RSS 1.02018 Dissertations (UMKC)
The items in this collection are the dissertations written by graduate students in 2018. Some items may be viewed only by members of the University of Missouri System and/or University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click on one of the browse buttons above for a complete listing of the works.
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Peptide-Based Platform For Cancer Therapeutics And Drug Transportation Across Blood-Brain Barrier
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Prostate cancer is the most common male malignancy and remains the second-leading cause of death due to cancer in American men. While surgery and radiation are effective in prostate cancer therapy at early stages, the ... -
The Effect of Participatory Budgeting on the Provisioning Process
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)The hypothesis of this dissertation is that as more of us become actively engaged in deliberations concerning local economic/political issues, the happier, more tolerant, and more understanding we can become. This is a ... -
The Effectiveness of Reading Folk Literature in Improving English Language Learners’ Reading Proficiency in Elementary Grades
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)This mixed-methods study investigates the effectiveness of reading folktales, fairy tales, and fables in improving English learners’ reading proficiency levels in elementary grades and explores students’ experiences with ... -
Development of Targeted siRNA Therapeutics for Triple Negative Breast Cancer and Liver Fibrosis
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)The objective of this dissertation is to develop various systems to deliver small interfering RNA (siRNA) for the treatment of triple negative breast cancer (TNBC) and liver fibrosis. siRNAs targeting vascular endothelial ... -
Evaluation of the Anti-Fibrotic Activity of PCBP2 siRNA in Primary Hepatic Stellate Cells and Discovery of Anti-PD-L1 Peptide and Nanobody for Immunotherapy
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)There are two major research objectives in this dissertation. Our laboratory recently discovered a small interfering RNA (siRNA) that silences the poly (rC) binding protein 2 (PCBP2) gene. It is hypothesized that silencing ... -
Establishing Metronidazole as a Novel Biomarker of CYP2A6 Activity
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)CYP2A6 is a polymorphically expressed enzyme with variation associated with smoking behavior, cessation success, lung cancer risk, and differential drug exposure to numerous medications including anti-infectious and ... -
Evaluation of Cement-Based Reactive Media for Contaminant Remediation
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Water contaminated with heavy metals, arsenic, and other industrial pollutants poses a severe risk to human health. Reactive media present an opportunity to intercept contaminants but have high material or environmental ... -
Role of Redox-Active Trace Metal (RATM) Oxidants in the Regulation of Toll-Like Receptor 4 (TLR4) Signaling-Mediated Inflammatory Phenotype in Synovial Fibroblasts
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)While the involvement of oxidant stress in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) has been suspected, the role of redox-active trace metals (RATM) as exogenous pro-oxidants in the pathogenesis of RA has not yet been investigated. ... -
Development of Protein Based PCBP2 siRNA Nanocomplex for Liver Fibrosis Therapy
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)The objective of this dissertation is to develop a protein-based siRNA nanocomplex for the treatment of alcoholic liver fibrosis. Our laboratory recently discovered that silencing the poly (rC) binding protein 2 (PCBP2) ... -
Three Essays on Public Money Creation, Endogenous Bank Credit Creation, and Remaining Empirical Issues: Interest Rates and Inflation
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)This dissertation examines the interconnectedness between money/credit creation and its empirical relevance to macroeconomic variables. It takes the position that the amount of money/credit created for GDP-related ... -
Mechanism of Action of Nicotinamide Phosphoribosyltransferase Mediated Signaling in Oxidative Stress
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Worldwide there are an estimated 1 billion people that are affected by a form of neurodegenerative disease. The most common forms of neurodegenerative disease are Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, along ... -
Structure/Function Analysis of Type IIa Receptor Tyrosine Phosphatases on Drosophila Muscle Integrity
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)The Lar-family of receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs); including Lar, RPTPσ and RPTPδ, are utilized in signal transduction pathways during neural development. Fundamentally, the processes of axon guidance ... -
Multi-Modal Ocular Recognition in presence of occlusion in Mobile Devices
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)The existence eyeglasses in human faces cause real challenges for ocular, facial, and soft-based (such as eyebrows) biometric recognition due to glasses reflection, shadow, and frame occlusion. In this regard, two operations ... -
Engineering of Human Acid Phosphatase Enzyme Sensitive Nanomedicine for HIV/AIDS Prevention by Topical Route
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)This study is divided into two aims. Aim #1 focuses on the development and characterization of tenofovir (TFV) loaded a stimuli sensitive nanomedicine against male to female HIV/AIDS infection. Aim #2 focus on the ... -
In-Flight Learning Based Flight Control of an Unmanned Aircraft System
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) popularity has increased substantially in the last few years. UAVs capabilities continue to improve as a result of advances in battery technology, communication, navigation systems and ... -
Development and Evaluation Of HIV gp120 Responsive Microbicide Formulation for the Prevention of HIV Sexual Transmission
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Sexual transmission of HIV remains the primary route (75 to 85%) of HIV infection among all new infection cases. Furthermore, women represent the most vulnerable population and are more susceptible to HIV infections ... -
Opportunity Recognition: A Contingency Framework of Individual Attributes, Time Pressure, and Uncertainty
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)This dissertation clarifies individual differences in opportunity recognition as a precursor to starting a new business. Using a contingency perspective, time pressure and uncertainty are hypothesized to moderate the ... -
Identification of Novel Regulatory Genes in Acetaminophen Induced Hepatocyte Toxicity by a Genome-Wide CRISPR/Cas9 Screen
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Acetaminophen (APAP) is a commonly used analgesic responsible for over 56,000 overdose-related emergency room visits annually. A long asymptomatic period and limited treatment options result in a high rate of liver ... -
Evaluating the Ergonomics of Healthcare Providers using Kinematic Motion Analysis, Electromyography, and Musculoskeletal Modeling
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)Work-related musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) in healthcare providers have been heavily reported, and are a major cause of occupational discomfort, disability, and occupational absence. Current evaluation methodology of ... -
An Approach for Fast Score Computation in Bayesian Network Structure Learning Over Large-Scale Distributed Data
(University of Missouri -- Kansas City, 2018)On a fundamental level, Bayes’ theorem enables us to utilize prior knowledge to determine the probability of an event. In consequence, its suitability for probabilistic reasoning has lead to its employment in probabilistic ...