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A Survey Of The Ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) Of Arkansas And The Ozark Mountains, Joseph O'Neill

Horticulture Undergraduate Honors Theses

Ants are among the most abundant animals in most terrestrial ecosystems, yet local fauna are often poorly understood due to a lack of surveys. This study separated and identified ant species from arthropod samples obtained during ongoing projects by the lab of Dr. A.P.G. Dowling, Professor of Entomology at the University of Arkansas. More than 600 ants were prepared, 284 of which were identified to genus and 263 to species. From this collection, 33 species and one morphospecies were identified, comprising 18 genera in total. Additionally, 28 new distributional records were recorded for Benton, Madison, Newton, and Washington Counties in …

Bacterial Interactions Of Inoculated Price's Potato Bean (Apios Priceana): A Biological Study, Rhonda Walker

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Apios priceana is a native endangered species plant found in the Southeast United States. It is characterized as a leguminous species that bears wisteria like clusters with pea like flowers, a large tuberous root and four to six inch long seed pods. It is believed the Native Americans and early European settlers relied on this species as a source of protein and utilized the seeds for cultivation of the tuberous “potato” which formed. Apios priceana contains an average of 13% fiber, 6.9% protein, 71% carbohydrate and 9 of the 11 essential amino acids needed in human diets (Walter et al.,1986). …

Biological Analysis Of Prebiotics In Various Processed Food Matrices, Kristina Elise Moore

Department of Food Science and Technology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The addition of prebiotic to a variety of food products has become a more common occurrence in recent years. Although research on the stability of prebiotics has been conducted, knowledge of the stability of prebiotics in processed foods is limited. The purpose of this research was to determine the biological stability of five prebiotics in a variety of food matrices when processed under various conditions. A biological test, the prebiotic activity assay, was used to test for stability of six food products (muffin, cookie, granola bar, breakfast cereal, sports drink, and bread) containing five different prebiotics (fructooligosaccharides (FOS), inulin, galactooligosaccharides …

Quantification Of Protein Group Coherence And Pathway Assignment Using Functional Association., Meghana Chitale, Shriphani Palakodety, Daisuke Kihara

Department of Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Background

Genomics and proteomics experiments produce a large amount of data that are awaiting functional elucidation. An important step in analyzing such data is to identify functional units, which consist of proteins that play coherent roles to carry out the function. Importantly, functional coherence is not identical with functional similarity. For example, proteins in the same pathway may not share the same Gene Ontology (GO) terms, but they work in a coordinated fashion so that the aimed function can be performed. Thus, simply applying existing functional similarity measures might not be the best solution to identify functional units in omics …

Effect Of Variable Transmission Rate On The Dynamics Of Hiv In Sub-Saharan Africa, Diego F. Cuadros, Phillip H. Crowley, Ben Augustine, Sarah L. Stewart, Gisela García-Ramos

Biology Faculty Publications

BACKGROUND: The cause of the high HIV prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa is incompletely understood, with heterosexual penile-vaginal transmission proposed as the main mechanism. Heterosexual HIV transmission has been estimated to have a very low probability; but effects of cofactors that vary in space and time may substantially alter this pattern.

METHODS: To test the effect of individual variation in the HIV infectiousness generated by co-infection, we developed and analyzed a mathematical sexual network model that simulates the behavioral components of a population from Malawi, as well as the dynamics of HIV and the co-infection effect caused by other infectious diseases, …

Development Of Lps Antagonistic Therapeutics: Synthesis And Evaluation Of Glucopyranoside-Spacer-Amino Acid Motifs, Sophon Kaeothip, Geeta Paranjape, Shana Terrill, Aileen Bongat, Maria Udan, Teerada Kamkhachorn, Hope Johnson, Michael Nichols, Alexei Demchenko

Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty Works

No abstract provided.

Further Considerations On The Species Of The Genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1891 From Africa, With Description Of Three New Species (Scorpiones: Buthidae), Wilson R. Lourenço, Elise-Anne Leguin

Euscorpius

New considerations are proposed regarding the African species of the genus Orthochirus Karsch, 1891. Two species, Orthochirus aristidis (Simon, 1882) and Orthochirus innesi Simon, 1910 have been the subject of several publications in the past decades; however, doubts remain about their exact identity and range of geographical distribution. In this note, their taxonomic status is reinvestigated. The type material is revised and the lectotype and paralectotypes are designated for O. aristidis. Revised diagnoses and illustrations are proposed for both species, and these are confirmed as valid. Three new species are described from Algeria, Morocco, and Mauritania. The total number …

A Mathematician Weighs In On The Evolution Debate, Kris H. Green

Journal of Humanistic Mathematics

There are a variety of reasons underlying the lack of public acceptance for the theory of evolution in the United States. An overlooked cause is related to problems with the mathematics curriculum in the K-12 setting. In this essay, we examine this relationship and propose changes to the mathematics curriculum that could improve mathematical thinking while also providing a basis for understanding theories, like evolution, that are poorly understood.

Biomedical Thrillers: Fiction Based In Fact, Or Just Fiction?, Emily F. Schmitt Lavin

Biology Faculty Proceedings, Presentations, Speeches, Lectures

No abstract provided.

Louisiana Agriculture Summer, 2011

Louisiana Agriculture

No abstract provided.

An Alignment Approach To Identify Fish With Encoding Hydroacoustic Signal To Acoustics Alphabet Squences, Shih-Yen Ku, Hsueh-Jung Lu, Chi-Ting Tseng, Ker-Chau Li, Long-Jin Wu

Journal of Marine Science and Technology–Taiwan

1D sequence homologous alignment tool, like FastA (FASTALL) [8] or BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) [1], has been widely used in bioinformatics field and perform elegant and fast searching for the sequences developed from the same kinds of species. In other word, it can classify through determining the homologous similarity which is not totally similar in sequences of protein sequences, structure or nucleotide sequences. An approach is proposed in this paper called AA-FAST (abbreviation for Acoustics Alphabet-FAST) which takes advantage of alignment tool and significant sequence encoding method. In this experiment, it could not only determine 4 fish species …

Critical Evaluation Of The Use Of Dogs In Biomedical Research And Testing In Europe, Nina Hasiwa, Jarrod Bailey, Peter Clausing, Mardas Daneshian, Sándor Farkas, István Gyertyán, Robert Hubrecht, Werner Kobel, Goran Krummenacher, Marcel Leist, Hannes Lohi, Adám Miklósi, Frauke Ohl, Klaus Olejniczak, Georg Schmitt, Patrick Sinnett-Smith, David Smith, Kristina Wagner, James D. Yager, Joanne Zurlo, Thomas Hartung

Companion Animals as Laboratory Research Subjects Collection

Dogs are sometimes referred to as “man’s best friend” and with the increase in urbanization and lifestyle changes, dogs are seen by their owners as family members. Society expresses specific concerns about the experimental use of dogs, as they are sometimes perceived to have a special status for humans. This may appear somewhat conflicting with the idea that the intrinsic value of all animals is the same, and that also several other animal species are used in biomedical research and toxicology. This aspect and many others are discussed in an introductory chapter dealing with ethical considerations on the use of …

41st Annual Wku Student Research Conference, Student Research Council, Western Kentucky University

Student Research Conference Select Presentations

No abstract provided.

Analysis Of Common And Specific Mechanisms Of Liver Function Affected By Nitrotoluene Compounds, Youping Deng, Sharon A. Meyer, Xin Guan, Barbara Lynn Escalon, Junmei Ai, Mitchell S. Wilbanks, Ruth Welti, Natàlia Garcia-Reyero, Edward J. Perkins

Faculty Publications

Background: Nitrotoluenes are widely used chemical manufacturing and munitions applications. This group of chemicals has been shown to cause a range of effects from anemia and hypercholesterolemia to testicular atrophy. We have examined the molecular and functional effects of five different, but structurally related, nitrotoluenes on using an integrative systems biology approach to gain insight into common and disparate mechanisms underlying effects caused by these chemicals.

Methodology/Principal Findings: Sprague-Dawley female rats were exposed via gavage to one of five concentrations of one of five nitrotoluenes [2,4,6-trinitrotoluene (TNT), 2-amino-4,6-dinitrotoluene (2ADNT) 4-amino-2,6-dinitrotoulene (4ADNT), 2,4-dinitrotoluene (2,4DNT) and 2,6-dinitrotoluene (2,6DNT)] with necropsy …

Genetic Polymorphisms And The Treatment Outcome In Standard-Risk Pediatric Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, Qi Wei

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is the most common childhood cancer and accounts for 30 - 35% of all cancers in children. Significant improvement in the treatment of pediatric ALL has been achieved in recent years. Only 50 years ago, the disease was uniformly fatal with an Overall Survival (OS) rate < 5%. Modern-day, multi-drug chemotherapy is associated with an overall survival rate over 80%. Standard-risk ALL comprises the majority of ALL with an overall survival approaching 90%. Despite this success, children who relapse from this disease accounts for the majority of cancer-related deaths in children. The backbone of treatment protocols have incorporated somatic but not host genetic features in the treatment regimens. The current study examined 12 genetic polymorphisms affecting the pharmacodynamics of antileukemic drugs in an attempt to identify biologic markers related to the risk of disease relapse.

In the current research program, 125 standard-risk ALL patients who were treated at The Children's Hospital were enrolled in a retrospective study. Statistical analysis was performed to evaluate the association between genetic polymorphisms and risk of disease relapse in this study cohort. The GSTM1 null genotype was associated with a …

Microfluidic Paper-Based Analytical Devices: From Pocket To Paper-Based Elisa, Andres W. Martinez

Chemistry and Biochemistry

Microfluidic paper-based analytical devices (microPADs) began as a simple idea with an ambitious goal. The idea was to make microfluidic devices out of paper instead of plastic or glass. The goal was to develop low-cost and portable paper-based diagnostic devices to improve healthcare in developing countries. Over the past 6 years, many developments have been made in the emerging field of paper-based microfluidic devices. Reviewing the development of these devices in the Whitesides group at Harvard University (Cambridge, MA, USA) can provide some insight into the future of the field and encourage scientists from a variety of backgrounds to contribute …

Characterisation Of The Metacaspase Gene Family In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Paige N. Cox

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports - Open

Caspases are known to be involved in animal programmed cell death (PCD). The objective of this thesis was to use gene expression analysis and reverse genetics to determine if Arabidopsis metacaspase (AtMC) genes play a role in plant PCD. The majority of AtMC genes were found to be expressed nearly constitutively in various tissues, developmental stages, and under various inductive treatments. Transgenic Arabidopsis plants generated with AtMCpromoter::AtMCgene::GUS fusions showed expression of the reporter gene in leaves, vasculature, trichomes, siliques, anthers, and during embryo development. Preliminary phenotypic characterization of single and double Arabidopsis AtMC loss-of-function mutants suggested that the …

Profiles In Science For Science Librarians: "What Lives Where, And Why": Alfred Russel Wallace, And The Field Of Biogeography, Charles H. Smith

DLPS Faculty Publications

Biogeography, the study of animal and plant distribution, has a history extending back to at least the eighteenth century. But it was not until the work of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace in the mid-nineteenth century that it really came into its own as a science. Darwin’s importance notwithstanding, it was really Wallace who put the field on the map, and many of today’s research threads can be traced back to his influence. This article provides a summary review of Wallace’s life and work and biogeography as a field of study, including Wallace’s role in its development.

Development Of An Ecosystem Approach To The Monitoring And Management Of Western Australian Fisheries. Final Frdc Report : Project 2005/063, Norman G. Hall, Brent S. Wise

Fisheries Research Reports

Objectives 1. Test the robustness of statistical procedures to identify impacts of multi-sector fishing on community composition using existing fishery data. 2. Assess the level of change in community composition in each bioregion of WA during the previous 30 years. 3. Identify key data to which ecosystem structure and management strategies are most sensitive and which should be collected in the future. 4. Identify critical changes in exploitation and/or environment that would impact marine ecosystems markedly. 5. Identify areas where more detailed research and/or monitoring are needed.

Proceedings Of The 123rd Annual Meeting Of The Iowa Academy Of Science [Program, 2011], Iowa Academy Of Science

Iowa Academy of Science Documents

Contents:

Program Summary --- 2-3
Acknowledgements --- 4
Contents --- 5
Welcome --- 5
Iowa Junior Academy of Science Competition --- 6
Geology Special Event Using Geographic Information Systems in Iowa's K-16 Classrooms --- 7
General Session I-Roaming Mars, a Personal Perspective --- 8
Iowa Junior Academy of Science Award Luncheon --- 9
Iowa Academy of Science Business Meeting --- 9
Iowa Academy of Science Volunteers for 2010-2011 --- 10
Symposium A-Unintended Health & Environmental Consequences of Confinement Agriculture --- 11
Symposium B-Investigating Forensic Science --- 12
Symposium C-150th Anniversary-Science and the Civil War --- 13
Symposia Speakers --- 14-15 …

In Vivo Liver Endocytosis Followed By Purification Of Liver Cells By Liver Perfusion, Sandhya Gopalakrishnan, Edward N. Harris

Department of Biochemistry: Faculty Publications

The liver is the metabolic center of the mammalian body and serves as a filter for the blood. The basic architecture of the liver is illustrated in figure ¹ in which more than 85% of the liver mass is composed of hepatocytes and the remaining 15% of the cellular mass is composed of Kupffer cells (KCs), stellate cells (HSCs), and sinusoidal endothelial cells (SECs). SECs form the blood vessel walls within the liver and contain specialized morphology called fenestrae within in the cytoplasm. Fenestration of the cytoplasm is the appearance of holes (˜100 μm) within the cells so that the …

Estimating The Impact Of Human Papillomavirus (Hpv) Vaccination On Hpv Prevalence And Cervical Cancer Incidence In Mali, Leree Tracy, Holly Gaff, Colleen Burgess, Samba Sow, Patti E. Gravitt, J. Kathleen Tracy

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Human papillomavirus vaccines have potential to reduce cervical cancer incidence and mortality; however, cultural and economic barriers may hinder success in developing countries. We assessed impact of a single vaccine campaign in Mali with use of mathematical modeling. Our model shows that decreases in the prevalence of Human papillomavirus infection are proportional to achieved vaccination coverage.

Novel Inhibitors Of Lysine Specific Demethylase 1 As Epigenetic Modulators, Michael Crowley

Wayne State University Theses

The recently discovered enzyme lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) plays an important role in the epigenetic control of gene expression, and aberrant gene silencing secondary to LSD1 over expression is thought to contribute to the development of cancer. We recently reported a series of (bis)guanidines and (bis)biguanides that are potent inhibitors of LSD1, and induce the re-expression of aberrantly silenced tumor suppressor genes in tumor cells in vitro. We now report a new series of isosteres that are also potent inhibitors of LSD1. These compounds induce increases in methylation at the histone 3 lysine 4 (H3K4) chromatin mark, a specific target …

Single Cell Analysis For The Characterization Of Cell Populations Using A Live Cell Array, Maureen Ann Walling

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

In the past decade, the shift from whole cell population analyses towards single cell measurement methods and techniques is based on experimental results that reveal significant levels of non-genetic heterogeneity in clonal cell populations. This heterogeneity manifests in multiple aspects of cell activity and is, in part, a result of stochastic noise in processes leading to gene expression, namely transcription and translation. The growing understanding of this occurrence has led to the development of methods to monitor and analyze heterogeneity for a more thorough description of cell populations and overall activity.

Molecular Details Of The Catalytic Activity Of Carboxylesterases, Xiaozhen Yu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Carboxylesterases (CEs; EC 3.1.1.1) are ubiquitous enzymes responsible for the detoxification of xenobiotics. CEs hydrolyze carboxyl esters into their corresponding alcohol and carboxylic acid. Because of their biological functions, especially their roles in converting inactive prodrugs, such as the anti-cancer drug CPT-11, to their active metabolites, a good understanding of the mechanism of the hydrolysis reaction will give us a better direction for drug design. In this study, we used a multidisciplinary approach (computational simulation, molecular biology techniques and enzyme kinetic methods) to study the dynamic motions of CEs and the potential role of these motions in the catalytic mechanism …

Observations At A Multispecies Parrotfish (Scaridae) Spawning Aggregation Site At Bermuda With Notes On The Predation Behavior Of Black Grouper (Mycteroperca Bonaci), Brian E. Luckhurst

Gulf and Caribbean Research

The objective of the present study was to describe the spawning behavior of three different species of parrotfishes at the same spawning aggregation site with detailed timing sequences. In addition, observations of other species known to form resident spawning aggregations (i.e., surgeonfishes) and the predatory behavior of black grouper (Mycteroperca bonaci) at this aggregation site are included.

Taxonomy And Ecology Of The Western Australian Soldier Crab, Mictyris Occidentalis (Crustacea: Decapoda: Brachyura: Mictyridae), Joyleen Florence Unno

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The taxonomy and autoecology of the Western Australian soldier crab, Mictyris occidentalis Unno, 2008 is presented including a new species description, a comprehensive ichnology, sampling methods, an extensive habitat description and a decadal population dynamics study. Such a wide ranging, holistic study has not been carried out for any mictyrid specious previously. In detail, a taxonomy component compares M. occidentalis with congeners, clearly establishing it as a separate species from M. longicarpus to which it was previously referred, and the issues affecting taxonomic classification in the Mictyris genus in general are discussed. A species identification key is provided for the …

Egyptian Body Size: A Regional And Worldwide Comparison, Michelle H. Raxter

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Human body size and limb proportions can provide important information about adaptation, population movements, and health disparities. This study investigated changes in body size and limb proportions of adult Egyptians temporally and geographically in relation to climatological, sociopolitical and economic developments. It was predicted that Egyptian groups that experienced more environmental stress would be shorter and exhibit less sexual dimorphism. It was also predicted that Egyptians would be intermediate between higher and lower latitude populations in body form and limb length ratios. The main skeletal sample consisted of 492 males and 528 females, all adults from the Predynastic and Dynastic …

Computational Discovery Of Phenotype Related Biochemical Processes For Engineering, Andrea M. Rocha

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Application of bioengineering technologies for enhanced biological hydrogen production is a promising approach that may play a vital role in sustainable energy. Due to the ability of several naturally occurring microorganisms to generate hydrogen through varying metabolic processes, biological hydrogen has become an attractive alternative energy and fuel source.

One area of particular interest is the production of biological hydrogen in organically-rich engineered systems, such as those associated with waste treatment. Despite the potential for high energy yields, hydrogen yields generated by bacteria in waste systems are often limited due to a focus on microbial utilization of organic material towards …

Pleiotropic Regulatory Function Of The Lysr Family Transcriptional Regulator Cpsy During Streptococcus Iniae Systemic Infection, Jonathan Paul Allen

Wayne State University Dissertations

The ability of a pathogen to metabolically adapt to the local environment for optimal expression of virulence determinants is a continued area of research. Orthologs of the Streptococcus iniae LysR family regulator CpsY have been shown to regulate methionine biosynthesis and uptake pathways, but appear to influence expression of several virulence genes as well. A S. iniae mutant with an in-frame deletion of cpsY is highly attenuated in a zebrafish infection model. The cpsY deletion mutant displays a methionine-independent growth defect in serum, which differs from the methionine-dependent defect observed for orthologous mutants of S. mutans and S. agalactiae. …