Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

The Role Of Policy And The Built Environment On Children's In-School Physical Activity In The Mississippi Delta, Abigail Gamble

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

School environments provide an ideal setting for children to develop and adopt active living behaviors as a way of life. The primary purpose of this investigation was to describe state, district and school level policy regarding in-school physical activity, the school built environment and in-school physical activity of children ages 6 through 11 years in the Mississippi delta. A mixed-methods approach was used to garner a rich understanding of how current policy and the built environment influence in-school physical activity and weight status. Eleven public schools in three districts representing two counties in the Mississippi delta participated in this investigation. …

Nose To Brain Delivery Of Therapeutic Agents, Siva Ram Kiran Vaka

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The potential treatment approaches for various disorders associated with central nervous system are invasive and do not allow frequent administration. Brain targeting of drugs by intranasal route is a safe and noninvasive method of drug delivery which allows frequent administration and is certainly more patient compliant than the currently folloinvasive methods. In this study, the plausibility of delivering neurotrophins [nerve growth factor (NGF) and brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)], neurotrophinogenic agents (ex: carnosic acid) and antibiotics (ex: cefotaxime) to brain via nose-brain pathway using chitosan as barrier modulating agent was investigated. In vitro permeation studies of fluorescein isothiocyanate dextran (FD40k) …

Avian Cerebellum Specialization In Relation To Acrobatic Courtship Displays In Manakins (Pipridae), Steven Ray Wilkening

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The courtship displays of male manakins (Pipridae) involve an array of acrobatic and postural elements. Previously it was found that species with elaborate displays exhibit specializations in motor planning and coordination areas of the brain. Several studies have suggested a relationship between cerebellum (Cb) morphology and distinct motor-related functions for the anterior Cb (somatosensory, flying, hopping/walking), posterior Cb (vision, audition, flying, hopping/walking), and vestibular Cb (flying, hopping/walking, vestibular). The anterior, posterior and vestibular Cb as well as basic morphological features of the Cb were measured and tested for a relationship with courtship display complexity in manakins. I compared Cb morphology …

Professional Preparation Of Secondary Health Education Teachers In Mississippi, Ensley Howell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the professional preparation of secondary health education teachers in Mississippi. All four-year institutions of higher learning were contacted to determine the requirements for an approved program in order to obtain a supplemental endorsement in health, to compare the similarities and differences, and to determine the extent to which the approved programs reflect the ten content areas of the Mississippi Comprehensive Health Framework. This study also examined the status of secondary school health education programs in Mississippi by utilizing selected data from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease …

The Relationship Between Psychological Contract Breach, Professional Identity, And Organizational Citizenship Behaviors: An Equity Sensitivity Perspective, Leigh Ann Bynum

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: The purpose of this research was twofold. First, it tested the effects of the type of perceived psychological contract breach, equity sensitivity, and identity salience on an important employee outcome, namely organizational citizenship behaviors. Second, the research explored the effects that discipline and pharmacist status have on organizational citizenship behaviors. More precisely, the effect of equity sensitivity on the relationships between identity salience (discipline or school), type of perceived contract breach (administrative or professional) and the performance of organizational citizenship behaviors toward the School of Pharmacy by pharmacy school faculty was examined. Methods: Existing organizational citizenship, identity salience and …

Do Statins Improve Outcomes In Patients With Asthma On Inhaled Corticosteroid Therapy? A Retrospective Analysis Of The Mississippi Medicaid Database 2002-2004., Tasneem Taher Lokhandwala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Animal model studies and clinical trials have looked at the potential benefits of the anti-inflammatory properties of statins in asthma management with contradictory results. Therefore, the objective of this study is to determine if asthma patients on concurrent statin therapy are less likely to have asthma-related hospitalizations and emergency room (ER) visits. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using Medicaid data for 2002–2004. Asthma patients ?18 years old were identified using the ICD9 code 493.xx, from Jul 1, 2002 through Dec 31, 2003. The index date for an exposed subject was any date within the identification period, 180 days prior …

Biophysical Techniques Of Transcutaneous Drug Sampling And Drug Delivery, Srinivasa Murthy Sammeta

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monitoring the time course of drug in the skin is critical for determining the frequency and dose of drug administration from safety and efficacy perspectives. Intermittent blood sampling is used as a surrogate for approximating concentration of drugs in the tissues, which leads to blood loss and discomfort to patients. A novel noninvasive technique called “Electroporation and transcutaneous sampling” (ETS) was developed for estimating the drug concentration in the skin extracellular fluid. The application of ETS technique in studying dermatokinetics of cephalexin, ciprofloxacin, and 8-methoxypsoralen was investigated. The results demonstrated the ability of ETS technique in dermatokinetic studies of drugs …

The Strategic Value Driver Model: A Methodology For Examining Value Drivers For A New Pharmaceutical Product In Diabetes, Sumit Verma

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objective. Objective The primary objective of this study was to explore a new methodological framework—Strategic Value Driver Model (SVDM), for examining value drivers for new pharmaceutical inhaled insulin in diabetes. Methods. A cross-sectional, internet-based survey was used to collect a sample of 483 Type 2 diabetic patients via national panel of diabetic patients. The sample had two subgroups—insulin-naïve (52.9%, n=255) and insulin-user (47.1%, n=227) patients. The comparative performance of insulin syringes/vials, insulin pen and inhaled insulin was captured on four product attributes (i.e., safety, convenience, clinical efficacy and cost) after asking the patients to report the importance of these attributes. …

Pharmacokinetic Evaluation Of A Novel Compound, Sn79, A Putative Sigma-2 Receptor Antagonist, By Intravenous And Oral Administration In Rats, Harsha Vinnakota

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Considering the alarming rates at which substance drug abuse, especially cocaine, is increasing in today's society, there is a lot of impetus on the development of medications that can effectively help alleviate its toxicity and addiction. The affinity of cocaine to sigma receptors (sigma-1 and sigma-2) rendered the hypothesis that blocking sigma receptors could be a possible mechanism to attenuate cocaine-induced toxicity and addiction. In this view, SN79, a synthetic compound with selectivity to both sigma-1 and sigma-2 receptors garnered our attraction for its use as an antagonist. This dissertation encompasses detailed investigation of SN79 from drug discovery and development …

Natural Products Chemistry Of Leads Acting On Mrsa, Hcv, Malaria, And Depression Disorders, Mohamed Ali Mohamed Ali Ibrahim

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Nature has proven to be an endless source of abundant diversity of chemical entities with varying biological activities. The World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 80% of the world's population depends on traditional medicine for treating their everyday health problems. According to Gordon Cragg, former director of the natural products branch of the NCI, ″Nature has produced wonderfully complex molecules that no synthetic chemist could ever dream up.″ Moreover, he emphasized that over 60% of cancer therapeutics have been derived from nature whether directly through isolation or indirectly through semi-synthesis. Various examples have been reported such as extracts from Catharanthus …

Novel Approaches To The Control Of Infectious Diseases, Damaris Agathe Meujo Foping

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As part of our ongoing efforts to find new drug leads against infectious diseases, several terrestrial and marine macro- and microorganisms were investigated. Several bioactive molecules, presented below, were isolated from these natural products. The mass-screening of dozens of marine Actinomycetes was completed and several Streptomyces with interesting biological activity profiles identified. A few examples are the Streptomyces code H747 and the Streptomyces code H668, a bacterium from which a new (5) and two known polyethers, the antimalarial agent K41-A (6) and its C-29 analog (7) were isolated. Five new six-membered ring cyclic peroxides: plakinastreloic acid A (8), methyl plakinastreloate …

Biopharmaceutic And Pharmacokinetic Evaluation Of Hesperidin And Hesperetin For Ocular Delivery, Ramesh Srirangam

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The bioflavonoid hesperidin and its aglycone hesperetin are promising candidates for the treatment of diabetic retinopathy and diabetic macular edema because of their pharmacological properties. The objective of this project was to characterize the biopharmaceutic and pharmacokinetic characteristics of hesperidin and hesperetin for ocular delivery, especially with respect to the distribution of these compounds to the posterior segment of the eye. Hesperidin and hesperetin were found to be water insoluble compounds. Although they demonstrated good permeability across the ocular tissues, hesperetin's permeability was found to be higher than that of hesperidin. Hesperidin demonstrated symmetrical transcorneal and transretinal permeation whereas hesperetin …

New Synthetic Methodologies For The Construction And Optimization Of Natural Products, Amir E. Wahba

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Toxicity associated with bioactive natural products is considered as a major obstacle in the process of drug discovery. Manzamine A (MA) is one such candidate that requires optimization to overcome the toxicity problem. The manzamine alkaloids represents a unique class of natural products that have shown a diverse range of bioactivities including antimicrobial, antiparasitic, cytotoxicity, anti-inflammatory, pesticidial, and was shown to possess activity against HIV-1 and AIDS opportunistic infections. The greatest potential for the manzamine alkaloids appears to be against malaria and neuroinflammation. Experimental and modeling studies suggested that the planer ?-carboline moiety can act as DNA intercalator and hence …

Factors Affecting Community Pharmacy Owners' Attitudes Toward And Likelihood To Adopt Rxsync Service(Sm), Namita Joshi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Factors affecting community pharmacy owners' attitudes toward and likelihood to adopt RxSync ServiceSM. Objective. There is an increased recognition of the role of pharmacists in the provision of patient care services. Therefore, understanding factors that affect pharmacists' attitudes and likelihood to implement pharmacy services is warranted. The objective of this study is to examine how community pharmacy owners' entrepreneurial and demographic characteristics, perceptions of pharmacy service characteristics (perceived benefit, perceived compatibility, and perceived complexity), workload perceptions, and the number of pharmacy services they already offer, affect their attitude toward and likelihood to adopt RxSync ServiceSM, a newly developed prescription management …

Pharmacy-Level Quality Measures And The Consumer: Preferences And Attitudes, Zainab S. Shahpurwala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives. To determine the perceptions of consumers toward community pharmacy quality measures and compare their perceptions regarding their pharmacy's overall quality before and after exposure to these measures. To explore the use of evaluative criteria applied by consumers to determine their preference for information related to these measures. Methods. Focus groups were used to refine attributes and levels used in the quantitative phase of the study. An Internet-based survey was administered to a national, online, consumer panel of community pharmacy patrons using maintenance medications. Descriptive statistics, MANOVA and t-tests were used to determine and compare perceptions related to the community …

Design, Synthesis, Biological Evaluation And Metabolic Stability Studies Of Sigma Receptor Ligands, Rohit Bhat

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Sigma receptors represent a unique family of proteins that includes two subtypes: sigma-1 and sigma-2. Sigma-1 receptors have been implicated in the behavioral and motivational effects of psychostimulants as well as in the pathophysiology of depression and Alzheimer's disease. Sigma-2 receptors are widely expressed on many tumor cells and they are believed to play an important role in tumor cell proliferation. Therefore, sigma receptors are attractive targets for developing pharmaceutical agents directed to the treatment of psychostimulant abuse, cancer, Alzheimer's disease as well as diagnostic agents for cancer and brain imaging. A derivatized 2(3H)-benzothiazolone, (3-(2-(azepan-1-yl)ethyl)-6-propylbenzo[ d]thiazol-2(3H)-one) was reported to have …

Case-Mix Adjustment Of Adherence Based Pharmacy Quality Indicator Scores, Sai Hurrish Dharmarajan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medication adherence has been shown to be influenced by demographics, health status and socio-economic status of the patient. Thus, adherence-based measures of pharmacy quality may be influenced by patient-related risk factors outside of the healthcare provider's control. This study examines the performance of a classical logistic regression model containing only patient characteristics and a random-effect model including patient characteristics and a pharmacy-specific effect in predicting medication adherence. These models were used to compute three different risk-adjusted scores on adherence-based pharmacy quality indicators: based on the classical logistic regression model (Method 1), the random effects model (Method 2) and the shrinkage …

Factors That Physicians Find Encouraging And Discouraging About Electronic Prescribing: A Quantitative Study, Krutika Satish Jariwala

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research objective. While the adoption of e-prescribing is growing, the Institute of Medicine's recommendations that all prescriptions be routed electronically by 2010 certainly has not been met. Therefore, the objective of this study is to compare the factors that physicians find encouraging and discouraging about e-prescribing based on their e-prescribing adoption status. Study design. Cross-sectional, descriptive design. An Internet-based survey was sent to national convenience sample of physicians. Using e-prescribing literature, 44 items were developed concerning various factors related to the adoption of e-prescribing. Physicians rated how much the factors encouraged them or discouraged them about e-prescribing. Analysis procedures included …

Part A: Studies Towards Total Synthesis Of An Anticancer And Antifungal Natural Product, Pseudolaric Acid B; Part B: Synthesis And Biological Evaluation Of Berkeleyamide A And Its Derivatives, Swapnil Jayant Kulkarni

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Part A: Studies towards total synthesis of an antifungal and anticancer agent, Pseudolaric acid B. Marked by the uncontrolled cell proliferation, cancer is one of the deadliest diseases, accounting for about 7.0 million deaths in 2007. Cancer is second leading cause of death worldwide, according to the American Cancer Society. Cancer chemotherapy has evolved through many years of painstaking research, and as a result, today we are able to cure at least some of cancers. One of the major impediments in the development of new drugs for treating cancer is that most of the approved drugs are themselves toxic and …

Market Response To Food And Drug Administration's Safety Warnings: A Case Study Using An Interrupted Time Series Analysis Of The Medicare Database For 2006-2008, Hafiz Oko-Osi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Objectives: To evaluate the impact of a safety warning on the utilization rates of thiazolidinedione oral anti-diabetes medication using an interrupted time series analysis. Methods: We extracted data from a five percent national sample of Medicare Part D beneficiaries for the periods between January 2006 and December 2008. Beneficiaries with Part D claims for thiazolidinediones were classified into appropriate-use, at risk, and contraindicated groups based on certain comorbid conditions. We assessed the effects of the May 2007 FDA safety warning about an ongoing safety review of rosiglitazone's potential to increase cardiovascular risks on thiazolidinedione utilization rates using an interrupted time …

Use Of Structure-And Ligand-Based Drug Design Tools For The Discovery Of Small Molecule Inhibitors Of Cysteine Proteases For The Treatment Of Malaria And Sars Infection, Falgun Shah

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A wide array of molecular modeling tools were utilized to design and develop inhibitors against cysteine protease of P. Falciparum Malaria and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS). A number of potent inhibitors were developed against cysteine protease and hemoglobinase of P. falciparum , referred as Falcipains (FPs), by the structure-based virtual screening of the focused libraries enriched in soft-electrophiles containing compounds. Twenty one diverse, non-peptidic, low micromolar hits were identified. A combined data mining and combinatorial library synthesis approach was performed to discover analogs of virtual screening hits and establish the structure-activity relationships (SAR). However, the resulting SAR of the …

Biopharmaceutical Approaches For Improved Drug Delivery Across Ocular Barriers, Ketan Hippalgaonkar

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The eye is protected from the external environment by various physiological and anatomical barriers. These barriers through there protective actions drastically diminish the ocular bioavailability of drugs. The corneal epithelium acts as a major barrier towards the permeation of hydrophilic agents, whereas poor aqueous solubility presents a formulation challenge for lipophilic compounds. Additionally, P-glycoprotein (P-gp) expressed on the retinal pigmented epithelium (RPE P-gp) limits the penetration of substrates, in therapeutically relevant concentrations, into the back-of-the-eye.

In the present research, use of penetration enhancers (chitosan, benzalkonium chloride (BAK) and ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA)) and formulation approaches (cyclodextrins and solid lipid nanoparticles (SLNs)) …