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Articles 1 - 30 of 44
Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences
Acrolein As A Novel Therapeutic Target For Spinal Cord Injury Induced Neuropathic Pain, Jonghyuck Park
Acrolein As A Novel Therapeutic Target For Spinal Cord Injury Induced Neuropathic Pain, Jonghyuck Park
Open Access Dissertations
Despite years of research, post-spinal cord injury (SCI) chronic neuropathic pain remains refractory to treatment and drastically impairs quality of life for SCI victims beyond paralysis. Although inflammation and free radicals contribute to neuropathic pain in SCI, the mechanism is not completely clear. We have recently demonstrated that acrolein, a product and catalyst of lipid peroxidation, induces a vicious cycle of oxidative stress, amplifying its effects and perpetuating oxidative stress and inflammation. In the current study, we have confirmed that acrolein is elevated significantly at least two weeks post-SCI which coincides with the emergence of hyperalgesia (mechanical, cold and thermal). …
Energy Production, Distribution, And Pollution Controls: Combining Engineering And Economic Analysis To Enhance Efficiency And Policy Design, David F. Perkis
Energy Production, Distribution, And Pollution Controls: Combining Engineering And Economic Analysis To Enhance Efficiency And Policy Design, David F. Perkis
Open Access Dissertations
Three published articles are presented which focus on enhancing various aspects of the energy supply chain. While each paper adopts a different methodology, all three combine engineering data and/or techniques with economic analysis to improve efficiency or policy design within energy markets. ^ The first paper combines a chemical engineering plant design model with an economic assessment of product enhancements within an ethanol production facility. While a new chemical process is shown to achieve greater ethanol yields, the animal feed by-products are denatured and decrease in value due to the degradation of a key nutritional amino acid. Overall, yield increases …
Modulation Of Host Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates By Salmonella Effector Protein Sopb, Heather L. Piscatelli
Modulation Of Host Phosphatidylinositol Phosphates By Salmonella Effector Protein Sopb, Heather L. Piscatelli
Open Access Dissertations
Salmonella spp. are gram negative bacteria capable of infecting a number of eukaryotic hosts. In humans, Salmonella infection can range anywhere from acute gastroenteritis to typhoid fever which can oftentimes be fatal.Salmonella are facultative intracellular pathogens that have acquired the ability to enter non-phagocytic cells such as those lining the intestinal epithelium. Uptake into epithelial cells is mediated by the Salmonellapathogenicity island 1 (SPI1) encoded type III secretion system (T3SS), a needle-like complex composed of over 20 proteins that translocates effector proteins directly into the host cell cytosol. Salmonella possess a second type III secretion system encoded on …
Migratory Ecology Of Sea Turtles, Nathan Jack Robinson
Migratory Ecology Of Sea Turtles, Nathan Jack Robinson
Open Access Dissertations
Establishing the movement patterns of free-ranging animals is imperative to understanding their behavior and ecology, and is often necessary for designing effective conservation-strategies. This is especially true for migratory species, such as sea turtles, whose long-distance movements form a major component of their life history. In this thesis, I investigated which factors are driving the migratory behavior of the leatherback turtleDermochelys coriacea. Firstly, I examined whether the timing of the nesting season (nesting phenology) is influenced by oceanographic conditions along the pre-nesting migratory route or by variation in population structure. The discovery that nesting phenology appears more influenced by …
Combining And Mapping Qtl For Fusarium Head Blight (Fhb) Resistance In Wheat, Jin Sun
Combining And Mapping Qtl For Fusarium Head Blight (Fhb) Resistance In Wheat, Jin Sun
Open Access Dissertations
Fusarium head blight (FHB) has become one of the most damaging wheat diseases in humid and semi-humid regions around the world. Single gene resistance to FHB in wheat provides only partial resistance and also the disease severity is highly influenced by environment. Consequently multiple genes are required for effective resistance. Our hypothesis is that identifying DNA markers for type I resistance will be very beneficial for selection, and combining type I and type II FHB resistance will be more effective than either type alone. The objectives of this project are to 1) combine type I resistance from cultivars Goldfield, INW0412, …
Role Of Group Ii Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 2 (Mglur2) In Appetitive And Consummatory Aspects Of Ethanol Reinforcement, Kyle Allyson Windisch
Role Of Group Ii Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 2 (Mglur2) In Appetitive And Consummatory Aspects Of Ethanol Reinforcement, Kyle Allyson Windisch
Open Access Dissertations
Background: Group II metabotropic glutamate receptors (mGluR2/3) are predominately presynaptically located Gi/o coupled receptors that are highly expressed in the cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, and hippocampus. Previous studies suggest that group II mGluRs are involved in regulating ethanol (EtOH) consumption and seeking following extinction (Backstrom and Hyytia, 2005; Kufahl, et al., 2011). The sipper tube model, which allows for procedural separation of seeking and consumption, was used to further clarify the role of mGluR2/3 in EtOH-seeking and consumption. The non-selective group II mGluR agonist LY379268 (LY37) and selective mGluR2 positive allosteric modulator (PAM) BINA were used to determine the …
Host Cell Death In Legionella Pneumophila Pathogenesis And Immunity, Wenhan Zhu
Host Cell Death In Legionella Pneumophila Pathogenesis And Immunity, Wenhan Zhu
Open Access Dissertations
Legionella pneumophila is an intracellular pathogen that causes a severe, atypical pneumonia termed Legionnaires' disease. Upon entering the host cell, L. pneumophila resides in a membrane-bound vacuole, in which the bacterium evades lysosomal fusion and replicates. The establishment of the vacuole requires the Dot/Icm (Defect in organelle trafficking/ intracellular multiplication) transport system, which translocates a large number of substrates into host cells to re-orchestrate various cellular processes, such as intracellular trafficking, protein synthesis and host cell death pathways. Therefore, a key step in understanding the biology of Legionella is to dissect the mechanisms of action of the Dot/Icm substrates. By …
Nano-Engineered Polymers In Drug Delivery: Potential Approaches For Attenuation Of Secondary Injury After Spinal Cord Trauma, Wen Gao
Open Access Dissertations
Secondary injury elicits a complex series of pathophysiological events after the primary spinal cord trauma and even after its implantation treatment for neural functional recovery. These secondary injuries include an up-regulation of glial cells associated reactive oxygen species, nitrogen species, and reactive astrogliosis, and they can result in various levels of cellular and tissue damage. The inhibition of them has been proved to lead to functional recovery of the spinal cord. In this study, we concentrated on developing polymers and nano-techniques based drug delivery strategies to eliminate these secondary injuries. ^ To maintain and improve the performance of the implants …
Associated Behavioral, Genetic, And Gene Expression Variation With Alternative Life History Tactics In Salmonid Fishes, Ashley Chin-Baarstad
Associated Behavioral, Genetic, And Gene Expression Variation With Alternative Life History Tactics In Salmonid Fishes, Ashley Chin-Baarstad
Open Access Dissertations
Individual differences in behavior can have potential fitness consequences and often reflect underlying genetic variation. My research focuses on three objectives related to individual level variation: 1) evaluating the innate behavioral variation within and between individuals, families, and progeny of different life-history types across time; 2) testing for differences in gene expression within the brain associated with this behavioral variation; and 3) using genetic polymorphisms to test for associations with ecotype, as well as population structure, in polymorphic populations. First, we evaluated the variation in a suite of ecologically relevant behaviors across time in juvenile progeny produced from crosses within …
Dietary Carbohydrates Influence The Structure And Function Of The Intestinal Alpha-Glucosidases, Mohammad Chegeni
Dietary Carbohydrates Influence The Structure And Function Of The Intestinal Alpha-Glucosidases, Mohammad Chegeni
Open Access Dissertations
As the primary products of starch digestion by pancreatic α-amylase, maltooligosaccharides (including maltose) are the main substrates for the α-glucosidases at the intestinal brush border. Here, maltose was shown to induce the formation of a higher molecular weight (HMW) sucrase-isomaltase (SI) species in Caco-2 cells that sorts more quickly to the enterocyte surface to act as a digestive enzyme. As this finding suggested a maltose sensing ability of small intestinal enterocytes, molecular mechanisms associated with the maturation and trafficking of HMW SI were further investigated. A pulse-chase experiment using [ 35S]-methionine revealed a higher rate of early trafficking and …
Irrigation With Treated Wastewater: Potential And Limitations, Anne Dare
Irrigation With Treated Wastewater: Potential And Limitations, Anne Dare
Open Access Dissertations
As the world population increases and resources become more coveted, water emerges as a key component to global food security. The Middle East and North Africa (MENA) is among the driest regions in the world: containing just one percent of the world's freshwater resources. An increasing population creates greater quantities of wastewater and demands greater quantities of food, so an obvious connection arises. However logical wastewater reuse may be for bridging the irrigation supply-demand gap in this arid region, significant limitations prevent widespread adoption. The overall goal of this research is to take a holistic view of the limitations facing …
Light-Emitting Diodes As An Alternative Supplemental Lighting Source For Greenhouse Tomato Propagation And Production, Celina Gomez Vargas
Light-Emitting Diodes As An Alternative Supplemental Lighting Source For Greenhouse Tomato Propagation And Production, Celina Gomez Vargas
Open Access Dissertations
Intensive year-round local production of greenhouse-grown tomatoes (Solanum lycopersicum L.) requires the use of supplemental lighting (SL) to complement solar radiation in light-limited seasonal climates. However, SL represents a large expense to greenhouse-vegetable production. Currently, energy is second only to labor as the most expensive indirect cost of production. Thus, the greenhouse industry is interested in cost-effective, energy-efficient sources of supplemental photosynthetic light to sustain steady supplies of high-quality produce during the off-season. Overhead (OH) high-pressure sodium (HPS) lamps are considered the industry standard in greenhouse SL because of their capability to deliver adequate photosynthetically active radiation (PAR …
Quantitative Modeling Of Spatiotemporal Systems: Simulation Of Biological Systems And Analysis Of Error Metric Effects On Model Fitting, James Hengenius
Quantitative Modeling Of Spatiotemporal Systems: Simulation Of Biological Systems And Analysis Of Error Metric Effects On Model Fitting, James Hengenius
Open Access Dissertations
Understanding the biophysical processes underlying biological and biotechnological processes is a prerequisite for therapeutic treatments and technological innovation. With the exponential growth of computational processing speed, experimental findings in these fields have been complemented by dynamic simulations of developmental signaling and genetic interactions. Models provide means to evaluate "emergent" properties of systems sometimes inaccessible by reductionist approaches, making them test beds for biological inference and technological refinement.^ The complexity and interconnectedness of biological processes pose special challenges to modelers; biological models typically possess a large number of unknown parameters relative to their counterparts in other physical sciences. Estimating these parameter …
Towards A Paradigm Shift In The Modeling Of Soil Organic Carbon Decomposition For Earth System Models, Yujie He
Open Access Dissertations
Soils are the largest terrestrial carbon pools and contain approximately 2200 Pg of carbon. Thus, the dynamics of soil carbon plays an important role in the global carbon cycle and climate system. Earth System Models are used to project future interactions between terrestrial ecosystem carbon dynamics and climate. However, these models often predict a wide range of soil carbon responses and their formulations have lagged behind recent soil science advances, omitting key biogeochemical mechanisms. In contrast, recent mechanistically-based biogeochemical models that explicitly account for microbial biomass pools and enzyme kinetics that catalyze soil carbon decomposition produce notably different results and …
Intranuclear Strain Measured By Iterative Warping In Cells Under Mechanical And Osmotic Stress, Jonathan T Henderson
Intranuclear Strain Measured By Iterative Warping In Cells Under Mechanical And Osmotic Stress, Jonathan T Henderson
Open Access Dissertations
The nucleus is a membrane bound organelle and regulation center for gene expression in the cell. Mechanical forces transfer to the nucleus directly and indirectly through specific cellular cytoskeletal structures and pathways. There is increasing evidence that the transferred forces to the nucleus orchestrate gene expression activity. Methods to characterize nuclear mechanics typically study isolated cells or cells embedded in 3D gel matrices. Often report only aspect ratio and volume changes, measures that oversimplify the inherent complexity of internal strain patterns. This presents technical challenges to simultaneously observe small scale nuclear mechanics and gene expression levels inside the nuclei of …
Quantum Mechanics In Complex Systems, Ross Douglas Hoehn
Quantum Mechanics In Complex Systems, Ross Douglas Hoehn
Open Access Dissertations
This document should be considered in its separation; there are three distinct topics contained within and three distinct chapters within the body of works. In a similar fashion, this abstract should be considered in three parts. Firstly, we explored the existence of multiply-charged atomic ions by having developed a new set of dimensional scaling equations as well as a series of relativistic augmentations to the standard dimensional scaling procedure and to the self-consistent field calculations. Secondly, we propose a novel method of predicting drug efficacy in hopes to facilitate the discovery of new small molecule therapeutics by modeling the agonist-protein …
The Role Of Adiponectin And The Adipocyte In Energy Metabolism And Inflammation, Sheila Kay Jacobi
The Role Of Adiponectin And The Adipocyte In Energy Metabolism And Inflammation, Sheila Kay Jacobi
Open Access Dissertations
A series of experiments were conducted to characterize the autocrine role of adiponectin in modulating fatty acid metabolism and inflammation in the pig. In the first study, we cloned and sequenced the porcine adiponectin open reading frame and evaluated the regulation of adiponectin, in vitro and in vivo. The porcine sequence shares approximately 88, 86, 85 and 83% homology with the dog, human, cow and mouse adiponectin, respectively, and 79–83% similarity with dog, human, cow and mouse proteins at the amino acid level, based on the translated porcine sequence and GenBank submissions for the other species. Analysis of serum from …
The Modification Of Brucine Derivatives As Chiral Ligands And Its Application In The Asymmetric Synthesis, Jian-Yuan Li
The Modification Of Brucine Derivatives As Chiral Ligands And Its Application In The Asymmetric Synthesis, Jian-Yuan Li
Open Access Dissertations
The modification of brucine derivatives as chiral ligands and the use of a multifaceted chiral ligand, brucine diol, under different reaction conditions to produce various optical isomers is described. In Chapter 1, the generation of a number of brucine derivatives is described. Taking the advantage of brucine-diol's excellent molecular recognition capability for multiple organic functional groups, we focused on the synthetic modifications of brucine-diol and the synthesis of brucine N-oxide. We also produced various brucine derivatives with different functional moieties in good yields and selectivities. ^ In Chapter 2, we described the investigation of brucine N-oxide catalyzed Morita-Baylis-Hillman …
Transformation Of Biomass Carbohydrates By Transition Metal Catalysts, Christine M Bohn
Transformation Of Biomass Carbohydrates By Transition Metal Catalysts, Christine M Bohn
Open Access Dissertations
By selectively removing functional groups from biomass derived carbohydrates, valuable platform chemicals can be generated from renewable sources. Through dehydration chemistry glucose can be upgraded into 5-(Hydroxymethyl)-2-furfuraldehyde (HMF) and levulinic acid. Iron (III) chloride hexahydrate has shown moderate activity to transform glucose into HMF and has also shown high yields and selectivity for the production of levulinic acid. Typically synthesized from acidic solutions made with mineral acids, levulinic acid has now been produced in high yields with a metal salt. The difference between maximizing production for HMF or levulinic acid from the same catalyst relies on the control of the …
Assessment Of Irrigation Use On Crop Yield And Water Supplies In The Midwestern U.S., Wei-Chih Chen
Assessment Of Irrigation Use On Crop Yield And Water Supplies In The Midwestern U.S., Wei-Chih Chen
Open Access Dissertations
Climate plays an important role in many aspects of hydrological and agricultural systems. Temperature and precipitation are usually the main forcing inputs for hydrological and agricultural simulations, while wind effect has generally been neglected in previous research. Wind speed is, however, an important factor for many physical processes, including evaporation from soil, and transpiration from plants. In order to investigate how climate variability impacts agricultural production, there are three hypotheses addressed in this dissertation. Hypothesis 1 is that the representation of changing wind speed will play an important role in the simulation of hydrological processes, and that the effect of …
African Starchy Foods, Gastric Emptying, And Starch Digestion In Malian Stunted Children, Fatimata Cisse
African Starchy Foods, Gastric Emptying, And Starch Digestion In Malian Stunted Children, Fatimata Cisse
Open Access Dissertations
Starch serves as the main energy source in cereal and tuber-rich diets, and its glycemic response profile has been associated with health-related conditions. Sorghum and millet are known to have relatively low starch digestibility, a potentially desirable property for controlling blood glucose response and providing sustained energy. Gastric emptying rates of traditional sorghum and millet-based African foods of the Sahelian region (couscous, thick and thin porridges made from millet and/or sorghum) were compared to those of non-traditional "modern" foods that are mostly consumed in urban areas using a non-invasive 13C-labelled octanoic acid breath test in healthy volunteers. The obtained results …
Hierarchical Cell Fluid Extracellular Matrix Interaction In Cell Microenvironment, Soham Ghosh
Hierarchical Cell Fluid Extracellular Matrix Interaction In Cell Microenvironment, Soham Ghosh
Open Access Dissertations
Hierarchical structural interactions between components of cell microenvironment, the extracellular matrix (ECM), cytoplasm, nucleus and fluid, are important phenomena that decide cell level physiological process and tissue engineering applications. One of those tissue engineering modalities is freezing of biomaterials, important in a wide variety of biomedical applications including cryopreservation and cryosurgeries. In order to design these applications, freezing-induced changes of the cells and tissues and corresponding biophysical mechanisms need to be well understood. Although the effects of freezing on cells in suspension have been extensively studied, the intracellular mechanics of cells embedded in the extracellular matrix (ECM) during freezing are …
Prediction Of Parturition And Dystocia In Holstein-Friesian Cattle, And Cesarean Section In Dystocic Beef Cattle, Wen Han Mark Hiew
Prediction Of Parturition And Dystocia In Holstein-Friesian Cattle, And Cesarean Section In Dystocic Beef Cattle, Wen Han Mark Hiew
Open Access Dissertations
Dystocia is a major problem in the dairy industry as it causes livestock and economic loss. It is more frequently seen in primiparous cattle compared to their multiparous counterparts due to their smaller stature and the slow maturation of pelvic dimensions. In some instances, human intervention of the parturition process is imperative to avoid pain, injury, and mortality of the neonate and the dam. The ability to accurately predict dystocia and the time of parturition will ensure that timely assistance can be given to animals that are of high risk of dystocia.^ The present thesis contains four studies that explore …
Identification And Characterization Of Signal Components In Early Aba Signaling In Arabidopsis, Yueh-Ju Hou
Identification And Characterization Of Signal Components In Early Aba Signaling In Arabidopsis, Yueh-Ju Hou
Open Access Dissertations
The phytohormone abscisic acid (ABA) regulates growth, development, and response to abiotic stress in plants. The core ABA signaling has three key components: ABA receptors PYRABACTIN RESISTANCE 1 and PYR1-Like protein (PYR1/PYLs), type 2C protein phosphatases (PP2Cs) and SNF1- related protein Kinase 2s (SnRK2s). In the presence of ABA, PYR1/PYLs bind to and inhibit PP2Cs, leading to the release of SnRK2s from suppression, to activate downstream events such as ABA-responsive gene expression. To identify new components in the ABA signaling pathway, we performed a yeast two-hybrid screen for PYLs and SnRK2s interactors. We identified two proteins that interact with PYLs …
Cellular And Molecular Regulation Of Skeletal Muscle Regeneration, Chunhui Jiang
Cellular And Molecular Regulation Of Skeletal Muscle Regeneration, Chunhui Jiang
Open Access Dissertations
Skeletal muscle regeneration provides a powerful model to study the cellular and molecular mechanism governing stem cell function since the whole process is mediated by a population of muscle-resident stem cells called satellite cells. The overall aim of this dissertation is to explore the roles of Notch signaling and a novel gene (Bex1) in satellite cell function and skeletal muscle regeneration. ^ The first part of this thesis is to examine how the Notch signaling pathway regulates the satellite cell self-renewal in a disease model. The MDX mouse is a well-established model for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and characterized by …
Identification And Characterization Of Factors Involved In Dna Demethylation And Anti-Silencing In Arabidopsis, Zhaobo Lang
Identification And Characterization Of Factors Involved In Dna Demethylation And Anti-Silencing In Arabidopsis, Zhaobo Lang
Open Access Dissertations
DNA methylation is a key epigenetic mark for transcriptional gene silencing in many eukaryotes. DNA methylation status can be dynamically controlled by methylation and active demethylation processes. Compared to the well-known mechanisms of DNA methylation, the mechanisms of DNA demethylation and its regulation are poorly understood. In order to better understand the DNA demethylation pathway, we developed two genetic screening systems in Arabidopsis to identify new components involved in the DNA demethylation. In the first system, which is based on 35S promoter driven SUC2 (sucrose transporter 2) transgene, a mutant (91-1) was isolated and map-based cloning identified the …
Theory For Diffusional Encounters In Heterogeneous Environments And Multivalent Electrolyte Screening Of Charged Interface, Ran Li
Open Access Dissertations
We develop a theory for encounter rates in a three-dimensional system of connected compartments. The model of connected compartments exhibits the length-scale dependent diffusion that is observed in many heterogeneous environments, such as porous catalysts and biological environments. We discovered a dimensionless number that is the dominant scaling variable and obtained, for the first time, an analytical expression for the encounter rate. The new theory generalizes the classic Smoluchowski diffusion limit to the case of heterogeneous environments. The new theory is tested using Brownian dynamics simulations.^ We also experimentally investigated the behavior of multivalent electrolyte near a charged solid-liquid interface. …
Karyopherin Alpha Subtypes And Porcine Early Stage Embryo Development, Yanfang Li
Karyopherin Alpha Subtypes And Porcine Early Stage Embryo Development, Yanfang Li
Open Access Dissertations
Intracellular communication between the nucleus and cytoplasm is critically important for coordinating cellular events during embryogenesis. The karyopherin α/β heterodimer is an intracellular nuclear trafficking system that mediates nuclear import of proteins that bear classical nuclear localization signals (NLSs). Seven karyopherin α subtypes have been identified in the domestic pig, and while each of these karyopherin α subtypes is able to bind to a nuclear localization signal, individual karyopherin α subtypes have been shown to transport specific NLS-bearing proteins. The objective of this study was to determine the developmental requirements of karyopherin α subtypes (KPNAs) during cleavage development in porcine …
Multidimensional Approach To Comparative Avian Visual Systems, Bret Alan Moore
Multidimensional Approach To Comparative Avian Visual Systems, Bret Alan Moore
Open Access Dissertations
Since the birth of visual ecology, comparative studies on how birds see their world have been limited to a small number of species and tended to focus on a single visual trait. This approach has constrained our ability to understand the diversity and evolution of the avian visual system. The goal of this dissertation was to characterize multiple visual dimensions on bird groups that are highly speciouse (e.g., Passeriformes), and test some hypotheses and predictions, using modern comparative tools, on the relationship between different visual traits and their association with visual information sampling behaviors. First, I developed a novel method …
Structure-Functionality Relationship Of Collagen Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering, Seungman Park
Structure-Functionality Relationship Of Collagen Scaffolds For Tissue Engineering, Seungman Park
Open Access Dissertations
Tissue engineering is a promising technology that enables scientists to create artificial organs or replace damaged tissues using animal cells and other components. For successful tissue regeneration, many factors should be taken into account, however, three components are most crucial: cell, scaffold, and soluble factor(s). In order to check the functionality after regeneration of desired tissues, various approaches have been attempted, depending on the physical, biological, and chemical properties of the tissues. Recently, the importance of the extracellular matrix (ECM) microstructure is being considered to be important in this regard. The ECM is closely associated with various functional properties of …