Digital Commons Network^™

Estimating The Reliability Of Concept Map Ratings Using A Scoring Rubric Based On Three Attributes, Laura Jimenez

Theses and Dissertations

Concept maps provide a way to assess how well students have developed an organized understanding of how the concepts taught in a unit are interrelated and fit together. However, concept maps are challenging to score because of the idiosyncratic ways in which students organize their knowledge (McClure, Sonak, & Suen, 1999). The construct a map or C-mapping" task has been shown to capture students' organized understanding. This "C-mapping" task involves giving students a list of concepts and asking them to produce a map showing how these concepts are interrelated. The purpose of this study was twofold: (a) to determine to …

Impacts Of Climate Change On Subterranean Wetlands In Western Australia, Stefan Eberhard

KIP Abstracts

West Australian groundwater supports diverse faunas (stygofauna) that include many obligate groundwater-dependent species (stygobites), often belonging to relictual lineages, and which are typically short range endemics. These characteristics make stygofauna vulnerable to habitat changes, particularly reduced water quantity, which is a key stressor linked with climate change. In southwest Western Australia, a drying climate trend experienced over the past three decades has contributed to declining groundwater levels in the limestone caves at Yanchep and the Leeuwin-Naturaliste region. Groundwater pools and streams in these caves are habitat for assemblages of stygofauna associated with tree roots which grow in the cave pools …

A Kinesin Motor In A Force-Producing Conformation, Elisabeth Heuston, C. Eric Bronner, F Jon Kull, Sharyn A. Endow

Dartmouth Scholarship

Kinesin motors hydrolyze ATP to produce force and move along microtubules, converting chemical energy into work by a mechanism that is only poorly understood. Key transitions and intermediate states in the process are still structurally uncharacterized, and remain outstanding questions in the field. Perturbing the motor by introducing point mutations could stabilize transitional or unstable states, providing critical information about these rarer states.

Distribution And Ecology Of Invasive Ants, Chad Tillberg, Frank Andrews, Carson Moscoso, Lily Ratliff, Claire Steele, Chris Turpin, Ben Edmonds, Alex Freauff, Erik Grimstad, Sara Grusing

2010 Projects

This project examines exactly how invasive specific types of ants are, and what effect that has on the ecosystem. To do so, most of the research must be compiled for the first time, as there is a lack of knowledge and research on this subject. Through former research, Tillberg finds that there are invasive pavement ants in Oregon state parks, but due to a lack of research on the species, their impact is unknown. The research will follow a paired design, comparing similar areas with and without pavement ants, to discover what differences this invasive species has on habitats.

Temporal Dynamics And Spatial Analysis Of Competing Dengue 2 Virus Strains In The Americas, Stacy O'Neil Scholle

Biology ETDs

The dengue virus is the causative agent of an important re-emerging infectious disease that has become increasingly significant in tropical America and the Caribbean due to the infiltration of a more pathogenic Asian/American strain of dengue serotype 2 into the population. This invading strain is responsible for epidemics of dengue hemorrhagic fever, a life-threatening disease that was not previously a large public health concern in the region. Here, I create a historical map of the invasion and replacement of the endemic American strain of dengue 2 by the Asian/American strain, showing that the timing of invasion spans 25 years, and …

Lps-Induced Production Of Inflammatory Mediators In The Liver Of Postnatal Animals, Valerie P. Le Rouzic

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Lipopolysaccharide (LPS) is the primary component of the outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria and is responsible for the majority of inflammatory effects of infections from Gram-negative bacteria. To gain better understanding of the effects that postnatal age has on the inflammatory response, pups were randomly assigned to be treated with 250 µg/kg of LPS or saline at postnatal day (P) 1, P21, and P70. Two hours post stimulation, the pups were sacrificed and their livers were harvested for total RN A extraction. Relative mRNA levels of inflammatory genes and �-actin were determined using RT-PCR analysis with appropriate rat sense and …

Weeds In The Flower Garden: An Exploration Of Plagiarism In Graduate Students’ Research Proposals And Its Connection To Enculturation, Esl, And Contextual Factors, Joanna Gilmore, Denise Strickland, Briana Eileen Timmerman, Michelle Maher, David Feldon

Faculty Publications

Existing literature provides insight into the nature and extent of plagiarism amongst undergraduate students (e.g., Ellery, 2008; Parameswaran & Devi, 2006; Selwyn, 2008). Plagiarism amongst graduate students is relatively unstudied, however, and the existing data are largely based on self-reports. This study investigated the rates and potential causes of plagiarism amongst graduate students in master’s and doctoral programmes in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and science or mathematics education by examining actual research proposals written by graduate students. Results indicate that plagiarism is a prevalent issue at each of the three university sites sampled and across all of the investigated disciplines. …

Genetic Analysis Of The Pi3k/Akt/Mtor Signaling Pathway, Janna Hutz

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Cancer is a leading cause of human death, and it is fundamentally attributable to dysfunctional cell signaling. The PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway is an important pro-growth intracellular signaling cascade that is often inappropriately activated in a wide array of cancers. Efforts to develop anticancer drugs have therefore focused, in part, on identifying PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway inhibitors. However, patient response to some such inhibitors is mixed, with some patients experiencing a paradoxical activation of the pathway following treatment. It is therefore necessary to better understand the nature of the PI3K/AKT/mTOR pathway and how it varies in different individuals. The work presented here used cell …

Mechanism Of Yeast Prion Portein Aggregation And Strain Formation, Tejas Baba Kalastavadi

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

Misfolding and aggregation of the prion protein: PrP) causes fatal neurodegenerative diseases in many mammalian species, including humans. Mutations in the gene encoding PrP are associated with ~15% of the incidences, while, the vast majority of the cases are sporadic. Interestingly, prion diseases also display pathological variation, suggesting that there are multiple different strains. To elucidate the mechanism of prion protein aggregation and strain formation, I have taken advantage of the yeast prions [PSI+] and [RNQ+] and their protein determinants Sup35p and Rnq1p, respectively. Using a Sup35-PrP chimera, I have investigated the effect of the disease associated oligopeptide repeat domain: …

Genomic Organization And Molecular Phylogenies Of The Beta (Β) Keratin Multigene Family In The Chicken (Gallus Gallus) And Zebra Finch (Taeniopygia Guttata): Implications For Feather Evolution, Matthew J. Greenwold, Roger H. Sawyer

Faculty Publications

Background: The epidermal appendages of reptiles and birds are constructed of beta (β) keratins. The molecularphylogeny of these keratins is important to understanding the evolutionary origin of these appendages, especially feathers. Knowing that the crocodilian β-keratin genes are closely related to those of birds, the published genomes ofthe chicken and zebra finch provide an opportunity not only to compare the genomic organization of their β- keratins,but to study their molecular evolution in archosaurians.

Results: The subfamilies (claw, feather, feather-like, and scale) of β-keratin genes are clustered in the same 5' to 3' orderon microchromosome 25 in chicken and zebra finch, …

Student Content Knowledge Increases After Participation In A Hands-On Biotechnology Intervention, Amber L. Bigler

Theses and Dissertations

Hands-on learning is at the heart of science learning. This study examined increased changes of student content knowledge in biology, particularly biotechnology, after a hands-on biotechnology intervention was implemented into a secondary school. A traditional learning school was selected for a control. Both teachers had participated in a biotechnology professional development program called Project Crawfish. Students from both schools took the same assessment before and after their respective units (biotechnology intervention and genetics unit), and the classroom was the unit of analysis (n=5, n=6, respectively). The assessment was compared as a whole and then divided into five components, eight questions …

P53 Action In Suppressing Acute Myeloid Leukemia, Zhen Zhao

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

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) is the major form of adult acute leukemia. It is characterized by colonial expansion of malignant myeloid progenitors in bone marrow, resulting in insufficient generation of normal blood components to cause sever infection, fatigue, and hemorrhage in patients. p53 is a tumor suppressor that commonly mutates in human cancers. p53 mutations have profound effects on AML biology and are associated with the clinical aggressiveness and drug resistance. However, how p53 loss influences AML development remains to be determined. Mouse models recapitulating molecular alterations of human cancer are useful tools to dissect the in vivo roles of …

Role Of A Metabolic Burst And Titration Of An Unstable Activator In The Entrainment Of Division To Growth, Lucas Buckler Carey

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

Most cells coordinate increase in mass with an increase in cell number. Using simu- lations I show that exponentially growing cells require size control (a molecular link between growth and division) to maintain a population with a biologically reasonable cell size distribution, though linearly growing cells do not. The main regulator of cell-cycle commitment in budding yeast is the G1 cyclin Cln3, which partners with the Cyclin Dependent Kinase (CDK) Cdc28 to activate the transcription factor SBF and promote transcription of over 150 genes involved in cell-cycle progression. Commitment to Start (passage from G1 into S) involves transition from a …

Novel Amyloid Beta-Protein Degrading Enzymes. Membrane Type 1 Matrix-Metalloproteinase And Myelin Basic Protein, Mei-Chen Liao

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

The progressive accumulation of á-amyloid (Aá) in senile plaques and in the cerebral vasculature is the hallmark of Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders. Several major pathways for Aá clearance include receptor-mediated cellular uptake, blood-brain barrier transport and direct proteolytic degradation. My thesis focused on two novel Aá degrading enzymes- Membrane type 1 matrix metalloproteinase (MT1-MMP) and myelin basic protein (MBP). Matrix metalloproteinase 2 (MMP2) was shown to be expressed in reactive astrocytes surrounding amyloid plaques and may contribute to Aá degradation. MT1-MMP is the physiological activator for the zymogen pro-MMP2. In addition to MMP2, its activator MT1-MMP was also …

Studies On The Establishment Of Transcriptional Silencing In Yeast, Jie Ren

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

Epigenetic silencing refers to a transcriptionally inactive state, which involves the formation, maintenance and heritable transmission of heterochromatin, in concert with cell-cycle progression. It plays an important role in growth and development in eukaryotes ranging from yeast to human. My dissertation research concentrated on this process with budding yeast as the model system.I have studied how silencing is established in concert with cell-cycle progression. In S. cerevisiae, the two cryptic mating type loci, HML and HMR, are transcriptionally silent. Previous studies on one locus (HMR) identified an S-phase requirement for establishment of silencing, but couldn't explain the underlying mechanism. Although …

Restoration Of The Hudson River Oyster: A Physiological And Spatial Assessment Of Crassostrea Virginica's Restoration Potential In The Hudson River, Ny, Adam Faulkner Starke

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

The Hudson River was once home to abundant eastern oyster (Crassostrea virginica, (Gremlin 1791) populations which catered to an enormous fishery and supplied a number of vital ecological services to the estuary. Since this time, oysters have become depleted and the estuary's vitality has been compromised. Recognizing the current state of the Hudson, a comprehensive restoration plan has been implemented and targets the recovery of oysters and oyster reefs. To begin moving forward with these plans, a two year study investigating the physiological responses of the oyster to New York's Hudson River was made. The results have provided useful insights …

The Invasion Of The Colonial Ascidian Didemnum Vexillum, Into South Shore Bays Of Long Island, New York-Feeding And Metabolic Characteristics, Carlene Theresa Harrington

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

The invasive ascidian, Didemnum vexillum, has recently spread into south shore bays of Long Island, New York including Great South Bay and Shinnecock Bay. In order to determine the impact this invasive species will have on these bays, colonies from Shinnecock Bay were studied, due to easiest accessibility. D. vexillum currently forms extensive mats on the pillars of Ponquogue Bridge located in Shinnecock Bay. These mats have the potential to drastically alter the structure of the ecosystem; an effect which has been observed in other waters that the species has invaded. Thus, in order to predict the impact D. vexillum …

Genetic Diversity And Gene Flow In Zostera Marina Populations Across The Long Island Sound And South Shore Estuaries, Sterling James Brisbin

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

The dominant species of seagrass in NY, Zostera marina, has experienced several historical die-offs and is currently under heavy stress due to water quality and other anthropogenic problems. The consequences of these events on the genetic diversity and population structure of the remaining grass beds are unknown. This thesis addresses questions regarding the genetic diversity of extant populations, and how this information can aid current conservation and restoration efforts. Plant morphometrics and genetic samples of Zostera marina were collected at sites across Great South Bay, Shinnecock Bay, Peconic Bay and the Long Island Sound. Each individual was genotyped at 8 …

A Role For The Transcriptional Repressor Rest In Patterning The Zebrafish Neural Tube, Keith Pendleton Gates

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

The spatial and temporal control of gene expression is key to generation of specific cellular fates during development. Studies of the transcriptional repressor REST/NRSF (RE1 Silencing Transcription factor/Neural Restrictive Silencing Factor) have provided important insight into the role that epigenetic modifications play in differential gene expression. Functional studies place REST within multiple developmental pathways and transcriptional networks. However, findings between different groups are often incongruent, and little progress has been made on understanding the embryonic lethality of the Rest knockout mice. What emerges from the controversies surrounding REST function is that the cellular context of REST is paramount. Here, zebrafish …

Cooperative Learning: Attitudes, Perceptions, And Achievement In A Traditional, Online, And Hybrid Instructional Setting, Allison Hardin Duckworth

Dissertations

Cooperative learning has been sufficiently studied to be accepted as an effective method of education. Student reception of cooperative learning, and therefore the degree of its success in a given situation, will depend on the mode of delivery. New technology for delivering courses totally online challenges many aspects of traditional education, and is particularly difficult for cooperative learning that relies heavily on intense face-to-face communication among students. This study was conducted to compare cooperative learning in a traditional setting to that in hybrid and online settings. A model for delivering a cooperative learning experience has been developed utilizing concept maps …

A Guide To The Continuing Investigation Of The Relationship Between The Cytoskeleton And Cell Wall In Developing Buds Of Physcomitrella Patens, Derek Brockman

Senior Honors Projects

Persistent questions in biology address the nature of tissue organization and how information encoded in the genome can be manifested as a physical form. While the ‘final’ product of gene expression is a protein, science has yet to elucidate how those proteins are able to interact with other cellular components and external forces to generate a specific cell shape. This complex process is critical in determining not only the shape of an individual cell but also that of an entire organ. In plants, cell shape is controlled by cellulose microfibrils of the cell wall, which are typically oriented perpendicular to …

Citrate Synthase And The Visual Interactions Hypothesis, Kristina Camarena

Senior Honors Projects

It has been shown that the metabolic rates of deep-living species of particular pelagic groups are significantly lower than those that live closer to the surface in the water column. Various theories as to why have been presented, including the visual interactions hypothesis, which states that because there is a greatly minimized ability to visually interact in the light-limited deep, predators have a reduced need for high metabolic rates because they do not actively go after their prey. Citrate synthase is a mitochondrial enzyme found at the beginning of the citric acid cycle, which plays an integral role in cellular …

Cell(F), Nicole Lynn Herden

Boise State University Theses and Dissertations

I see the human experience as composed of both objectivity and subjectivity. Objectivity in that science has helped us better understand our physicality, such as defining biological processes within our body. Empirical knowledge has provided a level of truth in explaining a foundation for our existence.

Subjective experiences materialize as we engage within the environment. Walking in the park or purchasing food seem to be similar experiences for everyone in that we can envision the process of doing it; however, that process is an individual process composed of unique characteristics and perspectives. A subjective experience is as unique as one’s …

Exergy Modeling To Compare Engineered Products To Biological Systems For Sustainable Design, Richard D. Stokes Jr.

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

An ambitious and novel approach to engineering design and sustainability has been taken to explore the potential of drawing parallels between mechanical and biological systems for the possible development of sustainable engineering design metrics using a thermodynamic model. This approach looks to biology. Natural selection has given biological beings and processes high exergetic efficiencies, even while being only 30-40% energy efficient on the cell level. This energy inefficiency, resulting in a release of heat, can then be used to aid in driving other biochemical processes. The Gibbs free energy becomes more negative proportionally with an increase in temperature, resulting in …

Development Of A ‘Universal’ Rubric For Assessing Undergraduates’ Scientific Reasoning Skills Using Scientific Writing, Briana Eileen Timmerman, Denise Strickland, Robert L. Johnson, John R. Payne

Faculty Publications

We developed a rubric for measuring students’ ability to reason and write scientifically. The Rubric for Science Writing (Rubric) was tested in a variety of undergraduate biology laboratory courses (total n = 142 laboratory reports) using science graduate students (teaching assistants) as raters. Generalisability analysis indicates that the Rubric provides a reliable measure of students’ abilities (g = 0.85) in these conditions. Comparison of student performance in various biology classes indicated that some scientific skills are more challenging for students to develop than others and identified a number of previously unappreciated gaps in the curriculum. Our findings suggest that use …

Climate Change - Implications For Geotourism And Biodiversity Conservation In The Caves Of Southwest Western Australia, Stefan Eberhard

KIP Abstracts

Based on a study of caves in southwest Western Australia, this presentation explores the form-process linkages between geology, hydrology and ecology (eco-hydrogeology), and their relationships with climate. This case study demonstrated the impacts and ongoing threat that climate change poses to geo-processes and biodiversity, which has implications for geo/ecotourism globally. Cave geotourism has been practised in southwest Western Australia for more than 100 years. One of the major attractions for visitors to these caves is their spectacular underground lakes and streams. The cave lakes and streams also harbor a rich biodiversity of endemic cave dwelling fauna. Because of a drying …

Nutrient And Contaminant Dynamics In The Marine Food Web Of Kotzebue Sound (Alaska), Sara K. Moses

Biological Sciences

The objectives of these studies were to document nutrient and contaminant concentrations in upper trophic level organisms of the Kotzeue, Alaska marine food web; address associated risks and benefits to human consumers of these species; understand the drivers of nutrient and contaminant patterns and concentrations; and test the limitations of chemical feeding ecology tools used to trace nutrient and contaminant pathways within this food web. Tissues of subsistence harvested animals were analyzed for nutrients, contaminants and stable isotopes (delta13C and delta15N). Foods derived from sheefish (Stenodus leucicthys) and spotted seal (Phoca largha) provide numerous essential nutrients, with limited risk from …

Patients Do Not Need Congressman Langevin’S Clone-To-Kill Bill, Nicanor Austriaco

Theology Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Mold Exposure On Immune Cells, Katrin Gorham

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

The relationship between exposure to mold spores and human disease is only beginning to be understood. While evidence exists of strong correlations between moldy environments and allergic and infectious diseases, the relationship between exposure to specific species and human immune responses to them is not fully understood. This paper seeks to clarify this relationship by analyzing the effects of exposing murine immune cells to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) produced by different mold species. Mold species studied include Stachybotrys alternans; tests performed include cell viability studies and immunoassays. Results have implications for further research and treatment of mold-related diseases.

Geochemical Analysis Of Cenozoic Fossil Conifers At High Latitudes: Implications For Molecular Preservation And Environmental Change, Caitlyn Witkowski

Honors Projects in Science and Technology

Fossil materials record ancient life and their adapted environment. Arctic plant fossils are critical for our understanding of the Earth’s paleoenvironment when high latitudes were under ice-free conditions. All Arctic plant fossils in this research are conifers, plants conducive for morphological and molecular study because of their incredible genetic stability. Miocene (15 million year old) and Pliocene (5 million year old) conifer leaves were collected from Banks Island, Canada (Williams et al., 2008). Samples were analyzed and compared with Paleocene (60 million year old) and Eocene (45 million year old) samples from Axel Heiberg Island, Canada and with modern equivalent …