Digital Commons Network^™

A Novel Ascaroside Controls The Parasitic Life Cycle Of The Entomopathogenic Nematode Heterorhabditis Bacteriophora, Jaime H. Noguez, Elizabeth S. Conner, Yue Zhou, Todd A. Ciche, Justin R. Ragains, Rebecca A. Butcher

Faculty Publications

Entomopathogenic nematodes survive in the soil as stress-resistant infective juveniles that seek out and infect insect hosts. Upon sensing internal host cues, the infective juveniles regurgitate bacterial pathogens from their gut that ultimately kill the host. Inside the host, the nematode develops into a reproductive adult and multiplies until unknown cues trigger the accumulation of infective juveniles. Here, we show that the entomopathogenic nematode Heterorhabditis bacteriophora uses a small-molecule pheromone to control infective juvenile development. The pheromone is structurally related to the dauer pheromone ascarosides that the free-living nematode Caenorhabditis elegans uses to control its development. However, none of the …

Volume 103 Issue 25, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

The Southwestern - Archive

No abstract provided.

06-11-2012 Swosu Biology Students Earn National Honors For Research Endeavors, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

THE BARK ARCHIVE 2012

Two Southwestern Oklahoma State University biology students at Weatherford recently won national honors at the 2012 Beta Beta Beta Biennial National Convention, and the SWOSU Tri Beta chapter was named the 2012 Outstanding Chapter at the convention held in San Juan, Puerto Rico.

Semester Courses And Course Equivalents: Graduate Courses Summary

Undergraduate Curriculum and Academic Policy Committee Wright State University Quarter to Semester Transition

A list comprised of summaries of all graduate courses and course equivalents at Wright State University.

Aquatic Heteroptera Of The Lake Manguao Catchment, Palawan And New Rank Of Rhagovelia Kawakamii Hoberlandti Hungerford & Matsuda 1961, Hendrik Freitag, Herbert Zettel

Biology Faculty Publications

Results of an inventory of the fauna of aquatic and semiaquatic true bugs (Insecta: Hemiptera) of small streams in a lake catchment of northern Palawan are presented. Twenty-one species were recorded. Taxonomic and ecological notes, distribution and collection sites are given for each identified taxon. Rhagovelia hoberlandti Hungerford & Matsuda 1961 is newly ranked as a subspecies of R. kawakamii (Matsumura 1913): Rhagovelia kawakamii hoberlandti Hungerford & Matsuda 1961, stat.n. Cercotmetus asiaticus Amyot & Serville 1843 is recorded for the first time from the Philippines. Endemic and few undescribed taxa are discussed. Additional environmental data of the sampled waters are …

A Conservation Plan For Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve, San Luis Obispo, Ca, Brian M. Provenzale

Master's Theses

My thesis project is to create a conservation plan for the Reservoir Canyon Natural Reserve (RCNR) in San Luis Obispo, California. It is a professional project for the City of San Luis Obispo with the goal of eventual adoption by the City Council. The plan was motivated by City policy, which advises creating conservation plans for open spaces, and by a particular need to address management issues in RCNR that include plant and wildlife conservation, trail access, erosion, electrical utility easements, and other legal matters. The project consists of two main components: the conservation plan and a companion paper. The …

Challenges For Biological Interpretation Of Environmental Proteomics Data In Non-Model Organisms, Wesley W. Dowd

Biology Faculty Works

Environmental physiology, toxicology, and ecology and evolution stand to benefit substantially from the relatively recent surge of “omics” technologies into these fields. These approaches, and proteomics in particular, promise to elucidate novel and integrative functional responses of organisms to diverse environmental challenges, over a variety of time scales and at different levels of organization. However, application of proteomics to environmental questions suffers from several challenges—some unique to high-throughput technologies and some relevant to many related fields—that may confound downstream biological interpretation of the data. I explore three of these challenges in environmental proteomics, emphasizing the dependence of biological conclusions on …

2012 Commencement For Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College Of Graduate Studies, And Jefferson School Of Population Health

Sidney Kimmel Medical College Commencements

No abstract provided.

2012 Commencement For Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College Of Graduate Studies, And Jefferson School Of Population Health

Jefferson College of Biomedical Sciences Commencement

No abstract provided.

2012 Commencement For Jefferson Medical College, Jefferson College Of Graduate Studies, And Jefferson School Of Population Health

Jefferson College of Population Health Commencement

No abstract provided.

Population Continuity Or Replacement At Ancient Lachish? A Dental Affinity Analysis In The Levant, Clarissa R. Dicke-Toupin

Anthropology

Are material culture changes between late Bronze and early Iron Age inhabitants of Lachish, in modern day Israel, the result of immigrants settling the region, or an in situ evolution of practices by the same indigenous peoples? The research objectives are to: 1) assess dental affinity of an Iron Age Lachish sample relative to its Bronze Age predecessor, and 2) compare data in both groups with European and North African comparative samples to estimate biological affinity within the Mediterranean area. In the process, two competing hypotheses are tested; one postulates continuity and the other population replacement between the Bronze and …

Spiders Of Riparian Communities In The Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary, Belize, Megan Chevis

Honors Theses

Currently there is little literature on what arachnids inhabit the tropics of Central America, especially within the country of Belize. This study aimed to find which spider species are found in riparian areas within the Cockscomb Basin Wildlife Sanctuary in central Belize and to distinguish trends among spiders and the microhabitats in which they live. Nocturnal samples were predicted to have greater diversity than diurnal samples at all sites. Pisauridae, Salticidae, and Lycosidae were predicted to be the most common spider families collected. Specimens were collected from three riparian sites located on trails within Cockscomb. Diurnal and nocturnal samples were …

Bayesian And Related Methods: Techniques Based On Bayes' Theorem, Mehmet Vurkaç

Systems Science Friday Noon Seminar Series

Bayes' theorem is a simple algebraic consequence of conditional probability. Yet, its consequences are critical to philosophy, society, and technology. Starting from its simple derivation, we will show how its interpretation in terms of base rates (priors) and class-conditional likelihoods illuminates everyday problems in medicine and law, and provides signal processing, communications, machine learning, model selection, and other applications of statistics with powerful classification and estimation tools. Next, we will briefly examine some of the ways in which this theorem can be adopted to include multiple attributes, contexts, hypotheses, and levels of risk. Methods derived from or related to Bayes’ …

The Role Of Actin Binding Proteins In Cell Motility, Elizabeth Ojukwu

Honors Scholar Theses

Actin binding proteins (ABPs) play key roles in the dynamic organization of the actin cytoskeleton during cell movement. The general localization of ABPs during dynamic cellular processes has been characterized. However, their specific functions and mechanisms of regulating the cytoskeleton during motile cellular processes remain unclear. Two approaches have been utilized to ask how these proteins contribute to cytoskeletal function during motility. Using homologous recombination, mutant cell lines lacking α-actinin, fimbrin or both proteins have been created. By analyzing mutants that lack these proteins, we hope to disrupt processes that require a functional cytoskeleton such as phagocytosis, random motility, development, …

A Bayesian Approach To Pathway Analysis By Integrating Gene–Gene Functional Directions And Microarray Data, David W. Rowe, Yifang Zhao, Ming-Hui Chen, Dong-Guk Shin, Lynn Kuo

UCHC Articles - Research

Many statistical methods have been developed to screen for differentially expressed genes associated with specific phenotypes in the microarray data. However, it remains a major challenge to synthesize the observed expression patterns with abundant biological knowledge for more complete understanding of the biological functions among genes. Various methods including clustering analysis on genes, neural network, Bayesian network and pathway analysis have been developed toward this goal. In most of these procedures, the activation and inhibition relationships among genes have hardly been utilized in the modeling steps. We propose two novel Bayesian models to integrate the microarray data with the putative …

Cationic Aminooxy Lipids : Synthesis, Liposome Stabilization And Applications., Xuan Huang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes research focused on the synthesis, polymerization and applications of cationic aminooxy lipids. An efficient and convenient method was developed to stabilize liposomes using 'click chemistry'. The 'click stabilized liposomes' are fortified via covalent crosslinks generated between aldehyde and aminooxy functionalities in the lipid bilayers. Compared to untreated liposomes (i.e., no lipid-lipid bonding), the 'click' stabilized liposomes are considerably more stable against surfactant-mediated liposome disruption or serum-mediated liposome aggregation. Stabilized liposomes also can react with 'clickable' targeted ligands on the liposome surface for specific organ (e.g. breast cancer cells or liver) targeting. In this thesis, I have explored …

Characterization Of Novel Histone H2b Mutants Associated With Chromosome Segregation Defects In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, Thiruchelvam Rajagopal

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Histones are small basic proteins that associate with DNA to form the basic unit of chromatin, the nucleosome. Histones H3 and H4 form a tetramer that is bound by two H2A-H2B dimers to form the histone octamer, to which approximately 146 bp of DNA wrap around to form the nucleosome. High resolution structural information and recent advances in the understanding of histone post-translational modifications have illuminated the many regulatory functions chromatin exerts in the cell, from the transcriptional control of gene expression to chromosome segregation. However, the specific role that histones play in these processes is not well understood. Previous …

The Effects Industrial-Grade, Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes On Saccaromyces Cerevisiae, George Glasgow

Theses (Pre-2016)

Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes has the potential to cause harm to cells, along with other possible effects to organisms. S. cerevisiae are biological homologs of higher eukaryotes, such as humans, and are found almost everywhere in the environment. S. cerevisiae is a yeast species that biological homologs that can be studied as a model to be understand higher organisms. There, isn't substantial amount data on the effects of Industrial Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on S. cerevisiae. Analyzing the effects of Industrial Multi-Walled Carbon Nanotubes on S. cerevisiae cells is valuable for understanding it possible health and genetic effects to humans. W303 S. …

Simulated Microgravity And Caenorhabditis Elegans, Nina Marie Alaniz

Theses (Pre-2016)

Space exploration has fascinated scientist for centuries but the repercussions of zero gravity upon an organism must be understood in detail. Changes at the cellular, molecular, and organism level must be understood to prevent, reduce and/or reverse detrimental effects caused by zero gravity to ensure the safety of future human travelers into space. The use of Caenorhabditis elegans as a model organism to study space--like conditions will provide new proof that changes do occur when exposed to zero gravity for various lengths of time. Studying various exposure lengths of space--like conditions will provide a better understanding of when changes may …

Determining The Genotype-Phenotype Connection In Synthetic Inducible Gene Expression Systems, Rhys M. Adams

Dissertations and Theses (Open Access)

Introduction Gene expression is an important process whereby the genotype controls an individual cell’s phenotype. However, even genetically identical cells display a variety of phenotypes, which may be attributed to differences in their environment. Yet, even after controlling for these two factors, individual phenotypes still diverge due to noisy gene expression. Synthetic gene expression systems allow investigators to isolate, control, and measure the effects of noise on cell phenotypes. I used mathematical and computational methods to design, study, and predict the behavior of synthetic gene expression systems in S. cerevisiae, which were affected by noise.

Methods I created probabilistic …

Nanopillar Based Electrochemical Biosensor For Monitoring Microfluidic Based Cell Culture, Rajan Gangadharan

All Dissertations

In-vitro assays using cultured cells have been widely performed for studying many aspects of cell biology and cell physiology. These assays also form the basis of cell based sensing. Presently, analysis procedures on cell cultures are done using techniques that are not integrated with the cell culture system. This approach makes continuous and real-time in-vitro measurements difficult. It is well known that the availability of continuous online measurements for extended periods of time will help provide a better understanding and will give better insight into cell physiological events.
With this motivation we developed a highly sensitive, selective and stable microfluidic …

Morphological Detection Of Genetic Introgression In Red Junglefowl (Gallus Gallus), Tomas Condon

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

The Red Junglefowl (Gallus gallus) is generally considered to be the primary wild ancestor of the domestic chicken (Gallus gallus domesticus). Because they are common in much of the forested habitat of South and Southeast Asia, they have never been granted any formal conservation status. However, evidence suggests that genetic introgression from free-ranging, escaped, and feral domestic chickens might be so widespread and pervasive that Red Junglefowl may be endangered or even extinct in the wild. Because genetic markers have yet to be identified, detection of introgression has been limited to qualitative morphological traits. Thus, there is a need to …

The Relationship Between Temperament And Facets Of Creativity, Clark Daniel Pinson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purported association between mental illness and creativity has been most heavily researched in individuals diagnosed with a bipolar disorder. The bipolar disorders have been conceptualized as a spectrum of disorders that range from problematic and labile affect to different types of temperament. Temperament has classically been defined as elements of personality that are heritable, stable, based on emotion, and uninfluenced by socio-cultural learning. Contemporary literature suggested that at least some aspects of creativity may be enhanced by an affective range that has been best characterized by the milder part of the bipolar spectrum of disorders. The primary inquiry of …

Electrochemical Study Of Protein Modification, Jing Zhao, Xiao-Li Zhu, Gen-Xi Li

Journal of Electrochemistry

Protein post-translational modification is a key physiological procedure, which has received more and more research interests from the scientists not only in protein science but also in some other fields. The usually employed techniques for the study of protein modification include mass spectrum, affinity chromatography, etc. Considering the complexity of protein modification and the urgent demand of such kind of study, it is highly required to develop new techniques to perform more studies. Electrochemical methods, which have been widely used in chemical study and analysis, are playing an increasingly important role in many fields of biological studies. The modification of …

Migration Distance And Sexual Dichromatism: Cost Of Migration Is Correlated With Reduced Female Coloration In Wood Warblers, Richard K. Simpson

Biology Honors Theses

Avian sexual dichromatism has been observed to be greater at higher latitudes, and one of the long-standing explanations for the underlying evolutionary forces underlying this geographic pattern is the breeding latitude hypothesis, which focuses on changes in male ornamentation and posits that sexual selection for male ornamentation is stronger at higher latitudes. I offer an alterative hypothesis that focuses on how changes in female coloration can drive the evolution of sexual dichromatism. I propose that the costs of migration, including increased predation risk and high energetic costs, negatively select against elaborate plumage coloration, and that the distance a species migrates …

Hydrophilic Polymers Of Poly (2-Hydroxy Ethyl Methacrylate) With Tunable Properties For Drug Release, Sequestration Of Blistering Agent, Preparation Of Ultra-Strong Hydrogels & Thermal Stability Of Various Organic Azides, Ramakanth Ananthoji

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The design and synthesis of new finely tunable porous materials has spurred interest in developing novel uses in a variety of systems. Zeolites, inorganic materials with high thermal and mechanical stability, in particular, have been widely examined for use in applications such as catalysis, ion exchange and separation. A relatively new class of inorganic-organic hybrid materials known as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) has recently surfaced, and many have exhibited their efficiency in potential applications such as ion exchange and drug delivery. A more recent development is the design and synthesis of a subclass of MOFs based on zeolite topologies (i.e. ZMOFs), …

2012 Abstract Booklet, Undergraduate Research Center, Minnesota State University, Mankato

Undergraduate Research Symposium

Complete Schedule of Events for the 14th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium at Minnesota State University, Mankato.

Macalester Today Spring 2012, Macalester College

Macalester Today

No abstract provided.

Revitalizing Downtown Harrisonburg

Madison Magazine

No abstract provided.

Madison Magazine, Vol. 35, No. 2, Spring/Summer 2012 Full Issue

Madison Magazine

No abstract provided.