Digital Commons Network^™

Biological Metaphors For Whiteness: Beyond Merit And Malice, Brant T. Lee

Akron Law Faculty Publications

The problem of persistent racial inequality is grounded in a failure of imagination. The general mainstream conception is that unfair racial inequality occurs only when there is intentional racism. Absent conscious racial malice, no racism is seen to exist. The only generally available alternative explanation for racial inequality is the meritocratic system. Viewing the distribution of resources as a product of a generally fair meritocratic system provides a defense against any charge of racism, and justifies the status quo.

But in economics, business, computer science, and even biology, observers of complexity are coming to understand how dominant systems can prevail …

How Are The Torres Strait Islander's Traditional Hunting Practices Affected By The Current Rate Of Decline In Dugong And Sea Turtle Populations And The Australian Government's Co-Management Policies On Marine Preservation?, Katilyn Price

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

This paper will attempt to identify the extent to which the Torres Strait Islanders traditional hunting practices have been disrupted by the overall decline in dugong and sea turtle populations, which has directly correlated to an increase in hunting restrictions put in place by the Australian Government. The traditional hunting of dugongs and sea turtles provides not only a food source, but brings prestige to the men who catch them and serves as an educational platform to teach the younger generations about their culture. There are many environmental threats that impact the populations of sea turtles and dugongs though the …

Communication For Mate Selection In Anurans: Dominant Frequency Versus Snout-Vent-Length, Shari Jean Kunert

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

No abstract provided.

The "Enlightened Barbarity" Of Inclusive Fitness And Wrongful Death: Biological Justifications For An Investment Theory Of Loss In Wycko V. Gnodtke, Ryan Shannon

University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform

Wrongful death laws should permit and encourage courts and juries to consider the survivors' investment in decedents when determining wrongful death damages, given new biological justifications for this theory of loss. The investment theory of damages, which permits an award of damages based on the investment of financial resources relatives make in one another, originated in Michigan's courts in the early 1 960s, but as of present day has been largely abrogated. In the context of modern understandings of evolutionary biology, including kin selection theory and sociobiology, the investment theory of recovery accords with the goals of corrective justice as …

Ectopic T Cell Receptor-Α Locus Control Region Activity In B Cells Is Suppressed By Direct Linkage To Two Flanking Genes At Once, Stefan Knirr, Janette Gomos-Klein, Blanca E. Andino, Faith Harrow, Karl F. Erhard, Damian Kovalovsky, Derek B. Sant'angelo, Benjamin D. Ortiz

Publications and Research

The molecular mechanisms regulating the activity of the TCRα gene are required for the production of the circulating T cell repertoire. Elements of the mouse TCRα locus control region (LCR) play a role in these processes. We previously reported that TCRα LCR DNA supports a gene expression pattern that mimics proper thymus-stage, TCRα gene-like developmental regulation. It also produces transcription of linked reporter genes in peripheral T cells. However, TCRα LCR-driven transgenes display ectopic transcription in B cells in multiple reporter gene systems. The reasons for this important deviation from the normal TCRα gene regulation pattern are unclear. In its …

Lifelines Fall 2010, Southern Adventist University

Lifelines - Biology Department Newsletter

The Fall 2010 issue of Lifelines contains articles on the Biology Department's display at the General Conference, the addition of Randy Bishop and Dr. Benjamin Thornton to the faculty, and news from the Biology Club.

Vertebrate Physiology Research Proposal & Peer Review Criteria, Jonathan M. King

Information Literacy Resources for Curriculum Development

No abstract provided.

Mathematical Manipulative Models: In Defense Of "Beanbag Biology", John R. Jungck, Holly Gaff, Anton E. Weisstein

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mathematical manipulative models have had a long history of influence in biological research and in secondary school education, but they are frequently neglected in undergraduate biology education. By linking mathematical manipulative models in a four-step process-1) use of physical manipulatives, 2) interactive exploration of computer simulations, 3) derivation of mathematical relationships from core principles, and 4) analysis of real data sets-we demonstrate a process that we have shared in biological faculty development workshops led by staff from the BioQUEST Curriculum Consortium over the past 24 yr. We built this approach based upon a broad survey of literature in mathematical educational …

Comparisons Of Fish Species Inside And Outside Of Marine Protected Areas Off The South Central Coast Of California, David E. Rasmussen

Master's Theses

COMPARISONS OF FISH SPECIES INSIDE AND OUTSIDE OF MARINE PROTECTED AREAS OFF THE SOUTH CENTRAL COAST OF CALIFORNIA

David E. Rasmussen

From 2004-2008 and 2008-2009 Cal Poly University researchers conducted two separate tag and recapture studies of nearshore fish populations along California’s central coast. Three locations were sampled that have experienced different degrees of fishing pressure. Big Creek MPA has been closed to all fishing from 1993 onwards and is the farthest from port of all locations. Cambria lies closest to port of the three locations and because of this has the highest fishing pressure. Piedras Blancas lies midway between …

Kinetics Of Dna And Rna Hybridization In Serum And Serum-Sds, Elton Graugnard, Amber Cox, Jeunghoon Lee, Cheryl Jorcyk, Bernard Yurke, William L. Hughes

Materials Science and Engineering Faculty Publications and Presentations

Cancer is recognized as a serious health challenge both in the United States and throughout the world. While early detection and diagnosis of cancer leads to decreased mortality rates, current screening methods require significant time and costly equipment. Recently, increased levels of certain micro-ribonucleic acids (miRNAs) in the blood have been linked to the presence of cancer. While blood-based biomarkers have been used for years in cancer detection, studies analyzing trace amounts of miRNAs in blood and serum samples are just the beginning. Recent developments in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) nanotechnology and DNA computing have shown that it is possible to …

Bio-Inspired Materials And Devices For Chemical And Biological Defense, James J. Valdes, Erica R. Valdes

Defense and Technology Papers

This report addresses materials for synthetic matrices of chemical and biological defense using a conceptual platform known as the abiotic networked threat system (ANTS). This system is based on lessons learned from biology, incorporating abiotic homologues to biological recognition events and metabolic pathways to provide programmable capabilities to sense and respond to environmental threats.

Dynamic Solidification In Nanoconfined Water Films, Peter M. Hoffmann, Shah H. Khan, George Matei, Shivprasad Patil

Publications

Mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers are still poorly understood and continue to create controversy, despite their importance for biology and nanotechnology. We report on dynamic nanomechanical measurements of water films compressed to a few single molecular layers. We show that the mechanical properties of nanoconfined water layers change significantly with their dynamic state. In particular, we observed a sharp transition from viscous to elastic response even at extremely slow compression rates, indicating that mechanical relaxation times increase dramatically once water is compressed to less than 3–4 molecular layers.

Impacts Of Climate Change On Stygofauna In Southwest Western Australia., Stefan Eberhard

KIP Abstracts

Southwest Western Australia has experienced an unparalleled climate shift since the mid 1970's, characterised by reduced rainfall which has contributed to declining groundwater levels. Climate modelling attributes part of this change to atmospheric greenhouse gases, and predicts the drying trend will increase over coming decades. Groundwater pools and streams in limestone caves at Yanchep and the Leeuwin- Naturaliste region are habitat for assemblages of stygofauna associated with tree roots which grow in the cave pools and streams. Because of the declining water levels, these Aquatic Root Mat Communities were listed as Threatened Ecological Communities (TECs) (status Endangered) under the Federal …

Troglofauna In The Pilbara Region, Western Australia Troglofauna In The Pilbara Region, Western Australia – Patterns In Diversity And Distribution, And Sampling Considerations For Conservation, Peter Bell, Stefan Eberhard, G. Perina

KIP Abstracts

"Discovery of diverse terrestrial invertebrate assemblages in subterranean habitats associated with iron-ore bearing rocks in the Pilbara region has driven a spate of troglofauna surveys as part of pre-mining environmental impact assessment. We present the results from recent surveys undertaken by mining companies which contribute new understanding towards this remarkable hidden element of biodiversity in Western Australia's arid regions. Patterns in the systematic composition, species richness and abundance of troglofauna assemblages collected from mining exploration drill holes are described. The systematic composition of the assemblages includes arachnids (Araneae, Pseudoscorpionida, Schizomida, Palpigrada), insects (Diplura, Thysanura, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, Blattodea), myriapods (Diplopoda, Chilopoda, …

Where And When To Cut: Regulation Of Ercc1-Xpf Activity In Nucleotide Excision Repair, Barbara Orelli

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The nucleotide excision repair (NER) pathway deals with a wide variety of lesions caused by UV-light, environmental mutagens and chemotherapeutic agents such as cisplatin. Deficiencies in NER are associated with the hereditary disorder xeroderma pigmentosum, which is characterized by a more than 1000-fold increased incidence in skin cancer. NER involves more than 30 proteins that recognize the lesion, excise a DNA fragment containing the damage and restore the integrity of the double stranded DNA. The structure-specific endonuclease ERCC1-XPF plays a key role in NER and its activity is also required for other repair pathways, in particular interstrand crosslink (ICL) repair …

A Common Telomeric Gene Silencing Assay Is Affected By Nucleotide Metabolism And The Dna Damage Response: Implications For The Role Of Pcna In Heterochromatin Formation., Marlies Petra Rossmann

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

In budding yeast, telomere position effect variegation (TPEV) was discovered when prototrophic markers were placed near chromosome ends and was interpreted to reflect a reversible form of heterochromatin. Selection for or against these markers demonstrated roles for several proteins in telomeric heterochromatin formation; these include the SIR protein complex, chromatin assembly factors (CAF-1, Asf1), PCNA as a DNA replication factor as well as DNA damage checkpoint proteins. PCNA (POL30) in particular as a component of the core DNA replication machinery has been shown to link DNA replication to the inheritance of nucleosomes and was, by extension, proposed to help maintain …

Sequence Specific Inhibition Of Adenoviral Replication By The Aav Rep78 Orf, Varsha Sitaraman

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Hybrid Adenovirus/Adeno-associated viruses (Ad/AAV) combine the capacity, tropism and ease of production of Ad with AAV's ability for site-specific integration (SSI) into chromosome 19 AAVS1. The AAV Rep78 protein is required for SSI although it displays an inhibitory effect on Ad replication, particularly when co-expressed within the Ad backbone. However, strategies to construct an Ad/AAV focused on controlling Rep expression have met with limited success. We hypothesized that Rep's apparently cis-acting inhibitory effect on Ad replication could either be due to increased expression accompanying an increase in copy number, or due to a role for the sequence of the Rep …

The Impact Of Environmental Factors On The Physiology Of The Atlantic Surfclam, Spisula Solidissima, Jesse Hornstein

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The Atlantic surfclam supports a multi-million dollar fishery in New York. Between 2002 and 2008, surfclam abundance in New York State waters along the south shore of Long Island has decreased by 63% in biomass and 75% in the total number of clams. Population age structure has drastically shifted since 2002 indicating the lack of recruitment. Only 3% of the population was made up of clams that were 6 years old and younger in 2006, compared to 21% in 2002. In 2008, 15% of the population was composed of clams less than 6 years in age. It is hypothesized that …

Role Of Serotonin (5-Ht) In Hypoxic And Hypercapnic Ventilatory Responses, Tejus A. Bale

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Breathing is fundamental to life, and responding appropriately to hypercapnic and hypoxic conditions is essential to survival. Abberant respiratory behavior is a feature of a wide variety of clinical conditions, and appears to be central and causative to the progression and outcome of some diseases, including Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). Evidence of serotonergic (5-HT) abnormalities within the medulla are amongst the most robust and consistent pathological findings in SIDS victims. It is hypothesized that these underlying brainstem abnormalities precipitate the failure of normal, protective homeostatic responses to physiological stressors. Understanding the mechanisms by which 5-HT modulates the responses to …

Annexin A2 And Microglia/Macrophages In Glioma Progression, Haiyan Zhai

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Gliomas are highly invasive brain tumors with the occurrence of numerous microglia/macrophages (MG/MP) in and around the tumor. Annexin A2 is overexpressed in many cancers and correlates with increased plasmin activity on the tumor cell surface. Plasmin mediates degradation of extracellular matrix and angiogenesis to facilitate tumor growth. In this study, we used a mouse glioma cell line, GL261-EGFP, and stable clones transfected with an annexin A2 knockdown (annA2KD) construct, GL261-EGFP-annA2KD. We found that the annA2KD decreased glioma cell migration in vitro and decreased membrane-bound plasmin activity. In vivo we injected GL261-EGFP cells into the mouse brain and the glioma …

The Role Of Phospholipase D2 In Golgi-Architecture Maintenance, Vesicular Trafficking And Glucose- Stimulated Insulin Release & Validation Of A Novel Non- Invasive Approach To Functional Β-Cell Mass Quantification, Oladapo Olumoroti Yeku

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Phospholipase D (PLD) is essential for different aspects of vesicle trafficking and regulated exocytosis in a variety of biological models. PLD1 and PLD2 are the two major mammalian isoforms and both isoforms localize to different organelles where they generate phosphatidic acid (PA), the effector molecule of PLD activity. The role of PLD1 in glucose-stimulated insulin release (GSIR), a form of regulated exocytosis, has been well characterized. Additionally, the role of PLD1 in anterograde vesicle trafficking from the ER to the cis-golgi and from the trans-golgi to the plasma membrane has also been described. The role of PLD2 in GSIR and …

Genetic Analyses Of The Terminal Protein (Vpg) And Of Spacer Ii In The 5'-Nontranslated Region Of Poliovirus Rna, Nicolai Kolb

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

VPg is a small protein (20-30 amino acids long), which is present in every virus of the Picornaviridae family. A hydroxyl group of tyrosine at position 3 of VPg is covalently linked to the 5'-terminal UMP of genomic Poliovirus RNA via a phosphodiester bond and is crucial for virus viability. Poliovirus mutants in whom this tyrosine is substituted with a phenylalanine are quasi-infectious if threonine is present at position 4, which also has a hydroxyl group. The aim of the first part of this research project was to determine whether serine can also serve as an acceptor of UMP. An …

How Does Groundwater Impact Eelgrass In Long Island? The Role Of Nitrogen And Herbicide In Reducing Eelgrass Growth,Survival And Photosynthetic Efficiency., Brooke Shannon Rodgers

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Eelgrass communities in the Peconic estuary of Long Island NY have been in decline for several decades prompting resource managers to reduce nitrogen loads into the estuary. Despite improved water quality in recent years, eelgrass continues to decline. This lack of response has caused the management agencies to suggest that seepage of groundwater contaminated with herbicides such as Diuron and high nitrate from regions with a long history of agriculture may be to blame. We performed two types of manipulative experiments during the summer of 2009 to assess the possible impacts of groundwater on eelgrass growth and survival. We exposed …

Physical Characteristics Of Bering Sea Zooplankton And Their Use To Parameterize An Acoustic Scattering Model For Euphausiids, Joy Nicole Smith

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Acoustic assessment of Bering Sea euphausiids and their predators can provide useful data for ecosystem studies if the acoustic scattering characteristics of these animals are known. The amount of acoustic energy that is scattered by different marine zooplankton taxa is strongly affected by the contrast of the animal's density (g) and sound speed (h) with the surrounding seawater. Density and sound speed contrast were measured in the Bering Sea during the summer of 2008 for several different zooplankton and nekton taxa including: euphausiids (Thysanoessa inermis, Thysanoessa raschii, and Thysanoessa spinifera), copepods, amphipods, chaetognaths, gastropods, fish larvae, jellyfish, and squid. Density …

Tissue Plasminogen Activator & Plasminogen System In Chondroitinase-Mediated Axonal Plasticity, Noreen Bukhari

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Following Spinal Cord Injury (SCI) the injured neurons are unable to regenerate as they face an inhibitory external environment and the lack of guidance cues for direct regrowth of severed axons. A component of the inhibitory extracellular environment is the glial scar. Chondroitinase ABC (ChABC) is an enzyme able to degrade the sugar chains of chondroitin sulfate proteoglycans (CSPGs), a major constituent of the glial scar, and thus allow for improvements in SCI functional repair. The mechanism underlying this repair remains unclear. Our group has previously reported that ChABC enhances the interaction of the extracellular serine protease, tissue plasminogen activator …

The Effect Of Chr16p11.2 Microdeletions And Microduplications On Gene Expression In Autism Spectrum Disorders And Schizophrenia., Mary Kusenda

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The number of rare variants found to be associated with multiple psychiatric disorders is growing. One such locus is a recurrent ~600kb copy number variant (CNV) at 16p11.2, occurring in approximately 1% of autism and 0.3% of schizophrenia cases, as compared to 0.01% of the general population. (Sebat 2007, Kumar 2007, Weiss 2008, McCarthy 2009). This mutation has been found at a higher frequency in autistics and schizophrenics, but is also found in patients with developmental delay without an autistic diagnosis, and is also rarely seen in healthy individuals. Head circumference is observed to be smaller in deletion cases versus …

Suppressor Of Cytokine Signaling 3 Blocks Breast Tumor Kinase Activation Of Stat3 Transcription Factor, Yiwei Gao

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The Signal Transducers and Activators of Transcription (STATs) are a family of transcription factors that play important roles in cytokine signaling. Following cytokine stimulation they are tyrosine phosphorylated by receptor-associated Janus kinases (JAKs). Phosphorylation promotes their dimerization and this confers their ability to bind DNA consensus sequences and stimulate gene expression. STAT3 is a member of this family and can be activated by a large number of cytokines, growth factors and hormones. It is also a target of oncogenic tyrosine kinases that commonly link STAT3 closely with cancer. One of these tyrosine kinases is called breast tumor kinase (Brk). Brk …

The Roles Of Mek1 And Cohesins In Suppressing Meiotic Intersister Double-Strand Break Repair, Tracy Liane Callender

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Reciprocal exchange between homologs, in combination with sister chromatid cohesion, promotes proper segregation of homologs at Meiosis I. Missegregation of chromosomes during meiosis causes abnormal chromosome numbers in gametes. Errors in meiotic chromosome segregation can lead to infertility and, in humans, are responsible for genetic disorders like Trisomy 21. Meiotic recombination is initiated by double-strand breaks (DSBs). Repair of these breaks is biased to occur by invasion of homologs, not sister chromatids. This bias is mediated both by a meiosis-specific recombinase, Dmc1 and by the suppression of Rad51/Rad54 mediated recombination between sister chromatids. In dmc1 mutants, DSBs fail to get …

Determining The Role Of Natural Selection In Plant Invasion: A Study Of Introduced Japanese Knotweed (Fallopia Japonica) And A Native Relative, Woodland Knotweed (Persicaria Virginiana), Kelly L. O'Donnell

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

The ecological and evolutionary study of plant invasion processes is of exceeding importance in today's changing environment. However, few studies have addressed the impact of natural selection on invasive plant species. While scientists have been able to detect selection in natural populations, most studies are not replicated in space or time leading to unreliable statistical estimates and tentative causal analyses. My objective was to further our knowledge of selection dynamics in the wild by working in the area of invasion biology through studies that combine both field and controlled settings. It has been suggested that plant invasion affords us the …

Regulatory Mechanisms Of The Non-Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Ack1, Victoria Prieto

Stony Brook Theses and Dissertations Collection, 2006-2020 (closed to submissions)

Ack1 is a non-receptor tyrosine kinase that participates in tumorigenesis, cell survival and migration. Relatively little is known about mechanisms that regulate Ack1 activity. First, this dissertation will address the effect of naturally occurring somatic mutations on Ack1 function and activity and the use of these mutations to gain insight into the regulation of Ack1. Second, I will describe the study of the role of the N-terminal domain on Ack1 regulation.As my first aim, I studied four somatic missense mutations of Ack1 that were recently identified in cancer tissue samples. The effects of these cancer-associated mutations on Ack1 activity and …