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Mammal Species Inventory Using Various Trapping Methods In Zone 4 Of Billy Barquedier National Park, Belize During Rainy Season, Mersady Redding Dec 2019

Mammal Species Inventory Using Various Trapping Methods In Zone 4 Of Billy Barquedier National Park, Belize During Rainy Season, Mersady Redding

Animal Science Undergraduate Honors Theses

Belize is a small country, but it is extremely ecologically diverse. Based on the few studies conducted in Belize, the abundance of mammals is low but diversity is high. Particular findings note the number and identity of species differed between four sites in the Maya Mountains of Belize, indicating that a data set from a single site is not representative of the Neotropical region. Insufficient data is available to estimate current species richness of many areas in Belize, including Billy Barquedier National Park (BBNP). The objective of this study was to explore trapping and documentation methods of terrestrial mammals in …


Role Of Dyslipidemia On Lipid Metabolism In Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients, Eno Latifi Jan 2019

Role Of Dyslipidemia On Lipid Metabolism In Maintenance Hemodialysis Patients, Eno Latifi

Wayne State University Dissertations

Maintenance hemodialysis (MHD) patients experience various abnormalities such as systemic inflammation (SI), oxidative stress (OS), and dyslipidemia (D). Defined as an imbalance of plasma lipids, lipoproteins, and lipid metabolism enzymes, D has been associated with a rise in morbidity and mortality within ESRD patients due to cardiovascular disease (CVD). However, the contribution of each of these parameters to D is poorly understood; moreover, the impact of the following parameters on dyslipidemia in different ethnicities is unknown. Hence, the objective of this study was to characterize D in a multi-ethnic cohort of ESRD patients. We hypothesized that the degree of dyslipidemia …


Structural Characterization Of Black Widow Spider Dragline Silk Proteins Crp1 And Crp4, Mikayla Shanafelt Jan 2019

Structural Characterization Of Black Widow Spider Dragline Silk Proteins Crp1 And Crp4, Mikayla Shanafelt

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Spider dragline silk is a biomaterial with outstanding material properties, possessing high-tensile strength and toughness. In nature, dragline silk serves a central role during spider locomotion and web construction. Today, scientists are racing to elucidate the molecular machinery governing silk extrusion, attempting to translate this knowledge into a mimicry process in the laboratory to create synthetic fibers for a wide range of different applications. During extrusion, it has been established that biochemical and mechanical forces govern spidroin folding, aggregation, and assembly. In black widow spiders, at least 7 different proteins have been identified as constituents of dragline silk fibers. These …


Erk3 Negatively Regulates The Il-6/Stat3 Signaling Via Socs3, Astha Shakya Jan 2019

Erk3 Negatively Regulates The Il-6/Stat3 Signaling Via Socs3, Astha Shakya

Browse all Theses and Dissertations

Mitogen activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are Ser/Thr kinases that relay the extracellular signal into intracellular responses and regulate several biological responses. They are classified into conventional MAPKs and atypical MAPKs. Extracellular signal regulated kinase 3 (ERK3) is an atypical MAPK that has a single phospho-acceptor site (Ser 189) in its activation motif instead of the canonical Thr-Xaa-Tyr (TXY) motif of conventional MAPK like ERK1/2. ERK3 comprises of a unique C terminal tail and a central C34 domain that further distinguishes it from ERK1/2. Moreover, compared to ERK1/2, much less is known about the upstream activators and the downstream targets of …


Development Of A Biomarker Panel For Identifying Stressed Marine Mammals, Laura Pujade Jan 2019

Development Of A Biomarker Panel For Identifying Stressed Marine Mammals, Laura Pujade

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

Increasing anthropogenic disturbance in marine ecosystems such as fishing, oil-drilling, and noise pollution can have detrimental effects on the reproduction and survival of apex predators such as marine mammals. Stress activates the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, resulting in increased circulating glucocorticoid (GCs) hormones, which alter expression of target genes encoding metabolic enzymes and other mediators of stress. Prolonged HPA axis stimulation may increase catabolism of nutrient stores and suppress immune and reproductive functions, impacting the fitness of marine mammals. GCs measurements are used to identify wild animals experiencing stress. However, these measurements may not be sensitive enough to distinguish between an …