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2012

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Effects Of Sodium Methyldithiocarbamate-Induced Oxidative Stress On Nf-Kappa B Activation, Monica Cherie Gadson Aug 2012

Effects Of Sodium Methyldithiocarbamate-Induced Oxidative Stress On Nf-Kappa B Activation, Monica Cherie Gadson

Theses and Dissertations

Sodium methyldithiocarbamate (SMD) is commonly reported to cause health risks in humans. Previous reports indicate SMD causes oxidative stress, which can contribute to the activation of NF-êB and cause other characteristics of inflammatory responses to be altered. Almost all pro-inflammatory cytokines require NF-êB activation for full expression and development of an innate immune or inflammatory response. This study evaluated NF-êB activation, providing new information regarding reactive oxygen in macrophages from SMD-treated mice. Studies were conducted in which NF-êB reporter mice were treated with lipopolysaccharide (LPS), SMD, buthionine sulfoximine (BSO), and N-acetyl cysteine (NAC). BSO depletes glutathione (GSH) and increases oxidative …

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Ecology And Disease Potential Of The Black-Legged Deer Tick, Ixodes Scapularis Say, In Mississippi, Lauren Goltz Aug 2012

Ecology And Disease Potential Of The Black-Legged Deer Tick, Ixodes Scapularis Say, In Mississippi, Lauren Goltz

Theses and Dissertations

To assess the seasonality and disease potential of Ixodes scapularis Say in north Mississippi, ixodid ticks were collected by drag cloth method at two sites in north Mississippi weekly from August 1, 2010 through July 31, 2011 and tested for molecular evidence of disease agents via polymerase chain reaction (PCR) assay. In addition, environmental data were observed and recorded for each collection date. I. scapularis nymphs (n=6) were collected in August, September, March, and May, perhaps reflecting a seasonally bimodal distribution, while adults (n=256) were found October through May with a peak in March. No statistically significant relationship between environmental …

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Economic Evaluation Of Biofuel Production Through Bio-Gasification Power Facility Using Modeling Method, Yangyang Deng Aug 2012

Economic Evaluation Of Biofuel Production Through Bio-Gasification Power Facility Using Modeling Method, Yangyang Deng

Theses and Dissertations

Since bio-gasification is a potentially more efficient way to utilize bio-energy, the economic feasibility becomes one of the greatest issues when we apply this new technology. Evaluation of economic feasibility of a bio-gasification facility needs understanding of its production unit cost under different capacities and different working shift modes. The objectives of this study were to evaluate the unit cost of bio-syngas and biouel products at different capacities by using economic modeling method. Result showed that economic feasibility of a power facility was significantly affected by its production capacity and operating mode (one shift, two shifts, or three shifts mode). …

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Crappie Population Characteristics Relative To Inundation Of Floodplain Habitats In Reservoirs, Jonah Dennis Dagel Aug 2012

Crappie Population Characteristics Relative To Inundation Of Floodplain Habitats In Reservoirs, Jonah Dennis Dagel

Theses and Dissertations

Catch rates of age-0 and adult crappies Pomoxis spp. were compared between floodplains and coves to determine if differences in densities existed between habitats, and to determine if water levels influenced density relationships. Habitat in a cove and a floodplain of Enid Reservoir was mapped to describe differences in vegetation. Adult crappies were collected with electrofishing and age-0 crappies were collected with trap nets. Coves had the greatest spring densities of adults in 2009 and 2010, whereas floodplains attracted adults earlier in the spawning season. Recruitment of age-0 crappies was related inversely to high water levels during months preceding the …

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Degree Of Pyritization And Methylmercury Analysis, Weeks Bay Alabama, Henry A. Stauffenberg Aug 2012

Degree Of Pyritization And Methylmercury Analysis, Weeks Bay Alabama, Henry A. Stauffenberg

Theses and Dissertations

Methylmercury (MeHg) production is magnified in the natural environment by geochemical influxes and an active sulfate reducing bacteria community. It has been found that the presence of sulfides, excess nutrients, and the type of depositional environment (normal marine or euxinic) greatly influences MeHg production and degree of pyritization (DOP). The aim of this research is to investigate a possible connection between MeHg accumulation and the DOP in Weeks Bay sediment. Collected sediment samples have confirmed a significant presence of total reduced sulfides, inorganic mercury, reactive iron, and total organic carbon. Pyritization results indicate a normal marine environment and, of the …

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Analysis Of Classes Of Singular Boundary Value Problems, Eunkyung Ko Aug 2012

Analysis Of Classes Of Singular Boundary Value Problems, Eunkyung Ko

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation we study positive solutions to a singular p-Laplacian elliptic boundary value problem on a bounded domain with smooth boundary when a positive parameter varies. Our main focus is the analysis of a challenging class of singular p-Laplacian problems. We establish the existence of a positive solution for all positive values of the parameter and the existence of at least two positive solutions for a certain explicit range of the parameter. In the Laplacian case, we also prove the uniqueness of the positive solution for large values of the parameter. We extend our existence and multiplicity results to …

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Analysis Of Relaxin And Acute-Phase Proteins In Urine And Feces For Canine Pregnancy Diagnosis, Vanna Gail Mcmillan Aug 2012

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 …

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Evaluation Of Field-Scale Soil Organic Carbon And Watershed-Scale Bioenergy Crop Production In Mississippi, Sarah Duffy Aug 2012

Evaluation Of Field-Scale Soil Organic Carbon And Watershed-Scale Bioenergy Crop Production In Mississippi, Sarah Duffy

Theses and Dissertations

To date only a limited number of studies have been done at the field level to observe the effects of agricultural management practices on carbon sequestration, water quality, and bioenergy crop yield in Mississippi. Therefore, the goals of this study were to monitor soil organic carbon (SOC) levels at the field scale and perform a comprehensive analysis of the potential environmental impacts at the watershed scale using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) in two watersheds located in Mississippi. It was found that SOC levels generally are affected by depth, land use, and time. The SWAT models showed good …

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Evaluation Of The Hydrologic Impact, Potential Forest Biomass Production, And Sensitivity Analysis Of The Upper Pearl River Watershed Using Swat Model, Sunita Khanal Aug 2012

Evaluation Of The Hydrologic Impact, Potential Forest Biomass Production, And Sensitivity Analysis Of The Upper Pearl River Watershed Using Swat Model, Sunita Khanal

Theses and Dissertations

The Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) was used to quantify the potential impacts of clearcutting on hydrologic and water quality components, and assess potential forest biomass production and perform sensitivity analysis of crop parameters to predict forest biomass in the Upper Pearl River Watershed. Results based on clearcutting indicated that the hydrologic and water quality components increases with increase in percentage of forest area harvested. The most significant effect was observed from 55% and 75% harvesting scenarios. The results based on SWAT’s performance to simulate potential forest biomass production showed satisfactory performance and revealed that the watershed has the …

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Experimental And Computational Study Of The Ph Dependence Of Dithiopurine (Dtp) Interaction With Gold Nanoparticles (Aunps), Hao Xia Aug 2012

Experimental And Computational Study Of The Ph Dependence Of Dithiopurine (Dtp) Interaction With Gold Nanoparticles (Aunps), Hao Xia

Theses and Dissertations

Understanding molecular level ligand interfacial interaction with gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) is important for AuNP applications such as catalysts, drug delivery vehicles, and so forth. As an organothiol that can undergo multiple tautomerization, protonation and deprotonation reactions, 2,6-dithiopurine (DTP) can have many different structures in solution and on AuNP surfaces. The goal of this research is to determine the structure of DTP on AuNPs at different pHs using a combination of experimental investigation and computational modeling. The experimental DTP UV-vis spectra and the DTP adsorption on AuNPs are pH strongly dependent, indicating the structural complexity of DTP in solution. The DTP …

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Exploiting Spatial And Spectral Information In Hyperdimensional Imagery, Matthew Allen Lee Aug 2012

Exploiting Spatial And Spectral Information In Hyperdimensional Imagery, Matthew Allen Lee

Theses and Dissertations

In this dissertation, new digital image processing methods for hyperdimensional imagery are developed and experimentally tested on remotely sensed Earth observations and medical imagery. The high dimensionality of the imagery is either inherent due to the type of measurements forming the image, as with imagery obtained with hyperspectral sensors, or the result of preprocessing and feature extraction, as with synthetic aperture radar imagery and digital mammography. In the first study, two omni-directional adaptations of gray level co-occurrence matrix analysis are developed and experimentally evaluated. The adaptations are based on a previously developed rubber band straightening transform that has been used …

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Insights Into The Taxonomy And Evolution Within An Orchid, Platanthera Dilatata, Based On Orphometrics And Molecular Markers, Binaya Adhikari Aug 2012

Insights Into The Taxonomy And Evolution Within An Orchid, Platanthera Dilatata, Based On Orphometrics And Molecular Markers, Binaya Adhikari

Theses and Dissertations

Documenting biodiversity, at and below the species level, is a persistently challenging task for biologists. Poor understanding of biodiversity may lead to incorrect interpretations of observed variation. The underlying basis of variation can be understood by quantifying multiple sources of information. Nine morphometric characters and plastid DNA sequences (2511 bps) were quantified in a highly variable orchid species, Platanthera dilatata, to evaluate taxonomy of the three named varieties and to understand patterns of evolution. Three morphological groups, identified in a cluster analysis, were distinct in multiple floral traits. Additionally, the three clusters were consistently genetically divergent as indicated by infrequent …

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Cellulosic Fiber-Derived Carbon Catalyzed By Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, Wen Che Aug 2012

Cellulosic Fiber-Derived Carbon Catalyzed By Iron Oxide Nanoparticles, Wen Che

Theses and Dissertations

The objective of this research was to study the catalytic graphitization of cellulose fibers coated with iron oxide nanoparticles. Bleached cellulose fibers and iron oxide nanoparticles coated cellulose fibers were pyrolyzed at five elevated temperatures. The crystallographic structures of carbon-encapsulated iron oxide nanoparticles were then investigated by the following techniques: Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman Spectroscopy, Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), and Selected-Area Electron Diffraction (SAED). The graphitization of cellulosic fibers was enhanced by the presence of iron oxide nanoparticles. Moreover, iron oxide nanoparticles deposited on cellulosic fiber samples pyrolyzed above 800°C produced graphitic structures. TEM and XRD …

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Assessment Of The Lactation Index For Managing White-Tailed Deer Populations, Kamen Lee Campbell Aug 2012

Assessment Of The Lactation Index For Managing White-Tailed Deer Populations, Kamen Lee Campbell

Theses and Dissertations

I analyzed precision and accuracy of lactation data to reflect actual fawn recruitment for various levels of fecundity, neonatal mortality, harvest intensity, and hunter selectivity. I evaluated and developed a correction equation to adjust for harvest date effects on lactation detectability. I compared metrics of site-specific fawn recruitment (e.g., lactation rates, hunter observation fawn-to-doe ratios, and post-season fawn-to-doe ratios) among themselves, and to site-specific indices of carnivore abundance, for 18 properties across Mississippi and Alabama. Accuracy of lactation rates are compromised due to variation at minimal harvest intensity and insensitivity to change in fetal rate or neonatal mortality. Lactation data …

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Fused-Ring Heterocycle Syntheses From Thiazole, Oxazole, Benzoxazole, And Benzothiazole Derivatives And Trifluoroacetylations Of N-Methyl Cyclic Ketene-N,O/S-Acetals: Attempted Syntheses Of Functionalized Polymers From Plant-Derived 5-(Hydroxymethyl)Furfural, Hondamuni Ireshika Chathurani De Silva Aug 2012

Fused-Ring Heterocycle Syntheses From Thiazole, Oxazole, Benzoxazole, And Benzothiazole Derivatives And Trifluoroacetylations Of N-Methyl Cyclic Ketene-N,O/S-Acetals: Attempted Syntheses Of Functionalized Polymers From Plant-Derived 5-(Hydroxymethyl)Furfural, Hondamuni Ireshika Chathurani De Silva

Theses and Dissertations

There are two sections to this research dissertation. Part one includes syntheses of fused-ring heterocycles derived from thiazole, oxazole, benzoxazole and benzothiazole derivatives and trifluoroacetylations of in situ generated N-methyl cyclic ketene-N,O/Sacetals. Attempted functionalized polymer syntheses from plant-derived 5-(hydroxymethyl) furfural are discussed in part two. Three 2-methylthiazoles, 2,4,5-trimethyloxazole, 2-methylbenzoxazole and 2- methyl-benzothiazole were each reacted with benzoyl chloride in acetonitrile/triethylamine to generate benzyl-vinyl esters. Base hydrolysis of these benzyl-vinyl esters formed 2-(heterocyclic)-1-phenylethenols which exist in both ketoenol tautomeric forms. These tautomers were used as starting materials for fused-ring heterocycle syntheses. Each tautomeric pair react with dimethyl acetylenedicarboxylate in methanol giving …

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Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae, Rickettsia Parkeri And "Candidatus Rickettsia Andeanae", Associated With The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum Koch, Flavia Araujo Girao Ferrari Aug 2012

Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae, Rickettsia Parkeri And "Candidatus Rickettsia Andeanae", Associated With The Gulf Coast Tick, Amblyomma Maculatum Koch, Flavia Araujo Girao Ferrari

Theses and Dissertations

The public health and veterinary importance of Gulf Coast ticks, Amblyomma maculatum Koch (1844) have become more apparent during the last several decades. In addition, new records of this three-host ixodid tick presently show a geographic distribution throughout much of the southern United States. Rickettsia parkeri, a spotted fever group rickettsia (SFGR) that is commonly found infecting the Gulf Coast tick, was only recently recognized as a human pathogen. Over the last decade, more than 20 human cases of disease caused by R. parkeri have been recognized in the Americas, all of which were similar in presentation to mild Rocky …

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Remote Sensing Of Cyanobacteria In Turbid Productive Waters, Sachidananda Mishra Aug 2012

Remote Sensing Of Cyanobacteria In Turbid Productive Waters, Sachidananda Mishra

Theses and Dissertations

Cyanobacterial algal bloom is a major water quality issue in inland lakes, reservoirs, and estuarine environments because of its scum and bad odor forming and toxin producing abilities. Health risks from cyanobacterial toxin can vary from skin irritations to fever, intestinal problems, and neurological disorders. Terminations of blooms also cause oxygen depletion leading to hypoxia and widespread fish kills. Adding to the problem, many species of cyanobacteria produce odorous compounds such as geosmin and 2-methylisoborneol (MIB) that cause “earthy-muddy” and “musty” odor in drinking water, which is also a serious issue in aquaculture and drinking water industry. Therefore continuous monitoring …

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Principals' Perceptions Of Factors Associated With The Implementation Of School Wellness Policies, Melissa Davis Aug 2012

Principals' Perceptions Of Factors Associated With The Implementation Of School Wellness Policies, Melissa Davis

Theses and Dissertations

Approximately 1/3 of the children in the United States are overweight or obese. Children in Mississippi have the highest rate of obesity among all other states. The outcome of this epidemic presents an increase in poor health. To address the problems associated with overweight and obesity among children, schools in the U.S. were required to develop school wellness policies. School principals were identified as key individuals in overseeing the development and implementation of the policies. Existing research studies show a strong relationship or association between student health and academic achievement. The purpose of this research study was to investigate elementary …

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In Vitro Catalytic Activity And Inhibition Study Of Prnb From Burkholderia Ambifaria, Qi Ge Aug 2012

In Vitro Catalytic Activity And Inhibition Study Of Prnb From Burkholderia Ambifaria, Qi Ge

Theses and Dissertations

PrnB is a heme-containing enzyme, which catalyzes the ring rearrangement reaction of 7-chlorotryptophan to produce 3-(3-Chloro-2-nitrophenyl)pyrrole. This thesis describes the initial isolation and characterization of PrnB, the second enzyme associated with the pyrrolnitrin biosynthetic pathway in Burkholderia ambifaria. Additionally, alternative peroxidase reactivity was used to study how amino-acids bind to the substrate binding pocket of PrnB. The peroxidase activity of PrnB was measured using three different peroxidase activity assays at various pH values. The peroxidase data was compared to similar studies with the classic peroxidase, Horseradish peroxidase (HRP). Generally, PrnB showed weak peroxidase reactivity. However this weak reactivity was an …

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Influence Of Fresh And Processed Tannic Acid, And Fresh Tannic Acid, And Fresh Tannic Acid Plus Phosphate On Catfish Fillet Color, Microbial Shelf Life And Oxidation, Guilherme Filizzola Cury Aug 2012

Influence Of Fresh And Processed Tannic Acid, And Fresh Tannic Acid, And Fresh Tannic Acid Plus Phosphate On Catfish Fillet Color, Microbial Shelf Life And Oxidation, Guilherme Filizzola Cury

Theses and Dissertations

Fresh tannic acid (5%) (FTA), heated to 121C for 15 min (PTA), and the combination of FTA and phosphates (FPH) were vacuum tumbled with catfish fillets and compared to water tumbled fillets (CTL). Fillets treated with FTA or PTA had higher whiteness whereas all treated fillets had higher chroma values than CTL, resulting in a deeper yellow color fillet. Microbial shelf life (CTL, log CFU/g, APC) of FTA and PTA treated fillets was extended by two days, to11.8 d at 4C, but FPH fillets did not reach over 5 log CFU/g for 15 d of storage. Fat from FTA and …

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Addressing Sample Bias And Representativeness At The Kinlock Site (22su526) A Freshwater Mussel Shell Ring In The Mississippi Delta, Joseph Alan Mitchell Aug 2012

Addressing Sample Bias And Representativeness At The Kinlock Site (22su526) A Freshwater Mussel Shell Ring In The Mississippi Delta, Joseph Alan Mitchell

Theses and Dissertations

Applied zooarchaeology provides baselines which can be used in modern conservation biology to better understand how faunal communities have changed over time. This goal can only be accomplished, however, by first accounting for the multiple biases present within the archaeological record, and how they may affect sample representativeness. Taxonomic analysis was conducted on freshwater mussel shell from the late prehistoric (ca. A.D. 700 - 1200) Kinlock site, Sunflower County, Mississippi. Species-area curves and biodiversity indices demonstrate that random sampling of surface clusters of shell, up to about 4,000 valves, provides an adequate picture of the overall surface assemblage. Comparison of …

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Alternate Stable States In Ecological Systems, Sarath Sasi Aug 2012

Alternate Stable States In Ecological Systems, Sarath Sasi

Theses and Dissertations

In this thesis we study two reaction-diffusion models that have been used to analyze the existence of alternate stable states in ecosystems. The first model describes the steady states of a logistic growth model with grazing in a spatially homogeneous ecosystem. It also describes the dynamics of the fish population with natural predation. The second model describes phosphorus cycling in stratified lakes. The same equation has also been used to describe the colonization of barren soils in drylands by vegetation. In this study we discuss the existence of multiple positive solutions, leading to the occurrence of S-shaped bifurcation curves. We …

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The Analysis Of The Expression And Phenotype Of The At3g02400 Gene In Arabidopsis Thaliana, Will Gray Aug 2012

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 …

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The Effects Of National Board Certified Teachers On Student Achievement In Mississippi High Schools, Raymond C. Morgigno Aug 2012

The Effects Of National Board Certified Teachers On Student Achievement In Mississippi High Schools, Raymond C. Morgigno

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to assess the impact of National Board Certified Teachers on student performance on Mississippi’s Subject Area Testing Program (SATP) English II assessment, an end-of-course exam that assesses 10th grade students in Mississippi school districts. The researcher sought to determine if there was a statistically significant difference between the SATP English II scores of two groups of students (those taught by National Board Certified Teachers and those who were not). If there was a difference, the researcher sought to determine how the difference could be explained based on selected teacher demographic data (sex, race, highest …

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Use Of Whey-Based Edible Coatings As Antioxidative And Antimicrobial Agents, Sashie Weerasinghe Aug 2012

Use Of Whey-Based Edible Coatings As Antioxidative And Antimicrobial Agents, Sashie Weerasinghe

Theses and Dissertations

Edam and Cheddar whey were thermized (T) for different time periods (5–30 min) at 70 degrees Celsius, vacuum evaporated, and spray dried to obtain whey powders (WP). Native and thermized WP were evaluated for antioxidative properties. Edam and Cheddar WP significantly reduced thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances (TBARS) and peroxide value (PV) in ferric-catalyzed soybean oil emulsions. Thermization significantly improved antioxidative properties of WP with 5T, 10T, and 15T treatments showing better protective effects compared to 20T and 30T treatments. Based on these results, native (0T) and thermized (5T, 10T, and 15T) Edam and Cheddar WP coatings, with and without enzymatically hydrolyzed …

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Sediment And Phosphorus Dynamics Behind Weirs In Agricultural Drainage Ditches, Elizabeth Louise Usborne Aug 2012

Sediment And Phosphorus Dynamics Behind Weirs In Agricultural Drainage Ditches, Elizabeth Louise Usborne

Theses and Dissertations

Low grade rip rap weirs installed in agricultural surface drainage ditches manage downstream eutrophication by slowing water flow, allowing sediments time to settle out of the water column and phosphorus (P) to sorb to soil. A laboratory experiment was conducted in microcosm chambers to simulate increased hydraulic residence time caused by weirs and two field studies were conducted to compare experimental data with field data and determine sediment deposition rates. One field study monitored weirs monthly after installation and the other measured weirs of varying ages. Weirs retained significantly more water and sediment than controls. Longer inundation times led to …

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Manganese Oxidation, Pseudomonas, And Potential Mercury Remediation, Kendra L. Wright Aug 2012

Manganese Oxidation, Pseudomonas, And Potential Mercury Remediation, Kendra L. Wright

Theses and Dissertations

East Fork Poplar Creek (EFPC) in Oak Ridge, TN was highly contaminated with elemental mercury in the 1950 and 1960. The area is still experiencing the effects of mercury contamination, and researchers are searching for ways to remediate the EFPC. One possible mechanism for bioremediation is the use of biogenic Mn oxides to remove heavy metals from water systems. Native Pseudomonas bacteria species were isolated from EFPC in order to examine biogenic Mn oxides production and bioremediation of Oak Ridge slurries. Pseudomonas isolates did produce Mn oxides which bound to mercury, and mercury bound to organic matter significantly decreased. However, …

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Temporal Characteristics Of Monoptic, Dichoptic And Half-Binocular Collinear Lateral Masking Of Contrast Detection, Wesley Tod Kinerk Aug 2012

Temporal Characteristics Of Monoptic, Dichoptic And Half-Binocular Collinear Lateral Masking Of Contrast Detection, Wesley Tod Kinerk

Dissertations

Purpose: The temporal characteristics of dichoptic contrast integration across space in primary visual cortex are relatively unknown. This study investigated the effect of varying interstimulus interval (ISI) and flank duration on contrast detection threshold (CDT) of a sinusoid target under monoptic, dichoptic and half-binocular viewing. Methods: Eleven subjects with normal vision participated for a mean of 25 hours each. In the main experiment, target and flanks were 3 cpd vertical sinusoids with 6 lambda (sigma = 1.5 lambda) center-to-center vertical separation. Flank contrast was normalized to 3X flank CDT. Flanks were presented at 4 durations (67-500ms) and ISIs were presented …

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Summer 2012 Commencement - The University Of Texas Of The Permian Basin, The University Of Texas Permian Basin Aug 2012

Summer 2012 Commencement - The University Of Texas Of The Permian Basin, The University Of Texas Permian Basin

UTPB Commencement Programs

Summer 2012 Commencement - August 10, 2012

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Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling In Vascular Disease: Anti-Inflammatory Action Through Myocardin-Related Transcription Factor A, Dahai Wang, Jamunabai Prakash, Peter H. Nguyen, Brandi N. Davis-Dusenbery, Nicholas S. Hill, Matthew D. Layne, Akiko Hata, Giorgio Lagna Aug 2012

Bone Morphogenetic Protein Signaling In Vascular Disease: Anti-Inflammatory Action Through Myocardin-Related Transcription Factor A, Dahai Wang, Jamunabai Prakash, Peter H. Nguyen, Brandi N. Davis-Dusenbery, Nicholas S. Hill, Matthew D. Layne, Akiko Hata, Giorgio Lagna

Biology

Pulmonary artery hypertension (PAH) patients exhibit elevated levels of inflammatory cytokines and infiltration of inflammatory cells in the lung. Concurrently, mutations of bmpr2, the gene encoding the type II receptor of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP), are found in ∼75% of patients with familial PAH, but a possible nexus between increased inflammation and diminished BMP signaling has hitherto remained elusive. We previously showed that BMP4 triggers nuclear localization of the Myocardin-related transcription factor A (MRTF-A) in human pulmonary artery smooth muscle cells (PASMC), resulting in the induction of contractile proteins. Here we report the BMPR2-dependent repression of a set of inflammatory …

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