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Exploring The Perceptions Of Genetics, Genetics Testing, And Science In People Of African Descent, Maame-Owusua Boateng

Public Health Theses

Background: Historical injustices towards Black populations in the United States have impacted how communities interact with medicine and public health such as medical experimentations, scientific racism, medical racism, and eugenics. Black communities are underrepresented in human genomics projects compared to those that identify as white or of European ancestry. Prior research has demonstrated that Black people are less likely to know about the availability of genetic testing for diseases and have less confidence in the benefits of genetic testing. These disparities make it imperative to understand the perspectives of people of African descent. Methods: The Black Genome Project is an …

A Systematic Review Of The Effect Of Maternal Circadian Disruption During Pregnancy On Adverse Fetal Outcomes, Siyu Jiang

Public Health Theses

Exposure to a suboptimal pregnant environment can raise the risk of offspring experiencing a variety of diseases in later life. Circadian rhythms play an important role in endocrine system, physiological and psychological functions. Potentially, interruption of the circadian rhythm in pregnant women might impair fetal growth and lead to adverse effects on the children. In the modern world, millions of women experience circadian disruption during pregnancy due to night shift work, excessive light at night, and jet travel across time zones. However, the impact of maternal chrono-disruption during pregnancy on the health of the second generation remains largely unknown. The …

Association Between Objectively-Measured Sedentary Time And Self-Reported Prescription Medication Use Among Adults: A Pilot Study, Ciarra Ashley Boyne

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

BACKGROUND: Prescription medication use and extended sedentary time are independently related to poor health outcomes (e.g., diabetes, metabolic syndrome, mortality). Historically, survey methods have been used to obtain estimates of total sedentary time (ST), however, recent use of accelerometers avoids self-report bias and affords more characteristics of ST that may be factors in health outcomes (e.g., frequency and duration of sedentary bouts). The aims of this pilot study were to 1) examine the association between objectively measured ST via accelerometers and self-reported prescription medication use in adults and 2) examine the independent association of sedentary bout length and frequency with …

The Influence Of A Low Glycemic Load Diet On Appetite In Women With Pcos, Sarah Et Hoover

All ETDs from UAB

Dysregulated appetite may contribute to weight gain and high prevalence of comorbid obesity in women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), yet dietary recommendations to promote satiety and facilitate weight maintenance in this population remain scarce. The objective of this dissertation was to determine if women with PCOS have alterations in appetite-regulating hormones that can be manipulated by low glycemic load diet habituation to improve satiety. This was tested by secondary analyses of two randomized controlled dietary intervention trials in women with and without PCOS. First, we explored differences in women with and without PCOS during a standardized liquid meal test …

Biom 3110(Honors): Medical Physiology (Syllabus), Bradford D. Pendley

Biomedical Engineering Syllabi Archive

Course Description: Basic principles of human physiology and how these are applied in medicine and biomedical engineering problem and devices; physiological principles using appropriate mathematical and engineering models to construct an understanding of how the body works as an integrated system.

Reflections On A Career Unplanned, Robert A. Glazer

Gulf and Caribbean Research

Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. I never planned to be a marine biologist; yet, after a long and unpredictable journey, that’s exactly where I found myself. After obtaining my B.S. in Fishery Biology from Colorado State University, I found myself meandering from job to job like a golden retriever following some vague scent. At first, I was hired by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department to work seasonally in Grand Teton National Park on the freshwater trout fisheries. Soon thereafter, I found myself cultivating oysters, clams, and other shellfish in California. The skills I developed there as an algologist led …

Investigating The Electrostatics Of Mucins As Key Contributors To Mucus Stasis In Cystic Fibrosis, Elex Skylar Rose

All ETDs from UAB

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a genetic disease caused by mutations in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) gene, which encodes a channel responsible for the transport of chloride and bicarbonate ions across the apical cell surface. In the respiratory tract, defective CFTR results in viscous and adherent mucus that becomes static within the airway, which leads to chronic infections, progressive lung damage, and early mortality. Historically, CF mucus stasis has been attributed to significant airway dehydration; however, growing evidence has demonstrated that aberrant electrostatic properties of mucins also contribute to mucus stasis in CF. Mucins are large, polymeric glycoproteins …

Lived Experiences Of Job-Hopping Millennials During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Dottie Dancy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Millennials, also known as “the job-hopping generation,” are on the brink of becoming the largest generation in the workforce by 2025. In March 2020, a global pandemic was declared due to the spread of the virus known as COVID-19, which led to more than 5.3 million deaths globally. Prior research has been conducted concerning the job-hopping tendencies of Millennials, but previous studies have not incorporated the life-changing event of the global pandemic and how it may have changed the beliefs and attitudes of the Millennial generation. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the voluntary job-hopping beliefs and …

Adult Learners With Learning Disabilities’ Motivation To Succeed In Higher Education Online Learning During Covid19, Sara Michelle Rodriguez

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many students had to transition to online learning due to the COVID-19 pandemic while other students were already enrolled in online education. Online study may hold additional struggles for students with learning disabilities. The problem addressed in this qualitative, phenomenological study was the motivating factors of online higher education students who have a learning disability during the COVID-19 pandemic. The theoretical foundation was Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Data were gathered through 10 semistructured interviews and then analyzed through the thematic analysis yielding five themes: (a) lack of professional support, (b) resources, (c) support system, (d) consistent motivation, and (e) low …

An Evaluation Of A School-Based School Connectedness Program, John G. Emmerich

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the United States, approximately 45% of high school students are either not engaged (28%) or actively disengaged (17%) in the academic process. Increasing a school's average student engagement yields an increase in reading and math achievement. This study evaluates a school connectedness program, Promoting Positive School Engagement (PPSE) program using a convergent mixed methods model to determine the degree of effectiveness measured by the Hemingway measure of adolescent connectedness instrument in an Urban, Midwest public middle school. Quantitative data were collected from 20 students who participated in the program and 20 students who did not (control group). Analyzed using …

Influence Of Female Sex Hormones On Ghb Toxicokinetics And Regulation Of Mcts And Smcts, Hao Wei

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) is an endogenous shorty chain fatty acid that is used clinically as Xyrem to treat narcolepsy. GHB is best known for its illicit use and abuse due to its sedative/hypnotic and euphoric effects. It is used in body building, for recreational use and sexual assault. Nonlinear toxicokinetics of GHB has been described in humans and rats with decreased total clearance at higher doses due to capacity-limited metabolism resulting in a higher plasma exposure. Renal clearance increases with increasing dose and becomes the major route of GHB elimination in overdose cases due to saturation of GHB metabolism. Proton- …

A Three-Dimensional In Vitro Model Of Disease That Improves Preclinical Research By Incorporating Genetic Diversity And Increasing Physiological Accuracy, Akash Jagdeesh

UROP Posters

Biomedical research is essential for the discovery of new medications and treatments, and is built upon the cooperation of preclinical (in vitro/vivo) research and clinical trials. However, 85% of treatments previously successful in vitro/vivo fail in clinical trials, suggesting that in vitro models are poor indicators of clinical success. The issue lies in conventional “two-dimensional” in vitro models containing genetically identical cells grown on a flat plate, which lack the variety of cell types and cooperation/structure found in real tissue. Moreover, 2D in vitro models do not simulate humans’ genotypic variability, which affects both …

Effects Of Altering Physiologically Relevant Cholesterol Levels And Media Types On Porin Gene Expression In Klebsiella Pneumoniae And The Resulting Impact On Antibiotic Resistance, Megan R. Camden

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Klebsiella pneumoniae is a Gram-negative, non-motile bacterium belonging to the Enterobacteriaceae family. K. pneumoniae is a rising threat in the clinical setting, as there has been a large increase in the presence of antibiotic resistant isolates. While much research is conducted on laboratory and clinical strains of bacteria, not much is known regarding the impact that human physiology can have on bacterial gene expression, and in response, to antibiotic susceptibility. The goal of this study is to determine if physiologically relevant cholesterol levels and media types impact porin gene expression and antibiotic resistance in K. pneumoniae. To accomplish this, …

Creating Cool And Equitable Communities: A Comprehensive Study On Urban Heat Island Mitigation And Health Equity In Birmingham, Alabama, Bhuvana Sai Kumar Yandra

All ETDs from UAB

Abstract: Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) represent a severe hazard to people's health and quality of life, particularly in areas of cities with dense and at-risk populations. This integrative research aims to reduce the burden of UHIs caused by climate change and mitigate associated health risks and inequalities in Birmingham, Alabama. The study identifies areas most impacted by UHI effects and loss of vegetation and provides remediation strategies to combat these issues. In addition, the research expands to identify socioeconomically disadvantaged and health-vulnerable communities needing intervention to improve their quality of life. Urban Heat Islands (UHIs) trap heat, alter local climates …

Contagion, Causality, And Circumspection In A Late-Mamluk Digest Of Natural Philosophy, Joseph Leonardo Vignone

History Faculty Scholarship

Like many men born to scholarly families at the turn of the fifteenth century, ʿAbd Allāh Ibn Ayyūb al-Qādirī moved from Damascus to Cairo as a young adult to pursue a career in law. Though this legal career soon foundered, Ibn Ayyūb gained a reputation in Cairo for perfectly embodying the pietistic and professional ideals of the Islamic learned elite, or ulama. In this article, I introduce this hitherto unstudied figure of the late Mamluk era with reference to his treatise on a major scholarly debate of his day: the extent to which natures, or the elemental composition of celestial …

Richard H. Shryock’S “Empiricism Versus Rationalism In American Medicine, 1650-1950”: A Commentary, Michael A. Flannery

Libraries Professional Work

Shryock's analysis of medical progress outlines the transition from crude empiricism and dogmatic rationalism to scientific empiricism. This shift, though non-linear, advanced medicine through controlled experiments, fostering breakthroughs like penicillin. Scientific empiricism improved public health and influenced the return to systemic concepts, particularly through genetic medicine and chronic disease research.

Effects Of Music-Activity Intervention On Stress And Social Skills In Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Multiple Baseline Study, Phollawat Rangkhaphuti

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

This research investigated the effects of music-activity intervention on stress reduction and the enhancement of social skills in autistic children. Utilizing a multiple baseline research design to systematically assess the intervention's impact, the investigation focused on three autistic children aged 7-9 years who exhibited no impairments in vision, hearing, mobility, or endocrine gland disorders. These participants scored in the mild to moderate range on the Autistic Treatment Evaluation Checklist (ATEC-Thai version). Each child participated in 30-minute musical activity sessions, totaling 10 sessions. Salivary cortisol levels served as indicators of stress, while social skills were evaluated using the parent-report Social Skills …

The Effects Of Lanthanide Metals Dopants (M = La, Ce และ Y) On The Stability Of M-V2o5/Tio2 Catalyst During Selective Oxidation Of H2s In Biogas To Elemental Sulfur, Galayanee Prathumthom

Chulalongkorn University Theses and Dissertations (Chula ETD)

In the biogas industry, the selective oxidation of hydrogen sulfide is an important process to transform hydrogen sulfide into elemental sulfur. In this study, the vanadium (V) oxide on titania catalyst is used to add lanthanide metal dopants, specifically lanthanum , cerium , and yttrium, to make the catalyst more active and stable. The catalysts, both undoped and doped, are prepared via wet impregnation methods with a 3% loading of vanadium oxide. Oxygen vacancy and metal-support interactions significantly enhance activity and stability. The characterization, such as Hydrogen-temperature programmed reduction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, is used to elucidate these characteristics. The …

Effects Of Atrazine Exposure On Human Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells Assessed By Combinatorial Assay Matrix, Crystal C Uwazie, Bonnie M Pirlot, Tyler U Faircloth, Mihir Patel, Rhett N Parr, Halie M Zastre, Peiman Hematti, Guido Moll, Devi Rajan, Raghavan Chinnadurai

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

INTRODUCTION: Mesenchymal Stromal/Stem cells (MSCs) are an essential component of the regenerative and immunoregulatory stem cell compartment of the human body and thus of major importance in human physiology. The MSCs elicit their beneficial properties through a multitude of complementary mechanisms, which makes it challenging to assess their phenotype and function in environmental toxicity screening. We here employed the novel combinatorial assays matrix approach/technology to profile the MSC response to the herbicide Atrazine, which is a common environmental xenobiotic, that is in widespread agricultural use in the US and other countries, but banned in the EU. Our here presented approach …

Assessing The Association Between Overcrowding And Human Physiological Stress Response In Different Urban Contexts: A Case Study In Salzburg, Austria, Zhaoxi Zhang, Kristýna Měchurová, Bernd Resch, Prince Amegbor, Clive E. Sabel

School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences

Overcrowding in densely populated urban areas is increasingly becoming an issue for mental health disorders. Yet, only few studies have examined the association between overcrowding in cities and physiological stress responses. Thus, this study employed wearable sensors (a wearable camera, an Empatica E4 wristband and a smartphone-based GPS) to assess the association between overcrowding and human physiological stress response in four types of urban contexts (green space, transit space, commercial space, and blue space). A case study with 26 participants was conducted in Salzburg, Austria. We used Mask R-CNN to detect elements related to overcrowding such as human crowds, sitting …

The Role Of The Nlrp3 Inflammasome In Alzheimer's Disease, Ethan S. Terman

UROP Posters

This study examines the consequences of Alzheimer’s in rat and mice test subjects. The goal is to identify the effects of certain NLRP3 inhibiting drugs and to see if there are any noticeable effects in regards to impeding the pathological development of Alzheimer’s disease. The results are visualized by implementing the immunohistochemical process to identify neurodegeneration in the brain and to assess the expression levels of amyloid beta as an indicator of Alzheimer’s pathology. Other tests are also conducted on these transgenic mice to gauge cognitive functioning levels during the onset of their disease, those being behavior tests, but not …

Face Image And Video Analysis In Biometrics And Health Applications, Na Zhang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Computer Vision (CV) enables computers and systems to derive meaningful information from acquired visual inputs, such as images and videos, and make decisions based on the extracted information. Its goal is to acquire, process, analyze, and understand the information by developing a theoretical and algorithmic model. Biometrics are distinctive and measurable human characteristics used to label or describe individuals by combining computer vision with knowledge of human physiology (e.g., face, iris, fingerprint) and behavior (e.g., gait, gaze, voice). Face is one of the most informative biometric traits. Many studies have investigated the human face from the perspectives of various different …

Spiking Neural Network That Maps From Generalized Coordinates To Cartesian Coordinates, Chloe K. Guie

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

In this thesis, I look to understand how insects compute task-level quantities by integrating range-fractionated sensory signals to create a sparse-spatial coding of Cartesian positions. I created biologically plausible 2-D and 3-D models of one species of the stick insect (Carausius morosus) leg and encoded the foot position through a spiking neural network. This model used spiking afferents from three angles of an insect leg which are integrated by one non-spiking interneuron. This model contains many dendritic compartments and one somatic compartment that encode the foot’s position relative to the body. The Functional Subnetwork Approach (FSA) was used …

Effect Of Microfluidic Channel Integration Onto Gold Microelectrode On Its Redox Electrochemistry, Ahmet Uçar, Zahraa Ali Hajool, Hamed Ghorbanpoor, Reza Didarian, Fatma Doğan Güzel

Turkish Journal of Chemistry

Microfluidic systems have attracted significant interest in recent years as they are extensively employed in lab-on-chip and organ-on-chip research. Their combination with electrochemical platforms offers many advantages, promising a high potential for sensing applications, still the microfluidic-channel integration onto electrodes might induce challenges related to changes in signal-tonoise ratios and mass transport conditions. In this study, we investigated the effect of microfluidic channel integration in redox behavior of thermally deposited gold thin film microelectrodes by voltammetric (CV and SWV) electrochemical measurements. Using different dimensions of PDMS microfluidic channels (i.e. widths of 50, 100, 250, and 500 μm) and a constant …

The Impact Of Mkp-2 Deficiency On Hematological Parameters In Diet Challenged Mice, Cassandra Secunda

Theses

Mitogen-activated protein kinases (MAPKs) regulate metabolic homeostasis and MAPK dysfunction promotes metabolic diseases. MAPK phosphatases (MKPs) regulate MAPKs and are implicated in obesity and platelet activation. To elucidate the role of MKP-2 in platelet function and NAFLD, tail bleed, platelet isolation, and western blot assays were performed. MKP-2 KO mice and control mice were fed either a chow or 12- 13 week high fat diet (HFD), a 10 week iron deficient (ID), or an iron supplement (IS) regimen. On the chow diet, the bleeding time was significantly reduced in female MKP-2 KO mice. Male MKP-2 KO IS mice showed significantly …

Classification Models For Predicting Mouse Spinal Motoneuron Physiological Type Based On Their Electrical Properties, Reuben Mawuena Kwadzo Ahorklo

Open Access Master's Theses

Accurate prediction of mouse spinal motoneuron physiological types based on electrical properties faces challenges due to missing data and imbalanced class distributions. Technical difficulties, physiological variations, and experimental issues contribute to data gaps in electrophysiological recordings. Imbalanced class distributions arise from the rarity of certain motoneuron types. The resulting risk of biased or unreliable classification models hampers their utility in motor control studies. Thus, we claim that the electrical properties of mouse spinal motoneurons can be accurately predicted and classified based on specific, measurable features.

This study focuses on two classification models, a multinomial logistic regression (MLM) and a Random …

Clinical Practice Recommendations For Management Of Lateropulsion After Stroke Determined By A Delphi Expert Panel, Jessica Nolan, Angela Jacques, Erin Godecke, Hiroaki Abe, Suzanne Babyar, Jeannine Bergmann, Melissa Birnbaum, Shenhao Dai, Cynthia Danells, Taiza G. S. Edwards, Marialuisa Gandolfi, Klaus Jahn, Ryan Koter, Avril Mansfield, Junji Nakamura, Vicky Pardo, Dominic Perennou, Celine Piscicelli, David Punt, Devra Romick-Sheldon, Wim Saeys, Nicola Smania, Nathalie Vaes, Abigail L. Whitt, Barbara Singer

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Objective: People exhibiting post-stroke lateropulsion actively push their body across the midline to the more affected side and/or resist weight shift toward the less affected side. Despite its prevalence and associated negative rehabilitation outcomes, no clinical practice guidelines exist for the rehabilitation of post-stroke lateropulsion. We aimed to develop consensus-based clinical practice recommendations for managing post-stroke lateropulsion using an international expert panel. Design: This Delphi panel process conformed with Guidance on Conducting and Reporting Delphi Studies recommendations. Participants: Panel members had demonstrated clinical and/or scientific background in the rehabilitation of people with post-stroke lateropulsion. Main Measures: The process consisted of …

Natural Product Co-Metabolism And The Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis In Age-Related Diseases, Mark Obrenovich, Sandeep Kumar Singh, Yi Li, George Perry, Bushra Siddiqui, Waqas Haq, V. Prakash Reddy

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Complementary alternative medicine approaches are growing treatments of diseases to standard medicine practice. Many of these concepts are being adopted into standard practice and orthomolecular medicine. Age-related diseases, in particular neurodegenerative disorders, are particularly difficult to treat and a cure is likely a distant expectation for many of them. Shifting attention from pharmaceuticals to phytoceuticals and "bugs as drugs" represents a paradigm shift and novel approaches to intervention and management of age-related diseases and downstream effects of aging. Although they have their own unique pathologies, a growing body of evidence suggests Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) share common …

Natural Product Co-Metabolism And The Microbiota–Gut–Brain Axis In Age-Related Diseases, Mark Obrenovich, Sandeep Kumar Singh, Yi Li, George Perry, Bushra Siddiqui, Waqas Haq, V. Prakash Reddy

Chemistry Faculty Research & Creative Works

Complementary alternative medicine approaches are growing treatments of diseases to standard medicine practice. Many of these concepts are being adopted into standard practice and orthomolecular medicine. Age-related diseases, in particular neurodegenerative disorders, are particularly difficult to treat and a cure is likely a distant expectation for many of them. Shifting attention from pharmaceuticals to phytoceuticals and "bugs as drugs" represents a paradigm shift and novel approaches to intervention and management of age-related diseases and downstream effects of aging. Although they have their own unique pathologies, a growing body of evidence suggests Alzheimer's disease (AD) and vascular dementia (VaD) share common …

Enzymatic Electrochemical Biosensors For Neurotransmitters Detection: Recent Achievements And Trends, Zina Fredj, Baljit Singh Dr., Mohamed Bahri, Peiwu Qin, Mohamad Sawan

Articles

Neurotransmitters (NTs) play a crucial role in regulating the behavioral and physiological functions of the nervous system. Imbalances in the concentrations of NT have been directly linked to various neurological diseases (e.g., Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s disease), in addition to multiple psychotic disorders such as schizophrenia, depression, dementia, and other neurodegenerative disorders. Hence, the rapid and real-time monitoring of the NTs is of utmost importance in comprehending neurological functions and identifying disorders. Among different sensing techniques, electrochemical biosensors have garnered significant interest due to their ability to deliver fast results, compatibility for miniaturization and portability, high sensitivity, and good controllability. …