Other Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Effects Of A Home-Based Exercise Program On Perception Of Illness And Adaptation In Heart Failure Patients, Robin Faust Harris

Doctoral Dissertations

Patients experience decreased functional capacity from chronic symptoms associated with heart failure. Exercise increases activity tolerance and quality of life in heart failure patients. Physiologic responses to exercise in heart failure patients have been well-documented. In contrast, the effects of exercise on an individual’s perception of degree of disability due to chronic illness and their adaptive responses to heart failure have not been studied. The purpose of this randomized controlled trial was to examine the effects of a 12-week home-based combined aerobic and resistance training exercise intervention on an individual’s perception of degree of disability and adaptive responses to chronic …

Histone Deacetylase Inhibitors For Selective Anti-Cancer Therapeutics, Shambhunath Choudhary

Doctoral Dissertations

Activating mutations of ras genes are frequently found in human cancers. Since Ras proteins and their functions play an important role in tumorigenesis, it is important to develop targeted anticancer therapeutics against Ras-related human cancers. We observed that in addition to tumorigenic ability, oncogenic H-Ras possesses a novel proapoptotic ability to facilitate the induction of apoptosis by histone deacetylase inhibitors (HDACIs), such as FR901228 and trichostatin A (TSA). HDACIs make up a new class of structurally diverse anticancer agents and have been shown to exhibit antimetastatic and antiangiogenic activities toward malignantly transformed cells. We detected that expression of oncogenic H-Ras …

Public Health Nutrition: A Workforce In Transition, Alexa M. George

Doctoral Dissertations

Objective Because the public health nutrition workforce may be in a state of transition, this study had three purposes: 1) describe the US public health nutrition workforce; 2) examine a new position class, breastfeeding peer counselor; and 3) determine if retirement intention of public health nutrition personnel can be predicted based on personal and workplace factors.

Methods Secondary data analysis of the national research dataset of the 2006-07 Public Health Nutrition Workforce Survey was conducted (n=10,683, response rate 80.0% for overall survey; research dataset n=9,923). Subjects were personnel in nutrition professional/paraprofessional positions working in nutrition programs under the purview of …

Feline Lentivirus: Molecular Analysis And Epidemiology In Southern African Lions, Hayley Rebecca Adams

Doctoral Dissertations

Feline immunodeficiency virus is a retrovirus of domestic cats causing significant lifelong infection. Infection has also been detected in nondomestic species, including African lions. It is endemic in certain populations in east and southern Africa. Infection leads to immunologic dysfunction and immunosuppressive disease in domestic cats; however, little research exists about the pathogenic effects of infection in lions and its epidemiological impact on free-ranging and captive populations. Little is known about the lentivirus in these populations at the molecular and host level. Analysis of the virus from these populations is necessary for development of detection assays that are both sensitive …

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 …

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 …

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 …}

The Role Of Polyglutamine Aggregate Cytotoxicity In Huntington’S Disease, Wen Yang

Doctoral Dissertations

Polyglutamine diseases refer to a group of neuro-degenerative diseases including Huntington's disease , that share the same mutational basis: expansion of a CAG repeat coding sequence that encodes for a polyglutamine repeat in the respective proteins. Neuronal intranuclear inclusions (NII) formed by the aggregation of the expanded polyglutamine proteins is a hallmark of polyglutamine diseases. However, it is still under debate whether the polyglutamine aggregates are toxic to the cells, and if so, which aggregated forms are the toxic species. While important data has been provided by the existing transfected cell and transgenic animal models, technical aspects have limited our …

Analysis And Diagnostic Implications Of The Fusion And Attachment Protein Genes Of Respiratory Syncytial Viruses Of Ruminants, Nasser Zakaria Eleraky

Doctoral Dissertations

Respiratory syncytial viruses (RSVs) in ruminants are classified into two subgroups, ovine RSV and bovine RSV. Although ovine RSV infects cattle, its contribution to bovine respiratory tract disease has not been established which is an important issue for vaccine development in cattle.

Diagnosis by virus isolation or serology has low or variable sensitivity and/or specificity and PCR has been recommended as a rapid and sensitive technique for RSV detection. Prior to this study, a laboratory test to differentiate between bovine and ovine RSVs did not exist.

First, the nucleotide sequence of the ovine RSV fusion (F) gene was determined and …

Expression And Characterization Of The Mhc Class Ii Transactivator In K-562 Cells, Noel Elyssa Day

Doctoral Dissertations

The K-562 cell line was developed from the pleural effusion of a patient with chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) in blast crisis and has served as an excellent model to study the properties of CML cells. The highly undifferentiated cells can be induced by a variety of chemicals to follow multiple pathways of differentiation. When K-562 cells were treated with phorbol myristate acetate (PMA), they exhibited accessory cell functions by replacing monocytes in the activation of resting Th2 lymphocytes. However, K-562 cells are negative for the expression of class II major histocompatibility complex (MHC) antigens HLA-DR, -DP, and -DQ. The focus …

Health Promotion Profile Of Beliefs, Attitudes And Activities Of Tennessee Primary Care Physicians, Christine Assmann Collins

Doctoral Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to develop a profile of selected health promotion beliefs, attitudes and activities of Tennessee primary care physicians. A secondary purpose was to identify physicians’ perceived need for training and support activities in health promotion on selected lifestyle behaviors.

This study was undertaken using a mail survey of 628 randomly selected primary care physicians practicing medicine in Tennessee. The target population was stratified on the basis of the following subgroups: specialty, population size of county, and state grand division in which they practice. Four hundred sixty-one questionnaires were returned resulting in a 73.4% response …