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2007 - 2008, Gardner-Webb University Academic Catalog, Gardner-Webb University

Undergraduate Academic Catalogs

2007 - 2008, Gardner-Webb University Academic Catalog. A. Frank Bonner, president.

Contrasting Biogeochemistry Of Six Trace Metals During The Rise And Decay Of A Spring Phytoplankton Bloom In San Francisco Bay, Allison C. Luengen, Peter T. Raimondi, A. Russell Flegal

Environmental Science

The spring 2003 phytoplankton bloom in South San Francisco Bay (South Bay) affected the cycling of Mn, Co, Zn, Ni, and Pb, but not Cu. We followed this diatom bloom for 2 months, capturing a peak in chlorophyll a (Chl a) of >150 µg L^-1 and then an increase in dissolved organic carbon of >400 µmol L^-1 as phytoplankton decomposed. To determine how the stages of the bloom affected metal concentrations, we used principal component analysis to reduce our 15 water chemistry variables into a bloom factor, a sorbent factor, and a decay factor. Increasing values of the …

Investigating The Spring Bloom In San Francisco Bay: Links Between Water Chemistry, Metal Cycling, Mercury Speciation, And Phytoplankton Community Composition, Allison C. Luengen

Environmental Science

Investigating the spring bloom in San Francisco Bay: Links between water chemistry, metal cycling, mercury speciation, and phytoplankton community composition This dissertation addresses the relationship between two problems facing estuaries nationwide: nutrient enrichment and metal contamination. The focus is on the southern reach of San Francisco Bay, where high nutrient concentrations can control the magnitude of the predictably occurring spring phytoplankton bloom. The bloom in this study, in spring 2003, was one of the largest blooms on record, exceeding 150 μg L ^-1 of chlorophyll α. As the bloom grew, diatoms (e.g. Thalassiosira punctigera ) depleted dissolved nutrients from the …

From Morphology To Neural Information: The Electric Sense Of The Skate, Marcelo Camperi, Timothy C. Tricas, Brandon R. Brown

Physics and Astronomy

Morphology typically enhances the fidelity of sensory systems. Sharks, skates, and rays have a well-developed electrosense that presents strikingly unique morphologies. Here, we model the dynamics of the peripheral electrosensory system of the skate, a dorsally flattened batoid, moving near an electric dipole source (e.g., a prey organism). We compute the coincident electric signals that develop across an array of the skate's electrosensors, using electrodynamics married to precise morphological measurements of sensor location, infrastructure, and vector projection. Our results demonstrate that skate morphology enhances electrosensory information. Not only could the skate locate prey using a simple population vector algorithm, but …

Impacts Of Predators On Northern Bobwhites In The Southeast, John P. Carroll, Susan N. Ellis-Felege, William E. Palmer

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

The northern bobwhite quail (Colinus virginianus) is an important game bird that is intensively managed for hunting recreation in the southeastern United States. Despite interest regionwide, populations have been declining for much of the last 40 years (Brennan 1999). Population declines in the Southeast have occurred as a result of widespread habitat loss associated with land-use changes (Brennan 1999). These land-use changes include both conversion from agricultural to forest landscapes and changes in forest management practices, which result in dense forest canopies that shade required ground vegetation (Brennan 1999, Rollins and Carroll 2001). In addition, low-quality habitats may …

Nutrient Cycling In Forage Production Systems, David A. Wedin, Michael P. Russelle

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

In most forage production systems, the nutrients needed for plant growth are provided by microbially mediated breakdown and release of plant-available mineral nutrients from dead plant tissues, livestock excreta, soil organic matter, and geochemically bound mineral forms. Even in fertilized forage systems, determining appropriate fertilizer application rates requires a "systems" approach on the part of the manager (e.g., Di and Cameron, 2000; Rotz et al., 2002). Fertilizer additions are simply one input in the system of inputs, outputs, pools, and fluxes that characterize nutrient cycling in a particular ecosystem.

Estimation Of Catchment-Scale Evapotranspiration From Baseflow Recession Data: Numerical Model And Practical Application Results, Jozsef Szilagyi, Zoltan Gribovszki, Peter Kalicz

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Hungarian National Report On Iahs: 2003-2006, Jozsef Szilagyi

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Approximating Variance Of Demographic Parameters Using The Delta Method: A Reference For Avian Biologists, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Avian biologists routinely estimate sampling variance for parameter estimates such as daily nest survival, fecundity, annual survival, and density. However, many biologists are not certain of methods to derive sampling variance for parameters when survival rates change temporal scales. Similar methods are needed to obtain sampling variance when biologists combine parameter estimates to calculate an indirect demographic parameter, such as population growth rate. The delta method is a useful technique for approximating sampling variance when the desired demographic parameter is a function of at least one other demographic parameter. However, the delta method is rarely taught in most graduate-level biology …

High School Students' Perceptions Of A College Of Agricultural Sciences And Natural Resources, Susan Fritz, Dann E. Husmann, Duane Reese, Richard Stowell, Larkin A. Powell

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Declining enrollment in the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources fueled discussions about changing the name of the college as a means of reversing the trend. In spring 2005, a comprehensive study was launched to assess the perceptions of key college populations. This study relates to one of those four populationsresident, college-bound high school seniors. A survey developed by Kansas State University was a starting point for the development of a mailed survey to evaluate the college's image, the influence of the college's name, the level of awareness of program offerings and career opportunities, and to identify actionable changes. …

Bird Movement Predicts Buggy Creek Virus Infection In Insect Vectors, Charles R. Brown, Mary Bomberger Brown, Amy T. Moore, Nicholas Komar

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Predicting the spatial foci of zoonotic diseases is a major challenge for epidemiologists and disease ecologists. Migratory birds are often thought to be responsible for introducing some aviozoonotic pathogens such as West Nile and avian influenza viruses to a local area, but most information on how bird movement correlates with virus prevalence is anecdotal or indirect. We report that the prevalence of Buggy Creek virus (BCRV) infection in cimicid swallow bugs (Oeciacus vicarius), the principal invertebrate vector for this virus, was directly associated with the likelihood of movement by cliff swallows (Petrochelidon pyrrhonota), an amplifying host …

Ecological Correlates Of Buggy Creek Virus Infection In Oeciacus Vicarius, Southwestern Nebraska, 2004, Amy T. Moore, Eric A. Edwards, Mary Bomberger Brown, Nicholas Komar, Charles R. Brown

School of Natural Resources: Faculty Publications

Buggy Creek virus (family Togaviridae, genus Alphavirus, BCRV) is an alphavirus within the western equine encephalitis virus complex whose primary vector is the swallow bug, Oeciacus vicarius Horvath (Hemiptera: Cimicidae), an ectoparasite of the colonially nesting cliff swallow, Petrochelidon pyrrhonota, that is also a frequent host for the virus.We investigated ecological correlates of BCRV infection in 100-bug pools at 14 different swallow colony sites in southwestern Nebraska from summer 2004, by using plaque assay on Vero cells to identify cytopathic virus and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction to identify noncytopathic viral RNA. We found 26.7% of swallow bug pools …

Lindenwood University: Vision, Status, And Outlook, Lindenwood University

Strategic Plans

No abstract provided.

Limit Cycle Displacement Model Of Circadian Rhythms, Van D. Gooch

Faculty Working Papers

A mathematical model has been examined that attempts to mimic the effects of changes in environmental conditions on circadian rhythms. The basis of the model claims that for a given set of environmental conditions (e.g., light, temperature and chemical concentrations) there exists a limit cycle that has a given position. When an environmental treatment is applied that is different from the control conditions, the position of the new limit cycle changes and the oscillating parameters of the circadian system are now attracted toward this newly positioned limit cycle. If conditions are subsequently returned back to control levels, the control limit …

Msu Update, 2007, Office Of Communications & Marketing, Morehead State University.

Communications and Marketing Publications Archive

MSU Update Newsletters for 2007.

The Lion 2007, Langston University

LU Yearbooks, 2000-2009

No abstract provided.

Nitrogen Management For Wheat Protein And Yield In The Esperance Port Zone, Jeremy Lemon

Bulletins 4000 -

This manual is part of a joint project between the Department of Agriculture and Food WA and the South East Premium Wheat Growers Association (SEPWA) with funding from the Grains Research and Development Corporation (GRDC). Growers in the Esperance port zone have been concerned with declining protein levels in wheat and its impact on farm returns as well as strong messages from processors of Esperance wheat that they require higher protein in the wheat they mill and process.

The project entailed grower involvement in designing and executing field scale experiments using farmer machinery, grower workshops, field days and meetings to …

Teacher Shortages: National And Regional Perspectives, Amy Higginbotham, Tom Witt, Arzu Sen, Tami Gurley-Calvez

Bureau of Business & Economic Research

No abstract provided.

Blockade Of Tumor Necrosis Factor-Induced Bid Cleavage By Caspase-Resistant Rb, Xiaodong Huang, Anja Masselli, Steven M. Frisch, Irina C. Hunton, Yong Jiang, Jean Y. J. Wang

Faculty & Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Mississippi River Stories: Lessons From A Century Of Unnatural Disasters, Sandi Zellmer, Christine Klein

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, the nation pondered how a relatively weak Category 3 storm could have destroyed an entire region. Few appreciated the extent to which a flawed federal water development policy transformed this apparently natural disaster into a “man-made” disaster; fewer still appreciated how the disaster was the predictable, and indeed predicted, sequel to almost a century of similar disasters. This article focuses upon three such stories: the Great Flood of 1927, the Midwest Flood of 1993, and Hurricanes Katrina and Rita of 2005. Taken together, the stories reveal important lessons, including the inadequacy of engineered flood …

A Tale Of Two Imperiled Rivers: Reflections From A Post-Katrina World, Sandra Zellmer

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Hurricanes are a natural, predictable phenomenon, yet the Gulf Coast communities were devastated by the hurricanes of 2005. One year after Hurricane Katrina struck, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers responded to a congressional request for an accounting by admitting culpability for the destruction of New Orleans. Its structural defenses failed not because Congress had authorized only moderate Category 3 protection, which in turn let floodwaters overtop the city's levees, but because levees and floodwalls simply collapsed. The so-called network of federal and local structures was a haphazard system in name only, where floodwalls and levees of varying heights utilized …

The Shortcomings Of Indeterminacy In Arms Control Regimes: The Case Of The Biological Weapons Convention, Jack M. Beard

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

I. BIOLOGICAL WEAPONS, INDETERMINACY, AND DESIGN ELEMENTS FOR ARMS CONTROL REGIMES

In 1972 a historic attempt to create the world's first international legal regime banning the development and possession of an entire class of weapons of mass destruction (WMDs) culminated in the conclusion of the Biological Weapons Convention (BWC).¹ Crippled by key compromises made by the great powers in pursuit of various self-interested security objectives in the context of the Cold War, the Convention is fundamentally flawed. Although the BWC purports to outlaw the development and possession of all biological weapons, deadlier and more sophisticated biological weapons than were …

The Nuclear Nonproliferation Regime And Nuclear Realities: Repair Or Reassessment?, Jack M. Beard

Nebraska College of Law: Faculty Publications

Many observers in 1963 might have viewed the proposition that only nine nations would have nuclear weapons in the year 2007 as highly unlikely.¹ What prevented the cascade of new nuclear weapons states that was anticipated forty years ago, and how could the answer benefit modem attempts to limit nuclear proliferation? Even though the pillar of the current nonproliferation regime, the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (the NPT),² may make it somewhat harder or costlier for states to acquire or develop nuclear weapons technology, it is difficult empirically to establish a causal link between the NPT and the limited number …

Brushing, 2007, Vol. 35, 35th Anniversary Edition, Rollins College Students

Brushing - Historical

The Brushing Literary and Art Journal is a student publication sponsored by the Rollins English Department that provides a space for undergraduates of Rollins College to showcase their creative works.

2007-2008 College Catalog, St. Norbert College

Course Catalogs

No abstract provided.

Southern Adventist University Graduate Catalog 2007-2008, Southern Adventist University

Catalog, Graduate

Southern Adventist University's graduate catalog for the academic year 2007-2008.

Energetics Of The Protein-Dna-Water Interaction, Francesca Spyrakis, Pietro Cozzini, Chiara Bertoli, Anna Marabotti, Glen E. Kellogg, Andrea Mozzarelli

Medicinal Chemistry Publications

Background To understand the energetics of the interaction between protein and DNA we analyzed 39 crystallographically characterized complexes with the HINT (Hydropathic INTeractions) computational model. HINT is an empirical free energy force field based on solvent partitioning of small molecules between water and 1-octanol. Our previous studies on protein-ligand complexes demonstrated that free energy predictions were significantly improved by taking into account the energetic contribution of water molecules that form at least one hydrogen bond with each interacting species.

Results An initial correlation between the calculated HINT scores and the experimentally determined binding free energies in the protein-DNA system exhibited …

Electrospun Nitrocellulose And Nylon: Design And Fabrication Of Novel High Performance Platforms For Protein Blotting Applications, Ashley E. Manis, James R. Bowman, Gary L. Bowlin, David G. Simpson

Anatomy and Neurobiology Publications

Background

Electrospinning is a non-mechanical processing strategy that can be used to process a variety of native and synthetic polymers into highly porous materials composed of nano-scale to micron-scale diameter fibers. By nature, electrospun materials exhibit an extensive surface area and highly interconnected pore spaces. In this study we adopted a biological engineering approach to ask how the specific unique advantages of the electrospinning process might be exploited to produce a new class of research/diagnostic tools.

Methods

The electrospinning properties of nitrocellulose, charged nylon and blends of these materials are characterized.

Results

Nitrocellulose electrospun from a starting concentration of < 110 mg/ml acetone deposited as 4–8 μm diameter beads; at 110 mg/ml-to-140 mg/ml starting concentrations, this polymer deposited as 100–4000 nm diameter fibers. Nylon formed fibers when electrospun from 60–140 mg/ml HFIP, fibers ranged from 120 nm-6000 nm in diameter. Electrospun nitrocellulose exhibited superior protein retention and increased sensitivity in slot blot experiments with respect to the parent nitrocellulose material. Western immunoblot experiments using fibronectin as a model protein demonstrated that electrospun nylon exhibits increased protein binding and increased dynamic range in the chemiluminescence detection of antigens than sheets of the parent starting material. Composites of electrospun nitrocellulose and electrospun nylon exhibit high protein binding activity and provide increased sensitivity for the immuno-detection of antigens.

Conclusion …

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The Venom Gland Transcriptome Of The Desert Massasauga Rattlesnake (Sistrurus Catenatus Edwardsii): Towards An Understanding Of Venom Composition Among Advanced Snakes (Superfamily Colubroidea), Susanta Pahari, Stephen P. Mackessy, R. Manjunatha Kini

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications

Background

Snake venoms are complex mixtures of pharmacologically active proteins and peptides which belong to a small number of superfamilies. Global cataloguing of the venom transcriptome facilitates the identification of new families of toxins as well as helps in understanding the evolution of venom proteomes.

Results

We have constructed a cDNA library of the venom gland of a threatened rattlesnake (a pitviper),Sistrurus catenatus edwardsii (Desert Massasauga), and sequenced 576 ESTs. Our results demonstrate a high abundance of serine proteinase and metalloproteinase transcripts, indicating that the disruption of hemostasis is a principle mechanism of action of the venom. In addition …

Biophysical Characterization Of Anticoagulant Hemextin Ab Complex From The Venom Of Snake Hemachatus Haemachatus, Yajnavalka Banerjee, Rajamani Lakshminarayanan, Subramanian Vivekanandan, Ganesh Srinivasan Anand, Suresh Valiyaveettil, R. Manjunatha Kini

Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Publications

Abstract

Hemextin AB complex from the venom of Hemachatus haemachatus is the first known natural anticoagulant that specifically inhibits the enzymatic activity of blood coagulation factor VIIa in the absence of factor Xa. It is also the only known heterotetrameric complex of two three-finger toxins. Individually only hemextin A has mild anticoagulant activity, whereas hemextin B is inactive. However, hemextin B synergistically enhances the anticoagulant activity of hemextin A and their complex exhibits potent anticoagulant activity. In this study we characterized the nature of molecular interactions leading to the complex formation. Circular dichroism studies indicate the stabilization of β-sheet …