Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of A Mushroom (Coriolus Versicolor) Based Probiotic On Innate Immunity In Goats Naturally Infected With Gastrointestinal Parasites, Kingsley Ekwemalor

Theses

Gastrointestinal parasites such as the nematode Haemonchus contortus and protozoa Coccidia pose a serious threat to the global goat industry due to resistance of parasites to anthelmintic drugs. The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of extracts of CorPet biomass, a mushroom (Coriolus versicolor) on gastrointestinal parasite infection and innate immunity in goats. Fifteen female SpanishXBoer goats were drenched with 10 ml of either a hot extract of CorPet (N=5), a cold extract (N=5), or with sterile water (control N=5) for eight weeks. Treatment groups were reversed after four weeks. Body weight, body condition and FAMACHA scores, …

Identification Of The Molecular Mechanisms Governing The Osmotolerance Of The Emerging Gastrointestinal Pathogen Cronobacter Sakazakii, Audrey Feeney

Theses

Cronobacter sakazakii is an organism which has been associated with severe life- threatening diseases in infants and neonates. Mortality rates of up to 80% have been recorded in infants infected with Cronobacter sakazakii. Infants often suffer from septicaemia, necrotising enterocolitis and meningitis as a result of infection. A characteristic feature of the opportunistic foodborne pathogen Cronobacter sakazakii is its ability to survive in extremely arid environments such as powdered infant formula, making it a dangerous opportunistic pathogen of neonates. Herein, we provide a brief overview of the pathogen; clinical manifestations, environmental reservoirs and our current understanding of stress response mechanisms …

Listeria Monocytogenes'. A Genomic Perspective On Its Pathogenesis, Persistence And Bacteriophages., Aidan Casey

Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the genetic characteristics of Listeria monocytogenes that contribute to the threat it poses to the food processing industry. Transcriptomic analysis of a persistent L. monocytogenes isolate following exposure to an industrial detergent identified key upregulations in biological processes involved m peptidoglycan biosynthesis, chemotaxis and motility. Two bacteriophages against serotype 4b and 4e isolates of L. monocytogenes were isolated and sequenced. Comparative genomic and functional analysis identified the receptor binding proteins in each phage, whi]e transmission electron microscopy demonstrated a conserved baseplate architecture which also exists in other Gram­positive phages. Comparative genomics of …

Development Of A Novel Wet Algal Lipid Extraction Technique, Chen Zhang

Theses

A novel procedure, ASAPALLE, for lipid extraction from wet algae, Nannochloropsis Salina, was developed and reported. This method does not require pre-dehydration of algal biomass and the total extraction time needed is under one minute. The ASAPALLE extraction was compared with hexane Soxhlet extraction to evaluate the lipid extraction efficiency and the lipid profile. Algal lipid yield of the ASAPALLE extraction was 14.3% of the total dry algal biomass weight, while the hexane Soxhlet extraction after 18 hours yielded 7.9% of algal lipid. The total lipid content was approximately 14.6%, determined by a modified Bligh-Dyer method. The quality of the …

Phytochemical Analysis Of Antileishmanial Plants : A Drug Discovery Approach, Samon Shrestha

Theses

Phytochemical analysis of three antileishmanial plants from Monteverde, Costa Rica and Abaco Island, Bahamas, has been carried out by use of column chromatography for phytoseparation, and NMR and IR spectroscopy for structural elucidation. Ruyschia phylladenia contained betulinic acid as major component, with significant amount of lupeol. Eugenia monteverdensis contained beta-Sitosterol, betulinic acid and barbinervic acid. Tabebuia bahamensis contained large amount of ursolic acid. Betulinic acid inhibited promastigotes of L. amazonensis significantly but was also toxic to mouse macrophages. Lupeol and betulinic acid did not show antimicrobial activity while beta-Sitosterol inhibited Aspergillus niger strongly. Barbinervic acid expressed good inhibition of Bacillus …

Efficient Spherical Parameterization For Feature Aligned Mesh Morphing, Sabin Timalsena

Theses

This study presents an approach for establishing surface correspondence between multiple genus zero triangle meshes and animating a morph between them. The concepts of mesh simplification and refinement are used to progressively parameterize meshes using a novel metric for measurement of distortion in parameterized triangles. The parameterization algorithm is quite efficient and can process tens of thousands of triangles per minute. Feature correspondence is established between meshes through a two-step feature alignment procedure that aligns user selected features in the parametric domain. The parameterizations are used to merge the shapes from input models in order to generate a single mesh …

Multispectral Remote Sensing Of Archaeological Features In The Chicama Valley, Peru, Claire Christine Herdy

Theses

Around 100 A.D. a regional culture emerged on the north coast of Peru in the Moche Valley that lasted for several centuries. Today called the Moche or Mochica, it is considered on of the earliest states to emerge in the valleys of the Andes. The environment the Moche flourished in is one of extremes, from high deserts in the Andes to lush river valleys and an unforgiving coastline that overlooks the pacific Ocean, In this harsh environment the Moche grew and succeeded partly because of their achievement in advanced irrigation technology. How did the ancient Moche adapt to a desert …

Cognitive Studies On A Mouse Model Of Tyrosinemia Type I, Sarah Bradham Coker

Theses

Hereditary Tyrosinemia Type 1 (TTI) is an autosomal recessive disorder that is characterized by the deficiency of the fumarylacetoacetase (FAH) enzyme in the tyrosine catabolic pathway, resulting in the elevation of tyrosine and its byproducts in the blood, cerebrospinal fluid (CSF), and tissues. The accumulation of the toxic metabolites succinylacetone and fumarylacetoacetate in the liver and kidneys leads to catastrophic effects and death if not treated. The current treatments available for TTI patients are pharmacotherapy with nitisinone (NTBC) with diet modification and/or a liver transplant, each with its own associated risks. Recently, data has been published showing that TTI patients …

A Gas Chromatographic/Mass Spectral Analysis Of Aromatic Medicinal Plants From Yemen, Bhuwan Khatri Chhetri

Theses

Yemen is a small country located in the southwestern part of the Arabian Peninsula. Yemen’s coastal lowlands, eastern plateau and deserts give it a diverse topography, which along with climatic factors make it opulent in flora. Despite the introduction of western medicinal system during the middle of the twentieth century, herbal medicine still plays an important role in Yemen. However, little has been done on the study of the aromatic medicinal plants that have been used through ages to cure and heal diseases. To this end, in collaboration with Deparment of Pharmacognosy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Sana’a University, Yemen the essential …

Conversion Of Neural Network Models To State-Space Models For Model-Based Control Design, Sai Susheel Praneeth Kode

Theses

The objective of this research is to implement an artificial neural network into a closed-loop model based control law that requires a state space model. Model based control laws are strongly preferred due to the existence of mathematical proofs for their performance. With mathematical proof of performance, the controller is guaranteed to work correctly within a designed domain of operation. However, deriving physics based mathematical models and accurately identifying the parameters of such models are cumbersome, or sometimes impossible, for complex nonlinear systems. This limits the application domain of model based controllers. Neural networks are a great tool for modeling …

Evaluation Of Magnesium-Based Alloys As Degradable Biomaterials, Nan Zhao

Theses

Biomaterials including ceramic material, polymer material, metallic material and composite material have been used in biomedical scaffolds, artificial tissues, and drug delivery systems for a long time. Magnesium (Mg) and Mg-based alloys are a new generation of degradable metallic materials that have attracted great attention in the last ten years. The advantages of Mg alloys as biomaterials are their good biocompatibility and biodegradability. Mg as an essential element in human body is an enzyme cofactor for over 300 biochemical reactions. However, the degradation process of Mg material may hinder the potential application. The purpose of this study is to evaluate …

Workplace Well-Being: Examining The Mental And Psychological Health And Safety Of Non-Unionised And Unionised Employees, Peter O'Mahony

Theses

A quantitative case study was conducted to gain a deeper understanding of the mental and psychological health and safety of non-unionised and unionised employees within the researcher's organisation, a multi-national pharmaceutical company based in Ireland. One hundred and sixty-seven employees and seven senior managers were surveyed to explore their perspectives of psychological health and safety risks in the workplace across thirteen different psychosocial factors which are known to either have positive or negative effects on the psychological health and well-being of an employee.

The Guarding Minds at Work (GM@W) online survey resources were considered appropriate methods to collect the necessary …

Maritime Exposure And Economic Prosperity: Why Location Matters, Jesse M. Lane

Theses

No abstract provided.

Exploiting Bacteriophages And Associated Peptidoglycan Hydrolases With Potential For Biocontrol In Food Related Applications, Lorraine Endersen

Theses

The work presented in this thesis describes the isolation and characterisation of novel bacteriophages, and the subsequent exploitation of their bactericidal properties against two opportunistic food related pathogens, Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (MAP) and Cronobacter sakazakii.

MAP is a proven animal pathogen known to cause Johne’s disease in cattle but has been implicated as a causative agent of Crohn’s disease in humans. Despite the fact that this association has yet to be proven, significant focus has been directed towards evaluating the consequences of consuming milk contaminated with MAP. Accordingly, six mycobacteriophages were isolated and characterised in terms of temperature and …

The Impact Of Corporate Social Responsibility In Customers' Preference Of Retail Business; A Case Study Of Debenhams Pic. In The Context Of Public Relations., Md Abul Kalam Azad

Theses

The aim of this thesis is to find out how the consumers' loyalty to a particular retailer is affected by the involvement of the company to various CSR activities. Companies engage in a number of CSR activities not only for an instant increase of sale but also for a good reputation and to fulfil their commitments to the community. At least three different but integrated research methods were used in this thesis to find out what CSR activities the mentioned company is engaged in and the extent of customers' loyalty is achieved. In a word, the correlation of these was …

Traumatic Facet Joint Dislocations In Western Australia, Vivek Eranki

Theses

Background: Early enlocation of dislocated cervical facets is important to minimize long term neurological deficit.

Aims: To assess impact of delay in enlocation on clinical outcome in patients with facet dislocations and propose a scheme for enlocation for rural patients who usually have longer enlocation times.

Methods: A retrospective analysis of consecutive cervical spine facet joint dislocations presenting to Royal Perth Hospital from January 2009 to November 2012 was carried out to assess factors affecting final neurological outcome (ASIA score) at discharge.

Results: A total of 51 patients were included in the study. More patients in the urban group had …

Optimising Motor Learning Of Infants At High Risk Of Cerebral Palsy Using Goal-Oriented And Environmental Interventions, Catherine Morgan

Theses

Background and aims: Cerebral palsy (CP) is the most common physical disability of childhood occurring in 1 in 500 live births in developed countries. Although CP starts in infancy because of a lesion in the developing brain, it is usually not diagnosed until about 19 months. The problem with late detection has meant that early neurorehabilitation is not accessed until motor impairment is evident. Consequently the dose of active intervention during the critical period for brain plasticity is often inadequate. Little evidence exists for the effectiveness of early intervention (EI) protocols for infants with CP. In particular, interventions that take …

Hyperglycemia And Inhibition Of The Monocarboxylate Transporter 1 (Mct1) Enhances Growth Arrest In Cancer Cells, Aleksandra I. Pivovarova

Theses

Many cancer cells rely predominately on glycolysis for their energy production, even in the presence of oxygen. They proceed further and reduce the glycolysis product pyruvate to lactate, by means of fermentation, for continued ATP production. This phenomenon is called the Warburg effect, and is associated with an upregulation of glycolysis and increased lactate production. A persistent increase in glycolysis and ATP turnover leads to an intracellular proton accumulation, which could eventually lead to cell damage and death by cytosolic acidification. However, cancer cells avoid acidification and maintain an appropriate intracellular pH by employing monocarboxylate transporters for the coupled export …

Client-Server View-Dependent Isosurfacing With Enhanced Interactivity, Matthew Couch

Theses

In this thesis, we describe a new framework for client-server isosurfacing on volumetric data. Regions of the data set that contain no visible part of the isosurface are determined on the server. The visible regions of the data set are then transferred to the client for isosurfacing. In addition, the framework transfers some non-visible regions to the client that may become visible when the viewpoint changes. Experimental results for application of the framework to volumetric data are also presented here.

Analysis Of Host-Parasite Interactions Between Darters (Etheostoma) And Monogenoidean Gill Parasites (Aethycteron) In Flat Creek And Mill Creek, Kara Million

Theses

This study sought to investigate the parasite-host relationships between two darter assemblages and their gill parasite populations, and to compare the biodiversity present in both systems. Eight darter species were collected over the course of one year from two sites in Tennessee, Flat Creek and Mill Creek, and parasite counts were performed on all sample populations. Parasite loads were compared across darter species in each site to determine whether infection levels differed significantly between host species. Phylogenetic trees containing mitochondrial and nuclear markers were constructed for each set of organisms using Bayesian analysis, and the trees were examined for congruence …

A Nucleotide Sequence Level Approach To Detection Of Lateral Gene Transfer In Eukaryotic Genomes, David E. Gray

Theses

Detection of lateral gene transfer (LGT) in eukaryotes has previously relied almost exclusively on phylogenetic analysis of amino acid sequences. This study developed a method for detection of eukaryotic LGT at the nucleotide sequence level. A pipeline was constructed consisting of Perl scripts that automate BLAST searches, phylogeny construction, and selection of phylogenetic trees indicating LGT. This pipeline was tested on the genomes of a bdelloid rotifer, Adineta vaga, and the pea aphid, Acyrthosiphon pisum, using known LGT events as positive controls, as well as on a soil fungus, Laccaria bicolor, and a the black cottonwood tree, Populus trichocarpa. Analysis …

Identification Of The Molecular Target Of The Doc Toxin Of The P1 Bacteriophage Plasmid Addiction System, Darren Ferree

Theses

Doc toxin from the bacteriophage P1 plasmid addiction operon kills daughter cells that are cured of plasmid. At the beginning of this project it was known that Doc is a kinase that transfers the phosphoryl group from the gamma position of ATP to some unidentified target protein of approximately 45 kDa molecular weight. To better characterize this target, assays were conducted to determine optimal conditions for Doc-dependent phosphorylation of target, and these conditions were then used to generate samples for analysis by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, liquid chromatography-coupled tandem mass spectrometry, and immunoprecipitation. The results of these experiments indicate that …

Detecting Corrosion With Passive Radio Frequency Identification Tags, Emily Maureen Layden

Theses

A small, remotely accessed corrosion detector has yet to be realized despite corrosion being a major obstacle in maintaining metal structures. This work demonstrates a detector made using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology that is capable of fulfilling these requirements. A RFID tag was made using copper tape, a 100pF capacitor, and a 13.5 MHz microchip partially covered in a resistive polymer containing a corrosion susceptible material. This material was created using a thin section of copper tape. The functionality of the tag was monitored as the thin copper tape was corroded using ferric chloride. After the tag ceased working, …

Aerodynamic Performance Of Flexible Flapping Wings In Hover At Fruit Fly And Bumblebee Scales, Madhu K. Sridhar

Theses

Aeroelastic response at fruit fly and bumblebee scales is explored using a well-validated Navier-Stokes equation solver, fully-coupled with a linear Euler-Bernoulli beam solver. Hover flight is considered with passive pitch at low Reynolds numbers. A systematic study with varying motion amplitudes and wing stiffness showed that the optimal efficiency at both scales was observed at lower reduced frequencies and frequency ratios, whereas lift was the highest at the higher reduced frequency and frequency ratio. The aeroelastic response at bumblebee scale was non-periodic and more unsteady when compared to fruit fly scale, consistent with the higher Reynolds number for the bumblebee. …

The Expression Pattern Of Death Associated Protein Kinase1 In Normal Dorsal Root Ganglion Neurons And Following Peripheral Nerve Injury, Maryam Sulaiman Mohammed Al Saadi

Theses

Death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) is a calcium/calmodulin (Ca^2+/CaM) regulated serine/threonine kinase. An increasing body of evidence supports the significance of DAPK 1 protein in cancer and CNS diseases. The role of DAPK in peripheral nerve regeneration and neuropathic pain remains completely unexplored. The aim of this study is to investigate the expression pattern of DAPK1 along with key pro-and anti-apoptotic cell signaling molecules (p53, Bax, Akt, ERK5, p38) and to verify the possibilities of DAPKI1-NMDA NR2B relationship in dorsal root ganglion neurons (DRG) after 2 hours, 7 days and 14 days following a sciatic nerve injury. Gene …

Tidy Guide – A Beginner’S Guide To An Organized Home, Katie Hollenbeck

Theses

Search for "how to organize" on the web, and you will be inundated with endless resources. Organizing information is everywhere, making the task seem intimidating. For my thesis project, I sought out to create an interactive, instructional, web-based application that would coach users on how to organize objects within a specific space. My goal was to create a unique, visual, creative solution - one that did not already exist on the web, and one that would become an important tool for users who were seeking organizing assistance and advice. Not only did I intend the application to be unique, visual, …

Sustainable Packaging Design Visually Explained Guidebook Prototype, Sara Almudhaf

Theses

As the fields of graphic and packaging design continue to evolve, it is important to keep their applications sustainable and green. Unaware graphic and packaging designers need to have an easy-to-comprehend source of information about sustainability. Developing an educational information graphics guidebook prototype has potential to serve as a unique tool for understanding the need for sustainable packaging design. The purpose of it is to eases the understanding of a complex system and enables users to discover relationships and connections among design, economy, environment, and society.

This prototype project involved designing a comprehensive sustainability symbol set where no satisfactory symbol …

Torino Is My Town, Elisabetta D’Amanda

Theses

Elena is 20 years old. Born in Italy to an Italian mother and an American father she grew up in Rochester, New York and she is currently living in New York City. Like any American kid she is a mix of different cultures, but her Italian roots are very well grounded in her soul. In the summer of 2013, she traveled with her mother to Torino, the town were her mother grew up and the place about which she has always heard many stories. This thesis film will demonstrate that Elena and her mother's trip is not just a geographical …

Restoring Fort Frontenac In 3d: Effective Usage Of 3d Technology For Heritage Visualization, Mitsuyoshi Yabe

Theses

My thesis is composed of three elements: 3D modeling, web design, and heritage visualization. My goal is to use computer graphics design to inform and create an interest in historical visualization by rebuilding Fort Frontenac using 3D modeling and interactive design. The final model will be integrated into an interactive website to learn more about the fort's historic importance. It is apparent that using computer graphics can save time and money when it comes to historical visualization. Visitors do not have to travel to the actual archaeological buildings. They can simply use the Web in their own home to learn …

Biological And Physiological Condition Of Juvenile California Halibut (Paralichthys Californicus) Exposed To A Contamination Gradient In Mission Bay, Ca, Kevin Stolzenbach

Theses

Contaminated sediments in marine environments have been shown to be good indicators of ecological risk and a means to assess anthropogenic impacts on marine habitats and the animals that inhabit them (Long et al. 1995, Rattner 2009). Estuarine sediments are especially complex media with regard to physical, chemical, and biological characteristics that trap, store, modify and sometimes release contaminants to the biota (Long et al. 1995). Especially vulnerable are animals that are in constant contact with the sediments, such as flatfishes that partially bury themselves for camouflage (Costa et al. 2011). Impacts can be assessed in a number of ways, …