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...
Arsenic--Physiological effect; Cardiovascular system--Diseases; Liver--Effect of arsenic on; Arsenic--Toxicology
Chronic arsenic exposure is associated with increased cardiovascular disease (CVD). Prenatal arsenic exposure at 49 ppm arsenic accelerates atherosclerosis underlying CVD in ApoE-/- mice, but the mechanism is unknown. This dissertation examines the...
Item response theory; Goodness-of-fit tests; Monte Carlo method
Item response theory (IRT) is expanding to diverse research settings, without accompanying access to easily implemented model fit methods. One simple model fit approach involves x2/df ratios. However, its utility is not known across several...
Social anxiety is prevalent and debilitating. Contemporary models of social
anxiety posit that negative, self-focused thought aids in the maintenance of social anxiety
symptoms. Although these models emphasize in-situation cognition, recent...
Current high-throughput gene expression experiments have a straightforward design of examining
the gene expression of one group or condition relative to that of another. The data is typically
analyzed as if they represent strictly intracellular...
This thesis will present various methods of trajectory generation for various types of mobile robots. Then it will progress to evaluating Robot Operating Systems (ROS’s) that can be used to control and simulate mobile robots, and it will explain...
Bcl-2 proteins are major regulators of cellular responses to various apoptotic stimuli. Among them, overexpression of the anti-apoptotic BcI-2 protein BcI-xL modulates organelle-specific apoptotic pathways. To understand the mechanisms by which...
4-hydroxy-2-nonenal (4-HNE) and propene-2-al (acrolein) are highly reactive á,â-unsaturated aldehydes. 4-HNE and acrolein are generated in vivo as products of lipid peroxidation. These aldehydes are implicated in the onset of several diseases...
Diabetic cardiomyopathy (DCM) is a common complication leading to accelerated cardiovascular failure in diabetic patients. Even though the exact mechanism(s) behind this disease still remain unclear, research from several laboratories including our...
T lymphopoiesis has been an intense focus of immunological research since the discovery of the major histocompatibility complex (MHC) and T cell mediated transplant rejection. Additionally, researchers have long appreciated the role of T cells, and...
Heart--Hypertrophy; Heart--Physiology; Sugar in the body; Metabolism; Diabetes--Research
Heart failure is recognized as a major cause of death among diabetics. In type I and II diabetes, glucose uptake, glycolysis and pyruvate oxidation are impaired, and fatty acid utilization increases. These alterations in metabolism contribute...
Law teachers--Training of; Law teachers--Social networks; Mentoring in education
This dissertation used a comparative analysis approach to determine mentoring's ability to socialize law faculty. Specifically, it sought to examine the efficacy of formal and informal mentoring in socializing law faculty to their respective...
The Y family of DNA polymerases in higher eukaryotes contains at least four members which are implicated in potentially error-prone replication through unrepaired damage in the genome. These proteins are encoded by the REV1, POLH, POLI, and POLK...
Interactions between chemokines and their receptors are involved in organ- specific homing and propagation of metastatic breast cancer (BrCa) cells. BrCa cells express higher levels of CXCR4 and CXCR7 mRNA and cell surface protein, than normal...
Complement, an early recognition system of innate immunity that senses local tissue damage and infection, cross-talks with and regulates other signaling systems, including Toll-like receptor (TLR) pathways. In the context of periodontitis,...
Stream riparian zones are ecotones between terrestrial and aquatic environments. Studying these areas in urban environments is important since they lie adjacent to stream water supplies. I conducted a study of riparian woody and groundcover...
Monophosphoryl Lipid A (MPLA), a derivative of LPS endotoxin, is a TLR4 agonist that displays as little as 0.1-1% as much toxicity as its parent molecule while retaining immunostimulatory properties. We discovered that MPLA activates a TRIF-biased...
Sensory neurons; Spinal cord--Wounds and injuries--Research; Pain--Research
This study examined the effects of tissue damage and inflammation on the expression in sensory neurons of P2X3, a gene that has a role in nociception and sensing bladder distension, which is regulated by nerve injury. Tissue damage induces...
Mycobacterium tuberculosis causes the often-fatal infectious disease Tuberculosis, and infects approximately one third of the world's population. Gaining a better understanding of how these bacteria regulate gene expression for intracellular...
Many species of fungi undergo a dimorphic transition to switch from a unicellular yeast-like growth form to a filamentous growth form. Ustilago maydis undergoes such a transition, in response to successful mating events and subsequent host cues, to...
