Digital Commons Network^™

Transcendental Thermodynamics, Richard E. Morel, George Fleck

Kahn Institute Projects

Thermodynamics is often viewed as a narrow, introspective discipline, trapped by its origins in the 18th and 19th centuries. By dramatic contrast, we show that the Fourth Law of Thermodynamics provides explanations and interpretations of all natural events, extending across artificial boundaries of tradition- al academic disciplines. The Fourth Law of Thermodynamics states that far-from-equilibrium systems increase entropy at the maximum rate available to them. This broadly inclusive paradigm applies to systems from molecules, to organisms, to the biosphere. The Fourth Law is the Law of Evolution. All systems that communicate with their environment exhibit self-organization and self-optimization, enabling the …

Traversing Swanton Road, 8th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …

A Spoonful Of Sugar, Natali Bode

Tredway Library Prize for First-Year Research

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Rdx Soil Contamination Across An Age Gradient For The Native Shrub Morella Cerifera., Stephen Via

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding the impacts of explosive contamination on vegetation is key to understanding explosives behavior in the environment. I quantified shrub growth responses to 1,3,5-trinitroperhydro-1,35-triazine (RDX) soil contamination across three life stages and I hypothesized that RDX would have the greatest impact on seed germination. Morella cerifera seeds were germinated on soils amended with RDX up to 1500 mg RDX kg-1 dry soil. Juvenile and adult individuals were exposed for 6 weeks to soil amended with RDX up to 750 and 1500 mg RDX kg-1 dry soil, respectively. Morphological responses were quantified for juveniles while physiological measurements were quantified for adults. …

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 …

The Effects Of Varying Levels Of Perchlorate On The Metabolism Of Methanogens, Chris Hearnsberger

Biological Sciences Undergraduate Honors Theses

The search for life on Mars has been one of the more intriguing pursuits of NASA and astrobiologists over the last fifteen years. With the help of NASA’s Martian landers and orbiters, discoveries about the red planet have narrowed the range of possible known organisms that could survive on its surface or beneath its icy crust. The discoveries of water ice, methane, and perchlorate on Mars have excited astrobiologists and prompted experimentation on Earth to help determine whether life could exist on Mars. Methanogens seem an ideal candidate to be the organism responsible for biological production of methane on Mars, …

Effects Of Moderate Swim Exercise On Adiposity And Metabolic Function In Mice, Roberta L. Pohlman, Ana Carneiro, Vera Farah, Lynn K. Hartzler, Mariana Morris

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

The Effect Of Chlorine And Ozone In Controlling Microbes On Organically Grown Cilantro And Carrots, Adam Holtz

BioResource and Agricultural Engineering

This senior project investigates the relative efficacy of ozonated water and chlorinated water for the purpose of sanitizing freshly-harvested organic produce. The aim of this study was to assist the Cal Poly Organic Farm in deciding whether or not to invest in an ozone generator. The crops used for testing were grown organically in the same field. Carrots and cilantro were harvested and promptly treated with 5 ppm ozone solution or 25 ppm sodium hypochlorite solution. Carrots were sampled at 0, 7, and 14 days storage to determine microbial populations. Cilantro was similarly tested at 0, 6, and 12 days …

Inhibition O F Herpes Simplex Virus-1 By Black Tea Extract, Sadé Diahann Randall

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Tea is a highly consumed beverage with numerous health benefits, such as antioxidant and antiviral properties. The compounds within tea that are believed to be associated with these benefits are polyphenols. Black tea polyphenols are known as theaflavins, and in previous studies have exhibited inhibitory effects on influenza and human immunodeficiency virus 1. Herpes simplex virus -1 (HSV-1) is an extremely common virus and has the ability to cause recurrent infections. A vast majority of adults have been exposed to the virus and could be asymptomatic. The purpose of this study was to determine the lowest inhibitory concentration of black …

Sexual Selection Dynamics In A Smoky Hills Population Of Crotaphytus Collaris, Katherine Talbott

Master's Theses or Doctor of Nursing Practice

Recent studies in behavioral ecology have suggested environmental pressures might influence sexual selection dynamics to the extent that sexually-selected signals reflect local adaptation. I experimentally tested this hypothesis by manipulating a potential male ornament and observing the sexual selection dynamics in a Smoky Hills population of eastern collared lizards (Crotaphytus collaris). Sexual selection dynamics were investigated by characterizing habitat structure, describing individual lizard spatial distribution, and investigating morphological predictors of adult male territorial success. Habitat occupied by lizards had significantly different and higher percentages of rock cover, and significantly different and lower percentages of vegetation cover, than unoccupied habitat. No …

The Expression Pattern Of The Xenopus Laevis Rod-Derived Cone Viability Factor1 (Rdcvf1), Vera Osafo

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

In the United States alone, more than one million people are blind. One of the leading causes of blindness is the retinal disease, Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP). RP is a heterogeneous group of inherited disorders characterized by the initial loss of rod photoreceptors. Approximately 100,000 people in the United States and 1.5 million people worldwide are affected by RP. Unfortunately, there is no cure. In humans with RP, it is known that the loss of rod photoreceptors leads to degeneration of cones. Rods photoreceptors are responsible for vision under low light conditions and cone photoreceptors are required for color vision and …

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 …

The Senescence-Associated Secretory Phenotype (Sasp) And Redox-Dependent Invasion Of Metastatic Cancer Cells, Brooke A. Pati

Biological Sciences

Throughout your lifetime renewable tissues and those which are exposed to prolonged inflammation experience an accumulation of senescent cells. These cells have previously been shown to acquire the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) that promotes proliferation and tumorigenesis of epithelial cells, thus increasing the invasive ability of tumor cells (1). SASP is characterized by an upregulation in mRNA levels of a number of secretory factors, such as growth factors, cytokines, and chemokines. It has been shown that lifetime exposure to oxidative stress can influence cell cytoskeleton reorganization and influence aging processes (2). In addition matrix metalloproteinases are key SASP factors that …

Social Organization And Decision Making In North American Bison: Implications For Management, Ryan A. Shaw

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Social organization varies widely among herbivores, and the level of social organization in bison is widely debated. I hypothesized that when mother-daughter relationships are allowed to develop, bison form long-term associations. In my study, 25 treatment mothers were selected from a free-ranging herd and kept together with their calves, while 25 control females had their calves forcefully removed. Treatment mothers and offspring had by far the greatest number of associations with a greater percentage of individuals with a half weight index (HWI) > 0.50. The strongest associations (HWI > 0.31) were among treatment mothers and their offspring. Moreover, these associations persisted over …

Host Plant Use By Competing Acacia-Ants: Mutualists Monopolize While Parasites Share Hosts, Stefanie Kautz, Daniel J. Ballhorn, Johannes Kroiss, Steffen U. Pauls, Corrie S. Moreau, Sascha Eilmus, Erhard Strohm, Martin Heil

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

Protective ant-plant mutualisms that are exploited by non-defending parasitic ants represent prominent model systems for ecology and evolutionary biology. The mutualist Pseudomyrmex ferrugineus is an obligate plant-ant and fully depends on acacias for nesting space and food. The parasite Pseudomyrmex gracilis facultatively nests on acacias and uses host-derived food rewards but also external food sources. Integrative analyses of genetic microsatellite data, cuticular hydrocarbons and behavioral assays showed that an individual acacia might be inhabited by the workers of several P. gracilis queens, whereas one P. ferrugineus colony monopolizes one or more host trees. Despite these differences in social organization, neither …

Initial Trends In The Kentucky Buck Test Program, Robert S. Kelly

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A thesis presented to the faculty of the College of Science and Technology at Morehead State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of Science by Robert S. Kelly on April 20, 2012.

Traversing Swanton Road, 7th Ed., James A. West

Academic, Government & Associated Organizational Research Resources

Situated at the northwest end of Santa Cruz County and occupying circa 30 square miles of sharply contrasted terrain, the Scott Creek Watershed concentrates within its geomorphological boundaries, at least 10-12% of California's flora, both native and introduced. Paradoxically, the use/abuse that the watershed has sustained over the past 140+ years, has not necessarily diminished the biodiversity and perhaps parallels the naturally disruptive but biologically energizing processes (fire, flooding, landslides and erosion), which have also been historically documented for the area for +60 years. This is an early edition of an extensive document by James A. West. Please visit the …

Migration Distance And Sexual Dichromatism: Cost Of Migration Is Correlated With Reduced Female Coloration In Wood Warblers, Richard K. Simpson

Biology Honors Theses

Avian sexual dichromatism has been observed to be greater at higher latitudes, and one of the long-standing explanations for the underlying evolutionary forces underlying this geographic pattern is the breeding latitude hypothesis, which focuses on changes in male ornamentation and posits that sexual selection for male ornamentation is stronger at higher latitudes. I offer an alterative hypothesis that focuses on how changes in female coloration can drive the evolution of sexual dichromatism. I propose that the costs of migration, including increased predation risk and high energetic costs, negatively select against elaborate plumage coloration, and that the distance a species migrates …

Do Thick Leaves Avoid Thermal Damage In Critically Low Wind Speeds?, A. Leigh, S. Sevanto, M. C. Ball, J. D. Close, D. S. Ellsworth, Charles A. Knight, A. B. Nicotra, S. Vogel

Biological Sciences

• Transient lulls in air movement are rarely measured, but can cause leaf temperature to rise rapidly to critical levels. The high heat capacity of thick leaves can damp this rapid change in temperature. However, little is known about the extent to which increased leaf thickness can reduce thermal damage, or how thick leaves would need to be to have biological significance. We evaluated quantitatively the contribution of small increases in leaf thickness to the reduction in thermal damage during critically low wind speeds under desert conditions.

• We employed a numerical model to investigate the effect of thickness relative …

Object Neophilia In Domestic Purebred Dogs, Lydia Kniowski

Senior Honors Theses

Neophilia is defined as a preference for novelty. This characteristic has been described in a variety of animal species, and may have been a contributing factor in the domestication of dogs. This study tested three purebred dog breeds for neophilia with inanimate objects. Observations of dogs’ selections when presented with two familiar toys and a novel toy were analyzed. Novel toys were preferred in 60% of selections presenting a significant neophilic trend (P=0.002). Of the breeds analyzed, Labradors selected novel toys 53% of the time, while Brittanys preferred them in 67% of selections. Although both breeds showed a …

Assessing The Link Between Coastal Development And The Quality Of Fish Habitat In Mangrove Tidal Tributaries, Justin Micheal Krebs

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

To assess the potential influence of coastal development on the quality of estuarine habitat for nekton, we characterized land use and the intensity of land development surrounding small tidal tributaries of Tampa Bay. Based on this characterization, we classified tributaries as undeveloped, industrial, urban or man-made (i.e., mosquito-control ditches). Over one-third (37%) of tributaries were determined to be heavily developed, while fewer than one-third (28%) remain relatively undeveloped. We then examined the nekton community from eleven tributaries in watersheds representing the defined land-use classes. Whereas mean nekton density and species richness were both independent of land use, nekton-community structure differed …

Accurate Spectral Measurements And Color Infrared Imagery Of Excised Leaves Exhibiting Gaussian Curvature From Healthy And Stressed Plants, Christopher R. Little, Kenneth R. Summy

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

No abstract provided.

Fishing Top Predators Indirectly Affects Condition And Reproduction In A Reef-Fish Community, S.M. Walsh, S.L. Hamilton, Bi. Ruttenberg, M.K. Donovan, S.A. Sandin

Biological Sciences

To examine the indirect effects of fishing on energy allocation in non-target prey species, condition and reproductive potential were measured for five representative species (two-spot red snapper Lutjanus bohar, arc-eye hawkfish Paracirrhites arcatus, blackbar devil Plectroglyphidodon dickii, bicolour chromis Chromis margaritifer and whitecheek surgeonfish Acanthurus nigricans) from three reef-fish communities with different levels of fishing and predator abundance in the northern Line Islands, central Pacific Ocean. Predator abundance differed by five to seven-fold among islands, and despite no clear differences in prey abundance, differences in prey condition and reproductive potential among islands were found. Body condition …

Antibiotic And Bacteriocin Sensitivity Of Listeria Monocytogenes Strains Isolated From Different Foods, Evrim Gunes Altuntas, Deniz Kocan, Serap Cosansu, Kamuran Ayhan, Vijay K. Juneja, Luis A. Materon

School of Integrative Biological & Chemical Sciences (Formerly Dept. of Biology)

This study aimed to determine the antibiotic and bacteriocin sensitivity of Listeria monocytogenes strains isolated from animal derived foods. With disc diffusion assay, all fourteen L. monocytogenes strains were suscepti-ble to the antibiotics, including penicillin G, vancomycin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, rifampicin, erythromycin, gentamicin and trime- thoprim. However, the percentages of fosfomycin and streptomycin resistances were 92.9% and 7.1%, respectively. Multiple resistances were not observed among the tested strains. The results of well diffusion assays showed that all strains were inhibited by the cell-free supernatant of a bacteriocin-producing strain, Pediococcus acidilactici 13, with the inhibition zones ranging from 16.00 to 24.50 mm. …

A Putative P-Type Atpase Required For Virulence And Resistance To Haem Toxicity In Listeria Monocytogenes, Rosemary Rea, Roy D. Sleator, Et. Al.

Department of Biological Sciences Publications

Regulation of iron homeostasis in many pathogens is principally mediated by the ferric uptake regulator, Fur. Since acquisition of iron from the host is essential for the intracellular pathogen Listeria monocytogenes, we predicted the existence of Fur-regulated systems that support infection. We examined the contribution of nine Fur-regulated loci to the pathogenicity of L. monocytogenes in a murine model of infection. While mutating the majority of the genes failed to affect virulence, three mutants exhibited a significantly compromised virulence potential. Most striking was the role of the membrane protein we designate FrvA (Fur regulated virulence factor A; encoded by …

A Multicenter Evaluation Of Diagnostic Tools To Define Endpoints For Programs To Eliminate Bancroftian Filariasis, Katherine Gass, Madsen V.E. Beau De Rochars, Daniel Boakye, Mark Bradley, Peter U. Fischer, John Gyapong, Makoto Itoh, Nese Ituaso-Conway, Hayley Joseph, Dominique Kyelem, Sandra J. Laney, Anne-Marie Legrand, Tilaka S. Liyanage, Wayne Melrose, Khalfan Mohammed, Nils Pilotte, Eric A. Ottesen, Catherine Plichart, Kapa Ramaiah, Ramakrishna U. Rao, Jeffrey Talbot, Gary J. Weil, Steven A. Williams, Kimberly Y. Won, Patrick J. Lammie

Biological Sciences: Faculty Publications

Successful mass drug administration (MDA) campaigns have brought several countries near the point of Lymphatic Filariasis (LF) elimination. A diagnostic tool is needed to determine when the prevalence levels have decreased to a point that MDA campaigns can be discontinued without the threat of recrudescence. A six-country study was conducted assessing the performance of seven diagnostic tests, including tests for microfilariae (blood smear, PCR), parasite antigen (ICT, Og4C3) and antifilarial antibody (Bm14, PanLF, Urine SXP). One community survey and one school survey were performed in each country. A total of 8,513 people from the six countries participated in the study, …

Construction And Transformation Of A Thermotoga-E. Coli Shuttle Vector, Zhaohui Xu, Dongmei Han, Stephen M. Norris

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background: Thermotoga spp. are attractive candidates for producing biohydrogen, green chemicals, and thermostable enzymes. They may also serve as model systems for understanding life sustainability under hyperthermophilic conditions. A lack of genetic tools has hampered the investigation and application of these organisms. This study aims to develop a genetic transfer system for Thermotoga spp. Results: Methods for preparing and handling Thermotoga solid cultures under aerobic conditions were optimized. A plating efficiency of similar to 50% was achieved when the bacterial cells were embedded in 0.3% Gelrite. A Thermotoga-E. coli shuttle vector pDH10 was constructed using pRQ7, a cryptic mini-plasmid found …

The Number Of X Chromosomes Causes Sex Differences In Adiposity In Mice, Jenny Link, Xuqi Chen, Rebecca Mcclusky, Simon W. Beaven, Peter Tontonoz, Arthur P. Arnold, Karen Reue

Biology

Sexual dimorphism in body weight, fat distribution, and metabolic disease has been attributed largely to differential effects of male and female gonadal hormones. Here, we report that the number of X chromosomes within cells also contributes to these sex differences. We employed a unique mouse model, known as the “four core genotypes,” to distinguish between effects of gonadal sex (testes or ovaries) and sex chromosomes (XX or XY). With this model, we produced gonadal male and female mice carrying XX or XY sex chromosome complements. Mice were gonadectomized to remove the acute effects of gonadal hormones and to uncover effects …

Medical Benefits Of The Shea Nut Tree, Makeish N. Dennie

Biology Student Research

No abstract provided.

Livestock Foraging Behavior In Response To Sequence And Interactions Among Alkaloids, Tannins, And Saponins, Tiffany L. Jensen

Green Canyon Environmental Research Area, Logan Utah

No abstract provided.