Digital Commons Network^™

Mechanical And Physical Characteristics Of Knee Flexors And Extensors Following Different Warm Up Protocols In Collegiate Male Soccer Athletes, Michael Redd

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

PURPOSE: To compare potential differences in mechanical and physical characteristics of knee flexors and extensors in collegiate male soccer players following different warm up protocols. METHODS: Sixteen collegiate male soccer players (20.33 ± 1.33 years, 176.97 ± 6.72 cm, and 78.43 ± 7.42 kg) participated in this study. A small sided games warm up (SSG), a dynamic warm up (DYN), and a plyometric warm up (PLY) were completed using a randomized crossover design. Tensiomyography (TMG) was used to assess contraction time (Tc), delay time (Td) and maximal displacement (Dm) of the rectus femoris (RF) and biceps femoris (BF) of both …

Shoreline Characterization For Northern Indian River Lagoon And Mosquito Lagoon, Melinda J. Donnelly, Linda Walters, Michelle Shaffer

CEELAB Research Data

The purpose of this project was to evaluate the current conditions of estuarine shorelines in Mosquito Lagoon and northern Indian River. The shoreline assessment is the first phase in the development of a shoreline restoration suitability model for the northernmost section of the Indian River Lagoon system, in order to better conserve and restore shorelines and promote sustainable use of natural resources. The shoreline survey methodology was developed by St. Johns River Water Management for northeastern Florida and was adapted for applications in Brevard and Volusia Counties. Between November 2017 through June 2018, shoreline evaluations were completed at transects located …

Targeted Delivery Of A Therapeutic Protein For The Treatment Of Alzheimer's Disease, Heather Holman

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease are linked to mitochondrial dysfunction and the underexpression of TOM40, a protein with chaperone-like qualities that is responsible for transporting precursor proteins into the mitochondria. Overexpression of TOM40 is reported to partially restore mitochondrial dysfunction and decrease the accumulation of neurotoxic aggregates of α-synuclein. Our goal is to develop an effective method for delivery of TOM40 protein to the brain.

Previous studies have used lentiviruses to carry TOM40 into the hippocampus of α-synuclein transgenic mice. The disadvantage of lentiviral transfection is the random insertions of the target gene into the host …

Systematic Review And Meta-Analysis: Tuberculosis, Tnfα Inhibitors, And Crohn's Disease, Brent L. Cao

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Inflammation is often a protective reaction against harmful foreign agents. However, in many disease conditions, the mechanisms behind the inflammatory response are poorly understood. Often times, the inflammation causes adverse effects, such as joint pain, abdominal pain, fever, fatigue, and loss of appetite. Thus, many treatments aim to inhibit the inflammatory response in order to control adverse symptoms. Such treatments include TNFα inhibitors. However, a major risk associated with drugs inhibiting tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα) is serious infection, including tuberculosis (TB).

Anti-TNFα therapy is used to treat patients with Crohn’s disease, for which the risk of tuberculosis may be …

Oyster Reef Restoration: Impacts On Infaunal Communities In A Shallow Water Estuary, Katherine P. Harris

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Oyster reefs are important estuarine ecosystems that provide habitat to many species including threatened and endangered wading birds and commercially important fishes and crabs. Infaunal organisms (i.e. small, aquatic animals that burrow in the sediment) are also supported by oyster reef habitats. Infaunal organisms are critical to marine food webs and are consumed by many important species that inhabit coastal estuaries. However, over the past century 85% of shellfish reef habitats have been lost, making restoration of these areas vital. Due to their important role in coastal food webs, infauna is hypothesized to be a strong indicator of habitat productivity …

Investigating The Role Of The Caspase-6 Cleavage Fragment Of Mutant Huntingtin In Huntington Disease Pathogenesis, Jourdan A. Mckinnis

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Huntington disease (HD) is a devastating and fatal neurodegenerative disease. At the moment, no disease modifying therapies are available, with only symptomatic treatment offered to alleviate psychiatric and some types of motor deficits. As a result, many people will continue to suffer and die from this disease. Small molecule therapies have failed to provide benefit in HD, necessitating more complex gene therapy approaches and the identification of less traditional therapeutic targets. A previous study demonstrated that preventing cleavage of the huntingtin (HTT) protein, the protein that when mutated causes HD, by caspase 6 (C6) at amino acid 586 prevents the …

Mechanical Properties Of The Skeleton Of Acropora Cervicornis, Bridget Masa

Honors Undergraduate Theses

This research explores the instantaneous mechanical behavior of the skeleton of the critically endangered staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis. Both bleached and sanded skeletons were used in this experiment. The Raman spectroscopy test showed that there was no significant change in the Raman shift between the three branches tested. The shifts were nearly identical to Raman shifts of calcium carbonate. Vickers hardness test found that 1 Bleached had the average hardness of 3.44 GPa with a standard deviation of 0.12 GPa. The sanded sample also had a similar value of 3.54 GPa with a standard deviation of 0.13 GPa. Samples from …

A Case-Study Of The African Leopard (Panthera Pardus Pardus) Population On The Nambiti Private Game Reserve, Erica Castaneda

Honors Undergraduate Theses

The Nambiti Private Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa is a nature reserve that aids in the conservation of some of the world’s most renown species. This includes members of the "Big Five," which is comprised of the African lion (Panthera leo), the African elephant (Loxidonta africana), the Cape buffalo (Syncerus caffer), the black & white rhinoceroses (Diceros bicornis and Ceratotherium simum, respectively), and the African leopard (Panthera pardus pardus). These animals represent the top five African animals desired by trophy hunters and by tourists hoping to view wildlife (Caro …

Preventing Childhood Obesity In School-Aged Children: Relationships Between Reading Nutrition Labels And Healthy Dietary Behaviors, Kimberly S. Bogers

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Childhood obesity is a prevalent problem in the United States. Obesity increases the risk for many diseases. Obese children are likely to become obese adults with additional comorbidities. Studies have reported mixed findings regarding associations between reading nutrition labels and improved dietary behaviors/healthy weight status. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the frequency of children reading nutrition labels is related to frequency of performing 12 dietary behaviors. De-identified baseline data from a previous quasiexperimental pilot study were analyzed. Data were collected from 4th and 5th graders (n = 42) at an after-school program. An adapted paper survey …

Impact Of Increased Green Turtle Nesting On Loggerhead Fitness, Amanda R. Carmichael

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Marine turtles exhibit strong fidelity to their nesting beaches, making the conservation of nesting beaches important for ensuring successful sea turtle populations. Conservation of these nesting beaches involves understanding how species interact with the environment and each other, and understanding how environmental change and population growth can affect the suitability of the nesting habitat. The Archie Carr National Wildlife Refuge (ACNWR) is unusual in its high density of sea turtle nesting by two species: green (Chelonia mydas) and loggerhead (Caretta caretta) turtles. The ACNWR in Melbourne Beach, Florida was established in 1991 due to the high density of loggerhead nesting, …

Studies On E2 Conjugation Enzyme Partners Of Mulan E3 Ubiquitin Ligase, Rebekah J. Fitzpatrick

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mulan is an E3 ubiquitin ligase embedded in the outer mitochondria membrane. Mulan’s participation in the ubiquitination process is conducted through its cytosol exposed RING finger domain, and its ability to modulate protein ubiquitination makes it a key player in mitochondrial and cellular homeostasis. Mulan is known to be involved in mitochondrial fission, fusion, mitochondrial stress, apoptosis, and Parkin-independent mitophagy. Dysregulation of Mulan in mice has been shown to correlate with human neurodegenerative disorders and heart disease. Accumulation of Mulan is predicted to be responsible for the motor neuron degeneration 2 (mnd2) phenotype in mutant mice through the deregulation of …

Infection Dynamics Of Herpesvirus In Gopher Tortoises, Joanne Saldanha

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Gopherus polyphemus, commonly known as the Gopher Tortoise, is a dryland reptile native to the southeastern United States. It is commonly a resident of longleaf pine and dry oak sand hill habitats. It is considered a keystone species because they dig deep burrows that provide shelter to them as well as many other animals. Habitat loss, fragmentation, and disease are major threats and have caused this species to be federally listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Disease is a major threat to the gopher tortoise’s survival, and with declining populations, the need to investigate …

Predicting Herbivore Induced Phytochemical Shifts In Helianthus Using Spectral Reflectance, Jessica Jowais

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Induced defense responses in plants vary greatly among species, with many species exhibiting strong upregulation of secondary metabolites under attack by herbivores or pathogens. Secondary metabolite responses are most commonly analyzed using nuclear magnetic resonance or mass spectroscopy, though such approaches are costly and time-intensive. This study explores the use of hyperspectral reflectance as a more time- and cost-efficient method of detecting herbivore-induced secondary metabolite responses in plants. A diverse cross-section of wild sunflowers (genus Helianthus) were grown under controlled conditions and challenged with insect herbivory. Hyperspectral reflectance data was collected and analyzed using a principal component analysis in …

The Effects Of Site-Directed Mutagenesis On Hemerythrin-Like Protein Rv2633c, Kelly M. Rosch

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is the causative agent of tuberculosis, one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. One of the genes upregulated in Mtb during macrophage infection is rv2633c, but the structure and function of its gene product remain unknown. Preliminary research has indicated that Rv2633c is a hemerythrin-like protein that exhibits catalase activity and binds two iron atoms using an HHE domain. Additionally, Rv2633c appears to exist as a dimer. The purpose of this project is to identify specific residues outside of the HHE domain that contribute to the protein's iron-binding ability and/or catalase activity, …

Knowledge And Attitudes Regarding The Recent Zika Outbreak Among A Sample Of South Florida Residents, Mohamed Elakkari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

South Florida has had the largest number of U.S. Zika infection cases during the recent outbreak. This study aimed at assessing South Floridians' basic knowledge, perceptions of the seriousness and susceptibility to Zika infection, their information sources and needs, as well as their attitudes towards the protective measures proposed by the CDC. We also wanted to assess whether any of those factors have affected the frequency of participants' undertaking of the protective behaviors. To this end, we designed an online questionnaire and surveyed the responses of five hundred South Floridians (Age=18-78 years). We found significant gaps in participants' knowledge about …

Behavioral And Disease Ecology Of Gopher Tortoises (Gopherus Polyphemus) Post Exclusion And Relocation With A Novel Approach To Homing Determination, Johnathan Napier

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the wake of human expansion, relocations and the loss of habitat can be stressful to an organism, plausibly leading to population declines. The gopher tortoise (Gopherus polyphemus) is a keystone species that constructs burrows it shares with 362 commensal species. Frequent exclusions and relocations and long generation times have contributed to G. polyphemus being State-designated as Threatened in Florida. Prior studies have indicated that G. polyphemus may possess homing behavior and thus be able to counteract stressors due to relocation and exclusion. I radiotracked a cohort of G. polyphemus for 11 months following excavation, relocation, and exclusion due to …

Rebuilt And Remade: The Florida Citrus Industry, 1909-1939, James Padgett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Prior to orange juice concentrate, Florida citrus was already an industrialized agricultural sector. This thesis explores the early-20th-century Florida citrus industry and demonstrates that contemporary farming practices were influential in advancing how citrus was produced, processed, worked, marketed, and regulated in early-20th-century Florida. Restarted after devastating freezes in 1894-1895, resolute Florida growers rebuilt their groves into marvels of large-scale citrus fruit production. Continuing a legacy in experimental crossbreeding, improved varieties of citrus were developed to lengthen the season and markets. Advocated by nurserymen and university educators, biological innovation helped the citrus thrive in the 1910s and 1920s from adverse weather …

Evolution And Distribution Of Phenotypic Diversity In The Venom Of Mojave Rattlesnakes (Crotalus Scutulatus), Jason Strickland

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Intraspecific phenotype diversity allows for local adaption and the ability for species to respond to changing environmental conditions, enhancing survivability. Phenotypic variation could be stochastic, genetically based, and/or the result of different environmental conditions. Mojave Rattlesnakes, Crotalus scutulatus, are known to have high intraspecific venom variation, but the geographic extent of the variation and factors influencing venom evolution are poorly understood. Three primary venom types have been described in this species based on the presence (Type A) or absence (Type B) of a neurotoxic phospholipase A2 called Mojave toxin and an inverse relationship with the presence of snake venom metalloproteinases …

Acute Effects Of Placebo And Open-Label Placebo Treatments On Muscle Strength, Voluntary Activation, And Neuromuscular Fatigue., Alina Swafford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Placebo treatments have long been used to study the psychological effects of expectancy and conditioning on an inert intervention. Interestingly, open-label placebo treatments (i.e., directly telling subjects they are receiving an inactive intervention) have recently shown promise in minimizing pain in clinical patient populations. We utilized a repeated measures design to examine the acute effects of placebo, open-label placebo, and control treatments on muscle strength and voluntary activation (Experiment #1), as well as neuromuscular fatigue (Experiment #2). Twenty-one untrained males (n=11) and females (n=10) visited the laboratory on three occasions to receive each treatment in a randomized, counter-balanced manner. All …

Psychomotor Skill Measurement Of Video Game Players, Thomas Carbone

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Psychomotor skills are a combination of innate abilities as well as skills developed because of repeated actions. Researchers have dedicated many studies to understand the extent to which past videogame play contributes to psychomotor skills and fine motor control dexterity. However, not all gamers are created equal. With today's proliferation of platforms, many people are gamers who never pick up a controller. Grouping all gamers together forms dangerous confounds when trying to generalize across a population as diverse as today's gamers. The current study aims to study a population comprised only of gamers to see if there are significant differences …

Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Exosomes Inhibit Doxorubicin-Induced Pyroptosis In Cell Culture Models, Zahra Tavakoli Dargani

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Doxorubicin (Dox) is a potent chemotherapeutic drug used for the treatment of various cancers. Unfortunately, its use is limited as Dox induces adverse cardiotoxicity (DIC) and muscle toxicity (DIMT), which are mediated through oxidative stress, ER stress, and inflammation. However, it remains unknown whether Dox induces an inflammation mediated cell death, called “pyroptosis”. The current study is designed to determine whether Dox induces pyroptosis in cardiac and muscle cell culture models. Moreover, the protective effects of embryonic stem cell-derived exosomes (ES-Exos) in inhibiting pyroptosis will also be determined. For this purpose, we designed two different cell culture models using H9c2 …

The Identification And Segmentation Of Astrocytoma Prior To Critical Mass, By Means Of A Volumetric/Subregion Regression Analysis Of Normal And Neoplastic Brain Tissue, Lyn Higgins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As the underlying cause of Glioblastoma Multiforme (GBM) is presently unclear, this research implements a new approach to identifying and segmenting plausible instances of GBM prior to critical mass. Grade-IV Astrocytoma, or GBM, is an aggressive and malignant cancer arising from star-shaped glial cells, or astrocytes, where the astrocytes, functionally, assist in the support and protection of neurons within the central nervous system and spinal cord. Subsequently, our motivation for researching the ability to recognize GBM is that the underlying cause of the mutation is presently unclear, leading to the operative that GBM is only detectable through a combination of …

Split Deoxyribozyme Probe For Efficient Detection Of Highly Structured Rna Targets, Sheila Raquel Solarez

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Transfer RNAs (tRNAs) are known for their role as adaptors during translation of the genetic information and as regulators for gene expression; uncharged tRNAs regulate global gene expression in response to changes in amino acid pools in the cell. Aminoacylated tRNAs play a role in non-ribosomal peptide bond formation, post-translational protein labeling, modification of phospholipids in the cell membrane, and antibiotic biosynthesis. ^[1] tRNAs have a highly stable structure that can present a challenge for their detection using conventional techniques. ^[2] To enable signal amplification and lower detection limits, a split probe - split deoxyribozyme (sDz or BiDz) probe, which …

Investigation Of Aminoglycoside Induced Nanoparticle Self-Assemblies, Michael Leong

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Aminoglycosides are a group of broad-spectrum antibiotics that, under neutral pH conditions, carry a positive charge. The net cationic charge arises from the high number of amino groups in the core structure of aminoglycosides. Previous studies performed have shown that negatively charged citrate ligand-capped gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) can interact with various biomolecules such as aminoglycosides. AuNPs bound to biomolecules have been used in conjugation with various assaying techniques to detect and study compounds in vitro and in vivo. AuNPs also have strong light scattering properties that can be used with a wide variety of imaging and assaying techniques. Our laboratory …

Studies Of Norspermidine Uptake In Drosophila Suggest The Existence Of Multiple Polyamine Transport Pathways, Michael Dieffenbach

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Polyamines are a class of essential nutrients involved in many basic cellular processes such as gene expression, cell proliferation, and apoptosis. Without polyamines, cell growth is delayed or halted. Cancerous cells require an abundance of polyamines through a combination of synthesis and transport from the extracellular environment. An FDA-approved drug, D,L-α-difluoromethylornithine (DFMO), blocks polyamine synthesis but is ineffective at inhibiting cell growth due to polyamine transport. Thus, there is a need to develop drugs that inhibit polyamine transport to use in combination with DFMO. Surprisingly, little is known about the polyamine transport system in humans and other eukaryotes. Understanding the …

Bacteria That Resist Centrifugal Force, Nickolas Kessler

Honors Undergraduate Theses

Our lab discovered that approximately 1 in 10,000 Escherichia coli cells in stationary phase remain in suspension after a high g-force centrifuge event. To establish the mechanism behind this curious phenotype, multiple mutant strains of E. coli were independently evolved such that the majority of their populations resisted migration when exposed to high centrifugal forces. Genomic DNA sequencing of the mutants' revealed unique, isolated mutations in genes involved in capsule synthesis and exopolysaccharide (EPS) production. Each mutant exhibits a novel mechanism that allows them to remain in suspension. The mutants were further characterized by determining their growth rates, strengths …