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Articles 1 - 9 of 9
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Distribution, Abundance, And Population Genetics Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Mississippi, Luke Pearson
Distribution, Abundance, And Population Genetics Of The Alligator Snapping Turtle (Macrochelys Temminckii) In Mississippi, Luke Pearson
Dissertations
The southeastern United States is a freshwater turtle biodiversity hotspot, second only to southeastern Asia, and this region is inhabited by one of the largest freshwater turtles in the world: the alligator snapping turtle (Macrochelys temminckii). This species was heavily harvested from the 1960’s to the 1980’s for the turtle soup industry, apparently contributing to substantial, range-wide population declines. These declines, coupled with anthropogenic impacts on riverine and floodplain habitats, have led to M. temminckii being petitioned for federal listing under the U.S. Endangered Species Act; it is currently under review by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service …
Granulins In Norm And Neurodegenerative Pathologies, Anukool Bhopatkar
Granulins In Norm And Neurodegenerative Pathologies, Anukool Bhopatkar
Dissertations
Granulins (GRNs) are small, cysteine-rich modules produced from the proteolytic cleavage of the precursor protein called progranulin (PGRN). GRNs are present in the form of seven tandem repeats within the precursor and are known to be produced in the extracellular and in lysosomal environments. In physiology, PGRN and GRNs plays pleiotropic roles such as neuronal growth and differentiation, immunomodulation, wound healing. Recent studies have implicated pathological role for PGRN in Alzheimer disease (AD) and frontotemporal dementia (FTD) but specific mechanism(s) remains unclear. However, potential interactions between GRNs and Ab42 and TDP-43 seem like a plausible underlying mechanism. Studies presented here …
Dicer Represses Antiviral Innate Immunity Pathways In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Chandan Gurung
Dicer Represses Antiviral Innate Immunity Pathways In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells, Chandan Gurung
Dissertations
Recent studies have demonstrated that embryonic stem cells (ESCs) are deficient in expressing type I interferons (IFN), the cytokines that play key roles in antiviral responses. However, the underlying molecular mechanisms and biological implications of this finding are poorly understood. In this study, I used a synthetic RNA-based assay that can simultaneously assess multiple forms of antiviral responses in ESCs. Dicer is an enzyme essential for RNA interference (RNAi), which is used as a major antiviral mechanism in invertebrates but not clear in vertebrates. RNAi activity is detected in wild-type ESCs but is abolished in Dicer knockout ESCs (D−/−ESCs) as …
Human 5’-Tailed Mirtrons Are Processed By Rnasep, Mohammad Farid Zia
Human 5’-Tailed Mirtrons Are Processed By Rnasep, Mohammad Farid Zia
Dissertations
Approximately a thousand microRNAs (miRNAs) are documented from human cells. A third appear to transit non-canonical pathways that typically bypass processing by Drosha, the dedicated nuclear miRNA producing enzyme. The largest class of non-canonical miRNAs are mirtrons which eschew Drosha to mature through spliceosome activity. While mirtrons are found in several configurations, the vast majority of human mirtron species are 5’-tailed. For these mirtrons, a 3’ splice site defines the 3’ end of their hairpin precursor while a “tail” of variable length separates the 5’ base of the hairpin from the nearest splice site. How this tail is removed is …
Interleukin-17a Facilitates Chikungunya Virus Infection By Inhibiting Ifn-Α2 Expression, Biswas Neupane
Interleukin-17a Facilitates Chikungunya Virus Infection By Inhibiting Ifn-Α2 Expression, Biswas Neupane
Dissertations
Interferons (IFNs) are the key components of innate immunity and are crucial for host defense against viral infections. Here, we report a novel role of interleukin-17A (IL-17A) in inhibiting IFN-α2 expression, thus promoting chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection. CHIKV infected IL-17A deficient (Il17a-/-) mice expressed a higher level of IFN-α2 and developed diminished viremia and milder footpad swelling in comparison to wild-type (WT) control mice, this was also recapitulated in IL-17A receptor-deficient (Il17ra-/-) mice. Interestingly, IL-17A selectively blocked IFN-α2 production during CHIKV, but not West Nile virus (WNV) or Zika virus (ZIKV), infections. Recombinant IL-17A …
Patterns Of Habitat Use And Trophic Structure In Turtle Grass (Thalassia Testudinum)-Dominated Systems Across The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Christian Hayes
Patterns Of Habitat Use And Trophic Structure In Turtle Grass (Thalassia Testudinum)-Dominated Systems Across The Northern Gulf Of Mexico, Christian Hayes
Dissertations
Seagrass structural complexity is a primary driver of nekton recruitment and faunal community structure. Few studies, however, have quantified the role of seagrass complexity on habitat use and trophic structures over large spatial scales. A large-scale simultaneous survey was conducted to assess relationships of multiple seagrass morphological complexity metrics to nekton habitat use, trophic dynamics, and blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) growth and mortality across the Northern Gulf of Mexico. Seagrass morphological and nekton community characteristics depended on site and season, and regional variation in seagrass morphology was an important driver of juvenile nekton abundance, species richness, beta diversity, …
The Role Of The Msaabcr Operon In Cell Wall Integrity And Programmed Cell Death During Biofilm Development, Bibek G C
Dissertations
Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen in both community and health care settings. Biggest challenges with S. aureus as a pathogen is its ability to acquire antibiotic resistance and produce robust biofilms. In this work, we investigated the nature of the cell wall defect in the msaABCR operon mutant in the Mu50 (VISA) and USA300 LAC methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains. Results showed that msaABCR-mutant cells had decreased cell wall thickness and cell wall crosslinking in both strains. These defects are most likely due to increased murein hydrolase activity and/or nonspecific processing of murein hydrolases mediated by increased …
Modeling Hydrochemical And Vegetation Responses Of High-Elevation Forested Watersheds To Future Climate And Atmospheric Deposition Changes In The Southeastern U.S., Hailong Huang
Dissertations
Changes in climate and atmospheric acidic deposition alter biogeochemical cycles in forested ecosystems. I investigated the responses of vegetation, soil, and hydro-related processes to changes in climate and acidic deposition at five high-elevation forests in the southeastern U.S. using a biogeochemical model - PnET-BGC model. I focused on change-points and thresholds concepts that were less studied in forest ecosystems as well as seasonal variability of responses and extreme events. I applied principal component analysis (PCA) to reduce the dimensionality of data. I developed a Bayesian multi-level model to derive key biogeochemical variables response to temperature and precipitation (local) and latitude …
Elucidating The Role Of The Msaabcr Operon In Persister Cells Formation And Stress Response In Staphylococcus Aureus, Shanti Pandey
Elucidating The Role Of The Msaabcr Operon In Persister Cells Formation And Stress Response In Staphylococcus Aureus, Shanti Pandey
Dissertations
Staphylococcus aureus is a major human pathogen that causes lethal systemic conditions such as infective endocarditis, osteomyelitis, sepsis and pneumonia. Chronic in nature, these diseases are often refractory to the antibiotic treatment. Such recalcitrance is mainly caused due to the presence of persister cells, which are a bacterial subpopulation that exhibits extreme, yet transient antibiotic tolerance accompanied by a transient halt in the growth. However, upon cessation of antibiotic treatment, resumption in growth of persister cells causes recurrence of infections and treatment failure, displaying tremendous clinical significance. In this study, we show the involvement of the msaABCR operon in persister …