Life Sciences Commons^™

The Effect Of Media Selection On The Membrane Characteristics And Fatty Acid Composition Of Staphylococcus Aureus, Seth Russell Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

The cellular membrane is a vital structure to a microorganism and impacts important aspects of environmental regulation and growth. The physical structure of cellular membranes plays a key role in bacterial growth at low temperatures, membrane permeability and susceptibility to membrane active molecules as well as broader aspects of bacterial physiology and pathogenesis. Mueller Hinton medium is the required medium for antimicrobial susceptibility testing in the US, but there are many other types of media used in staphylococcal research. Different media vary in their nutrient compositions, and the effect of media composition on bacterial physiology is incompletely understood. The aim …

Metergoline, The Basolateral Amygdala And The Ventral Pallidum: Implications For Panic Disorder, Douglas Ryan Schuweiler

Theses and Dissertations

Panic disorder (PD) is a common mental illness characterized by recurring spontaneous panic attacks. Scientific investigation into PD has been accelerated by the development of rat models of PD. These models can be validated by responses to intravenous sodium lactate (NaLac), including tachycardia, that are similar to PD patient responses. Previous work on established PD models has suggested that antagonism of serotonin (5-HT) receptors in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) may be sufficient to model PD. To test this hypothesis metergoline (MET), a 5-HT receptor antagonist, or vehicle was microinjected into the BLA of anesthetized rats. Following the microinjection, NaLac or …

Illinois Secondary Agriculture Teachers' Perception Of Critical Development Of Undergraduate Experiences, Alicia Jo Gullidge

Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this study is to provide the leadership of Illinois Agricultural Education with an understanding of what practicing teachers feel were the most important experiences in their pre-service teacher education program that ensured they were prepared for the classroom. This information can be used to streamline the teacher education programs and eliminate experiences that are perceived to be less relevant to preparing teachers. It is believed that this will assist with ongoing efforts dealing with recruitment and retention.

The area's that will be addressed in this survey will be demographics and pre-service events that future agriculture teachers are …

Improving The Efficiency Of Fall Applied N With Cover Crops, Corey Lacey

Theses and Dissertations

Nitrate loss studies in Midwestern tile-drained fields have found that fall applied nitrogen (N) resulted in elevated nitrate concentrations in tile water during both the corn and soybean year of a 2 year rotation. The effectiveness of cover crops to reduce nitrate leaching when N is spring applied has been well demonstrated, however there is a dearth of knowledge on the ability of cover crops to reduce nitrate leaching in a system where N is fall applied. Thus, the objectives of this research were to (i) investigate the efficacy of winter cover crops to reduce nitrate leaching from fall applied …

An Investigation Into The Presynaptic Actions By Which Amphetamine Activates Dopamine Signaling Within Striatal Subregions Of The Rat., Dan P. Covey

Theses and Dissertations

Despite decades of intense research and a consensus view in the field, the work presented herein provides strong evidence that the primary mechanism of amphetamine action should be re-evaluated. Rather than depleting vesicular dopamine stores and promoting non-exocytotic efflux through the dopamine transporter in vivo, recent evidence demonstrates that amphetamine augments phasic dopamine signaling instead. This signaling modality is critical for reinforcement learning and is dependent on intact vesicular stores. The new findings support over-activation of phasic dopamine signaling as a common mechanism in the addiction process.

Correlation Of Shoulder And Elbow Kinetics With Ball Velocity In College Baseball Pitchers, Eric Post

Theses and Dissertations

Specific injuries at the elbow and glenohumeral joints have been linked to several kinetic variables that occur throughout the throwing motion. Ulnar collateral ligament (UCL) sprains have been linked to excessive elbow valgus and shoulder external rotation torques occurring during the late-cocking phase of throwing. Shoulder external rotation torque during the late arm-cocking phase and shoulder distraction forces during the deceleration phase contribute to tears of the labrum. Additionally, it is believed that the peak distraction force generated during the arm deceleration phase also contributes to SLAP tears and rotator cuff pathologies. Very little research has been done to directly …

The Effects Of Planting Techniques On Maize Grain Yield And Silage Production, Tyler D. Kaufman

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a comprehensive analysis of the effects of seed orientation, row direction and planting population on grain yield, kernel composition, and silage yield and composition. Producers are striving to increase profit by efficiently using their available land area to maximize crop production. However, little research is available testing the effect of seed orientation on grain or silage production. Quantifying the impacts of seed orientation and row direction on grain and silage is essential for maximum crop production. Dissemination of the results should benefit grain and silage producer.

Two experiments were conducted to evaluate the effects of manipulating seed …

Validity Of Four Activity Monitors During Controlled And Free-Living Conditions, Joey Lee

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the step count validity of the pendulum-based Yamax Digiwalker SW-701 pedometer (YX), piezoelectric Omron HJ-720-T pedometer (OP), uni-axial Polar Active accelerometer (PAC), and micro electro-mechanical system Actigraph gt3x accelerometer (AG) during controlled and free-living conditions. A convenience sample of college-aged students participated in Study 1 (treadmill walking, n = 43; 21 females) and Study 2 (free-living, n = 37; 18 females). During study 1, subjects walked on a treadmill at five speeds for 3-minutes per stage wearing all four devices while a researcher manually counted steps which provided a criterion measure. During …