Genetics and Genomics Commons^™

Genetic Counselor Workforce Trends In The United States : 2002 To 2016, Charlene J. Schulz

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

The purpose of this study was to identify and measure trends in genetic counselor (GC) workforce supply in the United States from 2002 to 2016. Using data collected biennially from the National Society of Genetic Counselors’ Professional Status Survey (PSS), I calculated overall percent change in GC employment across specific work settings over the past 14 years. I also measured change in the relative percentage of GCs who provide direct patient counseling (i.e. clinical GCs) to determine if the percentage of clinical GCs decreased over time. Analyses were performed to determine if associations existed between GC work settings and 1) …

Distinct Transcriptome Profiles Of Gag-Specific Cd8+ T Cells Temporally Correlated With The Protection Elicited By Sivδnef Live Attenuated Vaccine, Wuxun Lu, Yanmin Wu, Fangrui Ma, R. Paul Johnson, Qingsheng Li

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

The live attenuated vaccine (LAV) SIVmac239Δnef (SIVΔnef) confers the best protection among all the vaccine modalities tested in rhesus macaque model of HIV-1 infection. This vaccine has a unique feature of time-dependent protection: macaques are not protected at 3±5 weeks post vaccination (WPV), whereas immune protection emerges between 15 and 20 WPV. Although the exact mechanisms of the time-dependent protection remain incompletely understood, studies suggested that both cellular and humoral immunities contribute to this time-dependent protection. To further elucidate the mechanisms of protection induced by SIVΔnef, we longitudinally compared the global gene expression profiles of SIV Gag-CM9+ CD8+ (Gag-specific CD8+) …

Chloroviruses Have A Sweet Tooth, James L. Van Etten, Irina V. Agarkova, David D. Dunigan, Michela Tonetti, Cristina De Castro, Garry A. Duncan

Nebraska Center for Virology: Faculty Publications

Chloroviruses are large double-stranded DNA (dsDNA) viruses that infect certain isolates of chlorella-like green algae. They contain up to approximately 400 protein-encoding genes and 16 transfer RNA (tRNA) genes. This review summarizes the unexpected finding that many of the chlorovirus genes encode proteins involved in manipulating carbohydrates. These include enzymes involved in making extracellular polysaccharides, such as hyaluronan and chitin, enzymes that make nucleotide sugars, such as GDP-L-fucose and GDP-D-rhamnose and enzymes involved in the synthesis of glycans attached to the virus major capsid proteins. This latter process differs from that of all other glycoprotein containing viruses that traditionally use …

Investigation On Genetic Modifiers Of Age At Onset Of Major Depressive Disorder, Huseyin Gedik

Theses and Dissertations

Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) is a complex multifactorial disorder, which would lead to disability. Environmental and genetic factors are involved in MDD etiology. The aim of this project was to identify loci modifying age at onset (AAO) of MDD using survival models after adjusting for Childhood Sexual Abuse (CSA). To achieve this aim, a dataset was made available by the China Oxford and VCU Experimental Research on Genetic Epidemiology (CONVERGE) consortium. The study population had 5,220 controls and 5,282 cases with MDD. We performed two univariate association analyses using Cox Proportional Hazard (Cox PH) models. These two are Full Sample …

Drinking Motives Underlying Internalizing And Externalizing Pathways To Alcohol Misuse In College Students, Jeanne Savage

Theses and Dissertations

Alcohol misuse, including heavy episodic use and negative consequences, is a major public health concern and a particular problem among college students. The etiology of alcohol misuse is not well resolved, with multiple and often contradictory factors implicated in its development. Genetic factors influence alcohol misuse but few specific genes have been identified. A potential reason for these challenges is that alcohol misuse is phenotypically and genetically heterogeneous; that is, there are multiple causal pathways underlying its development. Previous typologies have suggested that distinct internalizing and externalizing pathways are involved, with corresponding differences in profiles of personality, temperament, and comorbid …

Characterization Of Staphylococcal Nuclease And Tudor Domain Containing Protein 1 (Snd1) As A Molecular Target In Hepatocellular Carcinoma And Non-Alcoholic Steatohepatitis, Nidhi H. Jariwala

Theses and Dissertations

CHARACTERIZATION OF STAPHYLOCOCCAL NUCLEASE AND TUDOR DOMAIN CONTAINING PROTEIN 1 (SND1) AS A MOLECULAR TARGET IN HEPATOCELLULAR CARCINOMA AND NON-ALCOHOLIC STEATOHEPATITIS

Nidhi Jariwala, PhD

A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Integrative Life Sciences

Virginia Commonwealth University, 2017

Devanand Sarkar, M.B.B.S., PhD.

Associate Professor, Department of Human and Molecular Genetics

Virginia Commonwealth University

Richmond, Virginia

SND1, a subunit of the miRNA regulatory complex RISC, has been implicated as an oncogene in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). Oncoprotein SND1 regulates gene expression at a post-transcriptional level in multiple cancers including hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). …

Epigenetic Editing To Validate Findings From Methylome-Wide Association Studies Of Neuropsychiatric Disorders, Robin F. Chan

Theses and Dissertations

DNA methylation is necessary for learning, memory consolidation and has been implicated in a number of neuropsychiatric disorders. Obtaining high quality and comprehensive data for the three common forms of methylation in brain is challenging for methylome-wide association studies (MWAS). To address this we optimized a panel of enrichment methods for screening the brain methylome. Results show that these enrichment techniques approach the coverage and fidelity of the current gold standard bisulfite based techniques. Our MBD-based method can also be used with low amounts of genomic material from limited human biomaterials. Psychiatric disorders have high prevalence and are often chronic …

An Rnai Screen To Identify Components Of A Polyamine Transport System, Adam J. Foley

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Polyamines, specifically putrescine, spermidine, and spermine, are small cationic molecules found in all organisms. Cells can biosynthetically make these molecules, or alternatively, they can be transported from the extracellular environment. Malignant cells have been shown to require relatively high amounts of polyamines. There is a chemotherapeutic agent, DFMO, used to block the biosynthesis of polyamines. Many malignant cells can circumvent DFMO therapy by activating their transport system. A potential solution is to simultaneously block biosynthesis and transport of polyamines. However, little is known about the polyamine transport system in higher eukaryotes.

This thesis aims to add to the basic biological …

Micro-Spectroscopy Of Bio-Assemblies At The Single Cell Level, Jeslin Kera

Honors Undergraduate Theses

In this thesis, we investigate biological molecules on a micron scale in the ultraviolet spectral region through the non-destructive confocal absorption microscopy. The setup involves a combination of confocal microscope with a UV light excitation beam to measure the optical absorption spectra with spatial resolution of 1.4 μm in the lateral and 3.6 μm in the axial direction. Confocal absorption microscopy has the benefits of requiring no labels and only low light intensity for excitation while providing a strong signal from the contrast generated by the attenuation of propagating light due to absorption. This enables spatially resolved measurements of single …

Assessing Community Dynamics And Colonization Patterns Of Tritatoma Dimidiata And Other Biotic Factors Associated With Chagas Disease Prevalence In Central America, Lucia Consuelo Orantes

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Chagas disease is caused by the parasite Trypanosoma cruzi and transmitted by multiple triatomine vectors across the Americas. In Central America, the predominant vector is Triatoma dimidiata, a highly adaptable and genetically diverse Hemiptera. In this research, we used a novel reduced-representation DNA sequencing approach to discover community dynamics among multiple biotic factors associated with Chagas disease in Central America, and assess the infestation patterns of T. dimidiata after seasonal and chemical disturbances in Jutiapa, Guatemala. For our first study, we used a hierarchical sampling design to obtain multi-species DNA data found in the abdomens of 32 T. dimidiata …

Paths To Tier 1 Genomics Implementation: A Survey Of Chronic Disease Directors, Amy Ponte

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although evidence is currently available for population-based genetic screening and testing of individuals and their family members for certain hereditary chronic disease conditions (Tier 1), few states have integrated these genomic applications into chronic disease prevention programs. State and territorial chronic disease directors (CDDs) could provide the leadership needed to deliver these applications in more states. The purpose of this study was to determine whether an association exists between current chronic disease genomics funding or specific state genomic activities and the level of knowledge and interests in genomics by these directors. Rogers's diffusion of innovations (DIT) theory was used to …

The Cardiovascular Epidemiology And Genome-Wide Associations Of Biomarkers Of Innate And Adaptive Immunity: Scd163 And Sil2ra, Jon Peter Durda

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in the U.S. and worldwide. Atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in the arteries, is a common cause of CVD. For many years, research in atherosclerosis was focused on lipid metabolism and the accumulation of low-density lipoprotein in the arteries. While this research set public health guidelines for lipid management, lipid concentration was not the only factor influencing atherosclerosis and CVD events. Many scientists, as far back as the 1850’s recognized the role of inflammation in the progression of atherosclerotic disease. The continuous low levels of immune activation in the …

Peripheral Huntingtin Silencing Does Not Ameliorate Central Signs Of Disease In The B6.Httq111/+ Mouse Model Of Huntington's Disease., Sydney R Coffey, Robert M Bragg, Shawn Minnig, Seth A Ament, Jeffrey P Cantle, Anne Glickenhaus, Daniel Shelnut, José M Carrillo, Dominic D Shuttleworth, Julie-Anne Rodier, Kimihiro Noguchi, C Frank Bennett, Nathan D Price, Holly B Kordasiewicz, Jeffrey B Carroll

Articles, Abstracts, and Reports

Huntington's disease (HD) is an autosomal dominant neurodegenerative disease whose predominant neuropathological signature is the selective loss of medium spiny neurons in the striatum. Despite this selective neuropathology, the mutant protein (huntingtin) is found in virtually every cell so far studied, and, consequently, phenotypes are observed in a wide range of organ systems both inside and outside the central nervous system. We, and others, have suggested that peripheral dysfunction could contribute to the rate of progression of striatal phenotypes of HD. To test this hypothesis, we lowered levels of huntingtin by treating mice with antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) targeting the murine …