Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Arts and Humanities Commons™

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

University of Alabama at Birmingham

Discipline
Keyword
Publication Year
Publication
Publication Type

Articles 1861 - 1890 of 5836

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

Importance Of The Zebrafish Model For Understanding Nutrition, Michael Britt Williams Jan 2021

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 …

Go to article

Facilitating The Transfer Of Cognitive Training To Real-World Functioning: The Transfer Package For Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment, Jason Alexander Blake Jan 2021

Facilitating The Transfer Of Cognitive Training To Real-World Functioning: The Transfer Package For Post-Stroke Cognitive Impairment, Jason Alexander Blake

All ETDs from UAB

Multiple cognitive training approaches for cognitive impairment following acquired brain injury have been found to improve cognitive functioning in the laboratory setting. However, current studies suffer from a lack of focus on the transfer of improved cognitive functioning from the laboratory setting to a patient’s everyday life. This case series addresses this lack of treatment transfer using a collection of behavioral techniques known as the Transfer Package. The Transfer Package works alongside clinical and in-laboratory training of functional cognitive impairments to improve an individual’s real-world functioning and independence after injury. This cognitive training case series utilizes this Transfer Package in …

Go to article

Social Inclusion Among People With Mobility Limitations In The Global South, Shane Burns Jan 2021

Social Inclusion Among People With Mobility Limitations In The Global South, Shane Burns

All ETDs from UAB

An estimated 15% of the world’s population have a disability—roughly 80% of whom live in the Global South. People with disabilities experience profound social disparities that affect their quality of life and social inclusion. Due to the array of cultural perspectives and institutional capacities around the globe, provision of disability rights can come with its challenges. In many cultural contexts, people have moral beliefs about disability that result in shame. More medicalized beliefs toward disability are often the result of medical infrastructure that offers goods and services. Using a framework that arrays these moral and medical dimensions, I theorized that …

Go to article

How Legitimate Companies Are Being Used For Sales For Illicit Online Products, Amanda Cetnarowski Jan 2021

How Legitimate Companies Are Being Used For Sales For Illicit Online Products, Amanda Cetnarowski

All ETDs from UAB

The opioid epidemic began in the early 1990s due to the misuse and misinformation of pharmaceutical opioids. Since then, the increase in opioid use ranging from hydrocodone to fentanyl has become a world-wide issue. Over time, opioid use has evolved in many ways with three major waves of opioid use beginning with oxycodone, moving to heroin, and finally to fentanyl. Usage of online platforms and forums to sell and buy illicit opioids has increased significantly due to easier internet capabilities and social media platforms. A total of 1,946 illicit online opioid sell sites were found in this study to show …

Go to article

Examining The Pathophysiology Through Which Violence Exposure Varies With Functional Brain Connectivity And The Psychophysiological Response To Stress, Heather Elizabeth Dark Jan 2021

Examining The Pathophysiology Through Which Violence Exposure Varies With Functional Brain Connectivity And The Psychophysiological Response To Stress, Heather Elizabeth Dark

All ETDs from UAB

Violence exposure during childhood and adolescence is associated with susceptibility to internalizing disorders such as depression and anxiety. The relationship between childhood violence exposure and internalizing disorders may be explained by changes in brain function. For example, childhood maltreatment, including violence exposure, is associated with changes in brain regions that are important for emotion regulation. Reciprocal connections among these brain regions are important for healthy responses to stress. Thus, examining how childhood violence exposure varies with acute stress-induced changes in functional brain connectivity and psychophysiological stress responses may elucidate how childhood violence exposure may contribute to susceptibility to internalizing disorders. …

Go to article

Pulsed Laser Deposition Of Iron Selenide Heterostructures Guided By Laser-Plasma Simulations And Experiments, Sumner Bently Harris Jan 2021

Pulsed Laser Deposition Of Iron Selenide Heterostructures Guided By Laser-Plasma Simulations And Experiments, Sumner Bently Harris

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation reports on advances in the areas of PLD synthesis of FeSe aswell as laser-plasma simulations. We demonstrate the epitaxial growth of novel FeSe-based materials and heterostructures which is heavily guided by laser plasma simulations and experiments. We show how in-situ plasma diagnostics can be used to measure and deliberately control the plasma properties in order to improve film quality and enable unique growth configurations. A model for laser ablation has also been developed and is directly compared to experiments. The combination of plasma diagnostics and simulations can make PLD a powerful, well-controlled platform for growth of new materials …

Go to article

The Effects Of A Social Skills Intervention On Neural Processing In Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abbey Jane Herringshaw Jan 2021

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 …

Go to article

Predictors Of Subjective And Objective Everyday Functioning In Middle-Aged And Older Adults With Hiv, Alexandra Elaine Jacob Jan 2021

Predictors Of Subjective And Objective Everyday Functioning In Middle-Aged And Older Adults With Hiv, Alexandra Elaine Jacob

All ETDs from UAB

People with HIV (PWH) are at an increased risk for everyday functionalimpairment, especially as they age. The purpose of this study was: (1) to identify factors associated with subjective and objective instrumental activities of daily living (IADL) difficulty in PWH and (2) to identify factors associated with awareness of functional capacity. This cross-sectional study included 261 PWH. Participants completed a comprehensive neurobehavioral assessment, including self-report and performance-based measures of everyday functioning. Hierarchical multiple regressions were performed to identify health, psychological, and cognitive factors that contribute to subjective and objective evaluation of everyday functioning. We also examined factors that predicted a …

Go to article

Understanding And Improving The Police Response To Suspected Cases Of Human Trafficking, Lekendra Kidd Jan 2021

Understanding And Improving The Police Response To Suspected Cases Of Human Trafficking, Lekendra Kidd

All ETDs from UAB

Human trafficking has been on the rise since slavery was abolished in the 19th century. As the prevalence of human trafficking continues to rise, the criminals involved continue to develop more sophisticated ways to hide their crimes from the police. Accordingly, countless victims remain unidentified. Research shows there is a critical need for local law enforcement officers to be trained in how to identify and investigate cases of human trafficking, as well as to interact compassionately with and effectively help its victims. The purpose of the current study was to qualitatively investigate the human trafficking training currently provided to local …

Go to article

Destiny In The Details: Jacopo Zucchi's Ages As Ferdinando I De' Medici's Astrological Natal Chart, Molly Claire Kinstler Jan 2021

Destiny In The Details: Jacopo Zucchi's Ages As Ferdinando I De' Medici's Astrological Natal Chart, Molly Claire Kinstler

All ETDs from UAB

Jacopo Zucchi’s Age of Silver and Age of Gold, painted for Cardinal Ferdinando I de’ Medici in 1575, have been taken at face value as representations of two of the Ages of Man as described in Hesiod’s Theogony, Ovid’s Metamorphoses and Virgil’s Eclogues IV. In this thesis I argue that while these paintings utilize a traditional theme of the “Ages of Man,” long iterated by the Medici, they hold a deeper, inordinately complex narrative of Ferdinando I de’ Medici’s destined ascent to power as predicted by his astrological natal chart. Natal charts of the position of the planets at the …

Go to article

Cutting The Lilies, Olivia A. Mcmurrey Jan 2021

Cutting The Lilies, Olivia A. Mcmurrey

All ETDs from UAB

Cutting the Lilies is a historical-fiction novel that begins in April of 1963 and ends in June of 1964. Settings include rural areas on Alabama’s Sand Mountain, the small towns of Fort Payne and Scottsboro, and the city of Birmingham. As with much historical fiction, the novel interweaves a personal, ostensibly fictional story about everyday people with true events. In this case, the personal story is based on a real family involved in a boating accident on the Tennessee River in 1963. A mother and six of her eleven children, as well as two extended family members, drowned. The personal …

Go to article

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 Jan 2021

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 …

Go to article

Examining Approaches For Peacebuilding In Post-Conflict, Post-Good Northern Ireland, Evan Wiley Smith Jan 2021

Examining Approaches For Peacebuilding In Post-Conflict, Post-Good Northern Ireland, Evan Wiley Smith

All ETDs from UAB

In this paper, I broadly describe the timeline of the conflict in Northern Ireland, examine negative and positive peace approaches to peacebuilding including political (or consociationalism-based), human rights-based, and reconciliation-based methods, and present my own conclusions based on the literature review I conducted as to the most efficacious strategy for ensuring long-lasting peace in Northern Ireland. To do this, I reviewed numerous articles, papers, and chapters on the conflict in Northern Ireland, approaches in post-conflict reconciliation, and conflict resolution theory. Because the conflict in Northern Ireland ended approximately twenty years ago, much of the research referenced in this paper is …

Go to article

The Kinetic Effects Of Nanoconfinement, Aggregate Phase Type, And Pressure On Some Thermally Stimulated Processes, Victoria Lynn Stanford Jan 2021

The Kinetic Effects Of Nanoconfinement, Aggregate Phase Type, And Pressure On Some Thermally Stimulated Processes, Victoria Lynn Stanford

All ETDs from UAB

This research explores the effects of nanoconfinement, aggregate state type, and an inert gas pressure on the kinetics of thermally stimulated processes. The processes considered are solution crystallization and thermal decomposition. The kinetic effects are measured via differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and high pressure differential scanning calorimetry (HPDSC), combined with isoconversional kinetic analysis. The first chapter demonstrates that DSC can be applied to measure the kinetics of nonisothermal crystallization. The crystallization of potassium nitrate and ammonium perchlorate are from unsaturated and saturated aqueous solutions. An advanced isoconversional method demonstrates that the process is represented by negative values …

Go to article

An Investigation Into The Effects Of Diet On Pain And Pain Disparities, Larissa Jane Strath Jan 2021

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 …

Go to article

Characterization Of Color Centers In Diamond For Laser Applications, Shova Devi Subedi Jan 2021

Characterization Of Color Centers In Diamond For Laser Applications, Shova Devi Subedi

All ETDs from UAB

Diamond has been gaining a lot of interest in the field of photonics such as quantum optics, nano-photonics, quantum computation, magnetometry, sensing, laser development, and color center physics as it provides a remarkable platform to combine its non-linear optical properties in conjunction with the unique optical and spin properties of its color centers. Besides that, energetic pulsed lasers operating in the visible to near IR spectral range are mostly obtained from non-linear frequency conversion which is less efficient, expensive, and requires nonlinear crystal with excellent optical quality, a special cut to meet the perfect phase-matching condition. Another alternative is dye …

Go to article

From Deviance To Disease: How Congress Frames Opioid Use, 1994-2019, Stephanie Kirkland Jan 2021

From Deviance To Disease: How Congress Frames Opioid Use, 1994-2019, Stephanie Kirkland

All ETDs from UAB

Over the past thirty years, the use of opioids like heroin, fentanyl, oxycodone, and hydrocodone led to tens of thousands of deaths from overdoses and caused a public health crisis. Researchers have noted the roles of various social organizations and groups in creating a public discourse around this topic and have studied the changing public views of opioid use in light of new scientific research. And yet, there remains a gap in research on the role of the members of Congress in this public discourse. These legislators pass policies that directly affect people who live with or who know someone …

Go to article

Embodied Fat Stigma And Health Beliefs About Exercise And Diet, Brie Scrivner Jan 2021

Embodied Fat Stigma And Health Beliefs About Exercise And Diet, Brie Scrivner

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how individuals navigate the cultural mandate for thinness, which pressured individuals to pursue weight loss through exercise and restrictive diets. While sustainable weight loss is not probable for the majority of people, there are still significant physical and mental health benefits to be had from engaging in regular, enjoyable movement. For many, physical activity is an important component of a healthy lifestyle. It can improve quality of life for individuals regardless of weight, body size, chronic illness, or disability. However, many fitness facilities focus on weight loss as the most essential goal …

Go to article

The Two Marys In Bruges: Images Of The Virgin And Child Over The Cityscape And The Reign Of Mary Of Burgundy, Meagan Daughtry Bailey Oates Jan 2021

The Two Marys In Bruges: Images Of The Virgin And Child Over The Cityscape And The Reign Of Mary Of Burgundy, Meagan Daughtry Bailey Oates

All ETDs from UAB

From c.1475 to the early 1480s, a new image type appears in Bruges featuring the Virgin and Child under a cloth of honor with various garden motifs against the backdrop of a contemporaneous cityscape of Bruges. In this thesis, I establish for the first time the images in the Bruges Virgin type as a group in relation to the reign of Mary of Burgundy, Duchess of Burgundy (1477-1482). Analyzing the motifs of the cityscape of Bruges, the enclosed garden theme, and the Virgin and Child, I argue that the Bruges Virgin type alludes to and evokes Mary and her young …

Go to article

The Relationships Fathers Have With Their Co-Residential Adult Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Exploration Of Fatherhood And Masculinity, Kirsten Leigh Ostergren Clark Jan 2021

The Relationships Fathers Have With Their Co-Residential Adult Children With Developmental Disabilities: A Qualitative Exploration Of Fatherhood And Masculinity, Kirsten Leigh Ostergren Clark

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation explored the relationships between fathers and their co-residential adult children who have been diagnosed with an intellectual and developmental disability (IDD). This research addressed 1) the ways fathers understand their involvement in the lives of their adult child with developmental disabilities, especially as it relates to their masculinity; 2) how fathers perceive that their experiences fathering their child have impacted their health and health behaviors, including how masculinity plays a part; and 3) what supports fathers stated they have utilized and recommend, along with what challenges and constraints fathers feel they have faced. My analysis of in-depth interviews …

Go to article

Inflammation, Executive Function, And Adiposity In Children With Or At Risk For Obesity, Kathryn L. Prendergast Jan 2021

Inflammation, Executive Function, And Adiposity In Children With Or At Risk For Obesity, Kathryn L. Prendergast

All ETDs from UAB

Obesity is associated with executive function (EF) deficits across the lifespan. Higher body mass index (BMI), greater severity of obesity, and poorer adherence and weight outcomes in obesity treatment have all been associated with EF deficits. Adult literature has begun to emphasize neuroinflammation in obesity as a possible pathway to later cognitive impairment. However, the pediatric obesity literature has yet to even establish associations between peripheral inflammation and EF. Thus, the present study aimed to examine associations and variability in inflammatory biomarkers, EF, and adiposity in children with or at risk for obesity. Additionally, inflammation was examined as a mechanism …

Go to article

Keller-Segel Type Chemotaxis Model: Asymptotic Behavior Of The Small Data Solution, Jean D. Rugamba Jan 2021

Keller-Segel Type Chemotaxis Model: Asymptotic Behavior Of The Small Data Solution, Jean D. Rugamba

All ETDs from UAB

This dissertation’s work is on asymptotic behavior of a Keller- Segel type chemotaxismodel with logarithmic sensitivity and logistic growth. The logarithmic singularity in the system is removed via the inverse Hopf-Cole transformation. Then, for the transformed system, we study the Green’s function of the corresponding linear system, linearized around a constant equilibrium solution, and the results give us a detailed point-wise description of the Greens function, which, itself, is significant in linear theory. Next, with the results on the Green’s function, we study small data solution to the nonlinear system by making use of Duhamel’s principle. This provides a descriptive …

Go to article

Tensor Completion And Total Variation Denoising And Deblurring In Tensor Spaces, Fatoumata Sanogo Jan 2021

Tensor Completion And Total Variation Denoising And Deblurring In Tensor Spaces, Fatoumata Sanogo

All ETDs from UAB

Tensor completion is a higher-order generalization of matrix completion where the goal is to recover a low-rank tensor from a partially observed tensor. Here we work on a numerical method to reconstructs a tensor (matrix) with missing entries by finding the optimal factors through linear least squares and the singular vector through a proximal algorithm of soft thresholding. The performance of our algorithm is tested on color images and surveillance videos.In addition, we continued working on those algorithm to get an optimal way of finding the regularization parameter to improve the quality of our output. For this purpose we used …

Go to article

Equation Of State And Shear Strength Studies On Transition Metals And Mransition Metal Borides, Kaleb C. Burrage Jan 2021

Equation Of State And Shear Strength Studies On Transition Metals And Mransition Metal Borides, Kaleb C. Burrage

All ETDs from UAB

This work employs a broad and in-depth range of experimental x-ray diffraction techniques to probe anisotropic compression effects and shear deformation behavior in transition metals and their borides to ultra-high pressures. These techniques include the custom designed toroidal diamond anvils fabricated by focused ion beam machining to compress samples to pressure of 358 GPa equating to that at the Earth’s core. This has been used to generate a new equation of state for Ta metal for pressure calibration within the field of high-pressure physics and test the validation of other pressure calibrations claiming > 500 GPa of pressure. This has also …

Go to article

Functions Of Drosophila Hp1 Proteins In Transcriptional Regulation, John Schoelz Jan 2021

Functions Of Drosophila Hp1 Proteins In Transcriptional Regulation, John Schoelz

All ETDs from UAB

The Heterochromatin Protein 1 (HP1) family are a group of non-histone chromosomal proteins with functions in many essential DNA processes. The HP1 family is highly conserved, and many eukaryotic genomes contain multiple HP1 genes. Individual paralogs specialize in specific functions, although they do have overlapping roles in some processes. In Drosophila, there are three HP1 paralogs expressed in somatic cells: HP1a, HP1B and HP1C. All three of these proteins have previously been implicated in both the positive and negative regulation of transcription. Furthermore, the three proteins share binding sites and colocalize broadly throughout the Drosophila genome. Here, we investigate individual …

Go to article

Motivating Factors Influencing The Decision To Create Worker Cooperative Businesses, Brandon Alexander Debalsi Jan 2021

Motivating Factors Influencing The Decision To Create Worker Cooperative Businesses, Brandon Alexander Debalsi

All ETDs from UAB

While there is a growing body of literature on the subject of worker cooperatives in the field of economics that compares them to conventional capitalist firms, there has been little literature to date looking at lives of the workers within these enterprises. This study investigates the self-stated reasons for why worker-owners of worker cooperative firms chose this form of employment. In unstructured interviews, a sample of thirty-seven current and former worker-owners were asked why they chose to become worker cooperatives members. The responses are grouped into three categories based on their self-reported motivations: Idealists, Economists, and Drifters. Implications for future …

Go to article

A Stress Process Approach To Assessing Caregiver Burden, Depressive Symptoms, And Quality Of Life: The Role Of Attachment In Adult Relationships, Ghislaine Celine Atkins Jan 2021

A Stress Process Approach To Assessing Caregiver Burden, Depressive Symptoms, And Quality Of Life: The Role Of Attachment In Adult Relationships, Ghislaine Celine Atkins

All ETDs from UAB

Aging adults (65 years and older) are projected to be the largest age group in the United States by around the year 2030. Importantly, the population of aging adults is expected to outnumber their adult children for the first time by the year 2033. The extant literature posits that the majority of carer-care-recipient relationships are between adult children/in law and their aging parent or a spouse/partner. Familial carers dealing with these multiple stressors are more likely to exhibit depressive symptoms, have higher appraisals of stress and have worse quality of life. This dissertation project utilized sociologist Pearlin’s Stress Process Model …

Go to article

Hurricanes And Heart Problems: Natural Disaster, Social Capital, And Cardiovascular Mortality, Zachary H. Mccann Jan 2021

Hurricanes And Heart Problems: Natural Disaster, Social Capital, And Cardiovascular Mortality, Zachary H. Mccann

All ETDs from UAB

Social capital refers to the social relationships and structures that provide individuals with material, financial, and emotional resources throughout their lives. Previous research has found an association between high levels of social capital and lower rates of all-cause and cardiovascular disease (CVD) mortality. Severe disasters have been linked to higher rates of all-cause and CVD mortality. In post-disaster settings social capital may be a valuable resource for protecting against both forms of mortality. Past research shows that social capital can improve access to resources, such as food, water, and medical supplies, that reduce all-cause and CVD mortality. Using previous research …

Go to article

Balanced Placebo Design With Varenicline: Pharmacological And Expectancy Effects On Medication Adherence, Samantha Schiavon Jan 2021

Balanced Placebo Design With Varenicline: Pharmacological And Expectancy Effects On Medication Adherence, Samantha Schiavon

All ETDs from UAB

Varenicline is one of the most efficacious smoking cessation medications. However, some individuals are unable to adhere to the 12-week medication regimen, primarily due to side effects. Although these side effect may be due to the pharmacological effects of varenicline, there may also be a psychologically rooted explanation (i.e., nocebo effects). Varenicline was once believed to cause serious adverse events and although this has been refuted, concerns regarding its use continue within the general population. This is the first study to differentiate psychological expectancies from pharmacological barriers as it relates to varenicline adherence. Varenicline naïve smokers (N=80) were randomized into …

Go to article

Kink-Resistant Vascular Grafts With Integrated Capacitance-Based Hemodynamic Monitoring System, Kiran Raj Adhikari Jan 2021

Kink-Resistant Vascular Grafts With Integrated Capacitance-Based Hemodynamic Monitoring System, Kiran Raj Adhikari

All ETDs from UAB

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are one of the leading causes of death in the United State and the number of cases is ever so increasing. The rises in the number of CVD patients are due to the increasingly hostile cardiovascular environments, indicated by poor diet, lack of exercise, socioeconomic and other stresses. The treatment often requires the replacement of blood vessels in the patients. For smaller diameter vascular grafts, the failure rate is high and the patency of these replaced grafts decreases significantly over the years. This failure is mostly due to a mismatch of the various properties between the native …

Go to article

First Prev Next Last