Life Sciences Commons^™

The Impact Of Land Use Patterns And Watershed Characteristics On China Lake, Kennebec County, Maine, Rachel N. Carr, Caroline A. Polgar, Jakob B. Moe, F. Russell Cole, David H. Firmage, Kirsten L. Ness

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

China Lake is located in Kennebec County, Maine. Since 1983 the lake has suffered from yearly algal blooms as a result of the addition of excess nutrients. The nutrient load was amplified by erosion within the watershed. Erosion varies widely depending on a number of factors, including the slope of the land, the type of soil, and the way the land is being used. Certain land use types have a high potential to add nutrients to the environment, while others may help absorb excess nutrients and prevent erosion and runoff into the lake. A comprehensive examination of the China Lake …

Man-Made Menopause, Madeline Horwitz

Undergraduate Research Symposium (UGRS)

In this study I suggest that there are three distinct time periods mark new developments in society’s understanding of menopause, Victorian America in the mid and late nineteenth century, mid-twentieth century America, and contemporary America. This is the case not only in terms of advances in biological science, but also the ways in which the medical establishment has viewed menopause has also changed, and in terms of changes in prevalent gender assumptions. In this paper I hope to expose the ways science, history, and society has medicalized menopause, and the ways in which menopause has been viewed by individual women, …

Resistance Of Forest Community Types To Structural And Compositional Change Following Beech Bark Disease Infestation, Sarah Ann Hoskinson

Honors Theses

Pathogens change forest composition and structure by selectively eliminating susceptible individuals and species. Caused by a complex between an exotic scale insect and fungi, beech bark disease has infected mature American beech (Fagus grandifolia) trees through most of the species range. Before succumbing to the disease, infected trees generate root sprouts, transforming beech from a dominant canopy species into an abundant subcanopy species. Root sprouting can create dense beech thickets that interfere with the regeneration of other species. Exclusion of species from the understory has ecological and economic implications. This study compared forest community types for their resistance to compositional …

A Broad-Spectrum Mer Operon In A Multi-Drug Resistant Strain Of The Fish Pathogen, Aeromonas Salmonicida, Erin Parry

Honors Theses

Aeromonas salmonicida AS03, a potential fish pathogen, was isolated from Atlantic salmon, Salmo salar, in 2003. This strain was found to be resistant to ≥1000 mM HgCl2 and ≥32 mM phenylmercuric acetate as well as multiple antimicrobials. Mercury (Hg) and antibiotic resistance genes are often located on the same mobile genetic elements, so the genetic determinants of both resistances and the possibility of horizontal gene transfer were examined. Specific PCR primers were used to amplify and sequence distinctive regions of the mer operon. A. salmonicida AS03 was found to have a pDU1358-like broad-spectrum mer operon, containing merB as well as …

Appendix C. Physical Measurements And Chemical Analyses Of China Lake Water Quality, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: China Lake (2005, 1989)

No abstract provided.

A Watershed Analysis Of China Lake [Presentation], Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: China Lake (2005, 1989)

No abstract provided.

Appendix C: General Data, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Togus Pond (2004)

No abstract provided.

Fall Data Report, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Togus Pond (2004)

No abstract provided.

Total Phosphorus, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Togus Pond (2004)

No abstract provided.

An Assessment Of Water Quality, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Togus Pond (2004)

No abstract provided.

Water Quality Results From Togus Pond, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Togus Pond (2004)

No abstract provided.

A Watershed Analysis Of Threemile Pond: Implications For Water Quality And Land Use Management, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Threemile Pond (2003)

The 2003 Colby Environmental Assessment Team chose to study the Threemile Pond watershed. The Threemile Pond watershed is located in Vassalboro, China., Windsor, and Augusta, Maine. Threemile Pond is a popular site for recreation and is home to a wide range of flora and fauna. Like all other lakes in Maine, it is a young lake. However, intensive human activity in the watershed contributes a substantial amount of nutrients and the lake has algal blooms annually in the summer months. The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of land use and development on the water quality of …

Effects Of Melatonin On Hemolymph Glucose And Lactate Concentrations In The Fiddler Crab, Uca Pugilator, Kathryn M. Dalton

Honors Theses

Melatonin (N-acetyl-5-methoxytryptamine) is an indolamine hormone produced by the pineal gland that works to regulate sleep/wake cycles and activity rhythms. The effects of melatonin in metabolism are far from understood. Melatonin was injected into the fiddler crab, Uca pugilator, to investigate the effects of melatonin on hemolymph glucose and lactate levels. Following injection at t=O, hemolymph samples were collected at t=O.5, 1.0, 1.5 and 5.0 hours. Melatonin caused a decrease in the stress response to injection and also caused delayed hyperglycemia. Melatonin-injected crabs also retained the glucose and lactate rhythymicity when compared to saline-injected crabs. Glucose and lactate rhythms followed …

Shrimp Aquaculture: An Analysis Of Its Evolution And Organization; And The Development Of A Shrimp Growth Model, Adam Rana

Honors Theses

This paper examines the impetus for the development and subsequent rise of the shrimp aquaculture industry and continues by exploring a model that seeks to improve shrimp farmers' harvests by identifying specific variables affecting shrimp growth. Evidence reviewed from 1980 through today suggest that technological advancements, reduced prices, and increases in both the supply and demand for shrimp are positively associated with the industry's rapid ascent. The introduction of vertically integrated shrimp farms along with the ability for shrimp farmers to differentiate their products are also correlated with the industry's growth. Variables affecting shrimp growth were also studied to determine …

Land Use Patterns In Relation To Lake Water Quality In The Great Pond Watershed, Problems In Environmental Science Course (Biology 493), Colby College, Colby Environmental Assessment Team, Colby College

Colby College Watershed Study: Great Pond (2012, 2010, 1998)

Lakes are natural resources, which have many effects on the land surrounding them, They support adjacent communities by providing water and regulating temperatures, helping to define the surrounding ecosystem, and serving as sources of drinking water as well as recreation. The prolonged presence of human activity in a watershed can disturb the physical and chemical cycles of the lake and its surrounding ecosystems (Henderson-Sellers and Markland 1987). Over time, lakes undergo a process called eutrophication, a natural aging process during which the nutrient levels increase and dissolved oxygen levels decrease (Smith and Smith 1998). As the lake ages or becomes …

Post-Glacial Vegetational History Of The Great Bog, Belgrade, Maine, John Dawson

Senior Scholar Papers

A 6-m vibracore taken from the Great Bog in Belgrade, Maine, was sampled for pollen analysis at 10-cm intervals. Samples were processed in the laboratory using standard techniques developed by Faegri and Iversen. The sediment in the sample was reduced to a residue of pollen which was mounted on microscope slides. A minimum of 300 pollen grains was identified and counted at each level using a compound microscope at 400x magnification. Five radiocarbon dates were taken from the core at stratigraphic boundaries. Lastly, pollen concentration and pollen accumulation rates were calculated. The uppermost 3.8 m of the core is fine …

Use Of Microprojectile Bombardment In Transient Expression Assays To Analyze Protochlorophyllide Reductase Gene Expression In Greening Maize Seedling Leaf Cells, Jennifer J. Marden

Senior Scholar Papers

In young cells of leaf meristems the progenitors of chloroplasts are small organelles known as proplastids, which divide and differentiate into chloroplasts. However, in the absence of light, proplastids undergo a different sequence of development and become etioplasts. When light is supplied to etiolated plants during the "greening" process, etioplasts differentiate into chloroplasts containing chlorophyll. An important light dependent step in chlorophyll biosynthesis is the photoreduction of protochlorophyllide to chlorophyllide by the NADPH:protochlorophyllide reductase (PCR) enzyme. This enzyme is present at high activity only in etiolated tissue and during early stages of light-induced chlorophyll synthesis. The enzyme and its corresponding …

The Physiological, Enzymatic, And Genetic Characterization Of Staphylococcus Sp. Chromium (Vi) Reductase Function, Matthew J. Trudeau

Senior Scholar Papers

A strain of Staphylococcus isolated by Dr. Fekete at the Sandia National Laboratory toxic metal dumping site in Sandia, New Mexico. has been found to reduce toxic Cr(VI) to the less toxic Cr(IlI) state. We have ascertained the environmental parameters for optimal bacterial growth and Cr(VI) reduction. This knowledge may be employed in a comprehensive bioremediation scheme designed to accelerate natural reparation of that Sandia ecosystem. In addition we have investigated the genetic and enzymatic basis for this Cr(VI) reducing ability. This information may allow us to create more effective bioremediation schemes based on the comprehensive knowledge of enzyme and …

Molecular Genetic Analysis Of The Interaction Between The Bacterial Pathogen Xanthomonas Campestris Pv. Vesicatoria And The Tomato Plant, Peter M. Antall

Senior Scholar Papers

X. campestris pv. vesieatoria (Xcv) Is a bacterial pathogen of tomato and pepper. Xcv is able to infect most tomato lines. causing bacterial spot disease. which can lead to death. A strain of Xcv exists. however. which elicits a resistance response In a particular tomato line. ThIs avirulent strain carries a single locus. the aviru1ence gene avrRxv, whIch specifies the resistance inducing activity. Accordlng to Flor's gene for gene model, a corresponding gene must exist in the resistant plant. Evidence exists for this gene but it has not yet been cloned. In this study, the role ofthe avrRxv gene product …

Symbolic Interactionist And Neurophysiological Models Of Action Towards An Integration, David Spencer Fearon

Senior Scholar Papers

This research proposal introduces an integrated study of action and human conduct from the perspectives of symbolic interaction and neurophysiology. Because of their traditionally disparate subject matter, the fields of sociological social psychology and the neurosciences seldom meet; however, I have found significant common ground to justify an integrated approach to the study of action. Symbolic interactionists study human group life and conduct in society. The neurosciences deal with the physiology of the central nervous system, its structure and functions in behavior, its chemical composition, and electrochemical activity, and the effects damage has on behavior. Both fields analyze the same …

Investigation Of Barbel Regeneration In The Catfish Ameiurus Nebulosus, Ruth-Marie E. Griswold

Senior Scholar Papers

It has been clearly demonstrated that the barbels of Ameiurus nebulosus regenerate completely following amputation. The current investigations involve experimentation dealing primarily with determination of the mechanisms by which regeneration occurs. However, prior to conducting a series of experiments designed to elucidate the processes which initiate regeneration, several preliminary investigations to determine normal barbel structure and regeneration were made.

Brain dissection of an adult catfish confirmed that innervation of the barbels is by both the fifth and seventh cranial nerves, and not solely by the seventh cranial nerve as suggested by Olmstead (1920). Further information regarding normal barbel innervation and …

Psychological Mechanisms In Learning Mathematical Concepts, Louis Fallon

Senior Scholar Papers

Psychological Mechanisms in learning Mathematical Concepts: Jean Piaget, the Swiss psychologist, did theoretical and experimental work based on the idea that there is an invariant heirarchy of responses by which everyone acquires mathematical concepts. Basically we tried to use the geometric symmetry concept as a vehicle for studying this process of concept acquisition using subjects ranging in age from three to 25. They were asked to reproduce a series of stimulus "pictures," simple geometric patterns, which could be used without major alteration for each age group. Symmetric responses were divided into four types which were set up into a heirarchy …

Phospholipid Inhibitor Inactivation As A Mechanism For The Activation Of Renin By Cadmium Ions, Thomas Emanuel Gallant

Senior Scholar Papers

Incubation of bovine kidney homogenates with CdCl or ZnCl2 doubles their renin activity as measured by rat bioassay. It is suggested that the activation of renin by these divalent cations results from their interference with the renin inhibitor system described by Sen et al., (1968). Failure of the inhibitor to reassociate with renin upon removal of cadmium ions by EDTA supports their renin control model. It is suggested that either renin samples prepared directly from tissue without the use of acetone powder preparations contain little phospholipase A or cadmium inactivates phospholipase A. In the absence of active phospholipase A, conversion …

Renin Granularity In The Mouse Kidney, R. Williams Soller

Senior Scholar Papers

Briefly. the rennin-angiotensin-aldosterone triangle can be thou ht of as a regulator of renal perfusion. Renin, released by the kidney in response to any threat in its perfusion n, acts on its substrate to produce angiotensin I, a mild vasoconstrictor which by means of plasma converting enzymes secretes angiotensint II. This latter product not only stimulates aldosterone output by the adrenals, but also supports the animals’ blood pressure. With aldosterone binding at the distal tubules in the kidney and this causing increased sodium retention, restoration of renal perfusion occurs – a phenomenon which shuts off the original signal for rennin …

Attempt To Determine The Pattern Of Chromosomal Inheritance In The Intermediate Iris, Theodore Kellogg

Senior Scholar Papers

Intermediate iris containing 44 chromosomes have a low rate of fertility. This paper is an attempt to determine the reasons for this low fertility through a study of the chromosomal inhertiance of two intermediate iris that have been successfully hybridized. There are no literary records showing that the results of crossing two chromosome intermediate iris, so most of this paper is a report of lab work.

Study Of Proteinuria: Isolation Of Proteins From The Nephrotic Syndrome, Merrill C. Raikes

Senior Scholar Papers

One of the most puzzling phenomena of abnormal renal physiology is the occurrence of the nephrotic syndrome. The syndrome has been defined by a collection of clinical and pathological symptoms, but there is no correlation between the clinical and pathological symptoms nor is the etiology of the syndrome known. Proteinuria is probably the most distinguishing feature in the nephrotic syndrome, and there are two possible explanations for its occurrence: (1) the excessive amounts of protein found in nephrotic urine could be due to an increased basement membrane permeability in the glomerulus of the kidney or (2) dysproteinemia. An attempt has …