Growth Stimulation Of Pulmonary Adenocarcinoma And Their Cells Of Origin By "Chemopreventive" Agents That Increase Intracellular Camp, Hussein Abdulhadi Nasser Al-Wadei

Doctoral Dissertations

Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer mortality for men and women in the United States, with a high mortality rate and a five-year survival rate of less than 15%. Cancer ranks second as a cause of death for Americans after cardiovascular disease. The American Cancer Society (ACS) reported 171,900 new cases of lung cancer for 2003 (ACS, 2003). Peripheral adenocarcinoma (PAC) of the lung has increased dramatically over the last 20 years and is the leading histological type of lung cancer in smokers and nonsmokers in industrialized countries, including the United States. Among the four main histological lung …

Inhibition Of Angiogenesis Using Rnai Technology, Yunsang Lee

Doctoral Dissertations

Ocular infection of Herpes Simplex Virus-1 (HSV-1) causes Herpetic Stromal Keratitis (HSK), which is a leading cause of infectious blindness. Although complex interactions of molecular and cellular events involve in the department of HSK, it has been known that angiogenesis is a key step for the HSK pathogenesis. Treatment of neutralizing antibody against vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) to inhibit VEGF activity reduced angiogenesis and HSK severity caused by infection of HSV-1 in mouse eyes. In addition, inactivation of cytokine which induces VEGF production and angiogenesis also reduced angiogenesis and HSK severity. Therefore, it has been proposed that VEGF or …

The Effects Of Nursing Back Rub On Pain And Wound Cytokines And The Relationship Between Pre-Cabg Mood And Post-Cabg Wound Cytokines, Kathlene D. Smith

Doctoral Dissertations

This study, guided by psychoneuroimmunology theory, examined the effects of a 10-minute nursing back rub in 20 coronary artery bypass graft (CABG) patients on pain and four proinflammatory wound cytokines (IL-1β, IL-6, IL-8, and TNF-α). It also examined the relationships between the Profile of Mood States (POMS) and the proinflammatory cytokines. A control group (n = 8) received time with the researcher, and an experimental group (n = 12) received a slow stroke effleurage back rub. All participants initially completed the POMS and after surgery, wound fluid was collected from the mediastinal chest tube before and after the intervention. Analysis …

Identification Of Ligand-Receptor Interactions Between Saccharomyces Cerevisiae Α-Factor Pheromone Receptor (Ste2p) And Its Tridecapeptide Ligand, Çağdaş Devrim Son

Doctoral Dissertations

G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are a class of integral membrane receptor proteins that are characterized by a signature seven-transmembrane (7TM) configuration. These receptors comprise a large and diverse gene family found in fungi, plants, and the animal kingdom. Recent studies with GPCRs have begun to elucidate their importance in many physiological processes, thus various human diseases are associated with GPCR pathology. Although the overall 3D structure of these receptors carry similar features, binding of an extraordinarily diverse array of ligands trigger many different biological pathways.

The α-factor receptor (Ste2p) of Saccharomyces cerevisiae belongs to the GPCR family. Upon the α-factor …

Control Of P27 Localization And Degradation By The Pi3 Kinase Akt/Pkb Pathway In Mcf-7 Breast Cancer Cells, Marissa J. Bradbury

Doctoral Dissertations

Breast cancer is caused by a variety of environmental and genetic factors that influence cell growth and survival. Changes in the level or function of cell cycle regulatory proteins are often associated with breast cancer. Low expression of the cell cycle inhibitor, p27^Kip1, is associated with aggressive breast tumors. Clinical observations have inspired studies to analyze p27 as a potential target for signal transduction pathways in cancer cells. The stability of p27 determines it’s ability to regulate the cell cycle, and changes in transcription and translation of p27 are less influential. The regulation of the cellular localization of …

Bad Is A Central Player In Cell Death And Cell Cycle Regulation In Breast Cancer Cells, Romaine Ingrid Fernando

Doctoral Dissertations

BAD is a Central Player in Cell Death and Cell Cycle Regulation in Breast Cancer Cells

The estrogen, 17-b estradiol (E2) can stimulate proliferation or induce differentiation or death depending on the cell context. In MCF 7 cells, an estrogen receptor (ER) positive human breast cancer cell line, E₂ has been shown to stimulate cell proliferation and may have an anti-apoptotic effect. E₂ rapidly activates mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) in mammalian cells in an ER dependent fashion. The mechanisms underlying and the physiological significance of the signaling through MAPK remain to be determined. This signal pathway may …

Novel Vaccine Strategies To Prevent Herpes Simplex Virus Infection, Christopher D. Pack

Masters Theses

Herpes simplex virus, which infects a majority of the population, remains a significant human pathogen for which no effective vaccine exists. Despite decades of intensive research, this virus has resisted numerous classical and cutting edge approaches. We can only hope that additional research into new vaccines ideas as well as the fundamentals of how the virus interacts with the immune system will someday lead to the design of an effective vaccine. The first part of this dissertation focuses on the virus and how it interacts with various immune cells in the body. HSV-1 exerts a number of influences on a …

Respiratory, Cardiovascular And Abdominal Anatomy Of The Ringed Seal (Phoca Hispida), Hrvoje Smodlaka

Doctoral Dissertations

This study investigated the anatomy the ringed seal (Phoca hispida) cardiovascular system (heart and large vessels) and lower respiratory tract (lung), as well as the topographic anatomy of the seal abdomen.

The ringed seal heart is dorsoventrally flattened, with each ventricle residing on its respective side within the thoracic cage. The heart lies horizontal, parallel to the sternum. The right ventricle is long, spacious and thin walled. The right coronary artery continues as the subsinuosal interventricular branch, making it different from domestic carnivores.

The aortic bulb is a large structure in comparison to the equivalent structure in terrestrial mammals, which …

Murine Herpetic Stromal Keratitis: Cellular And Molecular Mechanisms Involved In Its Pathogenesis, Kaustuv Banerjee

Doctoral Dissertations

Herpetic Stromal Keratitis (HSK) is a leading cause of infectious blindness resulting from corneal infection with herpes simplex virus (HSV-1). Extensive corticosteroid therapy is required to achieve remission and sometimes corneal transplantation is the only means of restoring vision. Murine model research has revealed that the immunological process that clears infection conversely leads to corneal tissue damage. This immune-pathological reaction involves complex interactions of cellular and molecular events.

Current knowledge about human and murine HSK pathogenesis is summarized in Part I. Parts II, III and IV progresses this knowledge using knockout and transgenic mice. Results in Part II clarify mechanisms …

The Relationship Between Steps Walked Per Day And Body Composition In Postmenopausal Women, Emily Martin Krumm

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to examine the relationship between pedometer-determined physical activity measured in steps per day and body composition in healthy, postmenopausal women. Ninety-three women (60.9 ± 5.76 years) participated in the study. Subjects made one visit to the laboratory for height, weight, percent body fat, and waist and hip circumference measurements. Subsequently, each subject wore a pedometer for 14 consecutive days to assess average daily steps. Subjects recorded each day’s accumulated step count and reset the pedometer the next morning. Pearson product moment correlations were used to examine the relationship between average steps per day and …

The Experience Of Menopausal Transition Among Amish Women, Desiree R. Batson

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the meaning of the menopausal transition in Amish women. Using in-depth interviews, 10 Amish women who were transitioning into menopause were asked to responds to the question, “As you think of your experiences going through the ‘change of life,’ what specific things stand out for you?”

Three themes emerged: “This is such a natural thing.” a descriptor of natural/unnatural; “I don’t know if what I have has been normal, but what is normal?” a descriptor of change, the expected and unexpected; and “We finally figured it out.” a descriptor of a …

The Meaning Of The Death Of Adult Child To An Elder, Latricia Diane Weed

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this inquiry is to develop an initial understanding and description of the meaning of the experience of an elder after the death of an adult child. A significant research gap exists in studying elder bereavement and the death of an adult child. The research sample was obtained from elderly participants who were known by the researcher to have had the experience of the death of an adult child. A snowball

Responses to the qualitative questions in this study were analyzed using the existential phenomenological method as described by Thomas and polio (2002). Data was reviewed by the …

"Crying Alone With My Child": An Existential Phenomenological Exploration Of The Meaning Of Being A Parent Of A School Age Child With Bipolar Disorder, Josephine Wade

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent years have seen a rise in the number of children diagnosed at an early age with bipolar disorder. Additionally, prescription of psychiatric medications to young children has sharply increased. Parents must assume the responsibility for medication management and behavioral monitoring because inpatient care is brief. This, combined with a changing political arena, may mean continued stress and burden for caregivers and parents of children diagnosed with a psychiatric illness.

The purpose of this existential phenomenological study was to describe the lived experience of parents of children ages 6-11 years, who are diagnosed with Bipolar Disorder. An existential phenomenological research …

Biomechanical And Temporal Measurement Of Pharyngeal Swallowing For Stroke Patients With Aspiration, Youngsun Kim

Doctoral Dissertations

This study compared three pharyngeal swallowing measurements: Pharyngeal Delay Time (PDT), Stage Transition Duration (STD), and Delayed Pharyngeal Swallow (DPS) on the correct classification of three groups of subjects. These groups were: 15 stroke patients who aspirated (aspirators), 15 stroke patients who did not aspirate (non-aspirators) and 15 normal subjects.

Overall, the STD had highest mean classification among the three pharyngeal swallowing measurements. All three measures has a significant difference between aspirators and normal subjects. None of the measurements showed a difference between non-aspirators and normal subjects. The aspirators and the normal subjects were classified correctly most often; whereas the …

Contributions Of Q67 And Y69 Residues To Ligand Binding And Catalysis In R67 Dihydrofolate Reductase, Lori Gail Stinnett

Doctoral Dissertations

Dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR) serves an important role in metabolism by reducing dihydrofolate (DHF) to the product tetrahydrofolate via hydride transfer from NADPH. R67 DHFR, a plasmid encoded form of the enzyme which provides resistance to trimethoprim, functions as a homotetramer with D_{2 symmetry. Both ligands, DHF and NADPH, interact within a 25 Ǻ active site pore. Mutagenesis of one active site residue results in four-symmetry related mutations causing large effects on binding and catalysis. A construct containing four copies of the DNA for R67 DHFR ligated in-frame and flanked by unique restriction sites was engineered and asymmetric mutants were …}

Changes In The Perception Of Stop Consonants Through Enhanced Cue Training As Reflected By Categorical Boundaries And Late Auditory Evoked Potentials, Clifford Anthony Franklin

Doctoral Dissertations

Hearing-impaired listeners have difficulty in discriminating between voiced stop consonants. An important acoustic cue in this discrimination is the transition from the frequency of the consonant to the frequency of the vowel. The main purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of auditory training on the perception of the formant transition cue in the discrimination of the place of articulation of voiced stop consonants in synthetic CV stimuli of hearing-impaired listeners. Changes in perception were represented by behavioral and electrophysiological measures. Generalization effects after training and correlations between behavioral and electrophysiological measures were also measured.

Eight male and …

Comparison Of Physical Activity Recommendations In Previously Inactive Women, Cherilyn N. Hultquist

Masters Theses

The main objective of this study was to compare the number of steps accumulated weekly by individuals given the recommendation to walk 10,000 steps per day with those told to take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. Average steps per day were compared for 58 sedentary women (mean age 45.0 ± 6.0 y) who were randomly assigned to one of the following physical activity groups, (1) walk 10,000 steps per day or (2) take a brisk 30 minute walk on most, preferably all, days of the week. After measuring height, weight, body composition, …

Measures Of Auditory Inhibition In Female Smokers And Non-Smokers, Christopher Gray Clinard

Masters Theses

This study examined the chronic effects of cigarette smoking on auditory inhibition in normal-hearing female smokers and non-smokers. Nicotine is an acetylcholinomimetic drug that affects the central auditory nervous system. Physiologic measures were acoustic reflex threshold, click-evoked optoacoustic emission (CEOAE) amplitude, contralateral CEOAE suppression, and the auditory late latency response (LLR). The behavioral measure recorded was word recognition in the presence of a broadband masker at two signal-to-noise ratios (-5 and 0dB). Auditory responses were obtained from 13 smokers and 10 non-smokers. Results indicated that smoking does not have a significant effect on these auditory measures. However, tendencies observed for …

Combination Of Bcr-Abl-Specific Rna Interference With Lmatinib Treatment In The K-562 Cell Line, Benjamin Eugene Baker

Masters Theses

RNA interference (RNAi) involves the specific repression of the translation of a gene through mRNA degradation. Its application has been extended to a variety of studies both in vitro and in vivo. The Bcr-Abl translocation is the cytogenetic marker for chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) and has been studied extensively. The K-562 cell line possesses the Bcr-Abl fusion gene and has been established as a model for RNAi. Imatinib mesylate (Gleeved) is a proven specific inhibitor of the Bcr-Abl tyrosine kinase. The aim of this study was to combine K-562 cells primes with short interfering RNA (siRNA) targeting the Bcr-Abl …

National Pasttime: The Minor Leagues And Why Fans Are Filling The Bleachers, Timothy A. Lentych

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to identify the factors that determine why fans attend Minor League Baseball games. The factors were broken down into four categories which were customer services, promotions, entertainment, attractions. Additional information and demographics were also examined. A survey comprising of 32 questions was distributed at the last weekend home series of the Tennessee Smokies. The Tennessee Smokies are the Double A affiliate of the St. Louis Cardinals. Four hundred seventy surveys were distributed. Research participants consisted men and women who are 18 years and older that paid for a Tennessee Smokies Baseball game ticket. Each …