Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Predicting Flavonoid Ugt Regioselectivity With Graphical Residue Models And Machine Learning., Arthur Rhydon Jackson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Machine learning is applied to a challenging and biologically significant protein classification problem: the prediction of flavonoid UGT acceptor regioselectivity from primary protein sequence. Novel indices characterizing graphical models of protein residues are introduced. The indices are compared with existing amino acid indices and found to cluster residues appropriately. A variety of models employing the indices are then investigated by examining their performance when analyzed using nearest neighbor, support vector machine, and Bayesian neural network classifiers. Improvements over nearest neighbor classifications relying on standard alignment similarity scores are reported.

Comparison Of Ammonia And Particulate Matter Air Sample Concentrations At Task-Locations Within Swine Confinement Buildings., Earl Dan Bembry

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: A task-associated analysis of ammonia and particulate matter concentrations was conducted on swine farms in breeding and gestation barns. The purpose of this study was to determine if specific tasks performed by workers increase concentrations of ammonia and particulate matter exposure.

Methods: An exploratory, descriptive design was used to determine if swine confinement workers have increased ammonia and particulate matter exposure when performing assigned tasks in breeding and gestation barns. A convenience sample of 8 workers volunteered from among all breeding and gestation workers (n=24). Data collection occurred in the morning at each of the 8 farms …

A Longitudinal Study Of Fetal Tissue Transplantation Surgery: The Effects On Quality Of Life And Personality For Individuals With Parkinson's Disease, Cynthia C. Cole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Parkinson's disease (PD) is a chronic and progressive condition that affects the physical, emotional, and social functioning of individuals. Freed et al. (2001) conducted a double-blind sham-controlled trial to investigate the effectiveness of fetal tissue transplantation of those with PD. The authors investigated the effects of the surgery across the dimensions of physical and neurological functioning. A quality of life (QoL) study was conducted to determine if there were differences in QoL when comparing those who received the fetal tissue transplantation to those who received the sham surgery (McRae et al., 2004).

While there is little research on the effectiveness …

Weathering The Storm: Climate Change, Vulnerability, And Adaptation In Bangladesh, Justin Guay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The world is guaranteed a certain level of climate change due to the emissions already released into the atmosphere. Therefore, adaptation to climate change is necessary. Increases in diarrheal disease and malnutrition due to climate change are analyzed for Bangladesh. Relative risks determined by the World Health Organization, estimates obtained from agricultural models, and migration estimates are utilized to determine the costs associated with each of these diseases, as well as reductions in rice production and increases in urban migration. It is found that climate change will create additional costs for treating each of these diseases that equal .05% of …

Nectin-1 Is Degraded In Chlamydia Trachomatis-Infected Genital Epithelial Cells And Is Required For Herpes Simplex Virus Co-Infection-Induced C. Trachomatis Persistence., Jingru Sun

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The obligate intracellular bacterium Chlamydia trachomatis is the most common bacterial STD agent in the US. This bacterium has a unique biphasic developmental cycle in which the infectious elementary body (EB) infects a host mucosal epithelial cell and differentiates into the replicative form (the reticulate body or RB) within a modified vacuole called an inclusion. The RB later divides and develops back into an EB and is released, perpetuating the infectious cycle. When developing chlamydiae are exposed to unfavorable environmental conditions, they deviate from the normal developmental cycle into a non-infectious but viable state termed persistence. Previous data from our …

Consumer Perspectives Of Health During Prenatal Care In The Usa And Iceland: An Exploratory Study, Claudia Wiseman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: Prenatal care (PNC) is the healthcare service most often provided to women of childbearing age throughout the world. Poorly understood and defined, based on culture, and expensive for any healthcare system, PNC remains a target for change and improvement. The purpose of this cross-national qualitative research study using narrative inquiry methods was to explore consumer perspectives of individual health and routine PNC in the USA and Iceland. Methods: A purposive sampling technique was used to identify study participants (n = 32) from the United States (n = 16) and Iceland (n = 16). Data were collected via a semi …

Effects Of An Evidence-Based Intervention On Stress And Coping Of Families Of Critically Ill Trauma Patients, Sandra Knapp

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Problem/Purpose: Critical care nurses are frequently exposed to the stress experienced by their patients' families, yet they often do not have the knowledge or skills to help family members cope with the stress of critical illness. While needs and stressors of families of the critically ill have been researched extensively, no prior studies have been conducted to determine the effects of an evidence-based nursing intervention for reducing family members' stress and improving their coping skills. The purpose of this study was to determine if an evidence-based nursing intervention designed to address the needs of family members would reduce stress and …

Cohort Study Of Pain Behaviors In The Elderly Residing In Skilled Nursing Care, Allison Burfield

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

An integral concern across care settings is the prompt intervention for patients suffering with pain. Long-term care (LTC) settings present with unique challenges to assess and manage pain in resident populations. Pain assessment is especially challenging, because residents have varying degrees of cognition to communicate their pain, and clinician/staff knowledge of pain symptoms may be lacking. The purpose of this research was to improve the measurement of pain and outcomes of care for the elderly residing in skilled nursing care, especially those with cognitive-impairment. The specific aims of this study were to: 1) Determine the magnitude of the relationship between …

Awareness Of Increased Risk For Heart Disease And Cardiovascular Risk Factors In Women With Systemic Lupus Erythematosus, Patricia Weinstein

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Women with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) develop cardiovascular disease (CVD) earlier and at a more accelerated rate compared to women without SLE. Many women with SLE are unaware of their increased risk despite years spent in the health care system, thus giving the atherogenic process time to accrue damage. Research has not explained fully why women with SLE are unaware of their increased risk for CVD or why awareness does not correspond to risk-educing behaviors. Stage theories of behavior like the Precaution Adoption Process Model (PAPM) propose that health behavior change proceeds through qualitatively different stages, and people at one …

Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Of Toxin Resistance For Endoplasmic Reticulum Translocating Toxins, Christopher Massey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The endoplasmic reticulum (ER) is the site of co- and post-translational modification for secretory proteins. In order to prevent vesicular transport and secretion of misfolded or misassembled proteins, a highly regulated mechanism called ER-associated degradation (ERAD) is employed. This pathway recognizes misfolded proteins in the ER lumen and targets them to the cytosol for ubiquitination and subsequent degradation via the 26S proteasome. Sec61 and Derlin-1 are ER pores through which export occurs. AB-type protein toxins such as cholera toxin (CT), Shiga toxin (ST), exotoxin A (ETA), and ricin have evolved means of exploiting the ERAD pathway in order to reach …

A Model Of Treating Hyperfunctional Voice Disorders For School Age Children Within A Serious Gaming Environment, Suzanne King

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study is to test the feasibility of implementing a video-game based intervention protocol as a means to improve therapy compliance in school age children with hyperfunctional voice disorders. Three levels of modification were made to an existing entertainment software program in order to implement the therapeutic protocol and test compatibility. The third level of modification included a two-phase quasi-experimental single subject design with a school age participant receiving the video game therapy protocol and traditional therapy for equal time. The independent variables for this study included the mode of voice therapy delivery (traditional vs. video …

Microscopic Analysis Of Sympathetic And Parasympathetic Distribution, Terminal Morphology, And Interaction In Whole-Mount Atria, Scott Harden

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The sympathetic (SNS) and parasympathetic (PSNS) branches of the autonomic nervous system (ANS) innervate the heart, exerting excitatory and inhibitory influences (respectively) over cardiac functions (heart rate, AV conduction velocity, and contractility). However, the distribution and structure of SNS and PSNS innervation has not yet been well studied. Detailed characterization of the distributional organization and structural morphology of the SNS and PSNS in normal states is essential to the study of pathological autonomic remodeling. The present study utilized double immunohistochemical labeling techniques to examine tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) immunoreactive (IR) SNS and vesicular acetylcholine transporter (VAChT) IR PSNS axons and terminal …

Zinc-Finger Protein Mcpip In Cell Death And Differentiation, Craig Younce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1) plays a critical role in the development of cardiovascular diseases. How MCP-1 contributes to the development of heart disease is not understood. We present evidence that MCP-1 causes death in cardiac myoblasts, H9c2 by inducing oxidative stress, ER stress and autophagy via a novel Znfinger protein, MCP-1 induced protein (MCPIP). MCPIP expression caused cell death and knockdown of MCPIP, attenuated MCP-1 induced cell death. Expression of MCPIP resulted in induction of iNOS and production of reactive oxygen (ROS). It caused induction of NADPH oxidase subunit phox47 and its translocation to the cytoplasmic membrane. Oxidative stress led …

Epigenetic Control Mechanisms In Somatic Cells Mediated By Dna Methyltransferase 1, Bongyong Lee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

DNA methylation regulates gene expression through a complex network of protein/protein and protein/DNA interactions in chromatin. The maintenance methylase, DNA methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1), is a prominent enzyme in the process that is linked to DNA replication and drives the heritable nature of epigenetic modifications in somatic cells. The mechanistic details that explain how DNMT1 catalytic action is directed in a chromatin setting are not well understood. We hypothesize that post translational modifications and a variety of protein-protein interactions processes are key regulatory elements that set the methylation of CpG elements essential for normal growth behavior in somatic cells. These fundamental …

A Model For Electrical Communication Between Cochlear Implants And The Brain, Douglas A. Miller

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the last thirty years, cochlear implants have become an invaluable instrument in the treatment of severe-to-profound hearing impairment. An important aspect of research in the continued development of cochlear implants is the in vivo assessment of signal processing algorithms intended to improve perception of speech and other auditory signals. In trying to determine how closely cochlear implant recipients process sound relative to the processing done by a normal auditory system, various assessment techniques have been applied. The most common technique has been measurement of auditory evoked potentials (AEPs), which involves the recording of neural responses to auditory stimulation. Depending …

Image Processing Of Oct Glaucoma Images And Information Theory Analysis, Shuting Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Glaucoma is a group of optic nerve disease with progressive structural changes leading to loss of visual function. A careful examination and detection of changes in the optic nerve is the key to early diagnosis of glaucoma. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) is one of the known techniques of diagnosis of glaucoma. The patients' eyes are scanned and sub-surface images are captured from optical nerves. Captured OCT images usually suffer from noise and therefore image enhancement techniques can help doctors in better analysis of OCT images and diagnosis of glaucoma. In this thesis, we propose three successful algorithms for enhancing the …

Bacterial Selenoproteins: A Role In Pathogenesis And Targets For Antimicrobial Development, Sarah Rosario

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Selenoproteins are unique proteins in which selenocysteine is inserted into the polypeptide chain by highly specialized translational machinery. They exist within all three kingdoms of life. The functions of these proteins in biology are still being defined. In particular, the importance of selenoproteins in pathogenic microorganisms has received little attention. We first established that a nosocomial pathogen, Clostridium difficile, utilizes a selenoenzyme dependent pathway for energy metabolism. Following this initial characterization, we demonstrate that this pathway is linked to production of toxins by this organism. Finally, we show that interruption of selenium metabolism is a viable pathway for development of …

Categorical Perception Of Stop Consonants In Children With Autism, Laura Bourdeau

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine whether children with autism recognize the same perceptual voicing boundaries of stop consonants as normally developing children of the same age group. This was explored using three groups of participants: ten children with autism between the ages of 8-14, five typically developing children between the ages of 8-14, and five typically developing seven-year-old children. Children in all groups listened to initial stop consonant syllables with voicing contrasts, with voiced and voiceless cognates presented. The initial consonants were altered along a voice onset time continuum within the typically perceived boundaries of each consonant. …

The Effect Of A Commercially Available Caffeine Based Dietary Supplement On 40-Kilometer Time Trial Performance, Lee A. Weidauer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Purpose: To determine wheather ot not the nutritional supplement PreRace containing L-Taurine, Citrulline Malate, Quercetin, DiMethyl Amino Ethanol, Caffeine, Metabromine, Catechin, and Malic acid will improve performance in an indoor 40 Kilometer cycling time trial.
Methods: Seven male cyclists ages 21-58 participated in a placebo-controlled investigation which consisted of two trials in which they consumed either the supplement PreRace or aloe vera juice. In each of the trials the placebo or supplement was mixed with a sports beverage. Subjects performed a 40 kilometer time trial and measurements of oxygen consumption and lactate were taken every 15 minutes as well as …