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Home Range, Habitat Use, And Food Habits Of The Black Bear In South-Central Florida, Wade Allen Ulrey

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

I studied a small, enigmatic, and imperiled black bear population in south-central Florida from 2004 - 2006. Annual home ranges of males (96.0 km²) were larger than those of females (32.2 km²). Female home ranges were smaller in winter than in summer or fall. At the landscape scale, bears selected forests, scrub, and citrus, but avoided urban areas. At the home range scale, bears selected bay swamp and hardwood hammock, but avoided urban areas and grassland. Bears selected bay swamp in winter, forests and scrub in summer, and forests, scrub, and marsh in fall. The bear’s …

A Whole Cell Based Biosensor For Monitoring Physiological Toxins And Early Screening Of Cancer, Gargi Ghosh

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Recently a whole cell based biosensor has been developed in our laboratory that consists of a monolayer of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) on the asymmetric cellulose triacetate (CTA) membrane of an ion selective electrode (ISE). When a confluent cell monolayer is formed across the membrane, response from the sensor is inhibited due to inhibited ion transport across the membrane. When the cell based biosensor is exposed to permeability modifying agents, the permeability across the cell monolayer is altered facilitating more ion transport and as a result the response from the sensor increases. This sensor response can be related …

The Disabled Family Dynamic In Drama: The Glass Menagerie, A Day In The Death Of Joe Egg And Time For Ben, Terah Herman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Early disability research in the social sciences focused on the individual, or the person with the disability. Only recently has disability research accepted that every family member is affected. The disabled does not suffer the disability alone; the entire family— as well as friends and relatives—suffer ramifications. Parental roles are altered, and grief, anger and guilt often blur the parameters of acceptable parental care. By using disabled family dynamic research in dialog with The Glass Menagerie, A Day in the Death of Joe Egg, and Time for Ben, I argue that the disabled family dynamic is present, …

"Attention Must Be Paid," Cried The Balladeer: The Concept Musical Defined, Christine Margaret Young

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The concept musical, a fourth category of American musical theatre, has been accepted as a legitimate category but never fully defined. This study examined the attributes making up the category (theme, structure, character, and song), identified the hallmarks of the category, and provided a concise definition. Two concept musicals, Company and A Chorus Line were analyzed.

Cultivating Change: New Products From Costa Ricas Countryside, Erin Michelle Ricci

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation examines rural families responses to global and local situations that have made earning a livelihood as a farmer very difficult. Drawing from original research, including a household livelihood census of 195 households, interviews with 72 people, participant observation, and archival research, the dissertation explores how rural families have responded to declines in domestic agricultural markets fueled by global and national forces and local environmental change. It asks: what impact will small farming families responses to these forces of change have on peoples identities as peasants? I argue that while great change is underway in the countryside, peasant identity …

Inorganic And Organic Phosphorus Interactions With Hydroxy-Interlayered Soil Minerals, Paul D. Shumaker Ii

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Phosphorus (P), a necessary plant and animal nutrient, can also lead to eutrophication of fresh waters when in excess. Appropriate P management is necessary to prevent fresh water pollution. Mineralogy of soil clays has been shown to affect P adsorption, desorption, and movement through soils. Specifically, hydroxy-interlayered minerals have been shown to adsorb and retain inorganic P in soil systems. This study was designed to determine the sorption and desorption characteristics of inorganic, organic, and mixed forms of P interacting with soil hydroxy-interlayered vermiculites (HIV) and smectites (HIS), and compare the findings to sorption and desorption processes of natural aluminum …

Effect Of Dystrophin Deficiency On Selected Intrinsic Laryngeal Muscles Of The Mdx Mouse, Lisa Beth Thomas

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The intrinsic laryngeal muscles are recognized as a highly specialized allotype of skeletal muscle. To date, much of the research examining the properties of this muscle group has been conducted on 2 primary muscles: the thyroarytenoid and posterior cricoarytenoid. Consequently, it is unknown whether the remaining intrinsic laryngeal muscles evidence this highly refined phenotype or if they retain a phenotype more similar to prototypical skeletal muscle. The purpose of this study was to further define the biologic properties of the interarytenoid (IA) and cricothyroid (CT) muscles of the larynx using the dystrophin deficient mdx mouse model. Previous work in this …

Exploring The Biochemical And Evolutionary Diversity Of Terpene Biosynthetic Enzymes In Plants, Sungbeom Lee

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Southern Magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora) is a primitive tree species that has attracted attention because of its horticultural distinctiveness, the wealth of natural products associated with it, and its evolutionary position as a basal angiosperm. Terpenoid constituents were determined from Magnolia leaves and flowers. Magnolia leaves constitutively produced two major terpenoids, andamp;acirc;-cubebene and germacrene A. However, upon wounding Magnolia leaves biosynthesized a significant array of monoand sesquiterpenoids, including andamp;acirc;-pinene, trans-andamp;acirc;-ocimene, andamp;aacute;-gurjunene, andamp;acirc;-caryophyllene and andamp;acirc;-cubebene, along with fatty acid derivatives such as cis-jasmone, for up to 19 hours after treatment. Flowers were also examined for their emission of terpene volatiles prior to …

Phylogenetic Methods For Testing Significant Codivergence Between Host Species And Their Symbionts, Skyler Speakman

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Significant phylogenetic codivergence between plant or animal hosts (H) and their symbionts or parasites (P) indicate the importance of their interactions on evolutionary time scales. However, valid and realistic methods to test for codivergence are not fully developed. One of the systems where possible codivergence has been of interest involves the large subfamily of temperate grasses (Pooideae) and their endophytic fungi (epichloae). Here we introduce the MRCALink (most-recent-common-ancestor link) method and use it to investigate the possibility of grass-epichloё codivergence. MRCALink applied to ultrametric H and P trees identifies all corresponding nodes for pairwise comparisons of …

Assessment Of Terrain Attribute Models For The Identification Of Erosion Prone Areas Suitable For The Establishment Of Grassed Waterways In An Agricultural Field Setting In The Out Bluegrass Region Of Kentucky, Adam Clellon Pike

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The speed and accuracy of conservation planning could be improved if maps indicating areas where grassed waterways should be placed to reduce erosion could be easily created. For five central Kentucky fields, elevation data were obtained with real time kinematic (RTK) global positioning system (GPS) and from US Geological Survey (USGS) digital elevation models (DEMs). Terrain attributes were calculated from these datasets which were used as predictor variables for neural network and logistic regression analyses. Grassed waterway prediction models were developed with these analyses. The type of activation function, type of standardization procedure, number of neurons, number of preliminary runs, …

Quantifying Cellulase In High-Solids Environments, Alicia Renée Abadie

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

In recent years, fungal and bacterial cellulases have gained popularity for the conversion of lignocellulosic material to biofuels and biochemicals. This study investigated properties of fungal (Trichoderma. reesei) and bacterial (Clostridium thermocellum) cellulases. Enzymatic hydrolysis was carried out with T. reesei using nine enzyme concentration and substrate combinations. Initial rates and extents of hydrolysis were determined from the progress curve of each combination. Inhibition occurred at the higher enzyme concentrations and higher solids concentrations. Mechanisms to explain the observed inhibition are discussed. Samples of C. thermocellum purified free cellulase after 98% hydrolysis were assayed to determine …

Effects Of Fescue Herbicides Plateau® And Cimarron® On Pregnancy Maintenance In Broodmares And On Alkaloid Concentrations In Endophyte Infected Tall Fescue, Kathleen Scarlett Black

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Ingestion of endophyte infected (E+) fescue by pregnant mares can cause significant reproductive problems. Plateau® and Cimarron® herbicides suppress fescue while leaving desired forages unharmed. To determine if these herbicides are harmful to pregnant mares, they were allowed to graze pastures treated with Plateau®, Cimarron®, or vehicle carrier. Pregnancies were monitored via ultrasonography, blood chemistry, and hematology. Of the components measured only creatinine differed among treatments over time (P=0.0003) and that increase was only significant in one of four studies.

Two additional experiments were conducted to determine the effect of the herbicides on alkaloids within E+ fescue. A greenhouse experiment …

Targeting The Metal Chelator D-Penicillamine To Exploit The Elevated Copper And Oxidative Stress Associated With Cancer, Anshul Gupte

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The significantly increased copper and oxidative stress levels are characteristic hallmarks of cancer cells. These differences provide a unique opportunity for selective targeting of cancer cells. D-penicillamine (D-pen) has been proposed to generate reactive oxygen species (ROS) in presence of copper. Therefore, these studies were aimed at investigating the potential application of a currently marketed copper chelator, D-pen, as a novel cytotoxic anti-cancer agent. D-pen was shown to produce ROS, specifically hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), in the presence of cupric sulfate through a copper catalyzed oxidation reaction. During this process D-pen was converted to D-pen disulfide. The experimental proof of the …

Zinc Deficiency And Mechanisms Of Endothelial Cell Dysfunction, Huiyun Shen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease thought to be initiated by endothelial cell dysfunction. Research described in this dissertation is focused on the role of zinc deficiency in endothelial cell activation with an emphasis on the function of the transcription factors nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB), peroxisome proliferator activated receptor (PPAR), and the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), which all play critical roles in the early pathology of atherosclerosis. Cultured porcine aortic vascular endothelial cells were deprived of zinc by the zinc chelator TPEN and/or treated with the NF-κB inhibitor CAPE or the PPARγ agonist rosiglitazone, followed by measurements of PPARα expression, cellular …

Enhancing Node Cooperation In Mobile Wireless Ad Hoc Networks With Selfish Nodes, Yongwei Wang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

In Mobile Ad Hoc Networks (MANETs), nodes depend on each other for routing and forwarding packets. However, to save power and other resources, nodes belonging to independent authorities may behave selfishly, and may not be willing to help other nodes. Such selfish behavior poses a real threat to the proper functioning of MANETs. One way to foster node cooperation is to introduce punishment for selfish nodes. Based on neighbor-monitoring techniques, a fully distributed solution to detect, punish, and re-admit selfish nodes, is proposed here. This solution provides nodes the same opportunity to serve/and be served by others. A light-weight solution …

Towards Cloning The Clk-3 Gene In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Suchita Umesh Desai

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Mutations in the clk-1, clk-2, clk-3 and gro-1 genes in Caenorhabditis elegans show alterations in developmental and behavioral timing and lifespan, collectively termed the Clk phenotype. While the clk-1, clk-2, and gro-1 genes have been cloned, clk-3 gene has not been identified. Gene expression changes in clk-3 mutant worms were determined using microarray expression data. I examined genes in the region to which clk-3 gene maps, for strongly reduced expression in the clk-3 mutants and identified thirteen clk-3 candidate genes. RNAi feeding vectors for all these candidate genes were picked and cultured from the RNAi library. …

The Metastasis Suppressor Nm23-H1 Is Required For Dna Repair, Mengmeng Yang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

NM23-H1 represents the first identified metastasis suppressor, exhibiting reduced expression in breast carcinoma and melanoma, and an ability to inhibit metastatic growth without significant impact on the transformed phenotype. Although its molecular mechanism of action is not fully understood, NM23-H1 possesses at least three enzymatic activities that may mediate metastasis suppressor function. It catalyzes nucleoside diphosphate kinase (NDPK) activity, as well as protein histidine kinase and 3’-5’ exonuclease activities. As 3’-5’ exonucleases are generally required for maintenance of genomic integrity, this activity represents a plausible mediator to underlie the metastasis suppressor function of NM23-H1 protein. To investigate the relevant activity …

Proportional Feedback Control Of Duty Cycle For Dc Hybrid Active Power Filter, Govind N. Malleichervu

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

This thesis deals with the design and implementation of a feedback control scheme for a DC Hybrid Active Power Filter used to filter harmonics from a Switched Reluctance Motor (SRM) Drive load. Power electronic systems are non-linear & dynamic [1,3,5]. Power electronic systems employ switching circuits to maximize their efficiency at the penalty that switching circuits generate electrical noise called ripple current and voltage or conducted electromagnetic interference (EMI). The ripple current drawn by the power electronic systems needs to be attenuated to an acceptable level. Filters attenuate this to an acceptable level. Traditionally filters with passive inductors and capacitors …

Performance And Physiology Of Yearling Steers Grazing Toxic Tall Fescue As Influenced By Concentrate Feeding And Steroidal Implants, Jessica Meagan Carter

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Fescue toxicosis can produce negative effects on animal weight gain and physiology. Sixty-four steers were grazed on endophyte-infected (E+) KY-31 tall fescue for 77 days in 2007 and sixty steers grazed for 86 days in 2008 to evaluate interactions with implantation of steroidal implants and concentrate feeding on performance and physiology of yearling steers. Steers were stratified by body weight for assignment to six, 3.0-ha toxic tall fescue pastures. The main plot treatment of with or without pelleted soybean hulls (SBH) were randomly assigned to pastures. Pelleted SBH were group-fed to provide daily consumptions of 2.3 kg/steer/d (as fed). Sub-plot …

Design, Synthesis, And Pharmacological Evaluation Of A Series Of Novel, Guanidine And Amidine-Containing Neonicotinoid-Like Analogs Of Nicotine: Subtype-Selective Interactions At Neuronal Nicotinic-Acetylcholine Receptor., Aaron Joseph Haubner

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The current project examined the ability of a novel series of guandine and amidine-containing nicotine analogs to interact with several native and recombinantlyexpressed mammalian neuronal nicotinic-acetylcholine receptor (nAChR) subtypes. Rational drug design methods and parallel organic synthesis was used to generate a library of guanidine-containing nicotine (NIC) analogs (AH compounds). A smaller series of amidine-containing nicotine analogs (JC compounds) were also synthesized. In total, >150 compounds were examined. Compounds were first assayed for affinity in a high-throughput [³H]epibatidine radioligand-binding screen. Lead compounds were evaluated in subtype-selective binding experiments to probe for affinity at the α₄β_{2 …}

Standardized Ileal Digestible Tryptophan To Lysine Ratios In Growing Pigs Fed U.S. Type And Non U.S. Type Feedstuffs, Anthony David Quant

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

The objective of these studies was to determine the optimum standardized ileal digestible tryptophan to lysine (SID Trp:Lys) ratio for growing pigs fed both U.S.–type (corn–soybean meal) and non–U.S.–type (wheat–barley) diets.

When feeding U.S.–type diets, average daily gain (ADG) and plasma urea nitrogen (PUN) concentrations improved as SID Trp:Lys ratios increased, yielding optimum ratios of 15.32% (P<0.001) and 15.25% (P<0.001), respectively. Averaging these resulted in an optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 15.29%. In non–U.S.–type diets, feeding increasing SID Trp:Lys ratios improved ADG and PUN, displaying optima of 15.99% (P=0.048) and 15.29% (P=0.054), respectively. This produced an average optimum SID Trp:Lys ratio of 15.64%. The final study included the other dietary essential amino acids (EAA) at a higher level, and ADG and PUN improved as SID Trp:Lys …

The Effects Of Lobeline On Methamphetamine-Induced Conditioned Place Preference And Dopaminergic Alterations In The Nucleus Accumbens Shell, Nichole Marie Neugebauer

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Previous research has suggested that lobeline, a plant alkaloid derived from Lobelia inflate, has potential to be an efficacious pharmacotherapy for the treatment of methamphetamine dependence. In addition to attenuating methamphetamineinduced dopaminergic alterations in vitro, lobeline has been shown to decrease the primary rewarding effects and discriminative stimulus properties of methamphetamine in rats. It is of clinical interest to assess the utility of lobeline to decrease methamphetamine conditioned cues as these cues have been shown to significantly contribute to relapse.

The current studies assessed the ability of lobeline to block the acquisition and expression of methamphetamine-induced conditioned place …

Selective Regulation Of Cardiomyocyte Signaling By Rgl2, Leah M. Allen

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

A key cardiovascular signaling molecule involved in both physiologic and pathologic regulation of cardiomyocytes is the small molecular weight G-protein, Ras. Differential effects of Ras are mediated by multiple effector molecules, including the RalGEFs which activate Ral. Studies performed in cardiomyocytes have indicated a role for Ral in cardiac hypertrophic signaling and the RalGEF family member, Rgl2, was shown to specifically interact with Ras in the heart. Therefore, I hypothesized that Rgl2 was an important Ras effector that would regulate cardiomyocyte signaling.

To elucidate the potential importance of Rgl2 in regulating cardiomyocyte signaling, a gain-of-function approach was utilized in which …

Using Forward-Looking Infrared Radiography To Estimate Elk Density And Distribution In Eastern Kentucky, Lauren M. Dahl

University of Kentucky Master's Theses

Elk (Cervus elaphus) in eastern Kentucky appear to have increased in number since reintroduction in 1997, but rugged landscapes and cryptic elk behavior have precluded use of typical population survey methods to accurately estimate population size. In December 2006, I used forward-looking infrared radiography (FLIR) to survey the elk population in eastern Kentucky. Elk locations identified by FLIR were used to create a landscape based model to estimate the density distribution of elk within a 7,088 km2 core area of the elk restoration zone. FLIR detected 76% of elk groups of < 10 individuals and 100% of elk groups of ≥ 10 individuals. The density of elk was positively associated with the amount of herbaceous area, herbaceous edge, herbaceous area weighted mean patch fractal dimensions, proximity to release sites, the number of elk released at each site and urban core area index, and negatively associated with road density. My model estimated the elk population at 7,001 (SE = 772, 95% CI = 5,488- 8,514) individuals within the core area, 53% of which were < 10 km from release sites. The predicted elk distribution pattern and abundance estimate derived from this model will be important for wildlife managers in successfully managing the Kentucky elk population.

Induction Of The Heat Shock Response To Protect Against Polyglutamine Diseases And The Role Of Protein Sumoylation In Laminopathies And Alzheimer's Disease, Yu-Qian Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Heat shock proteins function as molecular chaperones which help protein folding and prevent protein aggregation. My study shows that celastrol, a pharmacological compound capable of up-regulating the levels of heat shock proteins, inhibits cell death and protein aggregation caused by expanded polyglutamine containing protein, and the protective effects of celastrol are dependent on heat shock factor 1. These results suggest the potential of celastrol as a therapeutic agent in the treatment of polyglutamine diseases.

Sumoylation is a protein modification which plays diverse roles in regulating the target proteins. My study shows that lamin A is a target of protein sumoylation, …

Functional Characterization Of Upd3 In Drosophila Development, Liqun Wang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

The JAK/STAT pathway is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase signaling pathway that is well conserved and highly re-utilized in many mammalian and Drosophila developmental processes. Compared to dozens of ligands and receptors in mammalian JAK/STAT, Drosophila JAK/STAT pathway is simpler with one receptor and three ligands, Upd, Upd2 and Upd3, which have similar amino acid sequences. Previous literature shows that upd and upd2 exhibit the same dynamic striped expression pattern in embryos and have semi-redundant functions during embryogenesis. Do Upd and Upd3 also have redundant functions? To answer this question, the functions of Upd3 in Drosophila development were investigated in this …

Endothelial Cell Dysfunction By Environmental Contaminants, Elizabeth Grace Oesterling

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Within the last few decades, epidemiological evidence has linked exposure to air pollution, both its particles and its organic components, with cardiovascular disease (CVD) progression. CVD is a life long disease with the disruption of the endothelium being the inaugural event in this inflammatory process. The vascular endothelium is extremely susceptible to environmental insults given its tremendous surface area and that it is in constant contact with blood and components circulating within the blood, including xenobiotics. The endothelium is important as a barrier from blood constituents however, dysfunction of this barrier leads to the influx of lymphocytes and granulocytes that …

Metabolite Analysis Of Clostridium Thermocellum Using Capillary Electrophoresis Based Techniques, Anup P. Thakur

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Clostridium thermocellum is a thermophilic bacterium that converts biomass to ethanol directly; however, high sensitivity of this bacterium toward ethanol limits its commercial utility. To elucidate the effect of ethanol on the growth of this bacterium a metabolite analysis of C. thermocellum was performed. The hypothesis of the project was that exogenous ethanol alters the metabolite profile of C. thermocellum. For metabolite analysis, capillary electrophoresis-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry method (CE-ESI-MS) was developed due to highly polar and charged nature of metabolites. To increase the sensitivity of CE-ESI-MS, several parameters at the ESI interface were optimized. The application of 50% isopropanol …

Translational Regulatory Mechanisms Of The Rat And Human Multidrug Resistance Protein 2, Yuanyuan Zhang

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Multidrug resistance protein 2 (MRP2) is the second member the C subfamily in the superfamily of adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-binding cassette (ABC) efflux transporters. MRP2 is a critical player for generation of bile acidindependent bile flow and biliary excretion of glutathione, glucuronate and sulfate conjugates of endo- and xenobiotics. Dysfunctional expression of MRP2 is associated with Dubin-Johnson Syndrome.

Pathological and physiological states or xenobiotics change the MRP2 expression level. Under some conditions, expression of the human MRP2 and rat Mrp2 proteins are regulated at the translation level. There are several transcription initiation sites in MRP2/Mrp2 gene. The 5’ untranslated regions (5’UTRs) …

Thermal Sensitivity Of Vagal Pulmonary Sensory Neurons: Role Of Transient Receptor Potential Vanilloid Channels, Dan Ni

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Hyperthermia can occur in lungs and airways during both physiological and pathophysiological conditions. A previous study carried out in our laboratory showed that hyperthermia activates and sensitizes vagal bronchopulmonary Cfiber afferents, whether this effect is through a direct action of hyperthermia on sensory nerves is not known. This dissertation study was aimed to investigate the thermal-sensitivity of pulmonary sensory neurons, and the roles of thermalsensitive transient receptor potential vanilloid (TRPV) channels. Whole-cell patch-clamp recordings of neurons isolated from nodose/jugular ganglia were applied in the study. Results of this study showed that hyperthermia directly activates pulmonary sensory neurons, and this effect …