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Designing Elementary Engineering Education From The Perspective Of The Child, Beth Dykstra Van Meeteren

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Many concerned leaders of industry and government believe the ability to sustain our quality of life and address the grand challenges of our times is contingent upon the successful engagement of our younger children in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). What STEM curricula, specifically engineering curricula, should address, how the curriculum should be delivered, and how the children construct an understanding of engineering are still unanswered questions. Engineering curriculum is beginning to emerge for elementary students, but does more to teach children about engineering than allowing them to develop engineering habits of mind.

This qualitative study used constant comparative …

Phylogeography Of Notropis Nubilus (Ozark Minnow), Jason F. Dugan

Dissertations and Theses @ UNI

Periodic glacial cycles beginning 2.6 million years ago to 10,000 years ago forced the repeated contraction, fragmentation, and expansion of the North American biota. In the upper Mississippi River basin three very different areas characterize the topography left by glaciations and still and influence the flora and fauna: Driftless Area, Paleozoic Plateau, and Iowan Surface. The Paleozoic Plateau is located in the northern part of the upper Mississippi River basin, and it is a unique geographical region situated in an area that straddles northeast Iowa, southeastern Minnesota, southwest Wisconsin, and northwest Illinois. This region was bypassed by the last glacial …

Influence Of Soil Nutrients On Reproduction And Pathogenicity Of Rotylenchulus Reniformis On Cotton, Herath Mudiyanselage Manjula Thaminda Kularathna

LSU Master's Theses

Among the variety of pathogens of cotton (Gossypium hirsutum), nematodes play a major role in reducing yield. Across the U.S. cotton belt, millions of dollars are lost annually due to nematode infestation. In the Mid-South and Southeast United States, root-knot nematode (Meloidogyne incognita) and reniform nematode (Rotylenchulus reniformis) are responsible for the highest percentage of damage. Crop rotation and nematicides are currently the most commonly used management strategies for nematode management. Soil fertility, which has a direct effect on plant growth, is also known to influence disease severity. Therefore, soil fertility would be an additional factor to consider for management …

Engineering Of Hydroponic Systems To Enhance Biomass Of Sea Oats (Uniola Paniculata), Stefanie Renee Gilliam

LSU Master's Theses

Restoration projects use native plants such as sea oats (Uniola paniculata) to help stabilize the coast. Sea oats are a native grass that can collect blowing sand to build dunes. Sea oats used in the restoration projects can be produced using sexual or asexual techniques. An ideal seedling would be genetically distinct, have increased seed production and germination, and have superior vegetative biomass. Finding ways to produce, propagate, and grow coastal plants such as sea oats effectively is critical to efforts to reduce erosion. In this study, production of sea oats via greenhouse based hydroponic systems was studied. This was …

Response Of Bovine Fetal Fibroblasts To Pluripotency Induction With In Vitro Transcribed Mrna, Tricia Adams

LSU Master's Theses

Numerous studies have contributed to the induction of pluripotency in an abundance of cell types; however, transfection techniques and efficiency have yielded undesirable outcomes. Traditionally, the use of viral vectors as a mode of transmission has proven to be efficient in the induction of pluripotency transcription factors in mammalian cells. The increasing concern is random insertion of viral components within the host genome due to the viral mode of replication. The delivery of messenger RNA by cationic lipid delivery vehicles circumvents the viral concerns and provides an efficient and safe mode of reprogramming. Synthetic mRNA can be used to initiate …

Natural Fracture Characterization In The Haynesville Shale, East Texas: A Core Study, Frank Leslie Morgan

LSU Master's Theses

The Haynesville Shale in East Texas and Northwest Louisiana is one of the most studied and explored shale-gas plays in the United States. With new horizontal drilling and completion strategies, energy companies can produce hydrocarbons directly from the source rock making the Haynesville Shale an attractive resource. A key component of enhanced hydrocarbon production is the presence of natural fractures. They may serve as permeable pathways for hydrocarbon flow, especially in tight shales such as in the Haynesville Shale, where the matrix permeability is very low. In the case of the Haynesville Shale, little is known about the occurrence of …

Placed Residue, Thomas Lapann

LSU Master's Theses

“Placed Residue” is a series of eight works that highlight nature and its transformative quality. The video, photos, and sculptural objects, contained in the show, call attention to different materials and how they undergo growth and decay. Using various resources ranging from Kinect to video projection I incorporate the unnatural in order to depict a natural narrative involving the viewer. In order to emulate these natural processes, a cause and effect system had been developed where nature completes the final object. These systems activate the material providing for behaviors to be visible through their tactile qualities and allowing for their …

The Tyrants Within Us And The Thread Of History : The Creation Of "Sic Semper Tyrannis," A One-Person Play, Benjamin Todd Koucherik

LSU Master's Theses

The assigned task was to create and perform a 20-40 minute long one-person play, with no other guidelines or restrictions offered. Having never performed in or written a full one-person play, my challenge was two-fold: create a cohesive and coherent script, and craft the production and performance of that script. From several inspirational sources, I was spurred on to explore the dynamics of revolutionaries, fanatics, and vigilantes through the lens of presidential assassin John Wilkes Booth. Through the combination of Booth’s infamy and the modern day realities of fame-seeking, political divisiveness, and tragically pervasive “spectacle killing” events, I was ultimately …

Development Of Integrated Pest Management For Sugarcane Borer, Diatraea Saccharalis In Rice, Jaspreet Kaur Sidhu

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Rice is grown over an area of approximately 500,000 acres in Louisiana. The lepidopteran stem borer complex attacking rice in the southern U.S includes stalk borer Chilo plejadellus Zincken, sugarcane borer (SCB) Diatraea saccharalis (F.) and Mexican rice borer, Eoreuma loftini Dyar. With the increasing impact of stem borers in Louisiana, an urgent need exists to develop strategies for management. Currently, no IPM program is in place for stem borers in Louisiana rice and research has been initiated to develop an IPM program for these pests. The first objective of this research was focused on host plant resistance. For this …

In Vitro And In Silico Characterization Of Solanum Lycopersicum Wound-Inducible Proteinase Inhibitor-Ii Gene, Faiza Munir, Syed Muhammad Saqlan Naqvi, Tariq Mahmood

Turkish Journal of Biology

Plant proteinase inhibitors (PIs) are antimetabolic defensive proteins conferring resistance in plants against a variety of competing organisms such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, attacking nematodes, and insects. In the fields of plant biochemistry and molecular genetics research, tremendous success has been achieved in generating transgenic crops that have defensive approaches against biotic challenges. In this study, in vitro and in silico analysis was carried out for a wound-inducible PI-II gene isolated from 4 selected varieties (Roma, Nagina, Moneymaker, and Rio Grande) of Solanum lycopersicum L. Around 684 bp of PI-II gene was amplified, sequenced, translated, modeled to protein structure, and …

Compositional Studies And Antioxidant Potential Of Albizia Lebbeck (L.) Benth. Pods And Seeds, Muhammad Zia-Ul-Haq, Shakeel Ahmad, Mughal Qayum, Sezai̇ Erci̇şli̇

Turkish Journal of Biology

Albizia lebbeck (L.) Benth. is an important medicinal tree found in Pakistan. The present study evaluates the composition and antioxidant potential of various parts of the A. lebbeck plant. Compositional studies indicated carbohydrates as major components while saponin was found as a major antinutrient in both pods and seeds. Potassium was found in the highest amount and copper in the lowest. The amino acid profile indicated that arginine and lysine are present in excessive amounts in seeds while glutamic acid and aspartic acid are present in the highest concentrations in pods. While the linoleic acid was detected as the major …

The Effect Of 3-Methylcholanthrene And Butylated Hydroxytoluene On Glycogen Levels Of Liver, Muscle, Testis, And Tumor Tissues Of Rats, Fi̇kri̇ye Polat, Egemen Dere, Eylem Gül, İzzet Yelkuvan, Öztürk Özdemi̇r, Günsel Bi̇ngöl

Turkish Journal of Biology

This study examined the effects of separate and combined applications of 3-methylcholanthrene, a polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon and potent carcinogenic agent, and butylated hydroxytoluene, the antioxidant food additive, on the glycogen levels of liver, muscle, testis, and tumor tissues in rats. Adult male Wistar albino rats weighing 100-110 g at 8 weeks of age were used in this study. This study consisted of a control group (n = 9) and 3 different experiment groups in which rats were chronically treated with 3-methylcholanthrene (n = 9) or butylated hydroxytoluene (n = 11) or a combination of these agents (n = 14). Rats …

Purification Of Antioxidant Protein Isolated From Peganum Harmala And Its Protective Effect Against Ccl4 Toxicity In Rats, Hanaa Ahmed, Helal Abu Elzahab, Gamia Alswiai

Turkish Journal of Biology

The present study was conducted to determine the protective effect of the purified protein from seeds of Peganum harmala against carbon tetrachloride (CCl_{4})-induced toxicity in male albino rats. The purification steps included ammonium sulfate fractionation and chromatography on DEAE-cellulose, CM-Sepharose, and Superdex 75 columns. The molecular mass of the purified protein was 132 kDa by gel filtration technique; it consisted of 2 subunits with molecular masses of 30.199 kDa and 38.018 kDa by SDS-PAGE. Results of the dose-dependent experiment with purified protein prior to CCl_4 administration were higher at 4 mg/kg body weight. The antioxidant activity of the purified protein …

Comparison Of The Volatiles Of Daphne Pontica L. And D. Oleoides Schreber Subsp. Oleoides Isolated By Hydro- And Microdistillation Methods, İlhan Gürbüz, Betül Demi̇rci̇, Gerhard Franz, Kemal Hüsnü Can Başer, Erdem Yeşi̇lada, Fati̇h Demi̇rci̇

Turkish Journal of Biology

Aerial parts of Daphne pontica were collected from Ilgaz-Çankırı, and D. oleoides subsp. oleoides was collected from 2 different localities (Ayrancı-Karaman and Ilgaz-Çankırı) in Turkey. The samples were subjected to hydrodistillation and microdistillation. The resulting volatile samples were analyzed both by gas chromatography (GC) and gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), respectively. The main components for D. pontica were identified as hexahydrofarnesyl acetone (8.6%), carvacrol (8.5%), dihydroedulane II (4.7%), (E)-geranyl acetone (4.6%), and thymol (4.5%), while nonacosane (42.5% and 27.2%), hexadecanoic acid (24.4% and 20.0%), phytol (12.3%), and carvacrol (5.0%) were identified as the main components of D. oleoides subsp. oleoides obtained …

Concentration Of Sodium Dodecyl Sulfate Used In Occlusion Body Extraction Affects Spodoptera Littoralis Nucleopolyhedrovirus Biological Activity, Hi̇lal Susurluk, Umut Toprak, Mehmet Oktay Gürkan

Turkish Journal of Biology

Efficacy of a baculovirus as a biological control agent is evaluated according to biological parameters, median lethal dose (LD_{50}) of the virus, and median lethal time (LT_{50}) of infected larvae. Sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) is commonly used in concentrations of 0.1%-1% to extract infective units of the baculoviruses, occlusion bodies (OBs), from infected cadavers. Although several studies have shown disruption of OB structure by SDS, the effects of SDS concentrations on baculovirus biological parameters are not well known. Indeed, it is essential to detect the optimum SDS concentration for OB extraction to compare the activity of baculoviruses accurately. In our …

Partial Purification And Characterization Of Cellulases From Digestive Tracts Of The African Giant Snail (Achatina Achatina), Paul Chijioke Ozioko, Sabinus Oscar Onyebuchi Eze, Ferdinand Chiemeka Chilaka

Turkish Journal of Biology

Crude cellulase was extracted from the digestive tracts of 30 mature Achatina achatina and subjected to a 3-step purification process of ammonium sulfate precipitation, dialysis, and gel filtration. This purification procedure gave 3 prominent enzyme activity peaks that coincided with protein peaks and were designated A, B, and C, corresponding to high endoglucanase, \beta-glucosidase, and total cellulase activities, respectively. Temperature optima of 50 °C were recorded for \beta-glucosidase and total cellulase while 45 °C was recorded for endoglucanase. Total cellulase, glucosidase, and endoglucanase showed maximum activities at pH values of 5.5, 4.5, and 7.5, respectively. Kinetic studies show that total …

Pcr Screening For The Surfactin (Sfp) Gene In Marine Bacillus Strains And Its Molecular Characterization From Bacillus Tequilensis Nios11, Seema Porob, Sagar Nayak, Areena Fernandes, Priyanka Padmanabhan, Balkrishna Arjun Patil, Ram Murti Meena, Nagappa Ramaiah

Turkish Journal of Biology

The sfp gene responsible for surfactin production was screened from the DNA extracts of 37 Bacillus spp. whose identity was confirmed by 16S rRNA gene sequence analyses. PCR screening revealed amplification of sfp gene fragments in a total of 25 isolates. Several isolates belonging to Bacillus tequilensis were found to be positive for this gene. A gene fragment coding for the sfp gene was amplified and cloned from genomic DNA of the isolate B. tequilensis NIOS11. The cloned gene has an open reading frame of 675 bp coding for 224 amino acids with a theoretical molecular weight of 26,166.33 Da …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Biology

No abstract provided.

Molecular Characterization Of Yarrowia Lipolytica Strains Isolated From Different Environments And Lipase Profiling, Onur Akpinar, Füsun Bahri̇ye Uçar

Turkish Journal of Biology

In order to analyze yeasts that produce industrial compounds, it is essential to identify them accurately. Yarrowia lipolytica is one of the most extensively studied 'nonconventional' yeasts, being a strictly aerobic microorganism capable of producing important metabolites and having an intense secretory activity, which justifies efforts to use it in industry (as a biocatalyst), in molecular biology, and in studies of genetics. Therefore, in this study, an accurate identification of Y. lipolytica strains was performed using 3 different molecular biological methods (RFLP analysis of ITS1-5.8S rDNA-ITS2 and 18S rDNA regions and sequencing of the D1/D2 domain of the 26S rDNA …

Medium Optimization For The Production Of Exopolysaccharide By Bacillus Subtilis Using Synthetic Sources And Agro Wastes, Sirajunnisa Abdul Razack, Vijayagopal Velayutham, Viruthagiri Thangavelu

Turkish Journal of Biology

Exopolysaccharides (EPSs) play an extensive role as biopolymers in the environment by replacing synthetic polymers as they are degradable, nontoxic, and produced by microorganisms. An attempt was made to optimize a medium, by the one-factor-at-a-time method, for an enhanced production of EPS from a soil isolate, Bacillus subtilis. The study was carried out by experimenting on various nutrients at different concentrations. EPS was precipitated using ethanol, the total carbohydrate content was determined by phenol sulfuric acid method, and functional groups were detected by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometry. The finalized medium contained sucrose (20 g/L), yeast extract (5 g/L), NaCl …

Effects Of Acacia Cyanophylla Lindl. Extracts On Seed Germination And Seedling Growth Of Four Crop And Weed Plants, Asma El Ayeb, Hichem Ben Jannet, Fethia Harzallah Skhiri

Turkish Journal of Biology

The aqueous and organic extracts of the roots, stems, phyllodes, flowers, legumes, and seeds of Acacia cyanophylla Lindl. were assayed at different concentrations to assess their allelopathic potential. The extracts were tested on the seeds of 2 crops (Triticum aestivum L. and Lactuca sativa L.) and 2 weeds (Peganum harmala L. and Silybum marianum L.) species. The final germination percentages and the seedling shoot and root lengths were significantly reduced by the A. cyanophylla extracts as compared to the control. Aqueous extract from seeds was the strongest inhibitor of germination, shoot length, and root length for L. sativa and P. …

Cr(Vi) Reduction By Cellulosimicrobium Sp. Isolated From Tannery Effluent, Aniqa Naeem, Rida Batool, Nazia Jamil

Turkish Journal of Biology

Cr(VI) is a toxic metal that has carcinogenic and mutagenic effects on all living organisms. In order to study the contribution of microbes towards Cr(VI) reduction into the less toxic Cr(III) form, an indigenous chromium-resistant bacterial strain (A_8) was isolated from a tannery effluent. It was identified as Cellulosimicrobium sp. on the basis of morphological and biochemical characterization and 16S rRNA gene sequencing. It could tolerate up to 1800 µg mL^{-1} of K_{2}CrO_{4} and showed an optimum reduction (98.6%) of Cr(VI) at the concentration of 900 µg mL^{-1} aerobically. Cell-free enzyme assay exhibited the reduction of Cr(VI) in vitro. A …

Role Of Plant Growth Promoting Rhizobacteria On Antioxidant Enzyme Activities And Tropane Alkaloid Production Of Hyoscyamus Niger Under Water Deficit Stress, Mansour Ghorbanpour, Mehrnaz Hatami, Kazem Khavazi

Turkish Journal of Biology

This study examined the effects of inoculation with 2 rhizobacteria strains, Pseudomonas putida (PP) and Pseudomonas fluorescens (PF), on growth parameters, chlorophyll, proline, leaf relative water content (RWC), antioxidant enzyme activities (including superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POX), and catalase (CAT)), tropane alkaloids (such as hyoscyamine (HYO) and scopolamine (SCO)), and production of Hyoscyamus niger under 3 water deficit stress (WDS) levels, i.e. 30% (W1), 60% (W2), and 90% (W3) water depletion of field capacity. The results showed that inoculation with PP and PF strains minimized the deleterious effects of WDS on growth parameters. The activities of SOD and POX in …

Purification And Characterization Of A Novel Detergent- And Organic Solvent-Resistant Endo-Beta-1,4-Glucanase From A Newly Isolated Basidiomycete Peniophora Sp. Ndvn01, Dinh Kha Trinh, Dinh Thi Quyen, Thi Tuyen Do, Ngoc Minh Nghiem

Turkish Journal of Biology

A novel extracellular endoglucanase from a basidiomycete strain Peniophora sp. NDVN01 was purified 2.8-fold to homogeneity through ammonium sulfate precipitation and gel filtration with Bio-Gel P-100 and Sephadex G-75. The endoglucanase had a specific activity of 163.8 U/mg protein and a molecular mass of 32 kDa. Optimum temperature and pH were at 60 °C and 4.5, respectively. The enzyme was stable at up to 42 °C and in the pH range of 3.5-5.5 with a residual activity of over 80% for 24 h of treatment. Ni^2^+ activated but other metal ions showed no or slight inhibitory effect on the enzyme …

Optimization Of Immobilization Conditions By Conventional And Statistical Strategies For Alkaline Lipase Production By Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Mutant Cells: Scale-Up At Bench-Scale Bioreactor Level, Deepali Bisht, Santosh Kumar Yadav, Nandan Singh Darmwal

Turkish Journal of Biology

Suitability of 3 matrices, agarose, sodium alginate, and polyacrylamide, for immobilization of mutant cells of Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 10,055 was investigated. Of these, agarose was proven to be the best as exhibiting maximum enzyme production (4363.4 U/mL), followed by polyacrylamide gel (2172.3 U/mL). Alginate beads were the poorest. The one-variable-at-a-time approach suggested agarose at 2.0%, immobilized bead at 4.0 g blocks/50 mL, and initial cell loading of 0.8 g in the matrix as optimum conditions for maximum lipase production (5982.3 U/mL) after 24 h of incubation. However, response surface methodology studies determined the optimum values of these variables as 1.96%, …

Membrane And Dna Damaging/Protective Effects Of Eugenol, Eucalyptol, Terpinen-4-Ol, And Camphor At Various Concentrations On Parental And Drug-Resistant H1299 Cells, Aysun Özkan, Ayşe Erdoğan

Turkish Journal of Biology

Eugenol, eucalyptol, terpinen-4-ol, and camphor, used as flavor agents in cosmetic and food products, have both prooxidant and antioxidant activities. To clarify the mechanisms of their cytotoxic effect and the factors affecting their antioxidant/prooxidant activities, we investigated cell membrane and DNA damage/protective effects induced by eugenol, eucalyptol, terpinen-4-ol, and camphor in parental and drug-resistant human lung cancer cell lines. The parental cells were found approximately 3, 6, and 8 times more sensitive to camphor cytotoxicity than drug-resistant cells at 24, 48, and 72 h respectively. The cytotoxic activity for both cell types was found to be in the order of …

Effect Of Drought Stress On Oxidative Damage And Antioxidant Enzyme Activity In Melon Seedlings, Musa Kavas, Mehmet Cengi̇z Baloğlu, Oya Akça, Fatma Seli̇n Köse, Derya Gökçay

Turkish Journal of Biology

Drought stress is one of the most serious environmental limitations affecting the growth and productivity of plants. In the current study, oxidative damage and antioxidant responses under polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced osmotic stress were compared in 2 melon cultivars, Kırkağaç and Galia. Melon seedlings were subjected to PEG-6000 solutions of 2 different osmotic potentials, -0.2 MPa and -0.4 MPa. Various physiological parameters, malondialdehyde (MDA), proline content, and antioxidant enzymes including catalase (CAT), ascorbate peroxidase (APX), and glutathione reductase (GR) were measured. A reduction in fresh and dry weights of shoot and root tissues was observed. Significant proline accumulation was detected with …

Cover And Contents

Turkish Journal of Biology

No abstract provided.

Global Assessment Of Network Inference Algorithms Based On Available Literature Of Gene/Protein Interactions, Gökmen Altay, Nejla Altay, David Neal

Turkish Journal of Biology

We propose a framework that uses the available gene/protein interaction databases of the literature as a universal benchmark in order to globally assess the inference performances of gene network inference algorithms. We also developed an R software package for convenient use of the framework, which can also be used in general as a quick tool to search in the literature for available validations of interactions. We applied the proposed approach to 2 publicly available prostate cancer gene expression datasets and a large breast cancer gene expression dataset. The results revealed different aspects and superiority of algorithms that had not been …

Silver Nanoparticles: Cytotoxic, Apoptotic, And Necrotic Effects On Mcf-7 Cells, Hakan Çi̇ftçi̇, Mustafa Türk, Uğur Tamer, Si̇yami̇ Karahan, Yusuf Menemen

Turkish Journal of Biology

The present study was conducted to examine cytotoxic, apoptotic, and necrotic effects of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) on MCF-7 cells. Colloidal AgNPs were fabricated in an alkaline pH environment via reduction of silver nitrate with hydroxylamine hydrochloride. The size of AgNPs was measured by atomic force microscopy (AFM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and dynamic light scattering. Zeta potential of AgNPs was determined by laser Doppler microelectrophoresis. After exposing MCF-7 cells to AgNPs for 24 h, cytotoxicity was measured by WST-1 assay. Apoptosis and necrosis in MCF-7 cells were detected by Annexin-V-FLUOS immunostaining and double staining of Hoechst dye with propidium iodide. …