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Bryoecology Of The Appalachian Spruce-Fir Zone, Daniel Howard Norris

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Ecological investigation of an area ordinarily follows a certain course. First explorations attempt to discover the nature of the flora, and ecological information is incidental to the habitat notes of collected species. Later, general qualitative observations appear regarding he vegetation of particular habitats. Only after this is a quantitative study using quadrats or other sampling techniques begun, and this quantitative work lays the foundation for future autecological, ecosystem and productivity work. Traditionally the above course is followed first by workers in vascular plant ecology, and studies of cryptograms are seldom as far advanced as that of the spermatophytes.

The …

A Study Of The Interrelationship Of Magnesium Metabolism With That Of Protein In The Human Adult, Sara Mcclanahan Hunt

Doctoral Dissertations

(From the Introduction)

The purpose of the work reported in this paper was to study the influence of level of dietary protein upon utilization of magnesium. The experiments consisted of a series of metabolic balance studies in which young adults were fed diets containing different, relatively low levels of protein and constant amounts of magnesium and other nutrients. Results will provide information concerning the influence of dietary protein upon magnesium metabolism in the adult and serve as a basis for planning a future similar study with preadolescent children.

The Possibility Of The Existence Of Mimicry Between Two Species Of Southern Appalachian Salamanders, Lowell Preston Orr

Doctoral Dissertations

A study was conducted in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park to determine the validity of the mimicry hypothesis which has been proposed to explain the resemblance between red-cheeked color variants of Desmognathus ochrophaeus carolinensis and Plethodon jordani jordani, the red-cheeked salamander. Five basic rules of mimicry were tested in both field and laboratory approaches to the problem.

The color patterns of carolinensis were recorded in 587 individuals observed. Of this number, 25.7 per cent displayed some cheek coloration which included color variations of red to orange, yellow, and white. Red to orange cheek colors were found in 92 per …

A New Hypothesis Conerning The Sequence And Nature Of Meiotic Events In The Female Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Rhonda F. Grell

Doctoral Dissertations

Three of the basic phenomena comprising the meiotic process are synapsis, crossingover, and disjunction. It is generally conceded that some form of pairing must precede crossingover; that the crossingover process occurs prior to disjunction; and that disjunction implies a previous association of elements. Construction of a model describing the causal relations among the three events might be expected to be fairly simple, since the possibilities are limited. Yet, no model has been proposed that is consistent with all the genetic data.

Some Environmental Features Of Hallett Station, Antarctica, With Special Reference To Soil Arthropods, Madison E. Pryor

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Since Cook's voyage of 1772-1775, numerous expeditions, nationally and independently supported, have explored coastal and inland areas of Antarctica. The primary purpose of most early scientific expeditions was directed toward a study of the physical nature of the continent. In most instances, biologists were not included as expedition personnel and a large portion of the information concerning the flora and fauna of the continent has been contributed by investigators trained in a variety of scientific disciplines. A very few systematic investigations of land flora and soil fauna have been made. In spite of the obvious inadequacy of such investigations, …

Studies On The Morphology And Growh Rate Of The Cestode Hymenolepis Microstoma After Gamma Irradiation Of The Cysticercoids And Eggs, Huldrich H. Kuhlman

Doctoral Dissertations

From the literature on effects of radiation on mammals, insects, and other organisms, it appears that radiation produces abnormalities chiefly by destroying or inhibiting growing cells and tissues. The effects on length of the worms may be due to reduction in cell population responsible for growth. The presence of certain morphological abnormalities which have been observed, particularly those which have been characterized by the absence of one or more reproductive organs, might also be attributed to a change in the growth or embryological apparatus and that radiation only serves to increase the frequency of these disturbances.

For further similar studies …

Meiosis, Mitosis, And The Induction Of Chromosomal Abnormalities In Hymenolepis Diminuta By Gamma Rays, Raymond Louis Kisner

Doctoral Dissertations

Summary

A growth rate study for H. diminuta in ten worm infestations was attempted. The desired number of worms was not recovered from enough rats to determine a reliable growth curve. It was discovered that worm length varied within rats and between rats of comparable sex, age, weight, worm burden, and genetic background.

The Strawberry Leaf Roller Complex In Tennessee, Stelmon Emerson Bennett

Doctoral Dissertations

This study was undertaken in order to learn the basic biology of the strawberry leaf roller Ancylis comptana fragariae in Tennessee. Shortly after the initiation of the study, it was found that not one, but several forms of leaf roller larvae were involved in the damage being done to strawberries. The study was therefore broadened to include the entire complex of leaf roller species and subspecies which inflict damage to strawberries and sometimes to other host plants in Tennessee. Three of the eleven forms making up the complex were selected as being most important because of their abundance and the …

The Relation Of Soil And Other Site Factors To Forest Composition And Productivity In West Tennessee, Edwin Atkins Hebb

Doctoral Dissertations

Forest are important in the economy of Tennessee because so much of the state is forested. Half of west Tennessee, for example, is in forest, and since no other productive use is likely for the marginal land so used, it will probably remain forested.

According to a report prepared by the Tennessee Forest Industries Committee in 1957, industries based ultimately on the forests number about one-third of all manufacturing establishments in the state. In west Tennessee, with half of the area actually in forest, the forest economy forms a large part of the total economy of a region of limited …

The Effect Of Infection With Pasteurella Tularensis On The Metabolism Of White Rats, Gennaro John Miraglia

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Although tularemia is generally considered to be a disease of rodents and of small ground animals, man is an occasional host. The early workers in this field succeeded in isolating and describing the causative organism, and in a relatively short time its nutritional requirements and cultural characteristics were fairly well understood. In slightly more than a decade after Pasteurella tularensis was first isolated (McCoy and Chapin, 1912), both American and Japanese workers had reported on its symptomatology, pathology, and epidemiology.

In more recent years, efforts have been directed to studies of the bacterium itself in an attempt to understand …

Studies Of Protein-Bound Sulfhydryl And Disulfide Groups In The Mitotic Apparatus Of The Sea Urchin, Arbacia Punctulata, Naoko Kawamura

Doctoral Dissertations

Problems in the present study

From the studies of Sakai and Dan (1959), it became apparent that the changes in soluble SH groups during the first division of sea urchin eggs, as reported by Rapkine (1931), represent the changes in protein SH groups dissolved in 25% TCA. It is also certain from the cytochemical study of the mitotic apparatus (Kawamura and Dan, 1958) that there are abundant SH groups in the protein of spindle and astral fibers. However, there is no evidence to show whether the total amount of protein-bound SH groups (present in both the 25% TCA-soluble and insoluble …

The Genus Saxifraga L. In The Southern Appalachians, Louis Pearl Lord

Doctoral Dissertations

[From Introduction]

The objects of the study are to understand more fully the relationship of the species of Saxifraga in this area to each other and to hypothesize their relationship to the rest of the genus. Six species have been reported in the Southern Appalachians: Saxifraga micranthidifolia (Haw.) Britt., S. virginiensis Michx., S. michauxii Britt., S. careyana Gray, S. caroliniana Gray, and S. tennesseensis Small. All of these species except S. virginiensis seem to be endemic to these mountains and to have affinities to representatives of the genus in western North America, Europe, and the boreal and arctic …

Some Aspects Of Lipid Metabolism Of Chicks Infected With Salomonella Pullorum, Charles Dean Jeffries

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature concerning the pathology accompanying infectious diseases has concerned, predominantly, gross and microscopic pathology. The biochemical changes in pathologic conditions have had little attention except for the generally accepted clinical procedures. Within the last decade, however, a change in emphasis has begun. A number on investigators have reported studies of enzymatic changes observed in infected animals. Many of these observations, however, have been with unnatural host-parasite systems.

The desirability of using a natural host-parasite system is obvious. Among the Enterobacteriaceae there are a limited number of complexes which are suitable for study with experimental animals. One of these is …

The Effect Of Propylthiouracil And Thyroid Powder On The Restoration Of Certain Components Of The Liver After Partial Hepatectomy In The Rat, Charles Major

Doctoral Dissertations

Summary:

The effect of the administration of thyroid powder and propylthiouracil in a forced feeding regimen upon the restoration of certain components of the rat liver has been studied at fourteen, twenty-four, and forty-eight hours after partial hepatectomy in the rat. Cellularity was determined and found to be highest in the thyroid group, intermediate in the controls, and lowest in the propylthiouracil group, both at operation, and throughout the subsequent regeneration. All groups declined in cellularity after the operation with only the thyroid group showing a significant return towards normal by the forty-eighth hour.

After the operation RNAP per cell, …

Ground Vegetation Patterns Of The Spruce-Fir Area Of The Great Smoky Mountains National Park, Dorothy Louise Crandall

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Although the spruce-fir area of the Southern Appalachians has interested several investigators, there have been few studies of the herbaceous plants in relation to the canopy and none with this relationship as the primary objective. Ecological surveys have been made by Cain (1931, 1935), Oosting and Billings (1951), and Whittaker (1956), but their papers do not report details in reference to site types and include rather limited material on the ground cover. Possible site types were mentioned by Whittaker but were not described and few supporting data of an objective nature were included.

Cain in his 1935 paper on …

Electrophysiological And Electrolyte Changes In Frog Striated Muscle After Irradiation, Edgar B. Darden Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: Abbreviated

In the present work, evidence is presented that radiation injury in excised frog muscle may be very early reflected in a loss of membrane potential which occurs at loci more or less randomly distributed over the fibers available for impalement; i.e., the superficially located fibers. The number and severity of these electrical lesions increase with time and with dose and appear to be strongly influenced also by the temperature of the surroundings. Concurrently, potassium leakage is presumably occurring at these lesions, for in time a net loss of K can be demonstrated by gross analysis of the muscle …

Plant Microfossils From The Bruhn Lignite, Robert E. Mclaughlin

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: The collection and preliminary examination of fossiliferous material from West Tennessee, begun in the fall of 1952 with the aid and encouragement of Dr. A. J. Sharp, convinced the writer that the opportunity to extend present knowledge of early vegetational history in the area was substantial. Despite the fact that the region west of the Tennessee River has yielded a considerable amount of plant fossil evidence, mainly in the form of leaf impressions, many unsolved problems remain.

From the botanical point of view, the identification of fossil plants based on the single criterion of leaf morphology, as has been …

A Study Of Some Of The Metabolic Aspects Of Host-Parasite Interaction Using The Baby Chick And Salmonella Pullorum, Elmo Sharber Dooley

Doctoral Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Natural Replacement Of Chestnut By Other Species In The Great Smoky Mountains, Frank W. Woods

Doctoral Dissertations

Summary: (1) Prior to the beginning of this century, chestnut (Castanea dentata) was one of the most important forest trees in the eastern United States. It ranged from New England to Georgia, reaching greatest abundance and best form in the mountains of Tennessee and North Carolina. In 1904, the chestnut blight was discovered in New York. Within the next 40 years, the causal fungus (Endothia parasitica) introduced from Asia on blight-resistant species of chestnut, virtually eliminated chestnut as a member of the deciduous forest complex of the eastern United States.

(2) Being a great distance from …

Ecological Life-History Of Lonicera Japonica Thunb., Anna D. Leatherman

Doctoral Dissertations

This study deals with the ecology of Lonicera japonica Thunb., a woody vine generally known as Japanese honeysuckle, which is regarded as a troublesome weed in southeastern United States. The investigator chose this species, because it could be studied in both southeastern United States and southern California. Relatively few species can grow so well in two areas whose climatic conditions and soils are so vastly different as they are in these two widely separated regions. Japanese honeysuckle, which grows profusely in southeastern United States, grows well under irrigation in southern California, but it does not become a pest.

There were …

The Relationship Between Biotin And The Coenzyme Of Aspartic Acid, Serine And Threonine Deaminases, John Francis Christman

Doctoral Dissertations

Introduction: In any study of enzymatic action in the living cell there can be no limited definition of the influences measured, since there are numerous interrelated chemical reactions, both assimilative and dissimilative, which are in a constant state of equilibrium. This circumstance has been adequately described by Dixon (1949) who states that the living cell exists as a system of unstable catalyst which in turn exist because of the occurrence of the reactions which they catalyze. Each enzyme does not maintain itself; it is rather a collective effort by a certain minimum number of enzymes which brings about the necessary …