Digital Commons Network^™

Yeast Oxa1 Interacts With Mitochondrial Ribosomes: The Importance Of The C‐Terminal Region Of Oxa1, Lixia Jia, Mary Kathryn Dienhart, Mark Schramp, Matthew Mccauley, Kai Hell, Rosemary A. Stuart

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

The yeast mitochondrial Oxa1 protein is a member of the conserved Oxa1/YidC/Alb3 protein family involved in the membrane insertion of proteins. Oxa1 mediates the insertion of proteins (nuclearly and mitochondrially encoded) into the inner membrane. The mitochondrially encoded substrates interact directly with Oxa1 during their synthesis as nascent chains and in a manner that is supported by the associated ribosome. We have investigated if the Oxa1 complex interacts with the mitochondrial ribosome. Evidence to support a physical association between Oxa1 and the large ribosomal subunit is presented. Our data indicate that the matrix‐exposed C‐terminal region of Oxa1 plays an important …

Analysis Of Articles Published In Eight Selected Higher Education Journals On Selected Variables To Reveal Scholarly Development Of The Discipline, Kathy Brock Enger

Theses and Dissertations

The development of a discipline is reflected in its literature. Higher education is a fairly young discipline, as shown by the large amount of its literature beginning in the 1970s or later. Studying the literature of a discipline reveals various aspects of its development, and gives those engaged in its development an assessment of what is being done and who is doing it at a particular point in time. Using bibliometrics, or the literature as data, this dissertation examined articles in eight selected higher education scholarly journals in 1995 and 2000 to determine characteristics of the authors producing higher education …

Writing About The Most Meaningful Life Experience: Implications For Subjective Well-Being, Napoleon Andriopulos

Theses and Dissertations

This research investigation examined the influence of writing about the most meaningful life experience (MMLE) on the participants’ subjective weli-being (SWB) using a variation of Pennebaker’s expressive writing paradigm. Participants were 5:T undergraduate students enrolled at the University of North Dakota who were randomly assigned to one of two conditions (a) MMLE gu up: write about the MMLE, or (b) control topic: write about your plans for the day. Participants completed a consent form, demographic questionnaire, Nelson-Denny Reading Test (NDRT), Satisfaction with Life Scale (SWLS), and Positive Affect Negative Affect Scale (PmNAS). Participants then wrote about an assigned topic for …

Multiple Sclerosis, Time Of Day, And Subjectively Measured Sleep Effects On Neurological Functioning Using A Neuropsychological Battery, Julia R. Fitzgerald Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the impact of time of day of testing and subjectively measured daytime sleepiness and nighttime sleep on memory performance in adults with multiple sclerosis (MS) and in unimpaired adults. Thirty-four multiple sclerosis subjects (a.m.; N=17 and p.m.; N=17) and forty controls (a.m.; N=16 and p.m.; N=24) were assessed using the Logical Memory, Visual Reproductions, and Digit Span subtests of the Weschler Memory Scale-Ill, California Verbal Learning Test, and several questionnaires about mood, sleep, and physical symptoms. The primary result of this study was the absence of significant differences between the multiple sclerosis participants and controls on many …

Antipredator Behavior And Physiology Determine Lestes Species Turnover Along The Pond-Permanence Gradient, Robby Stoks, Mark A. Mcpeek

Dartmouth Scholarship

Identifying key traits that shape trade-offs that restrict species to only a subset of environmental gradients is crucial to understanding and predicting species turnover. Previous field experiments have shown that larvae of Lestes damselfly species segregate along the entire gradient of pond permanence and predator presence and that differential predation risk and life history constraints together shape their distribution. Here, we report laboratory experiments that identify key differences in behavior and physiology among species that structure their distributions along this gradient. The absence of adaptive antipredator behavioral responses against large dragonfly larvae and fish of Lestes dryas, the only species …

Analyzing Rhetoric : A Frame Analysis Of The Pro-Life Movement In The United States., Juanita Raley Shever 1949-

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to consider the significance of rhetoric used by pro-life social movement organizations to frame the experience of abortion and to label those women who have participated in that experience. The study explores how frames are devised and how these frames are applied so that reality is organized in such a manner as to appear aligned with the religious, moral, and/or philosophical position of the pro-life movement. The study uses pro-life web pages to obtain data; then, analyzes the data for emerging themes and content. The general tasks of framing such as agenda setting are …

University Reporter - Vol. 08, No. 04 - December 2003, University Of Massachusetts Boston

1996-2009, University Reporter

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Relationship Between Affordable Senior Housing With Public Transportation, Health Services, And Other Services In The City Of San Jose, Irene Liestiawati

Master's Projects

Changes in the composition and size of the population in the United States have led to some challenges that have to be addressed. One of the age groups that has increasing problems is the group of persons aged 65 years and over. The advancing technologies in health and better nutrition have implications for the needs of the elderly. Elderly housing problems are one of the implications that are caused by this elderly growth.

This study will undertake spatial analysis regarding conditions of the elderly in the City of San Jose by using U.S. census tract data and maps generated by …

Spatial Distribution Patterns Of Mistletoe (Antidaphne Viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae, And Phoradendron Undulatum: Viscaceae) On Psidium Guajava (Mrytaceae) In Monteverde, Costa Rica, December 2003, Matthew Greenfield

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Spatial distributions of mistletoe are noticeably clustered but unexamined in Monteverde, Costa Rica. To better understand their spatial structure, I examined the dispersion of two species of epiphytic mistletoe (Antidaphne viscoidea: Eremolepidaceae and Phoradendron undulatum: Viscaceae) within and between host trees. Six sites on one hill in Cañitas, Costa Rica were surveyed for data relating to dispersion structure (nearest neighbor distance and frequency within host trees). Additional study was done on the spatial dispersion on the host tree Psidium guajava, and it was found to have clustered dispersions. Indices of dispersion and tests comparing observed results to Poisson distributions showed …

Structural Habitat Preferences In Norops Tropidolepis In The Presence And Absence Of Norops Humilis, December 2003, Greg Maximov

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Interspecific and intraspecific competitions are effectively reduced in populations of Anoline lizards through the use of niche separation. While much research has been done on this phenomenon, not much research addresses what happens to niche structure in the absence of a species. This project studies the effects of the absence of Norops humilis on the structural habitat preferences of N. tropidolepis in an area of cloud forest in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Between the 25th of October and the 14th of November 2003, an area of cloud forest above the Estación Biológica de Monteverde was searched thoroughly for Norops (Zones 3 …

Family Composition Of Vascular Epiphytes Varies By Directional Quadrant, December 2003, David N. Bums

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Vascular epiphytes are an extremely diverse and prevalent plant-form of neotropical cloud forests, and are strongly affected by abiotic factors including light and moisture. The goal of this study was to determine whether the family composition and diversity of vascular epiphytes living on pasture tree trunks differed by quadrant (northeast, northwest, southeast, and southwest). It was hypothesized that the northeast quadrant would exhibit the greatest diversity due to the mist-laden trade winds blowing from that direction. Twenty trees in a pasture surrounded by lower montane wet forest in Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica were divided into four quadrants and sampled for …

Effects Of Tree Buttresses On Nutrient Availability And Macroinvertebrate Species Richness, December 2003, Alyson P. Mack

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

This study tested the hypothesis that buttress microhabitats collect more leaf litter and have greater macroinvertebrate species richness, thereby increasing the leaf decomposition rate and providing more nutrient rich soil for the tree. Leaf litter deposition and decomposition rates, soil fertility (pH, [N], [P], |K]), and macroinvertebrate species richness (S, Smarg) were compared between microhabitats in buttressed and nonbuttressed trees and open areas in the lower montane cloud forest of Monteverde, Costa Rica. Results showed no significant difference between microhabitat types for soil pH levels (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= 3.188), soil [N] (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= 3.388), soil [P] (Kruskall-Wallis test, H= …

Flower Color And Shape Variation On An Elevational Gradient, December 2003, Sarah Fraser

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Many flowering plant species have coevolved with pollinator species to form fairly specialized pollination systems that involve both color and shape of flowers, for example red and orange tubular-shaped flowers are attractive to hummingbirds and white, yellow, and blue disk and head shaped flowers are attractive to insects. In Monteverde, Puntarenas, Costa Rica an elevational gradient of pollinator animals has been observed such that cool temperatures in the high altitude regions limit insect activity to low elevations, thereby leaving the high elevation pollination to hummingbirds, leading to the hypothesis that flower color and shape patterns would reflect this pollinator gradient. …

A Survey Of The Herpetofauna Of The San Luis Valley, Costa Rica, In Three Microhabitats, December 2003, John Benjamin

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

I surveyed reptile and amphibian diversity in three types of microhabitats in the San Luis valley, Puntarenas, Costa Rica, an area whose herpetofauna has not yet been thoroughly inventoried. I sampled species richness and abundance using nine line transects of 150 m in length around the Ecolodge and Biological Station San Luis, located all 1150 m in elevation. Three transects were in riparian habitat,three were in forest habitat, and three were in pasture habitat. I found 14 species within the transect areas, and a total of 23 species in San Luis including specimens that were encountered outside the transects. Some …

Nonlethal Techniques For Managing Predation: Primary And Secondary Repellents, John A. Shivik, Adrian Treves, Peggy Callahan

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

Conservation biology requires the development of practical tools and techniques to minimize conflicts arising from human modification of ecosystems. We applied behavioral theory of primary and secondary repellents to predator management by using aversive stimulus devices (electronic training collars) and disruptive stimulus devices (behavior-contingent audio and visual repellents) in a multipredator (Canis lupus, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Ursus spp. ) study in the United States. We examined fladry and a newly developed disruptive stimulus device contingent upon behavior on six wolf territories in Wisconsin, (US.A.) and determined that the disruptive stimulus device gave the greatest degree of protection from predation. We …

Wolf Depredation Trends And The Use Of Fladry Barriers To Protect Livestock In Western North America, Marco Musiani, Charles Mamo, Luigi Boitani, Carolyn Callaghan, C. Cormack Gates, Livia Mattei, Elisabetta Visalberghi, Stewart W. Breck, Giulia Volpi

United States Department of Agriculture Wildlife Services: Staff Publications

In Alberta, Canada (1982-2001), and in Idaho, Montana, and Wyoming, United States (1987-2001), wolves (Canis lupus) killed various domestic animals, among which the major prey were sheep in the United States (68%, n = 494) and cattle in Canada (95%; n = 1633). Under recovery programs, the wolf population increased in the United States, and depredation events increased proportionately. In both countries, the number of domestic animals killed each year was correlated with the number of wolves killed by government authorities for depredation management. We tested the ability of anti-wolf barriers made of flags hanging from ropes to impede wolf …

Comparative Literature Versus Comparative Cultural Studies, Tomo Virk

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

In his paper, "Comparative Literature versus Comparative Cultural Studies," Tomo Virk discusses debates of the role, essence, and the future of comparative literature as it has developed since the 1995 publication of the Bernheimer Report. Virk explores the situation of the discipline in its North American context: "contextualists" argue for the abandoning of comparative literature understood as the study of literature with theoretical investigations of literariness while the "non-contextualists" underscore the study of the linguistic structure(s) of the text. Virk supports comparative literature understood as the traditional concentration of the discipline with focus on the specificities of literary questions while …

Coping With Stressful Situations: The Use Of Humor As A Preventative Coping Mechanism For Preceived Stress In Public Speaking, Randall J. Smies

Theses and Dissertations

This study attempted to determine the effects of using a humorous intervention as a preventative coping mechanism to lower the perceived stress that can be associated with public speaking. Further, it examined the effects that the humorous intervention would have on both the perceived self-efficacy for the current public speaking and for future public speaking situations. It was hypothesized that a humorous intervention administered before an actual stressful situation in an individual's life would lower stress and also increase their perceived self-efficacy regarding the stressor in the present and in the future.

Participants included 64 college students recruited from an …

Sport Supplements And High School Athletes: A Study Of Use And Motivations, Bethany Coovert

Masters Theses

The use of sports supplements is prevalent among American society, including high school athletes. The purpose of this study was to determine what sports supplements high school athletes are consuming, what are the motivations behind the athletes use, where do the athletes obtain the supplements, where do the athletes acquire information regarding sports supplements and who encourages and/or discourages the athletes supplement use. A questionnaire was distributed to high school athletes in the greater Kalamazoo, Michigan area, with a seven percent response rate.

The study found that 34% of the high school athletes surveyed reported to use sports supplements. The …

A Link With Nature: The Healing Of Soul, Kelly B. Kraehe

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This paper accompanies the Master of Fine Arts exhibition titled A Link With Nature. Art cannot divorce itself from its process, from its artist, and from becoming a product. Like the canopy, trunk and roots of a tree, the parts of art are mysteriously interdependent and would not exist alone. So too in my art, the artist, process, and product are woven together to form a visual tapestry that I have defined throughout the thesis paper. As artist, aesthetic experiences have formed the vision that I portray through painting and sculpture. The process of going places, seeing things and …

The Effect Of Web Interface Features On Consumer Online Shopping Intentions, Jeffrey Sam Siekpe

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Amid the storm of hype over Internet adoption, it is observed that during the past years, organizations have taken considerable interest in eagerly acquiring computer hardware and software to implement electronic commerce (e-commerce) applications mostly to the detriment of human aspects of the information technology (IT) solutions (Freemantle, 2002; Lockwood & Lamp, 2000). Various Internet technologies, mostly the Web, have been implemented to offer online goods and services. Many credible estimates suggest that Internet buying and selling will account for close to $2 trillion of annual economic activity by 2004 (Citrin et al., 2003; Fry, 2000). While the promise of …

Breeding Distribution And Habitat Use Of Audubon's Oriole In The Lower Rio Grande Valley Of Texas, Steven Gerald Monk

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

Audubon's Oriole ( Icterus graduacauda ) was known historically throughout the Lower Rio Grande Valley (LRGV) of Texas, but its breeding range has now declined to mainly riparian habitat in Starr County. Habitat loss, degradation, and fragmentation, and brood parasitism by Bronzed Cowbirds ( Molothrus aeneus ) are likely causes of this decline. Habitat patches where Audubon's Orioles were present were larger, with a larger vertical range of canopy, greater vegetation volume, greater richness of bird and woody plant species, less local deforestation, and less local habitat fragmentation than where Audubon's Orioles were absent. Bronzed Cowbirds showed no numeric correlation …

K+- Induced Dilation Of Cremasteric Arterioles Involves Na+/K+Atpase And Inward Rectifier K+ Channels, Wendy Burns

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the possible mechanisms involved in cremasteric arteriolar dilation as a result of increased concentrations of ([K⁺]_o) extracellular potassium. Many other studies suggested that Na⁺/K⁺ ATPase or K_IR channels are responsible for potassium-induced vasodilation in other systems (2, 12, 22, 40, 46, 52, 16, 17, 25, 33, 34, 85, 99, 151). However, these studies show only partial inhibition of dilation as a result of independent blockageof each mechanism. The hypothesis of this study was that both mechanisms contribute to potassium-induced dilation seen in cremasteric arterioles. …

The Virtues Of Knowing Less: Justifying Privacy Protections Against Disclosure, Daniel J. Solove

Duke Law Journal

This Article develops justifications for protections against the disclosure of private information. An extensive body of scholarship has attacked such protections as anathema to the Information Age, where the free flow of information is championed as a fundamental value. This Article responds to two general critiques of disclosure protections: (1) that they inhibit freedom of speech, and (2) that they restrict information useful for judging others. Regarding the free speech critique, the Article argues that not all speech is of equal value; speech of private concern is less valuable than speech of public concern. The difficulty, however, is distinguishing between …

Alaska’S Dna Database: The Statute, Its Problems, And Proposed Solutions, Marika R. Athens, Alyssa A. Rower

Alaska Law Review

No abstract provided.

Survey Of Health Effects Among Residents Adjacent To A National Priority List Site In Ssouthwest Virginia., Danette Haywood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The Saltville Waste Disposal Site is a National Priority List site used during the 77- year operation (1895–1972) of an electrolytic chlorine and caustic soda plant. A cross-sectional study was conducted to determine disease prevalence among Saltville Medical Center (SMC) patients. Diseases associated with chronic exposures to mercury, arsenic, and lead were reviewed in patient records and these data were analyzed. Ratios of illness observed at the SMC were compared to health studies of similar environmental exposures and disease prevalence among residents of neighboring communities. Prevalence ratios were calculated for residents and non-residents of Saltville who were SMC patients. Saltville …

Bounding The Global War On Terrorism, Jeffrey Record Dr.

Books, Monographs & Collaborative Studies

The author examines three features of the war on terrorism as currently defined and conducted: (1) the administration's postulation of the terrorist threat, (2) the scope and feasibility of U.S. war aims, and (3) the war's political, fiscal, and military sustainability. He believes that the war on terrorism--as opposed to the campaign against al-Qaeda--lacks strategic clarity, embraces unrealistic objectives, and may not be sustainable over the long haul. He calls for downsizing the scope of the war on terrorism to reflect concrete U.S. security interests and the limits of American military power.

Chinch Bug-Resistant Buffalograss: An Investigation Of Tolerance, Antixenosis, And Antibiosis, Tiffany Heng-Moss, Frederick P. Baxendale, Terrance P. Riordan, Linda J. Young, Kit Lee

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Choice and no-choice studies were conducted to determine the categories (antibiosis, antixenosis, and tolerance) of resistance of four buffalograsses (NE91-118, ‘Bonnie Brae’, ‘Cody’, and ‘Tatanka’) previously identified as resistant to the western chinch bug, Blissus occiduus Barber. Antibiosis studies found no significant differences in western chinch bug fecundity, nymphal development, or survival among the resistant and susceptible buffalograsses. Tolerance studies indicated that NE91-118, Cody, and Tatanka exhibited moderate-to-high levels of tolerance based on western chinch bug damage ratings and plant height, whereas Bonnie Brae exhibited moderate-to-low levels of tolerance. Choice studies indicated the presence of antixenosis in NE91-118, whereas Cody …

Characterization Of General Esterases From Methyl Parathion-Resistant And -Susceptible Populations Of Western Corn Rootworm (Coleoptera: Chrysomelidae), Xuguo Zhou, Michael E. Scharf, Lance J. Meinke, Laurence D. Chandler, Blair D. Siegfried

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

A consistent correlation between elevated esterase activity and methyl parathion resistance among Nebraska western corn rootworm, Diabrotica virgifera virgifera LeConte, populations has previously been documented. Characterization of general esterase activity using naphtholic esters as model substrates indicated that differences between resistant and susceptible strains could be maximized by optimizing assay conditions. The optimal conditions identified here were similar to those reported for other insect species. The majority of general esterase activity was found in the cytosolic fractions of resistant populations, whereas the activity was more evenly distributed between cytosolic and mitochondrial/nuclear fractions in the susceptible population. General esterase activity was …

The Drosophila Selenoprotein Bthd Is Required For Survival And Has A Role In Salivary Gland Development, So Yeon Kwon, Paul Badenhorst, F. Javier Martin-Romero, Bradley A. Carlson, Bruce M. Paterson, Vadim Gladyshev, Byeong Jae Lee, Dolph L. Hatfield

Vadim Gladyshev Publications

Selenium is implicated in many diseases, including cancer, but its function at the molecular level is poorly understood. BthD is one of three selenoproteins recently identified in Drosophila. To elucidate the function of BthD and the role of selenoproteins in cellular metabolism and health, we analyzed the developmental expression profile of this protein and used inducible RNA interference (RNAi) to ablate function. We find that BthD is dynamically expressed during Drosophila development. bthD mRNA and protein are abundant in the ovaries of female flies and are deposited into the developing oocyte. Maternally contributed protein and RNA persist during early …