Digital Commons Network^™

Vertical, Longitudinal And Seasonal Variation In The Benthic Fauna At The Fernow Experimential Forest, Parsons, West Virginia, Robert William Hood

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

Multi-level basket samplers were placed within the shallow hyporheic zone (0 - 30 cm) of first through fourth-order streams in the Elklick Run drainage at the Fernow Experimental Forest, Parsons, West Virginia. Samplers were colonized by macroinvertebrates over three month intervals and collected during three different seasons. Seasonal, longitudinal, and vertical variation in the macroinvertebrate assemblage were examined to better understand the structure and function of the interstitial macroinvertebrate assemblage and important underlying factors. Surber samples were collected for comparison between surface and hyporheic macroinvertebrate assemblages. Temperature, dissolved oxygen, water chemistry, and interstitial water movement were measured at sampler locations. …

Growth Of Trypanosomes In Vivo, Host Body Weight Gains, And Food Consumption In Zinc-Deficient Mice, Patricia Humphrey, Mohammad Ashraf, Clarence Lee

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

This study examined the effect of zinc deficiency on food consumption and the growth of mice infected with Trypanosoma musculi or immunized with parasite products. In addition, the effects of zinc deficiency on the growth and development of parasites in vivo was studied. Infected mice consumed more food than noninfected mice, and the level of food consumption in the zinc-deficient mice was much less and showed general decline during the observation period. Also, infected mice on both full-complement and zinc-deficient diets gained more body weight than control mice. Throughout the observational period, trypanosomes from zinc-deficient mice showed considerably higher variability …

Concerns And Priorities In Genetic Studies: Insights From Recent African American Biohistory, Fatimah Linda Collier Jackson

Department of Biology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Taxonomic Status And Biogeography Of The Southern Bog Lemming, Synaptomys Cooperi, On The Central Great Plains, Gregory M. Wilson, Jerry R. Choate

Sternberg Museum of Natural History Faculty Publications

We assessed geographic and nongeographic variation among populations of the southern bog lemming (Synaptomys cooperi) in Arkansas, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska, and South Dakota based on morphological data. Univariate and multivariate analyses of 15 cranial characters revealed no consistent sexual dimorphism. Geographic variation in cranial morphology of adults varied clinally, with individuals increasing in size from north to south and east to west. The largest individuals overall were from southwestern Kansas (S. c. paludis) and southwestern Nebraska (S. c. relictus), and the smallest individuals were from populations in eastern Illinois (S. c. gossii). We found only minor steps in …

Specimen Catalog, Benjamin J. Frey

Division of Mammals - Field Notes and Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Serotonin Production And Neuron Proliferation In Drosophila Melanogaster In Two Environments, Cynthia Forsman-Earl

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

No abstract provided.

Schizophrenia: An Integrative Study Of Biological Liabilities And Neurological Causes, Daniel J. Knoblach

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Society has become increasingly aware of the frustrating and confusing disorders that can result when the brain loses control of its intricate mechanisms. One such disorder that continues to baffle experts is schizophrenia. Schizophrenia is a serious thought disorder characterized by a broad spectrum of cognitive and emotional dysfunctions that disrupts a person's perception of the world into one of tormenting psychotic experience. Schizophrenia results from a variety of complex causes with each possibly contributing something to the disorder. A multifactorial threshold model explains causation by demonstrating that a sum of biological liabilities (genetics and prenatal developmental problems) may take …

Genetic Algorithms: A Visual Search, Paul W. Jones

Honors Theses, 1963-2015

Genetic algorithms apply the biological principles of selection, mutation, and crossover to a population set containing individuals representing target solutions to a given problem. Using these principles genetic algorithms attempt to create a migration of the individuals in subsequent generations toward the optimal solution.

This project is an attempt to visually represent the progress of a genetic algorithm. The coordinate fitness program attempts to find the maximum or minimum value of a given function. It visually represents the progress of the algorithm by providing a plot of each individual in each generation in time. It is then possible to view …

Specimen Catalog, Tagide Decarvalho

Division of Mammals - Field Notes and Catalogs

No abstract provided.

A Comparative Study Of The Benthic Population In Weir Ponds Draining Watersheds Of The Fernow Experimental Forest, Parsons, West Virginia, Kevin Dwayne Brittingham

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

A study of the benthos of weir ponds draining watersheds of the Fernow Experimental Forest (FEF) was conducted in 1994-1995. The objectives of this study were: (1) to relate differences in weir pond faunas to watershed treatments on the FEF, and (2) to compare current weir pond faunas to those described in 1973 by Steve Harris. In 1971-1972, there were fewer invertebrates but greater taxa richness than in 1994-1995. Total density varied among weir pond and between studies with numbers in the 1971- 1972 study ranging from 26,168 to 79,259 individuals collected, while numbers in the 1994-1995 study raged from …

How Cells Learn, How Cells Teach: Induction And Education In The Body, Scott F. Gilbert, S. Borish

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Waelsch, Salome Gluecksohn (B. 1907), Scott F. Gilbert

Biology Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Of Medusae And Men: On The Life And Observations Of Alfred G. Mayor, Lester D. Stephens

The Courier

Stephens traces the life of the distinguished marine biologist Alfred G. Mayor, who, between 1896 and 1922, conducted scientific expeditions to the South Pacific Islands. He was fascinated not only by the marine invertebrates he found there, but also by the human inhabitants.

Drosophilia Ecology: Food Resource Behavior, Jeffrey John Doolittle

Presidential Scholars Theses (1990 – 2006)

Food preference and choice of oviposition (egg laying) site are critical factors for insects such as Drosophila and affect many aspects of their lives (Jennings and Seager, 1982). Different species of Drosophila fill various niches by making use of a variety of foods, which also affects their seasonal abundances (Shorrocks, 1983). The ability of Drosophila to find the location of a certain food type for egg laying and thus for their larvae affects the survival of their species. Breeding sites and substrates of the flies are chosen on the basis of the food available for the larvae of each species. …

Life History Characteristics Of Daphnia Lumholtzi And Its Susceptibility To An Invertebrate Predator, Eden L. Rawski

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

The Tadpole Of Pseudis Minuta (Anura: Pseudidae), An Apparent Case Of Heterochrony, Rafael O. De Sá, Esteban O. Lavilla

Biology Faculty Publications

The external morphology, oral disc, and coloration pattern of the larva of Pseudis minuta are described. Tadpoles are mostly bottom dwellers that have a small, terminal oral disc with a labial tooth row formula 1(1-1)/(1-1)2. Internal oral anatomy is characterized using scanning electron microscopy, representing the only description available for the family Pseudidae. The coloration pattern of P. minuta tadpoles is compared with that of other pseudids. Pseudis minuta larvae do not exhibit the ontogenetic coloration change reported for P. paradoxa. Considering larval coloration, larval size, and reports of adult size, acceleration or hypermorphosis are suggested as possible heterochronic mechanisms …

Tribal Relationships In The Gesneriaceae: Evidence From Dna Sequences Of The Chloroplast Gene NdhF, James F. Smith, J. C. Wolfram, K. D. Brown, Cynthia L. Carroll, D. S. Denton

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

The tribal relationships of the Gesneriaceae are investigated using ndhF sequences. A full analysis of 70 taxa including 16 species from the Scrophulariaceae, Bigoniaceae, and Acanthaceae as outgroups, resulted in two most-parsimonious trees of 5610 steps each. In all trees the Gesneriaceae were a monophyletic group and Paulownia was the closest single-species outgroup for the analysis. Further analyses eliminated all but the members of the Gesneriaceae and Paulownia in order to better asses relationships within the family. The smaller analysis resulted in a single most-parsimonious tree of 4613 steps. The Klugieae are identified as the sister to the remainder …

The Soybean Retroelement, Sire-1, Encodes An Envelope-Like Protein-Sire-1 Is An Endogenous, Proretrovirus-Like Genomic Element, Arpita Majumdar

Master's Theses

No abstract provided.

Replication And Segregation Of A Minif Plasmid During The Division Cycle Of Escherichia Coli, Charles E. Helmstetter, Maureen P. Thornton, Ping Zhou, Joseph A. Bogan, Alan C. Leonard, Julia E. Grimwade

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Replication of the miniF plasmid pML31 was examined during the division cycle of Escherichia coli growing with doubling times between 40 and 90 min at 37°C and compared to the replication of plasmid pBR322 and the minichromosome pAL70. The replication pattern of pML31 was indistinguishable from that of pBR322 at all growth rates and very different from the cell- cycle-specific replication of the minichromosome. It is concluded that both pML31 and pBR322 plasmids can replicate at all stages of the division cycle, with a probability of replication that increases gradually, but perhaps nut exponentially, during the cycle. In contrast, the …

Gene Transcription And Chromosome Replication In Escherichia Coli, Ping Zhou, Joseph A. Bogan, Keven Welch, Samuel R. Pickett, Hsiu-Ju Wang, Arieh Zaritsky, Charles E. Helmstetter

Biomedical Engineering and Sciences Faculty Publications

Transcript levels of several Escherichia coli genes involved in chromosome replication and cell division were measured in dnaC2(Ts) mutants synchronized for chromosome replication by temperature shifts. Levels of transcripts from four of the genes, dam, nrdA, mukB, and seqA, were reduced at a certain stage during chromosome replication. The magnitudes of the decreases were similar to those reported previously for ftsQ and ftsZ (P. Zhou and C. E. Helmstetter, J. Bacteriol. 176:6100-6106, 1994) but considerably less than those seen with dnaA, gidA, and mioC (P. W. Theisen, J. E. Grimwade, A. C. Leonard, J. A. Bogan, and C. E. Helmstetter, …

Heterologous Expression Of Bchp, A Rhodobacter Capsulatus Polypeptide Necessary For The Reductive Maturation Of Bacteriochlorophyll Agg To Bacteriochlorophyll Ap, Thaddeus R. Hoening '97

Honors Projects

Photosynthetic bacteria contain bacteriochlorophyll (BChl) which has two major portions, a magnesium tetrapyrrole and an esterifying alcohol. BChl plays a key role in photosynthesis which is necessary for converting radiant energy into energy that can be used in cellular processes. The esterifying alcohol portion affects the function of the BChl in photosynthesis, but its role is not well understood. Rhodobacter capsulatus typically produces BChl a esyrtified with phytol (BChl ap), but site directed mutational analysis has shown that a mutation is bchP results in the accumulation of a BChl a esterified with geranylgeraniol (BChl agg) indicating that the product of …

Organochlorine Pesticide Contamination In New World Passerines, Tyler A. Sager '97

Honors Projects

Organochlorine pesticide contaminants detrimentally affect wildlife in many ways, including lowered reproductive success, endocrine disruption, and embryonic defects. Most organochlorine pesticides have been banned in the United States after the recognition of these effects. However, these pesticides are still used in Central and South America, and little information is available concerning the levels of pesticide contamination in wildlife from these areas. Furthermore, little data exist regarding organochlorine pesticide contamination in passerines (songbirds). The purpose of this study was to determine the presence in passerines of organochlorine pesticides that are of concern to the Environmental Protection Agency. Neotropical resident species (i.e. …

Expression Of Early Nodulin Genes In Alfalfa Mycorrhizae Indicates That Signal Transduction Pathways Used In Forming Arbuscular Mycorrhizae And Rhizobium-Induced Nodules May Be Conserved, Nancy Fujishige, Michelle R. Lum

Biology Faculty Works

Transcripts for two genes expressed early in alfalfa nodule development (MsENOD40 and MsENOD2) are found in mycorrhizal roots, but not in noncolonized roots or in roots infected with the fungal pathogen Rhizoctonia solani. These same two early nodulin genes are expressed in uninoculated roots upon application of the cytokinin 6-benzylaminopurine. Correlated with the expression of the two early nodulin genes, we found that mycorrhizal roots contain higher levels of trans-zeatin riboside than nonmycorrhizal roots. These data suggest that there may be conservation of signal transduction pathways between the two symbioses-nitrogen-fixing nodules and phosphate-acquiring mycorrhizae.

Problems With The Interpretation Of Mark-Release-Recapture Data In Subterranean Termites (Isoptera: Rhinotermitidae), Anthony D. Curtis, Deborah A. Waller

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

The Lincoln index (Peterson method) is frequently used to estimate animal population size in mark-release-recapture studies. We tested the accuracy of this method to estimate termite colony size using logs infested with termites that were maintained in the laboratory. Termites were fed paper towels dyed either with 0.05% or 0.1% (w/w) of the dye marker Nile blue and released into their host logs in the laboratory. Following recapture a week later, estimates of termite population size for termites dyed with 0.05% Nile blue, and were approximately 3 times greater for termites dyed with 0.1% Nile blue. Concentrations of 0.1% Nile …

Seasonal Abundance Of Autotrophic Picoplankton In The Pagan River, A Nutrient Enriched Subestuary Of The James River, Virginia, Lillian N. Davis, Karen A. Phillips, Harold G. Marshall

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Autotrophic picoplankton had average monthly concentrations of 73.5 X 10⁶ cells/L in the Pagan River, with summer-early fall maxima of 10⁸ cells/L. The abundance peaks increased with rising water temperatures, declining to their least abundance in mid-winter (10⁵ cells/L).

Miniaturized Isfet Glucose Sensor Including A New Structure Actuation System, Chang-Soo Kim, Hwa-Il Seo, Chae-Hyang Lee, Byung-Ki Sohn

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

A new principle of an amperometric actuation technique was incorporated in the ISFET glucose sensor. The ISFET is fabricated by the CMOS process and the platinum working electrode is deposited by the lift-off process. A sensor with a specially designed ladder type working electrode exhibits improved operation in response time, response magnitude and detection range. An expectation concerning the reduction of sensor size is also discussed.

Effect Of Cl Incorporation On The Performance Of Amorphous Silicon Thin Film Transistor, Jong Hyuni Choi, Chang-Soo Kim, Sung Ki Kim, Jin Jang

Electrical and Computer Engineering Faculty Research & Creative Works

No abstract provided.

Bat House Use In Central Florida, With Emphasis On Nycticeius Humeralis And Tadarida Brasiliensis Cynocephala, Laura Seckbach Finn

Retrospective Theses and Dissertations

Bat houses and roost sites utilized by Tadarida brasiliensis and Nycticeius humeralis were studied in four central Florida counties. Temperatures were monitored in occupied roosts and in bat houses. It was determined that the presence of bats affects roost temperature. The mean temperature in the bat house that was preferred at the Seminole Community College (SCC) site was above ambient temperature a significantly greater amount of time than mean temperature in the other style houses located at that site. A colony of bats roosting in buildings on the property of SCC was successfully relocated into bat houses located .4 kilometers …

Purification And Characterization Of Catalase From Enterococcus Faecalis, Zhenghong Zhu

Dissertations and Theses

Catalase is an important biological enzyme that most organisms employ during aerobic growth to catalyze the decomposition of hydrogen peroxide, a toxic reduction product of oxygen, into water and molecular oxygen. Traditionally, the bacterium Enterococcus faecal is is considered to have no cytochrome system and to be catalase negative. However, certain strains of E. subsequent studies have shown that faecalis are capable of producing catalase when grown aerobically in a medium containing hematin.

The goals of this study were to purify and characterize catalase from a clinical strain of E. faecalis. The organisms were grown under aerobic conditions in a …

Fat Storing Patterns Of Migrating Sharp-Shinned Hawks, David John Conrads

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many species of birds store fat as the primary fuel for migration. Although this is well-documented in many avian families, little is known about fat-storing patterns of migrating birds of prey. Pre-migratory fattening has been recorded in falcons and presumed in buteos. However, fat-storing patterns in migrating Accipiter hawks has not been documented. This study examined the fat-storing patterns of Sharp-shinned Hawks (A. striatus) during a portion of its fall migration. During Sharp-shinned Hawk migration three possible fat-storing patterns are predicted: I) fat deposition increases, 2) fat deposition is maintained, or 3) fat deposition decreases. To determine which strategy is …