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Theses/Dissertations

2006

Biology

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Articles 1 - 4 of 4

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Preparation And Purification Of Enlarged Multinucleated U937 Human Leukemia Cells And Their Susceptibility To Physical Damage By Ultrasound, Kathryn Gold May 2006

Preparation And Purification Of Enlarged Multinucleated U937 Human Leukemia Cells And Their Susceptibility To Physical Damage By Ultrasound, Kathryn Gold

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Multinucleation occurs in neoplastic cells that have been treated with cytochalasin B, a fungal toxin that disrupts actin microfilament structures. When the actin cytoskeleton is disrupted, contractile ring formation and cytokinesis are inhibited. In normal cells cytochalasin B prevents the cells from entering the cell cycle. However in neoplastic cells, since cytokinesis no longer occurs, the dividing cell becomes enlarged and heavily multinucleated. We propose that enlarged leukemia cells may be more sensitive to ultrasound treatment because of their increased size and weakened cytoskeletal structure. To determine the differential chemical and physical response of enlarged, multinucleated cells in comparison with …


Mechanisms Underlying The Sperm Quality Advantage In Sperm Competition And Cryptic Female Choice In Drosophila Melanogaster, James Pattarini, William T. Starmer, Adam Bjork, Scott Pitnick May 2006

Mechanisms Underlying The Sperm Quality Advantage In Sperm Competition And Cryptic Female Choice In Drosophila Melanogaster, James Pattarini, William T. Starmer, Adam Bjork, Scott Pitnick

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Contrary to early predictions of sperm competition theory, postcopulatory sexual selection favoring increased investment per sperm (e.g., sperm size, sperm quality) has been demonstrated in numerous organisms. Recent findings reveal that sperm production strategies are highly variable, with males of some species producing relatively few, giant sperm. We empirically demonstrate for Drosophila melanogaster that both sperm quality and sperm quantity independently contribute to competitive male fertilization success. The interaction between sperm quality and quantity suggests an internal positive reinforcement on selection for sperm quality, with selection predicted to intensify as investment per sperm increases and the number of sperm competing …


Ventilator Induced Lung Injury, John A. Johnson Jr. May 2006

Ventilator Induced Lung Injury, John A. Johnson Jr.

Honors Capstone Projects - All

Severe physical-trauma can lead to the development of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS). Currently, the only known treatment for ARDS is mechanical ventilation. However, if mechanical ventilation is applied inappropriately further injury and malfunction of the lungs may occur, and thus, causing a ventilator induced lung injury (VILI). VILI has several manifestations including volutrauma, atelectrauma, and biotrauma. These mechanisms often exacerbate one another adding further insult to the injury. The goal of this current study is to establish a stable control pig model of ARDS as a comparison for ventilatory strategies that will act in a more protective manner than …


Gene Deletion In Yeast That Affects Mitochondrial Dna Stability, Function And Maintenance, Rachel Charron May 2006

Gene Deletion In Yeast That Affects Mitochondrial Dna Stability, Function And Maintenance, Rachel Charron

Honors Capstone Projects - All

The study of genomic analysis of deletion mutants in Saccharomyces cerevisiae associated with mitochondrial genome stability has produced both genetic and biochemical findings to be applied to the study of many mitochondrial genetic disorders in humans. Saccharomyces cerevisiae has approximately 6,200 ORFs in its genome. Of the 6,200 ORFs, 4,878 are non-essential. The EuroScarf deletion project removed all the non-essential ORFs, of the 4,878 viable haploid strains of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, and replaced them with the G418 resistance cassette. A subset of 700 deletion mutants that were previously identified as important for mitochondrial function and biogenesis was compiled from the …