Life Sciences Commons^™

Adolescent Binge Alcohol Exposure Effects On Heart Structure And Function, Lizhuo Ai

Master's Theses

More than 5 million underage Americans report binge drinking at least once per month. While the effects of alcohol consumption on the adult heart have been well studied, the impact to the adolescent heart is almost entirely unknown. Adolescents primarily consume alcohol in a binge pattern, which elevates blood alcohol content (BAC) to 0.08 g/dL within 2 hours. During adolescence the body grows rapidly, and the heart must also grow by cellular hypertrophy to meet this increasing demand. Our goal was to determine the impact of adolescent binge alcohol exposure on the heart, using an outbred rat model. This thesis …

Modulation Of Coxsackievirus Protease Activity By Polyamines, Courtney Noelle Dial

Master's Theses

Coxsackievirus type B (CVB3) is one of the six serotypes of the Coxsackievirus family of non-enveloped, linear, and positive-sense single-stranded RNA viruses. It is a pathogenic enterovirus that belongs to the same genus as the notable pathogen poliovirus. CVB3 can cause a range of illnesses from a fever to gastrointestinal distress but is most noteworthy for the ability to cause viral myocarditis, a swelling of the heart muscle. Coxsackievirus, like all RNA viruses, tends to develop mutations rapidly due to its error prone polymerase and lack of proofreading activity. These mutations can be advantageous for the virus, allowing it to …

A Possible Role Of Clostridium Difficile Association With The Gi Tract In Relapsing Clostridium Difficile Infection, Asiyya Ashraf

Master's Theses

Clostridium difficile infection (CDI), caused by the anaerobic spore-former C. difficile, is a major cause of health-care associated morbidity. CDI occurs in individuals that have a disrupted GI tract microbiota, typically in patients who are on antibiotic therapy. After recovery from an episode of CDI, approximately, 15-30% of patients experience relapse of disease. The mechanism of relapse is not well understood. It is plausible for relapse to occur if C. difficile cells and spores associate with the GI tract mucosa during infection and persist after infection. However, little is known about the association of cells and spores with the GI …

Role Of Daxx As A Predictive Biomarker In Breast Cancer, Michelle Lucia Fernandez

Master's Theses

Breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed form of cancer in women, besides skin cancer, and second only to lung cancer for cause of mortality. It is divided into three subtypes, depending on different molecular or pathologic characteristics, including estrogen or progesterone receptor-positive (ER/PR+), human epidermal growth factor receptor-2-positive (HER2+) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). There are several therapies used to target these subtypes, but there is still a chance that the cancer will recur into a more aggressive, resistant form even if the therapies were successful before. This recurrence is believed to be due to the Cancer Stem …

The Role Of Polyamines In Enteroviral Attachment, Thomas Mckenzie Kicmal

Master's Theses

Polyamines are small polycationic molecules with flexible carbon chains that are found in all eukaryotic cells. Polyamines are involved in the regulation of many host processes and have been shown to be implicated in viral replication. Depletion of polyamine pools in cells with FDA approved drugs restricts replication of diverse RNA viruses. Viruses can exploit host polyamines to facilitate packaging, transcription, translation, and protease activity but other mechanisms remain largely unknown. Picornaviruses, including Coxsackievirus B3 (CVB3), are sensitive to depletion of polyamines and remain a significant public health threat. We employed CVB3 as a model system to investigate a potential …

Mllt3 Regulates Expression Of Genes Critical To Liver Metabolic Homeostasis, Jonathan Richard Dixit

Master's Theses

Hepatic steatosis (fatty liver) is increasingly prevalent in the US, and is characterized by triglyceride accumulation within hepatocytes. This is a direct result of an imbalance between lipid import, export, de novo lipogenesis, and beta oxidation. Hepatic steatosis can also progress to nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) which is characterized by increased hepatocyte damage, inflammation, and fibrosis. Further progression can lead to liver failure or hepatocellular carcinoma, requiring liver transplant or causing death. Our lab recently created Mllt3 conditional whole body knockout mice. These mice developed hepatic steatosis and NASH following Mllt3 deletion. MLLT3 is a master gene regulator that is part …

Habitat Associations And Community Interactions Of Non-Native Species In The Southern Basin Of Lake Michigan, Erin O'Shaughnessey

Master's Theses

Non-native crayfishes, mollusks, and macrophytes can have large impacts on biodiversity and damage ecosystem services in freshwaters. In 2015 we discovered an established population of the globally widespread invader red swamp crayfish (Procambarus clarkii) in the North Shore Channel of the Chicago Area Waterway System. This population overlaps with a population of rusty crayfish (Faxonius rusticus), a previous invader that is widely distributed and usually the dominant crayfish species across the Great Lakes region. I studied the interactions between these two species while directly competing over shelter and food. In the field, each species was studied to determine the rate …

Dissecting A Role For Polyamines In Rift Valley Fever Virus Infection, Vincent Mastrodomenico

Master's Theses

Bunyaviruses are emerging viral pathogens that cause encephalitis, hemorrhagic fevers, and meningitis. Rift Valley fever virus is a particularly devastating bunyavirus, infecting both humans and livestock with significant morbidity and mortality. By coordinating several host and viral processes Rift Valley fever virus is able to produce infectious virions. Polyamines are small, positively-charged host-derived molecules that play diverse roles in human cells and in infection. We previously demonstrated that polyamines are crucial for RNA viruses; however, the mechanisms by which polyamines function remain unknown. Here, we investigated polyamines' role in the replication of the Rift Valley fever virus (vaccine strain MP-12). …

Microplastic In Aquatic Food Webs: Museum Specimens And Ingestion Experiments Reveal Controls On Microplastic Ingestion By Freshwater Fish, Loren Hou

Master's Theses

Plastic is pervasive in modern economies and ecosystems. Early research suggests freshwater fish commonly ingest microplastic (particles < 5 mm), which may influence fish digestive tissues, but no studies have examined historical patterns in microplastic consumption or rates of microplastic retention in fish. We measured microplastic in digestive tissue of specimens collected and preserved over the last century (Field Museum, Chicago). We selected Micropterus salmoides (largemouth bass), Notropis stramineus (sand shiner), Ictalurus punctatus (channel catfish), and Neogobius melanostomus (round goby) because each was well represented in the museum collection, with specimens from urban rivers. Specimens from 1900-2018 showed increases in microplastic concentration from the 1950's to present. in a second project, we collected round gobies from Lake Michigan in Chicago to conduct feeding experiments to measure microplastic ingestion and retention rates. the majority of microplastic was excreted within 72 hours of ingestion. Results will aid in understanding ecological interactions of microplastic and freshwater fish, informing further work on the movement of microplastic in aquatic food webs.

Assay Development For The Identification Of Species And Bioactive Compounds Of Morinda Citrifolia (Noni) In Dietary Supplements By Rt-Qpcr, Dna Sanger Sequencing And Spectroscopy (Uv-Vis/Ftir), Ricardo L. Fernandez Walker

Master's Theses

Regulation standards for dietary supplements lack greatly. Due to this, fraud during the manufacturing of these products might be committed. Previous investigations on herbal dietary supplements have shown that the main ingredient was not present in most of the herbal supplements tested and that these products also contained other substances not stated in the label The purpose of this study was to develop a fluorescent qPCR assay for the identification of Morinda citrifolia herbal species in dietary supplements. Primers for genetic regions rbcL and matK of M. citrifolia were designed. The potential of novel matK primer showed discrimination potential …

Longitudinal Urinary Microbiome Studies: A Need To Transition To Voided Urine, Baylie Hochstedler

Master's Theses

It is now established that the bladder is not sterile; it contains communities of microbes (microbiota). While the healthy bladder microbiota have been defined using expanded quantitative urine culture (EQUC) and urines obtained by transurethral catheterization (TUC), longitudinal and population studies have not previously been possible. These studies cannot be done using TUC urines, as it would be impractical to catheterize participants daily. Instead, we must transition to using voided urines.In order to make this switch, we have addressed three main issues raised by using voided urine. First, we showed that EQUC out performs standard urine culture on voided urines …

Investigating The Anti-Cancer Properties Of Novel Hybrid 1,4-Dihydropyridine Derivatives In U-87mg Glioblastoma Cell, Tendai Hunyenyiwa

Master's Theses

Glioblastoma is the most devastating of brain cancers with a very high death rate and a low survival rate of less than 15 months after diagnosis. Glioblastoma is a cancer of astrocytes which are the majority of the brain glial cells that support neurons and help create the blood-brain barrier among other functions. The current approach to treating this disease is surgical removal of the main tumor, followed by radiotherapy and limited chemical intervention by the use of temozolomide (TMZ). This disease is characterized by high invasion and recurrence after surgical removal of the main tumor as a result of …

Seasonal Diet Variation In Thirteen-Lined Ground Squirrel (Ictidomys Tridecemlineatus) In Southernwestern Michigan, Austin Menzmer

Master's Theses

Thirteen-lined ground squirrels (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) are omnivorous ground squirrels that range from Texas to Alberta and from Michigan to Utah. The amount and type of both animal and plant matter in their diet may vary both geographically and seasonally. The present study was motivated by prior work, based on δ13C analysis of incisor enamel of thirteen-lined ground squirrels from a colony in southwestern Michigan, suggesting that these animals underwent a pronounced, late-season shift in diet from predominantly C3 to C4 plants. However, this inferred dietary shift was not directly demonstrated. Here, I tracked diet of thirteen-lined ground squirrels in southwestern …

Size And Age Structure Of Introduced Populations Of Blue Catfish (Ictalurus Furcatus) In Two Kansas Reservoirs And Implications For Management, Ernesto Flores

Master's Theses

ABSTRACT

The introduction of a new fish species into an aquatic ecosystem can bring about many challenges for fisheries managers. Questions might arise for the manager regarding the initial sportfish survival rate, grow rate, reproduction and recruitment, and what kind of impact will the introduction have on the already established populations found in the water body. A new population of fish is often protected using length limit regulations, allowing biologists to gain insight on whether the population will be self-sustaining or in need of periodic stockings. Age and growth information is used to understand population dynamics, estimate annual mortality and …

Effects Of Fragmentation On Species Retention In National Parks, Liz Tanner

Master's Theses

The North American landscape is becoming increasingly fragmented, resulting in habitat patches with decreased area and increased isolation. Often, these patches exist as protected areas, such as national parks. The Theory of Island Biogeography is frequently used as a model for these patches, where each park serves as an ‘island’ surrounded by a ‘sea’ of human-altered habitats. As such, species richness and extinctions in a park might be explained by its area. For this study, I used regression models to examine the relationship between richness and area, as well as extinctions and area, for mammals and birds in national parks. …

The Effect Of Vegetative Structure On Nest-Burrow Selection By The Western Burrowing Owl: Comparing Traditional Methods To Photogrammetry With An Unmanned Aerial System, Dylan J. Steffen

Master's Theses

The shortgrass prairie ecoregion in the United States has been reduced to 52% of its historical extent, contributing to reduced habitat for native species. One such species is the Burrowing Owl (Athene cunicularia). The Western Burrowing Owl subspecies (A. c. hypugaea) is listed as a Species of Special Concern in nearly every western and midwestern state, including Kansas where it is designated as a Tier II Species of Greatest Conservation Need. Habitat destruction due to conversion to cropland, increasing use of pesticides, and reduction in burrowing mammal abundance are the primary threats that have led to …

Rna Interference Of Three Genes Of The Unfolded Protein Response: Activating Factor Of Transcription 4, Eukaryotic Translation Initiation Factor 2-Alpha Kinase, And Inositol-Requiring Enzyme 1 In Acyrthosiphon Pisum, Jared Ridder

Master's Theses

Activating Transcription Factor 4 (ATF4) is a transcription factor that can act as both an activator or repressor and is a critical component of the Unfolded Protein Response (UPR) and Amino Acid Response (AAR) pathways. Inositol-requiring enzyme 1 (IRE1) is an Endoplasmic Reticulum (ER) membrane-bound kinase/endoribonuclease that functions as a sensor of unfolded protein and is the most conserved component of the UPR in eukaryotes. Eukaryotic Initiation Factor-2-alpha Kinase (PERK) is an ER membrane bound kinase that phosphorylates eukaryotic initiation factor upon activation of the UPR causing downregulation of protein synthesis. It was hypothesized that introduction of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) …

Influence Of Shaded Conditions On Development Of Asteraceae Species Native To Kansas, Aline Rodrigues De Queiroz

Master's Theses

to the heterogeneity of habitats, all plants are exposed to at least some degree of shade during their lifetime. Reduced light intensity, drops in R:FR ratio, and limited blue light are cues for plants to perceive competition; the shade avoidance syndrome (SAS) is common for grassland species while shade tolerance (ST) is common for forest species when competition is perceived. SAS is characterized by elongation of stems and petioles, reduced branches, decreased leaf area, decreased shoot biomass, and increased number of ramets. ST is characterized by little elongation of stems and petioles, high chlorophyll content and high chlorophyll a/b ratio …

Prion Protein Gene Polymorphisms In The Alpha-Helical Region In Feral Pigs From Texas, Maram Alsmady

Master's Theses

Prion diseases are a group of infectious, incurable, fatal neurodegenerative disorders, including scrapie in sheep, chronic wasting disease in deer, and Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease (CJD) in humans. A key event in prion disease is the conformational transition of the cellular prion protein (PrP^C) into the pathogenic isoform (PrP^SC). Prion disease occurrence depends mainly on the interaction between the host prion protein (PrP^C) and the prion strain (PrP^SC). It was hypothesized that prion gene polymorphisms correlate with an organism’s susceptibility to prion disease, which may be related to the overall stability of the α-helical …

The Influence Of Pre- And Post Meal Exercise In Relation To Postprandial Blood Glucose Levels In Type Ii Diabetics, Jessica Johnson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship of pre and post evening meal exercise in relation to postprandial blood glucose levels in type II diabetics. Fifteen participants diagnosed with type II diabetes volunteered to participate in this 21 day study. During the first seven days, participants were told to change nothing about their daily routine. Throughout the study they were asked to track all food consumption in the MyFitnessPal application and to record their blood glucose levels fasting, before their evening meal, and 120 minutes after their evening meal. At the end of day seven, each participant’s …

Greening Rates And Photosynthetic Development Of Leaves In C3 And C4 Plants, Tayler J. Kriss

Master's Theses

To study chlorophyll development time and overall photosynthetic development in C3 and C4 leaves, seeds were germinated in complete darkness and achlorophyllous leaves were then allowed to develop in lighted conditions. Corn (Zea mays, C4), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor, C4), green bean (Phaseolus vulgaris, C3), broad bean (Vicia faba, C3), and wheat (Triticum aestivum, C3) were investigated for the first ten days of sunlight exposure. Chlorophyll concentration, chlorophyll fluorescence, and CO2 gas exchange measurements were conducted daily on the first leaf that emerged after the embryonic leaves of each plant. The first five days of the experiment, days zero to four …

Ectoparasite Presence In Select Northcentral Kansas Bat Species, Elizabeth Schumann

Master's Theses

Working with other graduate students on a grant given to Fort Hays State University, from the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, I looked at presence and species of ectoparasites on bat species. The main goal of our grant was to quantify and qualify the status of the northern myotis (Myotis septentrionalis) in the state of Kansas, and to record data on any bycatch. I worked on our grant in the summer field seasons of 2016 and 2017, May to October, as described by the Indiana bat protocol.

Bats were captured by using mist nets set over …

The Purple Plague: Effect Of High Intensity Grazing Post Fire On Purple Threeawn Cover And Reproductive Effort And Prairie Dog Responses, Justin Roemer

Master's Theses

Purple threeawn (Aristida purpurea Nutt.) is a native warm-season bunchgrass found in western Kansas on The Nature Conservancy’s Smoky Valley Ranch and across rangelands of western North America. Upon reaching maturity, grazing/clipping pressure decreases for this bunchgrass due to poor forage quality and extreme unpalatability for cattle (Bos taurus) and Black-tailed prairie dogs (Cynomys ludovicianus). This decrease in grazing/clipping has led to development of near monocultures which cause negative impacts to the prairie ecosystem including decreases in rangeland quality and suitable habitat for prairie dogs, a keystone species. This decrease in prairie dog habitat …

California Livestock Owners: An Assessment Of Familiarity With New Antimicrobial Rules And Access To Educational Outreach, Philip Theodor Paulson

Master's Theses

The purpose of this research is to support the California Department of Food & Agriculture (CDFA) with education and outreach about recent changes regarding antimicrobial use in livestock, and to enhance their emergency communications network. This was done by characterizing a population of small-scale livestock owners underserved with regards to educational outreach about animal health issues, such as antimicrobial use rules. The project also seeks to enhance public understanding of the importance of responsible antimicrobial use in animal and human health.

To accomplish this, the study used a survey administered in person at local farm supply stores and online to …

Assessment Of Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnakes (Sistrurus Catenatus) In Berrien County Historical Sites, Roshelle M. Hall

Master's Theses

The Eastern Massasauga rattlesnake (Sistrurus catenatus; EMR) is a small robust pit viper currently found in nine states and the province of Ontario, Canada. Wetland habitats have experienced significant destruction and fragmentation by humans; as a result, the current distribution of the EMR is a fraction of its historic distribution. For this reason, the EMR has been federally listed as threatened. In general, little is known about the current distribution of this rattlesnake (in the southwest corner of Michigan, the size of local populations or their stability and genetic diversity. Much of this knowledge is based upon historical data. My …

Synthesis And Screening Of Novel Hybrid Benzothiazoles In U-87 Mg Glioblastoma Cell Line, Priscilla Kyi

Master's Theses

Benzothiazole is a heteroaromatic compound known for its wide range of bioactivities including anti-cancer, anti-viral, anti-microbial, anti-inflammatory, anti-convulsant, anti-diabetic, anti-helminthic, and anti-tubercular activities. Research has shown that derivatives of benzothiazole exhibit inhibition of proliferation via apoptosis in various human cancer cell lines, such as liver cancer (Wang, et. al., 2011). In this study, a series of novel hybrid benzothiazole α-cyanostilbene derivatives and styrylbenzothiazole derivatives containing boronic acid and non-boronic acid pharmacophores were synthesized. The anti-cancer and anti-invasive properties of selected benzothiazole α-cyanostilbene derivatives on U-87MG glioblastoma cells were investigated in vitro.

U-87MG cells were incubated with synthesized novel hybrid compounds …