Life Sciences Commons^™

Narrated History Of Wcrec, Cathy Fox

West Central Research and Extension Center, North Platte--History & Publications

No abstract provided.

Nutritional Analysis Of High Fructose Corn Syrup, Emily Pitts

A with Honors Projects

An analysis of high fructose corn syrup and its positive and/or negative aspects.

Alternative "More Efficient" Irrigation Systems, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

Many traditional irrigation systems work well for ecological restoration projects. These demand responsive systems are very water efficient and robust and have proved themselves in the most extreme desert conditions.

Web Based Services In The Library, Nkiru F. Opara Jarlath

Nkiru Opara

Sharing knowledge is power’ as opposed to the old adage that, ‘knowledge is power

Southern Lagoon And Village Of Gales Point, Belize, Ca: Water Uses, Water Quality, And Potential Health Impacts, Rasmi Nair, Ritchie Taylor

Impact Belize

An International Health Service Learning Program, Impact Belize 2010, was conducted by Western Kentucky University. Faculty and students worked closely with Gales Point villagers to gain an insight into the use of Southern Lagoon. The objective of the study was to assess fecal coliform levels in Southern lagoon, its primary and secondary contact use by villagers and its potential impact on health. Study methodology involved collection of water samples, both near shore and offshore, in the lagoon and incubating them using ColiQuant EZ method approved by EPA. A questionnaire was administered to villagers attending the WKU clinic to collect data …

Development Of A Model System For In Vitro Studies Of Gastric Digestion Of Food Particles Under Simulated Gastric Conditions, Vish Gaikwad

Vish Shashank Gaikwad

No abstract provided.

Institutional Design And Governance In Microbial Research Commons, Charlotte Hess

Libraries' and Librarians' Publications

Presentation slides on institutional design and governance to facilitate a global research commons for microbiology delivered at the International Symposium on Designing the Microbial Research Commons, sponsored by the National Academy of Sciences, Washington, DC, 8-9 October 2009.

Foraging Preference By Wild Deer On Toyon Populations From Santa Catalina Island Versus The Santa Monica Mountains, Amelia I. Clark, Rodney Honeycutt, Anjel Helms, Stephen Davis

Biology

Post-fire regeneration of Toyon (Heteromeles arbutifolia), a chaparral shrub on Santa Catalina Island is impeded by mule deer (Odocoileus hemionus), a non-native species introduced during the 1930’s. Mainland and island populations of Toyon were examined for potential differences in defense mechanisms that act as natural deterrents to over-browsing by ungulate herbivores, with the hypothesis that island populations, void of natural ungulate herbivores, may lack such defense mechanisms. Several characteristics of leaf morphology, including number and length of spines, leaf area and depth, and tensile strength of leaves, were compared between island and mainland populations. Leaves of Toyon from Santa Catalina …

Are “Quantitative” Pits Still Necessary At Hubbard Brook?, Chris E. Johnson

Chris E Johnson

No abstract provided.

Are “Quantitative” Pits Still Necessary At Hubbard Brook?, Chris E. Johnson

Civil and Environmental Engineering

No abstract provided.

An Oral History Of The American Chestnut In Southern Appalachia Presentation, Bethany N. Baxter

American Chestnut Oral History Project

Bethany Baxter's defense presentation for the thesis entitled, An oral history of the American chestnut in Southern Appalachia, submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

An Investigation Of Cardiac Dynamics And Substrate Metabolism In An Animal Heart Failure Model, Anna Stanhewicz

Senior Honors Projects

Heart failure (HF) is a condition in which the working heart is unable to meet the blood flow demands of the body. It is the leading cause of early death in the United States and is a progressive, debilitating disease that presently, can only be detected in late, irreversible stages. The progression of HF is complex and poorly understood, involving a number of molecular mechanisms. It is characterized by a complex of symptoms including cardiac hypertrophy and a shift in myocardial substrate utilization, all leading to reduced pumping efficiency of the heart and decreased systemic blood flow. In HF, the …

Are We Fooling Ourselves??? Eelgrass And Subaqueous Soils As A Refuge For Fecal Indicator Bacteria, Jessie Dyer

Senior Honors Projects

A beach closure during the height of the summer can cost a coastal community approximately $37,000. In 2006, 349 beach closures in Rhode Island were due to presumed human fecal contamination. Fecal contamination is determined based on enumeration of fecal indicator bacteria. Fecal enterococci (FE) are the commonly used indicator bacteria for human fecal contamination in fresh and coastal waters. The EPA has suggested that FE is the best indicator of human health risk in salt water used for recreation and shell fishing activities. Recently, molecular analysis of Bifidobacterium adolescentis has been introduced as a more reliable, specific indicator of …

The Effects Of Tail Flukes On The Swimming Pattern Of Atlantic Bottlenose Dolphins, Lauri Leach

Senior Honors Projects

Atlantic bottlenose dolphins are top predators in the wild, due in part because they are excellent swimmers. When dolphins swim through the water, the tail flukes are moved in an up and down motion to propel the animal through the water. They use the pectoral fins for steering and braking, and the dorsal fin for stabilization as they swim. Using this style of swimming, Atlantic bottlenose dolphins can swim up to 25 miles per hour and leap 15 to 20 feet into the air.

During the spring of 2008, I was an intern at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium in Florida. …

Factors Influencing Interactions Between Ticks And Wild Birds, Amy A. Diaz

Senior Honors Projects

Lyme disease, a tick-borne bacterial illness, is the most common vector-borne infection in north temperate areas worldwide. Ticks, while minute in size, can be competent vectors of both human and animal diseases. Upon hatching, larvae must take a blood meal in order to transform into the next life stage. When taking this first blood meal, the larval tick may ingest blood containing pathogens. If this occurs, the newly emerged nymphal tick is capable of transmitting infection to the next host, which can become infected and, if reservoir competent, infective. When the pathogen carrying vector is attached long enough, a host …

Bff Study: Relationship Between Physical Activity, Fitness Levels, And Blood Glucose Concentrations, Leah Dorfman

Senior Honors Projects

Problem Statement: Coronary heart disease (CHD) is the leading cause of death in the United States. Obesity and sedentary lifestyles are both major risk factors for CHD. There is limited research regarding the combination of diet and physical activity education for overweight and obese college aged females who are at risk for developing CHD.

Background: There are several traditional risk factors for CHD that indicate who is at higher risk for developing CHD. There fore, it is important to determine successful interventions that modify CHD risk in order to decrease CHD incidence. Glucose intolerance, physical activity, and fitness level may …

Role Of The P21 Protein In The Fanconi Anemia Pathway, Mae Shen

Senior Honors Projects

Our bodies are constantly exposed to a variety of substances that damage our DNA, such as ultraviolet radiation, environmental chemicals, and the reactive by-products of our metabolism. To prevent the harmful effects that may result from such damage, our cells possess multiple DNA repair mechanisms. However, if their ability to repair damaged DNA is somehow impaired, cells are more likely to accumulate potentially harmful mutations, including those that may lead to the development of cancer.

In Fanconi anemia (FA), a rare recessive genetic disorder, a defect in a DNA repair pathway results in increased sensitivity to a particular type of …

Student Interest In Genetic Testing For Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus, Sajel Shah

Senior Honors Projects

The National Institute of Health reports that more than 65 percent of American adults are overweight or obese and that the rate of obesity is steadily on the rise. Being overweight increases the odds of developing many serious health problems. For example, being overweight increases a person’s chances of developing heart disease, stroke, certain kinds of cancers, and Type 2 Diabetes. Particularly, the increase in the incidence of Type 2 Diabetes has paralleled the increase in the overweight/obesity epidemic in America.

With the development of new technology to identify and map genes, more and more diseases are being tied to …

Landscape Limnology: Nutrient Fluxes & Biotic Stability In Complex Mountain Watersheds, Wayne A. Wurtsbaugh, Michelle Kang, Dave M. Epstein

Watershed Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Synthesis Of Kurasoin B Analogs, J. R. Nielson, Michael A. Christiansen, M. B. Andrus

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Presentations

Kurasoin B (1), isolated in 1996 by Uchida et al, selectively inhibits Farnesyltransferase (FTase), an enzyme responsible for activating human RAS proteins (ref. 1). When RAS proteins are mutated and then activated, they contribute 20 to 30 percent of all human tumors, including those of the pancreas, colon, small intestine, lung, prostate, liver, skin, and thyroid, as well as multiple myeloma and a number of leukemias (ref. 2). Kurasoin B, therefore, has great potential as a cancer drug lead.

Phase-Transfer Catalyzed Synthesis Of The Soy Isoflavanoid S-Equol, A. W. Butler, A. L. Calvert, Michael A. Christiansen, M. B. Andrus

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Presentations

S-Equol is an isoflavanoid metabolized from the isoflavone daidzein by intestinal bacteria. Only 30-50 percent of all individuals possess bacteria that produce S-Equol. Recent data supports the compound’s pharmaceutical potential for treating prostate cancer and post-menopausal estrogen deficiency (ref. 1). Because the compound is only minutely available from natural sources, an affordable asymmetric total synthesis would be necessary to generate sufficient quantities for expanded research. Only one asymmetric total synthesis of S-Equol has been reported to date, using a chiral auxiliary to give product in a 10 percent yield over 6 steps (ref. 2). It is our goal to develop …

Comparison Of Gene Ontology Term Annotations Between E.Coli K12 Databases, Reddysailaja Marpuri

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

The objective of this project was to get up-to-date functional information on all genes of E.coli K12 strains based on Genome Ontology terms. Gene Ontology is described by a defined library of terms related the biological process, cellular components and molecular functions of a gene in an organism. The genome sequence of an organism gains its value when it is annotated with gene ontology terms, which bridges the gap from the sequence to the biology of an organism. Since we use annotated gene database in the prediction of the function of newly sequenced genes, it is important to have databases …

Using Birds To Teach Biology, Bruce Byers

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

Cornell University curriculum materials http://www.birdsleuth.org/inquiry/

Illuminating Life: What's New And Noteworthy In, Pat O'Hara, Robert Blatchly

Science and Engineering Saturday Seminars

No abstract provided.

Characterizing Bentgrass Distribution With Spatial And Biological Data To Support Ecological Risk Assessment In Connecticut, Carol Auer, Collin Ahrens, Jinwon Chung, Thomas Meyer

Plant Science Presentations and Proceedings

Genetically-modified (GM) crops must be assessed before they are released into the environment. Our research examines the potential for gene flow and negative ecological impacts from the release of GM turfgrasses. Gene flow can produce hybrid offspring with transgenes and novel traits that could change the ability of the plant to survive and spread. If hybrid offspring have an advantage in the environment, they could become invasive and/or affect other components of our ecosystems. Creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera) is a common, non-native turfgrass that is a weed and could hybridize with other Agrostis species. At present, United States Department of …

Ecological Risk Assessment Of Switchgrass (Panicum Virgatum) In Connecticut., Carol Auer, Geoffrey Ecker

Plant Science Presentations and Proceedings

A native of North America, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) is a hardy rhizomatous perennial with an expansive range. The U.S. Department of Energy has identified switchgrass as a promising biofuel crop for low-input agriculture and marginal lands (Fig. 1). This has prompted research on improvement through genetic modification (GM). Before any new GM crop can be released, regulators must evaluate not only the modified plants, but also potential negative impacts to the environment. For example, hybridization between closely-related species could result in the transfer of GM traits to relatives (gene flow) creating new weeds or invasives. The objective of this research …

A Sustainable Future, David A. Bainbridge

David A Bainbridge

A key step toward a more sustainable future is beginning the discussion of what this would entail. What are the defining characteristics of sustainability? How could we get there? What benefits and costs might this involve?

Umass Libraries 2009, Maxine G. Schmidt

Maxine G Schmidt

No abstract provided.

American Chestnut Oral History Project Presentation And Interview Clips, Bethany N. Baxter

American Chestnut Oral History Project

An interview recorded as part of the original research for the thesis entitled, An oral history of the American chestnut in Southern Appalachia, submitted to the faculty of the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the degree of Master of Science.

Synthesis Of 12-Hete Using Asymmetric Phase-Transfer Catalysis, Michael A. Christiansen, M. B. Andrus

Chemistry and Biochemistry Faculty Presentations

A new method of asymmetric phase-transfer-catalyzed alkylation is described. The synthetic utility of this method is demonstrated with the total syntheses of kurasoin A, kurasoin B, and S-naproxenTM, with current work toward S-equol. This methodology is currently being applied to an improved asymmetric total synthesis of the natural compound 12-S-HETE.