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Now showing items 161-170 of 254
School-Based Mental Health Therapy : Meeting the Needs of Rural Adolescents
(East Carolina University, 2014)
School-based mental health (SBMH) therapy offers promise in addressing the mental health needs of rural adolescents. The current investigation includes two studies that examine rural adolescents' educational and mental ...
Expression of microRNA in Alveolar Macrophages Deficient in PPARy
(East Carolina University, 2014)
The nuclear transcription factor Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARgamma) is a negative regulator of macrophage activation and inflammatory mediators. Alveolar macrophages of healthy individuals constitutively express PPARgamma Decreased activity and expression of PPARgamma are observed in the alveolar macrophages from patients suffering from inflammatory conditions such as pulmonary alveolar proteinosis (PAP) and sarcoidosis. These finding suggest that PPARf× activity may have an integral role in maintaining lung homeostasis. This study tested the hypothesis that microRNA expression would be dysregulated in murine alveolar macrophages deficient in PPARgamma. microRNA (miR) are small non-coding RNA molecules that post-transcriptionally regulate the expression of messenger RNA. Evaluation of microRNA in the murine model of PAP, the GM-CSF-KO mouse, demonstrates the elevation of miR-27a and miR-27b which target PPARgamma. The deficiency of PPARgamma and the lipid transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 have been shown to contribute to the pathology of PAP. The microRNA miR-33-3p and miR-33-5p, which target these lipid transporters, were also elevated in GM-CSF-KO mice. Pulmonary granulomas comparable to those observed in pulmonary sarcoidosis are induced by instillation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) in C57Bl/6 mice. These animals have decreased PPARgamma activity and show elevated expression of miR-27a and miR-27b. It was also observed that the expression of the transporters ABCA1 and ABCG1 were decreased in MWCNT instilled mice. Expression of miR-33-3p and miR-33-5p was elevated in MWCNT instilled animals. The expression of microRNA that affects the activity of NF-£eB is also elevated in both murine models. We next investigated the use of PPARgamma agonist rosiglitazone on the expression of microRNA and messenger RNA. The use of rosiglitazone altered the expression of microRNA in both GM-CSF-KO and C57Bl/6+MWCNT mice. Rosiglitazone treatment altered the expression of the lipid transporter ABCA1and ABCG1 in C57Bl/6+MWCNT mice. The elevation of proinflammatory cytokines was also observed. Taken together, these observations support the hypothesis that PPARgamma activity effects the microRNA and gene expression in alveolar macrophages which is critical to overall lung homeostasis. Understanding the relationship between PPARgamma and microRNA in alveolar macrophage biology will provide insight into the regulation of the lung environment and possible therapeutic targets. ...
Gesture Prediction Model for the Guitar Fingering Problem
(East Carolina University, 2014)
In this thesis we provide a method for finding the fingering of a music piece on any type of guitar using a hand model. Adapting to the real world conditions by deploying a model of the user's hand, and considering the ...
Blue Guardian Original TV Series : Two Episodes, Blue Tornado and Blue Mountains
(East Carolina University, 2014)
Blue Guardian is an original TV series with two episodes presented here, entitled "Blue Tornado" and "Blue Mountains." It is in the mystery genre without particularly dealing with murder investigations. Rather, each ...
SEAFARING WOMEN : An Investigation of Material Culture for Potential Archaeological Diagnostics of Women on Nineteenth-Century Sailing Ships
(East Carolina University, 2014)
During the 19th century, women went to sea on sailing ships. Wives and family accompanied captains on their voyages from New England. They wrote journals and letters that detailed their life on board, adventures in foreign ...
THE LIVED EXPERIENCE OF COUPLES AFTER BARIATRIC SURGERY : A QUALITATIVE DESCRIPTION
(East Carolina University, 2014)
Obesity is a worldwide epidemic. Diet, exercise, and medical therapies alone have not been enough to stem the tide of this epidemic. Bariatric surgery has been found not only to be the most effective intervention for ...
A Determination Worthy of a Better Cause : Naval Action at the Battle of Roanoke Island 7 February 1862
(East Carolina University, 2014)
The Battle of Roanoke Island, during the American Civil War, was one of the first major amphibious landing operations in U.S. military history. As the Union Army landed troops on the island, an accompanying Union Naval ...
Investigation of the Zinc binding region of Prothymosin-alpha : A spectroscopic and thermodynamic approach to study metal binding in Intrinsically disordered proteins
(East Carolina University, 2014)
The goal of this study is to provide a deeper insight into how metals bind intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) by taking zinc binding to prothymosin-alpha as a case study. The involvement of metals in several diseases ...
Targeting the mitochondrial inner membrane to improve bioenergetics in the diseased heart
(East Carolina University, 2014)
Cardiovascular diseases continue to exact unparalleled economic and humanitarian costs across the globe. Manifestations of cardiovascular diseases include acute coronary syndromes and heart failure, both of which are ...
A descriptive exploratory study on how nurse educators use digital stories in the classroom
(East Carolina University, 2014)
This study examines the experiences of 12 nurse educators using digital stories in undergraduate nursing courses. Two issues were explored: 1) How and for what purpose are nurse educators incorporating digital stories in ...