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Characterization Of Molecular Functions Of Polyamines In Fruit Development And Ripening In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Raheel Anwar

Open Access Dissertations

Putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM) are three major polyamines (PAs) present in all living organisms. These biogenic amines have been implicated in diverse plant growth and development processes, including seed germination, tissue lignification, organogenesis, flowering, pollination, embryogenesis, fruit development, ripening, abscission, senescence, and stress responses. To elucidate molecular roles of PAs in fruit development and ripening, I characterized transgenic tomato plants ectopically expressing yeast spermidine synthase (ySpdSyn) or S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (ySAMdc) under constitutive CaMV 35S and/or fruit-specific SlE8 promoters. The ySpdSyn-expression enhanced PUT, SPD and SPM level in floral buds and fertilized developing ovaries by 2- to 3-fold …

Changes In Gene Expression And Viral Titer In Varroa Jacobsoni Mites After A Host Shift Asian To European Honey Bees, Gladys K. Andino Bautista

Open Access Dissertations

Honey bees (Apis mellifera L.) are the most important insects for the pollination of crops and wildflowers. However, they have experienced increasing colony die-offs during the past two decades. Multiple species of parasitic mites have been described that affect honey bees. The most important species in beekeeping belong to the genus Varroa ( Varroa jacobsoniand Varroa destructor). Varroa mite parasitism of honey bees is thought to be the most significant cause of colony mortality worldwide, and mite resistance to active ingredients of acaricides has become common. V. destructor causes direct impacts on bee production as well as …

Novel Strategies For The Purification And Inhibition Of Protein-Tyrosine Kinases, Alexander Brown Iv

Open Access Dissertations

Protein-tyrosine kinases (PTKs) play essential roles in the cell signaling pathways of eukaryotes. However, since their discovery, PTKs have also been linked to cancer and it is now known that many of these enzymes actively promote oncogenic cell signal transduction in unregulated forms. Therefore, there has been a concerted effort on the part of researchers to identify the PTKs that potentiate such pathways, characterize their regulatory properties, and develop strategies to selectively disrupt these key elements of oncogenic signaling. Following this strategy, work described in this dissertation first focuses on the characterization of a relatively unstudied PTK, known as SRMS, …

A Population-Based Nutrition Intervention In College Students, Jennifer Arts

Open Access Dissertations

Coronary heart disease (CHD) is a leading cause of death in young adults and at least half of college students ages 18-24 have CHD risk factor. Unhealthy dietary choices made by college students contribute to the development of CHD risk factors. Eighty-percent of heart disease is preventable through diet and lifestyle and college students are ideal targets for prevention efforts since they are in the process of establishing lifestyle habits, which track forward into adulthood. The purpose of this dissertation is to provide evidence for the need to target this age group before disease progression occurs and to present the …

Taking Race Out Of The Picture: Health Communication And Disease Prevention For Black Americans, Amanda Lee Almond

Open Access Dissertations

The dissertation being presented in the following chapters represents an examination of philosophy of science, underlying theory, empirical evidence, and research design targeted at understanding the relevance of race when communicating stroke prevention to Black Americans. In the introduction is a description of previous research and relevant course work pertaining to the construction of the research question: Is it a good practice of science to communicate race as a disease risk in attempts to modify health behaviors of Black Americans? The work begins with a description as to how race became a construct of interest in American science and demands …

Transcriptional Regulation Of Aldo-Keto Reductase 1d1, Leila Valanejad

Open Access Dissertations

Bile acids are physiological detergents and surfactants with recently identified roles as signaling hormones. Maintenance of physiologically normal bile acids levels is fundamentally important as a deregulation within the bile acid synthesis pathway has the potential to result in an unbalanced bile acid pool. This may result in any number of pathological down stream effects and can exacerbate various diseases and disorders. Chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and cholic acid (CA) are two major primary bile acids in humans with CDCA being more hydrophobic and toxic than CA. Aldo-keto reductase 1D1 (AKR1D1) and 12-alpha-hydroxylase (CYP8B1) are the two key enzymes responsible for …

Registered Pedophiles' Thoughts On The Efficacy, Justification, And Psychosocial Impact Of Sorna (Sex Offender Registration And Notification Act) And Their Sensitivity To Sexual And Non-Sexual Violence, Aviva N. Moster

Open Access Dissertations

This study investigated registered pedophiles’ (N = 121) thoughts on the efficacy, justification, and psychosocial impact of the Sex Offender Registration and Notification Act (SORNA) as well as examined these offenders’ views on sexual and non-sexual violence.

One thousand male pedophiles identified as medium (Tier II) or severe (Tier III) sex offenders were identified via the Internet through national public online sex offender registration databases. They were randomly selected from nine states around the country. The number of pedophiles chosen from each state was proportionate to the total number of sex offenders registered within those states.

A questionnaire was mailed …

Synthesis And Evaluation Of Amphiphilic Peptides As Nanostructures And Drug Delivery Tools, Naser Ali Sayeh

Open Access Dissertations

Intracellular delivery of cell-impermeable compounds in a variety cells using delivery systems have been extensively studied in recent years. Obtaining desirable cellular uptake levels often requires the administration of high quantities of drugs to achieve the expected intracellular biological effect. Thus, improving the translocation process across the plasma membrane will significantly reduce the quantity of required administered drug and consequently minimize the side effects in most of the cases. Efficient delivery of these molecules to the cells and tissues is a difficult challenge. Compounds with low cellular permeability are commonly considered to be of limited therapeutic value. Over the past …

Kinetic Studies Of Model Reactions To Transform Biomass Into Fuels, Dhairya Dilip Mehta

Open Access Dissertations

Second-generation biofuels utilizing lignocellulosic biomass are considered to be a promising alternative to fossil-based fuels. Lignocellulosic biomass is structurally diverse and therefore requires detailed understanding of the thermal depolymerization and catalytic hydrodeoxygenation reactions to optimize the overall process. This dissertation describes the experimental work using model compounds to elucidate the role of bimetallic catalyst and control the reaction operating parameters such as temperature and hydrogen pressure to maximize energy recovery in the liquid product from biomass resource.

Lab-Scale Fast-Hydropyrolysis And Vapor-Phase Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation For Producing Liquid Fuel Range Hydrocarbons From Intact Biomass, Vinod Kumar Venkatakrishnan

Open Access Dissertations

Liquid transportation fuels are primarily produced from petroleum-based non-renewable carbon sources. Sustainably available lignocellulosic biomass, as a renewable form of atmospheric carbon, could be utilized to produce hydrocarbon-based fuels with high energy density. One of the process options for this conversion is the H2Bioil process, where biomass is rapidly heated in a hydrogen environment to produce fast-hydropyrolysis vapors that are catalytically upgraded in downstream hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) to produce hydrocarbons. This process has been modeled to have high carbon and energy efficiencies of ~70% and ~75%, respectively.

This dissertation presents the results of a lab-scale experimental proof-of-concept for the H2Bioil process …

Identification Of Genomic Factors Using Family-Based Association Studies, Libo Wang

Open Access Dissertations

Genome-wide association studies become increasingly popular and important for detecting genetic associations of complex traits. However, it is well known that spurious associations could arise from statistical analysis without proper consideration of genetic relatedness of samples. Many methods have been proposed to guard against these spurious associations. Here we focus on multi-locus association studies of quantitative traits and the case-control status, and propose algorithms that take into consideration of genetic related samples to address possible confounding issues. As supervised dimension reduction methods, these algorithms performs well to conduct association studies with a large number of biomarkers but a relative small …

Kinetics Of Polymer Cyclization Reaction And Novel Covalent Dna Cross-Linking Assays, Reza Afra

Open Access Dissertations

In this dissertation I first do an extensive review of polymer cyclization kinetics. Different theories of polymer cyclization kinetics, their assumptions and their predictions are presented along with the predictions of computer simulations. In addition, the experimental results for synthetic and biological polymers are summarized.

Blood, Tears, And Sweat: An Intersectional Excavation Of The Literary Vampire In Neoliberal Discourse, Jessica Elizabeth Birch

Open Access Dissertations

This project engages in a critical examination of the figure of the sympathetic vampire in paranormal romance novels and its relationship to neoliberal individualism, using an analytic frame informed by Valerie Smith's conceptualization of black feminist thinking; it focuses on the portrayal of the neoliberal institutions of nationalism, race, heterosexuality, and motherhood within Jewelle Gomez's The Gilda Stories, L.A. Banks's Minion, and Charlaine Harris's Dead Until Dark. As the ideology of neoliberal individualism has shaped the dominant discourse of the United States, neoliberal individualism has also remade the discourse of monstrosity with regard to vampires. The shifting representation of the …

Catalytic Hydrodeoxygenation Of Guaiacol Over Noble Metal Catalysts, Danni Gao

Open Access Dissertations

Pyrolysis of biomass is a promising technology to convert solid biomass into liquid bio-oils. However, bio-oils have high water and oxygen content which subsequently lowers their energy density relative to conventional hydrocarbons. For these reasons, an upgrading process is required. Catalytic hydrodeoxygenation (HDO) is a rapidly developing technology for oxygen removal from pyrolysis bio-oils and noble metal catalysts have shown promising activities, especially as compared to the traditional hydrodesulphurization catalysts (e.g. CoMo/Al2O3 and NiMo/Al2O3). However, further understanding and development of the catalysts through improving robustness, increasing the oil yield and reducing the hydrogen consumption are still required. In this work, …

Inhibition Of Activities Of Individual Subunits Of Intestinal Maltase-Glucoamylase And Sucrase-Isomaltase By Dietary Phenolic Compounds For Modulating Glucose Release And Gene Response, Meric Simsek

Open Access Dissertations

The occurrence of Type 2 diabetes is on the increase all over the world. Since free glucose is released through digestion of starch in the human diet, control of the starch digesting enzymes, particularly the intestinal mucosal alpha-glucosidases [Maltase-Glucoamylase (MGAM) and Sucrase-Isomaltase (SI)], has a potentially important role in both the etiology and treatment of this metabolic disorder. Inhibition of the activities of the intestinal alpha-glucosidases may be a promising way to moderate glucose delivery to the body. Although some commercial inhibitors, such as acarbose, have strong effect on these enzymes, and essentially block starch digestion, there is a need …

Uncertainty Quantification In Scientific Models, Xin Qi

Open Access Dissertations

Uncertainties widely exist in physical, finance, and many other areas. Some uncertainties are determined by the nature of the research subject, such as random variable and stochastic process. However, in many problems uncertainty is a result of lack of knowledge and may not be modeled as random variables/processes because of the lack of probability information. This is often referred to as epistemic uncertainty, and the traditional probabilistic approaches cannot be readily employed. First two parts of this work study epistemic uncertainties in the forward problems. A method to compute upper and lower bounds for the quantity of interest of problems …

Dj-1 And Atp13a2: Two Proteins Involved In Parkinson’S Disease, Josephat M Asiago

Open Access Dissertations

Parkinson's disease (PD) is the second most common neurodegenerative disorder after Alzheimer's disease, affecting approximately 0.3% of the total U.S. population, and its prevalence increases with age. Two neuropathological hallmarks of PD are the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, a region in the midbrain involved in initiating and sustaining movement, and the presence of cytosolic inclusions called Lewy bodies (LBs) in various brain regions. LBs are enriched with fibrillar forms of the presynaptic protein &agr;-synuclein (aSyn). Two autosomal recessive genes implicated in familial PD are PARK9, encoding the P-type ATPase ATP13A2, a lysosomal ATPase; and …

Crown Ideotypes For Genetically Improved Black Walnut (Juglans Nigra L.) Clones Under An Intensive Management Regime In Indiana, Usa, Kejia Pang

Open Access Dissertations

Developing crown ideotypes is important for more efficiently producing timber from black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), a valuable hardwood species that mainly grow in the Central Hardwood Region, US. To develop black walnut crown ideotypes for timber growth under an intensive management regime in North-Central Indiana, the following investigations were conducted:

Jmjc Domain-Containing Histone Demethylase 2 (Jhd2): Bridging The Gap Between H3k4 Trimethylation And H3 Acetylation, Kayla Marie Harmeyer

Open Access Dissertations

Gene expression has been shown to be regulated through epigenetic modifications to the N-terminal tail of histones. Among these modifications is methylation of lysine residues. The enzyme Jhd2 is a histone demethylase that functions to remove H3K4 methylation in S. cerevisiae. Jhd2 is a homologue of the human JARID1 family of histone demethylases, which has four members: JARID1A, B, C and D. JARID1B is of particular interest because it has been shown to be up regulated in 90 percent of primary breast cancers. Furthermore, JARID1A has been shown to be up regulated in gastric cancer. Therefore studying how these H3K4 …

Crown Ideotypes For Genetically Improved Black Walnut (Juglans Nigra L.) Clones Under An Intensive Management Regime In Indiana, Usa, Kejia Pang

Open Access Dissertations

Developing crown ideotypes is important for more efficiently producing timber from black walnut (Juglans nigra L.), a valuable hardwood species that mainly grow in the Central Hardwood Region, US. To develop black walnut crown ideotypes for timber growth under an intensive management regime in North-Central Indiana, the following investigations were conducted:

Kinetic Studies Of Model Reactions To Transform Biomass Into Fuels, Dhairya Dilip Mehta

Open Access Dissertations

Second-generation biofuels utilizing lignocellulosic biomass are considered to be a promising alternative to fossil-based fuels. Lignocellulosic biomass is structurally diverse and therefore requires detailed understanding of the thermal depolymerization and catalytic hydrodeoxygenation reactions to optimize the overall process. This dissertation describes the experimental work using model compounds to elucidate the role of bimetallic catalyst and control the reaction operating parameters such as temperature and hydrogen pressure to maximize energy recovery in the liquid product from biomass resource.

Characterization Of Molecular Functions Of Polyamines In Fruit Development And Ripening In Tomato (Solanum Lycopersicum), Raheel Anwar

Open Access Dissertations

Putrescine (PUT), spermidine (SPD) and spermine (SPM) are three major polyamines (PAs) present in all living organisms. These biogenic amines have been implicated in diverse plant growth and development processes, including seed germination, tissue lignification, organogenesis, flowering, pollination, embryogenesis, fruit development, ripening, abscission, senescence, and stress responses. To elucidate molecular roles of PAs in fruit development and ripening, I characterized transgenic tomato plants ectopically expressing yeast spermidine synthase (ySpdSyn) or S-adenosylmethionine decarboxylase (ySAMdc) under constitutive CaMV 35S and/or fruit-specific SlE8 promoters. The ySpdSyn-expression enhanced PUT, SPD and SPM level in floral buds and fertilized developing ovaries by 2- to 3-fold …

Modulating Cell Differentiation With Protein-Engineered Microenvironments, Yeji Kim

Open Access Dissertations

Tissue damage caused by diseases and injuries requires regeneration to recover proper tissue function. Traditional treatments using autologous tissue have not yet met the need for tissue regeneration. Tissue engineering has emerged as an alternative strategy for tissue regeneration. It utilizes biomaterials that mimic native cellular microenvironments and provide environmental cues to induce specific cell responses, including differentiation. Biochemical and biophysical cues modulate cell behavior and direct construction of specific types of tissue. Thus, this work describes production and characterization of protein-engineered microenvironments that provide biochemical and biophysical cues to modulate stem cell differentiation.

Jmjc Domain-Containing Histone Demethylase 2 (Jhd2): Bridging The Gap Between H3k4 Trimethylation And H3 Acetylation, Kayla Marie Harmeyer

Open Access Dissertations

Gene expression has been shown to be regulated through epigenetic modifications to the N-terminal tail of histones. Among these modifications is methylation of lysine residues. The enzyme Jhd2 is a histone demethylase that functions to remove H3K4 methylation in S. cerevisiae. Jhd2 is a homologue of the human JARID1 family of histone demethylases, which has four members: JARID1A, B, C and D. JARID1B is of particular interest because it has been shown to be up regulated in 90 percent of primary breast cancers. Furthermore, JARID1A has been shown to be up regulated in gastric cancer. Therefore studying how these H3K4 …

On The Theory Of Brownian Aggregation In Colloidal Dispersions, Aniruddha Kelkar

Open Access Dissertations

Brownian aggregation kinetics is a topic of interest for colloidal dispersions, macromolecular fluids, nanoparticle self-assembly, and biochemical reactions. The manipulation of colloidal dispersion stability by containing or promoting aggregation rates is manifest in several natural phenomena and engineering applications. The destabilization of silt dispersions as river water mixes with the high-ionic-strength seawater near river system deltas leads to the deposition of fertile soil on the river banks. Pigments used in the stone age paintings found in the Lascaux caves of France and in the written records of Egyptian pharaohs are early examples of stabilized colloidal dispersions. Present day applications include …

Novel Strategies To Develop Better Brucellosis Vaccines Using Brucella Abortus Rb51 And B. Neotomae, Neha Dabral

Open Access Dissertations

The genus Brucella consists of Gram-negative, facultative intracellular coccobacilli that can cause chronic infections in several mammals. Brucella spp. can exhibit a smooth or rough phenotype; smooth Brucella spp. contain a surface-exposed O-polysaccharide in their cell wall structure while the rough Brucella spp. are devoid of the O-polysaccharide. Acquired immunity against Brucella infection is primarily cell-mediated and involves both CD4+ T cells and CD8+ T cell responses. However, antibodies to the O-polysaccharide also play a role in enhancing the protection against infections by virulent Brucella species in some hosts. B. abortus strain RB51 is a stable rough attenuated mutant which …

Solution Synthesized Nanostructured Thermoelectric Materials, Scott William Finefrock

Open Access Dissertations

Thermoelectric heat engines are currently used in several niche applications for electricity generation and cooling. Many additional applications would be practical if thermoelectric materials with improved figures of merit could be made. Over the past twenty years, many nanostructured materials have been shown to possess improved figures of merit compared to their bulk counterparts mostly due to the reduction in thermal conductivity associated with nanostructured materials. Several classes of solution synthesized nanostructured materials have achieved high figures of merit, yet significant room for improvement exists for solution synthesized nanostructured PbTe.

Micromanipulator-Resonator System For Selective Weighing Of Individual Microparticles, Bin-Da Chan

Open Access Dissertations

Over the past decade, MEMS-based cantilever sensors have been widely used in the detection of biomolecules, environmental pollutants, chemicals and pathogens. Cantilever-based sensors rely on attachment of target entities on their surface. The attachment causes either change in surface stress or resonance frequency of the cantilever, which is detected using various schemes that range from optical to piezoelectric. The majority of these sensors rely on probabilistic attachment of multiple target entities to the sensor surface. This introduces uncertainties since the location of the adsorbed target entity can modify the signal generated by the sensor. In addition, it does not allow …

Compartmentalized D2-Dopamine Receptors: Roles In Signaling & Potential Mechanism Of Antipsychotic Drug Action, J. Christopher Octeau

Open Access Dissertations

Dopamine is the most widely distributed catecholamine neurotransmitter in the brain. D2-dopamine receptors (D2R) are one member of a receptor class, known as G-protein coupled receptors, which transduce cellular signals upon an interaction with dopamine. Historically, it was believed that in schizophrenic patients, an excess of dopaminergic signaling at D2R was the cause of psychotic symptoms. Thus, antipsychotics reversed psychosis by blocking excessive dopaminergic signaling from D2R. Sixty years after the introduction of antipsychotic drugs, the connection between the anti-dopaminergic activity of these drugs at D2R and the suppression of psychotic symptoms remains unknown. Understanding the ways that different molecules …

Amphiphilic Cyclic Cell-Penetrating Peptides As Drug Delivery Vehicles And Antimicrobial Peptides, Donghood Oh

Open Access Dissertations

Cell membrane is a barrier to be overcome for efficient delivery of therapeutics into a target site in cytoplasm or nucleus. The hydrophobic phospholipids are major components of the cell membrane that obstruct the transportation of therapeutics. Thus, various delivery systems, such as liposomes, nanoparticles and viral vectors, have been developed to transfer small molecules, peptides, proteins, and oligonucleotides across the membrane.

Negatively charged phosphopeptides, oligonucleotides, and siRNAs have emerged as potential therapeutic agents. Phosphopeptides mimic phosphoproteins, which give on/off signal to many enzymes through interactions with protein kinases. For example, phosphopeptide pTyr-Glu-Glu-Ile (pYEEI) is an optimal peptide ligand for …