Digital Commons Network^™

Ethanolic Fermentation Of Bio-Oil Hydrolysate, Darrell Rex Livingston Jr

Theses and Dissertations

As production of ethanol climbs, nonood feedstocks need to be utilized such as lignocellulosic biomass. The sugars present in bio-oil produced by fast pyrolysis can potentially be fermented by microbial organisms to produce cellulosic ethanol. This study shows the potential for microbial digestion of the aqueous fraction of bio-oil in an enrichment medium to consume glucose and produce ethanol. In addition to glucose, inhibitors such as furans and phenols are present in the bio-oil. A pure glucose enrichment medium of 20 g/L was used as a standard to compare with glucose and aqueous fraction mixtures for digestion. 30% by volume …

Intestinal Digenetic Trematodes Found In Double-Crested Cormorant Populations In The Mississippi Delta And The Potential Impact Of These Parasites On Commercial And Wild Fish Species Found In This Region, Mary Mcpherson O'Hear

Theses and Dissertations

Double-crested cormorants have steadily increased in the Mississippi Delta. This bird serves as a definitive host for digenetic trematodes, many of which infect fish. To identify these digeneans in cormorants and determine the impact these infections have on wild fish in the Mississippi Delta, two surveys were done. Cormorants were collected for two years in the Mississippi Delta. At necropsy trematodes were collected and identified morphologically and molecularly as: Austrodiplostomum ostrowskiae, Hysteromorpha triloba, Drepanocephalus spathans, Ascocotyle longa and Pseudopsilostoma varium. Additionally, 14 fish species were collected from a Mississippi Delta lake. Fish were examined for parasites and Posthodiplostomum minimum metacercariae …

Antimicrobial And Antioxidant Activity Of Muscadine (Vitis Rotundifolia Michx) Extracts As Influenced By Solvent Extraction Methods And Cultivars, Weiwei Chen

Theses and Dissertations

Muscadine seeds from three cultivars (‘Carlos’, ‘Noble’ and ‘Ison’) were processed by 100% v:v methanol, 95% v:v ethanol and 70% v:v acetone. The acetone seed extracts exhibited the highest (p<0.05) total phenolics (21.62~24.84mg/g of dw) and antioxidant activity. A strong correlation (R2=0.891, p<0.01) was found between total phenolics and antioxidant activity. Methanol and ‘Carlos’ seed extracts generally showed the highest antimicrobial capacity against pathogen strains tested, which correlated well with tannic acid, catechin, epicatechin and tartaric acid content. Hot water-soluble muscadine skin extracts from 17 muscadine cultivars (6 bronze and 11 dark) showed effective antioxidant properties. Significant variations (p<0.05) were observed among the 17 cultivars in total phenolics, organic acids and antioxidant activity. ‘Alachua’, ‘Albermarle’, ‘Southland’, ‘Janebell’ and ‘CA9-37’ were the cultivars found to have the highest antioxidant capacity. Skin extracts of dark-skin cultivars showed higher (p<0.05) content than bronze-skin cultivars in phenolics, tartaric acid, tannic acid and ellagic acids.

Geospatial Relationships Of Tree Species Damage Caused By Hurricane Katrina In South Mississippi, Mark William Garrigues

Theses and Dissertations

This study examined Hurricane Katrina damage in southeast Mississippi to identify stand and site characteristics that may contribute to wind-related damage. Aggregated forest plot-level biometrics were coupled with storm meteorology, topographical features, and soil attributes using GIS techniques to produce damage maps for specific tree species. Regression Tree Analysis was utilized to explore the relationship between damage type and distance variables (distance to coast/storm track). Results indicated that the total damage class had the greatest relationship with distance variables; individual damage classes (shear and blowdown) displayed a better relationship with stand-level variables (Quadratic Mean Diameter, Lorey’s Mean Height, Trees Per …

Soil-Microbe-Volatile Organic Compound (Smvoc) Analysis And Authentic Science Inquiry Into Gas Chromatography For A General Chemistry Laboratory Class, Christopher Vincent Ruhs

Theses and Dissertations

Sound research and effective teaching are both essential to the progress of science. This thesis encompasses two studies to address the two needs: a multi-scale soil study designed to validate a novel soil biological characterization method; and a pilot pedagogical study designed to test the efficacy of authentic science inquiry into gas chromatography. The soil study relies on a comparison of six soils taken from the Bahamas and Michigan. The novel method, using soil-derived VOCs analyzed via gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), proved effective for resolving soils, as hypothesized, and may prove useful for analyzing soil biology rapidly and non-destructively in …

Planting Date And Fertilizer Effects On Vegetable And Cut Flower Production In High Tunnels In Mississippi, Yan Zhao

Theses and Dissertations

High tunnels have been used for many years worldwide. However, there has been limited research about use of high tunnel technology in the southeastern United States and its popularity has recently increased in Mississippi. A planting date study of 'Roma'' tomato, 'Legend' tomato, 'Ichiban' eggplant, 'Sweet Banana' pepper, ‘Benary’s Giant’ zinnia and ‘Potomac Red’ snapdragon was conducted in spring 2010 in three high tunnels in Starkville, Mississippi. Results showed for most cultivars (tomatoes, eggplant and pepper) a 12 Mar. 2010 planting date did not differ in marketable yield from planting on 2 Apr. 2010. In 2011, a fertilizer study on …

Identification Of Genes Differentially Expressed In Elongating Fiber In A Cotton Chromosome Substitution Line Cs-B25, Samuel Sunil Kumar Bandi

Theses and Dissertations

Identification of genes specific to fiber development would improve the efforts in developing cotton plants with superior fiber quality. Through genetic introgression, 17 interspecific chromosome substitution lines (CS-B lines) of upland cotton in G. hirsutum (TM-1) have been developed and released recently. These substitution lines have TM1 as background and contain either whole chromosome or chromosome arms of G. barbadense (line 3-79) chromosomes. CS-B25 has chromosome 25 from G. barbadense substituted into TM-1 G. hirsutum was reported to show superior fiber properties. In this study, suppression subtraction hybridization (SSH) combined with Affymetrix cotton genome microarray arrays were used to identify …

The Effect Of Dietary Changes On Microbial Populations Within The Gastrointestinal Tract Of The Giant Panda (Ailuropoda Melanoleuca), Candace Lareine Williams

Theses and Dissertations

Both in-situ and ex-situ giant pandas (Ailuropoda melanoleuca), display shifts in bamboo species and part preference throughout the year. The effects of this shifting preference on gastrointestinal (GIT) microbiota were observed using traditional culturing methods to characterize normal GIT microflora from fecal samples and behavioral feeding data of adult male and female pandas over a fourteen-month period. Linear and quadratic fits were used to determine any significant relationships between the time of year and part preference on the GIT microflora (P<0.05). Significant values for time of year were observed with the linear fit in total aerobes (P-value=0.0368), streptococci (P-value=0.0120), and lactobacilli (P-value=0.0166) and quadratic fits in streptococci (P-value=0.0382) and Bacteroides spp. (P-value=0.0134) at á=0.05. Significant linear relationships were observed with part preference and lactobacilli and Bacteroides spp., P-values of 0.0028 and 0.0030, respectively, indicating that part preference and time of year may affect the flux of panda GIT microflora.

The Effects Of Glycine-Arginine-Alpha-Ketoisocaporic Acid Calcium On Maximum Strength And Muscular Endurance, Mareio Cortez Harris

Theses and Dissertations

Glycine-arginine-alpha-ketoisocaporic acid calcium (GAKIC) is a product advertised to increase muscular endurance during exercise via metabolic intervention. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of GAKIC ingestion on maximum strength and muscular endurance. Methods: Utilizing a double-blinded, crossover design, participants completed an upper and lower body resistance exercise protocol once using 11.2gs GAKIC, and the other with a placebo. Results: An increase in maximum strength was observed in the 1RM portion of the lower body protocol phase with statistical trends in the lower body TLV portion of testing. No significant differences were found in upper body …

The Effects Of Personal And Parental Religiosity On Psychopathology, Leah Ferrari Power

Theses and Dissertations

Early viewpoints considered religion to be associated with negative mental health or unfit to being observed by scientific practice. However, more recent research has suggested that religion not only may play an important role in determining mental health, but that the particular details of religion and parental religion, such as intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity, strength of religious faith, and religious well-being, have not been examined thoroughly. The current study examined 486 undergraduate students and found that participant and perceived parental religiosity were correlated negatively with participants‘ internalizing and externalizing problems; extrinsic-social religiosity was correlated positively with participants‘ internalizing and externalizing …

Formulation And Sensory Evaluation Of Gluten-Free Muffins Containing Flax, Adam Michael Woodyard

Theses and Dissertations

Celiac disease is characterized by an allergic reaction to gluten that causes inflammation of the small intestine and can lead to malabsorption and malnutrition. Glutenree products are being developed that meet dietary needs of individuals with celiac disease. However, these products often lack whole grains and fiber. Fortification of glutenree products with flax can increase nutritional value and alleviate inflammation. Sensory analysis (N=152) was conducted to evaluate the acceptability of glutenree muffins with moderate (3.8%) and high (7.4%) amounts of added flax. Results indicated that consumers preferred (p<0.05) the muffin without flax or the highlax muffin more than the muffin with the moderatelax treatment. The highlax and control treatments were rated 6.7, between like slightly and moderately like; the muffins from the moderatelax treatment were rated 6.4 on a nine-point hedonic scale. Producers of glutenree products could potentially formulate muffins that include flax and are acceptable to consumers.

Oyster Reefs As Natural Breakwaters Mitigate Shoreline Loss And Facilitate Fisheries, Steven B. Scyphers, Sean P. Powers, Kenneth L. Heck Jr., Dorothy Byron

University Faculty and Staff Publications

Shorelines at the interface of marine, estuarine and terrestrial biomes are among the most degraded and threatened habitats in the coastal zone because of their sensitivity to sea level rise, storms and increased human utilization. Previous efforts to protect shorelines have largely involved constructing bulkheads and seawalls which can detrimentally affect nearshore habitats. Recently, efforts have shifted towards “living shoreline” approaches that include biogenic breakwater reefs. Our study experimentally tested the efficacy of breakwater reefs constructed of oyster shell for protecting eroding coastal shorelines and their effect on nearshore fish and shellfish communities. Along two different stretches of eroding shoreline, …

Summer Commencement: August 5, 2011, University Of North Dakota

UND Commencement Programs

UND Summer Commencement program from August 5, 2011.

It's Not About Me: College Women And Unplanned Pregnancy, Jayne W. Hardy

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of single college women who had an unplanned pregnancy while attending a small private four-year university in the upper midwest. The conceptual framework used to provide direction for this study was social constructivism. A phenomenological approach was used to seek the reality constructed by the participants and develop subjective meaning from their experiences. The participants were all students who attended the same university and all had delivered their baby prior to the first interview. The audio-recorded interviews were transcribed and then analyzed for codes, categories, and themes. The following …

Gender Differences In The Effects Of Exposure To Intimate Partner Violence On Adolescent Violence And Drug Use, Abigail A. Fagan, Emily M. Wright

Criminology and Criminal Justice Faculty Publications

Objective

This study investigated the long-term effects of exposure to intimate partner violence in the home on adolescent violence and drug use and gender differences in these relationships. Although the general relationship between exposure to IPV and negative outcomes for youth has been demonstrated in past research, gender differences in the effects of IPV on adolescents have been rarely assessed using longitudinal data.

Methods

Longitudinal data was obtained from 1,315 adolescents and their primary caregivers participating in the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (PHDCN). The sample was 51% female and ethnically diverse (45% Hispanic, 37% African-American, and 14% …

Role Of Autophagy In Radiosensitization Of Breast Tumor Cells, Molly L. Bristol

Theses and Dissertations

In MCF-7 breast tumor cells, ionizing radiation promoted autophagy that was cytoprotective; pharmacological or genetic interference with autophagy induced by radiation resulted in growth suppression and/or cell killing (primarily by apoptosis). The hormonally active form of vitamin D, 1,25D3, also promoted autophagy in irradiated MCF-7 cells, sensitized the cells to radiation and suppressed the proliferative recovery that occurs after radiation alone. 1,25D3 also enhanced radiosensitivity and promoted autophagy in MCF7 cells that overexpress Her-2/neu as well as in p53 mutant Hs578t breast tumor cells. In contrast, 1,25D3 failed to alter radiosensitivity or promote autophagy in the BT474 breast tumor cell …

Summer Commencement Ceremonies, University Of North Florida

Commencement Printed Materials

Program for the Summer Commencement.

The Potential For Eutrophication Mitigation From Aquaculture Of The Native Oyster, Crassostrea Virginica, In Chesapeake Bay: Quantitative Assessment Of An Ecosystem Service, Colleen Higgins

Theses and Dissertations

Native oysters have been promoted as a means to improve water quality in Chesapeake Bay. This project added important insights into the potential of oyster aquaculture to process and remove nutrients from Bay waters. Results clarified that nutrient removal of nitrogen (N), phosphorous (P), and carbon (C) through harvest of cultivated oyster biomass can be quantified and modeled with high levels of statistical confidence. A simple, yet accurate, method is now available for estimating the amount of nutrients removed via harvesting aquacultured oysters. Based on model estimates, 106 harvest sized oysters (76 mm TL) remove 132 kg TN, 19 kg …

Scarification And Cultural Practice Of Four Lupine Species Native To The Great Basin, Covy Dennis Jones

Theses and Dissertations

The Great Basin is North America's largest desert, encompassing 135 million acres. Grazing and other anthropogenic activities in the Great Basin have put heavy demands on the landscape over the last 150 years. Heavily grazed areas lack diversity which allows the spread of exotic weed species. Cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum L [Poaceae]) has invaded and shortened fire frequency intervals from historic 30—100 years to as few as three to five years. Post-fire reseeding of native species is requisite for restoration of highly invaded ecosystems thus, preventing complete conversion to exotic weeds. Most native shrubs and grasses are available for restoration …

A Novel Multifunctional Photocatalytic Oxidation (Pco) Gel Preventing Mold/Mildew Growth And Volatile Organic Compound (Voc) Emission, Yao Gao

Open Access Dissertations

With the increasing time people spend indoors, the indoor environment quality draws more and more attention. The concentration of indoor pollutants is usually much higher than outdoors, in which volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and mold/mildew are both major pollutants and cause many health problems to residents. Efforts devoted from academy and industry to protecting people from indoor environment problems are apparently not sufficient. Photocatalysts, such as TiO2, WO and ZnO, can absorb light photons and react with O2 and H2O to generate highly oxidative radicals, which can oxidize VOCs and disinfect microorganisms. Recently, this photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) technology has been …

Distribution Of Field Caught Mosquitoes From Laredo, Texas, Yvette Patricia Mendoza

Theses and Dissertations

Within the last decades, mosquito-borne viruses have re-emerged in the United States. These infectious viruses include Dengue, West Nile, St. Louis Encephalitis, and Chikungunya, just to name a few. Originating in sub-tropical and tropical regions, these viruses and the mosquitoes that transmit them know no borders. Laredo, Texas is a town which borders Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas, Mexico; an area that is known to have frequent outbreaks of the Dengue virus. Identifying the diversity of mosquito species and the abundance of mosquitoes in the City of Laredo is a key element in aiding local public health officials in disease surveillance. This …

Extended Interferon-Alpha Therapy Accelerates Telomere Length Loss In Human Peripheral Blood T Lymphocytes, Joel M. O'Bryan, James A. Potts, Herbert L. Bonkovsky, Anuja Mathew, Alan L. Rothman

Institute for Immunology and Informatics Faculty Publications

Background:

Type I interferons have pleiotropic effects on host cells, including inhibiting telomerase in lymphocytes and antiviral activity. We tested the hypothesis that long-term interferon treatment would result in significant reduction in average telomere length in peripheral blood T lymphocytes.

Methods/Principal Findings:

Using a flow cytometry-based telomere length assay on peripheral blood mononuclear cell samples from the Hepatitis-C Antiviral Long-term Treatment against Cirrhosis (HALT-C) study, we measured T cell telomere lengths at screening and at months 21 and 45 in 29 Hepatitis-C virus infected subjects. These subjects had failed to achieve a sustained virologic response following 24 weeks of pegylated-interferon-alpha …

Rumbling In The Benthos: Acoustic Ecology Of The California Mantis Shrimp Hemisquilla Californiensis, E. Staaterman, C. Clark, A. Gallagher, M. Devries, T. Claverie, S. Patek

Faculty Publications, Biological Sciences

Although much research has focused on acoustic mapping and exploration of the benthic environment, little is known about the acoustic ecology of benthic organisms, particularly benthic crustaceans. Through the use of a coupled audio–video system, a hydrophone array, and an autonomous recording unit, we tested several hypotheses about the field acoustics of a benthic marine crustacean, Hemisquilla califor­niensis. Living in muddy burrows in southern California, these large mantis shrimp produce low frequency ‘rumbles’ through muscle vibrations. First, we tested whether acoustic signals are similar in the field and in the laboratory, and discovered that field-produced rumbles are more acoustically and …

Stability Of Diluted Adenosine Solutions In Polyvinyl Chloride Infusion Bags, Melissa Kaltenbach, David Hutchinson, Jessica E. Bollinger, Fang Zhao

Doctoral External Publications

Purpose The stability of diluted adenosine solutions in polyvinyl chloride infusion bags was studied.

Methods Adenosine 50-, 100-, and 220-μg/mL solutions were prepared in 50-mL polyvinyl chloride (PVC) infusion bags containing 0.9% sodium chloride injection or 5% dextrose injection and stored at room temperature (23–25 °C) or under refrigeration (2–8 °C). Each sample of every combination of concentration, diluent, and storage temperature was prepared in triplicate, yielding 36 samples. The samples were assayed using a stability-indicating, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatographic method immediately after preparation (time zero) and at 24 hours, 48 hours, 7 days, and 14 days. pH was measured …

Electron Loss From Fast Heavy Ions: Target-Scaling Dependence, Robert D. Dubois, A. C.F. Santos, G. M. Sigaud, E. C. Montenegro

Physics Faculty Research & Creative Works

The target dependence for projectile electron loss is investigated using experimental data taken from the literature. Impact energies range from a few tens of eV/u to tens of MeV/u. for energies less than several MeV/u, the target dependences are shown to be very similar, independent of projectile species and charge state. overall, however, with increasing impact energy the cross-section dependence on the target nuclear charge systematically increases. It is shown that none of the existing cross-section target scaling models reproduce these features. a model, based on Born scaling and including both the Anti screening and screening contributions to projectile electron …

Computational Pipeline For Human Transcriptome Quantification Using Rna-Seq Data, Guorong Xu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The main theme of this thesis research is concerned with developing a computational pipeline for processing Next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. RNA-seq experiments generate tens of millions of short reads for each DNA/RNA sample. The alignment of a large volume of short reads to a reference genome is a key step in NGS data analysis. Although storing alignment information in the Sequence Alignment/Map (SAM) or Binary SAM (BAM) format is now standard, biomedical researchers still have difficulty accessing useful information. In order to assist biomedical researchers to conveniently access essential information from NGS data files in SAM/BAM format, we have …

Identification And Characterization Of Enzymes Involved In The Biosynthesis Of Different Phycobiliproteins In Cyanobacteria, Avijit Biswas

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

A multi-plasmid, co-expression system was used to recreate the biosynthetic pathway for phycobiliproteins from the cyanobacterium Synechococcus sp. PCC 7002 in E. coli. This system efficiently produced chromophorylated allophycocyanin (ApcA/ApcB), -phycocyanin, and -phycocyanin. This system was used to demonstrate that CpcS-I and CpcU proteins are both required attaching PCB to allophycocyanin subunits ApcD (AP-B) and ApcF (18). The N-terminal, AP-like domain of ApcE (LCM99) was produced in soluble form and shown to have intrinsic bilin lyase activity. In addition, this system was used to chromophorylated CpcA from Synechococystis sp. PCC 6803 with a non-cognate bilin; PEB with the aid …

Towards The Synthesis Of Magnesidin, Subramanya Pingali

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Magnesidin is a magnesium chelate of the 3-hexanoyl and 3-octanoyl tetramic acid derivatives isolated from Psuedomonas magensiorubra. Its activity against grampositive bacteria was found to be a specific target for Gingivitis, a dental plaque.Although the synthesis of magnesidin has been reported earlier, it was not reproducible. The highly polar nature and it’s ability to exhibit tautomerization makes their chemical behavior complex and difficult to predict its structure. A variety of reactions and an in depth understanding of the chemical structure is necessary to attain the synthesis of these compounds. This dissertation focuses on addressing the attempts towards the synthesis …

Factors That Affect Harem Stability In A Feral Horse (Equus Caballus) Population On Shackleford Banks Island, Nc, Jessa Madosky

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Mammal species often live in social groups, but the factors that promote group cohesion can be difficult to analyze due to the prevalence of strong group affiliations. Feral horses maintain stable harems of one or two males and several females, and harem stability is strongly related to individual fitness. Anecdotal evidence and an early study in the non-breeding season suggest that management of the Shackleford Banks island horses with immunocontraception reduces harem stability in the population, providing an opportunity to study the factors that influence harem stability. I investigated the effects of the immunocontraceptive PZP on harem stability during the …

The Relationship Between Graduate Counseling Students’ Meaning In Life And Their Crisis, Lorraine M. Dinkel

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Viktor Frankl published Man’s Search for Meaning in 1946, documenting the horrors of the concentration camps. Based on his prison experience in the camps, Frankl (1984) believed that meaning in life could be found in suffering. The theoretical framework for this research study was based on Frankl’s theory of logotherapy, an extension of existentialism. In today’s society, we can find many parallels to Frankl’s descriptions of suffering in the natural and human-made disasters that have occurred such as the 1999 shooting at Columbine, the levee failure in 2005 following Hurricane Katrina, the floods in the spring of 2011 in the …