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Phosphotyrosine Phosphatases Of The Att-20 Murine Corticotroph Cell Line, Kari A. Belin

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Somatostatin (somatotropin release inhibitory factor; SRIF) is a peptide-signaling molecule that activates a family of heterotrimeric guanine nucleotide binding protein (G­ protein) coupled receptors (sst.-sst-). SRIF receptors control essential intracellular signaling events and, by reducing cyclic nucleotide levels, ion concentrations and protein phosphorylation, ultimately controlling cell proliferation and secretion. In the current study, we investigated the intracellular phosphatase activity present in the AtT-20 cell, as well as whether these enzymes were under direct SRIF receptor control. AtT-20 cells retain many of the properties of anterior pituitary corticotrophs, yet are an established cell line that expresses at least two SRIF receptor …

Proceedings: Abstracts Of Papers, 83rd Annual Meeting Of The Virginia Academy Of Science

Virginia Journal of Science

Abstracts of the papers presented at the 83rd Annual Meeting of the Virginia Academy of Science, May 17-20, 2005, James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia.

The Effects Of Local Grassland Habitat And Surrounding Landscape Composition On The Predators Of Grassland Bird Nests., Page Klug

Student Work

In agroecosystems birds use fragmented grasslands which are saturated by numerous nest predators. Multiple predator threats should increase nest predation, but predator interactions complicate relationships. I studied nest predators of Dickcissels (Spiza americana), a bird of conservation concern. I asked: (1) Does predator community explain predators documented on video? (2) What predator community best explains nesting success? (3) How does the predator community respond to habitat at multiple levels?

Law And Behavioral Biology, Owen D. Jones, Timothy H. Goldsmith

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

Society uses law to encourage people to behave differently than they would behave in the absence of law. This fundamental purpose makes law highly dependent on sound understandings of the multiple causes of human behavior. The better those understandings, the better law can achieve social goals with legal tools. In this Article, Professors Jones and Goldsmith argue that many long held understandings about where behavior comes from are rapidly obsolescing as a consequence of developments in the various fields constituting behavioral biology. By helping to refine law's understandings of behavior's causes, they argue, behavioral biology can help to improve law's …

Morphological Tower: A Tool For Multi-Scale Image Processing., Susanta Mukhopadhyay Dr.

Doctoral Theses

An image is a recorded replication of natural scene or objects using suitable sensor and recording media. The visual quality of the recorded image may be enhanced using various types of low-level processing namely noise smoothing, contrast enhancement. The images of the same scene recorded by several sensors reveal more inforination but in their own respective ways. This advantage of multi-sensor imaging system is real- ized through the fusion of the multimodal images. One more important higher-level processing is segmentation where the image is decomposed into a set of meaningful regions ( e.g. objects and background). An image, in general, …

Biological Sciences Learning Center First Annual Haunted Halloween Trail, Biological Sciences Learning Center

Teacher Resource Documents

No abstract provided.

The Inexplicability Of Kant’S Naturzweck: Kant On Teleology, Explanation And Biology, James Kreines

CMC Faculty Publications and Research

Kant’s position on teleology and biology is neither inconsistent nor obsolete; his arguments have some surprising and enduring philosophical strengths. But Kant’s account will appear weak if we muddy the waters by reading him as aiming to defend teleology by appealing to considerations popular in contemporary philosophy. Kant argues for very different conclusions: we can neither know teleological judgments of living beings to be true, nor legitimately explain living beings in teleological terms; such teleological judgment is justified only as a “problematic” guideline in our search for mechanistic explanations. These conclusions are well supported by Kant’s defense of his demanding …

Spatial Distribution Of The Common Loon (Gavia Immer) In New Hampshire, Mark W. Brennan

Doctoral Dissertations

The Common Loon (Gavia immer) is located in many portions of North America. By the early 1970's the Common Loon population in New Hampshire had experienced a dramatic decline in historic numbers. In 1975, the Audubon Society of New Hampshire recognized this problem and established the Loon Preservation Committee (LPC). The intent was to collect information regarding the presence or absence of loons and loon productivity, and, educate the public regarding loon ecology and preservation. This dissertation represents the work completed to fulfill the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy degree in Natural Resources Management at the University of New …

The Taxonomic And Systematic Relationships Of Several Salt Marsh Fucus Taxa (Heterokontophyta, Phaeophyceae) Within The Gulf Of Maine And Ireland Examined Using Microsatellite Markers, Aaron L. Wallace

Doctoral Dissertations

The present thesis utilizes microsatellite markers to examine genetic affinities between several salt marsh Fucus ecads in order to ascertain their relationships with attached parental species. Chapter I provides an introduction to the genus Fucus and discusses morphological plasticity, systematic difficulties, and studies of hybridization between different Fucus species.

Chapter II describes my development of microsatellite markers for Fucus. Four polymorphic microsatellite loci were used to determine the origin of a dwarf muscoides-like Fucus from the Brave Boat Harbor (ME) salt marsh. Similar forms were originally described in Europe, and appear to be derived from F. vesiculosus L. However, my …

The Ecological Christ: Discerning An Ecological Consciousness In The Sermon On The Mount, Nancy J. Miaoulis

Doctoral Dissertations

Ecology is the science that studies the function of communities of life within ecosystems. These systems are bound by an affirmation of relationship. Such relationships are very complex and every part of them is dependent on every other part if they are to maintain the integrity of nature that allows us all to survive.

The adoption of the four principles of ecology: everything is connected to everything else; everything has to go somewhere; nature knows best; and there is no such thing as a free lunch---have been suggested to ensure the survival of all species. However, knowledge of scientific findings …

Seafloor Habitat Characterization, Classification, And Maps For The Lower Piscataqua River Estuary, George Randall Cutter Jr.

Doctoral Dissertations

Data from multibeam echosounders were used to implement segmentations and classifications of the seafloor, and measurements from underwater images and physical samples were used to relate segmentations and predictions to observed seafloor characteristics. Texture analysis, using local Fourier histogram (LFH) texture features, was applied to multibeam bathymetry data in unsupervised- and supervised-classification modes. Unsupervised classification of bathymetry using texture features produced segmentations that corresponded to known spatial distributions of seafloor sediments, but required arbitrary choices for some parameter values and, therefore, included potential bias. Supervised classification of bathymetric texture overcame bias related to arbitrarily-chosen parameters and produced classifications that corresponded …

Function, Expression And Evolution Of The *Src Family Kinases In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Chery Angel Whipple

Doctoral Dissertations

The vertebrate proto-oncogene, Src, is the prototype of a family of membrane-associated protein tyrosine kinases involved in cell signaling pathways that control cell growth, development, and differentiation. Activation of Src by mutation or overexpression has been implicated in a range of cancers, particularly breast and colon cancer. Inappropriate activation of Src has pronounced oncogenic effects on cell morphology, adhesion, and motility. Despite its implications in cancer, the normal biological role of Src is not well understood.

I used the nematode C. elegans to investigate the expression, function, and evolution of two src genes (src-1 and src-2) utilizing a combination of …

Conservation Of Texas Spring And Cave Salamanders (Eurycea), Paul T. Chippindale, Andrew H. Price

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

A Remarkable Radiation Of Hydrobiids In The Caves And Streams At Precipitous Bluff, South West Tasmania (Mollusca: Caenogastropoda: Hydrobiidae), Stefan Eberhard, S. A. Clark, W. F. Ponder

KIP Articles

No abstract provided.

Barton Springs Salamander (Eurycea Sosorum) Recovery Plan

KIP Data Sets and Technical Reports

TABLE OF CONTENTS DISCLAIMER.......................................................................................................................... ii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ....................................................................................................... iii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .......................................................................................................v ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS................................................................................ xi 1.0 BACKGROUND INFORMATION .......................................................................... 1.1-1 1.1 Introduction........................................................................................................... 1.1-1 1.2 Description and Taxonomy .................................................................................. 1.2-1 1.3 Population Status and Distribution..................................................................... 1.3-1 1.4 Habitat ................................................................................................................... 1.4-1 1.5 Life History and Ecology...................................................................................... 1.5-1 1.6 Threats ................................................................................................................... 1.6-1 Water Quality Physical and Chemical Properties of Water Quality Potentially Affecting the Barton Springs Salamander.................................................................................... 1.6-2 Dissolved oxygen....................................................................................................1.6-2 Conductivity............................................................................................................1.6-2 Supersaturation and gas bubble trauma .................................................................. 1.6-3 Pollutants and Contaminants Potentially Affecting the Barton Springs Salamander ................................................................................................................... 1.6-5 Sediments................................................................................................................ 1.6-5 Nutrients.................................................................................................................. 1.6-7 Heavy metals...........................................................................................................1.6-8 Pesticides................................................................................................................. 1.6-8 Petroleum hydrocarbons and PAH's....................................................................... 1.6-9 Factors …

Art And Embodiment: Biological And Phenomenological Contributions To Understanding Beauty And The Aesthetic, Adrienne Dengerink Chaplin

Contemporary Aesthetics (Journal Archive)

Increasing awareness of the crucial and complex role of the body in making and experiencing art has led to a diverse range of biological and phenomenological philosophies of art. The shared emphasis on the role of the body re-connects these contemporary theories of art to aesthetics' pre-Kantian origin as a science of sense-perception (aesthesis) and feeling. Tracing some of the current positions in such diverse thinkers as Dissanayake, Langer, and Merleau-Ponty, this paper will examine their shared interest in art as a pre-reflective, non-discursive mode of knowing, symbolizing, and being-in-the-world. This paper argues that while some biologically based theories have …

Preparing The Groundwork For A Responsible Debate On Stem Cell Research And Human Cloning, O. Carter Snead

Journal Articles

The debate over both cloning and stem cell research has been intense and polarizing. It played a significant role in the recently completed presidential campaign, mentioned by both candidates on the stump, at both parties' conventions, and was even taken up directly during one of the presidential debates. The topic has been discussed and debated almost continuously by the members of the legal, scientific, medical, and public policy commentariat. I believe that it is a heartening tribute to our national polity that such a complex moral, ethical, and scientific issue has become a central focus of our political discourse. But, …

Conservation Of Subterranean Biodiversity In Western Australia: Using Molecular Genetics To Define Spatial And Temporal Relationships, Mark Adams, Stefan Eberhard, Remko Leys

KIP Abstracts

The Jewel Cave karst system in southwestern Australia contains a community of aquatic invertebrates that is listed as critically endangered owing to lowering water levels in cave lakes. A key question for conservation of biodiversity patterns was to determine the most appropriate spatial scale; viz. lake microscale, cave mesoscale, catchment macroscale, or regional megascale). A second key question was to understand the historical relationship between the community and cave water levels, necessary to evaluate the risk of extinction related to predictions of drying climate in southwestern Australia. This study used molecular genetic techniques (allozyme electrophoresis and mitochondrial DNA sequencing) to …

Division Of Science And Math Topics Courses 10/25/2004, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Effects Of A History Of Life Course On Student Views Of Science, Steve W. Deckard, David A. Dewitt

Faculty Publications and Presentations

No abstract provided.

Biol 1002 Course Proposal 10/07/2004, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Biology Form B: Discipline Summary 09/08/2004, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Biology Form A: Discipline Summary 09/07/2004, Curriculum Committee

Curriculum Committee Reports

No abstract provided.

Size And Organic Content Of Eggs Of Marine Annelids, And The Underestimation Of Egg Energy Content By Dichromate Oxidation, William Jaeckle, Bruno Pernet

Scholarship

Dichromate oxidation is a simple technique that is often used to estimate the energy content of eggs in studies of marine invertebrate life histories (1). We used this method to measure the energy contents of the eggs of 12 species of marine annelids. In combination with measures of egg ash-free dry weight (AFDW), these data yielded estimates of AFDW-specific energy density that were mostly lower than the average weight-specific energy density of carbohydrates. This seemed unlikely to be correct, as invertebrate eggs typically contain little carbohydrate and instead are composed primarily of energy-dense protein and lipid (1, 2). After validating …

A Patch Hath Smaller Patches: Delineating Ecological Neighborhoods For Parasites, Derek Zelmer, John R. Seed

Faculty Publications

Use of the host individual as a boundary for parasite populations and communities provides an unambiguous spatial unit that is useful for pattern description, but this framework precludes consideration of the host landscape and within-host population dynamics. Recognizing host individuals as spatially and temporally complex landscapes requires modified concepts of parasite populations and communities. An outline of the currently accepted hierarchies of parasite populations and communities is provided on the basis of ecological neighborhoods that are delineated by discrete habitat patches or functional dynamics (or both), as opposed to host individuals. This parasite-based framework accommodates consideration of both within- and …

Individual Cell Growth Rates Of Marine Bacteria, Measured By Bromodeoxyuridine Incorporation, Koji Hamasaki, Richard A. Long, Farooq Azam

Faculty Publications

We tested the application of 5-bromo-2’-deoxyuridine (BrdU), a thymidine analogue that becomes incorporated into DNA during growth, to measure growth rates of individual marine bacteria cells. Immunocytochemical detection of BrdU incorporation into bacterial DNA has the potential for single-cell-based growth measurement. Optimized procedure for immunocytochemistry was applicable to 14 marine heterotrophic bacterial isolates belonging to g-proteobacteria, α-proteobacteria, Cytophaga-Flavobacterium-Bacteroides (CFB) group and Gram-positive bacteria. The relationship between cell-specific fluorescence intensity and specific growth rate was linearly correlated among CFB group isolates, which indicated a potential of the method for quantitative measurement. Analysis of the detection limit indicated …

Tuba, A Novel Protein Containing Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs And Dbl Homology Domains, Links Dynamin To Regulation Of The Actin Cytoskeleton, Marco Antonio Del Valle Salazar

Yale Medicine Thesis Digital Library

Tuba is a novel scaffold protein that functions to bring together dynamin with components of the actin cytoskeleton. It is concentrated at synapses in brain and binds dynamin selectively through four N-terminal Src homology-3 (SH3) domains. Tuba binds a variety of actin regulatory proteins, including N-WASP, CR16, WAVE1, WIRE, PIR121, NAP1, and Ena/VASP proteins, via a C-terminal SH3 domain. Direct binding partners include N-WASP and Ena/VASP proteins. Forced targeting of the C-terminal SH3 domain to the mitochondrial surface can promote accumulation of F-actin around mitochondria. A Dbl homology domain present in the middle of Tuba upstream of a Bin/amphiphysin/Rvs (BAR) …

Particle Removal Rates By The Mud Shrimp Upogebia Pugettensis, Its Burrow, And A Commensal Clam: Effects On Estuarine Phytoplankton Abundance, Blaine D. Griffen, Theodore H. Dewitt, Chris Langdon

Faculty Publications

The burrowing shrimp Upogebia pugettensis is an abundant intertidal invertebrate of Pacific Northwest, USA bays and estuaries where it lives commensally with the bivalve Cryptomya californica. Suspension-feeding activities by the shrimp and by its commensal clam, as well as particle settlement within the burrow, represent 3 different components that could remove phytoplankton from water drawn into shrimp burrows. These 3 components together comprise what we call the ‘U. pugettensis shrimp-burrow complex’. In laboratory experiments, we measured particle removal by each of these components. Our results indicated that U. pugettensis itself is responsible for filtering the majority of phytoplankton removed …

Sub2 Helicase Is A Regulator Of Heterochromatic Silencing In Saccharomyces Cerevisiae., Jennie C. Smith

Student Work

Introduction: Gene silencing is a normal process in every cell and is required for cells to have different functions. Mis-regulation of silencing can affect cell-cycle regulation, differentiation, and genome stability, all of which can lead to developmental defects and cancer [1]. Heterochromatic or silenced regions are highly condensed and transcriptionally inactive, whereas euchromatin is less condensed and transcriptionally active. Heterochromatic gene silencing occurs when chromosome domains are packaged into specialized structures that limit access of DNA binding proteins, including transcription factors, to the regulatory regions as well as coding regions of genes [2]. For example, the telomeres and silent mating-type …

Students’ Assessment Of Biology Education At Marshall University, Chris A. Barker

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

The purpose of this thesis research was to evaluate the quality of scientific education offered in the College of Science’s Department of Biology at Marshall University. The objectives of this study were to emphasize the important aspects of higher education assessment, point out that a scientifically literate citizenry is imperative for society to function effectively, and to determine what factors contribute to differences among students with regard to their perception of the quality of scientific education they are receiving at Marshall. A survey questionnaire was administered to students in eleven biological science courses during the Fall semester of 2003 and …