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A Framework For Designing Blockchain Systems In A Smart City Setting, Mohammad Alhefdi Jan 2022

A Framework For Designing Blockchain Systems In A Smart City Setting, Mohammad Alhefdi

All ETDs from UAB

As main characteristics of successful smart cities, the high demand for increased data security and accessibility and citizen engagement mean the role of blockchain technology has begun to increase. Nonetheless, blockchain technology also faces several challenges, which have slowed its adoption. In response, this dissertation introduces a framework for designing blockchain systems in a smart city setting and considers the smart city and blockchain challenges. Researchers have proposed several smart city models that study and analyze the complexity of smart cities to improve city security, functionality, services, and smartness. The proposed information-theoretical modeling approach to generate an innovated blockchain model …

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Elucidating The Role Of Stat4 In Cd4 T Cell Mediated Pathogenicity, Ashlyn E. Anderson Jan 2022

Elucidating The Role Of Stat4 In Cd4 T Cell Mediated Pathogenicity, Ashlyn E. Anderson

All ETDs from UAB

While the exact cause of many autoimmune diseases is currently unknown, many genetic factors are associated with increased disease susceptibility such as single nucleotide polymorphisms in the STAT4 gene locus. Signal Transducer and Activator of Transcription 4 (STAT4) is critical for the development and function of Th1 cells; however, many Th1 associated molecules are dispensable for CD4 mediated inflammation such as IFNγ, T-bet, and IL-12Rβ2, suggesting that STAT4 may function outside of the Th1 cell lineage. Importantly, Stat4 has recently been correlated with an inflammatory Th17 cell phenotype. Using a murine model of neuroinflammation, we illustrate that Th17 intrinsic STAT4 …

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Role Of Dietary Compounds On Modulation Of Epigenetic Mechanisms And Gut Microbiota In Prevention Of Breast Cancer, Manvi Sharma Jan 2022

Role Of Dietary Compounds On Modulation Of Epigenetic Mechanisms And Gut Microbiota In Prevention Of Breast Cancer, Manvi Sharma

All ETDs from UAB

Breast cancer is the second leading causes of mortality among women living in the United States, representing a major public health issue. The current chemoprevention therapies can result into various adverse effects. Therefore, the use of dietary bioactive compounds has been of great interest due to their safer, non-toxic and efficacious properties. Sulforaphane (SFN) is an isothiocyanate found in various cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli sprouts (BSp) and green-tea polyphenols (GTPs) contain a major polyphenol, (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG). These compounds have been shown to exhibit several anticancer properties especially as an epigenetic modifier. We investigated the efficacy of BSp or GTPs …

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Bacterial Community Structures And Species Delimitation Of Five-Armed Luidia In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Michelle D. Shilling Jan 2022

Bacterial Community Structures And Species Delimitation Of Five-Armed Luidia In The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Michelle D. Shilling

All ETDs from UAB

Luidia spp. (Family Luidiidae) are important predators in the benthic food web and are abundant in near-shore, shallow soft-bottom habitats throughout the northern Gulf of Mexico. Climate change-related environmental changes, such as ocean warming and acidification, are rapidly intensifying in this region and can have consequences for species diversity as well as individual sea star health through modification of host-associated bacterial communities. Our knowledge of sea star-associated bacterial community structure and dynamics is limited and conflicting genetic evidence has called into question the accuracy of species delimitation of five-armed Luidia in the northern GOM. The primary purpose of this dissertation …

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Molecular Mechanism And Impact Of Sox2 Regulation By The Transforming Growth Factor-Ss Members In Ovarian Cancer Survival And Metastasis, Zainab Shonibare Jan 2022

Molecular Mechanism And Impact Of Sox2 Regulation By The Transforming Growth Factor-Ss Members In Ovarian Cancer Survival And Metastasis, Zainab Shonibare

All ETDs from UAB

Ovarian cancer is the second most common and deadliest cancer of the female reproductive system affecting women in the United States and worldwide. The poor survival outcome seen in ovarian cancer is attributed to the subtleness of its early-stage symptoms, resulting in a majority of patients at initial diagnosis presenting with an advanced-stage disease with metastasis to other parts of the body. Hence, there is an urgent need to better understand the molecular etiology of metastasis to help develop effective therapeutic options and improve clinical outcomes in ovarian cancer patients. Ovarian cancer, an intra-abdominal cancer, most preferably undergoes metastasis via …

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Applying Pet Imaging To Cancer Immunotherapy To Improve Clinical Outcomes, Kirsten M. Reeves Jan 2022

Applying Pet Imaging To Cancer Immunotherapy To Improve Clinical Outcomes, Kirsten M. Reeves

All ETDs from UAB

The use of biomarkers has significantly enhanced patient outcome by improving diagnosis, personalizing therapy, and monitoring therapeutic response yet most cancers remain non-responsive. Thus, there is a need to better understand the underlying biological mechanisms and tumor microenvironment to enhance therapeutic efficacy. Molecular imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), computed tomography (CT), and positron emission tomography (PET) are used to assess response during oncology therapy. Molecular imaging can also provide a noninvasive approach to accurately quantify biomarkers correlated with the tumor microenvironment, including glucose metabolism and hypoxia. 18F-Fluoromisonidazole (18F-FMISO) hypoxia targeted cellular uptake has been shown to correlate with negative …

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The Identification And Phenotypic Characterization Of Circulating Flagellin Antigen-Specific Cd4+ T Cells In Crohn's Disease Patients, Nadine N. Morgan Jan 2022

The Identification And Phenotypic Characterization Of Circulating Flagellin Antigen-Specific Cd4+ T Cells In Crohn's Disease Patients, Nadine N. Morgan

All ETDs from UAB

The incidence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) is increasing worldwide. Crohn’s disease (CD) and Ulcerative colitis (UC), the two main subtypes of IBD, are chronic intestinal conditions driven by CD4+ T-cell inflammatory responses to commensal antigen. Both conditions are incurable, and medical treatments involve drugs that require long-term usage but have limited efficacy and significant side effects. To develop therapies targeting the antigen-reactive T cells involved in sustaining these conditions, we must first gain knowledge concerning the microbial antigen-reactive T cell phenotypes and functionality in health and disease. To investigate the phenotypic and functional characteristics of the flagellin-reactive T cell …

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Disease And Diet-Induced Disruption Of Effector T Cell Homeostasis, Patrick Axel Molina Jan 2022

Disease And Diet-Induced Disruption Of Effector T Cell Homeostasis, Patrick Axel Molina

All ETDs from UAB

Homeostatic departure is a central feature across all diseases and disease processes. Currently, the average individual in the US consumes an inordinate quantity of salt. However, it is unclear if only individuals that have proven blood pressure elevation with an acute load of salt should be wary. Here we demonstrate, alongside a growing body of science, that the canonical definition of salt-sensitivity is insufficient. We show that salt-resistant mice demonstrate salt-sensitivity in non-blood pressure focused phenomena, such as the acute activation of CD4+ T cells to mobilize and induce a defective effector cytokine program with high salt. We demonstrate that …

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Tissue Engineered Cardiac Muscle Patches With Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Enhance The Repairing Efficacy Of Infarcted Cardiac Muscle In Mouse Model, Xi Lou Jan 2022

Tissue Engineered Cardiac Muscle Patches With Human Pluripotent Stem Cells Enhance The Repairing Efficacy Of Infarcted Cardiac Muscle In Mouse Model, Xi Lou

All ETDs from UAB

Myocardial infarction (MI) remains one of the major contributors to heart failure, which can lead to death, and there has been a lack of effective treatments so far. Human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have been found to be an encouraging candidate for MI treatment. But it is facing challenge of low engraftment, limited integration of transplanted cells with host myocardium. To enhance the therapeutic efficacy of stem cell therapy of MI treatment, two approaches have been explored: 1)The first approach was to overexpress N-cadherin (CDH2), a cell-cell adhesion molecule, in human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (CDH2-hiPSC-CMs), and examine its …

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Regulation Of Stromal Cells Through Inflammatory Signalling, Victoria Matkins Jan 2022

Regulation Of Stromal Cells Through Inflammatory Signalling, Victoria Matkins

All ETDs from UAB

The bone marrow is a complex organization of hematopoietic and nonhematopoietic cells that form niches to maintain systemic homeostasis during stress and disease. Stromal cells are non-hematopoietic cells first proposed in 1978 in the bone marrow to be essential for hematopoietic stem cells (HSC). Since then, mesenchymal stromal cells (MSC) have been shown to be critical for the HSC self-renewal, retention, and differentiation through chemokines, cytokines, and adhesion molecules. However, like HSCs, MSCs are multipotent progenitors that differentiate into osteoblasts, adipocytes, and chondrocytes to from tissues of the skeletal, endocrine, and connective systems. These multipotent progenitors are tightly regulated in …

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Power And Sample Size Calculations For Linear Mixed Models Of Longitudinal Data Using The Kenward-Roger Adjusted Wald Test, Tarrant Oliver Mcpherson Jan 2022

Power And Sample Size Calculations For Linear Mixed Models Of Longitudinal Data Using The Kenward-Roger Adjusted Wald Test, Tarrant Oliver Mcpherson

All ETDs from UAB

The linear mixed model has become a popular technique for the analysis of longitudinal data, but Wald test statistics of fixed effects for these models frequently lack well defined distributions. A common approach to this problem uses the Kenward-Roger adjustment, which attempts to approximate the distribution of the Wald statistic by matching its moments obtained via Taylor expansion to those of an F distribution. However, this approach only matches moments obtained under the null hypothesis of no effect and cannot currently be used to approximate the distribution of the test statistic under some alternative hypothesis. This limitation prevents a straightforward …

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Role Of Electrophysiological Markers In Cognition In Parkinson's Disease, Adeel A. Memon Jan 2022

Role Of Electrophysiological Markers In Cognition In Parkinson's Disease, Adeel A. Memon

All ETDs from UAB

Parkinson's disease (PD) is more than a movement disorder, and non-motor symptoms, including cognitive deficits and sleep disorders, present early and adversely affect the quality of life of a person with Parkinson's disease (PwP). Unfortunately, no pharmacological therapies slow or halt the progression of cognitive decline in PD. A substantial obstacle to developing effective cognitive therapies is the heterogeneous cognitive profile in PD, as well as a lack of a reliable biomarker of cognitive impairment. Moreover, the ideal biomarker would be generalizable, widely accessible, easily measured, non-invasive, and, ideally, modifiable. Unfortunately, thus far, proposed markers of cognitive deficits often include …

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Exploring The Relationship Between Chronic Stressors And Protective Factors And Preterm Risk In An African American Pregnant Population, Megan Mileski Jan 2022

Exploring The Relationship Between Chronic Stressors And Protective Factors And Preterm Risk In An African American Pregnant Population, Megan Mileski

All ETDs from UAB

BACKGROUND: In the United States, infant mortality is a serious public health issue, particularly for the African American (AA) population. Despite ample research investigating explanations for the significantly higher infant mortality rate (IMR) for AA infants in the United States, the reason for the racial disparity remains unknown. Reports suggest that chronic, life-course stressors may increase risk of preterm birth (PTB), the leading contributor to the high IMR for AA infants. Adverse childhood experiences and perceived racial discrimination, experienced over the life course, have the potential to increase a stress response in AA women, leading to PTB. Psychosocial resources may …

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Roles Of Chemokine Receptors In T Cell Accmulation In Omental Tumors, Mingyong Liu Jan 2022

Roles Of Chemokine Receptors In T Cell Accmulation In Omental Tumors, Mingyong Liu

All ETDs from UAB

The omentum is an adipose tissue in the peritoneal cavity that contains immune aggregates termed milky spots. Functionally similar to conventional lymphoid tissues, these specialized leukocyte clusters harbor effector and suppressor cells, mount immune responses to antigens, and sustain peritoneal homeostasis. However, the pre-existing leukocytes fail to protect the tissue from tumor colonization. In fact, the omentum is frequently involved in peritoneal metastasis, during which the balance between effector and suppressor immune cells is compromised with the latter gaining dominance. Regulatory T cells (Tregs) represent a major immunosuppressive population in the omentum and rapidly accumulate after tumor implantation. The increased …

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Characterizing The Role Of Tissue-Specific Retinol Dehydrogenases, Kelli Rae Goggans Jan 2022

Characterizing The Role Of Tissue-Specific Retinol Dehydrogenases, Kelli Rae Goggans

All ETDs from UAB

The bioactive form of vitamin A, retinoic acid is essential for development, cellular differentiation, epigenetic modifications, the immune system, and a variety of other processes due to its ability to regulate over 500 genes through activation of nuclear receptors. While many studies have focused on characterizing the biosynthesis and signaling of retinoic acid in embryogenesis, few have focused on adult tissues. Recent research has identified a novel retinol dehydrogenase, retinol dehydrogenase epidermal 2 (RDHE2), and shown RDHE2 is a potent, physiologically relevant retinol dehydrogenase in Xenopus. The work in this dissertation characterizes RDHE2 in mammalian models. We identify a paralog …

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Epigenetic Regulation Of Gene Expression In Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Rebecca Mary Hauser Jan 2022

Epigenetic Regulation Of Gene Expression In Temporal Lobe Epilepsy, Rebecca Mary Hauser

All ETDs from UAB

Temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is the most common form of focal epilepsy and is characterized by seizures originating from the temporal lobe of the brain. A frequent seizure focus in TLE is the hippocampus, a structure located within the temporal lobe crucial for its role in memory formation. Seizures are an excess of synchronous excitation in the brain caused by a surplus of excitatory neurotransmission and a lack of sufficient inhibitory transmission. Coordinating the process of neuronal transmission is differential expression of genes likely resulting in an increase or decrease in proteins responsible for neural signaling such as neurotransmitters, ion …

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Il-2-Mediated Stat3 Activation Controls Effector T Regulatory Cell Development, Emma C. Dean Jan 2022

Il-2-Mediated Stat3 Activation Controls Effector T Regulatory Cell Development, Emma C. Dean

All ETDs from UAB

Heterogeneity in phenotype and function of Treg cells is becoming increasingly appreciated, especially in the context of creating potent Treg cell–based therapeutics in the treatment of inflammatory bowel disease. One of the barriers to developing such therapeutics is the limited understanding of the signals that play a role in the development of Treg cell subsets. Here, we found STAT3 signaling to be enriched in induced IL-10 competent Treg (iTreg) cells in the colon. Through the development of a new in vitro system, we found that STAT3 was required for proper development of IL-10 competent iTreg cells and that IL-2 regulated …

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Integrated Phenotypic And Molecular Expression Circuits In End-Stage Osteoarthritis, Devin J. Drummer Jan 2022

Integrated Phenotypic And Molecular Expression Circuits In End-Stage Osteoarthritis, Devin J. Drummer

All ETDs from UAB

Osteoarthritis (OA) is a debilitating, inflammatory, joint degeneration disorder, and is the most common form of arthritis. Individuals reaching end-stage OA often pursue elective total hip/knee arthroplasty (THA/TKA) to relieve pain and improve mobility and quality of life. However, approximately one third of THA/TKA patients suffer long-term mobility impairments following surgery, likely in part due to an inability to repair the damaged muscle surrounding the diseased joint. Mechanisms driving this impaired recovery remain poorly understood, therefore it is prudent to interrogate the molecular signatures in skeletal muscle at the time of surgery to provide candidate markers that may improve upon …

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The Role Of Mitochondrial Genetic Background In Cellular Function, Response To Cell Stress And Disease Susceptability, Jamelle A. Brown Jan 2022

The Role Of Mitochondrial Genetic Background In Cellular Function, Response To Cell Stress And Disease Susceptability, Jamelle A. Brown

All ETDs from UAB

There is a differential susceptibility associated with several diseases including cardiovascular disease (CVD) and hypertension, with Blacks being more likely to develop these conditions. Blacks are also more likely to die from these diseases. To explain the genetic etiology underlying CVD pathogenesis, the primary focus has been on nuclear genetics-environmental interactions, whereas the contribution of mitochondrial genetics is less explored. Therefore, we sought to determine whether differences exist in cellular function and response to cell stress in healthy and diseased individuals with distinct mitochondrial genetic backgrounds. To determine this, we sought first to develop a technique to detect and quantify …

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Mechanotransduction Signaling On Ovarian Cancer Results In Increased Proliferation, Migration, And Chemoresistance In 2d And 3d In Vitro And In Vivo Models, Molly Buckley Jan 2022

Mechanotransduction Signaling On Ovarian Cancer Results In Increased Proliferation, Migration, And Chemoresistance In 2d And 3d In Vitro And In Vivo Models, Molly Buckley

All ETDs from UAB

Mechanical forces imparted on an ovarian tumor have recently been shown to have a grave impact on cancer development, progression, metastasis, and chemoresistance. The forces present include compression throughout the tumor, intrinsic and extrinsic shear stresses from ascitic fluid present in the peritoneal cavity as well as blood flow through the tumor via leaky and disorganized vessels created through tumor angiogenesis, and tension at the tumor periphery because of the constantly growing mass. Studies of the signaling pathways impacted by these mechanical forces could give great insight into new therapeu-tic targets for ovarian cancer, however, these studies have been severely …

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History Of Allergy, Atopy, Infectious And Autoimmune Disease And Risk Of Multiple Myeloma, Tony B. Zbysinski Jan 2022

History Of Allergy, Atopy, Infectious And Autoimmune Disease And Risk Of Multiple Myeloma, Tony B. Zbysinski

All ETDs from UAB

Multiple Myeloma (MM) is a plasma cell malignancy, which is defined in part by antibodies and complexes of immunoglobulin (Ig) heavy and light chains (IgH and IgL). Previous associations of immune-stimulating conditions such as allergic, autoimmune, and infectious conditions and the risk of multiple myeloma (MM) are inconsistent. However, these studies were conducted in populations of European ancestry, leaving the possibility that these conditions may contribute to the excess risk of plasma cell proliferative disorders observed among Black Americans. Therefore, we assessed MGUS, a precursor condition to myeloma, and MM risk related to a history of allergy, atopy, infections and …

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Epigenetic Regulation By O-Glcnac Alters Anti-Fibrotic Gene Expression In Ipf Fibroblasts, Qiuming Wu Jan 2022

Epigenetic Regulation By O-Glcnac Alters Anti-Fibrotic Gene Expression In Ipf Fibroblasts, Qiuming Wu

All ETDs from UAB

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) is an age-related chronic disease with a me-dian survival period of 3-4 years [1]. Although FDA has approved two drugs that may slow the disease process, there is no effective treatment [2]. IPF is characterized by the excessive deposition of collagen, which leads to deformation of alveolar structure, loss of lung function, and ultimately death [3]. Anti-fibrotic genes such as cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) and Heme Oxygenase 1 (HMOX-1) are usually suppressed in the pathogenesis of IPF [4-6], while the mechanisms responsible for the repression of anti-fibrotic genes in IPF are incompletely understood. More evidence has shown that …

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Engineering Studies Towards Simultaneous Imaging Of Membrane Potential And Calcium Transients In Beating Hearts, Garrett Wood Jan 2022

Engineering Studies Towards Simultaneous Imaging Of Membrane Potential And Calcium Transients In Beating Hearts, Garrett Wood

All ETDs from UAB

Optical mapping uses fluorescent reporters to image propagation of signals like transmembrane potential (Vm) and/or calcium transients (CaT) in the heart with high spatiotemporal resolution. Simultaneous optical mapping of transmembrane potential and intracellular free calcium has been described in motionless ex vivo heart preparations, but simultaneous optical mapping of voltage and calcium in beating hearts is complicated by motion artifact and has yet to be reported. Studying these two parameters in beating hearts could produce invaluable information about the interactions between them under normal and pathophysiologic conditions. This thesis presents hardware development and design studies to demonstrate the feasibility of …

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A Gastrointestinal-Specific Antibiotic As An Experimental Treatment For Anxio-Depressive Disorders, Yuang-Tai Huang Jan 2022

A Gastrointestinal-Specific Antibiotic As An Experimental Treatment For Anxio-Depressive Disorders, Yuang-Tai Huang

All ETDs from UAB

Chronic stress is a predisposing factor for various disease states, including neuropsychiatric disorders, such as depression and anxiety [1]. Stress-related disorders have complicated multifactorial etiologies [2]. Advances in psychotherapeutic and psychotropic treatments have occurred, but anxiety and depressive disorders are still prevalent and remain a burden to our societies [3]. More than 30% of major depressive disorder patients fail to remission despite an FDAapproved medication [4]. Meanwhile, the contribution of microbiota-gut-brain axis signaling in both etiologies and treatment of stress-related disorders is increasingly being recognized [5]. More evidence has shown that the gut microbiota has the potential to alter the …

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Adaptive Functioning And Academic Achievement In Survivors Of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Associations With Executive Functioning And Socioeconomic Status, Victoria C. Seghatol-Eslami Jan 2022

Adaptive Functioning And Academic Achievement In Survivors Of Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Associations With Executive Functioning And Socioeconomic Status, Victoria C. Seghatol-Eslami

All ETDs from UAB

This study examined the associations of functional outcomes (adaptive functioning and academic achievement) with executive functioning and neighborhood-specific variables (area deprivation and child opportunity) and individualized education plan (IEP) support in survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). From a retrospective database, 44 patients (38.6% female, 72.7% non-Hispanic White, ages 6-17) previously diagnosed with low-risk or standard-risk pre-B cell ALL and treated with chemotherapy-only were identified. Participants were evaluated on performance-based measures of executive functioning and academic achievement, and parent-ratings of executive and adaptive functioning. Within adaptive functioning, 45.5% of patients showed impairment (≥ 1 SD above the normative mean) …

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Representing Motherhood And Aging In Leonora Carrington's Bird Iconography, Claire Lesar Jan 2022

Representing Motherhood And Aging In Leonora Carrington's Bird Iconography, Claire Lesar

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis investigates the evolution of animal representations in paintings and sculptures of Leonora Carrington (1917-2011). Writings on her early Surrealist work often draw attention to Carrington’s embrace of the horse as a representation of self. However, over her extensive career, the menagerie of animals she draws from to depict herself evolves. I suggest that Carrington’s horse is more broadly significant as a narrative model that she adapts later in her career and that Carrington’s use of bird iconography emerges as a new form to symbolize other “rebirths” or periods of transition in her life, such as motherhood and aging. …

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"The Cloak Of Social Feeling": Alfred Adler's Gemeinschaftsgefuhl In Practice And Memory, Esteban T. Arnold Jan 2022

"The Cloak Of Social Feeling": Alfred Adler's Gemeinschaftsgefuhl In Practice And Memory, Esteban T. Arnold

All ETDs from UAB

This thesis provides a comprehensive overview of the evolution of Alfred Adler’s concept of Gemeinschaftsgefühl (community feeling), a simple yet potent idea that started in a Viennese café and expanded far beyond it. Ideas have lives beyond that of their authors, and this thesis argues that Alfred Adler’s idea of Gemeinschaftsgefühl was pressed into the service of various social and political agendas. Adler was privately a socialist, but he never wished to see Gemeinschaftsgefühl become a tool for this or any other movement. With an idealistic worldview, Adler sought to challenge and transform the pervading medical and psychotherapeutic conceptions of …

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Adverse Childhood Experiences: Connecting The Dots Between Early Life Stress And Asthma Aming Children And Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease, Brandi Mcclain Pernell Jan 2022

Adverse Childhood Experiences: Connecting The Dots Between Early Life Stress And Asthma Aming Children And Adolescents With Sickle Cell Disease, Brandi Mcclain Pernell

All ETDs from UAB

Sickle cell disease (SCD) is an inherited red blood cell disorder plagued by increased morbidity and premature mortality. Asthma disproportionally affects individuals with SCD and is strongly associated with an increased incidence of pain, acute lung complications and death among this high-risk population. Psychological stress is a well-established contributor and trigger for asthma development and exacerbations. Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) are defined as traumatic experiences occurring before 18 years of age. ACEs occur at the individual, familial (Original-ACEs) and community level (Expanded-ACEs) and can accumulate with time. Chronic exposure to ACEs leads to toxic stress, widespread inflammation and risk for …

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Adolescent Alcohol, Tobacco, And Marijuana Use And Dma Methylation In Young Adulthood, Kristina Brooke Mcmahan Jan 2022

Adolescent Alcohol, Tobacco, And Marijuana Use And Dma Methylation In Young Adulthood, Kristina Brooke Mcmahan

All ETDs from UAB

Substance use, including the use of tobacco, alcohol, marijuana, and other drugs, is most likely to begin during adolescence or emerging adulthood. Substance use during these developmental periods has been linked with a number of negative physical, mental, and cognitive health outcomes. Some of these long-term negative effects of substance use during adolescence and emerging adulthood may be explained by epigenetic changes through a process called DNA methylation. However, much of the research on substance use and DNA methylation has focused on prenatal drug exposure and its relationship to differential methylation profiles during childhood and young adulthood. By contrast, little …

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The Role Of Dock3 In Normal Skeletal Muscle Function And Metabolism, Adrienne Samani Jan 2022

The Role Of Dock3 In Normal Skeletal Muscle Function And Metabolism, Adrienne Samani

All ETDs from UAB

DOCK (dedicator of cytokinesis) are proteins of an 11-member family of typical guanine exchange factors (GEFs) expressed almost exclusively in the brain and spinal cord. Human pathogenic DOCK3 variants have been identified to cause debilitating neuromuscular phenotypes such as muscle hypotonia, ataxia, and intellectual disability. Our lab identified DOCK3 as being strongly upregulated in Duchene muscular dystrophy (DMD), specifically in the skeletal muscles of DMD patient and mouse skeletal muscles. Global Dock3 KO mice on the dystrophin-deficient background exacerbated skeletal muscle and cardiac phenotypes. Similarly, DOCK3 KO mice appeared to have poor muscle architecture, locomotive activity, reduced myogenic fusion, impaired …

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