Drug delivery systems; Curcumin--Therapeutic use--Administration
Curcumin, a plant derived compound has shown significant potency against various chronic diseases like cancer in cell culture and animal studies. However, the introduction of this compound into clinical setting is limited by its poor oral...
Green tea--Health aspects; Green tea--Therapeutic use; Polyphenols--Physiological effect; Drug delivery systems; Lungs--Cancer--Treatment
Green tea polyphenols (GTPs) are gaining increasing attention because of their potential anti-tumor effects. However, poor oral bioavailability limits their efficacy in vivo. In this dissertation, two hypotheses were tested: 1) GTPs administered...
Nosocomial infections; Catheterization--Complications; Drug resistance in microorganisms
Catheters represent an essential part of the management of critically and chronically ill patients. However, their use is often plagued by catheter related blood stream infections (CRBSIs), which are associated with increased morbidity, hospital...
Enzymatic hydrolysis is an important, but time limiting step in the process of converting biomass into ethanol. High solids concentrations are desired in order to minimize reactor size and achieve a higher concentration of glucose in the end...
Nanoparticles; Drug delivery devices; Gene therapy
The properties and broad applications of nano-magnetic colloids have generated much interest in recent years. Specially, Fe304 nanoparticles have attracted a great deal of attention since their magnetic properties can be used for hyperthermia...
Previous studies on the mechanistic induction of anti-tumor responses by IL-12 cytokine therapy have focused on the adaptive immune response, specifically the activation NK cells and T cells as the primary targets of IL-12 treatment. In contrast,...
Monoclonal antibodies directed toward tumor associated antigens are FDA approved anticancer reagents used commonly in the clinic. Administered antibodies initiate tumor cell death through several mechanisms. Improving immune mediated mechanisms,...
Spinal cord injury (SCI) can be divided into two distinct stages, an initial mechanical impact and a later "secondary injury" resulting from a cascade of cytokines triggering a spreading demyelination and apoptosis of neurons and glia...
Enzymatic hydrolysis is the most common method of producing fermentable sugars from lignocellulosic biomass. Limitations to this step include the high cost of enzymes, and the time required to process the biomass. To increase the throughput and...
This dissertation demonstrates an elegant method, known as 'micro-origami' or strain architecture to design and fabricate three-dimensional MEMS structures which are assembled using actuation of a metal-oxide bilayer with conventional planar...
Night vision--Genetic aspects; Vision disorders--Genetic aspects
Mutations in the NYX gene, encoding the novel protein nyctalopin, cause human congenital stationary night blindness type 1 (CSNB1). CSNB1 is an X-linked recessive condition and is identified by a loss of the electroretinogram (ERG) b-wave while the...
High solids processing of biomass slurries provides the following benefits: maximized product concentration in the fermentable sugar stream, reduced water usage, and reduced reactor size. However, high solids processing poses mixing and heat...
Cortical and tectal inputs to the caudal LPN in the rat were examined using anatomical and physiological techniques. Pyramidal cells in layer 6 of the visual cortex and wide-field vertical cells in the stratum opticum of the superior colliculus...
Congenital stationary night blindness 1 (CSNBl) is a genetic disorder characterized in humans by night blindness, low visual acuity and myopia. CSNB 1 is caused by defects in genes that are involved in signaling between photoreceptors and...
Freshwater mussels--Ecology; Freshwater mussels--Blue River (Ind.)
This study assessed life history components for the elephantear freshwater mussel, Elliptio crassidens (Lamarck, 1819). The main focus of this study was to determine the suitability of various fish species as a host for E. crassidens and to...
Human adult olfactory epithelium contains neural progenitors (hONPs) which replace damaged cellular components throughout life. Methods to isolate and expand the hONPs have been developed in our laboratory. In response to morphogens, the hONPs...
Here, I address the function of the carboxy-terminal hydrophobic helix of the pro-apoptotic protein Bax. There has been considerable controversy as to whether this sequence is required for the targeting and insertion of Bax into the mitochondrial...
Women prisoners--Family relationships--Kentucky; Children of women prisoners--Kentucky; Prisoners' families--Effect of imprisonment on--Kentucky; Mothers--Kentucky
A phenomenological study of the lived experience of mothering during incarceration was conducted at a women's multi-custody level prison in Kentucky. The purpose of the study was to explore and describe the experience of mothering among...
Tobacco smoke is a strong and independent risk factor for several chronic systemic diseases and also increases susceptibility to a multitude of bacterial infections, including periodontal infections. Periodontitis is a chronic inflammatory disease...
Three lab concrete mixes and one field concrete mix were evaluated to establish
the Air Void Analyzer (AVA) as a means of real-time, ���In-the-Field��, Quality Control
testing method. In this study, both the Air Void Analyzer and...
