Digital Commons Network^™

Research News. Publications, 2017. Volume 2, University Of Mississippi. School Of Pharmacy, Soumyajit Majumdar

Publications (2015-)

Publications that appeared during the period July 1 through December 31, 2017

Oceanic, Latitudinal, And Sex-Specific Variation In Demography Of A Tropical Deepwater Snapper Across The Indo-Pacific Region, Ashley J. Williams, C. Wakefield, Stephen J. Newman, Elodie Vourey, Francisco J. Abascal, Tuikolongahau Halafihi, Jeremie Kaltavara, Simon J. Nicol

Fisheries Research Articles

Deepwater tropical fisheries provide an important source of income and protein to Pacific and Indian Ocean coastal communities who are highly dependent on fish for food security. The development of quantitative assessments and management strategies for these deepwater fisheries has been hindered by insufficient biological and fisheries data. We examine the age-specific demography of the pygmy ruby snapper Etelis carbunculus, an important target species in tropical deepwater fisheries, across 90° of longitude and 20° of latitude in the Pacific and Indian Oceans. Our results show that growth of E. carbunculus varies significantly between oceans and sexes and across latitudes …

The Age Structure Of A Population Of Aedes Provocans (Diptera: Culicidae) In Southwestern Ontario, Stephen M. Smith, Richard M. Kurtz

The Great Lakes Entomologist

In a previous paper it was shown that an eastern-Ontario population of the early-spring mosquito Aedes provocans had an atypical age structure: the adult-female population aged rapidly and synchronously, achieving an advanced gonotrophic age in an unusually brief period of time. The present study examined the age structure of Ae. provocans near Waterloo, in south-western Ontario, at a site at which adult emergence occurred over a wider, more variable period and at which the preferred nectar sources for young adults were much less abundant. In Waterloo, the adult-female population aged more slowly and much less synchronously than in eastern Ontario. …

Preparation And Characterization Of A (Viologen) Containing Main Chain Peg-Carbon Nanotubes Phase For Hybrid Supercapacitor Application, Kanishka Rana

Master's Theses

Supercapacitors (SCs) and batteries are recognized as the two most important electrical energy storage devices. SCs have some distinct advantages such as high-power density and long cycle life when compared to batteries. However, they have yet to match the energy densities of batteries. In an effort to improve the energy density of SCs, a hybrid supercapacitor was developed using a pair of single-walled carbon nanotube electrodes and two polyethylene glycol (PEG-400) gel-polymer electrolytes (GPEs) containing redox additives of viologen (V) and ferrocene dicarboxylic acid (Fc), respectively. The introduction of V and Fc, was expected to improve the energy performance of …

Ependymomas Overexpress Chemoresistance And Dna Repairrelated Proteins, Sherise D. Ferguson, Shouhao Zhou, Joanne Xiu, Yuuri Hashimoto, Nader Sanai, Lyndon Kim, Santosh Kesari, John De Groot, David Spetzler, Amy B. Heimberger

Department of Neurosurgery Faculty Papers

Background: After surgery and radiation, treatment options for ependymoma are few making recurrence a challenging issue. Specifically, the efficacy of chemotherapy at recurrence is limited. We performed molecular profiling on a cohort of ependymoma cases in order to uncover therapeutic targets and to elucidate the molecular mechanisms contributing to treatment resistance. Results: This ependymoma cohort showed minimal alterations in gene amplifications and mutations but had high expression rates of DNA synthesis and repair enzymes such as RRM1 (47%), ERCC1 (48%), TOPO1 (62%) and class III β-tublin (TUBB3) (57%), which are also all associated with chemoresistance. This cohort also had high …

The Evolution Of The Krüppel-Like Factor Gene Family And Their Function During Embryonic Development In The Ctenophore Mnemiopsis Leidyi, Jason Scott Presnell

Open Access Dissertations

How modifications during development influence large-scale evolutionary changes is a major emphasis in the field of evolutionary developmental biology (evo-devo). Comparing the underlying cellular and molecular basis of development in diverse organisms can provide insight into how alterations of these processes contribute to morphological diversity. Ctenophores, or comb jellies, are a phylum of marine invertebrates and, due to their unique phylogenetic position as one of the earliest branching lineages of extant animals, are an ideal system for investigating the origin and evolution of metazoan character traits. For example, the animal through-gut is thought to have originated in the metazoan stem …

Molecular Biological Studies On The Effect Of Green Tea On Obese Rats, Asmaa Nabih, Ibrahim Hassan, Khaled Kahilo, Mahmoud El-Sebaei, Mohamed El-Adl

Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

The current study was conducted on 70 male albino rats for elucidation the role of different green tea either local (E) or imported (C) and capsulated like green tea (CAP) as well as two common active principle Epigallocatechin gallate (EPI) and polyphenols (POL) on high fat ration (HFR) fed rats. The results showed that EPI and POL were showing a significant improvement in lipid profile and anti-oxidant status of rats. Meanwhile, EPI and CAP groups revealed the highest improvement in kidney function, while the Egyptian, Chinese green tea leaves and POL groups showed a significant enhancement in hepato-billiary system. All …

Myxosporidiosis In Oreochromis Niloticus; Molecular Identification And Oxidative Stress Biomarkers, Nevien Abdelkhalek, M. El-Adl, M. Hamed, M. Al-Araby

Mansoura Veterinary Medical Journal

Myxosporidiosisis a protozoan parasitic fish disease that causes damages to fish organs and might eventually end with mortalities and deterioration of meat quality of the affected fish. The presence of parasitic infestation is usually accompanied with the production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species that produces extra damage to host organs and inactivation of antioxidant defense system that increase the intensity of parasitic infestation. Recently, the response of the infested tissue to oxidative stress is varieddepending on the type of parasite; therefore the use of oxidative stress markers as indicator for myxobolus infestation is relevant. In the present study, Oreochromis …

An Analysis Of Signaling Processes Leading To A Defense Response In Soybean, Brandon Trey Mcneece

Theses and Dissertations

Plant-parasitic nematodes are the cause of devastating yield loss in vital agricultural crops around the world. Heterodera glycines, also referred to as soybean cyst nematode, is the main pathogen of Glycine max (soybean) causing more loss than all other pathogens of G. max combined. The resultant economic impact due to H. glycines in United States soybean production alone is estimated to account for an annual one-billion-dollar loss. Natural resistant genotypes have been found in trials to combat this pathogen. Of the resistant varieties identified, G. max[Peking/PI 548402] and G. max[PI 88788] are the major sources of resistance. Identification of genes …

Attachment, Trauma, And Intimacy With God, Jodie Kathleen Gardner

Conversations: A Graduate Student Journal of the Humanities, Social Sciences, and Theology

Attachment theory provides a robust framework for understanding spiritual development and perceptions of God. An integration of research from attachment theory, affective neuroscience, emotional information processing, and trauma, is clarifying the competing research findings involving compensation and correspondence in spiritual development. Empirical evidence suggests the distinction between explicit theological beliefs and implicit perception of God as an attachment figure may explain the discrepancy between compensatory practices and correspondence, and how one interacts with God, and copes with negative life events. Studies of post-traumatic stress disorder suggest specific association between the extreme stress of trauma and alterations in emotional processing. Trauma …

Role Of An Upwelled Coastal Area In Northeastern Colombia In The Distribution, Population Dynamics And Genetic Diversity Of The Migratory Habitat-Shifting Chelonia Mydas, Catalina Vasquez Carrillo

Open Access Dissertations

The Caribbean is generally an oligotrophic sea; however, in the southern portion between Venezuela and Colombia, a yearly, moderate, coastal upwelling fuels a very productive marine ecosystem, the Southern Caribbean Upwelling System. Extensive submerged aquatic vegetation (SAV) ecosystems are found in the Colombian side of the system, by La Guajira peninsula. SAV ecosystems constitute key habitat for multiple marine fauna species, specially at juvenile/larval stages. La Guajira’s SAV unique, upwelled ecosystems are hypothesized as important foraging and developmental habitat for the endangered, migratory sea turtle Chelonia mydas. The complex habitat-shifting behavior and very long-lasting juvenile stage traits of the species …

Aphid Prey Of Passaloecus Cuspidatus (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), John M. Fricke

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Provisioning activity of Passaloecus cuspidatus extended from 29 May through 6 August 1987. Eighty trap-nests contained 281 provisioned cells containing 9,618 aphids. The average number of aphids per cell was 34.2 and the average number of cells provisioned per day was 0.73. Passaloecus cuspidatus stored the following aphids as provisions: Cinaria sp., Euceraphis sp., Macrosiphum euphorbiae, Myzus sp., Myzus cerasi, Myzus monardae, and Sitobium avenae. The number of aphids provisioned per cell was inversely related to aphid size. The number of aphids provisioned per cell varied signifI­cantly (9-74).

Development Of Novel Proteomic Strategies To Dissect Plant Phosphoproteomic Signaling Under Environmental Stresses, Chuan-Chih Hsu

Open Access Dissertations

Protein phosphorylation is one of the important signaling mechanisms in plants which transduces environmental stimuli such as salinity, microbes, and hormones into intracellular signals and activates plant defense mechanisms. Thus, understanding the correlation between environmental stresses and alteration of plant phosphorylation requires system-wide phosphoproteomic analysis, which includes identification of kinase-substrate complexes and measurement of phosphorylation-mediated signaling changes. However, identification and quantification of plant phosphoproteome remains challenging due to the highly dynamic nature of plant proteome, interferences of cell wall, pigments, and secondary metabolites. Recently, mass spectrometry (MS) has been integrated with phosphopeptide enrichment approaches for identifying thousands of phosphorylation sites …

Design And Statistical Analysis Of Mass Spectrometry Imaging Experiments, April Janae Harry

Open Access Dissertations

The goal of mass spectrometry-based imaging (MSI) is to characterize the chemical composition of biological samples such as tissues in spatial resolution, and changes in the composition between conditions such as the status of a disease. A single mass spectrometry image is a collection of mass spectra at gridded locations on a tissue. When acquired over multiple biological individuals, tissues, and conditions, the resulting datasets are tremendously complex in both scale and in the stochastic structure of the quantified spectral features. Accurate characterization of the biological and technical variation in these experiments is therefore key for deriving sensitive and reproducible …

Imaging Cholesterol Metabolism And Trafficking By Stimulated Raman Scattering Microscopy, Hyeon Jeong Lee

Open Access Dissertations

Cholesterol is an essential component of mammalian cells which is tightly regulated. However, our understanding of cholesterol transport and metabolism is still incomplete, partly due to lack of suitable tools for studying cholesterol dynamics in living cells and organisms with spatio-temporal information. My dissertation work applied spectroscopic imaging of cholesterol in human tissues, living cells, and model organisms to unravel new insights of cholesterol metabolism and trafficking. Using stimulated Raman spectroscopic analysis of lipid droplets in human prostate cancer patient tissues, we observed an aberrant accumulation of cholesteryl ester in metastatic lesions. Inhibition of cholesterol esterification in prostate cancer cells …

Wavetda: Bayesian Statistics, Wavelets And Topological Data Analysis To Title Assess Statistical Shape, Patrick S. Medina

Open Access Dissertations

Advanced imaging and scanning technologies are providing an abundance of shape-based data that require novel approaches to understand the factors that generate them. This is especially true in modern agricultural practices where large quantities of highly detailed morphometric data are collected and used for studying genetic associations. Toward this end there is an immediate need for efficient algorithms that extract relevant geometric information from images in a form that can be used within a statistical framework. Topological Data Analysis (TDA) has shown to be both fast and effective for studying complex shapes, and can simultaneously reduce dimensionality into simpler topological …

Modulation Of Bcr Signaling By The Induced Dimerization Of Receptor- Associated Syk, Mark L. Westbroek

Open Access Dissertations

Clustering of the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) by polyvalent antigens is transmitted through the SYK tyrosine kinase to the activation of multiple intracellular pathways that determine the physiological consequences of receptor engagement. To explore factors that modulate the quantity and quality of signals sent by the crosslinked BCR, I developed a novel chemical mediator of dimerization to induce clustering of receptor-associated SYK. To accomplish this, I fused SYK with E. coli dihydrofolate reductase (eDHFR), which binds the small molecule trimethoprim (TMP) with high affinity and selectivity, and synthesized a dimer of TMP with a flexible linker. The binding of …

Undergraduate Research As A Form Of Learning, Amelia Welch

The Plymouth Student Scientist

Guest editorial: Amelia Welch, Final Year Student, Marine Biology, Plymouth University

Cxc Chemokines Exhibit Bactericidal Activity Against Multidrug-Resistant Gram-Negative Pathogens, Erum Khan, Matthew A. Crawford, Debra J. Fisher, Lisa M. Leung, Sara Lomonaco, Christine Lascols, Antonio Cannatelli,, Gian Maria Rossolini, Yohei Doi, David R. Goodlett

Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

The continued rise and spread of antimicrobial resistance among bacterial pathogens pose a serious challenge to global health. Countering antimicrobial-resistant pathogens requires a multifaceted effort that includes the discovery of novel therapeutic approaches. Here, we establish the capacity of the human CXC chemokines CXCL9 and CXCL10 to kill multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, including New Delhi metallo-beta-lactamase-1-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae and colistin-resistant members of the family Enterobacteriaceae that harbor the mobile colistin resistance protein MCR-1 and thus possess phosphoethanolamine-modified lipid A. Colistin-resistant K. pneumoniae isolates affected by genetic mutation of the PmrA/PmrB two-component system, a chromosomally encoded regulator of lipopolysaccharide modification, and containing …

Biology And Behavior Of The Asian Needle Ant, Brachyponera Chinensis , Hamilton Ross Allen

All Dissertations

Ants are among the most successful invasive organisms in the world. To curb the spread of invasive ants in non-native environments, their ecological, biological, and behavioral characteristics must be identified. The Asian needle ant, Brachyponera (= Pachycondyla ) chinensis (Emery) is an emerging invasive pest in urban areas and forests in the southeastern United States. However, general basic biological information on B. chinensis and subsequent management options are deficient. This work contributes to the standing biological information on B. chinensis by examining the seasonal life cycle, social nesting habits, and transport behaviors of B. chinensis colonies. To determine the seasonal …

Emerging Infectious Disease And The Imperiled Relict Leopard Frog, Anthony Wayne Waddle

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The disease chytridiomycosis, caused by the aquatic fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd), has emerged as a major contributing factor for worldwide amphibian declines. Although relatively recently described, the impacts from the disease this pathogen causes have been definitively tied to amphibian declines, including some that occurred decades ago. In some cases, declines of individual species occurred with little documentation and are thus poorly understood. The relict leopard frog (Rana onca = Lithobates onca) has experienced such a decline and by the latter part of the 20th century only occurred in two general areas in southern Nevada. Recent research has found …

Developing Algorithms For Quantifying The Super Resolution Microscopic Data: Applications To The Quantification Of Protein-Reorganization In Bacteria Responding To Treatment By Silver Ions, Sai Divya Challapalli

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Histone-like nucleoid structuring proteins (HNS) play significant roles in shaping the chromosomal DNA, regulation of transcriptional networks in microbes, as well as bacterial responses to environmental changes such as temperature fluctuations. In this work, the intracellular organization of HNS proteins in E. coli bacteria was investigated utilizing super-resolution fluorescence microscopy, which surpasses conventional microscopy by 10–20 fold in spatial resolution. More importantly, the changes of the spatial distribution of HNS proteins in E. coli, by addition of silver ions into the growth medium were explored. To quantify the spatial distribution of HNS in bacteria and its changes, an automatic method …

Metastable-State Nh Photoacids And Organic Photo Carbon Monoxide Releasing Materials, Aluthwatte Rallage Nawodi Madhusanka Abeyrathna

Theses and Dissertations

The recently discovered metastable-state photoacids (mPAHs) can produce a large proton concentration with high efficiency and good reversibility upon irradiation with visible light with moderate intensity. Therefore, mPAHs can be conveniently incorporated in to different systems to control various proton-transfer processes. Recently, several applications of mPAHs have been demonstrated. However, none of the previously reported mPAHs can function at a pH 7.4. Thus, biological applications of mPAHs are limited. In this work, mPAHs that can reversibly release a proton in PBS buffer (pH = 7.4) under visible light are designed and synthesized. NH-PAH-1 is the first of this type of …

Anna He Purnabramha: Deorukhe Women’S Agency In The Making Of Bodies, Cuisines, And Culture In Maharashtra, India, Gauri Anilkumar Pitale

Dissertations

The world is changing. India is changing. Food is changing. Bodies are changing. What does this mean for the women of Maharashtra, India? Globalization and modernity manifest in new and interesting ways the world over. As people establish networks of global commodity, capital, and human circulation, anthropologists raise pertinent concerns. While some are apprehensive about cultural loss and western cultural imperialism, others make a case for the rise of glocalization. While some espouse the positives of a free market economy, others are critical of the nutrition transition in developing countries and what this means for the health of the people …

Two-Photon Excitation, Fluorescence Microscopy, And Quantitative Measurement Of Two-Photon Absorption Cross Sections, Fredrick Michael Dearmond

Dissertations and Theses

As optical microscopy techniques continue to improve, most notably the development of super-resolution optical microscopy which garnered the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 2014, renewed emphasis has been placed on the development and use of fluorescence microscopy techniques. Of particular note is a renewed interest in multiphoton excitation due to a number of inherent properties of the technique including simplified optical filtering, increased sample penetration, and inherently confocal operation. With this renewed interest in multiphoton fluorescence microscopy, comes an increased demand for robust non-linear fluorescent markers, and characterization of the associated tool set.

These factors have led to an experimental …

Do The Lessons From Micro-Conflict Literature Transfer To High Crime Areas?: Examining Mexico’S War On Drugs, Muhammad Nasir, Marc Rockmore, Chih Ming Tan

Economics & Finance Faculty Publications

Exposure to political violence has been found to affect behavioural parameters. The effects of high levels of criminal violence, however, are largely unknown. We examine the effects of Mexico’s war on drugs on risk aversion, mental health and pro-social behaviour. Using a nonlinear difference-in-differences (DiD) model, we find that the post 2006 surge in violence significantly increased risk aversion and reduced trust in civic institutions without any simultaneous strengthening of kinship relationships. Although the deterioration of mental health due to violence exposure has been hypothesised to explain changes in risk aversion, we find no such effect.

Holarctic Insects Adventive In Michigan: New And Additional Records (Homoptera, Heteroptera, Coleoptera, Neuroptera), A. G. Wheeler Jr.

The Great Lakes Entomologist

Fourteen European insects in the Homoptera (4 species), Heteroptera (5), Coleoptera (4), and Neuroptera (1) are reported from Michigan. Ten are new state records (one new Ohio record is given). The point of entry for most of the species is assumed to be the northeastern United States or Maritime Provinces of Canada. Possibilities of dispersal (natural and human-assisted) from centers of introduction in the Northeast, multiple introductions from Europe, and direct entry into the Great Lakes region are discussed.

The Evidence Of Non N-Glycan Linked Mannose In Exochitinase (42 Kda) From Trichoderma Harzianum Bio10671 Glycosylation, Mustafa Muskhazli, Zaman Faridah Qamaruz, Ramli Salfarina, Tohfah Nor Farizan, Ithnin Nalisha, Wallis Greg

ASEAN Journal on Science and Technology for Development

Chitinase 42 kDa produced by Trichoderma harzianum has been proven as a prime compound to be excreted onto the hyphae of the pathogen causing localised cell wall lysis at the point of interaction. This finally initiate the process of the host cell becomes empty of cytoplasm, disintegrates and shows a rapid collapse. This study investigates the existence of N-glycan linked mannose in chitinase 42 kDa produced by the Malaysian T. harzianum strain BIO10671. The chitinase 42 kDa from T. harzianum BIO10671 was initially purified using anion exchange chromatography prior to a series of experiments such as immunoblotting against the chitinase …

Geographic Distribution Of Siphonaptera Collected From Small Mammals On Lake Michigan Islands, William C. Scharf

The Great Lakes Entomologist

The distribution of ten flea species collected from five small mammal host species on 13 Lake Michigan islands is described. Four new eastern and southern records for Hystrichopsylla dippiei Rothschild are given. Speculative suggestions are made regarding dispersal routes of some of the small mammal host species, and the distribution of flea species from Peromyscus maniculatus gracilis LeConte is dis- cussed in the context of island biogeography theory.

Additional Observations On Tachypompilus Ferrugineus With Emphasis On Male Behavior (Hymenoptera: Pompilidae), Frank E. Kurczewski

The Great Lakes Entomologist

An aggregation of 11 males and 5 females of Tachypompilus ferrugineus was studied during August and September 1989 at a 2 m-high cemetery monument i Syracuse, NY. Male perching behavior and male-male and male-female interactions are described. Male-male interactions included acceptance, perching in close proximity, wing fanning, circling, following, and flight chases. Overt territoriality was not demonstrated by individual males, although several wasps each maintained a few or several stations. Despite noticeable size variation among wasps, there was no dominant-subordinate hierarchy. Male attachment to the cemetery monument waned as the season progressed due to mortality, increased floral feeding, and decreased …