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Hydrodynamic Focused Passive Separation Under Continuous Flow In A Microfluidic Chip, Jad Kanbar

Master's Theses

A continuous flow, passive separation device was designed using an equivalent circuit to create variable flow rates for hydrodynamic focusing to drain channels and collection outlets. By varying the diameter of the sample inlet connection into the reservoir, the particle position was influenced significantly, which enabled desired separations. Additionally it was noted that the relative, horizontal position of the inlet also had a significant influence on particle position within the device. A dimensionless number, the Characteristic Sample Inlet, was developed to relate geometric properties of the inlet reservoir to downstream particle distribution. It was found that a 2:1 ratio between …

High Aspect Ratio Electrodes For High Yield Electroporation Of Cells, Anil B. Shrirao

Dissertations

Electroporation is a widely used process in cell biology studies. It uses an electric field to create pores on the cell membrane in order to either insert exogenous molecules inside the cells or disrupt the cell membrane to kill the cells. Current micro-fluidic electroporation devices use the planar electrodes situated at the bottom of a microchannel. These planar electrodes i) require a high voltage and ii) generate a nonuniform electric field which result in low yield of the electroporation. The standard silicon microfabrication technologies are not suitable to fabricate non-planar electrodes required to increase the yield of electroporation.

In this …

Spartan Daily August 30, 2012, San Jose State University, School Of Journalism And Mass Communications

Spartan Daily (School of Journalism and Mass Communications)

Volume 139, Issue 3

Methods Of Cellular Integration And Techniques For Improving Encapsulated Cell Viability For The Purpose Of Developing Living Materials And Cell Based Bio-Sensing Materials, Travis J. Savage

Chemical and Biological Engineering ETDs

Living materials offer the potential for detection-reporter systems based on living cells that are genetically tailored to sense target analytes with high levels of specificity and accuracy. A biotic or living material would allow the development of simple, hand held devices that could be utilized for many applications including industrial process monitoring, environmental remediation, military and defense applications and drug delivery. Many living materials have been developed and characterized but they still lack heightened and prolonged encapsulated cell viability necessary to make the material a candidate for widespread use. One particular material offers several advantages to increase yeast cell viability …

Antony Van Leeuwenhoek: Creation “Magnified” Through His Magnificent Microscopes, Alan L. Gillen, Douglas Oliver

Faculty Publications and Presentations

Although van Leeuwenhoek was not the inventor of the microscope, he advanced it more than anyone else for seeing living things.

Antony van Leeuwenhoek1 (Fig. 1) found great joy in God’s smallest creatures. He first discovered protozoans in his youth. The Dutch haberdasher retained a child-like joy of discovery from his youth until his death at age 90. He lived to see tiny microbes though his homemade microscopes. He loved to grind and focus a new lens in order to see the unseen world. Leeuwenhoek spent countless hours grinding tiny lenses and looking through them. This Christian lay biologist …

Analysis Of Relaxin And Acute-Phase Proteins In Urine And Feces For Canine Pregnancy Diagnosis, Vanna Gail Mcmillan

Theses and Dissertations

Measurements of relaxin and acute-phase proteins have not been validated for use in canine serum as a method of pregnancy diagnosis. This means that handling and anesthesia is still necessary to check the pregnancy status of most non-domestic canines. Therefore, the intention of this study was to determine whether relaxin and/or acute-phase proteins could be detected in the urine and/or feces of the domestic dog in order to evaluate the potential for a noninvasive pregnancy test in canines. Blood, urine and feces were collected from 18 domestic dogs and assayed for the presence of relaxin, fibrinogen, alpha-1 acid glycoprotein, and …

The Analysis Of The Expression And Phenotype Of The At3g02400 Gene In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Will Gray

Theses and Dissertations

The involvement of several genes in DNA repair in animals and bacteria, and the induced expression of At3G02400 by Mitomycin C, suggest that this gene is involved in DNA repair in plants. I have tested this hypothesis by studying the regulation of its expression and identifying the function of this gene. To study the expression of this gene, I used a reporter line and bio-computing tools. To identify the function of the gene, I have isolated two T-DNA mutants and screened Targeting Induced Local Lesions in Genomes (TILLING) mutants. T-DNA mutagenesis is the process of inserting transfer DNA into the …

Methylene Blue Modulates Huntingtin Aggregation Intermediates And Is Protective In Huntington's Disease Models, Emily M. Sontag, Gregor P. Lotz, Namita Agrawal, Andrew Tran, Rebecca Aron, Guocheng Yang, Mihaela Necula, Alice Lau, Steven Finkbeiner, Charles G. Glabe, J. Lawrence Marsh, Paul J. Muchowski, Leslie M. Thompson

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Huntington's disease (HD) is a devastating neurodegenerative disorder with no disease-modifying treatments available. The disease is caused by expansion of a CAG trinucleotide repeat and manifests with progressive motor abnormalities, psychiatric symptoms, and cognitive decline. Expression of an expanded polyglutamine repeat within the Huntingtin (Htt) protein impacts numerous cellular processes, including protein folding and clearance. A hallmark of the disease is the progressive formation of inclusions that represent the culmination of a complex aggregation process. Methylene blue (MB), has been shown to modulate aggregation of amyloidogenic disease proteins. We investigated whether MB could impact mutant Htt-mediated aggregation and neurotoxicity. MB …

Synthesis, Reaction And Structural Studies Of Triorganotin Carboxylates / Thong Pui Yee, Yee Thong Pui

Student Works (2010-2019)

iiiC6H4CH(Br)CH(OCH3)COOH was obtained as the major product. The triorganotin diorganodithiocarbamylacetate were found to be inert towards any brominating agents. The bromination products were characterized by spectroscopic techniques such as 1H, 13C NMR and FT-IR spectroscopies. The X-ray structures of four bromination products namely 2,3-dibromo-3-phenylpropionic acid (A6), 2-bromo-3-methoxy-3-(p-methoxyphenyl)propionic acid (A7), bis(4,4-dimethyl-aminopyridinium)-2,3-dibromo-3-(p-chlorophenyl)propionate (A9) and tricyclohexyltin 2,3-dibromo-3-phenylprionate (P4) were also determined.In addition, ten selected triorganotin carboxylates, C4–C10, C14, P4–P6 were investigated for their cytotoxic activities against the human leukemia HL60 cells. In general, the triorganotin carboxylates exhibit comparable cytotoxic activities to that of cisplatin.

The Cell Collective: Toward An Open And Collaborative Approach To Systems Biology., Tomáš Helikar, Brian Kowal, Sean Mcclenathan, Mitchell Bruckner, Thaine Rowley, Alex Madrahimov, Ben Wicks, Manish Shrestha, Kahani Limbu, Jim A. Rogers

Mathematics Faculty Publications

Background: Despite decades of new discoveries in biomedical research, the overwhelming complexity of cells has been a significant barrier to a fundamental understanding of how cells work as a whole. As such, the holistic study of biochemical pathways requires computer modeling. Due to the complexity of cells, it is not feasible for one person or group to model the cell in its entirety. Results: The Cell Collective is a platform that allows the world-wide scientific community to create these models collectively. Its interface enables users to build and use models without specifying any mathematical equations or computer code - addressing …

Rna Compass: Rna Comprehensive Multi-Processor Analysis System For Sequencing, Guorong Xu

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

The main theme of this dissertation is to develop a distributed computational pipeline for processing next-generation RNA sequencing (RNA-seq) data. RNA-seq experiments generate hundreds of millions of short reads for each DNA/RNA sample. There are many existing bioinformatics tools developed for the analysis and visualization of this data, but very large studies present computational and organizational challenges that are difficult to overcome manually. We designed a comprehensive pipeline for the analysis of RNA sequencing which leverages many existing tools and parallel computing technology to facilitate the analysis of extremely large studies. RNA CoMPASS provides a web-based graphical user interface and …

Greater Galagos Near Mt. Kasigau, Kenya: Population Density Estimates, Andrea Falcetto

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This study examined population density and habitat use of a species of greater galago, genus Otolemur, around Mt. Kasigau, Kenya. Mt. Kasigau has a unique regional microclimate, a cloud forest, which provides many different flora and fauna a home. To examine population density, two different methods were used. The first method was using line transects and analyzing results using Distance 6.0. These surveys were conducted during both dry and wet season and results were compared after the study. The second method was to trap individuals and use mark-recapture to determine population density. When caught in a trap, individuals were …

Trapping And Control Of The Small Hive Beetle, Aethina Tumida, An Invasive Parasite Of Honey Bees, Apis Mellifera, Shannon Peterson

All Theses

The small hive beetle, Aethina tumida Murray (Coleoptera: Nitidulidae), is one of the most recent honey bee pests of economic importance, especially in the southeastern United States. Various in-hive traps have been developed to attempt to control the populations of this invasive pest within honey bee colonies. The first year of my research focused on comparing the effectiveness of three commercially available traps for removing small hive beetles. Thirty-two colonies were established with 0.9-kg package bees with a queen in four apiaries. Eight colonies were placed in each apiary, each colony randomly receiving one of four treatments: the three-chambered Hood …

Pharmacological Characterization Of An Optimized Sigma Receptor Ligand, Michael Seminerio

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Methamphetamine is an addictive psychostimulant drug with an increasing prevalence of abuse worldwide. Recent evidence has linked methamphetamine exposure to a wide array of neurological complications some of which lead to neurodegenerative changes in the brain and hyperthermia. Currently, there are no FDA approved pharmacologic agents to treat the effects of methamphetamine. Recent evidence has suggested methamphetamine may, in part, produce some of its effects through sigma receptors making them a potential target for pharmacological intervention. While our lab has shown a number of selective sigma receptor ligands can provide neuroprotection against the neurotoxic and behavioral effects of methamphetamine, limitations …

Advancing Global Tobacco Control: Exploring Worldwide Youth Attitudes And Behaviors Toward Tobacco Use And Control, Sreenivas Phanikumar Veeranki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Tobacco use continues to be the leading cause of preventable death in the world. The disproportionate increase in tobacco use in low- and middle-income countries needs immediate attention. Many smokers begin smoking as adolescents and are most likely to become permanent smokers. Moreover, youth are highly targeted by tobacco industry strategies. However, a gap exists in literature to understand worldwide youth tobacco use and control. The purpose of this study is to 1) identify factors that influence never-smoking youths‟ smoking susceptibility, 2) explore characteristics that influence youth exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS) and 3) to delineate key determinants of …

Nitric Oxide Regulation Of C-Di-Gmp Metabolism And Biofilm Formation In Shewanella Woodyi, Niu Liu

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

Biofilms, multi-cellular sessile communities of bacteria, are known to account for bacterial persistence and antibiotic resistance. Nitric oxide (NO) has been shown to induce biofilm dispersal at sub-lethal concentrations in many species. For example, in the cystic-fibrosis associated bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, NO is reported to regulate biofilm dispersal through cyclic di-GMP signaling. In this thesis work, I demonstrate that Swoo_2750 from Shewanella woodyi encodes a Heme-Nitric oxide/OXygen binding domain (H-NOX), a protein that binds NO with approximately picomolar sensitivity. I demonstrate further that SwH-NOX is co-cistronic and directly interacts with Swoo_2751, a bi-functional diguanylate cyclase (DGC), which exhibits both c-di-GMP …

Comparison Of Pass Assessment Scores In Single-Gender And Heterogeneous Middle Schools In South Carolina, Patricia Canada

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

In response to the mandates of No Child Left Behind, (NCLB), educators across the country struggle to close the gaps between males and females. Some of the physiological differences existing between the male and female brain suggest support for single-gender instruction, which is on the rise within this country as well as other parts of the world. Using the theoretical framework based on brain research, the purpose of this quantitative study was to compare the effect of single-gender instruction on assessment results in Palmetto Assessments of State Standards (PASS) math and reading scores of public middle single-gender schools to mixed-gender …

Development Of Patterned Self-Assembled Monolayers Toward The Study Of Axonal Differentiation, Dawn Marie Johnson

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

The following work discusses the development of several techniques and new methods for the production of patterned surfaces for protein and cell confinement. These well-defined substrates allow us to study the mechanism of axonal differentiation in neurons confined to a two-dimensional starburst pattern. We utilize self-assembled monolayer: SAM) chemistry in conjunction with microcontact printing to create stable patterned substrates for cell culture. Photolithography is employed in the fabrication of patterned masters, which are used to create elastomeric stamps for microcontact printing.

Initially, trichlorosilanes were employed in our patterned SAMs because they react rapidly with glass. These patterned surfaces confined protein …

Gene Ontology Analysis Of Pairwise Genetic Associations In Two Genome-Wide Studies Of Sporadic Als, Nora Chung Kim, Peter C. Andrews, Folkert W. Asselbergs, H Robert Frost, Scott M. Williams, Brent T. Harris, Cynthia Read, Kathleen D. Askland, Jason H. Moore

Dartmouth Scholarship

It is increasingly clear that common human diseases have a complex genetic architecture characterized by both additive and nonadditive genetic effects. The goal of the present study was to determine whether patterns of both additive and nonadditive genetic associations aggregate in specific functional groups as defined by the Gene Ontology (GO).

Synthesis Of Half-Loaded Nitroimidazole Indocyanine Green Dyes Attached To Carbon Nanotubes, Courtney L. Stanford

Master's Theses

Indocyanine green dye is the only FDA approved NIR fluorescent dye that can be used in humans. 2-Nitroimidazoles are very effective radiosensitizers, have low cytotoxicity, and target hypoxic tissue. By coupling the two together, hypoxic tumors can be targeted and imaged. Previous work has been done to couple 2-nitroimidazole to both sides of the indocyanine green dye. This work focuses on expanding that concept to couple 2-nitroimidazole to only one side of the dye, thus allowing for the other end to be available to couple to another compound, generating a half loaded 2-nitroimidazole indocyanine green dye. In theory, this half-loaded …

Early Stage Drug Treatment That Normalizes Proinflammatory Cytokine Production Attenuates Synaptic Dysfunction In A Mouse Model That Exhibits Age-Dependent Progression Of Alzheimer's Disease-Related Pathology, Adam D. Bachstetter, Christopher M. Norris, Pradoldej Sompol, Donna M. Wilcock, Danielle Goulding, Janna H. Neltner, Daret St. Clair, D. Martin Watterson, Linda J. Van Eldik

Sanders-Brown Center on Aging Faculty Publications

Overproduction of proinflammatory cytokines in the CNS has been implicated as a key contributor to pathophysiology progression in Alzheimer's disease (AD), and extensive studies with animal models have shown that selective suppression of excessive glial proinflammatory cytokines can improve neurologic outcomes. The prior art, therefore, raises the logical postulation that intervention with drugs targeting dysregulated glial proinflammatory cytokine production might be effective disease-modifying therapeutics if used in the appropriate biological time window. To test the hypothesis that early stage intervention with such drugs might be therapeutically beneficial, we examined the impact of intervention with MW01-2-151SRM (MW-151), an experimental therapeutic that …

Transmittable Turnover: The Contagious Nature Of 'Water Cooler' Conversations In Organizations., Julie Irene Hancock

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

Job affect, mobility, and labor market conditions have long been studied as predictors of employee turnover. While these relations have been strongly supported, there are a number of other factors that have not been considered within the turnover literature. In particular, the means by which individuals develop labor market perceptions via referent others and how this influences turnover have not been examined.This dissertation explores employee turnover by integrating the social contagion literature with that of social networks, examining the effects that network characteristics, such as number of ties, degree of closeness with ties, and frequency of communication with ties, have …

Stochastic Models Of Human Kidney Cancer, Yanan Wu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations Archive

This dissertation is focused on the development of stochastic models for carcinogenesis of human kidney cancer. Based on recent biological studies, we have developed a multiple-pathway stochastic model for the human pediatric kidney cancer - Wilms' tumor. To account for hereditary cancer cases and the development of non-hereditary cancers through two different pathways in the stochastic model, we have also developed a generalized mixture model. In this mixture model, two mixing probability distributions were applied, which are a multinomial distribution to explain the genetic segregation of the stage-limiting tumor suppressor genes and a binomial distribution to account for the development …

Evaluating The Performance Of Computational Approaches For Identifying Critical Sites In Protein-Coding Dna Sequences, Matthew Lewis Bendall

Theses and Dissertations

The ability to link a particular phenotype to its causative genotype is one of the most challenging objectives for biological research. Although the genetic code provides an explicit formula for determining the sequence of amino acid phenotypes produced by a given nucleotide sequence, identifying specific residues that are functionally important remains problematic. Many computational approaches have been developed that use patterns observed in DNA sequences to identify these critical sites. However, very few research studies have used empirical data to test whether these approaches are truly able to identify sites of interest.In most empirical studies, the actual protein function and …

The Proteomics Of Lipid Droplets: Structure, Dynamics, And Functions Of The Organelle Conserved From Bacteria To Humans., Li Yang, Yunfeng Ding, Yong Chen, Shuyan Zhang, Chaoxing Huo, Yang Wang, Jinhai Yu, Peng Zhang, Huimin Na, Huina Zhang, Yanbin Ma, Pingsheng Liu

College of Science & Mathematics Departmental Research

Lipid droplets are cellular organelles that consists of a neutral lipid core covered by a monolayer of phospholipids and many proteins. They are thought to function in the storage, transport, and metabolism of lipids, in signaling, and as a specialized microenvironment for metabolism in most types of cells from prokaryotic to eukaryotic organisms. Lipid droplets have received a lot of attention in the last 10 years as they are linked to the progression of many metabolic diseases and hold great potential for the development of neutral lipid-derived products, such as biofuels, food supplements, hormones, and medicines. Proteomic analysis of lipid …

Nuclear Migration And Spermatid Elongation During Spermiogenesis In Drosophila Pseudoobscura, Benjamin S. Reimer

Theses

No abstract provided.

Gsbs News, Summer 2012, Graduate School Of Biomedical Sciences, University Of Texas Health Science Center At Houston/M.D. Anderson Cancer Center

GSBS News

No abstract provided.

Impacts Of Upstream Drought And Water Withdrawals On The Health And Survival Of Downstream Estuarine Oyster Populations, Laura E. Petes, Alicia J. Brown, Carley R. Knight

Faculty Publications

Increases in the frequency, duration, and severity of regional drought pose major threats to the health and integrity of downstream ecosystems. During 2007-2008, the U.S. southeast experienced one of the most severe droughts on record. Drought and water withdrawals in the upstream watershed led to decreased freshwater input to Apalachicola Bay, Florida, an estuary that is home to a diversity of commercially and ecologically important organisms. This study applied a combination of laboratory experiments and field observations to investigate the effects of reduced freshwater input on Apalachicola oysters. Oysters suffered significant disease-related mortality under high-salinity, drought conditions, particularly during the …

Biology, Saint Mary's College Of California

Academic Catalog

No abstract provided.

Assessment Of The Oxbow Morphology Of The Caloosahatchee River And Its Evolution Over Time: A Case Study In South Florida, Chloe Delhomme

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Caloosahatchee River, located in Southern Florida, was originally a meandering and relatively shallow river. During the 1920s, the Caloosahatchee River was channelized and became the C-43 canal. The channelization has significantly impacted the river ecosystem, particularly the oxbows. The oxbows are the U-shaped water bodies on each side of the river channel, which are the remnant bends of the original river. To understand how anthropogenic influence affects hydrologic systems, the proposed case study was designed to assess the geomorphic changes of the oxbows of the Caloosahatchee River, Florida. Understanding and documenting the evolution of river morphology is becoming increasingly …