Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Are Electronic Cigarettes The Solution To Smoking Cessation?, Heather L. Walsh, Audrey L. Mcmurray

Physician Assistant Capstones, 2016 to 2019

Objectives: Little is known regarding the effectiveness of electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes) as therapy to aid in smoking cessation. Many hypothesize that e-cigarettes are equally as effective or more effective than alternate smoking cessation therapies. The purpose of this review was to examine the evidence on effectiveness of e-cigarettes on smoking cessation and quitting behavior as compared to other smoking cessation therapies, or no therapy at all.

Methods: Searches were done in PubMed utilizing the terms “electronic cigarettes” and “smoking cessation” [MeSH terms]. In PubMed, the following filters limits were used: published in the last 5 years, human species, …

The Ecorep Program At The University Of South Carolina: How To Engage Students In On-Campus Environmental Activities, Veronica Dorothy Farrell

Senior Theses

This senior thesis focused on determining how much the undergraduate student population is aware about current environmental problems, their impression of them, and how they act accordingly. In addition, through completion of this thesis I hoped to understand what motivates students to participate in events on campus in order to more effectively increase awareness or sustainable behaviors. Specific interest was placed on the students at the University of South Carolina. I oriented this research for one environmental organization at the University of South Carolina in particular, known as EcoReps. EcoReps are peer leaders that strive to educate students about environmental …

Plastic Pollution And The Global Throwaway Culture: Environmental Injustices Of Single-Use Plastic, Kristin L. Mcdermott

ENV 434 Environmental Justice

The global throwaway culture has created a cross-ecosystem plastic pollution injustice. The first to suffer this injustice will be the most vulnerable. Our oceans have become our dumpsters. The throwaway culture has created a disrespect of material goods that has turned the earth’s resources into rubbish after a single use. Eighty percent of the yearly 8 million tons of plastic that enter the ocean is single use plastic, such as plastic bottles, plastic shopping bags, or cigarette lighters.[1] Plastic has destroyed ecosystems, robbing impoverished communities of natural resources and of a healthy and safe living environment. First to suffer …

Leukemia Inhibitory Factor As A Neuroprotective Agent Against Focal Cerebral Ischemia, Stephanie Davis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Previous publications from this laboratory demonstrated that administration of leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) (125 µg/kg) to young, male Sprague-Dawley rats at 6, 24, and 48 h after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) reduced infract volume, improved sensimotor skills, and alleviated damage to white matter at 72 h after the injury. In vitro studies using cultured oligodendrocytes (OLs) showed that LIF (200 ng/ml) also protects against 24 h of oxygen-glucose deprivation through activation of Akt signaling and upregulation of the antioxidant enzymes peroxiredoxin IV and metallothionein III. Other groups have demonstrated that LIF reduces neurodegeneration in animal models of disease, but …

Effect Of Bisphenol-A On Neurodevelopment In Drosophila Melanogaster Larvae, Alexandra M. Streifel

All College Thesis Program, 2016-2019

This paper examines the effects of the chemical preservative bisphenol-A on the developing nervous systems of Drosophila melanogaster, or fruit fly, larvae. This study examines the effects of bisphenol-A using both behavioral as well as morphological paradigms. It was determined that bisphenol-A significantly increased the amount of time larvae spent in seeking behavior, the number of peristaltic contractions, and the distance traveled in a linear fashion. In the morphological analysis, indications of increased dendritic area in experimental larvae existed, but there was not enough data to determine significance. For future research, it is recommended that more data be gathered to …

Optimizing Pharmacological Lifespan Extension: Testing Chemical Compounds For Additive Effects On Longevity, Elizabeth Chao

Dissertations, Masters Theses, Capstones, and Culminating Projects

No abstract available

Exploring The Effect Of Novel Small Molecules On Oligodendrocyte Precursor Proliferation, Sagune Sakya

University Scholar Projects

Gliomas, a type of brain tumor, can be difficult to treat and have a poor survival rate. One pathway that leads to glioma formation is excessive signaling by platelet derived growth factors (PDGF) through PDGF receptor α (PDGFRα). Through this research, I found that novel compounds that downregulate PDGFRα decrease proliferation of Oli-neu cells, an oligodendrocyte precursor cell model, and identified signaling pathways through which these compounds may exert their effect. Further investigation may identify targets for development of glioma treatments.

The Emergence Of Systematic Review In Toxicology, Martin L. Stephens, Kellyn Betts, Nancy Beck, Vincent Cogliano, Kay Dickersin, George Gray, +8 Additional Authors

Environmental and Occupational Health Faculty Publications

The Evidence-based Toxicology Collaboration hosted a workshop on “The Emergence of Systematic Review and Related Evidence-based Approaches in Toxicology,” on November 21, 2014 in Baltimore, Maryland. The workshop featured speakers from agencies and organizations applying systematic review approaches to questions in toxicology, speakers with experience in conducting systematic reviews in medicine and healthcare, and stakeholders in industry, government, academia, and non-governmental organizations. Based on the workshop presentations and discussion, here we address the state of systematic review methods in toxicology, historical antecedents in both medicine and toxicology, challenges to the translation of systematic review from medicine to toxicology, and thoughts …

Comparing The Quantitation Of Opiates From Possible Drug Overdose Cases Using Results Of Blood Analysis And Liver Analysis, Lee Ann Garozzo

Forensic Science Theses

Currently the quantitation of opiates at the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office Toxicology Laboratory is conducted through whole blood analysis. The objective of this thesis project was to determine if the analysis of opiates could be conducted through liver analysis, and if the analysis of opiates would provide a more accurate quantitation compared to the blood analysis. The quantitation of opiates was conducted from the livers of sixty-four possible overdose cases that were brought into the Erie County Medical Examiner’s Office between 2013 and 2015. Results showed that the opiate drugs could successfully be quantitated using the liver analysis. Generally …

Stabilization Of Gp120 Outer Domain For Hiv-1-1 Vaccine Immunogen Design, Duoyi Hu

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The sole envelope glycoprotein spike on the surface of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV-1) is composed of two subunits: gp120 and gp41. The gp120 consists of three domains: the inner domain, outer domain and bridging sheet, to which the viral primary receptor CD4 binds and induces a conformational change in gp120 to expose the co-receptor binding site. Previous studies have found that the outer domain of gp120 is relatively more stable than the inner domain and bridging sheet. When superimposed, the co-crystal structures of CD4-gp120 complex and VRC01-gp120 complex revealed that the CD4-binding site (CD4-BS) antibody VRC01 actually mainly bound to …

Investigation Of The Tailoring Steps In Pradimicin Biosynthesis, Kandy L. Napan

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This research focused on the investigation of the late steps in the biosynthetic pathway of the novel antifungal and antiviral pradimicins A-C. Pradimicins were first isolated from the soil bacterium Actinomadura hibisca. These bioactive molecules are assembled by a type II polyketide biosynthetic pathway. Although the biosynthetic gene cluster of pradimicin has been identified, the functions of the biosynthetic genes and how they work collaboratively to form the final structures of pradimicins remain unknown. This research aims to functionally characterize the enzymes involved in the late steps of the biosynthetic route.

The early biosynthetic steps of pradimicins have been …

A Qualitative Study Of Barriers To Accessing Water, Sanitation And Hygiene For Disabled People In Malawi., Sian White, Hannah Kuper, Ambumulire Itimu-Phiri, Rochelle Holm, Adam Biran

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Globally, millions of people lack access to improved water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH). Disabled people, disadvantaged both physically and socially, are likely to be among those facing the greatest inequities in WASH access. This study explores the WASH priorities of disabled people and uses the social model of disability and the World Health Organization's International Classification of Functioning, Disability and Health (ICF) framework to look at the relationships between impairments, contextual factors and barriers to WASH access. 36 disabled people and 15 carers from urban and rural Malawi were purposively selected through key informants. The study employed a range of …

Rubus Crataegifolius Bunge Regulates Adipogenesis Through Akt And Inhibits High-Fat Diet-Induced Obesity In Rats, Min-Sup Jung, Soo-Jung Lee, Yuno Song, Sun-Hee Jang, Wongi Min, Chung-Kil Won, Hong-Duck Kim, Tae Hoon Kim, Jae-Hyeon Cho

NYMC Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: Obesity is one of the greatest public health problems and major risk factors for serious metabolic diseases and significantly increases the risk of premature death. The aim of this study was to determine the inhibitory effects of Rubus crataegifolius Bunge (RCB) on adipocyte differentiation in 3 T3-L1 cells and its anti-obesity properties in high fat diet (HFD)-induced obese rats.

METHODS: 3 T3-L1 adipocytes and HFD-induced obese rats were treated with RCB, and its effect on gene expression was analyzed using RT-PCR and Western blotting experiments.

RESULTS: RCB treatment significantly inhibited adipocyte differentiation by suppressing the expression of C/EBPβ, C/EBPα, …

Network-Driven Plasma Proteomics Expose Molecular Changes In The Alzheimer's Brain, Philipp A. Jaeger, Kurt M. Lucin, Markus Britschgi, Badri Vardarajan, Ruo-Pan Huang, Elizabeth D. Kirby, Rachelle Abbey, Bradley F. Boeve, Adam L. Boxer, Lindsay A. Farrer, Nicole Finch, Neill R. Graff-Radford, Elizabeth Head, Matan Hofree, Ruochun Huang, Hudson Johns, Anna Karydas, David S. Knopman, Andrey Loboda, Eliezer Masliah, Ramya Narasimhan, Ronald C. Petersen, Alexei Podtelezhnikov, Suraj Pradhan, Rosa Rademakers, Chung-Huan Sun, Steven G. Younkin, Bruce L. Miller, Trey Ideker, Tony Wyss-Coray

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Biological pathways that significantly contribute to sporadic Alzheimer’s disease are largely unknown and cannot be observed directly. Cognitive symptoms appear only decades after the molecular disease onset, further complicating analyses. As a consequence, molecular research is often restricted to late-stage post-mortem studies of brain tissue. However, the disease process is expected to trigger numerous cellular signaling pathways and modulate the local and systemic environment, and resulting changes in secreted signaling molecules carry information about otherwise inaccessible pathological processes.

Results: To access this information we probed relative levels of close to 600 secreted signaling proteins from patients’ blood samples using …

Ecological Risks Of The Conventional Insecticide/Fungicide Seed Treatment Mixture Of Thiamethoxam And Mefenoxam In Soybean On Beneficial Insects, Carolina Camargo

Department of Entomology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The impact of neonicotinoid seed treatments on beneficial insects has been a controversial topic during the last years. While neonicotinoids are usually used as mixtures with systemic fungicides, few studies have examined the impact of the mixtures on beneficial insects. Pesticide mixtures can have synergistic, additive, or antagonistic effects on the toxicity of neonicotinoids on non-target species.

Thiamethoxam with mefenoxam is the most used neonicotinoid insecticide/fungicide mixture applied to soybean. Based on the systemic nature of thiamethoxam and mefenoxam, residues of this insecticide/fungicide mixture can be present in soybean vegetative and floral tissue with potential impacts to beneficial insects. This …

Apical Testis Structure And The Effects Of Cadmium Treatment On Spermatogenesis In Drosophila, Paulina J. Cardaci

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is used extensively as a model for studying molecular, genetic and cellular aspects of human disease and physiology. Our lab has used D. melanogaster and related species to study the structure of the testis stem cell niche, as well as other aspects of spermatogenesis. We previously revealed a novel stem cell niche structure in D. pseudoobscura, a distant relative of D. melanogaster. The signaling center of the D. melanogaster stem cell niche has a well-characterized rosette arrangement of fasciclin-positive cells terms the “hub”. D. pseudoobscura, however, lacks a punctuate hub and instead displays a …

Influence Of Water Hardness On Accumulation And Effects Of Silver In The Green Alga, Raphidocelis Subcapitata, Aarya Venkat, Adriana L. Amerson, Gretchen K. Bielmyer-Fraser

Georgia Journal of Science

Metal pollution from anthropogenic sources can pose a threat to aquatic systems. Silver is released into the environment from various industrial processes. In excess, silver can accumulate and cause adverse effects in aquatic organisms, particularly those in lower trophic levels, such as phytoplankton. Water chemistry parameters, such as hardness, have been shown to modify toxicity of metals because divalent cations compete with the metal for binding sites on the biological membrane. The objective of this study was to assess population growth and silver accumulation in the green alga, Raphidocelis subcapitata, after silver exposure in waters of varying hardness for 7 …

Resveratrol Supplementation Confers Neuroprotection In Cortical Brain Tissue Of Nonhuman Primates Fed A High-Fat/Sucrose Diet, Michel Bernier, Devin Wahl, Ahmed Ali, Joanne Allard, Shakeela Faulkner, Artur Wnorowski, Mitesh Sanghvi, Ruin Moaddel, Irene Alfaras, Julie A. Mattison, Stefano Tarantini, Zsuzsanna Tucsek, Zoltan Ungvari, Anna Csiszar, Kevin J. Pearson, Rafael De Cabo

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Previous studies have shown positive effects of long-term resveratrol (RSV) supplementation in preventing pancreatic beta cell dysfunction, arterial stiffening and metabolic decline induced by high-fat/high-sugar (HFS) diet in nonhuman primates. Here, the analysis was extended to examine whether RSV may reduce dietary stress toxicity in the cerebral cortex of the same cohort of treated animals. Middle-aged male rhesus monkeys were fed for 2 years with HFS alone or combined with RSV, after which whole-genome microarray analysis of cerebral cortex tissue was carried out along with ELISA, immunofluorescence, and biochemical analyses to examine markers of vascular health and inflammation in the …

Cardiovascular Effects Evoked By Airway Nociceptive Reflexes In Healthy And Cardiovascular Diseased Rats, Justin Shane Hooper

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Acute inhalation of airborne pollutants alters cardiovascular function and has been shown to have its greatest affects on individuals with pre-existing cardiovascular disease. Evidence suggests that pollutant-induced activation of airway sensory nerves via the gating of ion channels is critical to these systemic responses. Here, we have investigated the cardiovascular responses evoked by inhalation of AITC (TRPA1 agonist) and capsaicin (TRPV1 agonist) in healthy Sprague Dawley (SD) and Wistar Kyoto (WKY) rats, and cardiovascular diseased Spontaneously Hypertensive (SH) rats. Inhalation of the agonists by healthy SD and WKY rats caused significant bradycardia, atrio-ventricular (AV) block and prolonged PR-Intervals. Inhalation of …

Evaluation Of Pulmonary Function Among Workers Engaged In The Manufacture Of Hydraulic Fracking Ceramic Proppant, Humairat H. Rahman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Workers involved in hydraulic fracking processes are exposed to various types of chemicals and dusts in their workplaces, such as proppants, which hold open the fissures created in the fracking process. Recently, ceramic proppants have been developed that may be less hazardous to workers than traditional proppants. Pulmonary function testing of workers producing ceramic proppant was used to assess the potential inhalation hazards of ceramic proppant. Male workers (n = 100) from a producer of ceramic proppant were evaluated with pulmonary function test data collected and evaluated using The American Thoracic Society (ATS) acceptability criteria. A comparison group was selected …