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Effects Of Intralaminar Thalamic Nuclei, Prefrontal Cortical, And Hippocampal Lesions On A Seven-Choice Serial Reaction Time Task, Joshua Alan Burk

Doctoral Dissertations

Slow response speed has been associated with several neuropsychological disorders including Korsakoff's disease. The ability to respond to brief stimuli can be tested to assess whether slow response speed is due to slow stimulus processing. A seven choice serial reaction time task was developed to test the ability to respond to brief stimuli. Distractibility and stimulus discriminability were manipulated to challenge performance and cues were presented to enhance performance. In Experiment 1, six unlesioned rats were tested on this task. As expected, significant deficits were found when (1) stimulus duration was decreased, (2) bright distractor light was briefly presented, (3) …

Effects Of Repeated Restraint Stress On Tissue Metabolism In Rats., Jun Zhou

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

It has been reported that repeated restraint stress (RS), 3 hours/day for 3 days, in rats caused sustained weight loss and a temporary drop in daily food intake with no subsequent compensatory overeating during the post stress period. The hypothesis tested in the present study is that RS causes peripheral tissue metabolism changes which account for the abnormal regulation of body weight and food intake during the post stress period. Adult male Sprague Dawley rats were assigned to control, pair fed (PF) or RS groups. One day after the end of RS, midbrain urocortin mRNA was at control levels in …

Influence Of Environment And Genotype On The Expression Of Host Plant Resistance In Sweet Potato To The Sweet Potato Weevil, Cylas Formicarius (Fab.)., Lixin Mao

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Field and laboratory experiments were conducted to study the influence of environment and genotype on the expression of sweetpotato resistance to the sweetpotato weevil (SPW), Cylas formicarius (Fab.). Roots of four genotypes ("W-244", "W-250", "Beauregard", "Centennial") were evaluated for SPW feeding and oviposition at three different storage times. Roots from Louisiana, South Carolina and Mississippi were also evaluated. Genotype had a significant effect on feeding and oviposition. Storage time and production sites appeared to affect resistance expression; the outcomes depend on the genotypes. The effect of nitrogen on sweetpotato resistance to SPW was studied. Four genotypes were grown in the …

Characterization Of A Simian Hemorrhagic Fever Virus Large Envelope Glycoprotein Gene And Its Product., Xiaochun Wang

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The goal of this project was to determine the genome organization, replication strategy and identification of the large envelope glycoprotein (GL) gene of simian hemorrhagic fever virus (SHFV). This virus is the fourth member of the new virus family Arteriviridae. The 3' end of the RNA genome from the prototype isolate of SHFV was cloned and sequenced. This 6,314 nucleotide (nt) sequence consisted of nine complete overlapping open reading frame (ORFs 2, 2a, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9). At the 5' end of this sequence is a partial ORF, ORF 1b, and the 3' end is a …

Systematics Of The Common Garter Snake, Thamnophis Sirtalis., John Jeffrey Boundy

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Character variation was examined in the snake Thamnophis sirtalis . Initially, 187 characters were examined on five populations (OTUs). Only 12% of the characters failed to show geographic variation by ANOVA. A reduced data set of 72 characters remained after eliminating those that were invariant and correlated. The reduced data set was analyzed for interpopulation variation between 37 OTUs, of T. sirtalis. Numbers of significantly differentiated characters between OTUs, determined by ANOVA, were used to generate a UPGMA tree. The tree placed Texas and Chihuahuan populations as sister groups to all other OTUs, and grouped OTUs from west of the …

Isolation And Characterization Of A Caenorhabditis Elegans Src Loss-Of-Function Allele Using Reverse Genetics, Jennifer Dignan Hogan

Doctoral Dissertations

The vertebrate proto-oncogene Src is a protein-tyrosine kinase that has been implicated as a component of receptor-mediated signal transduction pathways important for cell growth and differentiation. Consistent with this notion, overexpression or activation of Src by mutation induces neoplastic transformation in cell culture, leads to tumorigenesis in laboratory animals, and has been observed in a number of human tumors. Despite years of intensive investigation, neither its role in oncogenesis nor its normal, biological role is understood.

To diminish the issue of redundancy that has complicated analysis of Src function in vertebrates and Drosophila, I have chosen to study Src function …

Behavioral And Physiological Responses Of The Lobster, Homarus Americanus, To Temperature: A New Synthesis, Steven Harold Jury

Doctoral Dissertations

Temperature has a pervasive influence on lobster behavior, physiology and ecology and affects their subsequent distribution in thermally variable habitats such as estuaries and coastal areas. A multidisciplinary approach, including field and laboratory studies, was used to show: (1) that lobsters sense temperature with warm and cool thresholds as small as 0.1--0.2°C; (2) the relationship between temperature and activity is not linear, but instead switches between a high activity level in warmer months (10--20°C) and a lower level in colder months (<10°C) with transition periods in the spring and fall; (3) Parallel studies in the lab and field show that daily levels of activity are not greatly influenced by small temperature variations (i.e. tidally induced changes of 14°C), but activity levels are significantly higher in the field (249 +/- 55.1 m/d) than in the laboratory (88 +/- 12.0 m/d); (4) lobsters prefer a narrow range of temperatures over others available in a thermal gradient and avoid temperatures >23.5 +/- 0.4°C, suggesting that they behaviorally thermoregulate. While this preferred temperature shifts seasonally, the final preferred temperature …

The Role Of Cytokines In The Pathogenesis Of Experimental Legionella Pneumophila Infections, Corinna Mary Krinos

Doctoral Dissertations

Legionnaires' disease is an acute lobar pneumonia caused, primarily by the facultative intracellular pathogen Legionella pneumophila. This organism when inhaled by humans descends into the lower respiratory tract and parasitizes alveolar macrophages. L. pneumophila adhered to U-937 cells, A549 cells and peritoneal macrophages from A/J mice in an opsonin-independent fashion. Following attachment, the organism penetrated the cell membrane, replicated within these cells eventually inducing lysis. To better define the adhesion of L. pneumophila to host cells, an E. coli clone (LP 116), expressing the 25 kDa major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of L. pneumophila was used in binding studies. This …

The Mut-2 Mutator Of Caenorhabditis Elegans, Kathrine Queta Flint Boese

Doctoral Dissertations

The mut-2 mutator plays multiple regulatory roles in the germ line of C. elegans. In addition to regulating germ line transposition of at least four distinct transposon families (Tc1, Tc3, Tc4 and Tc5) mut-2 is implicated in chromosome segregation. Animals that harbor the mut-2 mutator produce broods with a higher incidence of males phenotype (Him) as a result of an increase in X chromosome non-disjunction during meiosis.

Using the Him phenotype conferred by mut-2(r459), I mapped the gene to the dpy-14 sem-4 interval on LGI. However, efforts to identify a molecular clone of the gene were hampered because the available …

The Development Of Rna Probe And Rt-Pcr Assays For The Detection Of Enteroviruses In Sludge, Amy Elisabeth Moore

Doctoral Dissertations

Many wastewater treatment plants generate more sludge than can be disposed of by conventional means. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has encouraged communities to dispose of sludge by land application. Sludge may contain enteric viruses that are known to survive for long periods of time in sludge-amended soil and can travel great distances, potentially contaminating surface and ground water.

Standard cell culture methods for the detection of enteric viruses are costly and results are not obtained for 30 or more days. The development of methods that provide results more quickly and with lower cost are needed.

A 32P …

Epidemiology Of Anthrax In The Kruger National Park, South Africa: Genetic Diversity And Environment., Kimothy Lyn Smith

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The Kruger National Park, (KNP), in the Republic of South Africa, provides a unique opportunity to investigate interesting and unresolved aspects of the epidemiology of the disease anthrax. Anthrax is a disease of primarily mammals caused by the Gram-positive, rod-shaped, spore-forming bacteria Bacillus anthracis. Beyond it's great historical significance anthrax is clearly important in the world today. From a rich legacy of empirical investigations and observations in the form of ecological and epidemiological studies conducted around the world this work endeavors to distill and extract the essence of what biotic and abiotic factors of environment might be causally associated with …

Production Of Transgenic Eastern Oysters., John Terrell Buchanan

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The eastern oyster, Crassostrea virginica, supports a valuable industry in the United States and Louisiana. In recent years this industry has been plagued by diseases, creating interest in the use of gene transfer to produce oysters capable of eliminating pathogens. The goal of this work was to develop techniques for laboratory research of eastern oysters, and for transfer of genes to oyster gametes, larvae, and adults. Cell culture provides an effective alternative to work in whole animals. Cell attachment and spreading on various culture substrates was improved, and poly-D-lysine was identified as a superior substrate. Toxicity of the antibiotic G418 …

Molecular Genetics And Functions Of Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (Hsv-1) Glycoprotein K (Gk) In The Morphogenesis Of Infectious Virion Particles., Timothy Paul Foster

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) specifies at least 11 glycoproteins that are expressed in infected cells and in virions. HSV-1 enters into cells via fusion of the viral envelope with cellular membranes and can spread to adjacent cells via fusion of cellular membranes. Glycoproteins gB, gD, gH, and gL are known to be essential for virus entry, virus spread, and virus induced cell-to-cell fusion. The majority of spontaneous single amino acid changes that cause extensive cell fusion map within the UL53 gene encoding glycoprotein K (gK); however, the role of gK in virus entry and virus egress had not …

Effects Of Fluctuating Salinity, Nutritional State, And Temperature On Leptasterias Spp. From Little Port Walter, Alaska., Jeffrey William Tamplin

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The effects of fluctuating salinity, nutritional state, and temperature on activity, oxygen consumption, feeding, and growth rates were analyzed on seasonally collected Leptasterias spp. (Echinodermata: Asteroidea) from Little Port Walter, AK. Leptasterias aspera and L. epichlora were collected on June 10, 1994, divided into size groups, and perivisceral fluid osmolality was measured every three hours during a 12 h 30-10-30‰S fluctuating cycle. The perivisceral fluid osmolality of larger individuals fluctuated less than that of smaller sea stars. The perivisceral fluid osmolality of small and large Leptasterias spp. closely tracks the ambient water osmolality during tidal cycles. Leptasterias spp. were collected …

Production Of L-(+) Lactic Acid From Blackstrap Molasses By Lactobacillus Casei Subspecies Rhamnosus Atcc 11443., Narumol Thongwai

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Lactobacillus casei subspecies rhamnosus grew on non-supplemented blackstrap molasses. The bacteria grew best at the optimal temperature of 40 +/- 2°C, and at pH 5.5. Addition of yeast extract to molasses shortened the lag phase and increased cell mass. In batch fermentations without pH control, the highest ratio of lactic acid produced to cell mass was 12 from non-supplemented molasses. For pH controlled batch fermentations, the ratio's of lactic acid produced/cell mass were 81, 79, 51 and 31 for 0, 0.2, 0.4 and 0.8% yeast extract supplementation, respectively. Non-supplemented molasses, 8% Brix, produced 28 +/- 2 g/l of lactic acid …

Morphology And Development Of Several External Myiasis Larvae Recorded In Elazığ, Cem Ecmel Şaki̇, Edi̇p Özer

Turkish Journal of Veterinary & Animal Sciences

A study was conducted on external myiasis of livestock in Elazığ and its districts (Sivrice, Kovancılar, Baskil and Salkaya) in 1994-1995. Eight species of myiasis flies including Lucilia sericata, L. caesar, Calliphora vicina, C. vomitoria, Chrysomya albiceps, Wohlfahrtia magnifica, Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis and S. carnaria were determined and published seperately. In addition, morphological and biological characteristics of larvae of Lucilia sericata, Calliphora vicina, Wohlfahrtia magnifica and Sarcophaga haemorrhoidalis were investigated under laboratory conditions as well. The studies showed that development from larvae to fly was recognized in 17-22 days for L. sericata, 10-16 days for S. haemorrhoidalis, 19-23 days for C. …

Ecosystem Responses To Internal And Watershed Organic Matter Loading: Consequences For Hypoxia In The Eutrophying Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, Usa, Hans W. Paerl, James L. Pinckney, John M. Fear, Benjamin L. Peierls

Faculty Publications

The contrasting impacts of externally supplied (runoff) and internally generated (nutrient stimulated phytoplankton blooms) organic matter on oxygen (0₂) depletion were examined and evaluated in the eutrophic, salinity-stratified Neuse River Estuary, North Carolina, USA. This nitrogen (N)- limited estuary is experiencing increasing anthropogenic N loading from expanding urban, agricultural and industrial development in its watershed. Resultant algal blooms, which provided organic matter loads capable of causing extensive low 0₂ (hypoxic) and depleted 0₂ (anoxic) conditions, have induced widespread mortality of resident fin- and shellfish. Phytoplankton blooms followed periods of elevated N loading, except during extremely high …

The Effects Of Pool Size On The Microinvertebrate Populations Of Chaney Lake, An Ephemeral Wetland Located In Bowling Green, Kentucky, Shannon Gaines

Mahurin Honors College Capstone Experience/Thesis Projects

Studies concerning the microinvertebrate communities of differing pool sizes were conducted at Chaney Lake, an ephemeral, karst wetland located in Bowling Green, Kentucky. As the lake begins to dry in the early summer, smaller, isolated ponds begin to form. Several ponds of various sizes were marked for analysis. Microinvertebrate samples and physiochemical readings were taken at each of the sites and were counted in the lab. T-tests were performed on the samples to determine if the microinvertebrate densities differed between ponds that dried later in the season as opposed to those that dried earlier. Ostracoda densities of the late dry …

Nudel, An Unusual Mosaic Protease Involved In Defining The Embryonic Dorsal-Ventral Axis Of Drosophila Melanogaster, Charles Chansik Hong

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Dorsal-ventral polarity of the Drosophila embryo is determined by positional information that originates outside of the embryo. This information, which is created during oogenesis by the somatic follicle cells swrounding the oocyte, is utilized following fertilization to trigger a spatially regulated serine protease cascade in the extraembryonic perivitelline space. This protease cascade, which appears to be activated only on the presumptive ventral side of the embryo, generates the ligand for the Toll transmembrane protein that polarizes the embryo by inducing ventral development.This thesis presents evidence that nudel, a gene maternally required in somatic tissue for the formation of Toll's ligand, …

Review Of Caring For Justice, By Robin West, Michael T. Cahill

Michigan Law Review

If the sexes are indeed from different planets, as the title of a recent bestseller informs us, one wonders that those planets were like before their inhabitants made the trek to Earth. Did the citizens of the all-female Venus structure their lives, work, moral commitments, and political systems differently from the males over on Mars? If so, what happened when these cultural worlds collided to form our own? Does our culture represent a synthesis of these two separate systems into a new and better, or perhaps worse, one, or is it the result of one planet's wholesale conquest of the …

The Relationship Between Nectar Sources And Regal Fritillary (Speyeria Idalia Drury) Butterfly Populations., Jeffrey J. Huebschman

Student Work

I investigated the relationship between nectar source diversity and regal fritillary (Speyeria idalia Drury) butterfly populations at ten native tallgrass prairie sites in eastern Nebraska. Walking-transect surveys were used to establish regal fritillary population-density indices in 1996 and 1997. Flowering-plant surveys were also conducted, coincident with the butterfly surveys, and were used to develop blossom-density, and abundance indices. Spearman rank correlation was used to examine relationships between regal fritillary density indices and plant survey variables. Two significant, positive correlations were identified between (1) 1996 population-density indices and 1996 blossom-diversity indices for known nectaring sources of the regal fritillary (n = …

Biological Truths And Legal Fictions, R. Alta Charo

Journal of Health Care Law and Policy

No abstract provided.

Reproductive Ecology Of Canada Mayflower (Maianthemum Canadense Desf), Michael Todd Ganger

Doctoral Dissertations

Canada mayflower (Maianthemum canadense var. canadense Desf.), a rhizomatous perennial herb, was the subject of field experiments investigating the role of several factors on the sexual reproduction of ramets. Mayflower ramets may be either flowering (with 2-3 leaves and a terminal inflorescence consisting of 4-35 perfect flowers) or vegetative (1 leaf).

Pollen addition increased the number of seeds matured by ramets in three out of four years in which pollen level was experimentally manipulated. The lack of compatible pollen is thought to be a major factor limiting seed maturation by ramets.

The act of severing the rhizomes, such that ramets …

Alternative Removal Methodologies For Environmental Waters, Shannon Patrick Hogan

Doctoral Dissertations

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) continues to establish criteria for the reduction of pathogens in environmental waters used for drinking water. The EPA also states criteria on the amount of chlorine by-products allowed in drinking water. Alternative removal methods that are used in conjunction with chlorine are needed to assure safe drinking water.

The Surface Water Treatment Rule (SWTR) states that a 99.99% reduction of viruses and a 99.9% reduction in Giardia lamblia cysts needs to be achieved by a treatment facility that uses surface water for the production of drinking water. The SWTR also states Maximum Contaminant Levels (MCL) …

Dynamics Of Dissolved Organic Carbon During Weathering And Soil Formation, Kimberly Linnea Mccracken

Doctoral Dissertations

Interactions between dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and mineral soils were examined in field and laboratory experiments. Specific emphasis was given to factors influencing DOC mobility and element release during mineral weathering and soil formation. Soil chemical and physical properties controlling equilibrium concentrations of DOC (DOC$\rm\sb{np})$ in coarse-textured forest soils were investigated using laboratory batch reactors and the initial mass isotherm approach. The influence of DOC concentration on release of metals and silica was investigated in four soil parent materials. One of four acid treatments (0.001 N HNO$\sb3$ and three concentrations of forest floor leachate) or distilled water were added to …

Attachment Of Listeria Monocytogenes To Murine And Human Phagocytic Cells, Srinivas Maganti

Doctoral Dissertations

Listeria monocytogenes is a facultative intracellular pathogen responsible for meningoencephalitis, septicemia, and abortion in susceptible and immunocompromised individuals. Subsequent to colonization and penetration of the gut epithelium, the organism attaches to resident macrophages and replicates intracellularly, thus evading the humoral immune system of the infected host. The mechanism surrounding the precise interactions between L. monocytogenes and macrophages employs bacterial ligands and macrophage receptors which are highly complex and not well understood. The focus of the present study was to investigate the attachment of the organism to murine and human macrophages under opsonin-dependent and opsonin-independent conditions to better understand the pathobiology …

Controls On Ch(4) Emissions From Boreal And Arctic Wetlands, Sadredin Cyrus Moosavi

Doctoral Dissertations

This thesis examines the environmental controls on the biogeochemical cycling of the radiatively active trace gas CH$\sb4$ within boreal and arctic wetlands. Net CH$\sb4$ flux along peatland hydrologic gradients were examined to determine the effects of temperature and water table on CH$\sb4$ emissions. The level of the water table acts as a switch between CH$\sb4$ production and oxidation with small water level changes producing large changes in flux balance. Soil temperature determined whether CH$\sb4$ production potential was realized within sufficiently moist environments. A selective inhibitor technique was developed for directly measuring CH$\sb4$ oxidation in wetland soils. CH$\sb4$ oxidation was found …

Ecology And Loss Assessment Of Selected Homopteran Pests On Sugarcane: Interactions With The Fire Ant, Solenopsis Wagneri Santschi., Andrew Evans Woolwine

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

Field studies in 1995, 1996, and 1997, using insecticides to alter population densities of yellow sugarcane aphid, Sipha flava (Forbes), West Indian canefly, Saccharosydne saccharivora (Westwood) and the pink sugarcane mealybug, Saccharicoccus sacchari (Cockerell), indicated that sugarcane infested by these insects did not suffer sugar quality loss (as measured by brix, polarity, sucrose, purity, and theoretical recoverable sugar (TRS)). There was no apparent indication that Homoptera stressed sugarcane (indicated by concentrations of free amino acids in extracted sugarcane juice). A very slight, but significant increase in the percent brix was observed in sugarcane juice extracted from stalks washed free of …

The Role Of Hyperinsulinemia, The Sympathetic Nervous System And Nitric Oxide In Cardiovascular Function During The Development Of Obesity-Induced Hypertension., Agatha T. Borne

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The interaction of hyperinsulinemia, the sympathetic nervous system (SNS) and nitric oxide (NO) was examined in lean and obese unilaterally lumbar sympathectomized dogs. Six lean and six obese dogs were studied while on a treadmill, during hyperinsulinemic euglycemic clamp (HIEC) procedures with and without concurrent nitric oxide synthase (NOS) inhibition with nitro-L-arginine (LNA). Changes in plasma insulin, femoral vascular resistance (FVR), heart rate (HR) and mean arterial pressure (MAP) were measured prior to and during a 7-week overfeeding period, and response to LNA administration was examined in the lean and obese state. Body weight increased from 19.9 $\pm$ 0.70 to …

Development Of A Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction Procedure For Analysis Of Cytokine Responses To Strongylus Vulgaris In Ponies., Cyprianna Ellen Swiderski

LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses

The effect of oral vaccination with radiation-attenuated Strongylus vulgaris larvae on the cytokine responses of ponies to oral challenge with S. vulgaris was examined. Message was quantified using RT-PCR by interpolation against a plasmid-derived standard curve. PCR product was detected using the Perkin-Elmer QPCR System 5000. Standard curves were analyzed with a two parameter exponential rise to maximum fit of the data. By altering the cycling parameters to maintain $\beta$-actin amplification within its exponential phase, $\beta$-actin was used as a normalization factor. The assay resolves 2 fold changes in message, has a linear dynamic range on the order of 3 …