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The Magnitude Of Repression By Cro Protein In The Presence Of Lambda Operator Variants, Shabnam Sarker Jan 2008

The Magnitude Of Repression By Cro Protein In The Presence Of Lambda Operator Variants, Shabnam Sarker

Honors Theses

Synthetic genetic circuits were constructed to observe the dynamics of repression by the Cro and scCro repressors. Each circuit contained at least one repressor and a reporter gene. Cro repressor is one of two opposite repressors. This artificial switch also had a single-chain cro (scCro) protein that would not have to dimerize like Cro to be fimctional. Such repressors bind operator sites to prevent fiirther transcription fi-om the promoters. The Lac Repressor (LacR) was used to prevent transcription firom Pr. The inducer EPTG was used to remove the Lac Repressor. A reporter gene LacZ is transcribed from Pr. The protein …


Institutionalized Islam: A Study Of The Union Des Organisations Islamiques De France, Andrus Gareth Ashoo Jan 2008

Institutionalized Islam: A Study Of The Union Des Organisations Islamiques De France, Andrus Gareth Ashoo

Honors Theses

This paper examines the role of Islamic religious authority in France as it pertains to the possibilities and limitations of Muslims becoming French. Such religious authority has emerged in the form of an institutionalized Islam promoted by both the Muslim community and the French government. One of the major federations, the Union des organisations islamiques de France (UOIF), was used as a case study. Primary data was collected from the websites of the UOIF and of affiliated organizations, pamphlets, and newsletters for the Rencontre annuelle des musulmans de France (RAMF). The nature of the data collected centered on the UOIF's …


The Construction Of Womanhood And Race In Novels By Caroline Lee Hentz And Augusta Jane Evans, Elizabeth L. Oliphant Jan 2008

The Construction Of Womanhood And Race In Novels By Caroline Lee Hentz And Augusta Jane Evans, Elizabeth L. Oliphant

Honors Theses

This thesis explores the development of racial and gender stereotypes in four novels: Caroline Lee Hentz’s Eoline and The Planter’s Northern Bride, and Augusta Jane Evans’s Beulah and Macaria. In identifying the formation of these stereotypes, this paper suggests that Hentz and Evans were contributing to the formation of Southern identity, and that their works were at the crux of the formation of a Southern social construct.


Characterization Of The Lipopolysaccharide Binding Site On The Plasma Protein High Molecular Weight Kininogen, Ryan Cory Perkins Jan 2008

Characterization Of The Lipopolysaccharide Binding Site On The Plasma Protein High Molecular Weight Kininogen, Ryan Cory Perkins

Honors Theses

Bradykinin (BK) participates in the control of local blood flow and blood pressure by causing vascular hyperemia and vascular inflammation. The Bradykinin generating pathway of human plasma consists of prolylcarboxypeptidase (PRCP), prekallikrein (PK), and high molecular weight kininogen (HK). When the complex of HK-PK assembles on endothelial cells or an artificial negatively charged surface, PK is immediately converted to kallikrein by the enzyme PRCP. The formed kallikrein then autodigests HK to liberate BK. The BK that is formed then plays an important role in vascular permeability by stimulating constitutive Bradykinin B2 and inducible B1 receptors to release prostacyclin and nitric …


Influence Of Juvenile Hormone On Territorial And Aggressive Behavior In The Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) And Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio Polyxenes), Tara Bergin May 2007

Influence Of Juvenile Hormone On Territorial And Aggressive Behavior In The Painted Lady (Vanessa Cardui) And Eastern Black Swallowtail (Papilio Polyxenes), Tara Bergin

Honors Theses

Competition is important in environments with limited resources. Males of many insect species are territorial and will defend resources, such as a food source or egg-laying site, against intruders, or even compete to attract a mate. In insects, evidence suggests that juvenile hormone acts as an aggression mediator, much like testosterone in other animal species. In this study I tested this idea using a group of male Painted Lady butterflies, Vanessa cardui, and Eastern Black Swallowtail butterflies, Papilio polyxenes, that were treated prior to metamorphosis with either a high or low dose of methoprene acid (a juvenile hormone mimic). Male-male …


Stability Testing Of Mint Oils Through Gas Chromatography Analysis, Sarah Wolf May 2007

Stability Testing Of Mint Oils Through Gas Chromatography Analysis, Sarah Wolf

Honors Theses

In this experiment, the stability of mint oil was measured through gas chromatography analysis. Eight different oils were tested. Levels of key components of mint oil, including menthol and menthone for peppermint oil, and carvone and limonene for spearmint oil, was compared over time. Several packaging materials were immersed in oils in order to determine their effects, if any, on the composition of the oils. Additionally, oil was subjected to either 25 degree or 40 degree Celsius temperatures to determine if temperature affected the oil composition.


Early Stage Detection Of Marine Oil Oxidation, Loren Lapointe May 2007

Early Stage Detection Of Marine Oil Oxidation, Loren Lapointe

Honors Theses

A method involving overnight stir bar sorptive extraction (SBSE) headspace gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GC/MS) in negative ion chemical ionization (NICI) mode was developed to determine the presence of aldehydes (cis-4-heptenal, trans,trans-2,4-heptadienal, trans-2-octenal, cis-6-nonenal, trans-2-cis-6-nonadienal, trans-2-nonenal, and trans,trans-2,4-decadienal) in fresh and aged commercial fish oil (untreated and treated with antioxidant blends). Aldehyde standards were quantifiable to >100ppb levels using this method. Only trans,trans-2,4-heptadienal was shown to be present in the commercial fish oil and its presence was used to compare the performance of the two different antioxidant treatments in the fish oil. Includes Powerpoint.


Phylogeny And Population Genetics Of Allotheuthis (Loliginidae) And Discovery Of A Cryptic Species, Adria Pilsits May 2007

Phylogeny And Population Genetics Of Allotheuthis (Loliginidae) And Discovery Of A Cryptic Species, Adria Pilsits

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Stability Of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor One Alpha Protein In The Cell, Jennifer Watry Apr 2007

Stability Of Eukaryotic Elongation Factor One Alpha Protein In The Cell, Jennifer Watry

Honors Theses

Eukaryotic Elongation Factor One Alpha (eEF1A) is an abundant protein found in every cell of every organism and is involved in functions concerning protein synthesis and degradation, the cytoskeleton, and signaling. How these functions are regulated is not yet understood for this protein. Regulation of the protein may be controlled by transcription of the genes encoding the protein or the stability and modification of the protein. The goal of this project was to determine the stability of eEf1A proteins in Arabidopsis thaliana. Protein stability was determined by treating tissues with cycloheximide, an inhibitor of protein synthesis. Gel electrophoresis and …


The Dwarfing Of Men In Victorian Fairy-Tale Literature, Heather Victoria Vermeulen Apr 2007

The Dwarfing Of Men In Victorian Fairy-Tale Literature, Heather Victoria Vermeulen

Honors Theses

As Jack Zipes explains in his preface to Victorian Fairy Tales: The Revolt of the Fairies and the Elves, "The Victorian fairy-tale writers always had two ideal audiences in mind when they composed their tales -young middle-class readers whose minds and morals they wanted to influence, and adult middle-class readers whose ideas they wanted to challenge and reform" (xiv). "It was through the fairy tale," he continues, "that a social discourse about conditions in Victorian England took form, and this discourse is not without interest for readers today" (xi). My project begins with a critical analysis of the Grimm Brothers' …


Scientific Advice To The House : Who Has The Congressional Ear?, Kristen Greenholt Apr 2007

Scientific Advice To The House : Who Has The Congressional Ear?, Kristen Greenholt

Honors Theses

In 2001, President George W. Bush remarked, "Science and technology have never been more essential to the defense of the nation and the health of the economy." The responsibility for formulating science and technology policy primarily falls into the hands of Congress. However, since few members of Congress possess a broad base of knowledge in either science or technology, they must rely on external sources of information. I examine the sources of information on which they rely, or the question "Who has the Congressional Ear?"with regard to science and technology issues. Using the downfall of the Office of Technology Assessment …


Phytoremediation: Investigating A Means Of Removing Pahs From The Floodplain Of The Chattanooga Creek, Eric Matthew Cohen Mar 2007

Phytoremediation: Investigating A Means Of Removing Pahs From The Floodplain Of The Chattanooga Creek, Eric Matthew Cohen

Honors Theses

As a result of uncontrolled dumping of coal-tar for much of the past century,polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are abundant in the floodplain of Chattanooga Creek. The area is deemed a Superfund site and a danger to public health. Phytoremediation has shown to be a cost-effective, ecologically friendly method to r move toxicants from the environment. The present study concerns two candidate plants for phytoremediation Festuca arundinacea (tall fescue) and Cucurbita pepo ssp. pepo (zucchini). Each plant was grown for 28 days in pyrene (a representative PAH) amended soi l. Shoot heights were recorded every 3 to 4 days to test …


Identification And Catalog Of Holocene And Late Pleistocene Chiropteran Fossils From Hamilton County, Tn, Ashley Miller Mar 2007

Identification And Catalog Of Holocene And Late Pleistocene Chiropteran Fossils From Hamilton County, Tn, Ashley Miller

Honors Theses

Caves play an essential role in our understanding of the Pleistocene Epoch. Caves represent the largest percentage of known North American Pleistocene faunas (Kurten and Anderson, 1980). These unique environments provide stable erosion free conditions that allow fossils to remain preserved for thousands, if not millions, of years (Corgan, 1996; Schubert et al., 2003). The fossil remains found in caves can help paleontologists document biogeographic and evolutionary patterns in a great variety of organisms (Schubert et al., 2003). Many fossils found in cave deposits only date to the Holocene (Schubert et al., 2003). These fossils localities are rarely studied by …


Blood Assays In The Freshwater Turtle, Trachemys Scripta, With Emphasis On Methemoglobin Levels, Erin Melissa Floyd Jan 2007

Blood Assays In The Freshwater Turtle, Trachemys Scripta, With Emphasis On Methemoglobin Levels, Erin Melissa Floyd

Honors Theses

Confined Animal Feeding Operations pollute water supplies with excess animal wastes containing different sources of nitrogen. How can we measure the damage being done? Methemoglobin percentages give the degree of toxicity of nitrates and nitrites in the environment. Methemoglobin is a variant of hemoglobin in which the ferrous ion has been oxidized to the ferric state. In this state, oxygen can no longer be transported by hemoglobin which is detrimental to the organism affected. Blood assays were conducted on the freshwater turtle, Trachemys scripta. In addition to methemoglobin analysis other assays including oxyhemoglobin saturation, red and white blood cell counts, …


Concomitant Polymorphism In 1,2-Bis(9-Anthryl)Acetylene, Rebecca Goldstein Jan 2007

Concomitant Polymorphism In 1,2-Bis(9-Anthryl)Acetylene, Rebecca Goldstein

Honors Theses

This thesis details the serendipitous discovery of the phenomenon of concomitant conformational polymorphism found to exist in 1,2-bis(9-anthryl)acerylene. 1,2-bis(9anthryl)acetylene is a previously published molecule. However, the published crystal structure showed the molecule to be completely planar, and to crystallize in the form of orange needles. While this form of the crystal was indeed found during the synthesis of 1,2-bis(9anthryl)acetylene, a new polymorph, crystallizing as yellow prisms, was also discovered. This yellow polymorph was found by X-ray crystallography to be monoclinic with an angle of 66.7 between the anthracene planes. The planar polymorph 1,2-bis(9-anthryl)acetylene was also found by X-ray crystallography to …


Anhedonia And Depression: Anticipatory, Consummatory, And Recall Deficits, Kaitlin Hanley Jan 2007

Anhedonia And Depression: Anticipatory, Consummatory, And Recall Deficits, Kaitlin Hanley

Honors Theses

Current conceptions of anhedonia as a key symptom of depression do not consider the importance of anticipatory, consummatory, and recall deficits involved in anhedonia. Sixty-one depressed and non-depressed, college-student participants provided reports of anticipated pleasure to tasting chocolates, tasted chocolates and rated their experience of pleasure, and provided recalled reports of pleasure to the experience one day later. Results demonstrated a deficit in the ability to anticipate experiencing pleasure for depressed participants when compared to non-depressed controls, however, their reports of consummatory pleasure and recalled pleasure did not differ significantly from non-depressed control participants. This study suggests that actual experiential …


Collective Moral Responsibility, Allyson Rudolph Jan 2007

Collective Moral Responsibility, Allyson Rudolph

Honors Theses

What is collective moral responsibility? And why should you care? The answer to the former, like any good philosophical question, is largely unresolved. Although writing on collective responsibility has flourished, particularly in the wake of the Holocaust, and despite the existence of an increasingly consistent bibliography of essential writings in the field, there is no definitive authority on the subject. Unlike individual moral responsibility, however, there is little consensus among the ranks. Many theories disclaim the existence or the possibility of collective moral responsibility—a group is just not the sort of thing that can ever be considered a morally responsible …


Detailed Mechanistic And Optimization Of The Photochemical Production Method Of Superoxide, Ta-Chung Ong Jan 2007

Detailed Mechanistic And Optimization Of The Photochemical Production Method Of Superoxide, Ta-Chung Ong

Honors Theses

The highly reactive nature of superoxide anion presents an analytical challenge to prepare stable standards for instrument calibration. McDowell et al. (1983) developed a convenient method of superoxide production based on continuous photolysis of benzophenone and acetone in oxygen saturated, alkaline, 2-propanol solution. In the McDowell reaction, ketones are photolyzed to their triplet state, and then reacted with alcohol to produce ketyl radicals that react with oxygen to produce superoxide. This study investigated the mechanism and rate of these reactions by Laser Flash Photolysis (LFP). Reaction rate constants for the reaction between the benzophenone triplet and ethanol was 5.5 x …


Dialectics Of Diaspora Space: A Study Of Contemporary, Diasporic, South Asian Fiction, Christopher A. Zajchowski Jan 2007

Dialectics Of Diaspora Space: A Study Of Contemporary, Diasporic, South Asian Fiction, Christopher A. Zajchowski

Honors Theses

In light of these continuing debates concerning immigration, national identity and belonging, re-examinations of immigrant and ethnic communities, often referred to as ‘diaspora,’ have become increasingly popular and prudent. Khachig Tololian, editor of Diaspora magazine, calls diaspora “exemplary communities of the transnational moment.”5 In an increasingly globalized world, where labor, capital, and resources are passed fluidly from continent to continent, diaspora are created by relocation or displacement of immigrant workers and their descendents.6 For these unskilled, immigrant laborers, middle class immigrants, and the children of both groups, adaptation to the culture, society, and life in a new ‘host’ country can …


Gauguin : Generating Art Using Genetic Algorithms & User Input Naturally, Thomas E. Cook Jan 2007

Gauguin : Generating Art Using Genetic Algorithms & User Input Naturally, Thomas E. Cook

Honors Theses

This paper outlines an undergraduate research project demonstrating an application of evolutionary computation in the context of computer art. The project, named GAUGUIN, combines the visual impact of modern computer graphics with the computational power of genetic algorithms. GAUGUIN allows the user to become a creator of art, without requiring any technical or artistic training. By using an intuitive and easily comprehensible process like evolution to create the composition, the user simply needs to evaluate a sequence of compositions. Mimicking the biological process of evolution, the system will evolve the works in order to achieve images that are more visually …


Intramolecular Chemistry Of Ss-Acetoxyethylidene And Photochemical Generation Of Vinylidenes, Jennifer M. Nguyen Jan 2007

Intramolecular Chemistry Of Ss-Acetoxyethylidene And Photochemical Generation Of Vinylidenes, Jennifer M. Nguyen

Honors Theses

The parent carbene ß-acetoxyethylidene has been previously generated by the photolysis of its precursor, acetic acid 1a,9b-dihydro-1H-cyclopropa[l]phenanthren-1-yl methyl ester. Mechanistic studies on ß-acetoxyethylidene have indicated the possibilities of three rearrangement pathways to the formation of vinyl acetate: a proton shift, an acyl shift, and a cyclic rearrangement (see Figure 8). A deuterium labeling study involving the replacement of the hydrogens on the methylene carbon has indicated that the simple 1,2-H shift was the primary manner of rearrangement, with an 82% yield of product. However, a primary kinetic isotope effect may have occurred due to the greater strength of a C-D …


Messy Love: Collection Of Short Stories, Mindy Favreau Jan 2007

Messy Love: Collection Of Short Stories, Mindy Favreau

Honors Theses

Messy Love: Collection of Short Stories


Women Making Progress?: A Study Of Wide Sargasso Sea As A Response To Jane Eyre, Kaitlin M. Gangl Jan 2007

Women Making Progress?: A Study Of Wide Sargasso Sea As A Response To Jane Eyre, Kaitlin M. Gangl

Honors Theses

I have always had a love for Victorian literature. Growing up I read Jane Austen, Louisa May Alcott, Elizabeth Gaskell, and many more Victorian female writers I could get my mother to recommend. Reading and writing has been a passion of mine since I was young, and female writers (Victorian in particular) were always a particular favorite of mine. Despite my interest in this genre, I found myself reading Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre (1847) for the first time just two years ago while studying in London. I was taking a Nineteenth-Century British Literature course, and while I appreciated the works …


Dynamics Of Transcriptional Repression By Λ Cro Repressor In Vivo, Dustin Land Markle Jan 2007

Dynamics Of Transcriptional Repression By Λ Cro Repressor In Vivo, Dustin Land Markle

Honors Theses

Cro is a regulatory protein that participates in the life cycle switch of bacteriophage lambda (X). While wild-type Cro is produced as a single domain polypeptide monomer, two monomers must assemble to form a dimer before Cro can act as a functional transcriptional repressor. We suspect that dimerization of Cro monomers determines, in part, the dynamics of the activity of the protein in vivo. Rate and equilibrium constants for dimerization of several Cro variants have already been determined in vitro,, and dimerization of Cro monomers is slow relative to other similar proteins. This study is concerned with exploring the in …


The Effects Of Stereotype Activation On Women's Reactions To Leadership Situations, Or, How Reading Cosmo Might Prevent You From Becoming Ceo, Stefanie L. Simon Jan 2007

The Effects Of Stereotype Activation On Women's Reactions To Leadership Situations, Or, How Reading Cosmo Might Prevent You From Becoming Ceo, Stefanie L. Simon

Honors Theses

The present experimental study investigated the effect of stereotype activation on women's responses to a leadership situation. Participants were exposed to either gender-stereotypic or gender-counterstereotypic magazine advertisements picturing women and then performed a leadership task involving two confederate s. Results supported the prediction that participants exposed to stereotypic advertisements would exhibit more negative reactions to the leadership situation than those exposed to counterstereotypic advertisements such that they reported lower perceived performance, self-esteem, and well-being. Sex-role orientation moderated this effect such that' advertisements had a stronger effect on feminine-oriented participants' domain identification, intent to lead in the future, and experienced cognitive …


Constructing Muammar Al-Gaddafi, Kristin Kushlan Jan 2007

Constructing Muammar Al-Gaddafi, Kristin Kushlan

Honors Theses

Rhetoricians such as Robert Ivie and George Lakoffhave examined the use of language of opposition to create and control various enemies during the War on Terror, but they have also ignored or overlooked numerous cases. This paper will examine one such case, that of Muammar al-Gaddafi, whose reciprocal violence eventually succumbed to the oppressor's global economic power. This case study will explore how the U.S. government rhetorically constructed Gaddafi in order to control both his identity within American society (as either an enemy or an ally), as well as the counter-violence that Gaddafi supposedly enacted against Western systems of power. …


The War On Inequality : Subtleties In The Perceptions Of Women Leaders, Adrienne Supino Jan 2007

The War On Inequality : Subtleties In The Perceptions Of Women Leaders, Adrienne Supino

Honors Theses

We studied whether the incongruity between the female gender role and stereotypically masculine leadership roles can lead people, particularly men and sex-typed individuals, to negatively perceive women in this type of leadership role. A study was designed to investigate whether the gender of a potential appointee to the historically masculine leadership role of Secretary of Defense, in either a time of peace or terror, affected people's perceptions of this person. Fifty-three participants read one of four articles containing biographical information about either a male or female candidate for the post, in either a peace context or a terror context. We …


The Post-Cold War Security Dialogue, Melanie Collins Jan 2007

The Post-Cold War Security Dialogue, Melanie Collins

Honors Theses

This paper attempts to explore the relevance of new security concerns in the post Cold War security dialogue. This project is split in to two parts. The first part is a brief summary of what have been termed new security concerns. The second part is an empirical analysis of whether these security concerns have made it out of academic discussion and in to the mass media and political dialogue. This was determined via two sources: The New York Times and Presidential State of the Union Addresses from 1949 - 2007. Using The New York Times, the time periods 1980-1985, 1990-1995, …


Growth And Immunocomptence In Parasitized Domestic Turkeys( Meleagris Gallapavo): Is There A Trade-Off?, Virginia Austin Harrison Jan 2007

Growth And Immunocomptence In Parasitized Domestic Turkeys( Meleagris Gallapavo): Is There A Trade-Off?, Virginia Austin Harrison

Honors Theses

Parasitic infection can prove to be detrimental to the condition, reproductive fitness, and survival of the host organism. During infection, an organism experiences trade-offs between functions such as growth, reproduction, and immunological activity as a result of limited resources. When challenged by infection, wild turkeys, adapted for survival, should fight the infection rather than invest in growth. Because domestic turkeys have been artificially selected to grow rapidly, I hypothesized that they would invest in growth rather than immunocompetence. To test this hypothesis, I infected domestic turkeys with coccidia and measured components of growth and immunocompetence. Turkeys were infected with the …


Influence Of Carrageenan-Induced Nociception On Separation-Induced Distress Vocalizations And Hyperthermia In Domestic Fowl Chicks, Erin Kathleen Johnson Jan 2007

Influence Of Carrageenan-Induced Nociception On Separation-Induced Distress Vocalizations And Hyperthermia In Domestic Fowl Chicks, Erin Kathleen Johnson

Honors Theses

While there is extensive research on the effects of stress on pain perception, very few studies have been conducted on how vary ing pain intensities affect stress levels. This study was conducted to simulate this relationship by using carrageenan-induced inflammatory nociception to quantify its effect on the stress measures of social separation stress devocaJizations (dVocs) and body temperature in 6-7 day old domestic fowl chicks. Nociception was induced 2 hours prior to the stress test, via intraplantar injection of carrageenan at either 0 %, 0.125%, 0.25%, or 0.5%, and was measured directly after the stress test by both foot withdrawal …