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University of New Orleans

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Multivariate Models And Algorithms For Systems Biology, Lipi Rani Acharya Dec 2011

Multivariate Models And Algorithms For Systems Biology, Lipi Rani Acharya

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Rapid advances in high-throughput data acquisition technologies, such as microarraysand next-generation sequencing, have enabled the scientists to interrogate the expression levels of tens of thousands of genes simultaneously. However, challenges remain in developingeffective computational methods for analyzing data generated from such platforms. In thisdissertation, we address some of these challenges. We divide our work into two parts. Inthe first part, we present a suite of multivariate approaches for a reliable discovery of geneclusters, often interpreted as pathway components, from molecular profiling data with replicated measurements. We translate our goal into learning an optimal correlation structure from replicated complete and incomplete …


Habitat Characteristics Affecting Site Occupation In Wintering Henslow’S Sparrows At Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, Mary E. Nicholson Dec 2011

Habitat Characteristics Affecting Site Occupation In Wintering Henslow’S Sparrows At Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge, Mary E. Nicholson

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Henslow’s sparrow (Ammodramus henslowii) winters in recently burned sites in pine savannas of the Southeastern United States. Previous studies have suggested that factors such as seed abundance and litter depth are important to wintering Henslow’s sparrows. My study asked how habitat variables including vegetation structure, seed abundance, and arthropod abundance predict Henslow’s sparrow site occupancy at Mississippi Sandhill Crane National Wildlife Refuge. In this study, Henslow’s sparrow more often occupied sites burned one growing season earlier than sites burned two growing seasons earlier, and did not occupy sites burned three or more growing seasons earlier. Data indicated that mass …


Bycatch Of The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Inshore Shrimp Fishery And Its Effect On Two Sea Catfish Species: The Gafftopsail Catfish (Bagre Marinus) And The Hardhead Catfish (Ariopsis Felis), Scott P. Eustis Dec 2011

Bycatch Of The Lake Pontchartrain Basin Inshore Shrimp Fishery And Its Effect On Two Sea Catfish Species: The Gafftopsail Catfish (Bagre Marinus) And The Hardhead Catfish (Ariopsis Felis), Scott P. Eustis

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In Lake Pontchartrain Basin, commercial fishing in estuarine habitats impacts many non-target species collected as bycatch. I investigated the bycatch assemblages collected by commercial vessels and compared these to assemblages collected by typical fishery-independent methods. I compared assemblages using analysis of similarity (ANOSIM) and determined important species by weight and abundance using similarity percentages analyses (SIMPER). I also examined differences in size-class distributions by gear type using density kernel plots and Mann-Whitney U tests. The two gear types collected significantly different assemblages (ANOSIM R = 0.522, p = 0.001) and gear type explained more composition differences than other factors such …


Factors That Affect Harem Stability In A Feral Horse (Equus Caballus) Population On Shackleford Banks Island, Nc, Jessa Madosky Aug 2011

Factors That Affect Harem Stability In A Feral Horse (Equus Caballus) Population On Shackleford Banks Island, Nc, Jessa Madosky

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Mammal species often live in social groups, but the factors that promote group cohesion can be difficult to analyze due to the prevalence of strong group affiliations. Feral horses maintain stable harems of one or two males and several females, and harem stability is strongly related to individual fitness. Anecdotal evidence and an early study in the non-breeding season suggest that management of the Shackleford Banks island horses with immunocontraception reduces harem stability in the population, providing an opportunity to study the factors that influence harem stability. I investigated the effects of the immunocontraceptive PZP on harem stability during the …


Computational Pipeline For Human Transcriptome Quantification Using Rna-Seq Data, Guorong Xu Aug 2011

Computational Pipeline For Human Transcriptome Quantification Using Rna-Seq Data, Guorong Xu

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The main theme of this thesis research is concerned with developing a computational pipeline for processing Next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. RNA-seq experiments generate tens of millions of short reads for each DNA/RNA sample. The alignment of a large volume of short reads to a reference genome is a key step in NGS data analysis. Although storing alignment information in the Sequence Alignment/Map (SAM) or Binary SAM (BAM) format is now standard, biomedical researchers still have difficulty accessing useful information. In order to assist biomedical researchers to conveniently access essential information from NGS data files in SAM/BAM format, we have …


Identification And Characterization Of Enzymes Involved In The Biosynthesis Of Different Phycobiliproteins In Cyanobacteria, Avijit Biswas Aug 2011

Identification And Characterization Of Enzymes Involved In The Biosynthesis Of Different Phycobiliproteins In Cyanobacteria, Avijit Biswas

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A multi-plasmid, co-expression system was used to recreate the biosynthetic pathway for phycobiliproteins from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 in E. coli. This system efficiently produced chromophorylated allophycocyanin (ApcA/ApcB), -phycocyanin, and -phycocyanin. This system was used to demonstrate that CpcS-I and CpcU proteins are both required attaching PCB to allophycocyanin subunits ApcD (AP-B) and ApcF (18). The N-terminal, AP-like domain of ApcE (LCM99) was produced in soluble form and shown to have intrinsic bilin lyase activity. In addition, this system was used to chromophorylated CpcA from Synechococystis sp. PCC 6803 with a non-cognate bilin; PEB with the aid …


Metabolism And Cryo-Sensitivity Of Domestic Cat (Felis Catus) And Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus) Spermatozoa, Kimberly Terrell Aug 2011

Metabolism And Cryo-Sensitivity Of Domestic Cat (Felis Catus) And Cheetah (Acinonyx Jubatus) Spermatozoa, Kimberly Terrell

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Teratospermia (ejaculation of ≥ 60% structurally abnormal spermatozoa) is prevalent among felids facing extinction risk, including the cheetah. This trait also occurs in certain domestic cat populations, providing a valuable research model. Multiple components of sperm function are disrupted in teratospermic cats, and even structurally normal spermatozoa from these ejaculates may be functionally compromised. Teratospermic ejaculates are highly sensitive to damage during cryopreservation, limiting the success of genome resource banking programs for species conservation. Although both teratospermia and cryopreservation are linked to disruptions in multiple energy-dependent sperm processes, the metabolism of these cells has not been investigated. This project explored …


An Evaluation Of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation Transplanting Methods For Lake Pontchartrain Restoration, Donald Anthony Rodrigue Jr. May 2004

An Evaluation Of Submersed Aquatic Vegetation Transplanting Methods For Lake Pontchartrain Restoration, Donald Anthony Rodrigue Jr.

University of New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The general goals of this study were to evaluate transplant methods for Lake Pontchartrain submersed aquatic vegetation (SAV) restoration, and to compare survival and expansion of transplanted SAV among four sites. Two experiments were conducted from summer 2000 through spring 2001 at two north shore and two south shore sites in Lake Pontchartrain. Experiment 1 involved testing the effects of transplanting with matting, staples, exclosures, and interspecific interaction on survival and expansion of Ruppia maritima and Vallisneria americana transplants in Lake Pontchartrain. Experiment 2 involved testing the effects of transplanting with matting, staples, and plugs on Ruppia survival and expansion. …