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing on the fecal samples of the animals at 14 months and 20 months of age. We found a distinctive …

Modification Of N95 Respirators: Allaying Deficits In Respiratory Protection Below 300 Nanometers, Adam Nored

All ETDs from UAB

The current growth rate of nanomaterials being used in everyday materials as well as in construction materials is quite large. While this in itself could be quite promising, there is a lack of information known about the risks that materials in the nano size range may have attached to their use. Until a full-scale risk analysis of the nanomaterials is used in the construction industry there is a need for personal protection to be implemented. A known issue with the current PPE exists, in that the N95 personal respirator has some particle collection efficiency issues below 300 nm. Modifications to …

Teaching Historical Skills Using Monuments, Markers, And Online Museums, James David Nunez

All ETDs from UAB

ABSTRACT The nation is embroiled within intense debate regarding the existence of monuments, markers, and online museums as vestiges of racism and White privilege. Many argue those symbols should be removed from the public square. The essential question of this research is what are social studies methods teachers’ perspectives about using monuments, markers, and online museums (3M) as teaching tools to prepare pre-service teachers to utilize historical thinking skills? This study was designed in part to re-tool a traditional interpretation of controversial 3M artifacts that deal honestly with memory, providing learners a compelling motivation to explore history that promotes greater …

Evaluation Of Antimicrobial Effect Of Licorice Extrcat Agiasnt Oral Microorganisms, Roshanak Rastegar

All ETDs from UAB

Introduction: The causative factors of dental caries have been studied for many years, however, preventing the formation of dental caries remains an elusive task. Microorganisms have been the focal point of numerous studies as a prime cariogenic factor. Streptococcus mutans and Candida albicans have been frequently co-isolated from dental biofilm in patients with early childhood caries (ECC) and studies have demonstrated the synergistic effects of these two microorganisms in promoting tooth demineralization. Acid and glucan production, which are two virulence factors produced by S. mutans that mediate biofilm formation and tooth decay, have been shown to be promoted during co-colonization …

Mechanism Of Stat3 Mediated Drug Persistence In Chronic Myeloid Leukemia Stem Cells, Sweta B. Patel

All ETDs from UAB

Drug persistence is one of the major impediments for cancer therapeutics. There are two known evolutionary models for tumor drug persistence. First, a pre-existing sub-population is inherently resistant to treatment; and second, a sub-population acquires resistance by drug-induced molecular reprograming. One ideal model to study the mechanism of drug persistence is chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), a hematopoietic stem cell (HSC) disorder. HSCs acquire a single translocation between chromosome 9 and 22, forming BCR-ABL, a constitutively active tyrosine kinase. Tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKI), the standard regimen, have been able to efficaciously control CML and yet many patients relapse upon treatment discontinuation …

Waffle, Ashley Tippit

All ETDs from UAB

Waffle is a novel about a high school senior realizing she has an anxiety disorder and is pansexual. Aside from wanting to tell a version of my own story, I want this to be a young adult novel that has appropriate, diverse representation. Given that several characters have identities different than mine (Jay having a single parent, Ginger being Black and having Type One Diabetes, Ella being transgender with divorced parents, and Birdie being Taiwanese-Korean American), I will need a lot of research and help to write these characters well. I want the information and experiences regarding race, gender, sexuality, …

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Diet On Pain And Pain Disparities, Larissa Jane Strath

All ETDs from UAB

Chronic pain is one of the most common and disabling disorders in Westernsociety. Recently, it has been suggested that dietary quality may play a key role in the development and maintenance of pain. Additionally, diet differs between demographic groups, as does physiological differences in response to metabolites. We sought to explore 1) the central way in which diet influences pain sensitivity and 2) if dietary patterns affected various demographic groups differently. We first employed a rat model to observe diet-related changes in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord. In the absence and presence of an injury, rats fed a …

More, Hannah, Alissa A. Droog

Faculty Articles, Papers, and Other Scholarship

Hannah More (1735–1833) was a prolific writer and Evangelical philanthropist in Britain. More’s writing is significant to biblical reception history as it showcases how the Bible was used by British Evangelicals to encourage moral reform.

Advances In Lipid-Based Nanoparticles For Cancer Chemoimmunotherapy, Tianqi Wang, Yusuke Suita, Saradha Miriyala, Jordan Dean, Nikos Tapinos, Jie Shen

Chemical, Biomolecular, and Materials Engineering Faculty Publications

Nanomedicines have shown great potential in cancer therapy; in particular, the combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy (namely chemoimmunotherapy) that is revolutionizing cancer treatment. Currently, most nanomedicines for chemoimmunotherapy are still in preclinical and clinical trials. Lipid-based nanoparticles, the most widely used nanomedicine platform in cancer therapy, is a promising delivery platform for chemoimmunotherapy. In this review, we introduce the commonly used immunotherapy agents and discuss the opportunities for chemoimmunotherapy mediated by lipid-based nanoparticles. We summarize the clinical trials involving lipid-based nanoparticles for chemoimmunotherapy. We also highlight different chemoimmunotherapy strategies based on lipid-based nanoparticles such as liposomes, nanodiscs, and lipid-based hybrid …

New High-Resolution Modeling Of The 2018 Palu Tsunami, Based On Supershear Earthquake Mechanisms And Mapped Coastal Landslides, Supports A Dual Source, Lauren Schambach, Stephan Grilli, David R. Tappin

Ocean Engineering Faculty Publications

The Mw 7.5 earthquake that struck Central Sulawesi, Indonesia, on September 28, 2018, was rapidly followed by coastal landslides and destructive tsunami waves within Palu Bay. Here, we present new tsunami modeling that supports a dual source mechanism from the supershear strike-slip earthquake and coastal landslides. Up until now the tsunami mechanism: earthquake, coastal landslides, or a combination of both, has remained controversial, because published research has been inconclusive; with some studies explaining most observations from the earthquake and others the landslides. Major challenges are the numerous different earthquake source models used in tsunami modeling, and that landslide mechanisms have …

Critical Perseverance In Research, Emily Faulconer, Jeremy Ernst

Publications

A productive researcher maintains a healthy pipeline by setting goals and making a plan.

Know that rejection is a normal part of the research process for both funding and publishing.

• Funding venues are selective.
• Academic venues are selective.
• Reviewers and editors are human.
• You are human.
• Less than ideal pick of journal or funding source.
• Formatting oversight.
• Your work may need development.
• Hypothesis
• Methodology
• Analysis
• Lack of novelty
• Low priority topic

The Submission & Review Gauntlet, Emily Faulconer

Publications

• Understand the manuscript submission process
• Explain why articles are rejected
• Develop a strategy to respond to reviewers
• Discuss options when rejected
• Optional: Practice working with reviewer feedback

The Sustainability Of Integrated Cruise Ship Sanitation And Wastewater Management Systems : A Contribution To Circular Economy Strategies In The Baltic Region, Jenette Tifuh Mujingni

World Maritime University Ph.D. Dissertations

The implementation of sustainable sanitation and wastewater management strategies has been recognized as one of the most important strategies for mitigating wastewater-sourced nutrient environmental pollution, and a central contributor to the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (UNSDGs). This study suggests that, by closing the nutrient loop through the implementation of Circular Economy principles in the management of cruise ship sanitary wastewater and enhancing the resource efficiency of the IGFS, the cruise industry could support the agricultural sector through the supply of more sustainable organic nutrients for farming with the overall goal of rendering both activities “green”, and mitigating the effect …