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Calcium Provision In A Placentotrophic Lizard: Structural Differentiation Reflects Functional Specialization., Haley K. Stinnett

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Viviparity (live birth) and placentation have evolved in more than 100 lineages of squamate reptiles. However, highly placentotrophic species in which embryos receive the majority of nutrients for development via maternal transport across a placenta are rare. Pseudemoia pagenstecheri is a viviparous Australian scincid lizard with extensive placental transfer of nutrients. For example, 90% of neonate calcium is received via placental transfer. This species has a regionally differentiated chorioallantoic placenta distinguished by an elliptical-shaped region, the placentome. The placentome is characterized by hypertrophied uterine and embryonic epithelial cells supported by dense vascular networks. The remainder of the chorioallantoic placenta is …

Using Young Adult Literature To Teach The Classics A Study On Pairing Young Adult Novels With The Classic Works In Secondary English Classrooms, Deanna Lynn Velazquez

HIM 1990-2015

Young adult literature is a genre of literature that is often overlooked. Adolescents would greatly benefit from reading young adult novels, academically and also for enjoyment. Educators are not using young adult literature as often as they should in the classrooms as a tool, due to strict curricula. However, young adult literature is a perfect tool for aiding with comprehension of the classic works. Pairing certain young adult books with classics would help adolescents understand the classic novel, but also assist in intriguing the student enough to pick up both books. After an online survey given to nine Seminole County …

Summers V. Earth Island Institute: Overhauling The Injury-In-Fact Test For Standing To Sue, Margaret Mcdonald

Louisiana Law Review

No abstract provided.

Free Culture, Ian Heifetz

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Free Culture is a documentary short that aims to promote user-autonomy in the digital age, with a focus on culture proliferations. The film takes a look a critical stance against the Digital Millennium Copyright act, arguing it is unenforceable through either legislative or technical means. To support this viewpoint, interviews with Yochai Benkler of the Harvard Law School and Fred von Lohmann, Senior Copyright Council to Google, are provided. While threats to the DMCA, such as piracy, are often seen as illegal criminal action, they signify a changing environment. One man taking advantage of this is Benn Jordan, a.k.a. The …

Float Your Boat, Jamian Shapiro

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

For the past year, I have served as the Executive Producer for the sketch comedy television show Float Your Boat. Syracuse University students produce this show through the student run television station, Citrus TV. The show is a single camera show shot entirely out of studio and on location. Each episode is composed of several sketches that can range from thirty seconds to five minutes. Each individual sketch is also posted online through a variety of websites visited by college students. Additionally, the complete episode is posted online and screened at the end of each semester. The screening is …

Interactive Opengl Animation, Lusha Zhang

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

This is an interactive animation created using C language, with support from the OpenGL, GLUT and the SDL frameworks. The concept behind this animation is to utilize the functions provided by OpenGL to achieve visual effects involving lighting, texture, motion, modeling and interaction.

Based on experiment and research on various libraries, the Simple DirectMedia Layer (SDL) framework was chosen to implement an audio frame buffer to play background music. The animation involved significant mathematical calculation in terms of motion and modeling. The animation is an underwater scene that contains randomly generated bubbles, a dolphin and a whale. Textures were applied …

A Biosynthetic Membrane-Anchor/Protein System Based On A Genetically Encoded "Aldehyde Tag", Chaojie Zhen

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Lipid membranes or bilayers serve as barriers for the cell and its organelles. A distinguishing feature of cellular function is the ability to monitor and process the biochemical information between the cells’ intra and extracellular environments in order to maintain the homeostatic reactions that are essential to life. Surface membrane proteins play a key role in mediating this information exchange by functionalizing the bilayer. As a result of their importance in living systems, proteins are integrated into biomimetic membrane systems to replicate their natural functions in biomedical technologies. Current protein integration methods are limited by the selection of commercially available …

Identification, Cloning And Fluorescent-Tagging Of Protamines Of The Flour Beetle, Tribolium Castaneum, Kristina Martimucci

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

The genome of eukaryotes is associated with chromosomal proteins that fold the DNA into ordered arrangements. The most abundant of these are the histones. Four of these (H2A, H2B, H3 and H4) form the nucleosomal core around which DNA is wrapped. Other proteins can associate with chromatin and fold it into higher order structures. During spermatogenesis in many organisms the standard chromatin configuration undergoes a transition to a highly condensed form in which small, highly basic proteins called protamines replace the histones. It is thought that protamine-based chromatin is more resistant to mutational damage.

Previous work by the Renkawitz-Pohl group …

Design Of A Factorial Experiment With Randomization Restrictions To Assess Medical Device Performance On Vascular Tissue, Wiebke Diestelkamp, Carissa M. Krane, Margaret Pinnell

Biology Faculty Publications

Background: Energy-based surgical scalpels are designed to efficiently transect and seal blood vessels using thermal energy to promote protein denaturation and coagulation. Assessment and design improvement of ultrasonic scalpel performance relies on both in vivo and ex vivo testing. The objective of this work was to design and implement a robust, experimental test matrix with randomization restrictions and predictive statistical power, which allowed for identification of those experimental variables that may affect the quality of the seal obtained ex vivo.

Methods: The design of the experiment included three factors: temperature (two levels); the type of solution used to perfuse the …

Endo-Porter–Mediated Delivery Of Phosphorodiamidate Morpholino Oligos (Pmos) In Erythrocyte Suspension Cultures From Cope's Gray Treefrog Hyla Chrysoscelis, Venkateshwar Mutyam, Matthew V. Puccetti, James Frisbie, David L. Goldstein, Carissa M. Krane

Biology Faculty Publications

Cope's gray treefrog, Hyla chrysoscelis, is a freeze-tolerant anuran that accumulates cryoprotective glycerol during cold acclimation. H. chrysoscelis erythrocytes express the aquaglyceroporin HC-3, which facilitates transmembrane glycerol and water movement. Aquaglyceroporins have no pharmacological inhibitors, and no genetic knockout tools currently exist for H. chrysoscelis. A phosphorodiamidate morpholino oligo (PMO)–mediated expression knockdown approach was therefore pursued to provide a model for testing the role of HC-3. We describe a novel procedure optimized for specific, efficient knockdown of HC-3 expression in amphibian erythrocyte suspensions cultured at nonmammalian physiological temperatures using Endo-Porter. Our protocol includes three critical components: pre-incubation at 37°C, …

Mechanisms Of Non-Enzymatic Peptide Bond Formation: Thioester And Transamidation Routes, Danielle Amie Landry

Master's Theses

The reaction mechanisms employed during non-ribosomal peptide (amide) synthesis in the non-ribosomal modular enzyme complex and in the enzyme glutaminyl cyclase were also used for spontaneous peptide (amide) synthesis in a buffered, abiotic solution. Analytical analyses revealed that spontaneous peptide (amide) bond formation occurred under mild prebiotic conditions during both the thioester-based production of phenylalanine peptides and peptidyl thioesters, and the spontaneous cyclization of glutamine t-butyl ester (Gln-tbe) into pyroglutamic acid t-butyl ester. Internal standard-based quantitative MS determined that 4.9 x 10-5 sec-1 was the rate constant for spontaneous Gln-tbe cyclization in imidazole buffer, pH 7, at 50°C, and that …

The Last Victorian Knight: A Study Of T.E. Lawrence And The Arab Revolt, Nancy Nicole Nicholls

Master's Theses

Despite the enormous amount ofliterature written about T.E. Lawrence and his exploits in Arabia, he continues to be one of the most mysterious and elusive figures in modern history. Historians have analyzed almost every aspect of Lawrence's life from his early childhood to his death in 1935. Lawrence's upbringing in the late Victorian era shaped his outlook on life as it did for many men of his generation, but Lawrence saw the contradictions of Victorian society and pushed the boundaries of acceptable behavior for men of his class. Lawrence was not a masculine paradigm of the traditional hypermasculine constructs of …

Discovery And Molecular Characterization Of Selenoprotein M In The Salivary Glands Of Amblyomma Maculatum, The Gulf Coast Tick, Parul Singh

Master's Theses

The Gulfcoast ticks transmit disease-causing pathogens to humans and animals. Rickettsia parkeri is notable among the pathogens transmitted by A. maculatum to humans. Heavy infestations of A. maculatum on animal ears cause them to become thickened and curled, a condition commonly called "gotch ear." The tick's multifunctional salivary glands are vital to their biological success and likely also play a critical role in transmission of disease; tick saliva contains a broad array of secretory products that facilitate prolonged tick attachment and feeding; disrupting tick blood feeding or inactivating key tick salivary proteins presents a novel strategy for tick-borne disease prevention. …

A Data Warehouse For Faculty Pay, John Hardebeck

Masters Theses & Doctoral Dissertations

Administrators at Daytona State College have long sought for a way to document how much it costs to offer a specific course. When an instructor is either an Adjunct or a fulltime instructor teaching an Overload - essentially, working overtime - this information is readily available. This is not the case for fulltime, salaried instructors who are teaching within the bounds of their salary, what is known as "Inload". There is no direct link in the database of Daytona State's ERP system that connects pay with courses and the fact that the institution's payroll accounting is handled by a third-party …

Biomechanics And Injury Assessment Of Household Falls In Children : Clinical, Anthropomorphic Surrogate, And Computer Simulation Studies., Angela Knight Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Pediatric short-distance falls, especially from beds or other furniture, are common false histories given by caretakers to cover up abusive trauma. However, short-distance falls are also a common occurrence in young children. Knowledge of the types and severity of injuries that can result from these short falls can aid clinicians in distinguishing between inflicted and non-inflicted injuries. Early detection of abuse may lead to prevention of further escalating injuries and, in some cases, prevent the death of the child. The purpose of this study was to describe relationships between biomechanical measures and injury potential in short-distance household falls. This study …

Self-Reported Exercise And Risk Of Osteoporosis In Prostate Cancer Patients Receiving Androgen Deprivation Therapy, Lori J. Mennen-Winchell

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Prostate cancer is stimulated to grow in response to testosterone. Androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) leads to chemical castration and suppression of prostate cancer cell production. Testosterone levels less then 300ng/ml decreases bone mineral density and could result in osteoporosis. Studies have shown that during the first year of ADT, fracture risk, mainly in hips and spine increases about 50%. In men, 40% of hip fractures result in death. Exercise may reduce the risk of osteoporosis and thus contribute to the prevention of hip and other fractures. There is limited data regarding whether exercise is associated with a reduced risk of …

Carbonylation Of Neuronal Cytoskeletal Proteins And Their Proteolytic Degradation In Acute Experimental Autoimmune Encephalomyelitis, Suzanne Smerjac

Biomedical Sciences ETDs

Oxidative stress and its damage resulting in carbonylation of proteins is known to take place in the CNS tissue of multiple sclerosis patients and of mice with experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis (EAE), and has been implicated in the pathophysiology of these diseases. In order to investigate the possible consequences of this protein damage during acute myelin basic protein (MBP) -directed autoimmune neuroinflammation the first goal of this thesis was to characterize oxidative stress and protein carbonylation, including identification of the major oxidized protein species, in the Lewis rat model of EAE. I discovered that there is significant oxidative stress in the …

Implications Of Sea Level Rise On North Humboldt Bay, Victoria Blakeney, Wade Bonney, Nicholas Chang, Leah Healy, Elmer Llamas, Sophie Scully, Rebecca Urbanczyk

Student Projects

No abstract provided.

Δnp63 Regulates A Complex Network Of Target Genes In Limb And Epidermal Development, Min Soon Cho

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

The skin is composed of two major compartments, the dermis and epidermis. The epidermis forms a barrier to protect the body. The stratified epithelium has self-renewing capacity throughout life, and continuous turnover is mediated by stem cells in the basal layer. p63 is structurally and functionally related to p53. In spite of their structural similarities, p63 is critical for the development and maintenance of stratified epithelial tissues, unlike p53. p63 is highly expressed in the epidermis and previously has been shown to play a critical role in the development and maintenance of the epidermis. The study of p63 has been …

Atm Signaling To Tsc2: Mechanisms And Implications For Cancer Therapy, Angela Alexander

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Ataxia telangiectasia mutated (ATM) is a critical component of the cellular response to DNA damage, where it acts as a damage sensor, and signals to a large network of proteins which execute the important tasks involved in responding to the damage, namely inducing cell cycle checkpoints, inducing DNA repair, modulating transcriptional responses, and regulating cell death pathways if the damage cannot be repaired faithfully. We have now discovered that an additional novel component of this ATM-dependent damage response involves induction of autophagy in response to oxidative stress. In contrast to DNA damage-induced ATM activation however, oxidative stress induced ATM, occurs …

Role Of Synapsin In Long-Term Synaptic Facilitation In Aplysia, Anne Hart

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Enhanced expression of the presynaptic protein synapsin has been correlated with certain forms of long-term plasticity and learning and memory. However, the regulation and requirement for enhanced synapsin expression in long-term memory remains unknown. In the present study the technical advantages of the marine mollusc Aplysia were exploited in order to address this issue. In Aplysia, learning-induced enhancement in synaptic strength is modulated by serotonin (5-HT) and treatment with 5-HT in vitro of the sensorimotor synapse induces long-term facilitation (LTF) of synaptic transmission, which lasts for days, as well as the formation of new connections between the sensory and …

A Phase I/Iia Clinical Trial Of A Recombinant Rho Protein Antagonist In Acute Spinal Cord Injury., Michael G Fehlings, Nicholas Theodore, James Harrop, Gilles Maurais, Charles Kuntz, Chris I Shaffrey, Brian K Kwon, Jens Chapman, Albert Yee, Allyson Tighe, Lisa Mckerracher

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Multiple lines of evidence have validated the Rho pathway as important in controlling the neuronal response to growth inhibitory proteins after central nervous system (CNS) injury. A drug called BA-210 (trademarked as Cethrin(®)) blocks activation of Rho and has shown promise in pre-clinical animal studies in being used to treat spinal cord injury (SCI). This is a report of a Phase I/IIa clinical study designed to test the safety and tolerability of the drug, and the neurological status of patients following the administration of a single dose of BA-210 applied during surgery following acute SCI. Patients with thoracic (T2-T12) or …

Tangipaint: Interactive Tangible Media, Anthony Blatner

Theses

Currently, there is a wide disconnection between the real and virtual worlds in computer graphics. Art created with textured paints on canvases have visual effects which naturally supplement simple color. Real paint exhibits shadows and highlights, which change in response to viewing and lighting directions. The colors interact with this environment and can produce very noticeable effects. Additionally, the traditional means of human-computer interaction using a keyboard and mouse is unnatural and inefficient---gestures and actions are not performed on the objects themselves. These visual effects and natural interactions are missing from digital media in the virtual world. The absence of …

Memory And Punishment, O. Carter Snead

Vanderbilt Law Review

Developments in cognitive neuroscience-the science of how the brain enables the mind--continue to prompt profound scholarly debate and reflection on the practice and theory of criminal law. Advances in the field have raised vexing questions relating to lie detection, interrogation methods, the Fifth Amendment right against compelled self-incrimination, competency to stand trial, defenses to guilt (such as diminished capacity and insanity), sentencing, and the relationship between moral responsibility and punishment. Similarly, for the past decade, philosophers, scientists, clinicians, and legal scholars have been engaged in a major debate about the cognitive neuroscience of memory and new capacities to modify it …

Who Are The Beneficiaries Of Fisk University's Stieglitz Collection?, Alan L. Feld

Faculty Scholarship

Most fiduciary relationships determine with specificity the beneficiaries of the fiduciary's activities. Not-for-profit entities, however, serve a class of unspecified beneficiaries and can exercise discretion in determining who to serve and how to serve them. This paper explores the limits of discretion that recent litigation established for Fisk University in balancing its educational mission and its administration of a valuable art collection donated decades earlier. The paper analyzes the case as it addresses respect for donor conditions, changes in circumstance, standing issues, the doctrine of cy pres and the designation of the appropriate class of public beneficiaries. Race and geography …

Breeding Migrations, Survivorship, And Obligate Crayfish Burrow Use By Adult Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates Areolatus), Jennifer L. Heemeyer

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Movements are risky behaviors to animals, and amphibians are no exception. Being unable to cover long distances quickly, amphibians may find migrations challenging, yet many if not most species exhibit cyclic annual migrations. Crawfish Frogs (Lithobates areolatus), are a relatively understudied species of North American amphibian listed as endangered in Indiana and Iowa, and considered a species of conservation concern throughout much of their range. To better understand the biology of this species, and in particular, to assess the role that movements play in affecting survivorship, I radio tracked 48 Crawfish Frog adults, in 2009 and 2010. My study encompassed …

How Defining Planetary Boundaries Can Transform Our Approach To Growth, W. L. Steffen, Johan Rockström, Robert Costanza

Institute for Sustainable Solutions Publications and Presentations

The article focuses on the importance to identify safe boundaries based on the fundamental characteristics of our planet to address the growing threats of climate change. It highlights the rapid transition of the planet from the stable Holocene state to an unknown future state of significantly different conditions. In addition, climate change, biodiversity loss and phosphorus production were already transgressed by humanity and require innovative frameworks and effective solutions.

Policy Analysis For Optimizing Native Fisheries On The Mckenzie River, Mary Ray

Environmental Science and Management Professional Master's Project Reports

The impact of hatchery fish on native populations has been extensively studied, especially as environmental management has generally moved toward a conservation focus. In Oregon, the McKenzie River native rainbow trout population has been the focus of recent interest groups attempting to induce a change in management practices to support native fisheries. The McKenzie River Chapter of Trout Unlimited is interested in learning more about the impacts that hatchery stocked rainbow trout have on native river populations. It is the group's intent to seek a rule change to management by the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife. A review of …

Multiple And Long-Term Effects Of An Introduced Predatory Crab, Catherine E. De Rivera, Edwin D. Grosholz, Gregory M. Ruiz

Environmental Science and Management Faculty Publications and Presentations

Despite the importance of invasions, few studies have explored their long-term consequences in marine systems or examined multiple types of population-level effects. Initial effects, however, may not persist over longer time frames; effects have been shown to wane in freshwater systems. We combined 14 yr of field surveys (1993 to 2006) with manipulative experiments to examine the potential for multiple effects of a nonindigenous crab Carcinus maenas on the native shore crab Hemigrapsus oregonensis over time in central California. H. oregonensis abundance was negatively correlated with C. maenas abundance. However, H. oregonensis abundance rebounded to pre-invasion levels once C. maenas …

An Analysis Of The Mortality Risks Associated With Heat And Heat Waves In Ireland, To Assist In Planning For Climate Change, Mathilde Pascal

Doctoral

Although extreme temperatures have not been identified as a major cause of mortality in Ireland, climate change calls for an evaluation of the past, present and future health risks associated with heat and heat waves. The health impacts of heat were investigated using mortality and temperature data for the period 1981-2003. Data were aggregated in urban areas (Dublin, Cork, Drogheda, Arklow, Dundalk, Galway, Limerick, Waterford and Wexford) and rural areas. Seven heat waves were identified between 1981 and 2003, corresponding to 254 excess deaths (197 in rural areas, and 57 in urban areas). A major episode was observed in rural …