NOVEL MICROPARTICLE-BASED MICRONEEDLE VACCINE FOR ZIKA VIRUS (Under the guidance of Dr. Martin D’Souza) Zika is an infectious viral disease caused due to the Zika virus. The primary mode of transmission for this virus is through mosquito bites. The common symptoms of the disease include fever, headache, conjunctivitis, muscle pain, and joint pain. Vertical transmission during pregnancy can result in microcephaly, congenital Zika syndrome, and other congenital abnormalities. Zika can also lead to Guillain-Barr Syndrome – an autoimmune disorder affecting the peripheral nervous system. After the global outbreak of Zika in 2015-2016, the World Health Organization declared a public health emergency of international concern. Research related to Zika has been included in the R and D priority list by the WHO. However, there are no approved treatments or vaccines available for Zika. Current vaccine candidates in research include whole-inactivated vaccines, nucleic acid vaccines, vectored vaccines, and subunit vaccines that are administered via conventional intramuscular or subcutaneous routes. These routes are invasive and painful, thereby reducing patient compliance. To explore a less painful alternative, we investigated the feasibility of the transdermal route as a vaccine delivery strategy for the Zika virus using polymeric microparticle-loaded microneedle patches. Integration of the particulate vaccine strategy and the transdermal route of administration together presented the potential to be efficacious in preventing Zika in a patient-compliant manner. The first part of the project included the formulation of poly(lactic-co-glycolic) acid (PLGA) polymeric vaccine microparticles (MP) encapsulating the inactivated Zika virus, along with adjuvant MP encapsulating Alhydrogel® and MPL-A®. We characterized the vaccine MP for size, surface charge, morphology, encapsulation efficiency, and antigen integrity. Further, we evaluated the immunogenicity and cytotoxicity of vaccine MP in vitro in murine dendritic cells. Vaccine MP with adjuvants induced significantly higher production of nitric oxide, a marker of innate immunity, when compared to the untreated cells. In addition, vaccine MP with or without adjuvants induced increased autophagy in murine dendritic cells when compared to inactivated Zika virus, which is critical in antigen presentation. Vaccine MP along with adjuvant MP also enhanced the expression of antigen-presenting molecules – MHC I and MHC II as well as co-stimulatory molecules – CD80 and CD40 in murine dendritic cells. Next, we evaluated in vivo efficacy of vaccine MP with and without adjuvants in a preclinical murine model by measuring the immune response after intramuscular administration. Vaccine MP with adjuvants induced significant IgG, Ig2a, IgG1, and IgG3 titers as compared to the control group of untreated mice. After the challenge with live Zika virus, vaccinated mice showed higher antibody titers and enhanced expression of helper CD4 and CD8 cell surface markers in splenocytes and lymphocytes. Splenocytes of vaccinated mice also showed enhanced expression of IFN-γ required for cytotoxic cell-mediated immune response. Thus, the immunogenic efficiency of the particulate Zika vaccine was established. In the next part of the study, we embedded Zika vaccine MPs with adjuvant MPs in dissolving microneedles (MNs) administered via the transdermal route as a pain-free vaccine strategy. We characterized the MNs for needle length, pore formation, and dissolvability when applied to murine skin. Further, we evaluated the in vivo efficacy of vaccine MPs-loaded MNs with or without adjuvants by measuring immune response after transdermal immunization. Vaccine MPs-loaded dissolving MNs with adjuvants induced significant IgG, IgG1, IgG2a, and IgG3 titers in immunized mice compared to the untreated control group. After the dosing regimen, animals were challenged with the Zika virus, monitored for seven days, and sacrificed to collect spleen and lymph nodes. Lymphocytes and splenocytes from immunized mice showed significant expression of helper (CD4) and cytotoxic (CD8a) cell surface markers than the control group. Thus, the promising results of this study put forth a ‘proof-of-concept’ for a pain-free transdermal vaccine strategy against Zika.

This thesis challenges the consensus viewpoint of biblical scholarship that Q, the sayings source common to Matthew and Luke, contains no Passion account. Based on the absence of a Passion in Q (the Argument from Silence), the consensus view concludes Q’s theology is divergent from the cross-centered theology of Matthew and Luke. The purpose of the present study is to refute the Argument from Silence, and show that Q did in fact contain Passion material. With a Passion, Q must have had a theology more congruent with Matthew and Luke. The research methodology is source utilization, the study of how ancient writers used sources based on the then available technology of document production. Based on deviations from Mark in content, but more importantly order, source utilization points to a second non-Markan written source in Luke’s Passion, which source provided the alternative content and order. Q could be the second source because (a) the non-Markan portion of Luke’s Passion contains numerous sayings of Jesus consistent with Q’s genre as a sayings source, and (b) these non-Markan sayings also have thematic resonance with Q. The Minor Agreements of Matthew and Luke against Mark in their respective Passion accounts further support these findings. The Minor Agreements demonstrate Matthew’ s awareness of: (1) non-Markan sayings thematically related to Q, and (2) non-Markan material precisely at the point where Luke deviates from Markan order, and is therefore following the order of the second written source. Based on all of these results, I conclude Q is in fact the second written source for much of the non-Markan Passion material in Luke, and the material is echoed to a lesser extent in Matthew. I will pull the analysis together and propose an addition to Q of about 300 words of Passion material drawn from Luke and Matthew. I will end with a brief discussion of the implications of a Q Passion. These include rebuttal of the Argument from Silence, consequences for the Synoptic Problem and ramifications for the theology of Q and the history of early Christianity.

Central Baptist Church has enjoyed a great history of inclusion and of welcoming a variety of people in the community, particularly those whom other churches have struggled to welcome. But after two difficult splits in 1991 and 2006 and a declining community, Central has become an aging church with some reticence to start new ministry initiatives that would attract people that look and act differently than those who historically made up the church. Yet there are many members of Central who want to actively engage those in our community. Still the biblical mandate to practice radical hospitality is evident. This project was created to give an opportunity for church leaders to examine individually and corporately their sense of radical hospitality, by table facilitating at a weekly gathering called Connections. Because those who are a part of Connections form a diverse cross-section of our community, these are the people with whom Central can build the relationships that create transformation in the community. This project shows that people can claim, affirm, or reclaim their sense of authentic, radical hospitality.

ABSTRACT MARIA ANN. HAMMETT EVIDENCE OF ANDRAGOGY IN A FOUR-YEAR BACCALAUREATE COLLEGE SERVING NONTRADITIONAL STUDENTS: A CASE STUDY Under the direction of Olivia M. Boggs, Ed.D. The problem targeted by the study was that while nontraditional students are increasingly attending college in record numbers, they are more than twice as likely as other students to drop out in their first year of study, indicating the delayed promise of degree completion may never be realized. The study focused on the opportunities and fiscal challenges accompanying this exponential growth of students who are typically older, financially independent of their parents, employed full time, parents of dependent children, possibly ex-military, and often have a GED rather than a traditional high school diploma. Using case study methodology and the lens of Malcolm Knowles’s theory of andragogy, the research identified the campus culture, philosophies, and institutional behaviors used to successfully recruit, retain, and graduate nontraditional students at a traditional college or university. The case was a four-year public state college in the northwestern United States that was nationally ranked as having the highest completion rate of nontraditional students. Two research questions guided the study: (a) In what ways do the mission, core values, and culture of a higher education institution that has created a nontraditional student program reflect the tenets of Malcolm Knowles’s theory of andragogy? and (b) What are students and leadership’s perceptions of the impact of student loan debt on student success? Data were collected and triangulated from (a) interviews with the college president, vice presidents, faculty, and staff, (b) analyses of 46 documents, and (c) surveys received from 87 current students. Using interpretivism to bring meaning to data identified five themes: Access, Employment Connection, Intentional Focus, Nimbleness, and Support that were pervasive in Perseverance College’s culture and demonstrated evidence of andragogy in their commitment to serve the nontraditional student population. Perseverance College Intentional Focus created greater Access and Support for nontraditional students, and their Employment Connection and Nimbleness ensured education programs formed connections to employment opportunities, the number one goal of nontraditional students. The researcher recommends additional research on new benchmarks for nontraditional student graduation rates, nontraditional student stop-outs, connecting education to employment, and further applications of andragogy.

Despite being one of the nation’s wealthiest states, food insecurity is prevalent in many Georgia communities. Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food to lead a healthy, active life. Addressing the complex challenge of Georgia’s hunger and food insecurity problem requires a comprehensive understanding of the food environment from the perspective of a Georgia household and what it means for that household to access, prepare, and consume food. The food environment is generally considered a connected system of physical, social, economic, cultural, and political factors that impact access to food. However, there is no universal definition of “food environment,” much of the current food environment research focuses on the physical presence and availability of food, often excluding the experience of the individual or household. The study's objectives are to identify the factors that shape a household’s food environment and to understand how rurality moderates the relationship between the household’s food environment and food security. The study results indicate that the characteristics that impact the ability to access and prepare food can be used to predict food insecurity. This study found that distance to the closest grocery store was not a significant predictor of food insecurity, but other access-related variables, like the ability to afford fruit and vegetables, annual household income, and transportation reliability, were significant predictors of food insecurity. Additionally, variables associated with the ability to prepare food significantly predicted food insecurity. In this study, food insecurity was greater in rural than in non-rural households. The odds of food insecurity were 14.09 greater in rural households that could not afford fruit and vegetables. Rural households with an insufficient annual income to support the household were 13.23 times more likely to be food insecure. Rural households without the necessary tools and equipment to prepare food were 15.23 times more likely to be food insecure. The study highlights the importance of understanding the food environment from the perspective of a Georgia household and the need to address the complex challenge of food insecurity in the state.

Otherfathering, according to Brooms (2017), involves Black men teaching younger Black males the life skills and unwritten rules of becoming an adult Black male. The dearth of Black males in education is an issue plaguing the educational construct. Several initiatives have tried to mitigate the gap in the representation of Black male teachers. However, Black males continue to represent the smallest demographic among educational professionals. The lived experiences of Black males have impacted the decisions of Black males to join the profession of education due to negative experiences in the classroom as students. Those experiences are rooted in negative interactions with teachers and administrators due to cultural misinterpretations and biases. Black males with positive classroom experiences had someone to serve in a mentoring capacity. For the few Black males that teach, understanding their motivations to do so needed to be explored. Because otherfathering is the act of mentorship with an emphasis on the Black male identity between the same gender and ethnic backgrounds of teacher-student pairs, this study aimed to provide insight into the career decisions of Black male educators and the factors that influenced them. Additionally, this study sought to identify any mentors these Black males had as students, details of their specific journeys into the profession, and how they impact their current students. Utilizing the Kim’s (2016) Bildungsroman genre of narrative inquiry, this study detailed each individual’s story, addressing the specific goals of the study. Because Black males represent the smallest teaching demographic, criterion sampling was used to recruit Black males who had taught for a minimum of five years, currently worked as a public P-12 educator, and identified as a Black male to identify any potential otherfathers they may have had and to study the impact of those otherfathers on their career decisions. The researcher conducted semi-structured interviews with five participants and utilized specific procedures to address trustworthiness by establishing credibility and providing steps for transferability. The research results highlighted two aspects regarding the motivations of Black male teachers to enter or remain in the profession. Black males who received mentorship as students were exposed to education through the lens of a Black male teacher due to sustained influence. Additionally, Black male students who participated in mentorship now provide their students similar experiences to learned behaviors and traits afforded to them by their mentors. These two aspects developed from the participants detailing their own motivations to teach, describing the impactful relationships with their teachers, and how representation effected their perceptions of Black males in education. Based on the results, school districts can begin to sustain the teacher pipeline with Black males by screening Black male teaching candidates for qualities of otherfathering.

TRACIE ANNE JERNIGAN WORSHIP IN THE WORLDS: HOW THEOLOGICAL WORLDS CAN INFORM WORSHIP MUSIC AND EXPRESS THE DEEPEST SPIRITUAL NEEDS OF WORSHIPERS Under the direction of David G. Garber, Jr., Ph.D. Worshipers form connections to God through their individual and communal theologies. These theologies form the embedded theologies of the church, giving insight to how they think through and act out their faith. The role of the worship planner includes paying attention to how worship music forms and expresses the congregants’ understanding of God. I implemented this project to better understand how worshipers at The Summit connect to God and how worship music can help them express their deepest spiritual needs. The embedded theology of worshipers was measured using the Five Theological Worlds of W. Paul Jones. Participants took the Theological Worlds Inventory by Jones, answered questionnaires following five worship gatherings representing a single World each week, and attended a focus group. I recognized the embedded theologies of the congregation through their answers on the Theological Worlds Inventory and experimented with deliberative theology through the worship experiences. Several themes surfaced during evaluation of my data. Participants’ ability to resonate with a worship song can be linked to theological, spiritual, nostalgic, and stylistic reasons. Participants were able to understand their primary World, resonate with their primary World through its definition and scripture, and resonate with other nonprimary Worlds. Participants interpreted worship songs through the lens of their primary World as well as current and past church experiences. Some participants have experienced theological formation through worship songs. The intention of the worship planner stands in balance to the reception of the material through the lens of these experiences and Worlds. I found reception to lead to three primary results: resonance, lack of resonance, and/or deliberative theology. Worshipers resonate with songs that meet a spiritual need represented by their theological home. Worshipers can also resonate with music that speaks to a non-primary theological home through the lens of their primary theological home. Additionally, worshipers can experience theological formation through songs from their primary theological home, a resonant theological home, and for some, a challenging, unfamiliar theological home. Worship planners can help a diverse theological community find a unifying expression of worship by identifying a core repertory of worship music and offering opportunities for theological reflection.

TIFFANY N. MCBRIDE YOU’RE ON MUTE: THE COMMUNICATIVE EXPERIENCES OF BLACK FEMALES ON THE OUTSIDE AND INSIDE OF THE ACADEMIC IVORY TOWER Under the direction of WYNNETTA SCOTT-SIMMONS, Ed. D. Although institutions of higher education have set goals to increase faculty diversity, researchers note the continued challenge for faculty of color, specifically Black females. While there is a significant amount of literature on the lived experiences of Black women faculty at predominantly White institutions (PWIs), there has been little research on their communicative behaviors such as nonverbal communication and expressing their feelings, needs and wants as a potential faculty member. The research problem of this study focused on is the small percentage of Black female faculty representation at PWIs and the communication experiences of Black female faculty during the recruitment, hiring, and tenure process. The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to understand what, if any, communicative behaviors exist between hiring committees at PWIs and the hiring experiences of Black female faculty at those institutions. Further, this study sought to provide solutions to help create consistent communication throughout the hiring process to support recruitment efforts of Black female faculty. Use of purposive sampling and semi-structured interviews facilitated the collection of information about how Black female faculty in tenured or tenure track positions recalled their communicative experience at PWIS. Utilizing the frameworks of muted group communication theory, critical race and Black feminist thought as lenses, the findings identified that the seven participants experienced some form of a communication barrier throughout their process of entering academia. Issues of diversity, learning how to navigate White spaces while being Black, and the overall inconsistencies of communication between the participant, department, and university played a major role in participants’ job outlook as professors. Consequently, examples of racial microaggressions and campus climate issues caused most of the participants to feel they were silenced or muted throughout the hiring process, resulting in unwillingness to voice concerns about departmental or university issues they faced. Recommendations for future research include considering research within different disciplines; more specifically participants in the area or field of STEM related disciplines who might have a different story or perspective in comparison to a participant from the social sciences or the arts. The difference in disciplines could very well have an impact on how the participants’ perspective was towards any of the storyline and therefore cause a different outcome of responses. In addition to the difference in disciplines, a comparison between traditional ( four year institutions) and nontraditional universities (community colleges or trade schools)and exploring the concept of tokenism. Lastly completing a study that focuses on the communicative behaviors of Black women faculty vying for faculty positions at historically Black colleges and universities.

ABSTRACT NATHAN RICHARD LASHOTO DIRECTED BY DISCIPLESHIP: UNTANGLING OUR DESIRES AND LOVES Under the direction of Graham B. Walker, Jr. Ph.D., Supervisor In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus’ final words on Earth were an instruction to go and make more disciples. In the book of John, Jesus defines a disciple as one who loves as Christ loves. While some in the church consider discipleship to Jesus to be head knowledge, Christ defines discipleship as a type of heart knowledge. This heart knowledge knows the proper things to love, desire, and pursue. In modern America we are told many things to love, desire, and pursue through advertisements, social media, and political campaigns. If discipleship to Jesus Christ is the goal of Christians, then the church must learn how to interact and compete with a variety of desires and models presented and help reorient congregations back on the path of discipleship. The thesis entangles with the claims of Luke Burgis’ Wanting: The Power of Mimetic Desire and James K.A. Smith’s You Are What You Love to offer a better way to connect discipleship to Christ to the lived-experiences and identities of church congregations. Six participants were chosen to join in this project and participated in an introductory meeting to inform them of the structure and requirements for participation. Three times, over the course of five sermons, participants met for a semi-structured interview. During this time, the group was asked specific questions about the sermon and how effective it was in providing a discipleship orientation for their week. After introducing the problem in detail, this thesis explores the biblical, theological, philosophical, and psychological foundations for why discipleship to Jesus Christ involves a reorienting of our desires and loves. It then details the central finding of the project, which concerns how desires and loves are shaped and formed. The primary themes that emerged are how sermons interact with desire, the importance of models for desire, and the importance of providing space to wrestle with competing desires. Finally, this thesis concludes with ideas for future development, which include how sermons can more intentionally interact with discipleship through connections with desire.

Topical and transdermal delivery uses skin as a route for non-invasive administration of various pharmaceutical active ingredients. Topical and transdermal delivery thus offers a sustained and controlled release of drugs with avoidance of first-pass metabolism, thereby increasing patient compliance. However, the unique structure of skin favors permeation of only small (molecular weight <500 Da), unionized, and moderately lipophilic molecules (log P- 1 to 3), posing a challenge in exploring this route of administration for most drugs. Therefore, various physical and chemical enhancement strategies are investigated to aid drug delivery via skin. Our goal was to understand the effect of some of these technologies on transdermal delivery of single and co-administered molecules across normal and compromised skin. Our study used physical enhancement strategies such as microneedles and iontophoresis to administer potential anti-psoriatic candidate – tofacitinib citrate. We observed that a therapeutic drug dose could be delivered using microneedles alone and in combination with iontophoresis. We also tested the effect of these physical enhancement techniques alone and in combination to deliver model drug diclofenac sodium across normal and compromised skin from marketed formulations. We observed increased absorption of diclofenac sodium into and across compromised skin, indicating potential increased systemic exposure. In addition, we tested the feasibility of simultaneous administration of two novel antidotes, N-acetylcysteine and 4-phenylbutryic acid, via skin for the first time. Considering different lipophilicities of these molecules, we screened various chemical enhancers to deliver these antidotes alone and in combination. These showed significant enhancement in delivery of the antidotes into and across skin. We developed a foam formulation based on these preliminary studies to deliver the antidotes. Our last aim was to test this foam formulation for the antidotes' short- and long-term delivery along with decontamination. The developed foam formulation achieved simultaneous decontamination and short-term delivery of 4-phenylbutyric acid within 5 minutes of application on skin. The same foam formulation achieved long-term delivery of up to 24 hours for both antidotes upon re-application of foam following decontamination.