Life Sciences Commons^™

Examining The Relationship Of Interoception, Self-Regulation, Eating Domains, And Eating Outcomes In College Students, Shanté Curlina Jeune

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

College student weight gain has steadily increased throughout the past decades. Issues resulting from overweight and obesity can lead to chronic disease and increased mortality risk. Inability to maintaining a healthy weight status may be attributable to unhealthy eating behaviors that often lead to poor diet quality and overeating. Recently, cognitive behaviors such as interoception and dietary self-regulation have been of great interest in order to better understand the processes of eating behaviors and their relationship with obesity.

The purpose of this study is to examine the associations of interoception, self-regulation, eating domains and body mass index (BMI) in college …

Body Fluid Identification Using Dna Extraction Waste Product, Rachel M. Tolces

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In many situations, the amount of DNA evidence recovered at a crime scene is at trace levels, limiting the amount of testing that can be done on the evidence. Because genetic profiling is generally considered the most imperative assay to be completed on a DNA sample, in situations where yield is low, DNA extracts may not be utilized for any other purpose. Fortunately, an alternate source of DNA may exist by utilizing the waste products resulting from DNA extraction.

The goal of this project was to a protocol for recovery of DNA from robotic extraction waste and utilizing this DNA …

Insights To Protein Pathogenicity From The Lens Of Protein Evolution, Janelle Nunez-Castilla

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As protein sequences evolve, differences in selective constraints may lead to outcomes ranging from sequence conservation to structural and functional divergence. Evolutionary protein family analysis can illuminate which protein regions are likely to diverge or remain conserved in sequence, structure, and function. Moreover, nonsynonymous mutations in pathogens may result in the emergence of protein regions that affect the behavior of pathogenic proteins within a host and host response. I aimed to gain insight on pathogenic proteins from cancer and viruses using an evolutionary perspective. First, I examined p53, a conformationally flexible, multifunctional protein mutated in ~50% of human cancers. Multifunctional …

Serpin-Derived Novel Peptide For The Treatment Against Hiv-Induced Inflammation In The Central Nervous System, Yemmy Soler

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In the brain, HIV predominantly infects microglia/macrophages and astrocytes to a lesser extent. These cells form virus reservoirs with low levels of infection that are very hard to eradicate. Even though the use of cART increases survival rate in HIV patients, the virus persists as a chronic condition. cART is not able to effectively cross the BBB, control HIV replication, or attenuate inflammation in brain reservoirs. Therefore, the virus still causes neuronal dysfunction, pain-related pathology, and ultimately HAND. In this study, we decided to test the hypothesis that a serpin-derived small peptide, SP16, can serve as an anti-viral, anti-inflammatory, pro-survival, …

In Silico Characterization Of Protein-Protein Interactions Mediated By Short Linear Motifs, Heidy Elkhaligy

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Short linear motifs (SLiMs), often found in intrinsically disordered regions (IDPs), can initiate protein-protein interactions in eukaryotes. Although pathogens tend to have less disorder than eukaryotes, their proteins alter host cellular function through molecular mimicry of SLiMs. The first objective was to study sequence-based structure properties of viral SLiMs in the ELM database and the conservation of selected viral motifs involved in the virus life cycle. The second objective was to compare the structural features for SliMs in pathogens and eukaryotes in the ELM database. Our analysis showed that many viral SliMs are not found in IDPs, particularly glycosylation motifs. …

Developing And Validating Open Source Tools For Advanced Neuroimaging Research, Taylor Salo

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Almost all scientific research relies on software. This is particularly true for research that uses neuroimaging technologies, such as functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI). These technologies generate massive amounts of data per participant, which must be processed and analyzed using specialized software. A large portion of these tools are developed by teams of researchers, rather than trained software developers. In this kind of ecosystem, where the majority of software creators are scientists, rather than trained programmers, it becomes more important than ever to rely on community-based development, which may explain why most of this software is open source. It is …

The Role Of Conformational Changes In Viral And Bacterial Protein Functions, Md Lokman Hossen

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Proteins do versatile work in cells. They require a cascade of structural changes to perform different tasks like binding to the other neighboring biomolecules, transporting small chemicals, activating a chemical reaction, etc. The structural conformations of proteins can be critical in changing their working ability. In this dissertation, I investigated the role of conformational changes of viral protein, e.g., spike and envelope protein of SARS-CoV-2, and bacterial protein, e.g., multidrug transporter and toxic extrusion protein- PfMATE from Pyrococcus furiosus. Also, I performed molecular docking-based drug screening targeting the E protein to suggest a set of drugs that can be repurposed …

Discovery Of First-In-Class Small Molecule Agonists Of The Rxfp2 Receptor As Therapeutic Candidates For Osteoporosis, Maria Esteban Lopez

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Osteoporosis is a chronic bone disease characterized by decreased bone mass and increased risk of developing fractures, predominantly observed in the elderly. The pathophysiological cause of the disease is a decrease in the activity of the bone-forming cells (osteoblasts) that alters bone remodeling in favor of bone resorption, leading to a decrease in bone mass. Recent studies identified the relaxin family peptide receptor 2 (RXFP2), the G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) for insulin-like 3 peptide (INSL3), as an attractive target expressed in osteoblast cells to increase bone formation. The goal of this dissertation is to discover and characterize small molecule agonists …

Understanding Exosomal Extracellular Vesicles And Morphine In The Neuropathology Of Human Immunodeficiency Virus And Differential Zika Virus Strain-Associated Pathology, Allen Caobi

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Exosomal Extracellular Vesicles (xEVs), integral to intercellular communication and regulation of immune responses, have functional effects based on their contents, which they transport to neighboring cells. However, in the context of infection, EV cargo can be modulated, by either infected or uninfected cells. We hypothesize that CNS-associated neuropathology, is partially, due to the cargo transported by the exosomes. We theorize that the cargo released from infected cell-derived xEVs may either facilitate or inhibit viral neuropathogenicity. Here we investigated xEVs in the case of two neurotropic viruses, Zika virus (ZIKV) and Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). The hallmark characteristic of ZIKV-infection is …

The Patterns Of Occurrence, Management, And Behavioral Ecology Of Fish Spawning Aggregations In Southeast Florida, Benjamin Binder

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The formation of fish spawning aggregations (FSAs) is an essential life history process for more than 150 species worldwide. Decades of research have provided a wealth of information to describe FSA dynamics, but there are many regions where their occurrence, behavior, and susceptibility to environmental variation remain uncharacterized. Even in regions that host an extensive research infrastructure such as South Florida, a standardized survey program to locate, validate, and monitor FSAs has not been established. This dissertation addresses those shortcomings in several ways. First, I present a comprehensive synthesis of available FSA literature from the region, which was combined with …

The Utilization Of Volatile Organic Compounds And Human Leukocyte Antigen Genes For Ethnic-Specific Differentiation Within Target Populations, Alice Breia Boone

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human scent has been previously defined as a complex mixture of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) detected in the headspace above a scent sample. Humans generate odor from several areas of the body including hair, mouth, hand, axillae, and foot. Due to the novelty of human scent research, human scent evidence has been undervalued in the court of law. However, this type of evidence has significant value when physical evidence is not available at crime scenes. To increase the individualization and differentiation power of human scent evidence, this study aimed to further investigate the identification of chemical signatures within axillae of …

Development Of A Microwave-Based Dna Extraction Method To Increase The Success Of Direct And Rapid Pcr Technique, Fabiana Taglia

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The goal of this project was to develop a fast, microwave-based extraction technique that could be employed for direct and rapid DNA analysis. The hypothesis was that the use of a microwave could increase the yield of DNA by opening the cell membrane, rendering the DNA available without the use of any other chemical treatment, and improving results from very low quantity samples.

At present rapid human DNA analysis is mainly restricted to genotyping saliva and sometimes blood samples. We hypothesized that microwave processing could expand the types of samples assessable to these procedures and increase sensitivity.

There were two …

An Investigation To Corroborate Volatile And Biological Profiles Of Human Odor For Forensic Subject Identification, Chantrell J.G. Frazier

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Hands are an integral part in transferring complex microbial communities to and from our surroundings. As a result, hands are significant in provenance investigations as specific microbiota can be deposited on everyday objects through touch interactions. Skin microbiome, including bacteria, fungi, and viruses, are unique to each person, and this ‘uniqueness’ can be exploited and applied to forensic identification. Skin microbiota and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) are closely related due to specific bacteria breaking down non-volatile organic compounds to volatile organic compounds that are characteristically present in human scent. However, analyses of microbiota from touch interactions have proven to be …

A Multi-Taxa Metagenomic Evaluation Of The Everglades Soil Microbiome And The Impact Of Salinity On Community Structure And Biogeochemical Cycles With A Soil Forensic Application, Deidra Christina Jordan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal wetlands, such as the Everglades, are increasingly being exposed to stressors that have the potential to modify their existing ecological processes because of global climate change. Their soil microbiomes include a population of organisms that are important for biogeochemical cycling, but continual stresses can disturb the community's composition, causing functional changes. The Everglades features wetlands with varied salinity levels, implying that they contain microbial communities with a variety of salt tolerances and microbial functions. Therefore, it's critical to track the effects of stresses on these populations in both freshwater and brackish marshes. The study addressed this by first constructing …

A Machine Learning Framework For Identifying Molecular Biomarkers From Transcriptomic Cancer Data, Md Abdullah Al Mamun

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cancer is a complex molecular process due to abnormal changes in the genome, such as mutation and copy number variation, and epigenetic aberrations such as dysregulations of long non-coding RNA (lncRNA). These abnormal changes are reflected in transcriptome by turning oncogenes on and tumor suppressor genes off, which are considered cancer biomarkers.

However, transcriptomic data is high dimensional, and finding the best subset of genes (features) related to causing cancer is computationally challenging and expensive. Thus, developing a feature selection framework to discover molecular biomarkers for cancer is critical.

Traditional approaches for biomarker discovery calculate the fold change for each …

Observation To Action: A Stakeholder Driven Analysis And Assessment Of A Data-Limited Fishery, Carissa L. Gervasi Bloom

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Translational ecology defines a collaborative effort among scientists and stakeholders with the goal of rapidly translating environmental problems into action. This approach can be applied in a fisheries management context when information needed to inform regulations is unavailable, yet conservation concerns exist. My dissertation research uses a translational ecology framework to assess the stock status and develop research priorities for the Crevalle Jack (Caranx hippos), an unregulated and data-poor fish species, by collaborating with recreational fishing guides in the Florida Keys, U.S.A. In chapter II, I used interview data that compiled veteran fishing guide knowledge to develop hypotheses …

Signal Detection Analyses Of The Relation Of Prospective And Retrospective Metacognitive Judgments, Ali Pournaghdali

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tip-of-the-tongue states (TOT) and feeling-of-knowing judgments (FOK) are metacognitive experiences about the possibility of future retrieval of information when recall fails. Studies show that experiencing a TOT or a high FOK increases the possibility of correct retrieval of missing information, which demonstrates metacognitive sensitivity. However, evidence for metacognitive sensitivity of TOT and FOK mainly derives from measures that conflate metacognitive sensitivity with metacognitive bias. Moreover, no study has evaluated the influence of TOT and FOK judgments on the unbiased metacognitive sensitivity of other metacognitive experiences and judgments, in this case, confidence judgments.

In this study, I used general recognition theory …

Population Ecology Of A Caribbean Epiphyte Trichocentrum Undulatum (Orchidaceae): Defining Habitat And The Effects Of Herbivory And Hurricanes At Its Peripheral And Core Range, Haydee Borrero

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Population ecology studies are central to species conservation. My dissertation focused on the Florida state-listed endangered orchid, Trichocentrum undulatum at its northern-most range in the Everglades National Park (ENP), Florida and multiple populations throughout its core range in Cuba. Through surveying populations of T. undulatum across this range from 2013-2021, I made a new reporting on the occurrence of a specialized insect herbivore, Melanagromyza miamensis in Cuba (Chapter 1). This flower-crippling herbivore was previously known only in the ENP. With this discovery I assess the intensity and impacts of this herbivore, as well as others on T. undulatum across the …

Evaluating Changes In Visible To Short-Wave Infrared Spectral Reflectance Of Arctic Mosses In Response To Experimental Drying To Find The Best Predictors Of Moisture Content, Steven L. Unger

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mosses are a dominant understory component in the Arctic and because of sparse canopy cover, contribute to spectral signals used in remote sensing estimates of various ecologically important characteristics such as productivity, phenology, and vegetation mapping. However, little is known about their contributions to community level spectra or how moisture content influences those spectral signals. Unlike vascular plants, mosses cannot actively regulate moisture content and are highly susceptible to desiccation. Previous research has shown that moss reflectance is sensitive to tissue moisture content. Here, a lab-controlled drying experiment was conducted to identify the best spectral predictors of moisture content of …

Aptamer-Based Voltammetric Biosensing For The Detection Of Codeine And Fentanyl In Sweat And Saliva, Rosa Lashantez Cromartie

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the many governmental and medicinal restrictions created to combat the opioid epidemic in the United States, opioid abuse and overdose rates continue to rise. The development of an aptamer-based voltammetric sensor and biosensor is described in this dissertation. The aim was to develop a low-cost, sensitive, and specific aptamer-based sensor for on-site, label-free determination of codeine and fentanyl in biological fluids. To do this, the surfaces of screen-printed carbon electrodes (SPCE) were modified with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs), followed by the addition of single-stranded DNA aptamers. These were covalently bound to the electrode surface. Operations of the sensors were collected …

Drivers Of Extracellular Polysaccharide Production By A Mat-Forming Diatom, Kaitlin A. Stansbury

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Microbial biofilms are held together by extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), which can be secreted by many organisms. EPS production can facilitate intercellular communication and inter-guild microbial mutualisms, intraspecific gamete exchange, nutrient sequestration, and desiccation resistance. Benthic microbial mats (periphyton) of the Florida Everglades and other karstic wetlands contain abundant EPS generated by mat-producing filamentous blue-green algae and many other species of mat-dwelling algae, cyanobacteria, and bacteria, including the most abundant Everglades diatom, Mastagloia calcarea. The benthic diatom genus Mastogloia is characterized by several morphological and physiological features that foster production of a ‘halo’ of EPS around the frustule, but the …

Energetic Cost And Physiological Trade-Offs, Heba A. Ali

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Understanding how organisms allocate limited resources across physiological systems is a major challenge in biology. This study revealed that high energetic demand of electric signals of male electric fish (Brachyhypopomus gauderio) is matched by a metabolic trade-off with other cellular functions. We used thyroxine (T4) to modulate the fish’s signal metabolism, partitioned the energy budget pharmacologically, and measured energy consumption using oxygen respirometry. In males, total energy consumption was unchanged pre- and post-T4 treatment, while signal metabolism rose and the standard metabolic rate fell in an even trade-off. Total metabolism in females did the opposite. Under T4, the …

Dna Barcoding Enhances Large-Scale Biodiversity Initiatives For Deep-Pelagic Crustaceans Within The Gulf Of Mexico And Adjacent Waters, Carlos Varela

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation I investigate the biodiversity of marine deep-water crustaceans of the Gulf of Mexico and adjacent waters, focusing on pelagic crustaceans. Taxonomic and molecular techniques were utilized to document adult and larval crustacean specimens to better under their taxonomy, life history, evolutionary relationships and cryptic biodiversity. The use of molecular techniques to study organisms from habitats with limited accessibility provides tremendous potential. With prevalent anthropogenic threats and the delicate nature of deep-water habitats, the need to improve our understanding of these systems is clear. Molecular techniques can act as a fundamental tool to complement traditional taxonomy. The application …

Reconstructing Cyclical Browning In A Subtropical Lake From Diatoms, Meredith Emery

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lakes are browning globally from increased inputs of colored dissolved organic carbon (cDOC) driven by climate and land-use change. Browning changes lake ecosystems, especially through reductions in water transparency. I used long-term limnological and plankton records and upper surface sediment diatom assemblages to infer a ~1600-year history of browning from diatom assemblages in a 166 cm core from a subtropical, oligotrophic lake known to experience cyclical browning related to climate oscillations. Diatom assemblages were strongly regulated by cDOC-driven transparency fluctuations in a 14-year plankton dataset (modern model, R² = 0.62) and in the upper 35 cm of sediments corresponding …

Functional Strategies Of Tree Fine-Roots In Relation To The Soil Environment And Microbiome: Variaiton In Root Morphology, Tissue Chemistry And Physiology, James Aaron Hogan

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tree root systems have evolved multidimensional functioning, specializing in water and nutrient acquisition via different strategies. Root functional strategies vary among tree species and are adapted to the abiotic and biotic soil environment. This dissertation explores how three facets of root system functional strategies – morphology and chemistry, biotic associations with fungi, and respiration rates – vary within and among tree species along environmental gradients. Chapter one examines how root system morphology varies with forest succession and soil environment in a tropical forest of Hainan, China, finding that root systems had larger diameters and fewer root tips in the younger …

The Evolution Of Bioluminescence Across The Shrimp Family Sergestidae: A Genomic Skimming And Phylogenetic Approach, Charles G. Golighty Iii

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The family Sergestidae provide a unique system for studying the evolution of bioluminescence, with species possessing one of three distinct forms of photophores. This study capitalizes on molecular data to construct a genus-level phylogeny of sergestid shrimp. “Genome skimming” was implemented, capturing mitochondrial genomic data across 19 species. Additional individuals were incorporated through Sanger sequencing of four partial gene regions. The -sergestes group of genera was recovered as non-monophyletic, with the -sergia group of genera being recovered as monophyletic. Ancestral state reconstructions of light organ type indicate the organs of Pesta photophore is the ancestral state for the …

Extended Functional Connectivity Of Convergent Structural Alterations Among Anxiety Disorders: A Meta-Analysis And Functional Connectivity Analysis, Brianna S. Pankey

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety-related disorders are some of the most pervasive mental health disorders affecting adult and youth populations. Despite growing evidence of the neurobiology associated with anxiety-related disorders, a consensus on the neurobiological mechanisms of anxiety-related disorders remains to be elucidated. We first provide background literature on the reasoning behind this dissertation in Chapter 1. In Chapter 2, we conducted a neuroimaging meta-analysis on posttraumatic stress disorder to identify convergent structural and functional alterations associated with this anxiety-related disorder among adults. In Chapter 3, we conducted a neuroimaging meta-analysis to identify convergent structural alterations across diverse groupings of anxiety-related disorders …

Investigation Of Memory Related Cortical Thalamic Circuitry In The Human Brain, Puck C. Reeders

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation examined the role of medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) and the hippocampus (HC) in episodic memory, and provides a novel approach to identify the midline thalamus mediating mPFC-HC interactions in humans. The mPFC and HC are critical to the temporal organization of episodic memory, and these interactions are disrupted in several mental health and neurological disorders. In the first study, I provide evidence that the mPFC is involved in ordinal retrieval, and the HC is active in temporal context retrieval in remembering the order of when events happen. In the second study, I focus on the anatomical basis of …

Mechanisms Of Chloroperoxidases-Catalyzed Enantioselective Transformations From Spectroscopic And X-Ray Crystallographic Studies Of Enzyme-Substrate Complexes, Xiaoqing Tang

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The chloroperoxidase secreted from Caldariomyces fumago catalyzes broad spectrum of reactions. The crystallography combined with X-ray diffraction analysis was conducted to reveal recombinant CPO expressed in a modified Aspergillus niger system. Our results indicated that despite functional similarities with wild type CPO, recombinant CPO is over glycosylated with more mannose. Besides, ten iodide ion binding sites were identified in rCPO and six of them were found to be well superimposed on previously reported structure of the wild type CPO. Therefore, recombinant CPO shares almost the same structure with wild type CPO, and the Aspergillus niger is a potential system for …

Quantifying How Coastal Flooding And Stormwater Runoff Drive Spatiotemporal Variability In Carbon And Nutrient Processing In Urban Aquatic Ecosystems, Matthew A. Smith

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Coastal river networks alter the transport and transformation of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and dissolved organic matter (DOM), which can vary in concentration and composition across spatiotemporal scales. Given climate-induced shifts in rainfall and tidal variation in low-lying coastal regions, there is an increasing need to quantify effects of flooding on biogeochemical cycling. Specifically, urban flooding is becoming increasingly common due to biophysical alterations to hydrology from urbanization and climate change. Urban ecosystems have been characterized as having a distinct biogeochemistry compared to other systems, largely due to increased frequency and magnitude of riverine and coastal flooding. Consequently, the role …