Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Chicago, Committee on Immunology, June 2003. / Includes bibliographical references. Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (M. Sc.)--University of Canterbury, 2005. / Typescript (photocopy). "October 2005." Includes bibliographical references (leaves 60-62). Also available via the World Wide Web.

No description available.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2000. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 76-79). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2002. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 90-98). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2007. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 45-48). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (M.S.)--Brigham Young University. Dept. of Physiology and Developmental Biology, 2006. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 34-36).

Thesis (M.Communication Pathology)--Universiteit van Pretoria, 2002. / Summary in English and Afrikaans. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 142-159).

Audiologists are challenged with various neurological diseases, such as Multiple Sclerosis. This disease causes demyelination of the white matter in the central nervous system resulting in desynchronisation of neural impulses. Despite controversy in the literature many studies illustrated some degree of auditory involvement associated with this disease. The auditory brainstem response has dominated the field during the assessment of the auditory system of patients with Multiple Sclerosis. Although this objective test procedure is useful during the assessment of the auditory nerve on a brainstem level, it reveals its own set of limitations when used in isolation as a single test procedure. A multiple test battery approach has shown promise in addressing the limitations of any single test procedure. This approach aims to assess the auditory nervous system of patients with Multiple Sclerosis on different levels (sensory and neural). The aim of the current study was to determine the effectiveness of a clinically appropriate battery of test procedures during the assessment of the auditory nervous system of 25 adult subjects with Multiple Sclerosis. The subjects were divided into two groups: Group 1 consisted of fifteen (15) subjects without a history of noise exposure, whereas the ten (10) subjects in Group 2 had previously been exposed to noise. A combined experimental-descriptive research design was selected in order to describe both the qualitative and quantitative results obtained during the study. The following test procedures were included in the test battery: • A self-assessment questionnaire allowing subjects to report on hearing abilities, related auditory-vestibular symptoms and communicative competence during every day life; • Puretone audiometry, distortion product otoacoustic emissions as well as the cochlear microphonic; and • Auditory brainstem response recording using both the rarefaction and condensation click polarities consecutively. The results indicated that a high percentage of subjects experienced vestibular symptoms such as dizziness and vertigo by the time the study was conducted. The presence of tinnitus and hearing difficulties were uncommon among subjects. Despite this, more than half of the subjects experienced difficulty with communication in the presence of background noise. Puretone audiometry demonstrated that some of the subjects presented with mild high-frequency hearing losses. However other configurations with impaired hearing thresholds were also observed. Most of the subjects’ auditory brainstem response recordings displayed abnormalities using either the rarefaction or condensation click polarity. The use of the condensation click polarity displayed more ABR abnormalities compared to the rarefaction click polarity. Several subjects displayed additional cochlear involvement while a smaller percentage of subjects presented only with neural involvement. / Dissertation (M (Communication Pathhology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Speech-Language Pathology and Audiology / unrestricted

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / While breast cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer worldwide, its causes and natural history are not well defined. The female mammary organ is unique in that it does not reach full maturity until the lactation cycle following pregnancy. This cycle entails extensive growth and reorganization of the primitive epithelial ductal network. Following lactation, these same epithelial cells undergo an equally extensive program of apoptosis and involution. The mammary gland's sensitivity to pro-growth and pro-apoptotic signals may partly explain its proclivity to develop cancers. For epithelial cells to become transformed they must lose intracellular organization known as polarity as differentiated epithelial tissues are refractory to aberrant growth. One essential component of epithelial to mesenchymal transition is the intrinsic capacity of cells to repurpose polarity constituents to promote growth. Recently, a novel mechanism of organ size control has been shown to repurpose the apical junctional associated protein Yap into the nucleus where it functions as a transcriptional coactivator promoting growth and dedifferentiation. The focus of my work has been on a family of adaptor proteins termed Amots that have been shown to scaffold Yap and inhibit growth signaling. Specifically, I have shown that the 80KDa form of Amot, termed Amot80, acts as a dominant negative to the other Amot proteins to promote cell growth while reducing cell differentiation. Amot80 was found to promote the prolonged activation of MAPK signaling. Further, Amot80 expression was also found to enhance the transcriptional activity of Yap. This effect likely underlies the ability of Amot80 to drive disorganized overgrowth of MCF10A cells grown in Matrigel̈™. Overall, these data suggest a mechanism whereby the balance of Amot proteins controls the equilibrium between growth and differentiation within mammary epithelial tissues.