<p>   </p> <p>Mechanical loading models are used to study adaptive skeletal mechanobiology mechanisms. However, most studies have used mammal models, leaving a knowledge gap regarding how these mechanisms differ among vertebrate groups. To address this gap, we evaluated the <em>in vivo</em> bone strain environment of the left tibia in green iguanas during locomotion, axial compressive loading, and with finite element analysis (FEA). Our study involved examining subadult green iguanas (n=7) over a range of speeds (0.4 - 1.3 m/s) and axial load magnitudes (-25 to -100 N) to determine peak strains. Bone strains were measured using single-element strain gauges (n=18) and rosette strain gauges (n=3), surgically attached to the tibial anterior, posterior, and medial surfaces. At a speed of 1.3 m/s, peak strains ± standard deviation observed were 645 ± 699 µε, -448 ± 464 µε, and 206 ± 168 µε at the anterior, posterior, and medial surfaces, respectively. Peak principal tensile and compressive strains on the medial surface were 199 ± 113 µε and -153 ± 98 µε at 1.3 m/s. During -100 N compressive loading, peak strains were 403 ± 277 µε, -506 ± 460 µε, and -52 ± 177 µε at the anterior, posterior, and medial surfaces, respectively. Our FEA model demonstrated a close correlation with experimentally measured strain values at the gauge sites (slope = 1.07, R2=0.7). Using these foundational <em>in vivo</em> strain results and a daily strain stimulus formula, our objective was to develop a novel noninvasive axial compressive tibial loading model to induce a cortical bone adaptive response in the green iguana tibia. However, following three weeks of daily applied compressive loading, no significant difference was detected in critical bone parameters at 37% and 50% (midshaft) volumes of interests from the proximal tibia (P<0.05).  While this study did not yield significant differences in critical bone parameters following the application of daily compressive loading, it provided new knowledge regarding the bone strain environment and the potential for inducing adaptive responses in the green iguana tibia. Further research may refine our understanding of skeletal mechanobiology mechanisms across vertebrate groups and develop more effective loading models for studying bone adaptation. Overall, the findings of this study contribute to the broader field of musculoskeletal mechanobiology, giving insights that may inform bone health and adaptation in diverse species, including humans. </p> <p>  </p>

<p dir="ltr">Hemorrhage and aortic aneurysms result from external or internal damage to a vessel wall and can be lethal if timely interventions are not made. Blood clotting and thrombus sometimes have a negative connotation in the medical community, but the coagulation cascade is a vital response to hemorrhage and disease. For hemorrhage, the coagulation cascade forms a plug at the injury site providing potentially life-saving hemostasis. In aortic aneurysms, blood coagulates inside the vessel or vessel wall to form intraluminal or intramural thrombus. The role of intraluminal and intramural thrombus in aneurysm rupture remains poorly understood, but past research suggests it may protect against further vessel damage dependent on its location and time of deposition. My dissertation focuses on application of a new photocurable sealant that surrounds a wound and aids in the coagulation cascade during hemorrhage, and analysis of the intramural and intraluminal thrombus that forms in aortic dissections and abdominal aortic aneurysms, respectively. We used volumetric and pulsed-wave Doppler ultrasound to detect changes in hemodynamics, vessel morphology, aneurysm thrombus deposition, and tracked the photocurable sealant’s performance and degradation <i>in vivo</i>. We used novel scanning electron microscopy analysis techniques in aortic aneurysm studies to uncover and quantify new information about thrombus structure. Our characterization and <i>in vivo </i>feasibility study with the photocurable sealant can serve as evidence for translation to future use in humans, and our techniques and findings in murine aneurysm models can potentially be used to elucidate the role and structure of thrombus in human aortic aneurysms.</p>

Multipotent haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) supply the organism with mature blood cells of all lineages throughout adult life. These cells first originate in the dorsal aorta (DA) of the vertebrate embryo, and a multitude of signalling pathways regulate their specification in the embryo. The emergence of HSCs is dependent on appropriate arterial specification and vessel maturation, processes which are heavily dependent on Notch signalling. This arterial involvement of Notch obscures its later roles in HSC specification. The Notch ligand dll4 is crucially involved in arterial development in the mammalian embryo, while zebrafish embryos deficient for dll4 activity only exhibit minor arterial defects at the time of HSC emergence. Here, the zebrafish model has been exploited to reveal the first specific evidence for a role of dll4 in HSC specification. Dll4 is required for the expression of runx1, a transcription factor (TF) required for HSC specification, prior to any observed effects on vascular development. HSCs and all their derivatives are depleted in dll4 morphants. To disentangle the genetic requlatory cascade downstream of dll4 and upstream of runx1, RNA-seq was employed to discover downstream effectors of this signalling. Expression and functional screening of best candidate genes revealed seven genes with novel roles in HSC development. Foxc1b is a dll4 target predominantly mirroring the dll4 phenotype, and is thus likely to be the downstream effector of dll4, upstream of runx1. Interestingly, foxc1b also has a later dll4-independent role in HSC development, remarkably similar to that of cmyb. Taken together I show here for the first time a requirement of dll4 upstream of runx1 in HSC specification, mediated by foxc1b, followed by a later dll4-independent phase in HSC development.

It’s like the sun and the tide. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of ‘being aged’ through the everyday experiences of those who are aged. Philosophically, this interpretive study was informed by hermeneutics and interpretive phenomenology. The writings of two twentieth-century philosophers, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, guided the study’s design and research methods. The phenomenon of interest is ‘being aged;’ a thing which is ordinarily taken-for-granted in the everyday. However, much is already spoken and empirically ‘known’ about the phenomenon by those who are not yet aged. Methodologically the study’s design sought to ‘put aside’ those voices and listen in closely to what elders themselves had to say about being in their everyday lives. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen participants; four Maori elders aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori elders aged 80 to 97 years. All were living in private residences on Auckland’s North Shore and recruited by way of the general electoral roll. The conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person’s reflections on aging. Anecdotes drawn from the conversations formed the research text. Hermeneutics informed the interpretive engagement with this text. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. Dwelling hermeneutically with the anecdotal text was a way of listening to the spoken and unspoken words. Four overarching notions were illuminated and form the study’s findings. They are my interpretive descriptions of the ordinary ways of ‘being in the everyday,’ the experiences of ‘being with others’ in advanced age, the announcing of being aged in the uncomfortableness of ‘experiencing the unaccustomed’ and how ‘aging just is’ there in an everyday way. Reflecting phenomenologically on the findings, the meaning of being aged is in its ordinariness. My thesis is that being in the ordinary everyday in advanced age both conceals and reveals the phenomenon of being aged.

It’s like the sun and the tide. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of ‘being aged’ through the everyday experiences of those who are aged. Philosophically, this interpretive study was informed by hermeneutics and interpretive phenomenology. The writings of two twentieth-century philosophers, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, guided the study’s design and research methods. The phenomenon of interest is ‘being aged;’ a thing which is ordinarily taken-for-granted in the everyday. However, much is already spoken and empirically ‘known’ about the phenomenon by those who are not yet aged. Methodologically the study’s design sought to ‘put aside’ those voices and listen in closely to what elders themselves had to say about being in their everyday lives. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen participants; four Maori elders aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori elders aged 80 to 97 years. All were living in private residences on Auckland’s North Shore and recruited by way of the general electoral roll. The conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person’s reflections on aging. Anecdotes drawn from the conversations formed the research text. Hermeneutics informed the interpretive engagement with this text. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. Dwelling hermeneutically with the anecdotal text was a way of listening to the spoken and unspoken words. Four overarching notions were illuminated and form the study’s findings. They are my interpretive descriptions of the ordinary ways of ‘being in the everyday,’ the experiences of ‘being with others’ in advanced age, the announcing of being aged in the uncomfortableness of ‘experiencing the unaccustomed’ and how ‘aging just is’ there in an everyday way. Reflecting phenomenologically on the findings, the meaning of being aged is in its ordinariness. My thesis is that being in the ordinary everyday in advanced age both conceals and reveals the phenomenon of being aged.

It’s like the sun and the tide. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of ‘being aged’ through the everyday experiences of those who are aged. Philosophically, this interpretive study was informed by hermeneutics and interpretive phenomenology. The writings of two twentieth-century philosophers, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, guided the study’s design and research methods. The phenomenon of interest is ‘being aged;’ a thing which is ordinarily taken-for-granted in the everyday. However, much is already spoken and empirically ‘known’ about the phenomenon by those who are not yet aged. Methodologically the study’s design sought to ‘put aside’ those voices and listen in closely to what elders themselves had to say about being in their everyday lives. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen participants; four Maori elders aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori elders aged 80 to 97 years. All were living in private residences on Auckland’s North Shore and recruited by way of the general electoral roll. The conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person’s reflections on aging. Anecdotes drawn from the conversations formed the research text. Hermeneutics informed the interpretive engagement with this text. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. Dwelling hermeneutically with the anecdotal text was a way of listening to the spoken and unspoken words. Four overarching notions were illuminated and form the study’s findings. They are my interpretive descriptions of the ordinary ways of ‘being in the everyday,’ the experiences of ‘being with others’ in advanced age, the announcing of being aged in the uncomfortableness of ‘experiencing the unaccustomed’ and how ‘aging just is’ there in an everyday way. Reflecting phenomenologically on the findings, the meaning of being aged is in its ordinariness. My thesis is that being in the ordinary everyday in advanced age both conceals and reveals the phenomenon of being aged.

It’s like the sun and the tide. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of ‘being aged’ through the everyday experiences of those who are aged. Philosophically, this interpretive study was informed by hermeneutics and interpretive phenomenology. The writings of two twentieth-century philosophers, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, guided the study’s design and research methods. The phenomenon of interest is ‘being aged;’ a thing which is ordinarily taken-for-granted in the everyday. However, much is already spoken and empirically ‘known’ about the phenomenon by those who are not yet aged. Methodologically the study’s design sought to ‘put aside’ those voices and listen in closely to what elders themselves had to say about being in their everyday lives. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen participants; four Maori elders aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori elders aged 80 to 97 years. All were living in private residences on Auckland’s North Shore and recruited by way of the general electoral roll. The conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person’s reflections on aging. Anecdotes drawn from the conversations formed the research text. Hermeneutics informed the interpretive engagement with this text. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. Dwelling hermeneutically with the anecdotal text was a way of listening to the spoken and unspoken words. Four overarching notions were illuminated and form the study’s findings. They are my interpretive descriptions of the ordinary ways of ‘being in the everyday,’ the experiences of ‘being with others’ in advanced age, the announcing of being aged in the uncomfortableness of ‘experiencing the unaccustomed’ and how ‘aging just is’ there in an everyday way. Reflecting phenomenologically on the findings, the meaning of being aged is in its ordinariness. My thesis is that being in the ordinary everyday in advanced age both conceals and reveals the phenomenon of being aged.

It’s like the sun and the tide. The aim of this study was to understand the meaning of ‘being aged’ through the everyday experiences of those who are aged. Philosophically, this interpretive study was informed by hermeneutics and interpretive phenomenology. The writings of two twentieth-century philosophers, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Martin Heidegger, guided the study’s design and research methods. The phenomenon of interest is ‘being aged;’ a thing which is ordinarily taken-for-granted in the everyday. However, much is already spoken and empirically ‘known’ about the phenomenon by those who are not yet aged. Methodologically the study’s design sought to ‘put aside’ those voices and listen in closely to what elders themselves had to say about being in their everyday lives. Individual research conversations were conducted with fifteen participants; four Maori elders aged 71 to 93 and eleven non-Maori elders aged 80 to 97 years. All were living in private residences on Auckland’s North Shore and recruited by way of the general electoral roll. The conversations were focused on gathering the stories of particular everyday events as well as the person’s reflections on aging. Anecdotes drawn from the conversations formed the research text. Hermeneutics informed the interpretive engagement with this text. As a non-Maori researcher, cultural integrity of the text and the interpretations was enhanced through partnership with a Maori advisor. Dwelling hermeneutically with the anecdotal text was a way of listening to the spoken and unspoken words. Four overarching notions were illuminated and form the study’s findings. They are my interpretive descriptions of the ordinary ways of ‘being in the everyday,’ the experiences of ‘being with others’ in advanced age, the announcing of being aged in the uncomfortableness of ‘experiencing the unaccustomed’ and how ‘aging just is’ there in an everyday way. Reflecting phenomenologically on the findings, the meaning of being aged is in its ordinariness. My thesis is that being in the ordinary everyday in advanced age both conceals and reveals the phenomenon of being aged.

The implementation of curriculum change, and innovative pedagogical theory, can help educators and administrators in higher education further the learning gains of students in the sciences. But the introduction of new methods of teaching, or curricular restructuring, can be interpreted by students differently, potentially affecting students' emotional states as well as their relationships with peers. To support not only the learning of students, but also their emotional and social well-being, pedagogical and curricular theory should be enacted in ways that take into consideration the full scope of the student experience. In this dissertation, the implementation of curriculum and pedagogical theory, and the effects of the usage of active learning methods, are examined through student learning gains as well as through any reported social and emotional affects. In the first chapter we examine the history and realization of the integration of clinical and biomedical sciences in the field of predoctoral dental education. In the second chapter, the effects of early experiential learning opportunities are examined via students' progression to clinical competence and students’ self-reported confidence in a predoctoral dental program. In the third chapter, we consider and review how curricular change may affect students' emotional states, their relationships with peers, and if the concept of stereotype threat played any role in the complication observed. Lastly, in chapter four we explore how active learning may benefit, or hinder, the learning of students in an undergraduate anatomy course with social anxiety in a virtual learning environment. Throughout this dissertation, we seek to promote student learning through the use of educational best practices and consider how curriculum and pedagogical changes might also affect the feelings and emotional states of students, for the purpose of building a considerate and effective educational environment.

<p dir="ltr">The gastrointestinal (GI) tract and its diverse microbial community play a significant role in overall health, impacting various aspects such as metabolism, physiology, nutrition, and immune function. Disruptions in the gut microbiota have been associated with metabolic diseases, colorectal cancer, diabetes, obesity, inflammatory bowel disease, Alzheimer's disease, and depression. Despite recognizing the importance of the gut microbiota, the interrelationship between microbiota, diet, and disease prevention remains unclear. Current techniques for monitoring the microbiome often rely on fecal samples or invasive endoscopic procedures, limiting the understanding of spatial variations in the gut microbiota and posing invasiveness challenges. To address these limitations, this dissertation focuses on the design and development of an electronic-free smart capsule platform capable of targeted sampling of GI fluid within specific regions of the GI tract. The capsule can be retrieved for subsequent bacterial culture and sequencing analysis. The capsule design is based on stimuli-responsive polymers and superabsorbent hydrogels, chosen for their proven safety, compatibility, and scalability. By leveraging the pH variation across the GI tract, the pH-sensitive polymeric coatings dissolve at the desired region, activating the sampling process. The superabsorbent hydrogel inside the capsule collects the sampled GI fluid and facilitates capsule closure upon completion of sampling. Systematic studies were conducted to identify suitable pH-responsive polymer coatings, superabsorbent hydrogels, and processing conditions that effectively operated within the physiological conditions of the GI tract. The technology's effectiveness and safety were validated through rigorous <i>in vitro</i> and <i>in vivo</i> studies using pig models. These studies demonstrated the potential of the technology for targeted sampling of GI fluid in both small and large intestinal regions, enabling subsequent bacterial culture and gene sequencing analysis. Additionally, the capsule design was enhanced with the integration of a metal tracer, enabling traceability throughout the GI tract using X-ray imaging and portable metal detectors for ambulatory screening. This technology holds promise as a non-invasive tool for studying real-time metabolic and molecular interactions among the host, diet, and microbiota in challenging-to-access GI regions. Its application in clinical studies can provide new insights into diet-host-microbiome interactions and contribute to addressing the burden faced by patients and their families dealing with GI-related diseases.</p>