Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Development Of Proteomic Characterization And Speciation Techniques Utilizing Tryptic Peptides With Maldi-Tof Ms And Lc-Esi Ms-Ms, Jennifer Marie Kooken

Theses and Dissertations

The characterization of microbes which can be opportunists and pathogens (e.g., methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA)) is important in understanding and potentially treating diseases caused by various bacterial species. Common genera found in the human skin micro-biome include Micrococcus and Staphylococcus, but there only a limited number of tests to differentiate these genera and/or species. My research reflects methods development from distinguishing one closely related genera from another and then expanded to species identification. Tryptic peptides were analyzed by MALDI TOF MS and the mass profiles compared with those of a reference strain in both genus and species identification. Aconitate …

Effects Of Dna Damage And Cdk Inhibitors On The Nucleoli, Vineet Garg

Theses and Dissertations

The nucleolus is the primary site of ribogenesis and consists of three compartments, namely, fibrillar center (FC), dense fibrillar component (DFC) and granular component (GC). Recent studies have observed a novel structure distinct from these three compartments which forms in the nucleolus upon DNA damage called Intranucleolar body (INoB). Previous studies in our laboratory have found INoBs forming in HT1080 fibrosarcoma cell lines after ectopic overexpression of damage-inducible cell cycle inhibitor p21. This INoB formation has been observed to be decreased by Senexin A which is an inhibitor of transcription regulating kinases CDK8/CDK19.

Here we show that INoB formation correlates …

The Relationship Between Electronic Health Record Implementation And Outcomes Of Care For Three Cardiovascular Procedures, Deshia Ann Leonhirth

Theses and Dissertations

Background. The U.S. healthcare movement to improve quality and patient outcomes has prompted investigations into tools that can assist in these aims. Electronic health records (EHRs) are one tool proposed by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). The objective of this original dissertation research was to examine the relationship between electronic health record functionalities and two outcomes of care as proxies for quality: risk-adjusted mortality for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) repair, coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) and log estimated cost-per-discharge. Methods. This study used 2009-2010 hospital inpatient administrative discharge data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), …

Assessment Of The Effectiveness Of An Innovative Screening Colonoscopy Protocol In Producing High Quality Performance And Outcomes By Trained Primary Care Physicians, Yi Jhen Li

Theses and Dissertations

Colorectal cancer (CRC) is the 3rd most prevalent cancer and 2nd leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. Colonoscopies have been recommended as the preferred screening method to prevent cancer by removing polyps before they transform into cancer. Although colonoscopy every 10 years is considered to be the preferred screening method, it is not perfect mainly owing to the variable quality of screening colonoscopy under community-based practice conditions. Although the effectiveness of colonoscopy in preventing CRC is documented, screening colonoscopy coverage in the US population remains low. This is partly due to low colonoscopy capacity due to a shortage …

Characterization Of The Role Of Fro6 In Metal Homeostasis In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Margo Ellen Maynes

Theses and Dissertations

Iron deficiency is the most common human nutritional disorder in the world today, affecting approximately 2 billon people worldwide, almost a third of the world's population. For most of the world's population, plant foods serve as the major source of dietary iron. One approach that may contribute towards the solution of iron deficiency is the development of crop plants that contain higher levels of bioavailable iron. This project focuses on FRO6, a ferric chelate reductase in Arabidopsis thaliana that is thought to reduce apoplastic iron for transport across the plasma membrane in leaf cells. We hypothesize therefore that FRO6 controls …

The Role Of Host-Tumor Interactions In Liver Metastasis Of Colorectal Cancer, Yu Zhang

Theses and Dissertations

Colon cancer is the third most frequent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer deaths in the United States. Liver metastasis is the major cause of death in colon cancer. Successful metastases depend on productive collaborations between tumor cells and host-derived cells in the tumor microenvironment, target organ environments, and cells in the hematopoietic compartment.

To identify the host-tumor interactions promoting liver metastasis and their molecular and cellular mediators, an orthotopic mouse model of liver metastasis of colon cancer was established that recapitulates all stages of tumor growth and metastasis. A highly metastatic mouse carcinoma cell line CT26-FL3 was …

The Role Of Reactive Oxygen Species In Cell Death Induced By Thymidylate Synthase Inhibitors, Ufuk Ozer

Theses and Dissertations

Thymidylate synthase (TS) catalyzes the reductive transfer of a methyl group from N5,N10-methylenetetrahydrofolate (CH₂-THF) to dUMP, forming dTMP and dihydrofolate (DHF). It is generally accepted that inhibition of the enzyme leads to a deficiency of dTMP, followed by genome damage and programmed cell death. As such, TS has long been viewed as an important target of anti-neoplastic agents, such as 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) and raltitrexed (RTX), which lead to inhibition of the enzyme. Oxidative stress is well-recognized as having a central role in cellular response to a number of DNA damaging agents, and may be a proximate cause of …

An Assessment Of Injury Presentation To Determine Elder Abuse Prevalence In South Carolina, Brittani L. Harmon

Theses and Dissertations

As the number of individuals age 60 years of age and older continues to rise in the United States, the care and safety of this population will be a growing issue. There are many contributing factors and reasons why elder abuse occurs. Elder abuse is an emerging issue; however there is limited research and understanding in the area. There are barriers to the detection and prevention of the issue. Emergency department staff is essential to the identification and detection of possible abuse, and it is important that these providers understand the risk factors and physical manifestations of abuse and neglect …

The Anti-Angiogenic Effects Of Sparstolonin B, Henry Rhodes Bateman

Theses and Dissertations

Sparstolonin B (SsnB) is a novel bioreactive compound isolated from Sparganium stoloniferum, an herb historically used in Traditional Chinese Medicine as an anti-tumor agent. SsnB has demonstrated anti-inflammatory properties, inhibiting Toll-like receptor mediated inflammation in isolated macrophages and in mice. Angiogenesis, the process of new capillary formation from existing blood vessels, is dysregulated in many pathological disorders, including atherosclerosis, diabetic retinopathy, and tumor growth. The goal of the project was to investigate the anti-angiogenic effects of SsnB.

The first part of the project utilized in vitro functional assays to study how SsnB affected endothelial cells. SsnB inhibited endothelial cell tube …

Linking Obesity To Colorectal Cancer: Recent Insights Into Plausible Biological Mechanisms, Catherine Guffey

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity has emerged as a leading environmental risk factor for the development of CRC. However, the mechanisms underlying this relationship have not yet been fully explained. Recent literature has focused on 1) inflammatory processes, 2) adipokines, and 3) estrogen. Obesity-enhanced inflammation is largely orchestrated by increases in adipose tissue macrophages leading to the secretion of TNF-alpha, MCP-1, and IL-6, all of which are linked to CRC. Adiponectin is decreased with obesity and has been reported to be negatively associated with CRC, while leptin, which is increased, is positively associated with the disease. Estrogen has been shown to influence CRC, although …

Resveratrol Attenuates The Development Of Trans-Aortic Constriction (Tac) Induced Heart Failure In Mice, Prakash Kumar Gupta

Theses and Dissertations

Heart failure (HF) still remains the leading cause of morbidity and mortality and imposes severe global affliction and enormous cost on the healthcare system. Although current pharmacological therapies have shown to slow down the progression of HF, but seems to have reached their limits in improving overall patient prognosis. Thus, an immediate call for novel alternate therapies are needed which act independently as well as in conjunction with current treatment modality. Studies were performed in the well-established transverse aortic constriction (TAC) model of chronic pressure overload (PO) in mice. In the first series of studies, Male C57BL6 mice (26-28 g) …

Role Of Microrna-155 In A Mouse Model Of Colon Cancer., Claire Mitchell Midyette

Theses and Dissertations

Colorectal cancer remains the third most common malignancy and the fourth most common cause of cancer mortality worldwide. Dysregulated miRNA levels are associated with several types of malignancies and may serve as important biomarkers and/or therapeutic targets in colorectal cancer. We examined the role of miRNA-155 on tumorigenesis and associated symptoms using a well-characterized mouse model of colorectal cancer. C57BL/6 wild-type mice and miRNA-155-/- mice (n=7-13 group) were given a single injection of AOM (10mg/Kg) followed by 3 cycles of DSS (2% in the water for 1 week followed by 2 weeks of plain water). A C57BL/6 wild-type group that …

High Fat Diet Induced Obesity In A Mouse Model For Colorectal Cancer, Kennerly Clinton Patrick

Theses and Dissertations

Obesity is widely correlated with the incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC). The exact mechanisms that link obesity to CRC risk have not yet been fully established, and only a limited number of animal models are available to study pathways involved in obesity-related colon carcinogenesis. The objective of this study was to determine the influence of HFD-induced obesity on AOM/DSS-mediated colorectal tumorigenesis, tumor proliferation, and symptom severity. Male C57BL/6 mice were fed a novel high fat diet, designed to mimic the standard American diet (12 % saturated fat & 28 % unsaturated fat), at 4 weeks of age until 16 weeks …

Understanding Online And Offline Sex Seeking Behavior Among Young Men Who Have Sex With Men: Implications For Hiv/Aids Interventions, Winston Eromosele Abara

Theses and Dissertations

Men who have sex with men (MSM), especially in the southeastern US are disproportionately impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Young MSM and African American MSM are particularly burdened accounting for a greater proportion of HIV/AIDS diagnoses. Factors such as risky sexual behavior, perception of sexual risk, ignorance about HIV sero-status, internalized homonegativity/homophobia (IH), stigma, and alcohol and illegal drug use have been advanced as reasons for this disproportionate burden. HIV/AIDS prevention efforts aimed at stemming the epidemic among MSM have focused on locations where MSM meet other men for sex such as parks, beaches, bathhouses, adult book stores, clubs, and …

Smokers' Neurological Responses To Imagery From Cigarette Package Warning Labels, Johann Fridrik Fridriksson

Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco use is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States. The Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act was signed into law in 2009 and gave the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) the authority to implement pictorial health warning labels (HWLs) on cigarette packages. Multiple studies investigating self-reported affective, cognitive and behavioral impacts of HWLs suggest that the most effective warnings include imagery that depicts physical damage to the body due to smoking. However, self-report methods of assessment used in these studies may be biased. Far less is known about how HWLs directly modulate brain activity. …

Investigating Developmental Patterns Of Symptom And Impairment Change Among Youth With Adhd, Subthreshold Adhdand Youth Without Adhd, Lorie Love Geryk

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction. Despite a substantial prevalence of subthreshold Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and research indicating that many youth with this disorder have impaired functioning and negative outcomes, few studies have considered patterns of symptom and functioning change for youth with probable ADHD, subthreshold ADHD and youth without ADHD transitioning from childhood to adolescence. Additionally, we are not aware of any studies examining predictors of impairment severity among youth with subthreshold ADHD, and few studies have examined predictors of treatment utilization and patterns of symptom and functioning change based on medication status for youth with subthreshold ADHD compared to youth with ADHD. Methods. …

K+ Channels And Beta3 Adrenergic Receptors As New Pharmacological Targets For Overactive Bladder Treatment, Serge Amani Yao Afeli

Theses and Dissertations

Overactive bladder (OAB) is a pathophysiological condition which is characterized by the urinary bladder's failure to achieve proper storage of urine. OAB has a tremendous impact on the patient's quality of life by disturbing his sleep, work, and sexual activity. About 17% of Americans are affected with this disease and most patients experience symptoms of urgency, frequent urination, and abnormally elevated detrusor smooth muscle (DSM) contractility. Despite, numerous attempts to treat the disorder in the past with antimuscarinics and now with beta3 adrenergic receptors (beta3-AR agonists), OAB still remains a serious public health issue because the long term efficacy of …

Narrative Discourse In Aphasia: Main Concept And Core Lexicon Analyses Of The Cinderella Story, Emily Patricia Dillow

Theses and Dissertations

Discourse is a highly individualized and complex speech act essential for effective communication in daily life. Individuals with language disorders demonstrate impaired narrative ability and a resultant decline in functional communication (Webster, Franklin, & Howard, 2007). Discourse analysis is often time-consuming and impractical for everyday clinical use. Most informative discourse measures require specialized training to perform and are time-consuming. A clinically practical measurement is lacking. Standardized core lexicon and main concept lists for discourse tasks could allow clinicians to efficiently assess discourse skills and predict activity and participation limitations. This study presents the development and application of a core lexicon …

The Use Of Ultrasound As An Adjunct To X-Ray For The Localization And Removal Of Soft Tissue Foreign Bodies In An Urgent Care Setting, Stacy Lane Merritt

Theses and Dissertations

Embedded soft tissue foreign bodies are common complaints of patients presenting to rural urgent care centers. The removal of soft tissue foreign bodies present challenges for the healthcare provider when objects are radiolucent and cannot be identified on readily available diagnostic imaging modalities such as plain radiographs (X-rays). Ultrasound has been introduced in the literature as a useful adjunct to X-rays for the localization and removal of soft tissue foreign bodies. The purpose of this research utilization project was to report the use of bedside ultrasound by healthcare providers as an adjunct to X-ray for the localization and removal of …

Improving The Diagnostic Accuracy Of Failure-To-Rescue, Amelia Marie Joseph

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to successfully rescue patients from complications has been shown to be a good measure of quality care processes in hospitals. Failure-to-rescue (FTR) has been defined using secondary International Classification of Disease (ICD-9 CM) codes. Studies of FTR using these codes have demonstrated satisfactory accuracy when compared to clinical events documented in the medical record. However, a subset of the original codes for FTR, thought to be sensitive to nursing care, have failed to show the same level of accuracy. This study examined the possibility of using clinica lpredictors to identify failure-to-rescue.

Secondary analysis of a previous dataset was …

The Effect Of Radiation On Myofiber Properties In Mouse Skeletal Muscle, Dennis K. Fix

Theses and Dissertations

Radiotherapy has been proven as an effective and necessary treatment for cancer. The dose given is dependent on cancer type and location. It has been previously established that skeletal muscle is the most radiation tolerant tissue in the body. With that being said there is a current gap in the literature that is missing the effect of radiation doses on the histological properties of skeletal muscle. The overall purpose of this study is to determine the effect that a single unfractionated dose of 16Gy radiation has on histological properties of myofibers when compared to 4 fractionated doses of 4Gy . …

Emergency Department Triage Acuity Ratings: Embedding Esi Into The Electronic Medical Record, Candace Whitfield

Theses and Dissertations

A need for improvement in the triage process was identified in the ED of a southeastern healthcare facility. Lewin's Change Theory guided the implementation of an evidence-based quality improvement project (QIP) to improve the efficiency of the triage process using and embedded Emergency Severity Index (ESI) triage acuity-level assistant template in the electronic medical record (EMR). The target interventions were ED throughput times, the number of patients left without being seen (LWOT), and RN satisfaction.

Methods included the implementation of education interventions for all ED RNs that included a presentation, use of ESI algorithm badges for each nurse, and weekly …

Foot Assessment In The Dialysis Unit, Karen Robertson

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT In 2010 the number of patients requiring renal replacement therapy in the United States increased by 1% to 593,086. This number was comprised of 593,086 in center hemodialysis patients, 179,361 functioning kidney transplants, and 29,773 peritoneal dialysis patients.

A principal difficulty in the end stage renal disease (ESRD) population is lower extremity amputation from vascular complications and nonhealing wounds. The incidence of nontraumatic lower extremity amputation among the end stage renal disease population in the United States is ten times higher when compared to the general public. Mortality rates for ESRD patients following amputation are elevated with less than …

Evaluation Of Mass Media Campaigns To Change Smokers' Knowledge, Attitudes, And Behaviors In China And Taiwan, Li-Ling Huang

Theses and Dissertations

Research in high income countries (HICs) suggest that anti-smoking television advertisements are most effective if they contain emotionally evocative graphic messages or personal testimonials that depict serious consequences from smoking. The ability to effectively translate these messaging strategies to low- and middle-income (LMICs) countries outside of Western cultures remains understudied. It is critical to determine which smoking cessation messages work best in LMICs because they increasingly bear the global burden of tobacco-related disease. To date there is limited evidence on the efficacy of tobacco control mass media campaigns and the relative effectiveness of different tobacco control messaging strategies in China …

Bmi At Diagnosis And Its Association With Markers Of Hiv Disease Progression And Cardiovascular Disease Risk., Kelly Deshon Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Highly active antiretroviral treatment (HAART) has transformed the state of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) from acute to chronic. As a result, the long-term effect of HAART has caused weight gain among HIV-infected individuals, leading to an increased prevalence of overweight and obesity. Increased Body Mass Index (BMI) has been associated with adverse health outcomes in non-HIV and HIV populations, yet among HIV-infected individuals, a higher BMI at diagnosis offers a slower progression from HIV to AIDS. Pre-HAART, studies reported that obese HIV-infected individuals have higher increases in CD4 count over time. However post-HAART, some report that overweight HIV-infected individuals with …