Digital Commons Network^™

Gene Expression Response In Early Developmental Stages Of Rainbow Trout Exposed To Ecologically Relevant Concentrations Of Malathion, Susan Miller

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the early life stage toxic effects of environmental organophosphate exposure on organism health is crucial to identifying biomarkers that can be used for preventative care. Malathion, a potent organophosphate, is one of the most widely used organophosphates in agriculture and pest eradication. Due to its widespread use, pesticide runoff into area bodies of water poses a great threat to aquatic life and human inhabitants. Acute exposure to high concentrations of malathion causes neurological abnormalities and can result in respiratory failure, muscle spasms, and mental confusion in humans.

In the present study, the effects of malathion are observed following acute, …

Hormonal And Morphological Aspects Of Growth And Sexual Maturation In Wild-Caught Male Vervet Monkeys (Chlorocebus Aethiops Pygerythrus), Tegan J. Gaetano

Theses and Dissertations

Knowledge of baseline changes in testosterone (T) and other androgens is central to both investigations of morphological, physiological, and behavioral correlates of inter-individual variation in the timing and shape of key events and transitions over the life course and questions of the evolution of species-specific schedules of maturation in primates. T represents an important determinant of spermatogenesis in male mammals and plays a central role in the expression of male sexual behavior and the development of secondary sex characteristics. This research integrates hormonal and morphometric methods to determine age-related changes in fecal testosterone (fT) metabolites and morphological markers of sexual …

A Systematic Framework For Radio Frequency Identification (Rfid) Hazard Mitigation In The Blood Transfusion Supply Chain From Donation To Distribution, Natalie Simone Rahming

Theses and Dissertations

The RFID Consortium is developing what will be the first FDA-approved use of radio frequency identification (RFID) technology to identify, track, manage, and monitor blood throughout the entire blood transfusion supply chain. The iTraceTM is an innovative technological system designed to optimize the procedures currently employed when tracing blood from the donor to the recipient. With all novel technologies it is essential to consider not only the advantages, but also the potential harms that may come about from using the system. The deployment of the iTraceTM consists of two phases: 1) Phase One - application of the iTraceTM from the …

Liana Abundance, Diversity, And Distribution On Barro Colorado Island, Panama, Stefan A. Schnitzer, Scott A. Mangan, James W. Dalling, Claire A. Baldeck, Stephen P. Hubbell, Alicia Ledo, Helene Muller-Landau, Michael F. Tobin, Salomon Aguilar, David Brassfield, Andres Hernandez, Suzanne Lao, Rolando Perez, Oldemar Valdes, Suzanne Rutishauser Yorke

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Lianas are a key component of tropical forests; however, most surveys are too small to accurately quantify liana community composition, diversity, abundance, and spatial distribution – critical components for measuring the contribution of lianas to forest processes. In 2007, we tagged, mapped, measured the diameter, and identified all lianas ≥ 1 cm rooted in a 50-ha plot on Barro Colorado Island, Panama (BCI). We calculated liana density, basal area, and species richness for both independently rooted lianas and all rooted liana stems (genets plus clones). We compared spatial aggregation patterns of liana and tree species, and among liana species that …

Freshwater Phytoplankton Populations Detected Using High Pressure Liquid Chromatography (Hplc) Of Taxon-Specific Pigments, Lauren Jeanne Simmons

Theses and Dissertations

Phytoplankton are key primary producers in aquatic ecosystems, and the principle food source for primary consumers. Individual phytoplankton species respond to different physical, chemical and biological parameters, so monitoring taxonomic composition of the phytoplankton community is a means to monitor changes in environmental conditions. Phytoplankton community changes have frequently been monitored by estimating biomass (using chlorophyll a, measured fluorometrically), and taxonomic data obtained from cell counts. While such methods are useful, they are time-consuming. I hypothesized that high pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC) methods, which have been frequently used in marine systems, would allow separation and identification of key pigments. …

Validation Of Hand-Held Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis For The Assessment Of Body Fat In Young And Old Adults, Lynn A. Wheeler

Theses and Dissertations

Because of health concerns surrounding overweight and obesity, many individuals, health clubs, and physicians have begun using portable measures of body fat (BF) that are inexpensive and easy-to-use. Based on measures from these devices, health-related decisions are made and progress during fitness and/or dietary programs is tracked. However, accuracy of portable BF devices can be questionable, especially in free-living settings. Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate the validity and reliability of a commercially-available, hand-held bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) device as a measure of BF during a controlled laboratory condition and a free-living condition. Methods: A total of …

Health Care Informatics Support Of A Simulated Study, Zeinab Salari Far

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this project is to assess the value of REDCap (Harris, 2009) by conducting a simulated breast cancer clinical trial and demonstration. REDCap is a free, secure, web-based application designed to support data capture for research studies. To assess REDCap's value, we conducted a simulation of a clinical trial study designed to compare the use of two new technologies for breast cancer diagnosis and treatment with current best practice breast cancer diagnosis and treatment. We call the trial, "Real-Time Operating Room BC Diagnostic Treatment (RORBCDT)". The RORBCDT clinical trial is designed to assess the value of a new …

Part 1. Design And Synthesis Of Cysteine/Cystine Prodrugs And Bioisosteres Including Symmetrical And Unsymmetrical Disulfides Designed To Increase Cystine Levels In The Cns In Order To Drive The Cystine/Glutamate Antiporter: A Novel Treatment For Schizophrenia And Drug Addiction. Part 2. Design And Synthesis Of Subtype Selective Ester Bioisosteres Of Bzr Ligands For Gabaa/Benzodiazepine Receptors To Enhance Metabolic Stability, Edward Merle Johnson Ii

Theses and Dissertations

Part 1. Schizophrenia is a debilitating disorder that affects almost 1% of the world's population; pharmacotherapy expenditures for this disorder exceed $10 billion dollars even though existing medications exhibit a poor safety/efficacy profile. It is estimated that 75% of patients discontinue drug treatment, in part due to poor safety/efficacy. The current data set demonstrates that cysteine prodrug NAC reverse the behavioral and neurochemical effects of PCP used to model schizophrenia.

As a result cysteine prodrugs represent a highly novel approach to treating schizophrenia; indeed, these compounds may ultimately be more effective than existing medications because these drugs target the pathology …

Complexity And Uncertainty In Human And Ecological Risk Assessment, Matthew Jordan Dellinger

Theses and Dissertations

Multiple interacting stressors in the environment present increasingly complex risks to human health. Too often, however, the data required for traditional risk assessment are either lacking or unavailable at the necessary spatial or temporal scale. In addition, assessment practices and management policies need to move away from single factor approaches in order to accommodate the reality of complex chemical mixtures and environmental stressors. Recent literature suggests that a paradigm shift is under way. This points to a need for the development of new techniques both for rapid data collection and flexible risk assessment strategies that can adapt to make use …

Investigation Of The Quaternary Structure Of An Abc Transporter In Living Cells Using Spectrally Resolved Resonance Energy Transfer, Deo R. Singh

Theses and Dissertations

Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) has become an important tool to study proteins inside living cells. It has been used to explore membrane protein folding and dynamics, determine stoichiometry and geometry of protein complexes, and measure the distance between two molecules. In this dissertation, we use a method based on FRET and optical micro-spectroscopy (OptiMiS) technology, developed in our lab, to probe the structure of dynamic (as opposed to static) protein complexes in living cells. We use this method to determine the association stoichiometry and quaternary structure of an ABC transporter in living cells. Specifically, the transporter we investigate originates …

An Evaluation Of The Effect Of Stormwater Treatment Ponds On Wetland And Stream Quality Indicators, Subhomita Ghosh Roy

Theses and Dissertations

Modifications of land cover in urban areas are leading to hydrological, physiochemical and subsequent biological disturbances in the receiving aquatic ecosystems. Resulting in damage of the limited quantity of available freshwater. Based on the recognition of the value of natural wetlands in water quality improvement, constructed wetlands have been widely used for water treatment, to remove fine pollutants from catchment runoff also to control increased surface runoff from urbanization. The hypotheses of the study was that the surface water quality would improve while the sediment quality would vary moving from up-gradient to down-gradient through the interconnected wetlands, relative to precipitation, …

Mig-10 Functions With Abi-1 To Mediate The Unc-6 And Slt-1 Axon Guidance Signaling Pathways, Yan Xu, Christopher C. Quinn

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Extracellular guidance cues steer axons towards their targets by eliciting morphological changes in the growth cone. A key part of this process is the asymmetric recruitment of the cytoplasmic scaffolding protein MIG-10 (lamellipodin). MIG-10 is thought to asymmetrically promote outgrowth by inducing actin polymerization. However, the mechanism that links MIG- 10 to actin polymerization is not known. We have identified the actin regulatory protein ABI-1 as a partner for MIG-10 that can mediate its outgrowth-promoting activity. The SH3 domain of ABI-1 binds to MIG-10, and loss of function of either of these proteins causes similar axon guidance defects. Like MIG-10, …

Role Of Interleukin-17 In The Adaptive Immune Response In Lyme Arthritis, Emily Siebers

Theses and Dissertations

Lyme arthritis is a devastating symptom of Lyme borreliosis that causes severe inflammation of the synovial joints. Interleukin-17 (IL-17) plays a role in the pathogenesis of various arthritides, including, possibly, Lyme arthritis, by causing the expression of genes involved in the production of inflammatory cytokines by synoviocytes. However, the cellular sources of IL-17 in the context of Borrelia burgdorferi infection are unknown, as are the effects of these cells on the development of arthritis and stimulation of humoral immunity through the production of borreliacidal antibodies. Using multiple models of Lyme arthritis, the hypothesis that IL-17 produced by CD4+ cells contributes …

Motivating Healthy Diet Behaviors: The Self-As-Doer Identity, Amanda Brouwer

Theses and Dissertations

Background: Self-identity predicts healthy eating behaviors and intentions above and beyond Theory of Planned Behavior components (TPB; i.e., attitudes, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norms), but interventions exploring the relationship between self-identity and motivation are limited. Self-as-doer identity may be an important point of intervention for healthy eating behaviors (Houser-Marko & Sheldon, 2006). Therefore, I investigated whether the experimental manipulation of a self-as-doer identity predicted improved healthy food consumption, intentions, and increased self-identity as a healthy eater compared to women who received nutritional education or no intervention directly following the intervention and one month post-intervention.

Method: Participants were 79 women …

The Effects Of Plantar Fasciitis On Multi-Segment Foot Running Gait Kinematics, Robin Lee Bauer

Theses and Dissertations

Plantar fasciitis is a common lower extremity injury caused by mechanical overload that affects 10% of all runners. Despite its commonality, research results investigating the etiology of the condition and the most efficacious treatment have been equivocal. A potential limitation of previous research assessing the mechanical changes associated with plantar fasciitis may be the modeling of the foot as a single segment. To date no study has investigated running kinematics in individuals with plantar fasciitis using a multi-segment foot model. Sonography has also reported plantar fascia thickening and degeneration associated with plantar fasciitis in non-athletic populations; however it has not …

Relationship Between Counter Movement Jump Performance And Extraversion Level, David James Cornell

Theses and Dissertations

Introduction: Sport psychology literature has demonstrated a relationship between personality and physical ability and athletic performance. In general, individuals who exhibit a greater degree of extraversion display a greater physical ability and athletic performance than individuals who exhibit a lower degree of extraversion. The physiology literature has also demonstrated relationships between extraversion level and movement time and electrophysiological mechanisms (i.e., muscle activity) during a fine movement task. However to date, no study has investigated if these physiological relationships manifest themselves during a gross movement task. If a relationship exists, it may provide mechanistic reasoning behind the previously observed relationships between …

Effects Of Physical Exertion And Alignment Alterations On Trans-Tibial Amputee Gait, And Concurrent Validity Of Prosthesis-Integrated Measurement Of Gait Kinetics, Goeran Fiedler

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated the effects of slight changes in the alignment of the artificial limb of trans-tibial amputees on the walking pattern on the level of forces and moments, particularly when physical exertion levels increase. Two alignment conditions were assessed in ten trans-tibial amputees while walking with low and with "strong" levels of exertion. Two separate data collection methods were utilized simultaneously: a conventional motion analysis, and continuous recordings from prosthesis-integrated force sensors. While the former was used to compare bilateral leg symmetry across conditions, the latter allowed analyzing unilateral step variability within subjects. This paper presents both analyses in …

Assessment Of Dim Mutants Of The Vibrio Harveyi Species Isolated From The Gulf Of Mexico, Elizabeth Bolton

Theses and Dissertations

Isolating environmental dim and dark mutants of V. harveyi gives insight into the positive selection and maintenance of lux genes in a natural setting. Mutants were isolated from Boca Ciega Bay, FL., on the basis of the presence of lux genes without visible luminescence when plated on SWC agar. Of 600 isolates, four mutants were found to glow minimally on X-ray film. Of these four, luminescence was rescued in three isolates to a varying degree by addition of aldehyde, a component of the bacterial luminescence reaction. These four lux operons were sequenced, and two were shown to have a frameshift …

Development Of A Methodology For The Quantification Of Physiological Load For Soccer Players, Robert W. Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

The overall aim of this research project was to devise valid mathematical models for quantifying the physiological load (PL) of practices and competitions for female and male NCAA Division I collegiate soccer players. Data from sub-maximal and maximal effort tests were used to construct these models. After development of the physiological load quantification (PLQ) models, the validity of them occurred by comparing them to the physiological gold standard of performed work, volume of oxygen consumed (V*O2). Last, comparisons of the scores from the PLQ models to the PL scores from the previous models occurred. In combination these three studies have …

Lianas Have A Greater Competitive Effect Than Trees Of Similar Biomass On Tropical Canopy Trees, Michael F. Tobin, Alexandra J. Wright, Scott A. Mangan, Stefan A. Schnitzer

Biological Sciences Faculty Articles

Lianas (woody vines) reduce growth and survival of host trees in both temperate and tropical forests; however, the relative strength of liana-tree competition in comparison to tree-tree competition remains unexplored. When controlling for biomass, lianas may have greater competitive effects than trees because the unique morphology of lianas allows them to reach the forest canopy at relatively small stem diameters and deploy a substantial crown above their host. We tested the hypothesis that lianas have a greater negative effect on canopy trees than do trees of similar biomass with a liana- and tree saplingcutting experiment in a seasonal tropical moist …