Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Healthy People Are Bad For Capitalism, Eri King

Theses and Dissertations

Healthy People are Bad For Capitalism is a four part installation that creates an alternative space for the chemicals, Red 40 and Monosodium Glutamate. Presented as a holistic center that offers healing services and remedies, Center for the Red 40 and MSG Healing explores the homeopathic doctrine of Like Cures Like (what make a human ill also cures them) through the relationship between Traditional Japanese Healing Practices, and Western Capitalism.

Healthy People are Bad For Capitalism presents Red 40 MSG Apothecary, Red 40 Zen MSG Healing Rock Garden, Theta Wave Eternal Flame Meditation and Red 40 MSG …

Roles Of Gabab, Muscarinic And Nicotinic Receptor Signaling In The Acquisition And Expression Of Fructose And Fat-Conditioned Flavor Preferences And Acquisition Of Quinine-Conditioned Flavor Avoidances In Rats, Francis M. Rotella

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

In addition to increased intake of sweet solutions by mammals, learning, particularly classically-conditioned “Pavlovian-like” learning, also plays an important role. An orosensory conditioned flavor preference (CFP) can be elicited by pairing one novel flavor (conditioned stimulus, CS+) with a fructose solution and a second novel flavor (CS-) with a saccharin solution. Rats will prefer the CS+ flavor in a subsequent 2-bottle choice test with both flavors mixed in saccharin. Previous pharmacological analyses revealed that systemic administration of dopamine (DA) D1 and D2 as well as NMDA, but not opioid, receptor antagonists eliminated the acquisition (learning) of fructose-CFP. Further, expression of …

Potential Modifications To Enzyme Replacement Therapy In Anderson-Fabry Disease, Mariam Meghdari

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Mutations in the GLA gene that encodes the lysosomal enzyme α-galactosidase A (αGal) result in the sphingolipidoses named Fabry disease. This enzymatic defect is inherited as an X-linked recessive disorder and is associated with a progressive deposition of glycosphingolipids, including globotriaosylceramide (GB3), galabioasylceramide, and blood group B substance in the cell. In affected males, and in some females, this leads to early death due to occlusive disease of the heart, kidney, and brain. This disease is currently treated by infusions of αGal, prolonging patients’ lives but producing antibodies against the enzyme reducing the treatment efficacy. Treatment also causes numerous and …

Effects Of Synthetic Cannabinoid Use, Susan H. Davide

Publications and Research

Synthetic Cannabinoid Use: Oral health professionals need to be aware of the systemic and oral health effects of the substances in this class of drugs.

Naturally-Derived Molecular Ensembles In Medicine, Materials Science And Evolutionary Biology: An Interdisciplinary Study, Silvio Panettieri

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The first chapter will introduce the work carried out in collaboration with the Govind laboratory at CCNY. Our quest was set forth to investigate the intimate relationship lying between chronic inflammation and tumor development. For at least the last fifteen years much research has been conducted on this topic; yet, the level of complexity arising from exceedingly interwoven biochemical pathways in mammals has resulted in slow advancements in this field. This is why we resorted to a simple yet powerful immunogenetic model organism, the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster, in combination with the administration of the most common anti-inflammatory drug, …

Acute Memory And Psychotomimetic Effects Of Cannabis And Tobacco Both ‘Joint’ And Individually: A Placebo-Controlled Trial, C. Hindocha, T. P. Freeman, J. X. Xia, N. D. C. Shaban, H. V. Curran

Publications and Research

Background. Cannabis and tobacco have contrasting cognitive effects. Smoking cannabis with tobacco is prevalent in many countries and although this may well influence cognitive and mental health outcomes, the possibility has rarely been investigated in human experimental psychopharmacological research.

Method. The individual and interactive effects of cannabis and tobacco were evaluated in 24 non-dependent cannabis and tobacco smokers in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, 2 (cannabis, placebo) × 2 (tobacco, placebo) crossover design. Verbal memory (prose recall), working memory (WM) performance including maintenance, manipulation and attention (N-back), psychotomimetic, subjective and cardiovascular measures were recorded on each of four sessions.

Results. Cannabis …

Detection Of Cathinone And Mephedrone In Plasma By Lc-Ms/Ms Using Standard Addition Quantification Technique, Theron W. Ng-A-Qui

Student Theses

Designer drugs are structural analogs of Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule I and II substances. They are synthesized to mimic the effects of illegal drugs of abuse and to bypass the provisions of drug regulations. Despite the increased availability of designer drugs, few studies have focused on specific analytical extraction techniques for their detection and quantification in biological samples. Solid phase extraction (SPE) is the most commonly used technique for sample preparation. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the extraction efficiency of the various SPE columns with different sorbent materials for two designer drugs, cathinone and mephedrone in …

Stability Of Synthetic Cathinones In Oral Fluid Samples, Briana Miller, Jiyoung Kim, Marta Concheiro

Publications and Research

Synthetic cathinones are new stimulant drugs derived from cathinone that have been sold as “legal highs” worldwide. These compounds can elicit powerful effects such as delusions, hallucinations as well as other potentially dangerous behavior. New analogs with varying effects and potencies are constantly introduced in the market to evade legislation, and they are not detected by routine screening and confirmation methods. Oral fluid is an alternative matrix of increasing interest in forensic toxicology. Its collection is non-invasive and easily supervised, and positive drug findings typically reflect recent drug exposure. The focus of this research was to develop a method for …

Worldwide Use Of Triclosan: Can Dentistry Do Without This Antimicrobial?, Diana V. Macri

Publications and Research

No abstract provided.

Quantitative Analysis Of Opioids And Cannabinoids In Wastewater Samples, Alethea Jacox, Jillian Wetzel, Shu-Yuan Cheng, Marta Concheiro-Guisan

Publications and Research

Wastewater-based epidemiology is an innovative approach that uses the analysis of human excretion products in wastewater to obtain information about exposure to drugs in defined population groups. We developed and validated an analytical method for the simultaneous determination of opioids (morphine, oxycodone, hydrocodone, oxymorphone and hydromorphone), and cannabinoids (Δ⁹-tetrahydrocannabinol, 11-nor-9-carboxy-tetrahydrocannabinol (THCCOOH) and THCCOOH-glucuronide) in raw-influent wastewater samples by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Method validation included linearity (5–1 000 ng/L for opioids, 10–1 000 ng/L for cannabinoids), imprecision (<21.2%), accuracy (83%–131%), matrix effect (from –35.1% to –14.7%) and extraction efficiency (25%–84%), limit of detection (1–5 ng/L) and quantification (5–10 ng/L) and auto-sampler stability (no loss detected). River and wastewater samples were collected in triplicate from different locations in New York City and stored at −20 °C until analysis. Water from sewage overflow location tested positive for morphine (10.7 ng/L), oxycodone (4.2–23.5 ng/L), oxymorphone (4.8 ng/L) and hydromorphone (4.2 ng/L). Raw influent wastewater samples tested positive for morphine (133.0–258.3 ng/L), oxycodone (31.1–63.6 ng/L), oxymorphone (16.0–56.8 ng/L), hydromorphone (6.8–18.0 ng/L), hydrocodone (4.0–12.8 ng/L) and THCCOOH (168.2–772.0 ng/L). This method is sensitive and specific for opioids and marijuana determination in wastewater samples.

All-Cause Mortality In Hiv-Positive Adults Starting Combination Antiretroviral Therapy: Correcting For Loss To Follow-Up, Nanina Anderegg, Leigh F. Johnson, Elizabeth Zaniewski, Keri N. Althoff, Eric Balestre, Matthew Law, Denis Nash, Bryan E. Shepherd, Constantin T. Yiannoutsos, Matthias Egger

Publications and Research

Objective: To estimate mortality in HIV-positive patients starting combination antiretroviral therapy (ART) and to discuss different approaches to calculating correction factors to account for loss to follow-up.

Methods: A total of 222 096 adult HIV-positive patients who started ART 2009–2014 in clinics participating in the International epidemiology Databases to Evaluate AIDS collaboration in 43 countries in sub-Saharan Africa, Asia Pacific, Latin America, and North America were included. To allow for underascertainment of deaths due to loss to follow-up, two correction factors (one for the period 0–6 months on ART and one for later periods) or 168 correction factors (combinations of …

Borneol, A Novel Agent That Improves Central Nervous System Drug Delivery By Enhancing Blood–Brain Barrier Permeability, Qun-Lin Zhang, Bingmei M. Fu, Zhang-Jin Zhang

Publications and Research

The clinical application of central nervous system (CNS) drugs is limited by their poor bioavailability due to the blood–brain barrier (BBB). Borneol is a naturally occurring compound in a class of ‘orificeopening’ agents often used for resuscitative purposes in traditional Chinese medicine. A growing body of evidence confirms that the ‘orifice-opening’ effect of borneol is principally derived from opening the BBB. Borneol is therefore believed to be an effective adjuvant that can improve drug delivery to the brain. The purpose of this paper is to provide a comprehensive review of information accumulated over the past two decades on borneol’s chemical …

Taurine's Effect On Cocaine Reward And Neurogenesis In The Adolescent Male Rat Brain., Avery E. Villa-Gonzalez

Dissertations and Theses

Adolescence is a developmentally critical transition from childhood to adulthood including both maturation of the body and the brain. Neuroplastic changes result in dynamic organization of the brain during adolescence, leaving them vulnerable to development of mental illness and drug-seeking behavior. According to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, the psychostimulant cocaine is the second most popular illicit drug in the world. Cocaine, amongst having many detrimental effects, has shown to also decrease hippocampal neurogenesis, resulting in decreased neuroplasticity and cognitive dysfunction. Previous students in our laboratory have shown that treatment of adult male rats with the essential …