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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Role Of Hsp70 And The Tlr4-Md2 Complex In The Vasculature: From Function To Dysfunction In Diabetes, Amanda Almeida De Oliveira
Role Of Hsp70 And The Tlr4-Md2 Complex In The Vasculature: From Function To Dysfunction In Diabetes, Amanda Almeida De Oliveira
Theses and Dissertations
Diabetes impairs vascular functionality, which contributes to the pathophysiology of its associated complications. Recently, it was suggested that innate immune receptors assist in the development of diabetic vasculopathies, which sustains the pro-inflammatory state of the disease. Among these receptors, Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4) is a strategic player as its activation prime the release of inflammatory mediators and reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are well-known pathological mechanisms linked to diabetic complications. The TLR4-Myeloid differentiation factor 2 (MD2) complex has gained much attention over the last decade, primarily because it interacts with self-produced molecules. In vascular tissues, the Heat-shock protein 70 (HSP70) …
Variations In Otolith-Zinc Concentrations Of Brown Surgeonfish (Acanthurus Nigrofuscus) Between Marine Protected Areas And Fished Reefs, Matthew Austin Nichols
Variations In Otolith-Zinc Concentrations Of Brown Surgeonfish (Acanthurus Nigrofuscus) Between Marine Protected Areas And Fished Reefs, Matthew Austin Nichols
Theses and Dissertations
As human populations continue to increase, the growing reliance on exploited fish stocks has furthered patterns of declining body size and biomass worldwide. To mitigate these impacts, fisheries managers have implemented a variety of conservation strategies, including marine protected areas (MPA), as these serve as a refuge for fish, resulting in increases in numerous health metrics (fish density, biomass, body-size, and species diversity). By using fish otolith samples previously concluded to have physiological and morphometric differences between MPA and fished reef (FR) fish, this thesis explores the potential of using microchemical analysis of zinc (Zn) to reveal impacts MPAs might …
Spatial Ecology And Stable Isotope Composition Of Cetaceans In The Bohol Sea, Edna Sabater
Spatial Ecology And Stable Isotope Composition Of Cetaceans In The Bohol Sea, Edna Sabater
Theses and Dissertations
Studies on Philippine cetaceans (i.e., whales and dolphins) began in the early 1980s, and have resulted in the location and identification of species in Philippine waters. However, the population estimates of most of the cetacean species are uncertain, which is important in evaluating whether the populations are stable, decreasing, or increasing in relation to potential threats and conservation measures. I conducted line-transect surveys between 2010 and 2019 in the Bohol Sea, Philippines. A total of 2009.5 km survey efforts were made, which covered an area of 8041 km2 throughout the 5-year survey period. Distance sampling methods estimated the total abundance …
Late Quaternary Vegetation And Climate History From The Lake Junín Plateau, Jacob Daniel Schiferl
Late Quaternary Vegetation And Climate History From The Lake Junín Plateau, Jacob Daniel Schiferl
Theses and Dissertations
Whether the Andean ecosystem is resilient against future climate change remains unclear. A 2018 IPCC special report identified that warming more than 1.5ºC above pre-industrial temperatures by the year 2100 would be a major disrupter to natural systems, by causing more frequent extreme heatwaves, prolonged droughts, extreme precipitation events, and biome shifts. The tropical Andes will likely exceed this 1.5ºC threshold within the next century, threatening the diverse and endemic biota found in one of the world’s largest biodiversity hot spots. Yet few studies have examined the response of the Andean system through past interglacial periods when the temperatures were …
Divergent Regulatory Roles Of Nurd Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Gatad2 And Chd4 In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicole Lynn Golden
Divergent Regulatory Roles Of Nurd Chromatin Remodeling Complex Subunits Gatad2 And Chd4 In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nicole Lynn Golden
Theses and Dissertations
During stress, a protective cellular network known as the heat shock response (HSR) is induced to maintain protein-folding homeostasis, or proteostasis. While the HSR is essential for stress resistance, its misregulation is associated with neurodegenerative disease and cancer. Using the nematode model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, we have identified the chromatin remodeling complex NuRD (nucleosome remodeling and deacetylase) as a novel regulator of the HSR. Here, we begin with a brief introduction of the HSR and chromatin remodeling complexes in C. elegans, prior to presenting our findings in a series of two chapters. In chapter one, we outline a set of …
Distinct Spatiotemporal Regulation Of The Cytoprotective Heat Shock Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rosemary Nadine Plagens
Distinct Spatiotemporal Regulation Of The Cytoprotective Heat Shock Response In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Rosemary Nadine Plagens
Theses and Dissertations
Every organism studied to-date utilizes the heat shock response (HSR) to maintain protein-folding homeostasis (proteostasis) during temperature or other protein-folding stress. The HSR has been well characterized using acute heat stress (HS) in single-celled models, but less is known about how distinct cell types and tissues respond to HS. Furthermore, how metazoans respond to prolonged HS at the molecular level remains relatively unexplored. The model organism C. elegans, with its genetic tractability and distinct tissues and behaviors, has been used extensively in the field to characterize the acute HSR, but with considerable variability across labs regarding HS temperature and duration. …
Transcriptomic And Proteomic Identification Of Signaling Molecules Involved In Egg Activation In The Sea Star, Patiria Miniata, Lauren Shea Bates
Transcriptomic And Proteomic Identification Of Signaling Molecules Involved In Egg Activation In The Sea Star, Patiria Miniata, Lauren Shea Bates
Theses and Dissertations
During egg activation in all species, the critical mechanism to restart the zygote metabolism and prevent polyspermy is an intracellular Ca2+ increase. The signaling molecules, including the receptors on the sperm and egg, leading to the Ca2+ rise are not fully known. In the sea star, Patiria miniata, SFK1, SFK3, and PLCγ are known signaling molecules who are responsible for causing the internal Ca2+ rise from the endoplasmic reticulum. These three proteins share common features including signaling through SH2 domains and their activity is controlled by tyrosine phosphorylation. Using transcriptomics and phospho-proteomics to search for more molecules with these same …
The Potential Of Indian River Lagoon Muck To Act As A Reservoir For Emerging Organic Contaminants, Gregory David Belson
The Potential Of Indian River Lagoon Muck To Act As A Reservoir For Emerging Organic Contaminants, Gregory David Belson
Theses and Dissertations
Pharmaceuticals, pesticides, and personal care products are frequently found in sediments and waterways around the world. These chemicals, collectively known as Emerging Organic Contaminants (EOCs) can harm the environments in which they are deposited by killing or stressing the local flora and fauna. These EOCs also can be released back into the water column when these substrates are disturbed. Such sediments and their associated EOCs are particularly problematic in urbanized areas. However, the particular composition of urbanization-associated sediments as well as their potential to harbor EOCs needs to be evaluated in the context of their environment, to ensure proper mitigation …
Effects Of Precessional Forcing In The Early Stages Of The 100-K World, Molly Kingston
Effects Of Precessional Forcing In The Early Stages Of The 100-K World, Molly Kingston
Theses and Dissertations
Much of what we know about the Andes today comes from studying a heavily human-manufactured landscape. However, before the presence of human modification in this system (~13,000 years ago), past interglacial and glacial cycles, influenced by changes in Earth cycles (eccentricity, obliquity, and precession), were the cause of major landscape re-organization. The variability in intensity and duration of these events and the probable response of the plant community is not well understood. Very few records in South America extend far enough back in time to capture these changes. Those records that do exist, lack an independent chronology and instead rely …
Geographic Variability In The Reproductive Hormones And Oocyte Maturation Of Bonefish (Albula Vulpes) In The Bahamas, Ashley Yarbrough
Geographic Variability In The Reproductive Hormones And Oocyte Maturation Of Bonefish (Albula Vulpes) In The Bahamas, Ashley Yarbrough
Theses and Dissertations
Bonefish (Albula vulpes) are an extremely popular sport fish that are a vital component of the multimillion-dollar recreational flats fishery. Despite its economic importance for many countries, there is little information available about many aspects of their reproductive biology. Significant gaps include analysis of the hormones that influence oocyte development and the nutrient levels in oocytes that drive embryonic and early larval development and how these parameters vary among habitats. The goals of this study were to characterize and quantify the reproductive hormones, oocyte developmental stages, and nutrient composition of oocytes from fish at or near spawning sites across multiple …
Roles Of Holocene Climate And Pastoralism In Shaping Andean Landscapes, Courtney Renee Shadik
Roles Of Holocene Climate And Pastoralism In Shaping Andean Landscapes, Courtney Renee Shadik
Theses and Dissertations
The Holocene (c. 11,700years ago –present) was a time rich in Andean climatic, environmental, and cultural changes. Assemblages were reforming after the last ice age, millennial scale wet and dry events caused the largest changes in lake level of the last 100,000 years, and humans came to dominate the landscape. Against the backdrop of ecological change, this study asks the following questions-Was the onset of camelid domestication associated with mid-Holocene aridity? Are modern, high-elevation vegetation assemblages a product of manufactured landscapes? What are the long-term effects of intense agropastoralism on paleoecological reconstructions of Andean landscapes? Did Holocene agropastoral domesticates coevolve? …