Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Sexual Pleasure And Enhancement: Implications For College Sexuality Education, Jessica Maureen Harris

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what sexual activities and behaviors college students are participating in, including the use of sexual enhancement products during both partnered and solo sexual activities. Pleasure and sexual satisfaction remain largely absent from today's sexuality education curricula, resulting in most young adults not being aware of the importance of "sexual pleasure, including autoeroticism, as a source of physical, psychological, intellectual and spiritual well-being" (WAS, 1994).This study looked at college students and their the use of sexual enhancement products during partnered and solo sexual activities, in order to provide a set of baseline measures …

Consumer Adoption Of Health Information Systems, Sankara Subramanian Srinivasan

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

At nearly 18 percent of the country's GDP, the U.S. healthcare industry continues to wrestle with growing cost and a quality of care that does not match the increased spending. The dominant focus to date has been on promoting Health IT (HIT) system implementation and digitizing health records at the provider's end, with scant attention to the role of the patient in the healthcare process. The source of inefficiency in the healthcare system is not only on account of shortcomings at the provider's end but also due to non-compliance (such as failing to adhere to medication advice and follow-up visits) …

In Vitro Analysis Of Short Chain Fatty Acids And Human Fecal Microbiota Stimulated By Pectin Sources, Byungjick Min

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As interest increases for colonic health, various studies have been conducted to investigate functional ingredients for host health and prevention of chronic disease in humans such as colon cancer and Type 2 diabetes. In particular dietary fiber has been reported to have beneficial effects on colonic health. More recently, dietary fiber has been categorized based on its characteristics and numerous studies have been conducted to determine correlations with chronic diseases. Pectin is a naturally occurring biopolymer that has been used in various applications for purposes of pharmaceutical and biotechnology. Pectin is a soluble dietary fiber and can be entirely fermented …

Effect Of Functional Starch In Brown Rice And Grain Sorghum On Plasma Glucose And Insulin Responses In Humans, Nicole Marie Poquette

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Diabetes and obesity are chronic illnesses increasing at dramatic rates in the U.S. and around the world. Research has looked to prevent or control diabetes and obesity through functional ingredients such as healthy-dietary carbohydrates to control blood glucose levels. Starch is a principle carbohydrate, which influences blood glucose levels, and measuring starch digestibility fractions can help predict the glucose response in the body. The objectives of this study were to investigate the functional starch content of parboiled brown rice flour and grain sorghum flour, and measure the effects on postprandial plasma glucose and insulin levels of 14 and 10 healthy …

Development Of Novel Antifungal Peptides Based On A Natural Model Of Histatin-5 Peptide, Duy Tu Nguyen

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our research group is working toward the development of novel antifungal peptides based on a natural model of peptide histatin-5. Histatin-5 is found in human saliva and known to protect our body against oral infections by Candida species. Candidiasis, or an infection caused by Candida species, is considered one of the most medically important fungal infections worldwide. Blood stream infections caused by Candida species are the fourth leading cause of hospital-acquired fungal infections that is associated with high mortality rates and high costs of treatment. This study investigated the modes of action of histatin-5 with the use of one 16-mer …

A Comparison Of Nebulized Vitamin B12 Versus Oral Vitamin B12 Supplementation, Terry L. Williams Jr.

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Vitamin B12 is important for various processes in the human body including DNA synthesis, red blood cell production, energy production, fatty acid synthesis, and for the conversion of homocysteine into methionine. Vitamin B12 deficiency is becoming more prevalent. The purpose of this study was to evaluate if a different route of administration, i.e. nebulization, was a viable option for increasing serum levels of vitamin B12 in both exercisers and non-exercisers. The increasing number of people that are vitamin B12 deficient is due to several factors including medication use, elective gastric bypass surgery, and an increasing elderly population. There are currently …

Design, Development, And Characterization Of Novel Antimicrobial Peptides For Pharmaceutical Applications, Yazan H. Akkam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Candida species are the fourth leading cause of nosocomial infection. The increased incidence of drug-resistant Candida species has emphasized the need for new antifungal drugs. Histatin 5 is a naturally occurring human salivary antifungal peptide and the first line of defense against infections of the oral cavity. This research has focused on understanding the activity of histatin 5, and subsequently designing novel peptides that may serve as models for the further development of therapeutics to treat fungal infection.

This objective has been achieved in three steps: studying the structural requirement of histatin 5 involved in antifungal activity, the identification of …

Characterization Of Host Immune Responses To Eimeria Adenoeides Infection In Turkey Poults, Ujvala Deepthi Gadde

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Coccidiosis is a common enteric disease of turkeys that is caused by protozoan parasites belonging to the genus Eimeria. There are about seven species of Eimeria that affect turkeys and of these E. adenoeides is the most pathogenic and commonly recognized. Infection with Eimeria is known to induce a long lasting protective immunity in chickens, but nothing is known regarding the acquisition of immunity to Eimeria in turkeys. The experiments reported here were aimed at investigating the biological and cellular immune response to E. adenoeides in turkey poults under different conditions of exposure. In experiment 1 (Chapter II), 20 …

The Relationship Among Ankle Function, Functional Capacity, And Body Composition To Balance In Geriatric Populations, Joseph Robert Chaney

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this research study was to identify significant relationships among measures of ankle strength, ankle range of motion, body composition, and functional capacity to balance ability in geriatric populations which may potentially assist in identifying older individuals with increased risk of falling. A battery of five test (ankle strength assessments, ankle range of motion , DXA, functional fitness, and balance) were administered to 20 participants (6 males, 14 females, mean age 69.78 ± 3.98) that had indicated to be at least 65 years of age or older and no history of falls within the previous 12 months. …

Proteomic Studies Of The Influenza Virus-Human Cell Interactions: The Responses Of Host Cell Protein Expression To Viral Infection And The Novel Host Proteins That Interact With Virus Protein Ns1, Yimeng Wang

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Influenza A viruses (IAVs) continue to be a threat to human health. Despite extensive studies, the mechanisms underlying the IAVs-host interactions during IAV infection remain elusive. We employed quantitative proteomic methods to systematically explore the host cell protein expression responses to IAV infection and examine the function of a critical IAV protein called NS1 by identifying its host binding partners. Specifically, we used a 2-dimentional gel electrophoresis (2-DE) based proteomic method to screen host proteins whose expression was substantially altered by IAV. One critical protein named IκB kinase-gamma (IKKγ) was found to be significantly down-regulated during IAV infection. Functional studies …

Efficacy Of Selected Disinfectants Against Salmonella Isolates From Broiler Breeders, Arslan Aslam

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Salmonella have been causing huge losses in the poultry industry and have been a major cause food borne illness for many years. Salmonella infections in humans from poultry have been increasing. Good hygiene and biosecurity measures can reduce the incidence of Salmonella infections at poultry farms. Disinfection is a most important measure taken to prevent Salmonellosis in poultry. This research was conducted to determine the efficacy of 12 disinfectants against seven Salmonella isolates in the presence and absence of organic matter. A bacterial solution of a specific optical density value was prepared and .05x, .1x and .2x concentrations of disinfectants …