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University of Alabama at Birmingham

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Articles 2131 - 2160 of 5836

Full-Text Articles in Arts and Humanities

An Evaluation Of Ontogenetic Allometry Of Defensive And Nutrient Acquisition Properties Of Select Skeletal Components Of The Regular Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Raven Amber Edwards Jan 2020

An Evaluation Of Ontogenetic Allometry Of Defensive And Nutrient Acquisition Properties Of Select Skeletal Components Of The Regular Sea Urchin Lytechinus Variegatus, Raven Amber Edwards

All ETDs from UAB

Ontogenetic allometric analyses can provide novel insights into aspects of evolution, ecology, and conservation. For example, a recent study found marine fish exhibit hyperallometric scaling of reproductive output in relation to body size. Accordingly, to sustain fish populations the largest size class of fish should be protected. The present study exploits a model sea urchin to explore allometry to evaluate the ontogeny of skeletal defense and feeding efficiency (Aristotle's lantern). Lytechinus variegatus were sampled from St. Joseph Bay, Florida. A range of different sized late juvenile to adult individuals were measured and then dissected into skeletal components. Skeletal defense was …

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Nutrition Transition And Ses As A Fundamental Cause: An Integrative Approach To Examine Weight Status Among Women In Nepal, Sanjeev Acharya Jan 2020

Nutrition Transition And Ses As A Fundamental Cause: An Integrative Approach To Examine Weight Status Among Women In Nepal, Sanjeev Acharya

All ETDs from UAB

The increasing prevalence of overweight and obesity in developing countries is a public health problem. Globally and in Nepal, women have higher burden of overweight and obesity. Over the recent years, Nepal has made progress in human development and is also experiencing nutrition transition. In this context, the goal of this study is to investigate the change in association between socioeconomic status (SES) and body weight over time, examine whether SES – body mass index (BMI) varies across region and occupation, and test for the double burden of malnutrition among adult women. Using a novel framework that integrates nutrition transition …

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Genome-Wide Mirna Regulation Of Stress Susceptibility Across The Brain In A Rodent Model Of Early Life Stress, Lauren Alexis Allen Mckibben Jan 2020

Genome-Wide Mirna Regulation Of Stress Susceptibility Across The Brain In A Rodent Model Of Early Life Stress, Lauren Alexis Allen Mckibben

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Early life stress (ELS) affects a significant portion of the US population in the form of various types of abuse and neglect, as well as household dysfunction and loss of a loved one, among others. Although these experiences happen early in life, they increase risk for mental health disorders, especially major depression (MDD), across the lifespan. MDD is a debilitating psychiatric disorder marked by periods of depressed mood and loss of pleasure in once enjoyable activities. Patients with MDD also report trouble sleeping, unintentional weight loss or gain, feelings of worthlessness, and suicidal ideation. MDD is associated with annual $100 …

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The Effect Of Visual Training On The Attention System And Visual Cortex, Mandy Kathleen Biles Jan 2020

The Effect Of Visual Training On The Attention System And Visual Cortex, Mandy Kathleen Biles

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There are many contexts in which experience causes lasting changes in behavior that improve our ability to respond to our environment. Such improvements in performance, sometimes referred to as perceptual learning, are often the result of training and can enhance our ability to effectively respond to our environment. Recently, researchers have sought a more detailed understanding of perceptual learning and worked to apply these principles to improve perceptual learning in applied domains. In addition to training, another way to improve our perception of the environment is to increase the level of attention paid to features that are useful to us. …

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Parents’ Personal Characteristics In Explaining Perceptions Of Infant Temperament, Logan Boe Jan 2020

Parents’ Personal Characteristics In Explaining Perceptions Of Infant Temperament, Logan Boe

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Although a popular topic in developmental psychology research, straightforward ways to interpret measurements of infant temperament (IT) are lacking. Notably, parental personal characteristics, such as psychological distress and regulatory abilities, and resources available to parents may influence parents’ IT reports. The aims of the current project were to: 1) determine if parental characteristics mediate the association between IT and household income; 2) determine if personal resources available to parents (social support, coping, partner satisfaction) moderate the relationships between parental characteristics and IT; and 3) determine which parental characteristics predict differences between mothers’ and fathers’ IT reports. Prenatally, 201 mothers and …

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The Ecology Of Arribada Nesting And Early Life-History Events In The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys Kempii), Amy Bonka Jan 2020

The Ecology Of Arribada Nesting And Early Life-History Events In The Kemp's Ridley Sea Turtle (Lepidochelys Kempii), Amy Bonka

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The Kemp’s ridley sea turtle (Lepidochelys kempii) has a regionalized distribution, occur-ring in the Gulf of Mexico and along the Atlantic coast of the United States. It is unique among sea turtles in that it nests during the daytime, at a single, primary nesting beach, and utilizes synchronized, mass nesting events (termed arribadas). This arribada behavior has been hypothesized to enhance nest and hatchling survival through predator satiation and predator avoidance. The aims of this dissertation research are to investigate the ecology and dynamics of arribada nesting and early life-history events in the Kemp’s ridley. Significant, non-random, location-specific aggregations of …

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Measuring Student Attitudes Toward Offenders: The Potential Mediating Role Of Familial Incarceration, Susan Faith Boyd Jan 2020

Measuring Student Attitudes Toward Offenders: The Potential Mediating Role Of Familial Incarceration, Susan Faith Boyd

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Each year hundreds of thousands of ex-offenders are released from U.S. jails and prisons to return to their communities. After release, ex-offenders’ families can play a critical role in helping their loved ones re-adjust to life outside of prison as well as meet the terms of their release; however, the severe financial, emotional, and social hardships associated with reentry have great potential to strengthen or weaken ex-offenders’ family support networks. The current study sought to explore how attitudes toward offenders differ between offenders’ family members and individuals who have never experienced familial incarceration. Adaptations of The Attitudes Toward Prisoners Scale …

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Symbolic Annihilation, The Politics Of (Mis)Representation, And The Stress And Health Of Millennial Black Women, Chenoia Nicole Bryant Jan 2020

Symbolic Annihilation, The Politics Of (Mis)Representation, And The Stress And Health Of Millennial Black Women, Chenoia Nicole Bryant

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The (mis)representation of Black populations in media has been extensively explored and critiqued by several scholars. From their introduction into media through radio to their visi-bility in television and news, the tropes of Black womanhood have carried over from colo-nialist perspectives to present day. Considering race and gender as cultural structures con-straining Black women through the assignment of stereotypical scripts, it is important to consider how, when and where Black women’s agency enters. Negative racialized and gendered stereotypes are informed by culture at large, but Black women’s agency impacts the interpretation of these (mis)representations, offering space for both conformity and …

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Photoexcitation Dynamics In Optimally Doped Lsco Thin Films Under Applied Magnetic Field, Ashlyn Damaris Burch Jan 2020

Photoexcitation Dynamics In Optimally Doped Lsco Thin Films Under Applied Magnetic Field, Ashlyn Damaris Burch

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This thesis will study the photoexcitation dynamics observed in optimally doped La2-xSrxCuO2 (LSCO) thin films while under magnetic field. The high temperature superconducting cuprates display strong spin-fluctuations and appearances of mixed phase regimes that are heavily dependent on their doping levels. This thesis focuses on the optimal Sr doping level x = 0.15. The experimental technique uses femtosecond pulses to probe the normal metallic and superconducting phases in this material while applying external electric and magnetic perturbations. The broadband (0.1 - 10 THz) optical pump-terahertz probe spectrometer that is intended for studying this material was designed at the University of …

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Cognitive Factors And Treatment Adherence In Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis, Benjamin Edwin Burgess Jan 2020

Cognitive Factors And Treatment Adherence In Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis, Benjamin Edwin Burgess

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) is a life-threatening chronic illness which requires adherence to a many complex and time-consuming treatments. Adherence is suboptimal in this population. Thus, it is important to consider predictors of treatment adherence. Research has evaluated a number of cognitive factors that are related to adherence in groups with chronic illnesses, including those with CF. The present study considers three factors (health locus of control (HLC), perceived social support, and perceived disease severity) in order to address important gaps in the literature evaluating their relationships with treatment adherence. For each of these factors, the current research is limited by …

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Denervation Supersensitivity Of Βeta-Adrenergic Receptors In A Prodromal Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, The Tgf344-Ad Rat, Anthoni Goodman Jan 2020

Denervation Supersensitivity Of Βeta-Adrenergic Receptors In A Prodromal Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, The Tgf344-Ad Rat, Anthoni Goodman

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The central noradrenergic (NA) system is critical for maintenance of attention, behavioral flexibility, spatial navigation, and learning and memory, those cognitive functions lost first in early Alzheimer’s disease (AD). In fact, the locus coeruleus (LC), the major source of norepinephrine (NE) in brain, is the first site of pathological tau accumulation in human AD associated with axon loss throughout forebrain, including hippocampus. The dentate gyrus (DG) is heavily innervated by LC-NA axons, where released norepinephrine (NE) acts on β adrenergic receptors (ARs) at excitatory synapses from entorhinal cortex (EC) to facilitate long-term synaptic plasticity and memory formation. These synapses show …

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Examining The Role Of Neighborhood Quality On The Association Of Mammography Adherence Among Racial/Ethnic Groups, Roman Johnson Jan 2020

Examining The Role Of Neighborhood Quality On The Association Of Mammography Adherence Among Racial/Ethnic Groups, Roman Johnson

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Although several racial/ethnic minority women groups (e.g., Latina, Black, Asian-American, and Native-American women) have lower breast cancer incidence than white women, they are more likely to die from breast cancer. One possible explanation for this discrepancy is racial/ethnic differences in mammography use. Mammography has been shown to contribute to the discovery of tumor proliferation earlier which translates to less breast cancer complications like greater risk of breast cancer-related mortality. Previous studies on racial/ethnic differences in mammography adherence (e.g., annual and biannual mammography adherence) have been inconclusive, and they generally overlook important contextual factors, namely neighborhood quality and geographic location (e.g., …

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Is Ambition Consequential? Exploring The Association Between Depressive Symptomatology And The Educational Expectation Trajectories And Achievements Of Immigrant Youth, Fabrice Stanley Julien Jan 2020

Is Ambition Consequential? Exploring The Association Between Depressive Symptomatology And The Educational Expectation Trajectories And Achievements Of Immigrant Youth, Fabrice Stanley Julien

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Concerning mental health outcomes, immigrant youth are a particularly vulnerable population. The lack of health care access contributes to aggrandized and unmet mental health needs. This research explores how the social positions of immigrant families influence stress exposure and contribute to a worsening of well-being. Past research points to the societal stressors experienced by these young people, as significant predictors of their well-being. But what occurs when the source of stress originates within the home? Specifically, this study examines how stress, educational expectations and academic achievement influence the depressive symptomatology of immigrant youth. Education is a widely recognized predictor of …

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Mendicant Enterprise And Human Rights In New Spain, Elliot Nicholson-Cox Jan 2020

Mendicant Enterprise And Human Rights In New Spain, Elliot Nicholson-Cox

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In 1521, the destruction of Aztec leadership created a disjointed network of native communities in what is now Mexico but would come to be known as New Spain. Until 1572 New Spain was an open and contested space for political, economic, and religious dominance among various Spanish factions. This dominance was predicated upon an evangelical mission in service to the conversion of native people from “pagans” to Christians. Religious education and evangelization by mendicant friars may have, either as a deliberate or consequential outcome, promoted or enforced collaboration and minimized direct and violent conflict during this period. Some religious friars …

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Between Breaths, Kristin Entler Jan 2020

Between Breaths, Kristin Entler

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This collection evaluates, primarily, the nature of absence through a study of negative space, which acts as the common thread that stitches this collection together into a cohesive whole. Through evaluation of relationships, both familial and romantic, with the external world and with the self, I’ve worked to evaluate the space that’s left behind. Each poem features the absence of something or someone that then acts as a mirror to reflect the self, the emotional state that remains. In many, the loss of a close friend is in the fore, where that absence is taken up by grief, longing, and …

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Optical And Electrical Characterization Of Transition Metal And Rare-Earth Metal Doped Ii-Vi Semiconductors For Mid-Ir Laser Applications, Ozarfar Gafarov Jan 2020

Optical And Electrical Characterization Of Transition Metal And Rare-Earth Metal Doped Ii-Vi Semiconductors For Mid-Ir Laser Applications, Ozarfar Gafarov

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The middle-infrared (mid-IR) 2-8 μm and long-wavelength-infrared (LWIR) 8-20 μm spectral range enjoys a lot of attention from the scientific, medical, and industrial communities. A number of applications such as spectroscopy, medical diagnosis, surgical procedures, materials processing, remote detection of organic compounds, free-space-communication, and many others are possible. Transition metal (TM) doped II-VI semiconductors are the materials of choice for accessing the mid-IR. The II-VI host materials feature broad infrared transparency, low phonon frequency, and low optical losses. When doped with TM ions, these media exhibit a four-level energy structure, the absence of excited state absorption, and broad absorption and …

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The Non-Protostegid Cretaceous Marine Turtles Of Alabama And Their Bearing On The Evolution Of Extant Chelonioids, Andrew Gentry Jan 2020

The Non-Protostegid Cretaceous Marine Turtles Of Alabama And Their Bearing On The Evolution Of Extant Chelonioids, Andrew Gentry

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The non-protostegid marine turtle fossils recovered from the Late Cretaceous of Alabama may represent some of the most recent common ancestors of modern marine turtles. Despite their evolutionary significance, almost no formal studies have been conducted on these animals for more than 60 years. Many of these species are known from incomplete holotypes which has led to decades of systematic ambiguity and made specific referrals of recently collected fossil material exceedingly challenging. The aim of this study is to review and describe the specimens of Cretaceous marine turtles collected from Alabama to determine if this material can be used to …

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The Validation Of The Synthetic Cannabinoid 5-Fluoro Pb-22, Trista M. Gray Jan 2020

The Validation Of The Synthetic Cannabinoid 5-Fluoro Pb-22, Trista M. Gray

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The first synthetic cannabinoid was developed in the late 1980s by chemist John W. Huffman in an effort to understand the two cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2). The cannabinoid receptors are not only involved in the high experienced by marijuana users, but also the control of appetite, pain, and sleep. While the development of synthetic cannabinoids led to a greater understanding of the cannabinoid receptors, it also precipitated an entirely new drug market. Clandestine chemists hijack scientific research, using methods published in scientific articles to synthesize cannabinoids for distribution in the gray market. Products containing synthetic cannabinoids are marketed as …

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Proving Their Worth: Exploring Refugee-Specific Barriers To Providing Evidence Of Overseas Education, Courtney Cook Jan 2020

Proving Their Worth: Exploring Refugee-Specific Barriers To Providing Evidence Of Overseas Education, Courtney Cook

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For immigrants to the United States, a credential evaluation can be the key to a stable and happy future. A credential evaluation allows individuals to access higher education or qualify for professional jobs. Unfortunately, refugees, and other groups in a refugee-like situation, are often unable to obtain an evaluation of their credentials due to barriers related to their status or experiences. These individuals are often unable to provide the official copies of their credentials required by credential evaluation companies and higher education institutions, in order to issue an evaluation. This paper seeks to enrich understanding of this issue by answering …

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A Comparison Of Collection Materials And Differential Dna Extraction Methods Used To Extract Sperm And Buccal Cell Mixtures, Tyler Lawayne Corbin Jan 2020

A Comparison Of Collection Materials And Differential Dna Extraction Methods Used To Extract Sperm And Buccal Cell Mixtures, Tyler Lawayne Corbin

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This study focuses on two areas of interest when performing differential extractions for sexual assault kit analysis. By choosing different collection substrates, a traditional cotton swab, a nylon flocked swab, and a teased cotton swab, cellular elution capabilities were compared using two different semen dilutions. Nylon flocked swabs showed the most promise in obtaining a better male DNA yield compared to other swab types of similar dilution sets. Differential extraction methods introducing enzymatic digestion steps were modified and paired with the Qiagen DNA Investigator kit protocol to investigate their effects on cellular elution, cell separation, and time. These modified methods …

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Laser Cooling Transitions In Atomic Gadolinium, Kevin Battles Jan 2020

Laser Cooling Transitions In Atomic Gadolinium, Kevin Battles

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Ultra-cold samples of atomic Gadolinium (Gd) are of interest for developing novel time-frequency standards, investigating strongly correlated Rydberg atoms, and state-of-the-art nanoscale applications. In this work, I present previous work in which the hyperfine coefficients and isotope shifts were measured for the first time in spin-forbidden transitions of atomic Gd, which are of interest for experiments investigating dipolar physics. The spin forbidden transitions are found to be too weak for use as laser cooling lines but would prove useful for developing a novel optical frequency standard due to the suppression of background blackbody radiation shifts and laser frequency shifts from …

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Adolescent Fast Food Consumption: Underlying Factors And Related Health Outcomes, Lindsay Marie Stager Jan 2020

Adolescent Fast Food Consumption: Underlying Factors And Related Health Outcomes, Lindsay Marie Stager

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Obesity represents one of our nation’s leading public health issues. In 2017, over 30% of U.S. high school students presented with either overweight (15.6%) or obesity (14.8%). These trends are alarming as early childhood and adolescence are critical developmental periods for establishing healthy eating and exercise behaviors. Though past research has uncovered many factors related to adolescent eating behaviors, few studies have examined the longitudinal impacts of parenting and family variables on diet across the transition from adolescence to adulthood. Further, there is a lack of longitudinal research regarding health outcomes of fast food consumption during this same developmental period. …

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Novel Methods For Establishing The Capacity For Nociception And Cognition In The Zebrafish Danio Rerio, Chris Taylor Jan 2020

Novel Methods For Establishing The Capacity For Nociception And Cognition In The Zebrafish Danio Rerio, Chris Taylor

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Here we demonstrate the utility of a zebrafish-based model of nociception to serve as a novel screening tool for analgesic drugs. Zebrafish swimming behavior was measured following administration of various algogens used in rodent research. All compounds reduce distance traveled, thought to be an expression of nociception. Furthermore, we undertook to investigate the contribution of sex and feeding history on the acetic acid-evoked nociceptive response in zebrafish. Data suggest that male fish were more sensitive to pain than females, and that females recovered from pain faster than males. Dietary restriction increased pain sensitivity in zebrafish. We then tested the viability …

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Synthesis, Characterization, And Applications Of Highly Modular Polyphosphonates, Timothy Ross Totsch Jan 2020

Synthesis, Characterization, And Applications Of Highly Modular Polyphosphonates, Timothy Ross Totsch

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Main-chain phosphorus polymers are still relatively unexplored, especially those of the polyphosphonite class in which phosphorus remains in a reactive P3+ oxidation state. This work established and builds upon a novel approach for generating these polymers from the reaction of a diol and bis(diethylamino)phosphine reagent and their subsequent conversion to variable polyphosphonates (P5+). Further, it explores their structure-function relationship through the use of NMR characterization, thermal analysis and molecular weight analysis. The applications of these polymers are also investigated based on their functional structure. The first chapter reports the first case in which polyphosphonites of reasonably high molecular weights and …

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Single Cell Proteins Affect Growth Performance And Body Composition Of Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus Vannamei, Yuan Yuan Jan 2020

Single Cell Proteins Affect Growth Performance And Body Composition Of Pacific White Shrimp Litopenaeus Vannamei, Yuan Yuan

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The globally growing human population has increased the needs for protein based food. Single cell proteins (SCPs) as unconventional protein source, when coupled to aq-uaculture production, offer a means to ensure future protein needs can be met. To demon-strate a given type of SCP has potential as a protein source for use in aquaculture feed; a number of investigations are needed including demonstrating that the SCP is attractable and accepted by the animals, leads to equivalent survival, growth and nutritional compo-sition. This dissertation represents a series of investigations designed to evaluate the fea-sibility of using a bacterial based (MRD-Pro) and …

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Religious/Spiritual And Secular Coping Among Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis And Their Caregivers, Christina Marie D'Angelo Jan 2020

Religious/Spiritual And Secular Coping Among Individuals With Cystic Fibrosis And Their Caregivers, Christina Marie D'Angelo

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Cystic fibrosis (CF) – a genetic, progressive disease affecting approximately 30,000 individuals in the United States – has been linked with psychological maladjustment and clinical difficulties among both affected individuals and their caregivers, specifically as the disease progresses and becomes more difficult to treat. Religious/spiritual and secular coping strategies, however, can offset many of the detrimental effects. Yet despite the salient effects that coping can have, aspects of coping among individuals with CF and their caregivers are still largely understudied and poorly understood. In general, less is known about religious/spiritual coping specifically including how it changes across the lifespan, how …

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Stimuli Response In Ph And Temperature-Responsive Hydrogels As Probed By Neutron Reflectivity, William Todd Higgins Jan 2020

Stimuli Response In Ph And Temperature-Responsive Hydrogels As Probed By Neutron Reflectivity, William Todd Higgins

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Polymer materials can be used as platforms to incorporate sensing materials, and increasingly the structure and chemistry of polymer chains is exploited in new and novel way and the unique nanoscale properties are studied. Polymers which can be dissolved in water are particularly interesting as primary components or for modifications in biomaterial applications, as many of them can have variable solubility in response to pH, temperature, or other solution conditions. This can allow the formation of microcapsules, for example, which can release drug triggered via specific solution conditions to release chemotherapeutic drug; in comparison to traditional injection or slow-release bulk …

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Pathogen Manipulation Of Arabidopsis Interaction Networks, Timothy Howton Jan 2020

Pathogen Manipulation Of Arabidopsis Interaction Networks, Timothy Howton

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Under normal conditions, plants devote resources for growth, development, and reproduction. These processes require finely tuned coordination between multiple physio logical pathways. In this dissertation, we explore the connectivity of these pathways as well as what happens when the plant is challenged by biotic stress such as a bacterial pathogen. We are able to use network biology approaches in conjunction with yeast two hybrid and BiFC assays to construct a network of leucine-rich repeat receptor kinases. Furthermore, we elucidated novel effector-host interactions through the aforementioned network. Lastly, we explored the role of the glyoxylate cycle, in particular peroxisomal citrate synthase …

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On Ruins, Chad Davidson Jan 2019

On Ruins, Chad Davidson

Birmingham Poetry Review

pp. 53-69

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Horse Farm In Winter, Audrey Bohanan Jan 2019

Horse Farm In Winter, Audrey Bohanan

Birmingham Poetry Review

p. 77

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