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Biological And Physiological Condition Of Juvenile California Halibut (Paralichthys Californicus) Exposed To A Contamination Gradient In Mission Bay, Ca, Kevin Stolzenbach

Theses

Contaminated sediments in marine environments have been shown to be good indicators of ecological risk and a means to assess anthropogenic impacts on marine habitats and the animals that inhabit them (Long et al. 1995, Rattner 2009). Estuarine sediments are especially complex media with regard to physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that trap, store, modify and sometimes release contaminants to the biota (Long et al. 1995). Especially vulnerable are animals that are in constant contact with the sediments, such as flatfishes that partially bury themselves for camouflage (Costa et al. 2011). Impacts can be assessed in a number of ways, …

Effect Of Abscisic Acid On The Growth And Development Of Lettuce (Lactuca Sativa 1.) Under Varied Irrigation Regimes, Mohamed Abdulla Al Muhairi

Theses

Economically important vegetable crop lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.) of family Asteraceae was selected for the present investigation. It is being cultivated in UAE due to its commercial importance. In lettuce cultivation, major problem is the requirement of large quantity of irrigation water. The present study was aimed to reduce the water consumption of lettuce cultivation, for that, a varied irrigation regime was used with the application of abscisic acid (ABA). The parameters studied were growth, photosynthetic pigments, biochemical constituents, antioxidant potential and antioxidant enzymes activities in lettuce plants under drought stress and its response to ABA under stress. Drought stress …

Studies On The Initial Stage Of Lipid Oxidation In Bulk Oils., Elizabeth Budilarto.

Theses

During the oxidation of bulk oils, oxidation products (i.e. peroxide values, conjugated dienes and thiobarbituric acid reactive substances) are formed gradually and increased sharply at the end of the induction period. Tocophero1s were consumed, some water was formed, and micelles increased in size during the induction period of vegetable oils oxidized in bulk. The evidence that the evolution of micellar size was in parallel with the end of induction period corroborates the recognition that micelles are the active site of oxidation. The interaction of α-tocophero1 and three synergists: ascorby1 palmitate, phosphatidy1choline and L-lysine were studied in cod liver oil, to …

Study The Quality Of Groundwater Of Al-Zoroup Area In Mahdah State, The Sultanate Of Oman, Fahad Khalifa Rashid Al-Shidi

Theses

The groundwater is the most important source of water in the Sultanate of Oman. Accordingly, the Oman Government has paid great attention commensurate with the importance of water resource in terms of their sources, quality, and ways to rationalize consumption to remain under the term of sustainability and validity of present and future generations. This study was conducted in Al Buraymi at Mahdah State in Al-Zoroub area targete a groundwater quality for 20 wells in private farms. The water samples were taken from these wells and subjected to analysis for microbial and geochemical aspects. For this analysis, the assorted devices …

Translation And Transcription Are Required For Endogenous Bursting After Long Term Removal Of Neuromodulators, Stefanie Eisenbach

Theses

Motor pattern-generating networks depend on neuromodulatory inputs to regulate the network activity. The pyloric network of the Cancer borealis stomatogastric ganglion (STG), a rhythmic motor pattern-generating network, requires modulatory inputs to generate this activity. When neuromodulatory inputs are removed, the pyloric network falls silent. However, patterned pyloric activity recovers spontaneously in about 24 hours in organ culture. To determine if synthesis of new proteins are involved in the recovery of pyloric activity after prolonged elimination of neuromodulators, translation inhibitors are tested on the recovery process of pyloric activity in C. borealis. In vitro experiments are conducted; the STG is …

Formation Of Branching Angles At Bifurcations Of Ant Trail Networks, Subash Kusum Ray

Theses

Ants form dendritic trail networks around the nest to search for and exploit food sources located at the periphery of the network. Studies found these trail networks to be very efficient for the ants in terms of time and energy, which later was found stored in the bifurcation angle (θ) of the branches of these trail networks. It has been observed, that bifurcations are symmetrical when moving from the nest to the food source, while are asymmetrical when moving back towards the nest. The mean bifurcation angles have been found to be 50° - 80° for networks radiating out from …

Growth And Nutrient Uptake Of Young Date Palms In Response To Deficit Irrigation And Partial Rootzone Drying., Noura Mubarak Al Ameri

Theses

In this study young clonal date palm plants were transferred into horizontal split-root pots filled with compost-amended soil of the UAE. The pots were constructed from two adjacent plastic containers, fastened together by adhesive tape. Once the plants had established new roots in the containers, the soil moisture level was measured every two to four days in all soil compartments. In the control treatment, the soil moisture level was brought to 30% w/w after soil moisture recording. Deficit irrigation treatments received exactly 60% of the average amount of water supplied to the pots of the control treatment. In the homogeneous …

Risk Prediction With Genomic Data, Bharati Jadhav

Theses

Genome wide association study (GWAS) is widely used with various machine learning algorithms to predict disease risk. This thesis investigates this widely used approach of GWAS using Single Nucleotide Polymorphism (SNP) genotype data and a novel approach of disease risk prediction with whole exome sequencing data, namely Whole Exome Wide Association Study (WEWAS). It further applies a discriminating machine learning algorithm, namely a Support Vector Machine (SVM) with different Kernel functions. For this study, only SNPs generated using genotyping technology, which focuses more on common variants, are used initially for disease prediction. Later, the whole exome data generated using Next …

Comparison Of Different Differential Expression Analysis Tools For Rna-Seq Data, Junfei Zhu

Theses

In molecular biology research, RNA-seq is a relatively new method for transcriptome profiling. It utilizes the next generation sequencing technology to provide huge amount information about the variety and abundance of RNA present in an organism of interest at a specific state and a given time. One of the most important tasks of RNA-seq analysis is finding genes that are expressed differently in different subject groups. A lot of differential expression analysis tools for RNA-seq have been developed, but there is no golden standard in this field. In this research, four commonly used tools (DESeq, edgeR, limma, and cuffdiff) are …

Gastroenteritis Viruses In Ireland: Epidemiology And Evolution, Lynda Gunn

Theses

Viral gastroenteritis is a common disease of both humans and animals. This thesis focuses on the use of classical virology, coupled with phylogenetics to study gastroenteritis viruses [Bocavirus (BoV), Coronavirus (CoV), and Rotavirus A (RVA)], isolated from selected samples from humans and animals. RVA was associated with outbreaks in elderly care facilities in Northern Ireland, isolates were genotyped and we reported the first detection of G2 lineage lie RVA in Ireland, with other common human RVA genotypes G1P[8], G2P[4] and G9P[8]. Evolutionary dynamics of human RVA VP7 genotypes was examined using codon models of evolution, results show heterogeneous selective pressure …

Detection, Identification And Characterization Of The Novel Campylobacter Species: Campylobacter Ureolyticus And Campylobacter Corcagiensis From Their Reservoirs., Monika Koziel

Theses

Campylobacter ureolyticus has been identified in a large proportion of diarrhoeal samples from patients in Ireland. However, the source of human infections has not been established and little is currently known about the potential reservoirs of C. ureolyticus in nature.

The aim of this project was to investigate a range of environmental and animal samples for the presence of this emerging pathogen using a molecular approach, to support the hypothesis of its zoonotic origin.

During the study, C. ureolyticus was detected in 30 out of 1,254 (2.4%) human diarrheic samples and isolated from 11 patients, describing, to the best of …

The Development Of Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry Methods For The Analysis Of Cyanobacterial Toxins In Environmental Freshwaters, Brian Anthony Dineen

Theses

Cyanobacteria, also known as blue-green algae, are a common component of many freshwater and marine ecosystems and have a potential to produce several different classes of biotoxins. The most common class of cyanobacterial toxins are the microcystins (MCs) and cylindrospermopsins (CYLs). MCs are cyclic heptapeptides that display potent hepatotoxicity and are tumour promoters. CYLs are alkaloids that are cytotoxic and can cause illness and display hepatotoxic effects in animals and humans. Worldwide, these toxins have caused fatal poisonings to animals, birds and fish. Several incidents of human intoxications have been reported and the presence of these toxins in environmental waters …

Characterisation Of The Enzybiotic Potential Of Selected Staphylococcus Aureus Bacteriophages, Ruth Keary

Theses

The work presented in this thesis focuses on harnessing the bactericidal potential of bacteriophage (phage) encoded peptidoglycan hydrolase enzymes to combat the significant pathogen Staphylococcus aureus. In order to identify novel peptidoglycan hydrolases lytic against S. aureus, the complete genomes of two staphylococcal temperate Siphoviridae bacteriophages, DW2 and CSl, were sequenced and annotated. Screening of these genomes identified genes for several putative peptidoglycan hydrolases including two endolysins and three virion-associated peptidoglycan hydrolases. The identification of putative genes relating to virulence and host fitness lends to the understanding of the role played by such temperate phages in the evolution of this …

Investigation Of Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids In Foods Using Liquid Chromatography Mass Spectrometry, Caroline Griffin

Theses

Pyrrolizidine Alkaloids (PAs) are known plant toxins which can cause hepatic veno-occlusive disease (HVOD) in both humans and livestock when ingested. Although PAs are primarily known for their hepatotoxicity they also induce genotoxicity, carcinogenicity and pneumotoxicity. PAs are consumed through plants as food, for medicinal purposes, or as contaminants of agricultural crops. Aside from ingesting the plants directly PA exposure may occur through the consumption of honey produced by bees that visit PA-containing plants or by drinking milk produced by animals that have consumed PA-containing plants. Possible PA contamination in our food chain is a potential health risk.

To assess …

The Effect Of Exercise Intensity On Physiological And Psychological Outcomes In Breast And Prostate Cancer Survivors: A Controlled Study, Eric Martin

Theses

Introduction

Research has identified a need to explore the components of exercise prescription for cancer survivors, particularly the most effective exercise intensity. The main purpose of this research was to examine whether exercise intensity modulates a range of physiological and psychological outcomes for breast and prostate cancer survivors. The primary outcomes were related to peak oxygen consumption (VO2peak) and quality of life (QOL). VO2peak is a highly sensitive measure that indicates overall health. QOL references the general wellbeing of individuals, and is an outcome of great importance in cancer rehabilitation research.

Pilot Study

A pilot study involving breast cancer survivors …