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Ipulse: May 2013, Lynn University

Student Newspapers

Issues:

• May 1, 2013
• May 7, 2013
• May 21, 2013
• May 29, 2013

The U.S. Department Of Agriculture As A Public Health Agency? A "Health In All Policies" Case Study, Lindsay F. Wiley

Journal of Food Law & Policy

The "war on obesity" is now well into its second decade. What began as an effort to encourage medical doctors to screen and treat patients whose weight put them at risk for health problems has transformed into a much broader public health campaign to address the root causes of obesity. A growing number of state, territorial and local health departments are currently exploring new ways to promote healthy eating and physical activity. At the federal level, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has made "nutrition, physical activity and obesity" a top priority.

How African-American Ex-Offenders Successfully Negotiate Their Socially Disorganized Environments Into Which They Are Returned After Incarceration: As Reflected In Their Own Words, Tisha M. Smith

Education Doctoral

Prison reentry has been defined as all of the preparations undertaken to ensure a proper return to one’s community after serving time in prison. There are number of autobiographies, as well as considerable academic research, on the experience of incarceration and the resulting barriers to prison reentry, but little research that has explored the process of release, the long-term effects of having been imprisoned, and the ability to achieve and maintain post- release success. Much of the criminological and psychological analyses examine programs or processes to determine if they are correlated to successful prison reentry without considering what the ex-offenders, …

Structural And Functional Characterization Of The Ldp3 (Vhz) Protein Tyrosine Phosphatase, Vyacheslav I. Kuznetsov

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Protein phosphorylation is as an important regulatory mechanism that controls a large number of physiologically important cellular processes. Proteins are phosphorylated on aliphatic (serine and threonine) as well aromatic (histidine and tyrosine) residues predominantly located on sterically accessible loops. Phosphorylation affects three- dimensional structures of proteins resulting in conformational changes which activate or deactivate enzymatic functions. Because of the ability of protein phosphorylation to modulate a multitude of diverse cellular processes, it became an appealing and promising target for drug therapy.

Attachment of phosphate is accomplished by kinases, whereas the removal of the phosphoryl group is performed by protein phosphatases. …

The Phosphoramidase Competency Of Prototypical Phosphatase Catalytic Motifs, Mark P. Haney

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Phosphorylation of proteins is ubiquitous. Phosphorylation can activate proteins, deactivate proteins, assist in signaling, or serve other roles depending upon the biochemical pathway. Attaching phosphate to proteins is accomplished by enzymes called kinases; removing phosphate from proteins is accomplished by enzymes called phosphatases. Cells must regulate their biochemical pathways, and the antipodal roles of kinases and phosphatases represent the yin-yang of phosphorylation.

Phosphorylation of proteins is known to occur on serine, threonine, and tyrosine. This creates a phosphoester bond. Phosphoester bonds have a phosphorus-oxygen (P-O) bond. The ability of phosphatases to cleave such phosphoester bonds is well studied. Phosphorylation of …

How Do Prey Refuges Affect Predator-Prey Interactions?, Justin Vendettuoli

Senior Honors Projects

While it is well known that predators eat their prey, prey that avoid predation risk can also incur substantial fitness costs through risk-induced changes in survival and reproduction, growth, and morphology. Changes in prey that occur without the predator physically consuming the prey are referred to as ‘non-consumptive effects’. One way to reduce the risk of predation is to use a refuge. While refuge use may reduce predation risk, however, it may also be costly to the prey. These costs may include within-refuge competition for resources, which can alter prey population dynamics, coexistence, and metapopulation dynamics. While these costs may …

Shape Changes In Hyoid Arch Elements In Four Shark Species, Isabel S. Nowinowski

Senior Honors Projects

The hyoid arch is critical in expanding the oral cavity during feeding and ventilation in fishes. The elements of the hyoid arch vary widely in morphology among fish taxa. The hyoid arch is medial to the jaws and is made up of paired hyomandibular cartilages (HY) dorsally, paired ceratohyal cartilages (CH) ventral to the HY, and a single, medial basihyal cartilage (BH) that interconnects the two sides. As the jaws open, the CH-BH complex is depressed expanding the floor of the oral cavity. The coracohyoideus muscle pulls the BH ventroposteriorly, which in turn swings the CH ventroposteriorly. As the coracohyoideus …

"Happy Teeth, Happy Me" - Teaching Oral Health In Campur, Guatemala, Staci Smith

Senior Honors Projects

As a part of the Frontlines Mission’s team, I joined their mission to teach, build, and restore the poor and indigenous areas of Guatemala. With the goal of combining my passion and pursuit of a dental career with public health, I joined the medical team and assisted in treatment of over 1000 Q’eqchi’ locals for a variety of conditions such as scabies, stomach ailments, asthma, arthritis, and parasites. I assisted professionals in the oral surgery procedures including multiple extractions and cleft palate cases. Perhaps most importantly for the future oral health of the Q’eqchi’ people, I was able to introduce …

Analysis Of The Chondroitinase Operon Of Flavobacterium Columnare, Erin L. Sorlien

Senior Honors Projects

Analysis of the chondroitinase operon of Flavobacterium columnare

Erin Sorlien

Major

Cell and Molecular Biology, Chemistry

Advisor

Dr. David R. Nelson

Date

May 2, 2013

Keywords

Flavobacterium columnare, columnaris disease, chondroitin AC lyase, complementation, csl operon

Abstract
Flavobacterium columnare, an opportunistic bacterial pathogen of fish, is the causative agent of columnaris disease (CD). The bacterium is a Gram-negative rod that exhibits gliding motility and avidly forms biofilms. CD affects both wild and cultured freshwater fish, and continues to cause large economic losses to the fish farming industry. According to an investigation conducted by the National Animal Health Monitoring System, CD …

Exploring The Role Of Cesa5 In The Synthesis Of Cellulose Using Physcomitrella Patens, Oumie Ceesay

Senior Honors Projects

Cellulose is very essential to plants because it determines the shape of cells, protects them from pathogens, and helps retain water that is needed for plant functions. It is also the major component of wood, cotton, and paper, which are items we use on a daily basis. Also, it can be used for the synthesis of biofuels. However, cellulose exists as strong fibers, which make it hard to breakdown for biofuel synthesis. If we can understand how cellulose is synthesized we can manipulate its fibers to make them stronger, more flexible, more absorbent, or easier to break down for use …

The Effects Of Refuge On Escape Responses Of Two Caribbean Goby Species, Russell P. Dauksis

Senior Honors Projects

The Effects of Refuge Abundance on Escape Responses of the Bridled Goby (Coryphopterus glaucofraenum)

Russell P. Dauksis

Major

Marine Biology

Advisor

Dr. Graham Forrester

Advisor Department

Natural Resources Science

Date

5-2012

Keywords

Escapology, marine ecology, functional morphology, animal behavior, predator-prey interactions, Bridled Goby, Coryphopterus glaucofraenum

Abstract

Interactions between predators and prey species are arguably the most pervasive and important events in ecology. Predators have strong effects on the distribution and abundance of prey in virtually all environments. In the long-term, it is therefore hardly surprising that selective mortality imposed by predators has shaped a wide array of prey behaviors …

The Utility Of Planning And Other Spatial Concepts In The Marine Spatial Management Of Marine Protected Areas (Mpas), Marine Reserves, Marine Zoning, Marine Sanctuaries And Parks, Marine Spatial Planning (Msp), Large Marine Ecosystems (Lmes) And Seascape / Marine Design., Samuel Martin, Brandyn Lucca, Dr. William R. Gordon Jr.

Senior Honors Projects

In the last fifty years, man has demonstrated an increased interest in gaining access to and apportioning the near and offshore marine environment. Governments, coastal and marine managers, economic-based users, stakeholders, and academics have gained an interest and involvement in the demarcation of marine boundaries. Many land-based spatial applications, utilized from disciplines such as planning, geography, landscape architecture and regional science have been applied to the spatial acquisition and management of ocean resources. In the last four decades new marine applications have emerged, they include: 1) Marine Protected Areas (MPAs), 2) Marine Reserves, 3) Marine Zoning, 4) Marine Sanctuaries, and …

Fumihiko Maki And His Theory Of Collective Form: A Study On Its Practical And Pedagogical Implications, Xi Qiu

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This thesis seeks to reexamine Fumihiko Maki’s Investigations in Collective Form: 1964) from a historical and educational point of view, speculating the practical and pedagogical implications of Maki’s collective form theory. Firstly, to better understand the formation of both the writer himself and the book, the historical context in the 1950s and 1960s will be unfolded to reveal what Maki had encountered during his formative years that had contributed to his cross-cultural background and had inspired his thoughts in the book. Secondly, the three paradigms and the notion of linkage, as proposed in the book, will be analyzed through comparisons …

Identification Of Genetic Determinants Of Metastasis And Clonal Relationships Between Primary And Metastatic Tumors, Gaurav Singhal

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

No abstract provided.

Competition In A Simple Pond: A 3d Agent Based Model Approach., Emil W.H. Montano

Undergraduate Honors Theses

If two species are competing for a limited resource, the species that uses the resource more efficiently will eventually eliminate the other. This is known as the principle of competitive exclusion developed by Georgy Gause. To determine the effect of this competition, a simple three-dimensional model of a pond is created in which two species compete for a single source of energy (algae). The model is based solely on the conservation of the energy that flows through an ecosystem where primary production is the only source of energy. The first scenario tested is of two competing species with identical life …

The Study Of The Effect Of Two Flavone Isomers Derived From Gnaphalium Elegans And Achyrocline Bogotensis In Breast Cancer., Jessica J. Walker

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Flavonoids are ubiquitous to all terrestrial plants and many are known to have anti-tumor activities. In this research project we studied the differential cytotoxic effects of two flavone isomers on human breast cancer cells (BT-474, SKBR-3, and MCF-7) and normal breast cells as a control (MCF-10A). The basis of the relationships between chemical structures, type and position of substituent groups and the effects these compounds exert specifically on cancer cells are not completely elucidated. These flavones are derived from plants native of Colombia, South America. These plants of the family Asteraceae, genera Gnaphalium and Achyrocline are reputed to have anti-cancer …

Recombination And Screening Of Putative Grapefruit Glucosyltransferase 4 Expressed In Pichia Pastoris., Peri Loftis

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Flavonoids are a group of plant secondary metabolites that are vital to the cell systems of plants. The intake of these chemicals is advantageous to animals for their antioxidant properties that affect the function of immune and inflammatory cells. The bitter taste of grapefruit (Citrus paradisi) and other citrus species is caused by the accumulation of glycosylated flavonoids. Glucosyltransferases (GTs) are enzymes that add glucose moieties to a carbon or hydroxyl group of natural products. The function of a putative secondary product GT clone was tested. In previous research, putative GT 4 was cloned into a pCD1 modified …

Spirit In The Speakers: Collective Spirituality In Electronic Music Subcultures., Heather K. Covington

Undergraduate Honors Theses

By definition subcultures harbor their own sets of norms and unique characteristics. From fashion to slang vocabularies, each subculture stands apart as a world of its own. In the subculture of psychedelic trance, an electronic music based subculture, such marking characteristics are taken beyond superficial expressions. Through repeated exposure to spiritual concepts, language, and rituals, thecommunity fosters spiritual practices and beliefs in individual members. Using in-depth interviews and extended participant observation, Iidentify patterns and commonalities, as well as divergences, in the spiritual practice and beliefs of subculture members. Ultimately psy-trance members draw on organized religious traditions while also distinguishing their …

Putative Glucosyltransferase 11 From Citrus Paradisi: Cloning, Recombinant Expression In Yeast, And Substrate Screening., Bruce E. Williams

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Plant secondary products, which include the flavonoids, have a variety of roles in plant systems. Their roles include UV protection, antifeedant activity, pollinator attraction, stress response, and many others. Flavonoids also have effects on human physiology. Glucosylation is an important modification of many flavonoids and other plant secondary products. In grapefruit, glucosylation is important in the synthesis of the bitter compound naringin. Glucosyltransferases catalyze glucosylation reactions. Putative plant secondary product glucosyltransferases may be identified by the loosely conserved “PSPG box” amino acid sequence, and eleven have been isolated to date in Citrus paradisi. With current knowledge, however, biochemical characterization …

It's Not So Simple: The Role Of Simplicity In Science And Theory., C. R. Gregg

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The principle of simplicity (parsimony) has long been invoked as a regulative principle that helps guide theory selection in science. However, it is unclear if there is justification for a globally applicable criterion of parsimony. This paper briefly reviews the salient features of what it means for something to be simple, as well as argues for simplicity as relevant only to a set of background assumptions.

Finding Meaning In The Two-Finger Banjo Style., Jeffrey K. Elkins

Undergraduate Honors Theses

The two-finger banjo style languishes as a small footnote in the lexicon of old time banjo music—very important to a passionate (and lucky!) few, but not known by too many others. This research is a starting point to understanding the meaning of two-finger banjo; through a review of primary literature, interviews, witnessing performances, and individual investigation of playing two-finger banjo, I have been able to document some understandings about the style.

These understandings informed further appreciation of old time music, the old time music (and banjo) communities, and the art of making music in this way—while describing the journey, I …

Chiral Analyses Of Ephedrines, Lyanne Valdez

Honors College Theses

Chiral molecules rotate plane-polarized light and have two or more forms known as enantiomers. We plan to separate the two enantiomeric ephedrines using β-cyclodextrin column in gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS).To achieve this, a series of methods were developed through the modification of temperature and mobile phase parameters.

An Intersectional Comparison Of Female Agency In Toni Morrison's Sula And Wang Anyi's Song Of Everlasting Sorrow, Jordan Lynton

HIM 1990-2015

The opportunities created by the end of the Mao Era and legislature promoting the rights of African Americans and women in the mid-twentieth century allowed women of both cultures to break further into the literary scene and negotiate their own sense of agency through their work. Although Western feminism also grew rapidly throughout this period, its ethnocentric centering of gender prevented it from being a reliable lens with which to analyze the work of Chinese and African American women who experienced issues of race, class, and gender simultaneously. This caused Western feminists to evaluate the work of Chinese and African …

Water Governance In The Postcolonial Developing World, Alaina Mallette

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Water is an essential part of life. However, the right to govern water as a resource is not shared equally by all members of our global community. Every location around the world has had a unique historical, political, and cultural relationship with water. Countries need to tailor their water regimes to the unique lived experiences of all their citizens, if they are to meet the right of all humans to affordable and accessible water. Governance structures must be transparent, inclusive, and holistic. This paper analyzes literature on international water governance, and addresses a local case of water governance in Cabarete, …

A Novel Therapeutic Approach In Breast And Hematopoietic Cancers: Inhibition Of Sh2-Domain Containing Inositol 5' Phosphatase (Ship), Amamda Balch

Renée Crown University Honors Thesis Projects - All

Aberrant hyperactivation of the phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase (PI3K) cell-signaling pathway, one of the most prominent cell growth, proliferation and survival pathways in the human body, has been observed in many forms of cancer. Upon deregulation, this pathway can facilitate the evasion of programmed cell death, the stimulation of autonomous growth, and the evasion of regular growth-inhibitory signals. While it was initially believed that the dephosphorylation activity of lipid phosphatases served to counteract the pathway by hydrolyzing phosphatidylinositol(3,4,5)trisphosphate (PtdIns(3,4,5)P₃) to phosphatidylinositol(4,5)bisphosphate (PtdIns(4,5)P₂), emerging evidence suggests that SH2-domain containing inositol 5’ phosphatase 1 and 2 (SHIP1/2) may in fact …

Seeing Adoption With Eyes Wide Open, Cheryl Millman

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Families who choose to adopt may do so for a variety of reasons. Some may choose to adopt due to infertility or medical issues with one or both of the parents, so they may choose to adopt to avoid the risk of passing on a genetic or medical condition. Some may believe they are saving a child who otherwise would not grow up with the benefits of a loving and supportive family, and some choose to adopt because they lack an appropriate partner with whom to have a biological child. Regardless of the reason, parents believe that with love and …

Barriers And Facilitators To The Effective Management Of Gestational Diabetes Mellitus For Hispanic Women, Paula F. Clark

Master's Theses

Gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) is an abnormal or unfavorable condition in pregnancy, as well as a life event, that puts a woman and her biological children at an elevated risk for developing a number of negative fetal, neonatal, and maternal outcomes, including the future development type 2 diabetes in both mother and baby. These complications are associated with elevated maternal blood glucose. Diet and exercise alone are often sufficient to control blood glucose and effectively avoid negative outcomes. Yet research has determined that barely 50% of women with gestational diabetes are able to adhere to prudent dietary and exercise GDM …

Atomic And Electronic Structure Of A Ligand-Protected Bimetallic Nanocluster, Ag4ni2(Dmsa)4, Anthony F. Pedicini

Theses and Dissertations

An important direction in nanoscale science is to synthesize materials whereby atomic clusters serve as the building blocks. Properties of these clusters can be controlled through size and composition, and such an approach offers a pathway toward designing larger, customized materials. One way to stabilize such materials is through the use of ligated clusters. Ag4Ni2(DMSA)4 is one such cluster, the first with a bimetallic core, and has been stabilized by the experimental group of A. Sen at The Pennsylvania State University. The theoretical studies undertaken in this thesis were directed toward providing information on the atomic structure, nature of electronic …

Primary Productivity Distributions Along The River-Dominated Shoreline Of The Bay Of St. Louis, Ms Estuary, Adam Douglas Boyette

Master's Theses

Potential primary production was measured for six consecutive months (July 2010 to December 201 0) at selected stations along the shoreline of the Bay of Saint Louis (BSL) estuary. Monthly surface and a series of subsurface (0.5 m) samples were taken to observe the temporal (monthly and short-term) and spatial variability in production relative to environmental variables that potentially could influence phytoplankton photosynthesis. Daily areal primary production, PP was modeled using photosynthesis-irradiance (P-E) parameters in conjunction with in situ irradiance measurements and biomass data collected during sampling. Although spatial variability was not observed, PP varied seasonally and ranged from 1.90 …

The Identification Of The Mid Transcription Factor Regulatory Network Specifying Cell Fate And Regulating Survival In The Drosophila Eye, Sudeshna Das

Master's Theses

The Drosophila melanogaster T-box transcription factor Midline (Mid) exhibits a high degree of structural and functional conservation with its vertebrate homolog Tbx-20. Both Mid and Tbx-20 regulate cell-fate specification with in diverse tissues including the central nervous system (CNS) and heart. Although, some important studies reported that Tbx-20 transcripts express in a wide range of developing mammalian eye tissues including those of the human fetus, the function of this transcription factor is unknown in the development of eye tissue. This current study is the first attempt to show that Mid and its para log H15 are expressed within distinct ommatidial …