Pharmacology, Toxicology and Environmental Health Commons^™

Cd44 Containing Complexes As A Therapeutic Target In Multiple Myeloma, Anthony Gebhard

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Our laboratory recently reported that treatment with the d-amino acid containing peptide HYD1 induces necrotic cell death in multiple myeloma (MM) cell lines. Due to the intriguing biological activity and promising in vivo activity of HYD1, we pursued strategies for increasing the therapeutic efficacy of the parent linear peptide. These efforts led to the development of a cyclized peptidomimetic, MTI-101, with increased in vitro activity and robust in vivo activity as a single agent using two myeloma models that consider the bone marrow microenvironment. MTI-101 treatment resulted in mechanistically similar hallmarks of HYD1 induced cell death, namely the generation of …

Development Of A Novel Method For Deriving Thresholds Of Toxicological Concern (Ttcs) For Vaccine Constituents, Jennifer Jessica White

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Safety assessment relating to the presence of impurities, residual materials and contaminants in vaccines is a focus area of research at the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Sponsors who submit Investigational New Drug (IND) applications for new vaccine products must report the results of safety assessments to the Division of Vaccines and Related Products Applications (DVRPA). Scientifically defining thresholds of toxicological concern (TTCs) as they apply to vaccine constituents will provide a useful aid to the sponsors and public regarding safety assessments of compounds for which there is little or no toxicity data. TTCs are mathematically modeled …

Asbestos Exposure In The Research Laboratory, Ediberto D. Garcia

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Asbestos has been employed in a myriad of industrial applications for more than a century. Of the 181 Mt of asbestos produced worldwide, over 31 Mt was consumed in the U.S. The production and consumption of this mineral eventually was found to cause asbestosis, lung cancer and mesothelioma. While the brunt of the human exposure to asbestos occurred in insulation work, many more workers in other jobs were expose to asbestos fibers. Very little is known about the potential exposure to asbestos in research labs.

Goal: In order to investigate potential research lab work exposures, we simulated lab work …

The Perception Of Emergency Department Physicians Regarding Economic And Regulatory Factors Impacting Management Of Drug Seeking Patients, Sharon Susanne Kelley

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Physicians in the emergency department (ED) are facing a number of unique challenges in the currently changing healthcare and economic climates. Dramatic increases in ED patient volumes have been noted nationwide with visits related to prescription opioid abuse and misuse alone having increased by 111% between 2004 and 2008.

Ironically, several challenges ED physicians are facing arise from regulatory and economic initiatives which were originally designed for the protection of patients. Regulatory requirements to address pain as the fifth vital sign, along with entities utilizing patient satisfaction based reimbursement, have inadvertently created an environment conducive to exploitation by the …

Full Issue: Volume 6, Number 2

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Full Issue: Volume 7, Number 1

The Science Journal of the Lander College of Arts and Sciences

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Sulfide Tolerance Of Ectosymbiotic Niphargus Amphipods From The Frasassi Caves, Central Italy, Jan Bauermeister, Karoline Assig, Sharmishtha Dattagupta

International Journal of Speleology

Two species of the crustacean amphipod genus Niphargus inhabit the sulfidic groundwaters of the Frasassi caves in central Italy, and both harbor filamentous, sulfide-oxidizing Thiothrix ectosymbionts. As sulfide is toxic to most aerobic organisms, it appeared possible that the ectosymbionts could help their Niphargus hosts with detoxification processes. In this study, mortality due to sulfide was compared between Niphargus individuals with ectosymbionts and individuals whose ectosymbionts had been killed by antibiotic treatment. Both Frasassi-dwelling Niphargus species revealed exceptionally high tolerances to sulfide compared to other amphipod species studied so far. Niphargus individuals without viable ectosymbionts tolerated sulfide levels exceeding those …

Bmp Planning To Address Urban Runoff: Plaster Creek Watershed Sustain Pilot, Tetra Tech, Inc.

Watershed Reports

The Plaster Creek watershed is tributary to the Grand River in west Michigan. Plaster Creek is one of several impaired streams in this area, located in metropolitan Grand Rapids. There are several listed impairments for the Creek including 1) other indigenous aquatic life and wildlife, 2) warm water fishery, and 3) total and partial body contact recreation. Total maximum daily load (TMDL) studies were completed in 2002 for biota and E. coli to address the listed impairments. In 2008, a watershed management plan (WMP) was developed which outlines an implementation plan for water quality improvement in the watershed. This pilot …

Heavy Metal Content In Some Commonly Consumed Vegetables From Kariakoo Market, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania, Eb Mubofu

Tanzania Journal of Science

This work reports on the levels of cadmium, lead, copper, manganese and zinc in 174 samples from eight varieties of green vegetables (amaranth, Chinese cabbage, cowpea leaves, green pepper, leafy cabbage, lettuce, okra and pumpkin leaf) commonly grown in Dar es Salaam and marketed at Kariakoo, Tanzania. The amount of cadmium and lead ranged between 3-42 and 11-60 μg/kg respectively. The amount of copper, manganese and zinc ranged between 0.35 - 2.12, 1.01 - 7.57, and 1.19 - 6.33 μg/kg respectively. On average consumption pattern, the contribution of these vegetables to the recommended daily intakes (RDI) for cadmium and lead …

Tremulous Jaw Movements Induced By The Vmat2 Inhibitor Tetrabenazine, Samantha J. Podurgiel

Master's Theses

Parkinsonism is a movement disorder characterized by several cardinal motor symptoms: resting tremor, akinesia, bradykinesia, rigidity, and postural instability. Parkinsonian resting tremor can be modeled in rodents using the tremulous jaw movement model. Tremulous jaw movements (TJMs) are defined as “rapid vertical deflections of the lower jaw that resemble chewing but are not directed at any particular stimulus.” TJMs occur in a frequency range of 3-7 Hz and are induced by a number of pharmacological manipulations that parallel those seen in human Parkinsonism including dopamine (DA) depleting agents, DA antagonists, and cholinomimetic administration. Additionally, TJMs can be attenuated using antiparkinsonian …

Environews #3, Dec.3, 2012, Richard Philp

Data and Test Instruments

This issue details how diver/explorers who are also authors, decades ago foretold some of the environmental and economic woes now being experienced. The importance of ocean plankton and their response to climate change is discussed as is the incredible waste associated with surgical procedures and how some medical students did something about it.

Evaluation Of The Tagelus® Ta 100d Sand Filter For Removing Quagga Mussel Veligers (Dreissena Rostriformis Bugensis) From Lake Water And The Effectiveness Of The Safeguard Ultraviolet Radiation System As A Biocide Against Veligers, Patricia Kathleen Delrose

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The Lake Mead National Recreational Area was created by the construction of the Hoover Dam during the years 1931-1936. In January 2007, the quagga mussel (Dreissena rostriformis bugensis), was found in Lake Mead. This became the first known Dreissenid species in the southwest and the only time a large water system was first infested by the quagga mussel and not the zebra mussel (Dreissena polymorpha). This invasive species has quickly spread to Lake Mohave and further down the lower Colorado River drainage. The microscopic size (70 µm or larger) of the veliger life stage makes it impossible to see with …

Dreissena Rostiformis Bugensis: Desiccation Of Adult Quagga Mussels Found In Lake Mead As A Preventive Measure Against Overland Dispersal In The Western United States, Matthew Kappel

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The expansion of civilization across all borders of the world has proven to affect major components of ecosystems. Since the introduction and establishment of the aquatic invasive species (AIS),Dreissena rostiformis bugensis, commonly known as the quagga mussel, into the United States there has been an extensive amount of time and money spent on controlling and preventing their expansion across the United States. The quagga mussel is of major concern because of its ability to disrupt the ecological communities in previously non-infested bodies of water, which may cause a loss in biodiversity and effect environmental health. The quagga mussel has spread …

Characterisation Of Pharmaceutical Grade Horse Chestnut Waste, Joanna Przyborska

Theses

Horse chestnut residue was made available by a local pharmaceutical company. The residue was subjected to compositional analysis and studied to determine potential for residual biological activity, including prebiotic, antimicrobial, anti-hyaluronidase and anti-elastase effects.

The residue had 52 % total solids, including 2.97% ash, 6.93% protein, 1.89% crude fat. Oleic acid (74.7%) was the main fatty acid components in the crude lipid component. The major ash components were potassium, phosphorus, calcium and magnesium.

Prebiotic potential of aqueous extract (HCE) from horse chestnut residue was confirmed. A new formula for calculation of prebiotic index (PI) was developed. PI for probiotics (Lactobacillus …

N-Glycosylation Dictates Proper Processing Of Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptide 1b1, Juan Yao, Weifang Hong, Jiujiu Huang, Kai Zhan, Hong Huang, Mei Hong

School of Information Faculty Publications

Organic anion transporting polypeptides (OATPs) have been extensively recognized as key determinants of absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME) of various drugs, xenobiotics and toxins. Putative N-glycosylation sites located in the extracellular loops 2 and 5 is considered a common feature of all OATPs and some members have been demonstrated to be glycosylated proteins. However, experimental evidence is still lacking on how such a post-translational modification affect the transport activity of OATPs and which of the putative glycosylation sites are utilized in these transporter proteins. In the present study, we substituted asparagine residues that are possibly involved in N-glycosylation with …

Rickettsia Felis In Cat Fleas, Ctenocephalides Felis Parasitizing Opossums, San Bernardino County, California, Kyle F. Abramowicz, J. W. Wekesa, C. N. Nwadike, Maria L. Zambrano, Sandor E. Karpathy, D. Cecil, J. Burns, R. Hu, Marina E. Eremeeva

Environmental Health Sciences: Faculty Publications

Los Angeles and Orange Counties are known endemic areas for murine typhus in California; however, no recent reports of flea-borne rickettsioses are known from adjacent San Bernardino County. Sixty-five opossums (Didelphis virginiana) were trapped in the suburban residential and industrial zones of the southwestern part of San Bernardino County in 2007. Sixty out of 65 opossums were infested with fleas, primarily cat fleas, Ctenocephalides felis (Bouché, 1835). The flea minimum infection rate with Rickettsia felis was 13.3% in pooled samples and the prevalence was 23.7% in single fleas, with two gltA genotypes detected. In spite of historic records of murine …

Effects Of Salinity On The Toxicity Of Ionic Silver And Ag-Pvp Nanoparticles To Tisbe Battagliai And Ceramium Tenuicorne, Ailbhe Macken, Hugh Byrne, Kevin Thomas

Articles

The toxic effects of polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) coated silver nanoparticles (Ag-NP_PVP) and ionic Ag, to Tisbe battagliai (Tb) and Ceramium tenuicorne (Ct) were investigated and the usefulness of standardised marine guidelines for ENP risk assessment were assessed. The toxicity of Ag-NP_PVP [CtEC₅₀ = 26.6 µg/L, TbEC₅₀ = 7.9 µg/L] and Ag⁺ [CtEC₅₀ = 2312.2µg/L, Tb EC₅₀ = 90.9 µg/L] to both test species differed, with the silver ENPs being more toxic. In contrast to Ag⁺ the toxicity of Ag-NP_PVP increased significantly with increasing salinity, however, after thorough characterisation it was not …

Reactive Oxygen Species Mediated Dna Damage In Human Lung Alveolar Epithelial (A549) Cells From Exposure To Non-Cytotoxic Mfi-Type Zeolite Nanoparticles, Kunal Bhattacharya, Pratap Naha, Izabela Naydenova, Svetlana Mintova, Hugh Byrne

Articles

Increasing utilization of engineered nanoparticles in the field of electronics and biomedical applications demands an assessment of risk associated with deliberate or accidental exposure. Metal based nanoparticles are potentially most important of all the nanoparticles in terms of health risks. Microporousalumino-silicates and pure silicates named as zeolites and zeo-type materials with variety of structures, chemical compositions, particle sizes and morphologies have a significant number of industrial uses such as in catalysis, sorption and ion-exchange processes. In particular, the nanosized particles due to their unique properties are used in hybrid organic-inorganic materials for photography, photonics, electronics, labeling, imaging, and sensing. The …

Biochemical Pathways In Cancer, Eun-Kyoung Yim Breuer, Mandi M. Murph, Rolf J. Craven

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract.

Targeting Astrocytes Ameliorates Neurologic Changes In A Mouse Model Of Alzheimer's Disease, Jennifer L. Furman, Diana M. Sama, John C. Gant, Tina L. Beckett, M. Paul Murphy, Adam D. Bachstetter, Linda J. Van Eldik, Christopher M. Norris

Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences Faculty Publications

Astrocytes are the most abundant cell type in the brain and play a critical role in maintaining healthy nervous tissue. In Alzheimer's disease (AD) and most other neurodegenerative disorders, many astrocytes convert to a chronically "activated" phenotype characterized by morphologic and biochemical changes that appear to compromise protective properties and/or promote harmful neuroinflammatory processes. Activated astrocytes emerge early in the course of AD and become increasingly prominent as clinical and pathological symptoms progress, but few studies have tested the potential of astrocyte-targeted therapeutics in an intact animal model of AD. Here, we used adeno-associated virus (AAV) vectors containing the astrocyte-specific …