Life Sciences Commons^™

Empowering The World Through Dentistry, Charles W. Vittitow

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Dentistry is a very specific trade that one develops after years of education and training. With this skill comes a great amount of power and opportunity to serve, and with great skill comes great responsibility. Many dentists have decided to answer the call of third world countries that lack proper health care and specifically dental care. They do this in a variety of ways from sending supplies, supporting a local clinic financially, or traveling to the country for a short-term trip where they provide dental care to as many patients as they are physically able to for 7 to 10 …

The Reaction Of Methionine With A Non-C2-Symmetrical Platinum (Ii) Diamine Compound, Nilesh Sahi

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The research that we have conducted has allowed us to discover that the amino acids, methionine (Met) and N-acetyl methionine (N-AcMet), will react in a 1:1 and 1:2 molar ratio with platinum complexes containing bulky diamine ligands. Previous research has allowed us to gain a plethora of information on the experimentation and results of specific bulky diamine ligands such as N,N,N',N'-tetramethylethylenediamine and N,N-diethylethylenediamine. In the current study, we have investigated the bulky diamine ligand of N,N-dimethylethylenediamine, or Me₂en. With our focus on the bulk of the Me₂en ligand, we have been able to synthesize a platinum …

The Ecological Roles Of Podostemum Ceratophyllum And Cladophora In The Habitat And Dietary Preferences Of The Riverine Caddisfly Hydropsyche Simulans, Brenna Tinsley

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The net-spinning caddisfly Hydropsyche simulans can be a common inhabitant of shallow reaches in riverine systems, and is easily the most common hydropsychid in the upper Green River, Kentucky. This study was performed in summer 2011 and focused on two main questions: 1. Do the larvae of the riverine caddisflies H. simulans and Cheumatopsyche preferentially inhabit dense patches of P. ceratophyllum compared to bare substrates in the upper Green River?, and 2. Do larvae of H. simulans and Cheumatopsyche consume the filamentous alga Cladophora during the annual late summer algal bloom in the upper Green River? Densities of both hydropsychid …

Biomass Assisted Synthesis Of Antibacterial Gold Nanoparticles And Commentary On Its Future Potential And Applications In Medicine, Chad Willis

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Xylose is a natural monosaccharide found in biomass such as straw, pecan shells, cottonseed hulls, and corncobs. Using this monosaccharide, we report the green synthesis and characterization of biocompatible, biodegradable xylose encapsulated gold nanoparticles (Xyl-GNPs) with potential antibacterial activity. GNPs were synthesized using the bioreduction property of xylose on the chloroaurate anions in an aqueous solution at room temperature and at atmospheric pressure. The characterization of synthesized GNPs was examined by UV-vis spectroscopy; transmission electron microscopy (TEM), energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). Results indicate that the particles were stable; near spherical in shape with an …

Environmental Friendly Synthesis, Characterization Of Surface Modifiable Starch Encapsulated Gold Nanoparticles With Bactericidal And Catalytic Activity, Dillon Pender

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the present study, we report the green synthesis of gold nanoparticles (GNPs), using potato starch as a reducing as well as a stabilizing agent in an aqueous buffer medium. The resulting starch-GNPs (St-GNPs) were near spherical in shape with an average diameter of 15 ± 5 nm. In this approach, St-GNPs were characterized and investigated for their antibacterial properties against both gram negative (Escherichia coli) and gram positive (Staphylococcus epidermidis) bacteria. These St-GNPs were found to possess significant dose dependent antibacterial activity against bacteria. Also, St-GNPs showed a significant catalytic activity and can easily be …

Host Specificity Of Ecuadorian Bat Flies (Diptera: Streblidae), Eric Stamper

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Diptera: Streblidae are ectoparasites of bat populations found in many locations throughout the world. These ectoparasites are generally known as bat flies. They attach themselves to the wing membranes and bodies of bats to bite and feed on their blood. Using a large sample consisting of over 2,000 bats and 6,000 bat flies, I have conducted a study of the degree of host specificity of these ectoparasites. Host specificity is a measurement of the degree to which a particular parasite is restricted to its host or hosts. Here I find evidence to support more recent findings that bat flies are …

The Prevalence Of Essential Hypertension In Kasigau, Kenya, Lindsay Williams

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Hypertension is the leading cause of cardiovascular disease worldwide. Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a widespread chronic non-communicable disease (NCD) which is on the rise in developing countries. Evidence based on extensive research studies on risk factors for NCDs suggests that they could be easily significantly decreased by simply controlling their risk factors. Although high blood pressure has been recognized as a leading risk factor for CVD, little research has been done to document the prevalence and incidence of essential hypertension (EH) in lower socioeconomic developing countries. One such country is Kenya. It was found in our research study that Kasigau …

Oxaliplatin And Oxaliplatin Derivatives: Synthesis, Characterization, And Reactivity With Biologically Relevant Ligands, Amy Poynter

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Oxaliplatin is a third generation anticancer drug that has proven to be successful in fighting ovarian and testicular cancer. We are interested in determining how oxaliplatin and oxaliplatin derivatives interact with proteins, as well as how that interaction is affected by the size and shape of these platinum compounds. We have synthesized oxaliplatin as it is used in cancer treatment, as well as similar platinum compounds with the same diaminocyclohexane ligand as oxaliplatin but with additional bulk added to the nitrogen atoms. We are reacting oxaliplatin with key amino acids, including methionine, and will be comparing the kinetics of this …

Semipermeable Membranes, Diffusion, And Osmosis Inquiry: Effective Modeling In A High School Classroom, Amar Patel

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A novel approach is taken in teaching the core chemical and biological concepts of mass transport properties, specifically diffusion and osmosis, in an investigation-rich unit of instruction spanning fifteen days. The unit is based on the highly successful 5-E, inquiry based approach known as project-based instruction which emphasizes the use of laboratories and interactive discussions. The entire unit will center on a grand challenge which the students will provide a media-based solution for by encompassing the concepts taught in the unit. When introducing these topics in the high school classroom, the instructor must be able to help students understand the …

Aggressive Acoustic Behavior In Yasuhikotakia Modesta: Does The Lombard Effect Hold Water?, Bethany Coffey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The Lombard effect is the automatic and involuntary change in the intensity of vocalizations in the presence of background noise in order to maintain a constant signal to noise ratio. While this phenomenon is commonly found in vocalizing terrestrial vertebrates, it had not previously been examined in aquatic vertebrates such as fishes. This experiment tests the presence of the Lombard effect in the red-finned loach, Yasuhikotakia modesta, which make two types of sounds: butting and clicking. I recorded three pairs of Y. modesta during aggressive interactions over territory and compared the sounds produced in silence with sounds produced …

Reactions With Platinum (Ll) Complexes And Selenium-Containing Amino Acids, Stephanie Robey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

We have reacted [Pt(Me₄en)(D₂O)₂]²⁺ [Me₄En=N,N,N’N’-tetramethylethylenediamine] with Selenomethionine (SeMet), Methionine (Met), and Methylselenocysteine (MeSeCys). When MeSeCys was reacted with [Pt(Me₄en)(D₂O)₂]²⁺, we observed both stereoisomers of Se,N chelates, as well as [Pt(Me₄en)(MeSeCys)Cl]⁺ from ­¹­H NMR Spectroscopy; the latter formed due to the presence of Cl^- in the solution. Both isomers of the chelate seemed to form proportionally to one another, not favoring a specific stereoisomer. Eventually the [Pt(Me₄en)(MeSeCys)Cl]⁺ products became Se,N chelates. We incubated SeMet with …

Pcr Amplification Of Trypanosoma Cruzi - Specific Dna From Raccoon Blood Samples, Colin Moss

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The parasitic protist Trypanosoma cruzi is the causative agent of Chagas Disease. Chagas Disease causes greater than 15,000 deaths each year, and nearly 28 million people are believed to be at risk of infection in Central and South America. This parasite has been described in many mammalian host species and has also been described in the United States. The purpose of this study was to attempt to use PCR to amplify T. cruzi-specific DNA directly from blood samples obtained from raccoons (Procyon lotor) trapped in Warren and Barren Counties of Kentucky in 2007 and 2008. DNA was …

Assessing Social Benefits Of Domestic Rainwater Harvesting In Southern Kenya, Lindsey M. Filiatreau

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

In the Kasigau location of the Voi District of Kenya, severe rainwater shortages closed fourteen water collection stations in 2008 and 2009, leaving ten water sources to service 15,000 people in the region. Few families in the area have domestic rainwater harvesting systems which are an easily implemented, low-cost means of water collection. I investigated the ability of rainwater catchment systems to modify family time budgets (by reducing water collection time) and lessen the severity of water scarcity (by supplying families a significant amount of water). Forty families participated in the research, 20 of whom received free installation of a …

The Proliferation Of Vascular Smooth Muscle Cells Depends On Thioredoxin 1 Protein In A Model Of Pulmonary Hypertension, Viktoria Nelin

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Pulmonary hypertension (PH) is a disease which manifests itself in the lungs of both adults and children. Vascular proliferation and remodeling are the hallmarks of PH and are found mainly in the pulmonary arterial smooth muscle cells (PASMC). The cause of PASMC proliferation and vascular remodeling in PH is poorly understood. Hypoxia, or low oxygen content, underlies many forms of PH. Hypoxia results in alterations in the redox balance of the PASMC. Therefore, the aim of this study was to examine the role of the thioredoxin system, an antioxidant system in the cell, in hypoxia-induced proliferation in PASMC. Protein was …

We Can Grow It: Reporting On Women In Agriculture In India, Belize And The U.S., Colleen Stewart

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Women produce more than half of the world’s food, according to the U.N. Food and Agricultural Organization. This aligns with the Chinese proverb– “Women Hold up Half the Sky.” As the role of women in agriculture increases in the developed and developing world, female economic activity in agriculture serves as a beacon for poverty reduction, increased food security, and environmental sustainability. In the United States, there has been a 30-percent increase in the number of female-run farms in the U.S. since 2002 and women, now the largest “minority” group in agriculture in the U.S., operate approximately 300,000 farms throughout the …

Once On The Dark Continent, Katrina Alexandria Bidwell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Set in the fictional village of Buguta in post-genocide Rwanda, Once on the Dark Continent follows the experiences of a young doctor working for the Doctors Without Borders Program. Dr. Erica Davis unwittingly finds herself in a country where the past has continued to repeat itself a decade after a devastating civil war, unbeknownst to most of the outside world. Their history isn’t the only thing plaguing the villagers like a parasite: Erica’s careful attention to the patients at the Buguta clinic leads her to diagnose them with toxoplasmosis, a revelation that has the potential to begin solving the myriad …

Assessment Of Prenatal Care And Perinatal Outcomes In Kasigau, Kenya, Allison Smith

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The World Health Organization (WHO) implemented the Millennium Declaration in 2000 to establish global health goals to be achieved by 2015. Two of these Millennium Development Goals (MDG’s) are directly related to maternal, neonatal and child health. Healthcare during the prenatal period can help achieve the WHO MDG’s for maternal health and child mortality. Evidence has shown that women in Kenya have limited access to prenatal care. This study focused on the prenatal care and postnatal outcome trends of the women in Kasigau, Kenya. Participants were surveyed in three villages (Rukanga, Makwasinyi, and Bhuguta) to determine if prenatal care was …

Screening Rnai Transformants Of Chlamydomonas For Reduced Expression Of The Photoreceptor Cryptochrome, Jeremy Webb

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Chlamydomonas reinhardtii is a unicellular green alga. In C. reinhardtii, three types of photoreceptors are known to be present: rhodopsins, phototropins, and cryptochromes. The single cryptochrome is the most likely photoreceptor for adjusting the circadian clock to the daily light/dark cycles, because cryptochromes are involved in clock entrainment in higher plants and insects. In this segment of the research, C. reinhardtii strains, which were genetically modified through transformation with a RNA interference construct, were screened for reduction in cryptochrome compared to the control strain. After C. reinhardtii cultures were harvested in complete darkness, all soluble proteins were extracted from the …

Dna Sequence Variation In The Wingless Gene Product In Buckeye Butterflies (Genus Junonia), Bonnie Mccullagh

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Wingless is a highly conserved gene important to cell determination in development. In Drosophila, the wingless gene product has been identified as responsible for wing patterning. In Bicyclus anynana and Junonia coenia, wingless gene product is expressed in a fashion that suggests that it is involved in butterfly wing color pattern development. The wingless gene product has been implicated as a potential focal signal for patterning the eyespot of Junonia butterflies. I have shown that extensive DNA sequence variation (26.04% of the sequenced region) exists in 402 bp of wingless coding sequence among 338 specimens of Junonia from …

Avian Abundance And Diversity In Crep And Fescue Fields In The Summer And Winter Related To Vegetation Structure In The Upper Green River Watershed, Ky, Thomas A. Hulsey

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Grassland bird populations have been undergoing dramatic declines in the last fifty years due to loss and degradation of habitat. The Conservation Reserve Enhancement Program (CREP) was initiated in the upper Green River Watershed of south-central Kentucky to improve water quality and provide wildlife habitat. Many studies have previously examined how similar programs in other states have contributed to grassland bird populations; in this study we are examining how the Kentucky CREP program is influencing bird populations, particularly grassland birds, and contributing to the conservation of these species. Bird and vegetation surveys were conducted during the summer of 2008 and …

Human-Wildlife Conflict On Small, Subsistence Farms In Kenya, Christopher B. Colonna

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

As human populations expand, wildlife suddenly competes with humans for resources and confrontation arises as a result. Rural Africa is typical of this problem. We surveyed local owners of small farms within the five villages surrounding Mount Kasigau in Southeast Kenya to quantify losses due to wildlife depredation on both subsistence and cash crops as well as to discover the patterns and variables influencing farmer-wildlife confrontations in the region. We found no statistically significant correlations among the value of damage per acre, the distance from the bush, or the distance to the nearest water source. We did find statistical significance …

Prescribed Fire Effects On The Summer And Fall Herbs Of Mesic Deciduous Forests, Margaret Wilder

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

After years of fire suppression, high intensity forest fires were destructive to surrounding areas. Historically, fire was common in the eastern United States, but was suppressed over the past century, and recently has become a major tool in forest management. But to date, there have been no studies on the influence of fire on mesic sites in the eastern United States. Because fire is being reintroduced as a management practice, it is critical to know the influence of fire in this region. This study seeks to understand the influences of fire on summer and fall herbs in the western mesophytic …

The History Of Zoological Gardens And The State, Federal And International Laws That Govern Them, Morgan Maxwell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The history of zoos in North America can be traced back through 18th century Europe to ancient civilizations such as the Romans. The menageries of ancient Rome were far different from modern zoos that stress conservation, education, and research as primary objectives. Zoos are still evolving and changing to become more suitable for captive animals and to ensure their animals’ health and well-being. An examination of state wildlife laws reveals that there are more laws that pertain to wildlife at the state and local level than at any other level of government. Federal wildlife laws are few in number and …

Effective And Affordable Novel Arsenic Removal Technology, Benadin Varajic

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Arsenic contaminated drinking water is a serious worldwide issue faced by millions of people every day. Long term exposure to arsenic levels above the World Health Organization’s (WHO) standard of 10 ppb has been associated with severe detrimental health effects including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Although current water purification technologies exist, their implementation is an unrealistic goal by many third world nations for a variety of reasons, the most common being the cost associated with what are typically complicated procedures. This study strives to discover an effective and affordable novel arsenic removal technology.

The first step of this study was …

The Transition From 3-D To 2-D Visual Stimuli And Its Effect On Paired-Associate Learning, Amanda Beers

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

A single experiment investigated the influence of varying dimensions of visual stimuli on the ability of academically gifted adolescents to recall paired-associations. Fifty-two participants were randomly assigned to one of four groups. Each group was asked to memorize the same set of 15 paired-word associations. The first group was presented with words only. The second group was presented with words and 2- dimensional (2-D) representations of each word. The third group was presented with words along with 3-dimensional (3-D) representations of the words. The fourth group was also presented words along with 3-D objects; however, this group was instructed to …

Scaling Of Feeding Performance In Panther Grouper, Cromileptes Altivelis, Candace R. Read

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Fishes demonstrate the greatest change throughout ontogeny in body size of all vertebrates, some becoming twelve times their original length. Panther groupers, Cromileptes altivelis, are no exception. This vast size change influences other aspects of their lives including their feeding behavior, the prey they consume, and the capabilities of the mechanisms they use to capture prey. The change in the feeding performance of the panther grouper, Cromileptes altivelis, was quantified through buccal pressure recordings and high-speed videography. From this data, we can deduce that the larger juvenile was able to generate greater negative pressure within the mouth. It appears that …

Molecular Tools For Understanding The Population Genetic Effects Of Habitat Restoration On Butterflies, Joseph R. Marquardt

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

No abstract provided.

Incorporation Of Europium (Iii) Coordination Compounds Into Silica Microspheres, Johnathan Nathanael Brantly

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

The unique optical properties of silica microspheres and lanthanoid elements present the opportunity to adapt silica microspheres containing rare earth elements for novel optical applications. The research demonstrates the first example of incorporating insoluble lanthanoid coordination compounds into silica microspheres. The work explored the controlled synthesis of silica microspheres and the reaction conditions under which lanthanoid complexes can be incorporated into the microspheres. The environment of the coordinated lanthanoid ions before and after incorporation into silica microspheres was probed using spectroflurophotometry. The surface morphology of silica microspheres was characterized using atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The …

The Effect Of Breeding Herd Parity Structure On Genetic Improvement Of The Sow Herd, Caitlyn E. Abell

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

This study focuses on the value of the genetic lag associated with maintaining sows for additional parities in a commercial swine herd. Three traits were included in this study: number born alive (NBA), 21 day litter weight (W21), and days to market (D250). The economic values assigned to these traits were $22.00/pig, $0.70/lb., and $0.17/day, respectively. The genetic improvement per generation made for each trait was assumed to be 0.3 pigs, 3.0 lbs., and 3.0 days, respectively. It was estimated that the value of the genetic lag associated with retaining a sow to P3, P5, and P7 was $24.80, $46.89, …

The Influence Of Spatial Scale On Landcover And Avian Community Relationships Within The Upper Green River Watershed, Ky, Cabrina L. Hamilton

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Landscape ecology studies are needed to aid land managers and conservationists in developing management plans that will effectively improve avian population trends. This study uses riparian avian point count survey data and landcover data to examine the possible relationships between riparian avian communities and landcover within the Upper Green River watershed. How avian-landcover relationships change with increasing spatial scale is also examined. Results showed unexpected avian-landcover relationships for specific species. A landcover gradient from open and successional habitat to closed, forest habitat was most prevalent in the study area and explained most of the variation within the avian datasets. Riparian …