Seroprevalence Of Malarial Antibodies In Galapagos Penguins (Spheniscus Mendiculus), Jamie Lynn Palmer

Theses

Introduced diseases such as avian malaria can severely impact the health of small populations and have been the cause of species extinctions. Island species are thought to be more highly susceptible to introduced diseases. These populations have likely evolved in the absence of various pathogens making them immunologically naïve to diseases that occur regularly in mainland species. The Galapagos archipelago still preserves 95% of its species diversity known to have occurred there. The introduction of Haemosporidian parasites in the genus Plasmodium, which cause avian malaria, have had detrimental impacts on naïve populations in other island systems. Until recently, avian malarial …

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Endemic Top Predator Response To Goat Eradication On Santiago Island: The Galapagos Hawk And Its Diet., Jaramillo Cruz Mari Nov 2011

Endemic Top Predator Response To Goat Eradication On Santiago Island: The Galapagos Hawk And Its Diet., Jaramillo Cruz Mari

Theses

The eradication of invasive species is becoming a common approach for the conservation of native communities around the world. The current study is one component of a long-term monitoring of the Galapagos Hawk (Buteo galapagoensis) before, during and after the eradication of goats (Capra hircus) on Santiago Island. As the herbivory pressure was released, we foresaw that the rapid vegetation recovery would affect the hunting success of the Galapagos Hawk on its preferred terrestrial prey. We performed a comparative study on the feeding ecology of the hawk by direct observation of prey delivered to nests pre- (1999-2000) and post-goat eradication …

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Consumers' Self-Image Response To Gender Portrayal In Advertising Images, Rebecca Delaney Nov 2011

Consumers' Self-Image Response To Gender Portrayal In Advertising Images, Rebecca Delaney

Theses

Previous empirical research has examined the effect of advertising image idealization on self-image issues, but many of these studies neglect to take into account the effects on men. By developing an experiment to include key components from previous methods of research, the present study investigates the effects of gender portrayal in advertising images. The purpose of this study is to examine consumers' responses to the advertising stimulus, or the advertising images of gender. Inconsistent with past research, findings suggest there is less disparity between men and women's reactions after viewing gender portrayals in advertising images. It is suggested that there …

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Hypothetical Thermodynamic Properties: Application Of Correlation Gas-Chromatography To The Evaluation Of The Vaporization Enthalpies Of Fluorinated Compounds, Darrell Wayne Hasty Nov 2011

Hypothetical Thermodynamic Properties: Application Of Correlation Gas-Chromatography To The Evaluation Of The Vaporization Enthalpies Of Fluorinated Compounds, Darrell Wayne Hasty

Theses

Relatively little vaporization enthalpy data has been published for fluorinated compounds. The increasing commercial use of fluorinated chemicals and their rapid spreading within our biosphere necessitates a better understanding of their thermodynamic properties and long-term stability. This paper presents an initial attempt at applying correlation gas chromatography (C-GC) to investigate its possible use in deriving the enthalpy of vaporization at 298 K for twenty-seven partially or fully fluorinated compounds. Additionally, the behavior of the n-perfluoroalkanes are examined and compared to their hydrocarbon analogues. Although published data for the n-perfluoroalkanes as a function of the number of carbons appears to be …

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Rna-Sequencing Analysis From The Triceps Muscle Of Normal And Myostatin-Deficient Mice Using Various Tools, Richard Rodrigues Nov 2011

Rna-Sequencing Analysis From The Triceps Muscle Of Normal And Myostatin-Deficient Mice Using Various Tools, Richard Rodrigues

Theses

RNA-Sequencing technologies are being used to determine the single nucleotide polymorphisms, insertions, deletions and gene expression. The purpose of this study was to analyze the effect of myostatin in the triceps muscles of mice using 65 bases single-end RNA-Sequencing data from the Illumina platform. Another aim was to analyze alternative splicing events for differentially expressed genes in the above data. Finally, commercially available and open source software packages were compared for their splice junction detection abilities. CASAVA was used for determining the exon, gene and splice junction counts. Partek Genomic Suite was used to perform a two-way analysis of variance …

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An Atmospheric Correction Algorithm For Hyperspectral Imagery, Lee Sanders Nov 2011

An Atmospheric Correction Algorithm For Hyperspectral Imagery, Lee Sanders

Theses

Radiometrically calibrated hyperspectral imagery contains information relating to the material properties of a surface target and the atmospheric layers between the surface target and the sensor. All atmospheric layers contain well-mixed molecular gases, aerosol particles, and water vapor, and information about these constituents may be extracted from hyperspectral imagery by using specially designed algorithms. This research describes a total sensor radiance-to-ground reflectance inversion program. An equivalent surface-pressure depth can be extracted using the NLLSSF technique on the 760nm oxygen band. Two different methods (APDA, and NLLSSF) can be used to derive total columnar water vapor using the radiative transfer model …

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Water Availability, Carbon-Based Plant Defenses, And The Outcome Of Tritrophic Interactions In An Ant-Plant Mutualism, John Craft Flunker Nov 2011

Water Availability, Carbon-Based Plant Defenses, And The Outcome Of Tritrophic Interactions In An Ant-Plant Mutualism, John Craft Flunker

Theses

There have been few studies that examine the influence of soil water content on the outcome of interactions between ants, insect herbivores, and extrafloral nectary (EFN)-producing plants despite the potential of soil water to alter such interactions. Here I asked two questions: 1) Does water availability mediate the phenotypic expression of EFN, chemical and physical defenses? 2) Does water availability influence the outcome of tritrophic interactions between ants, herbivores, and EFN producing plants? Plants of Chamaecrista fasciculata (Fabaceae) growing naturally in a remnant prairie were randomly assigned to water addition or control and ant removal or control in a two …

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Feasibility Of Integrating Multiple Types Of Electroactive Polymers To Develop A Biomimetic Inspired Muscle Actuator, William Spath Nov 2011

Feasibility Of Integrating Multiple Types Of Electroactive Polymers To Develop A Biomimetic Inspired Muscle Actuator, William Spath

Theses

The focus of this project is to see if it is possible to integrate multiple EAP materials in an electro- mechanical system to produce a closer representation of a biological muscle with smooth varying motion. In this preliminary study, two common types of EAPs, ionic and dielectric, were investigated to determine their mechanical and electrical properties in order to assess their potential to be combined into a working artificial electromechanical muscle prototype at a later time. A conceptual design for an artificial electromechanical muscle was created with biomimetic relationships between EAP materials and the human bicep muscle. With the assistance …

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Parallel Implementation Of Maximum Parsimony Search Algorithm On Multicore Cpus, Andrew Darling Nov 2011

Parallel Implementation Of Maximum Parsimony Search Algorithm On Multicore Cpus, Andrew Darling

Theses

Phylogenetics is the study of the evolutionary relationships among species. It is derived from the ancient greek words, phylon meaning "race", and genetikos, meaning "relative to birth". An important methodology in phylogenetics is a cladistics methodology (parsimony) applied to the study of taxonomic classification. Modern study includes as source data aspects of molecular biology, such as the DNA sequence of homologous (orthologous) genes. The algorithms used attempt to reconstruct evolutionary relationships in the form of phylogenetic trees, based on the available morphological data, behavioral data, and usually DNA sequence data (Fitch W. M., 1971). The topic of this thesis is …

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Part 1: Size-Independent Quantification Of Ligand Binding Site Depth In Receptor Proteins. Part 2: Representing Rod-Shaped Protein 3d Structures In Cylindrical Coordinates, Srujana Cheguri Nov 2011

Part 1: Size-Independent Quantification Of Ligand Binding Site Depth In Receptor Proteins. Part 2: Representing Rod-Shaped Protein 3d Structures In Cylindrical Coordinates, Srujana Cheguri

Theses

Abstract 1 We have developed a web server that implements the two complementary methods to quantify the depth of ligand and/or ligand binding site (LBS) in a protein-ligand complex. The two methods are the `secant plane' (SP) and the `tangent sphere' (TS) methods. In the SP and TS methods, the protein molecular centroid (global centroid, GC), and the LBS centroid (local centroid, LC) are first determined. The SP is defined as the plane passing through the LBS centroid and normal to the line passing through the LC and the protein molecular centroid. The "exterior side" of the SP is the …

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Parathyroid Hormone And Cell Signaling In Bone Remodeling, Christina Battista Oct 2011

Parathyroid Hormone And Cell Signaling In Bone Remodeling, Christina Battista

Theses

Many mathematical models relevant to osteoporosis have been developed and studied. Although osteoclasts and osteoblasts are the crucial variables in bone resorption and bone formation, PTH can cause changes in the ratio of these cells and therefore should be studied more closely. Some of the current models for osteoporosis will be analyzed in this thesis as well as amended to account for the phenomenon that occurs with various methods of PTH administration. By administering PTH in either pulsatile or continuous doses, we obtain very different results. When administered in a continuous fashion, the body experiences a net bone loss over …

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An Economic Approach To The Ecological Issues Of Urban Stormwater Runoff: A Case Study Of The Allen Creek Watershed In Monroe County, New York, Kelly Hellman Oct 2011

An Economic Approach To The Ecological Issues Of Urban Stormwater Runoff: A Case Study Of The Allen Creek Watershed In Monroe County, New York, Kelly Hellman

Theses

Urban stormwater runoff is excess runoff created by increased imperviousness in an urbanized watershed and can have significant impacts on both water quantity and quality. Natural communities and human communities are faced with damages that occur as a result of the change in the type and magnitude of stormwater runoff flows, including but not limited to increased flooding and degradation of natural aquatic systems. Therefore, from both an economic and ecological perspective, it is important that urban planners effectively manage excess stormwater runoff. This paper details the development of an ecological-economic model that can be used to guide urban planners …

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A Search For Mri Diffusion Coefficient Standards, Hongmei Yuan Oct 2011

A Search For Mri Diffusion Coefficient Standards, Hongmei Yuan

Theses

Diffusion coefficients (D) can be readily measured by nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) instruments. Operators of these instruments often utilize standards with known diffusion coefficients to rapidly and conveniently test the performance of the NMR or MRI system to measure diffusion. A variety of these standards have been proposed in the scientific literature. This thesis describes a diffusion standard based on water constrained by container geometry, specifically water between tightly packed, parallel glass fiber filaments. The restricted diffusion of water in this environment gives a diffusion coefficient which is selectable by the choice of data …

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“Sport @ Dawn”-Pyd In Action? An Investigation Of The Youth Development Effects Of A School-Based Multi Sport Initiative On First Year Boys, Tim Mcmahon Oct 2011

“Sport @ Dawn”-Pyd In Action? An Investigation Of The Youth Development Effects Of A School-Based Multi Sport Initiative On First Year Boys, Tim Mcmahon

Theses

The genesis of this study emerges from an interest in exploring the potential of sport as a means of advancement of the individual and by extension society. Lerner (2004) for example highlights the importance of adolescent development when he ascertains that “the future of civil society in the world rests on the promotion of positive development and a commitment to positive and socially just community contributions by the young”. A body of empirical evidence based on the broad principals of Positive Youth Development (PYD) has suggested that sport can provide the catalyst for youth development(Hellison, 2000; Fraser Thomas et al, …

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Wireless Body Area Network Platform Utilizing Energy-Efficient Routing Of Physiological Data, Alvaro Prieto Sep 2011

Wireless Body Area Network Platform Utilizing Energy-Efficient Routing Of Physiological Data, Alvaro Prieto

Theses

Wireless Body Area Networks (WBANs) consist of several wireless sensors located around a human body. These sensors may measure several biological signals, movement, and temperature. Due to major improvements in power consumption and constantly shrinking devices, WBANs are becoming ubiquitous. As a side effect present because of the small form factor of these devices, the battery size is limited. While the sensors themselves may be extremely power efficient, all of the measured data must be transmitted over a much less efficient wireless link. One benefit of WBANs is that they rarely include more than a dozen wireless devices over a …

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The "Human Mental State Multiple Realizability In Silicon Thesis" Is False: An Argument Against Computational Theories Of Consciousness, Matthew Stuart Piper Sep 2011

The "Human Mental State Multiple Realizability In Silicon Thesis" Is False: An Argument Against Computational Theories Of Consciousness, Matthew Stuart Piper

Theses

In this paper, I argue that all computational theories of consciousness (CTCs) fail. CTCs hold that the right kind of computation is sufficient for the instantiation of consciousness. Given the widely-recognized importance of his work, I will use David J. Chalmers’ Thesis of Computational Sufficiency as a paradigm case. I will argue that it fails for a reason that can be formalized as a general problem plaguing any CTC: the medium-independent properties (MIPs) constitutive of computational processes are insufficient to instantiate the medium-dependent properties (MDPs) constitutive of consciousness. MIPs, like graphemes, are properties whose causal role (e.g., symbolic meaning) does …

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Use Of Fluorescent Micropsheres To Measure Coronary Flow Reserve In Rat Animal Model, Riddhi Harsh Shah Aug 2011

Use Of Fluorescent Micropsheres To Measure Coronary Flow Reserve In Rat Animal Model, Riddhi Harsh Shah

Theses

Heart attacks result from reduced or blocked blood flow through major coronary arteries, resulting in permanent damage to heart muscle. Coronary blood flow (CBF) is thus important to measure in experimental animal models of heart disease. A standard method to measure CBF uses tracer microspheres (Ø = 15 µm) injected into the left ventricle that flow through coronary arteries but cannot pass through capillaries and so become trapped in heart muscle. Previously, radioactive or colored microspheres have quantified the number of tracers trapped in the muscle. Fluorescent microspheres offer a more recent and more sensitive measurement mode. However, fluorescent microspheres …

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