Digital Commons Network^™

Measurements Of Resistance And Reactance In Fish With The Use Of Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis: Sources Of Error, M. Cox, Ron Heintz, Kyle Hartman

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

New technologies can be riddled with unforeseen sources of error, jeopardizing the validity and application of their advancement. Bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) is a new technology in fisheries research that is capable of estimating proximate composition, condition, and energy content in fish quickly, cheaply, and (after calibration) without the need to sacrifice fish. Before BIA can be widely accepted in fisheries science, it is necessary to identify sources of error and determine a means to minimize potential errors with this analysis. We conducted controlled laboratory experiments to identify sources of errors within BIA measurements. We concluded that electrode needle location, …

The Use Of The Palladium-Catalyzed Glycosylation For The Synthesis Of C- And O-Linked Glycosylated Natural Products, Xiaomei Yu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The carbohydrate portions of natural products play a crucial role in their pharmacological properties. These properties can vary from improved water solubility, improved membrane transport properties, improved tissue targeting, as well as improved target binding. Herein we describe our efforts to use de novo synthesis to help elucidate the various roles carbohydrates play in biologically active glycosylated natural products.;The O'Doherty group has developed a method that uses asymmetric synthesis for the de novo synthesis of carbohydrates. In contrast to traditional carbohydrate methods, this de novo approach builds the desired functionality and stereochemistry within each sugar. This methodology relies on a …

Hpv Infection And Egfr Activation/Alteration In Hiv-Infected East African Patients With Conjunctival Carcinoma, Jing J. Yu, Pingfu Fu, John J. Pink, Dawn Dawson, Jay Wasman, Jackson Orem, Walter O. Mwanda, Honglan Zhu, Xiaobing Liang, Yi Guo, William P. Petros, Ronald T. Mitsuyasu, Henry Wabinga, Scot Remick

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

There has been substantial growth in the numbers of patients with conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma infected with HIV in East Africa. The natural history of the conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma appears to be unique in this region of the world, but the etiologic mechanism unclear and therapeutic options limited. This research was carried out to determine if conjunctival squamous cell carcinoma harbors human papillomavirus DNA and is associated with activation of the EGFR signaling pathway. Positive findings would identify etiologic causes and provide clinical guidance to improve treatment.

Methods/Findings

Expression of p-MAPK/MAPK, p-Akt/Akt and p-EGFR/EGFR in cell nuclei and …

Dispersion Of Single-Walled Carbon Nanotubes By A Natural Lung Surfactant For Pulmonary In Vitro And In Vivo Toxicity Studies, Liying Wang, Vincent Castranova, Anurag Mishra, Bean Chen, Robert R. Mercer, Diane Schwegler-Berry, Yon Rojanasakul

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Accumulating evidence indicate that the degree of dispersion of nanoparticles has a strong influence on their biological activities. The aims of this study were to develop a simple and rapid method of nanoparticle dispersion using a natural lung surfactant and to evaluate the effect of dispersion status of SWCNT on cytotoxicity and fibrogenicity in vitro and in vivo.

Results

The natural lung surfactant Survanta® was used to disperse single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNT) in a biological medium. At physiologically relevant concentrations, Survanta®produced well dispersed SWCNT without causing a cytotoxic or fibrogenic effect. In vitrostudies show that Survanta®-dispersed SWCNT …

Asymmetric Synthesis Of Sl0101, Cyclitol And Jadomycin, Mingde Shan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The carbohydrate portion of natural products plays a crucial role in biology, such as target binding, solubility, tissue targeting, and membrane transportation. The O'Doherty group has developed a de novo methodology to build the desired functionality and stereochemistry within each sugar, in contrast to the traditional approach using known carbohydrates as starting materials. This methodology relies on a highly diastereoselective palladium(0)-catalyzed glycosylation reaction to control the stereochemistry at the anomeric center and post-glycosylation transformation to introduce the corresponding functionality in the sugar moiety.;Continuing our investigations on the utility of this strategy, we turned our attention to the syntheses of the …

Development Of Volunteer-Driven Indices Of Biological Integrity For Wetlands In West Virginia, Walter Emil Veselka Iv

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Wetland indices of biological integrity (IBIs) are used to satisfy the water resources monitoring requirements of the Clean Water Act (CWA). However, debate still exists on what classification systems and taxa to base these IBIs upon. Our cumulative research, representing indices of biological integrity designed for regional HGM subclasses, designated HGM management classes and Cowardin et al. (1979) classes for West Virginia. The indices were derived from metrics calculated from anuran, avian, macroinvertebrate, and vegetation communities; each representing increasing levels of resources associated with gathering the necessary data. For example, avian and anuran data used to derive floodplain wetland IBI …

Genome-Wide Analysis Of Aux/Iaa And Arf Gene Families In Populus Trichocarpa, Udaya C. Kalluri, Stephen P. Difazio, Amy M. Brunner, Gerald A. Tuskan

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

Background

Auxin/Indole-3-Acetic Acid (Aux/IAA) and Auxin Response Factor (ARF) transcription factors are key regulators of auxin responses in plants. We identified the suites of genes in the two gene families in Populus and performed comparative genomic analysis with Arabidopsis and rice.

Results

A total of 35 Aux/IAA and 39 ARF genes were identified in the Populus genome. Comparative phylogenetic analysis revealed that several Aux/IAA and ARF subgroups have differentially expanded or contracted between the two dicotyledonous plants. Activator ARF genes were found to be two fold-overrepresented in the Populusgenome. PoptrIAA and PoptrARF gene families appear to have expanded due …

Bioinformatic Study Of Gamma-Secretase And Its Substrates, Fei Nan

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

gamma-Secretase is an enzymatic complex critical to amyloid formation and other important pathophysiological processes. Non-specific gamma-secretase inhibitors are not ideal for intervention of familial Alzheimer's disease. The four essential include Presenilin (PS1 or PS-2), APH-1, Pen-2, nicastrin (Nct). Also gamma-secretase cleaves a variety of substrates (over 30). But different sites are cleaved even in a single substrate and no consensus sequence for cleavage by gamma-secretase is identified. We hypothesize that consensus compositional sequence (or functional domain) in components of gamma-secretase and/or its substrates should exist during gamma-secretase regulation and specific gamma-secretase inhibitor based on such consensus sequence (or functional domain) …

Rates Of Swim Bladder Parasite Infection And Pit Tag Retention In Upstream Migrant American Eels Of The Upper Potomac River Drainage, Jennifer L. Zimmerman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

This thesis involved two components: identification of the parasite Anguillicola crassus in American eels, Anguilla rostrata and PIT tag retention in eels in a laboratory setting. The recent spread of the swim bladder nematode parasite, Anguillicola crassus, in American eels has caused concern among biologists and fishery managers. A total of 244 yellow-phase American eels were collected at the Millville Dam eel ladder on the Shenandoah River, WV. Swim bladders were removed and examined for the presence of the nematode parasite. The number of parasites in each eel was recorded, and prevalence, intensity, and mean intensity were calculated. A swim …

De Novo Asymmetric Syntheses Of Unnatural Manno-Trisaccharides, Homo-Adenosine, Digitoxin And Landomycin A., Maoquan Zhou

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

De novo asymmetric synthesis is a strategy that uses asymmetric catalysis to construct chiral molecules from achiral starting materials. De novo approach to carbohydrate builds saccharides from commercially available achiral starting material which will enable the medicinal chemist to install a much broader range of carbohydrates on natural products and in a SAR-amenable fashion. The palladium-catalyzed glycosylation reaction stereoselectively converts 2-substituted 6-tert-butoxycarboxy-2H-pyran-3(6H)-ones into 2-substituted 6-alkoxy-2H-pyran-3(6H)-ones. By using this reaction, a divergent library of the natural and unnatural 1,4-manno-trisaccharides as well as branched 1,4- and 1,6-linked trisacchardes were synthesized. The 1,4-α-manno-disaccharides were achieved in eight total steps starting from achiral acylfuran. …

De Novo Asymmetric Synthesis Of Mannopeptimycin-E, Novobiocin And Methymycin Analogues, Sanjeeva Rao Guppi

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The carbohydrate portion of the natural products plays a crucial role in biology, such as target binding, solubility, tissue targeting, and membrane transportation. The O'Doherty group use a de novo methodology to build the desired functionality and stereochemistry within each sugar, in contrast to the traditional approach using known sugar isomers as starting materials. Recently, we have developed a practical and highly diastereoselective palladium catalyzed glycosylation reaction to control the stereochemistry at the anomeric center. Continuing, our investigations on the utility of this strategy, we turned our attention to the syntheses of the bioactive carbohydrate-based natural product analogues. The targets …

Graph Algorithms For The Haplotyping Problem, Yunkai Liu

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Evidence from investigations of genetic differences among human beings shows that genetic diseases are often the results of genetic mutations. The most common form of these mutations is single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP). A complete map of all SNPs in the human genome will be extremely valuable for studying the relationships between specific haplotypes and specific genetic diseases. Some recent discoveries show that the DNA sequence of human beings can be partitioned into long blocks where genetic recombination has been rare. Then, inferring both haplotypes from chromosome sequences is a biologically meaningful research topic, which has compounded mathematical and computational problems.;We …

Gene Expression Profiling In Prepubertal And Adult Male Mice Using Cdna And Oligonucleotide Microarrays, Lisa Marie Tomascik-Cheeseman

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Variations in gene expression are the basis of differences in cell and tissue function, response to DNA damaging agents, susceptibility to genetic disease, and cellular differentiation. The purpose of this dissertation research was to characterize variation in basal gene expression among adult mouse tissues for selected stress response, DNA repair and damage control genes and to utilize variation in temporal gene expression patterns to identify candidate genes associated with germ cell differentiation from mitosis through meiosis in the prepubertal mouse testis. To accomplish these goals, high throughput analyses of gene expression were performed using custom cDNA and random oligonucleotide microarrays. …

Dark Wilderness A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Idea Of Cave Wilderness, Patricia E. Seiser

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

It has been almost forty years since the passage of the 1964 Wilderness Act and the establishment of the National Wilderness Preservation System. Forty years later, we still have not seen a wilderness that is not a surface environment. There exist neither subterranean nor marine wilderness areas. Efforts on behalf of cave wilderness have focused on the 1964 Wilderness Act legal definition of wilderness. Perhaps what is required is a different concept for the establishment of cave wilderness. This study explored the idea of cave wilderness from a human dimension perspective, via focus groups, using stakeholders from two cave regions …

Design And Implementation Of Web-Based Gis For Forest Fragmentation Analysis, Fei Wang

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The advantages and limitations of current web GIS software for forest fragmentation information and analysis functionality were investigated using Landsat Thematic Mapper data of 1987 to 1999 for a test site in northern West Virginia. ESRI's ArcIMS technology was used to build a Web-based forest fragmentation analysis system to query, represent, and analyze the status of forest fragmentation using landscape metrics. Both ArcIMS HTML and Java fragmentation analysis tools were constructed. The web GIS was evaluated with respect to accessibility, navigation, interactive cartographic functionality, and spatial analysis functionality. The current ArcIMS approach was found to offer only limited support for …

Factors Influencing Habitat Selection And Activity Of Ground Beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae) In Central Appalachia. Part I. The Influence Of Soil And Soil Surface Characteristics On Habitat Selection By Carabidae. Part Ii. Precipitation And Temperature Fluctuations: Effects On Carabidae Activity. Part Iii. The Effects Of Two Microbial Insecticides For Gypsy Moth Control On Carabidae Populations., Terry R. Carrington

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

A study was conducted in the George Washington National Forest in Virginia and the Monongahela National Forest in West Virginia. Carabid samples were collected over four years and compared to soil characteristics, surface characteristics and meteorological conditions to determine what role these factors play in carabid habitat selection. Opportunity also existed to compare carabid populations before and after the application of microbial insecticides on the sampling sites. This study was conducted as as part of a larger project investigating non-target impacts from gypsy moth, Lymantria dispar (L.)(Lepidoptera: Lymantriidae), insecticide applications and the interaction of Entomophaga maimaiga Humber, Shimazu, and Soper …

Effects Of Nicotine On Content Of Corticotropin Releasing Factor (Crf) In Rat Amygdala, Hypothalamus And Brain Stem, Sibonisiwe Ntini Masilela

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Effects of 1.0 mg/kg and 0.4 mg/kg intraperitoneal nicotine on hypothalamic and extra hypothalamic levels of corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) were examined in 104 rats. CRF, a 41-amino acid peptide involved in responses to stress, fear and anxiety, influences the same neurotransmitter systems as nicotine, a psychoactive component of tobacco. Radioimmunoassays revealed that in macro-dissected hypothalami, 15 minutes treatment with 1.0 mg/kg nicotine significantly increased CRF content compared to no treatment. The 1.0 mg/kg dose did not elicit effects in macro-dissected amygdala and brain stem. With 0.4 mg/kg nicotine, no significant effects were observed in micro-dissected hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus, amygdaloid …

A Study Of The Biology Of Phyllocoptes Fructiphilus Keifer, And Its Ability To Transmit Rose Rosette Disease To Multiflora Rose, Rosa Multiflora Thunb., Abdullah Kassar

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The eriophyid mite Phyllocoptes fructiphilus is the vector of rose rosette disease (RRD). The mite occurs naturally on several wild roses and on multiflora rose. P. rosarum is a related eriophyid mite found on multiflora and other rose plants. A successful mass rearing program was developed and a rearing arena designed to allow observation of individual mites. Biological studies were conducted of both mites including life history, sex ratio, hibernation site, effect of temperature on egg laying and rate of development, and host range. Effect of relative humidity on P. rosarum was studied. Transmission trials were conducted both in the …