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2020

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Mathematical Modeling Of Dual Regulation Of Yeast Pheromone Response Pathway By Sst2 Protein, Cassandra Azeredo-Tseng Jan 2020

Mathematical Modeling Of Dual Regulation Of Yeast Pheromone Response Pathway By Sst2 Protein, Cassandra Azeredo-Tseng

Theses & ETDs

A mathematical model was developed to study dynamics of the yeast pheromone response pathway with a focus on the roles of the yeast RGS protein Sst2 and effects of time delays on the pathway dynamics. The model considers interactions near the membrane of the receptor protein Ste2, RGS protein Sst2, and heterotrimeric G-protein, as well as the downstream of the pathway, which includes pheromone dependent upregulation of these proteins. The final model consists of a system of 6 nonlinear delay differential equations (DDEs) which incorporates inherent time delays that account for slower biological processes, such as transcription and translation. The …

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The Drug-Centered Model Of Treatment: Expanding Patient Treatment Options And Understanding, Lillian Francis Jan 2020

The Drug-Centered Model Of Treatment: Expanding Patient Treatment Options And Understanding, Lillian Francis

Theses & ETDs

Antidepressants have been believed to work by targeting underlying biological abnormalities that lead to the development of depression; this explanation is known as the disease-centered model of treatment. The drug-centered model of treatment states that antidepressants work by inducing an altered physiological state in the patient. This altered state can often be therapeutic. The purpose of this study is to investigate how individuals with depression view the drug-centered model. Participants were given a survey to complete in order to assess their receptivity to the drug-centered model of treatment. Thirty-two percent of participants supported the drug-centered model, and 21% of participants …

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Growth And Development Of Sansevieria Trifasciata Var. Laurentii Cuttings Upon Exposure To Various Hormones At Different Concentrations, Robert Chin Jan 2020

Growth And Development Of Sansevieria Trifasciata Var. Laurentii Cuttings Upon Exposure To Various Hormones At Different Concentrations, Robert Chin

Theses & ETDs

Auxin and cytokinin are the main plant hormones used for triggering growth of new organs through totipotency. In order to study their effects and to see how useful their application may be to aid in asexual reproduction of a particular species, Sansevieria trifasciata var. laurentii (De Wild.) N. E. Br., cuttings were grown with different concentrations of these hormones added at different intervals. To make the cuttings, the tips of leaves were cut into 15 g (+ or - 1 g) segments which were then treated with hormone solutions (introduced at different intervals and concentrations) or pure DI water for …

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A Preliminary Survey Of Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Southwest Florida Storm Drain Inlets, Natali Shafer Jan 2020

A Preliminary Survey Of Macroinvertebrates Inhabiting Southwest Florida Storm Drain Inlets, Natali Shafer

Theses & ETDs

Storm drain ecosystems are under-studied sources of biodiversity in the urban environment. As sea levels rise, saltwater is predicted to infiltrate the stormwater removal pipelines, which will have unknown effects on the ecology of the drains. Using artificial substrate as a collection method, benthic macroinvertebrates from over ten different phylogenetic orders were found to inhabit storm drain inlets at New College of Florida. Although detailed speciation was not performed in this preliminary assessment, it seems that the macroinvertebrates found in the inlets were primarily freshwater organisms. Nevertheless, as we’ve seen with red tide and the Deepwater Horizon events, having a …

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Monitoring The Changes In Elasmobranch And Teleost Abundance In Sarasota Bay And Terra Ceia Bay After The 2018-2019 Red Tide Event, Sandra Domenech Jan 2020

Monitoring The Changes In Elasmobranch And Teleost Abundance In Sarasota Bay And Terra Ceia Bay After The 2018-2019 Red Tide Event, Sandra Domenech

Theses & ETDs

Red tide is a toxic algal bloom caused by the dinoflagellate Karenia brevis that occurs frequently off the west coast of Florida in the Gulf of Mexico. Red tide events can result in massive fish kills; however, only a few studies have been done on the recovery of estuarine ecosystems after a massive red tide event. In the summer of 2018, a massive red tide bloom struck Sarasota Bay, resulting in a dramatic shift in fish abundance and community structure. Incidentally, another nearby embayment, Terra Ceia Bay, did not experience any red tide conditions that year. We continued to monitor …

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The Effects Of Extended Exposure To Zea Mays L. Border Cells With Total Associated Exudates On The Motility And Bacterial Attraction Abilities Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Melissa Ruiz Jan 2020

The Effects Of Extended Exposure To Zea Mays L. Border Cells With Total Associated Exudates On The Motility And Bacterial Attraction Abilities Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Melissa Ruiz

Theses & ETDs

Nematodes, including Caenorhabditis elegans, become temporarily paralyzed (quiescent) when exposed to root border cells and their total associated exudates (BCTAE) from Zea mays, Sorghum bicolor, and Pisum sativum. C. elegans can excrete exudates to attract consumable bacteria. However, it is unknown whether quiescence induces lasting effects on C. elegans’ motility and their ability to attract bacteria; knowing its potential effects may allow insight into the rhizosphere’s trophic and non-trophic interactions. To investigate, two chemotaxis assays were conducted to evaluate the chemotactic responses of a.) C. elegans to Zea mays BCTAE and then b.) Pseudomonas putida – a gram-negative bacterium with …

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Clustering Heart Disease Patients Using Machine Learning, Rain Kwan Jan 2020

Clustering Heart Disease Patients Using Machine Learning, Rain Kwan

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

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Put Your Strands In The Air: An Evaluation Of Environmental Dna As A Tool In Biodiversity Monitoring, Sarah Wilhide Jan 2020

Put Your Strands In The Air: An Evaluation Of Environmental Dna As A Tool In Biodiversity Monitoring, Sarah Wilhide

Theses & ETDs

In this present time, most scientists agree that we are living through the sixth mass extinction and that this event is partly due to humans’ effect on the environment (Abatzoglou and Williams, 2016; Payne et al., 2016). Maintaining biodiversity is a key component in mitigating the many effects of anthropogenic climate change. Biodiversity must first be evaluated to determine if and what conservation steps should be taken. Monitoring biodiversity across the various scale of life is an undertaking and traditional monitoring practices are not always sufficient. The use of environmental DNA and subsequent analysis may aid in this endeavor. Environmental …

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Positive Vibes Only, Samantha Zellner Jan 2020

Positive Vibes Only, Samantha Zellner

Theses & ETDs

Public understanding of mental illness is largely impacted by mass media, which can perpetuate misinformation about mental illness and how it affects people. Inspired by themes found in artworks by Louise Bourgeois, Robert Williams and Ugo Rondinone, “Positive Vibes Only” is a series of paintings that illustrates common experiences of mental illness, and questions the cultural acceptance of avoiding uncomfortable feelings and emotions. Each painting depicts a vivid landscape that describes the struggles of specific mental illnesses. This body of work is guided by Melanie Klein’s theories about the paranoid-schizoid and depressive positions, as well as reparation, and relates to …

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Atrazine Alters The Gonadal Morphology, But Not The Laryngeal Mass Or Call Inter Pulse Interval, Of Silurana Tropicalis, Quinn Ferguson Jan 2020

Atrazine Alters The Gonadal Morphology, But Not The Laryngeal Mass Or Call Inter Pulse Interval, Of Silurana Tropicalis, Quinn Ferguson

Theses & ETDs

Atrazine is a widely-used herbicide and known estrogenic and antiandrogenic endocrine disruptor, but its effects on the model organism Silurana tropicalis, which produces a sexually dimorphic call, have not been evaluated. To assess atrazine’s effects on this species, we exposed postmetamorphic, juvenile frogs to atrazine until they reached maturity, then assessed call inter pulse interval, vocal organ mass, and gonadal morphology. We found single-sex polygonadism, an estrogenic effect, in 2 atrazine-exposed males, but did not note a significant difference between the vocal organ masses or call inter-pulse intervals of control and atrazine frogs. Although this study has established that juvenile …

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On The Biomechanics Of Usain Bolt’S Record-Breaking Performance, Dajé Austrie Jan 2020

On The Biomechanics Of Usain Bolt’S Record-Breaking Performance, Dajé Austrie

Theses & ETDs

This project involved a comparative analysis of the kinematic and kinetic factors that led to the 100-meter dash times recorded during the 2009 International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) Berlin World Championships, most notably Usain Bolt’s world record-breaking performance of 9.58 seconds. By reviewing the biochemical factors involved in sprint performances, like muscle contraction and the ATP-PCr cycle, a better understanding of the biology involved in running was achieved. This serves to provide a more complete picture of the metabolism necessary to achieve performances like Bolt’s. By simultaneously analyzing the parameters most important in running performance (step frequency, step length, …

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Meaning And Sensing: An Exploratory Comparison Of Synesthesia And Sensory Substitution, Lev Gurt Jan 2020

Meaning And Sensing: An Exploratory Comparison Of Synesthesia And Sensory Substitution, Lev Gurt

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

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Understanding Sustainable Urban Landscapes: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Plant Biogeography On Soil Microbial Activity And Nutrient Dynamics, Nora Flower Jan 2020

Understanding Sustainable Urban Landscapes: An Analysis Of The Effects Of Plant Biogeography On Soil Microbial Activity And Nutrient Dynamics, Nora Flower

Theses & ETDs

Plant biogeography is a key driver of plant-microbe dynamics in soil. For this reason, it is important to better understand the effects of plant biogeography on soil health parameters. Essentially, the amount of time that a given plant species has been living in a certain region determines the length of time it has had to develop symbiotic relationships with different microbes. These relationships have notable effects on plant and soil health. To study this dynamic, plant biogeography can be categorized in different ways, and determining the best way to categorize it in terms of effects on soil health is an …

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Coastal Soils Carbon Dynamics Of Sarasota Bay, Deric Harvey Jan 2020

Coastal Soils Carbon Dynamics Of Sarasota Bay, Deric Harvey

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

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Determination Of Mineral & Calorie Content Of Edible Isopods (A. Nasatum) & Examining Their Potential As A Useful Microlivestock, Iliana Moore Jan 2020

Determination Of Mineral & Calorie Content Of Edible Isopods (A. Nasatum) & Examining Their Potential As A Useful Microlivestock, Iliana Moore

Theses & ETDs

Edible insects, also known as “microlivestock,” are becoming increasingly popular across the U.S. and Europe as health foods and in developing countries as a low-cost nutrient source. They pos sess many advantages over “macrolivestock,” including higher nutritive content, lower environmental impact, lower land use requirements and lower cost of rearing and processing. However, insect rearing requires high electricity usage, and many species have highly specific diets that can become expen sive. Pillbugs (suborder Oniscidea), an edible yet rarely consumed arthropod, may offer a new form of minilivestock that does not have these problems. Their broad diet, temperature tolerance, scarce need …

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Tales From The Sarasota Bay: An Informal Environmental Education Approach To Teaching Students From Sarasota County About Their Local Ecosystems, Camila Vallejo Jan 2020

Tales From The Sarasota Bay: An Informal Environmental Education Approach To Teaching Students From Sarasota County About Their Local Ecosystems, Camila Vallejo

Theses & ETDs

Increasing extinction rates and extreme weather are influencing the course of natural patterns and processes around the world. These factors have shown to be heavily influenced by humans, who may have been unaware of the effects their activities would cause. Students need to learn about the human activity that is impacting processes of the Earth. Effectively teaching people about their environment can influence them to be more environmentally conscious and willing to conserve and protect natural areas. Learning models and assessment strategies have been created to examine hypotheses and examine applications of informal environmental education across different communities. Researchers have …

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Carbon Cycling In The Food Forest & Carbon Farm At New College Of Florida, Steven Bressan Jan 2020

Carbon Cycling In The Food Forest & Carbon Farm At New College Of Florida, Steven Bressan

Theses & ETDs

Carbon cycling in the Food Forest & Carbon Farm at New College of Florida and a nearby lawn was studied to assess sources and sinks of organic carbon and overall soil quality. Over three months of fieldwork the organic carbon, bulk density, microbial respiration and nutrient composition of the soils were measured. Nearly all measurements suggest that both areas have sequestered organic carbon in soil. The average Food Forest soil sample had a proportion of organic carbon five times greater than the Lawn. Microbes present in the Food Forest released organic carbon at a rate five times faster than the …

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Uv-Visible Spectral Differences Of Globin Proteins In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jared Plasencia Jan 2020

Uv-Visible Spectral Differences Of Globin Proteins In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Jared Plasencia

Theses & ETDs

Oxygen binding proteins are essential parts of life in aerobic organisms due to their role in carrying oxygen to oxygen deficient parts of the specimen. Globins are a type of oxygen binding protein, known for this behavior as oxygen binders and transporters. Common globin proteins include hemoglobin and myoglobin found in humans. C. elegans is a nematode often used as a model organism as they have similar metabolic pathways in comparison to humans. This nematode was initially assumed to transport oxygen by diffusion due to its small size (1 mm X 80 µm). In this experiment, attempts were made to …

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Biofuel Production: A Review Of The Industry And Experimental Optimization Of Terminal Alkene Production, Gina Vazquez Jan 2020

Biofuel Production: A Review Of The Industry And Experimental Optimization Of Terminal Alkene Production, Gina Vazquez

Theses & ETDs

Globally people are working towards creating and implementing methods to reduce human-induced climate change. The US has a particularly large responsibility to reduce greenhouse gas emissions because it is the second leading emitter globally. Being one of the largest consumers of fossil fuels and greenhouse emitters in the world, it’s important to identify the sector that contributes most to climate change, how it affects climate change, and what solutions exists to reduce emissions within that industry. Part 1, identifies that the transportation sector is responsible for the highest consumption of fossil fuels and highest greenhouse gas emissions. Scientists have been …

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Kinetic Characterization Of C. Elegans Lactate Dehydrogenase I, Tristen Evleth Jan 2020

Kinetic Characterization Of C. Elegans Lactate Dehydrogenase I, Tristen Evleth

Theses & ETDs

Lactate Dehydrogenase (LDH) is an essential metabolic protein ubiquitous to most organisms. LDH catalyzes the interconversion of pyruvate to lactate. During the catalysis, NAD+/NADH are involved as a cofactor to the reaction, being reduced or oxidized. Human LDH is a tetrameric enzyme with two genes encoding two variations of subunit, subunit M and subunit H. There exist five isozymes of differing subunit composition. LDH-H4 is comprised of four H subunits, and is found mainly in blood cells, heart tissue, and brain tissue. Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) was chosen as the model organism for the characterization of LDH-H4 as LDH-1 is …

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Dances With Microbes: Examining Soil Microbial Community Structures In Urban Soils, Jacob Zidek Jan 2020

Dances With Microbes: Examining Soil Microbial Community Structures In Urban Soils, Jacob Zidek

Theses & ETDs

The purpose of this study was to investigate the dynamics of microbes from soil samples of an urban environment. The soil microbiome plays a necessary role in the cycling of various nutrients including carbon, likely plays a role in human health, and is likely impacted by human land developments. For this purpose, we compared samples from managed and unmanaged areas of an urban farm, lawns managed with and without fertilizer and pesticides, and a native preserve. A total of 72 soil samples were collected of organic carbon and nutrient quantification paired with soil microbiome analysis. For the managed urban setting …

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Consciousness, Embodiment, And Artificial Intelligence, Leah Bender Jan 2020

Consciousness, Embodiment, And Artificial Intelligence, Leah Bender

Theses & ETDs

No abstract provided.

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Institutional Injustice In West Coconut Grove: Discrimination Against Miami’S First Bahamian Community Throughout The Twentieth Century, Lindsay Mcelroy Jan 2020

Institutional Injustice In West Coconut Grove: Discrimination Against Miami’S First Bahamian Community Throughout The Twentieth Century, Lindsay Mcelroy

Theses & ETDs

This thesis examines the West Coconut Grove community, one of Miami’s first permanent settlements by black Bahamian people. This thesis analyzes the vibrant community throughout the twentieth century and examines how action and inaction have affected the areas black residents. Chapter one argues that systematic violence, redlining, zoning, and segregation walls worked to keep Bahamian-born and American-born black residents in what white people perceived as their place, in a servile position and hidden in their black neighborhood. Chapter two looks at the long history of vibrancy in West Grove’s business community, which has suffered over the past few decades from …

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The Memory Of Single Motherhood In Contemporary Literature, Shelby Hennessy Jan 2020

The Memory Of Single Motherhood In Contemporary Literature, Shelby Hennessy

Theses & ETDs

The overarching question in this thesis, How are single mothers remembered collectively in contemporary literature? joins two fields of academia, Literature and Memory Studies. The single mothersIdiscussmaybeunwed,divorced,orwidowed.My introduction analyzes the social prejudices directed against single mothers and draws on sociological and historical studies as initial evidence. Within the three chapters and the conclusion, I discuss eight literary examples of single mothers, from books published between 1976 and 2009, and accompany them with relevant memory theories by such scholars as Michael Rothberg and Marianne Hirsch. Each chapter examines one ofthree life stages, and asks: What is pregnancy as a single mother …

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Fixatives And Fixation Protocols: Comparative Analysis Of Techniques For Light Microscopy And Downstream Functional Conservation, Caito Moore Jan 2020

Fixatives And Fixation Protocols: Comparative Analysis Of Techniques For Light Microscopy And Downstream Functional Conservation, Caito Moore

Theses & ETDs

This thesis purports to provide a comprehensive review of fixatives and fixation techniques for the purpose of light microscopy, and for the various downstream processes that may occur during or after microscopic visualization. Fixatives preserve tissues while preventing their natural death by putrefaction, apoptosis, or other natural processes of decay, and allow the tissue to remain structurally or functionally intact for histopathology. Fixation protocols, encompassing the various procedures required to render a tissue usable for microscopy or analysis, are discussed to provide context for the necessity and analysis of chemical fixatives themselves. A “compendium of fixatives” organizes, compares and describes …

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Urbanization And The Spread Of Hiv In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparison Of Lagos, Nigeria And Johannesburg, South Africa, Jacob Wentz Jan 2020

Urbanization And The Spread Of Hiv In Sub-Saharan Africa: A Comparison Of Lagos, Nigeria And Johannesburg, South Africa, Jacob Wentz

Theses & ETDs

The first documented infection of HIV was found in blood samples in the Democratic Republic of Congo in central Africa. Despite these origins, southern Africa is the region most affected by HIV in the world. The second most affected region in the world is west Africa. To build upon research about the spread of HIV across the sub continent, and to assess the impact of demographic change on the differences in HIV prevalence in west and southern Africa, this study investigates the role that urbanization in two regional metropoles—Lagos, Nigeria and Johannesburg, South Africa—plays in creating conditions conducive to the …

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A Philosophy Of Change: Community Resilience In The Face Of Rising Sea Levels, Olivia Siegel Jan 2020

A Philosophy Of Change: Community Resilience In The Face Of Rising Sea Levels, Olivia Siegel

Theses & ETDs

Global sea levels are rising, and affecting coastal communities across time, space, and species. The popularly held perspective on climate change and rising sea levels are of negative and extreme thought, and embody the attitude that nothing can be done. The climate always has, and always will be dynamic, as should our attitudes and actions regarding the issue of Sea level rise. An interdisciplinary approach based on fundamentals from ecology, landscape archaeology, and the physical and metaphysical properties of water guide this thesis. Three communities of study along the Gulf Coast of Florida, specifically Sarasota Bay, offer insight into how …

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The Local Consumer Food Environment Of Sarasota, Florida: An Assessment Of Access To Healthy Food Choices By Median Household Income, Elizabeth Ramsamooj Jan 2020

The Local Consumer Food Environment Of Sarasota, Florida: An Assessment Of Access To Healthy Food Choices By Median Household Income, Elizabeth Ramsamooj

Theses & ETDs

The local food environment is the proximal access of food retailers within a residential area. It comprises three domains, physical, social and individual or perceptions. Within these domains four aspects of the local food environment are recognized, community, consumer, information and organizational nutrition environment. For this thesis, I explore the physical domain of the local consumer food environment of Sarasota, Florida and how access to healthy food choices varies between census tracts with varying median household incomes. To measure access I used a mixed methods approach including the Nutrition Environment Measures Study Survey for stores (NEMS-S) and qualitative journals. A …

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Plant-Pollinator Interactions And Climate Change: Do Shifting Seasonal Cues Affect Pollinator Visitation In The Subtropics?, Shannon Collins Jan 2020

Plant-Pollinator Interactions And Climate Change: Do Shifting Seasonal Cues Affect Pollinator Visitation In The Subtropics?, Shannon Collins

Theses & ETDs

Plants and their pollinators present a particularly concerning case for potential mismatch due to potentially differing phenological responses. To test whether seasonal warming might affect subtropical flowering phenology and whether such effects might impact pollinator visitation, I conducted an experiment in which representatives of four different flowering plant species were either passively warmed in open-top chambers or left unwarmed in interspersed control plots. Over a period of seven weeks, phenological observations were collected in the form of bud, bloom, and seed counts while pollinator visitation was monitored. I hypothesized 1) that all species would significantly advance in response to the …

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Using Dna Barcoding To Compare Intestinal Parasites Of Blacktip And Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks From Terra Ceia Bay And Manatee River, Florida, Sara Sheffer Jan 2020

Using Dna Barcoding To Compare Intestinal Parasites Of Blacktip And Atlantic Sharpnose Sharks From Terra Ceia Bay And Manatee River, Florida, Sara Sheffer

Theses & ETDs

Blacktip sharks (Carcharhinus limbatus) and Atlantic sharpnose sharks (Rhizoprionodon terraenovae) are two common species found in the Gulf of Mexico that, like most sharks, are frequently infected by cestodes in their spiral valve intestines. These endoparasites are difficult to identify because they are often small, cryptic species that are easily confused with one another when identified using only morphology. To compare the intestinal parasites of blacktip and Atlantic sharpnose sharks from Terra Ceia Bay and Manatee River, Florida, DNA was extracted from fecal samples collected from a total of 17 sharks. The highly conserved barcode region of the CO1 gene …

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