Digital Commons Network^™

Facing The Book Of Reliance: An Analysis Of College Student’S Dependency On Facebook, John R. Gatermann

Undergraduate Psychology Research Methods Journal

No abstract provided.

Das ‚Problem Der Wissenschaft‘ Oder Nietzsches Philosophische Kritik Wissenschaftlicher Vernunft, Babette Babich

Articles and Chapters in Academic Book Collections

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Evolutionary Relationships And Major Traits Of Bacillus Through Comparative Genomics, Luis D. Alcaraz, Gabriel Moreno-Hagelsieb, Luis E. Eguiarte, Valeria Souza, Luis Herrera-Estrella, Gabriela Olmedo

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: The presence of Bacillus in very diverse environments reflects the versatile metabolic capabilities of a widely distributed genus. Traditional phylogenetic analysis based on limited gene sampling is not adequate for resolving the genus evolutionary relationships. By distinguishing between core and pan-genome, we determined the evolutionary and functional relationships of known Bacillus.

Results: Our analysis is based upon twenty complete and draft Bacillus genomes, including a newly sequenced Bacillus isolate from an aquatic environment that we report for the first time here. Using a core genome, we were able to determine the phylogeny of known Bacilli, including aquatic …

Effects Of Hydrologic Gradients On Woody Debris Breakdown And Macroinvertebrate Colonization In A Cumberland Plateau Watershed, Eastern Kentucky, U.S.A., Robin Rae Bernal

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This research assessed the influence of hydrologic gradients on woody debris dynamics in a Cumberland Plateau watershed, eastern Kentucky, U.S.A. Although the breakdown of wood can be attributed to several different processes, including leaching, biological decay, fragmentation, and transport, the influence of differing flow regimes has been unstudied. The objectives of this study were to examine how stream channel type (temporary vs. perennial) affected wood processing dynamics (i.e., mass loss and macroinvertebrate colonization and standing stock patterns). Two questions were addressed: (1) do mass loss rates of wood differ across hydrological gradients in stream channels?, and (2) do macroinvertebrate colonization …

Prism #47, May 2010, Office Of The Provost

Prism: Western Michigan University's Newsletter for Academic Affairs

No abstract provided.

Avoidance Of Skeletal Muscle Atrophy In Spontaneous And Facultative Hibernators, Clark Cotton, Henry J. Harlow

Biology Faculty Publications

Smooth and skeletal muscle changes were compared from overwintering white-tailed prairie dogs, spontaneous hibernators that undergo regular, low-temperature torpor bouts, and black-tailed prairie dogs, facultative hibernators that use sporadic, moderate-temperature torpor bouts. The objectives were to assess the abilities of these two species with dramatically different torpor patterns (1) to conserve skeletal muscle morphology, protein, and strength and (2) to use labile protein in the small intestine and liver during the winter season of reduced activity and food intake. Mass and protein concentration of the extensor digitorum longus (EDL), soleus, liver, and small intestine, as well as skeletal muscle strength …

Clemson Commencement Program, May 2010, Clemson University

Clemson Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.

Cross-Sector Review Of Drivers And Available 3rs Approaches For Acute Systemic Toxicity Testing, Troy Seidle, Sally Robinson, Tom Holmes, Stuart Creton, Pilar Prieto, Julia Scheel, Magda Chlebus

Experimentation Collection

Acute systemic toxicity studies are carried out in many sectors in which synthetic chemicals are manufactured or used and are among the most criticized of all toxicology tests on both scientific and ethical grounds. A review of the drivers for acute toxicity testing within the pharmaceutical industry led to a paradigm shift whereby in vivo acute toxicity data are no longer routinely required in advance of human clinical trials. Based on this experience, the following review was undertaken to identify (1) regulatory and scientific drivers for acute toxicity testing in other industrial sectors, (2) activities aimed at replacing, reducing, or …

Short-Beaked Common Dolphin (Delphinus Delphis) Occurrence In The Moray Firth, North-East Scotland, Kevin P. Robinson, Sonja Eisfeld, Marina Costa, Mark P. Simmonds

Ecology Collection

The short-beaked common dolphin (Delphinus delphis) is regarded as notably rare or absent from the northern North Sea, but recent evidence suggests a rising frequency of the species in these waters with increasing regional sea temperatures. The following paper documents the presence of D. delphis in the Moray Firth in north-east Scotland and provides the first evidence for the sustained occurrence of these delphinids in this region during the warmer summer months at least. Sightings were collated during systematic surveys of the outer Moray Firth between 2001 and 2009 by independent research teams from the CRRU and WDCS. A total …

Toward A Synthesis Of Conservation And Animal Welfare Science, David Fraser

Conservation Biology and Animal Welfare Collection

Conservation biology and animal welfare science are multidisciplinary fields of research that address social concerns about animals. Conservation biology focuses on wild animals, works at the level of populations, ecological systems and genetic types, and deals with threats to biodiversity and ecological integrity. Animal welfare science typically focuses on captive (often domestic) animals, works at the level of individuals and groups, and deals with threats to the animals’ health and quality of life. However, there are many areas of existing or potential overlap: (i) many real-life problems, such as environmental contamination, urban development and transportation, create problems for animals that …

Calling On Science: Making “Alternatives” The New Gold Standard, Melvin E. Andersen

in Vitro Research Models Collection

All of life’s great journeys start with a goal in mind! The 2007 NAS report, Toxicity Testing in the 21st Century – A Vision and A Strategy, has proposed a clear goal. This report envisions a not-so-distant future where all routine toxicity testing for environmental agents will be conducted in human cells in vitro evaluating perturbations of cellular responses in a suite of toxicity pathway assays. Dose response modeling would utilize computational systems biology models of the circuitry underlying each toxicity pathway; in vitro to in vivo extrapolations would use pharmacokinetic models, ideally physiologically based pharmacokinetic models, to predict human …

The Relationship Between Plasma Steroid Hormone Concentrations And The Reproductive Cycle In The Northern Pacific Rattlesnake, Crotalus Oreganus, Craig M. Lind, Jerry F. Husak, Cas Eikenaar, Ignacio T. Moore, Emily N. Taylor

Biological Sciences

We describe the reproductive cycle of Northern Pacific rattlesnakes (Crotalus oreganus) by quantifying steroid hormone concentrations and observing reproductive behaviors in free-ranging individuals. Additionally, we examined reproductive tissues from museum specimens. Plasma steroid hormone concentrations were quantified for both male and female snakes throughout the active season (March–October). We measured testosterone (T), 5α-dihydrotestosterone (DHT), and corticosterone (B) concentrations in both sexes and 17β-estradiol (E2) and progesterone (P) in females only. We observed reproductive behaviors (e.g., consortship, courtship, and copulation) in the field and measured testis and follicle size in male and female snakes from museum collections to relate …

Growth Hormone Alters Lipid Composition And Increases The Abundance Of Casein And Lactalbumin Mrna In The Mac-T Cell Line, Tasha L. Johnson, Brent As. Fujimoto, Rafael Jimenez-Flores, Daniel G. Peterson

Animal Science

The MAC-T cell line has been used extensively to investigate bovine mammary epithelial cell function. A lactogenic phenotype is generally induced in this cell line by a combination of dexamethasone, insulin and prolactin and has typically been assessed by milk protein production. Few studies have focused on identifying other factors that may affect milk protein synthesis in the MAC-T cell line, and none have considered the lipid class distribution of MAC-T cells as a component of the lactogenic phenotype. Growth hormone (GH) has been shown to increase milk protein synthesis both in vivo and in mammary cell models, and has …

Toward Metal-Free Magnetic Micro-Graphite As Contrast Agents For Magnetic Resonance Imaging: Synthesis, Characterization And In Vitro Studies, Saathyaki Rajamani

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Approximately sixty million MRI procedures are performed annually worldwide, with 30% of these procedures using MRI contrast agents (CAs). Most commonly used clinical CAs and experimental CAs for advance molecular/cellular MRI are either paramagnetic Gd-based T1 CAs or superparamagnetic Fe-based T2 CAs. They use chelating ligands or biocompatible coatings to sequester the toxicity of naked gadolinium (Gd) and iron (Fe). But, these toxicity-sequestering strategies may not be adequate as recent reports associate clinical Gd-based agents CAs with acute renal failure. Graphitic carbon in general, is safer than naked Gd or Fe, and thus, the possibility of creating metal-free magnetic carbon …

P53 Action In Suppressing Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Zhen Zhao

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the major form of adult acute leukemia. It is characterized by colonial expansion of malignant myeloid progenitors in bone marrow, resulting in insufficient generation of normal blood components to cause sever infection, fatigue, and hemorrhage in patients. p53 is a tumor suppressor that commonly mutates in human cancers. p53 mutations have profound effects on AML biology and are associated with the clinical aggressiveness and drug resistance. However, how p53 loss influences AML development remains to be determined. Mouse models recapitulating molecular alterations of human cancer are useful tools to dissect the in vivo roles of …

Hudson River Estuary Sedimentary Evolution: A Multiyear Comparison And Analysis Of Multibeam Sonar Surveys, Tobias John Vincent Hatten

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Hudson River multibeam sonar surveys were conduced between New York City, NY and Hudson, NY in 1998 to 2003 and in 2005 as part of the Hudson River Benthic Mapping Project 1998 to 2003 and NOAA's Office of Exploration 2005. Data from these surveys were compared and used to identify areas where morphological riverbed change occurred. The comparison of surveys identified sand wave migration rates ranging from 1-7 m/year in both the northern and southern sections of the river and produced examples of human induced change such as anchor drags and dredge spoils. These findings suggest that there have been …

The Ethics And Politics Of Habitual Bodies: Original Sin, Authenticity, And The Problem Of Moral Responsibility, Brady Thomas Heiner

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Who is the subject of habitual activity, and who, if anyone, is morally responsible for such actions? Following Saint Paul, Saint Augustine taught that it is ‘not I’ who am responsible for my habitual acts, but ‘sin, which inhabits me,’ sin derived from Adam's ‘original’ sin. Centuries later, Martin Heidegger argues that the ‘who’ of our everyday habitual existence is not the ‘authentic self,’ but the ‘they-self,’ the inauthentic self entangled in and guided by the anonymous forces of social normativity. This dissertation analyzes the early Christian account of ‘original sin’ and its hitherto unappreciated iteration in Heidegger's existential account …

Role Of A Metabolic Burst And Titration Of An Unstable Activator In The Entrainment Of Division To Growth, Lucas Buckler Carey

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Most cells coordinate increase in mass with an increase in cell number. Using simu- lations I show that exponentially growing cells require size control (a molecular link between growth and division) to maintain a population with a biologically reasonable cell size distribution, though linearly growing cells do not. The main regulator of cell-cycle commitment in budding yeast is the G1 cyclin Cln3, which partners with the Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK) Cdc28 to activate the transcription factor SBF and promote transcription of over 150 genes involved in cell-cycle progression. Commitment to Start (passage from G1 into S) involves transition from a …

Biological Roles And Regulation Of Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase (Pi3k) Isoforms, Mohar Chattopadhyay

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Class IA PI3Ks are signaling molecules that control cell survival, growth, proliferation and metabolism. Dysregulated PI3K signaling is found in patients with diseases such as diabetes and cancer. The two aims of my thesis research were (1) to determine the distinct roles of the PI3K isoforms p110Α and p110Β in regulating hepatic lipid and glucose metabolism and (2) to investigate the regulation of p110Α and p110Β by the heterotrimeric G protein GΑ_q. For aim 1, mice with liver-specific gene deletion of p110Α or p110Β were generated. My studies found that mice lacking hepatic p110Α were largely protected from …

Regulation And Target Specificity Of Human Alternative Splicing Factors Sf2/Asf And Fox-1/2, Shuying Sun

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Alternative splicing is a highly regulated process in eukaryotes. It greatly increases the diversity of proteins encoded by the genome, and its disruption can cause a number of genetic diseases. SF2/ASF is a prototypical serine/arginine-rich (SR) protein, with important roles in constitutive and alternative splicing and other aspects of mRNA metabolism. SFRS1 (SF2/ASF) is a potent proto-oncogene with abnormal expression in many tumors. I found that SF2/ASF negatively autoregulates its expression to maintain homeostatic levels of the protein. I characterized six SF2/ASF alternatively spliced mRNA isoforms: the major isoform encodes full-length protein, whereas the others are either retained in the …

Whole Body Vibration As A Treatment To Counter Bone Detriment And Obesity Caused By Poor Nutritional Intake, Aditi Jatkar

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Consumption of diets high in fat content or carbohydrate content is known to cause obesity and diabetes. In fact the causes and effects of diabetes and obesity are inter-related and are known to have associations with the onset of osteoporosis. Despite the availability of pharmacological treatments, an effective cure for osteoporosis has not yet been developed highlighting the need to ensure optimal, maximum bone growth during the growing years of the skeleton. It is therefore important to identify factors which can be detrimental or beneficial to healthy bone deposition or increase rate of bone resorption. It is known that nutrition …

Novel Amyloid Beta-Protein Degrading Enzymes. Membrane Type 1 Matrix-Metalloproteinase And Myelin Basic Protein, Mei-Chen Liao

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The progressive accumulation of á-amyloid (Aá) in senile plaques and in the cerebral vasculature is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders. Several major pathways for Aá clearance include receptor-mediated cellular uptake, blood-brain barrier transport and direct proteolytic degradation. My thesis focused on two novel Aá degrading enzymes- Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) and myelin basic protein (MBP). Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) was shown to be expressed in reactive astrocytes surrounding amyloid plaques and may contribute to Aá degradation. MT1-MMP is the physiological activator for the zymogen pro-MMP2. In addition to MMP2, its activator MT1-MMP was also …

Focus On Research, Patrick Hardigan

FOCUS On Research Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Scientific Restraint: The Balance Between Progress And Safety, Richard Bell

Senior Honors Projects

Mankind’s collective scientific and technological knowledge has progressed, and is progressing, at such a rate that humanity is now well within its means to bring about widespread devastation by its own devices. The high stakes of many projects in diverse fields of study, including those in nuclear, genetic, and biotechnical sciences, necessitates an analysis of how to decide if risky experiments are worth pursuing. This is not a matter, so much, of what safeguards we put into place in dangerous experimental environments, but rather how to weigh potential loss versus potential gain. Even in the best laboratories, disaster can strike, …

Cooperative Institutions In Cultural Commons, Gregg P. Macey

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Molecular Analysis Of Trypanosoma Cruzi Isolates Obtained From Raccoons (Procyon Lotor) In Warren And Barren Counties Of Kentucky, Lipeng Bi

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiologic agent of Chagas disease, infects a variety of wild mammals in the southern United States, but it has only recently been isolated from raccoons trapped in the state of Kentucky. The purpose of the present study was to use a molecular genotyping approach, followed by DNA sequencing to determine the genotypes (type I, or types IIa-IIe) of 15 of the Kentucky isolates. DNA samples were prepared from 15 T. cruzi- isolates using a Qiagen mini kit, and PCR amplification was performed using published primers for the 24S α rDNA sequence (D71 and D72), the …

Anthocyanins And Delayed Greening: Inhibition Of Leafcutter Ants (Atta Cephalotes) In Inga Punctata (Mimosaceae) And Zygia Palmana (Fabaceae), May 2010, Antoinette Hertel

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Leaves that undergo delayed greening with anthocyanins are suspected of having antiherbivore defenses in addition to low leaf nutrient content. This study examines two species with delayed greening, one with anthocyanins, Zygia palmana, and one without, Inga punctata, to determine whether anthocyanins deter herbivores more than low nutritional quality. Leaf samples were taken from 20 trees in Monteverde, Costa Rica. Chlorophyll a, chlorophyll b, carotinoids and anthocyanins were extracted from leaves and tested for concentrations as well as chemical preference to an herbivore, Atta cephalotes. There was a significant preference for older, fully green leaves in each species (p=.041), as …

Effect Of Ground Temperature And Nest Differences On Productivity And Worker Size In Atta Cephalotes (Hymenoptera Formicidae), May 2010, Hannah Fried-Petersen

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Atta cephalotes is one of the few species that does better in grassy pastures and secondary growth and their abundance, persistent foraging, and that they collect from a lot of different tree species has earned them the reputation of huge agricultural pests. A. cephalotes are poikilotherms meaning their internal body temperature fluctuates greatly with temperature. For this reason, it has been purported that these leaf-cutter ants will only collect leaf fragments at certain temperatures and that different sized workers have different temperature tolerances. The objective of this study was to look for relationships between temperature, productivity, and worker size in …

Foraging Habits And Social Learning Of White-Faced Capuchin Monkeys (Cebus Capucinus), May 2010, Jennifer E. Koska

Monteverde Institute: Tropical Ecology and Conservation

Foraging for food is an essential aspect to the life of Cebus capucinus. The transmission of this knowledge takes many months of careful observations and trial and error. I studied the foraging habits of C. capucinus in the Cloud Rainforest. It was predicted that there would be a difference between adults and juveniles. My data suggests that there is no difference in the foraging habits between adults and juveniles. These results suggest social learning during the juvenile phase of life impacts the foraging behavior of the C. capucinus.

Investigation Of Yield And Quality Of Grafted Heirloom And Hybrid Tomatoes, Stephen T. Flomo

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

Tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill) are one of the most popular vegetable crops grown for fresh market and processing in the U.S. Grafting involves the uniting of a shoot or bud scion with a rootstock to form a compound plant, mainly for managing soil-borne diseases and increasing crop yield. The objectives were to examine the effects of reciprocal and self grafts on tomato fruits, number of fruits, weight, and quality of the cultivars, ‘Cherokee Purple’, ‘Mister Stripey’, ‘Crista’, and ‘Maxifort’. Grafted seedlings were planted at WKU Farm on raised beds, protected with red or black plastic mulch under drip …