Digital Commons Network^™

Potential Roles Of Wrky Transcription Factors In Resistance To Aspergillus Flavus Colonization Of Immature Maize Kernels, Jake Clayton Fountain

LSU Master's Theses

The infection and colonization of maize (Zea mays L.) by the necrotrophic fungal pathogen Aspergillus flavus results in contamination of kernel tissues with carcinogenic mycotoxins known as aflatoxins, resulting in severe economic losses as well as negative effects on human and animal health. Resistance to A. flavus is mediated by both inducible and constitutively expressed defense proteins; however the mechanism regulating the expression of these defenses is poorly understood. This study examined the potential roles of six maize WRKY transcription factors, ZmWRKY19, ZmWRKY21, ZmWRKY53, ZmWRKY53.1, ZmWRKY67, and ZmWRKY68, in regulating defense responses against …

Changes In Plasma Melanocyte Stimulating Hormone, Acth, Prolactin, Gh, Lh, Fsh, And Thyroid Stimulating Hormone In Response To Injection Of Sulpiride, Thyrotropin Releasing Hormone, Or Vehicle In Insulin Sensitive And Insensitive Mares, Nicole Arana Valencia

LSU Master's Theses

Six insulin sensitive and six insensitive mares were used in a replicated 3 x 3 Latin square design to determine the pituitary hormonal responses (compared to vehicle) to sulpiride and thyrotropin-releasing hormone (TRH), two compounds commonly used to diagnose pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction (PPID) in horses. Mares were classified as insulin sensitive or insensitive by their previous glucose responses to direct injection of human recombinant insulin. Treatment days were February 25 and March 10 and 24, 2012. Treatments were sulpiride (racemic mixture, 0.01 mg/kg BW), TRH (0.002 mg/kg BW), and vehicle (saline, 0.01 mL/kg BW) administered intravenously. Blood samples were …

Factors Affecting Basal And Post-Exercise Prolactin Secretion In Horses, Lisa C. Digiovanni

LSU Master's Theses

There has been thorough documentation to support the role of dopamine in the control of prolactin production and secretion in various mammalian species, including the horse. However, there is evidence that other factors are involved in prolactin secretion. Seven experiments were conducted to assess factors that potentially might affect prolactin secretion in the horse. The first two experiments were conducted (separately) to test whether arginine vasopressin (AVP) or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) affected prolactin secretion. In each experiment, AVP or VIP was administered intravenously and blood samples were collected to determine the effect on prolactin secretion. Neither peptide produced any …

Effects Of Caste On The Constitutive And Induced Expression Of Genes Associated With Immunity And Detoxification In Formosan Subterranean Termites, Dawn M. Simms

LSU Master's Theses

Simms, Dawn M., B.S., Louisiana State University, 1997 Master of Science, Spring Commencement, 2013 Major: Entomology Effects of Caste on the Constitutive and Induced Expression of Genes Associated with Immunity and Detoxification in Formosan Subterranean Termites Thesis directed by Associate Professor Claudia Husseneder Pages in thesis, 74. Words in abstract, 268. ABSTRACT Formosan subterranean termites (FSTs) live in dense populations and nest conditions that are conducive to microbial growth. Furthermore, termites are exposed to potential toxic substances in the soil and in their lignocellulose diet. These characteristics, in combination with the specialized caste system of FSTs, make this termite a …

The Effects Of Self-Examination To Peers On Student Learning In Physical Science, Leah Ellis Thompson

LSU Master's Theses

This study was undertaken to test if the use of self-explanation to a peer would affect learning outcomes in the classroom. The outcomes of classes taught using the self-explanation technique were compared to outcomes from traditional lecture courses in lessons of comparable content. Great Scholars and traditional students in a sixth grade physical science classroom setting were given pre-and post-tests in two units of study, matter and waves. In the matter unit, students participated in a lesson on density using traditional lecture and a lesson on changes in matter using self-explanation. In the waves unit, students utilized lecture instruction for …

Influence Of "Added" Lactose On Probiotic Properties Of Yogurt Culture Bacteria And Yogurt Characteristics, Behannis Jasmin Mena-Chalas

LSU Master's Theses

Lactose sugar is a source of energy for Lactic Acid Bacteria (LAB) in dairy fermented products. Enrichment of yogurt with lactose addition may increase growth and viability of the yogurt starter culture (Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii ssp. bulgaricus) and enhance yogurt physico-chemical and sensory attributes. The objectives of this study were: to determine the influence of added lactose on (1) acid and bile tolerance of yogurt starter culture Streptococcus thermophilus ST-M5 and Lactobacillus bulgaricus LB-12, (2) the final lactose content of yogurt during its shelf life, (3) the physico-chemical characteristics of yogurt during shelf life, (4) the growth of …

Investigation Of Nanodiamonds With Si-V Defect Centers For Applications In Fluorescence-Based Sensing And Drug Delivery, Sonal Singh

All ETDs from UAB

Fluorescent Nanodiamond (FND) offers a promising platform for many therapeutic applications involving drug and gene delivery, optical agents for bioimaging and labeling, and molecular detection. This is due to the potential to incorporate photostable luminescent vacancy-related defects into sub-10 nm diamond crystals which are biologically compatible and easy to functionalize. Moreover, the development of future nanoscale devices and arrays based on nanodiamonds (NDs) will require precise spatial control. Hence, the direct placement and manipulation (control of size, shape and chemical functionality) of brightly fluorescent sub-10 nm NDs offers potential for highly localized /specific imaging and sensing, while also providing the …

A Magical Journey, Thomas Vail

Cleveland Memory

I am a child of my surroundings. This is a tale of how I related to the world I encountered over eight decades. My lifetime has spanned a revolutionary course of events that no one of my generation could have imagined. (From the introduction). Original publication date 2009.

Investigation Of Start Domain Proteins In Human Luteinized Cells And Cos-1 Cells, Bo Shi

Theses and Dissertations

After the luteinizing hormone surge of the menstrual cycle, the ovarian follicular granulosa and theca cells terminally differentiate to form the luteal cells of the corpus luteum. During this process known as luteinization, granulosa cells begin to synthesize large quantities of progesterone, a hormone essential for pregnancy. The rate limiting step for the de novo synthesis of pregnenolone (the precursor to progesterone) is the transport of cholesterol from the outer to the inner mitochondrial membrane, a process mediated by STARD1. STARD1 contains a C-terminal lipid binding domain holding one molecule of cholesterol, and an N-terminal domain targeting STARD1 to the …

2012 Annual Town Report Lempster, New Hampshire., Lempster Town Representatives

Lempster, NH Annual Reports

This is an annual report containing vital statistics for a town/city in the state of New Hampshire.

Inaugural Address For Regis University, John P. Fitzgibbons S.J.

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Inaugural Address Regis University September 25, 2012

Saga And Socialization In Jesuit Institutions, Charles Wilder Puls

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

The 28 institutions of the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities share a strong heritage dating back to the founding of the first Jesuit institution in Messina, Sicily, in 1548, by Ignatius of Loyola and the newly founded Society of Jesus. Though formally independent of the Catholic Church, this Jesuit tradition is a core value of these institutions, and their presidents came together to articulate this value through The Jesuit, Catholic Mission of U.S. Jesuit Colleges and Universities. In this consensus statement, there is a rich sense of saga and socialization. The consensus statement is used to demonstrate elements of …

Migration And Stopover Ecology Of Songbirds And Bats Along A Major Ecological Barrier, Adam D. Smith

Open Access Dissertations

Migration is a physiologically and energetically demanding period in the life cycle of a migratory animal. Most migrant songbirds alternate between periods of nocturnal flight, when energy is used, and stopover, when energy is accumulated for the next flight period; indeed, songbirds spend most of their time and energy on stopover. Conversely, the habits of migratory bats remain largely enigmatic, but there is reason to expect that models of songbird migration can inform bat migration research. I investigated, at multiple scales, the migration ecology of songbirds and bats and the stopover ecology of songbirds along the Atlantic Coast of southern …

Thriving In Broken Futures: The Paradox Of Church In Historic Watersheds, Christopher Lars Arney

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

Worship As Playground: Living The Song-Story Of God, H. Colleen. Butcher

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

How Information Communication Technology Can Reshape Missional Ecclesiology: The Making Of A Technomissional Church, Michael D. Hearn Jr.

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

Shaping Demand And Practices To Improve Family Health Outcomes: Findings From A Quantitative Survey, Volume 3: Bihar, M.E. Khan, France Donnay, Usha Kiran Tarigopula, Kumudha Aruldas

Reproductive Health

This report provides findings of a study undertaken to generate comprehensive information on eight target behaviors that have direct bearing on family health in rural Bihar. Behaviors include: 1) Increasing the proportion of deliveries that occur in a facility and mothers who have access to basic emergency obstetric care; 2) Increasing the proportion of safe deliveries at home; 3) Increasing the uptake of preventive postnatal-care services for newborns and mothers; 4) Increasing the practice of skin-to-skin care/Kangaroo Mother Care for newborns; 5) Increasing the practice of early and exclusive breastfeeding of infants during the first six months of life; 6) …

Michigan Academician, Volume 41, Issue 2

Michigan Academician

No abstract provided.

Michigan Academician, Volume 41, Issue 3

Michigan Academician

No abstract provided.

Gender-Based Violence: A Qualitative Exploration Of Norms, Experiences And Positive Deviance, Shireen J. Jejeebhoy, K.G. Santhya, Shagun Sabarwal

Reproductive Health

This report presents the findings of formative research the Population Council conducted, with support from UK aid, in the district of Patna, India that aimed to better understand the context of violence—physical, emotional, and sexual—against women and girls, and notably, the prevailing norms about men’s entitlement and women’s acquiescence to violence. Findings suggest that violence against women and girls is widespread and widely justified, that women are perceived as having few options but to tolerate violence, and that the most common response to violence is silence. At the same time, many women and some positive deviant men recognize the injustice …

Scaling Up Advocacy For Gender-Based Violence And Child Sexual Abuse In The East, Central And Southern Africa Region: Technical Exchange And Meeting, East Central And Southern African Health Community

Reproductive Health

The East, Central and Southern Africa (ECSA) Health Community, which prioritizes gender-based violence and child sexual abuse as regional health concerns, partnered with the Population Council to convene a pre-conference Expert Committee meeting of the Research, Information and Advocacy Programme. The conference marked a major milestone in the ECSA Health Community’s commitment to promote and support region-wide sharing and utilization of health research and policy information among its member states. This report summarizes the deliberations of the two-day workshop and the recommendations for implementing an advocacy plan to address this important facet of the region’s development agenda.

The Impairment Of Macrophage-To-Feces Reverse Cholesterol Transport During Inflammation Does Not Depend On Serum Amyloid A, Maria C. De Beer, Joanne M. Wroblewski, Victoria P. Noffsinger, Ailing Ji, Jason M. Meyer, Deneys R. Van Der Westhuyzen, Frederick C. De Beer, Nancy R. Webb

Saha Cardiovascular Research Center Faculty Publications

Studies suggest that inflammation impairs reverse cholesterol transport (RCT). We investigated whether serum amyloid A (SAA) contributes to this impairment using an established macrophage-to-feces RCT model. Wild-type (WT) mice and mice deficient in SAA1.1 and SAA2.1 (SAAKO) were injected intraperitoneally with ³H-cholesterol-labeled J774 macrophages 4 hr after administration of LPS or buffered saline. ³H-cholesterol in plasma 4 hr after macrophage injection was significantly reduced in both WT and SAAKO mice injected with LPS, but this was not associated with a reduced capacity of serum from LPS-injected mice to promote macrophage cholesterol efflux in vitro. Hepatic accumulation of ^{3 …}

Pla/Plga Nanoparticles For Delivery Of Drugs Across The Blood-Brain Barrier, Jingyan Li, Cristina Sabliov

Faculty Publications

The blood-brain barrier (BBB), which protects the central nervous system (CNS) from unnecessary substances, is a challenging obstacle in the treatment of CNS disease. Many therapeutic agents such as hydrophilic and macromolecular drugs cannot overcome the BBB. One promising solution is the employment of polymeric nanoparticles (NPs) such as poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) NPs as drug carrier. Over the past few years, significant breakthroughs have been made in developing suitable PLGA and poly (lactic acid) (PLA) NPs for drug delivery across the BBB. Recent advances on PLGA/PLA NPs enhanced neural delivery of drugs are reviewed in this paper. Both in …

The Scorpion And The Frog: A False Narrative Of Human Nature, Karen Silverman, Jaret Kanarek

The Intellectual Standard

The Scorpion and the Frog is an age-old fable, having taken various forms over the past centuries.1 In the story, a scorpion asks a frog to carry him across a river. The frog is hesitant to agree because the scorpion might sting him on the trip. The scorpion assures the frog that he would not do that because it would cause himself to drown. The frog agrees, yet midway through the trip, the scorpion stings the frog anyway. When the frog asks the scorpion why, he replies that it is in his nature.

Apopo Annual Report 2013, Apopo

Global CWD Repository

2013 has been a busy year once again for the APOPO mine action team. In Mozambique APOPO has been instrumental in clearing Gaza Province of landmines and Explosive Remnants of War (ERW) to the point where Gaza has been declared “Impact Free”. The teams have since been deployed to other Provinces within the country to continue their efforts with the aim of assisting Mozambique to achieve full compliance with its Anti-Personal Mine Ban Convention obligations by December 2014.

In Angola, APOPO has partnered with Norwegian People’s Aid (NPA) and is providing our unique Mine Detection Rats (MDRs) to assist with …

Tumor Necrosis Factor-Alpha Is Produced By Dying Retinal Neurons And Is Required For Müller Glia Proliferation During Zebrafish Retinal Regeneration, Craig M. Nelson, Kristin M. Ackerman, Patrick O'Hayer, Travis J. Bailey, Ryne A. Gorsuch, David R. Hyde

Biology

Intense light exposure causes photoreceptor apoptosis in dark-adapted adult albino zebrafish (Danio rerio). Subsequently, Müller glia increase expression of the Achaete-scute complex-like 1a (Ascl1a) and Signal transducer and activator of transcription 3 (Stat3) transcription factors and re-enter the cell cycle to yield undifferentiated neuronal progenitors that continue to proliferate, migrate to the outer nuclear layer, and differentiate into photoreceptors. A proteomic analysis of light-damaged retinal homogenates, which induced Müller glia proliferation when injected into an undamaged eye, revealed increased expression of tumor necrosis factor α (TNFα) signaling proteins relative to undamaged retinal homogenates. TNFα expression initially increased in apoptotic photoreceptors …

De Novo Orfs In Drosophila Are Important To Organismal Fitness And Evolved Rapidly From Previously Non-Coding Sequences, Josephine A. Reinhardt, Betty M. Wanjiru, Alicia T. Brant, Perot Saelao, David J. Begun, Corbin D. Jones

Biology

How non-coding DNA gives rise to new protein-coding genes (de novo genes) is not well understood. Recent work has revealed the origins and functions of a few de novo genes, but common principles governing the evolution or biological roles of these genes are unknown. To better define these principles, we performed a parallel analysis of the evolution and function of six putatively protein-coding de novo genes described in Drosophila melanogaster. Reconstruction of the transcriptional history of de novo genes shows that two de novo genes emerged from novel long non-coding RNAs that arose at least 5 MY prior to evolution …

Supporting Crop Pollinators With Floral Resources: Network-Based Phenological Matching, Laura Russo, Nelson Debarros, Suann Yang, Katriona Shea, David Mortensen

Biology

The production of diverse and affordable agricultural crop species depends on pollination services provided by bees. Indeed, the proportion of pollinator-dependent crops is increasing globally. Agriculture relies heavily on the domesticated honeybee; the services provided by this single species are under threat and becoming increasingly costly. Importantly, the free pollination services provided by diverse wild bee communities have been shown to be sufficient for high agricultural yields in some systems. However, stable, functional wild bee communities require floral resources, such as pollen and nectar, throughout their active season, not just when crop species are in flower. To target floral provisioning …

Growth And Viability Of A Translocated Population Of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys Temminckii), D. B. Moore, Day B. Ligon, B. M. Fillmore, S. F. Fox

College of Natural and Applied Sciences

Exploited for food, traditional medicine, and pets, many turtle populations have been over-harvested or even extirpated from historic ranges. Most turtles possess life-history characteristics that complicate conservation efforts. These characteristics include delayed sexual maturity and high embryo and juvenile predation rates. Restoration strategies include nest protection, head-starting, and translocations. We examined short-term results of these strategies on a reintroduced population of Alligator Snapping Turtles (Macrochelys temminckii) in southern Oklahoma. We released 16 hatchery-raised juveniles and 249 adult M. temminckii into pools adjacent to the Washita River near Lake Texoma on the border of Texas and Oklahoma, USA. We tracked mortality …

After The Earthquake : Economic Governance And Mass Politics In The Arab World, Steven Heydemann

Middle East Studies: Faculty Publications

The revolutionary wave that washed over the Arab world in 2011 swept away the rulers of Egypt, Tunisia, Libya and Yemen. This article compares the economic policies adopted by the various governments in response to popular dissatisfaction, finding significant similarities between post-authoritarian transition regimes and authoritarian "survivors". Both have relied on a similar mix of economic strategies : a temporary increase in redistribution, direct monetary transfers to what are deemed politically useful sections of the population and an ongoing commitment to preuprising policies of reduced social spending and economic liberalization. This convergence runs counter to expectations that elected transitional governments …