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Full-Text Articles in Life Sciences

Effect Of Temperature On The Microbiome Of A Laboratory-Reared Colony Of Haemaphysalis Longicornis Ticks, Brianna L. Mitchell May 2023

Effect Of Temperature On The Microbiome Of A Laboratory-Reared Colony Of Haemaphysalis Longicornis Ticks, Brianna L. Mitchell

Honors Theses

Haemaphysalis longicornis ticks are invasive to the United States with potential to transmit several tick-borne pathogens that are native to the United States. Based on existing locations of H. longicornis in its native regions in Asia, as well as its invasive populations that are established in the United States, several geographic range prediction models have been produced to help understand future range expansion and distribution of this invasive tick in North America. Unfortunately, these models do not all agree and there is uncertainty associated with the potential geographic range expansion of H. longicornis ticks in North America. Climate can affect …


Role Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Exoenzymes S, T, And Y In The Modulation Of Intrinsic Apoptosis In Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Andrea M. Vavrinek May 2023

Role Of Pseudomonas Aeruginosa Exoenzymes S, T, And Y In The Modulation Of Intrinsic Apoptosis In Pulmonary Microvascular Endothelial Cells, Andrea M. Vavrinek

Honors Theses

P. aeruginosa is the most common cause of ventilator-associated pneumonia in ICU patients. P. aeruginosa uses a type III secretion system to inject exoenzymes S, T, U, and Y into host cells, exhibiting unique effects. Pulmonary microvascular endothelial cells (PMVECs) are used to evaluate cellular changes caused by exoenzymes. ExoY infection of PMVECs leads to cell rounding but does not lead to cell death, unlike ExoS/T. The current study evaluated the exoenzyme-induced modulation of intrinsic apoptosis in endothelial cells. Strain PAK, producing ExoS, T, and Y, was compared to isogenic strains expressing either S, SY, T, TY, Y, or none …


The Functionally Relevant Role Of Sdrna-19b And Sdrna-24 In Prostate Cancer, Addison A. Barchie Jan 2021

The Functionally Relevant Role Of Sdrna-19b And Sdrna-24 In Prostate Cancer, Addison A. Barchie

Honors Theses

In recent studies small nucleolar RNAs (snoRNA) have been shown to be processed into smaller microRNA-like fragments known as sno-derived RNA (sdRNA). We recently identified 9 snoRNAs that contribute to prostate malignancy using The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA) patient prostate tumor next-generation sequencing datasets. These snoRNA were found to be processed into sdRNAs, heavily misexpressed in prostate cancer cell types 8140 and 8550, and shown to function by binding Ago proteins in order to impact mRNA translation. SdRNA-19b and sdRNA-24 in particular stood out as having significant differential expression in prostate cancer vs. control tissue. Interestingly, the targets for sdRNA-19b …


Characterization Of Bpa Sensitive Strains In C. Elegans, Giulianna I. Escobar Jan 2021

Characterization Of Bpa Sensitive Strains In C. Elegans, Giulianna I. Escobar

Honors Theses

Bisphenol A (BPA) has been present in our environment since 1891 when it was first synthesized by Aleksandr Dianin. BPA has since been a topic of interest due to the possibility of diseases associated in human consumption of the chemical. Interestingly, Caenorhabditiselegans, commonly known as C.eleganshave shown to be able to tolerate the chemical. Thisorganism is an advantageous model organism for research since they are simple organisms to study, cheap, produce a large brood size, and have a short life cycle. Previously a forward genetic screen was done to isolate 2000 healthy strains in order to determine which strains showed …


The Role Of Inflammasome In Vascular Remodeling Following Injury, Ted Amadi Jan 2021

The Role Of Inflammasome In Vascular Remodeling Following Injury, Ted Amadi

Honors Theses

The purpose of the project presented in this thesis is to assess the contribution of inflammasome activation in mediating vascular wall remodeling that occurs following carotid artery injury due to decreased blood flow. To examine this, we used a mouse model of carotid artery ligation in mice lacking the expression of a key mediator of the inflammasome signaling pathway. Following ligation, we completed a histological assessment to compare the degree of the neointima formation and expression of inflammasome related proteins in both injured and the non-injured contralateral carotid artery in both wild-type (WT) and Caspase 1 knockout mice (Cas1 -/-).


Relationship Between Narcissism, The Economy, And The Pandemic, Ruby A. Staten Jan 2021

Relationship Between Narcissism, The Economy, And The Pandemic, Ruby A. Staten

Honors Theses

Narcissists are more likely to be found in individualistic cultures. The study focuses on the economic decline associated from the pandemic and the reduced narcissism levels in the population. Narcissism levels from the University of South Alabama undergraduate students would be lower in Fall 2020 compared to Fall 2019. This was assessed using students enrolled in introductory psychology courses during either Fall 2019 or Fall 2020 semesters who completed the Narcissistic Personality Inventory during a subject pool registration process. Predictions were made that the NPI scores would be lower for the Fall 2020 sample compared to the Fall 2019 sample.