Life Sciences Commons^™

Rise To Power Of Senator Joseph R. Mccarthy: Reflections Of The Cold War Mccarthy Era In American Film, Scott Lainer

Honors Theses

The common bond between much of the film industry and Joseph McCarthy was insecurity and the drive for national approval. If one grasps the specific characteristics of McCarthy the man, and the methods of these politically "inspired" movies, we can to better place the period into context and acknowledge the fact that, if the citizenry is not aware, and is again caught by an ever-building wave of trickle down sentiment, the 1950s might not prove to be an isolated period in American history. Insecurity was not a fifties novelty. It still exists, and could potentially escalate anti-Communist policy and sentiment …

The Effects Of Strain Differences On The Binding Of Concavalian A To Mouse Sperm, Lisa A. Mckay

Honors Theses

The current study, lectins were used as genetic probes to determine the phenotype of the sperm from different strains of mice. Lectins are proteins of non-immune origin, which bind to specific carbohydrates (McCoy, 1986). Being that virtually all cell membranes contain carbohydrate components, lectins have been used to identify all types of cells. In this study, a biotinylated lectin Concavalian A (Con A) derived from Canavalia ensiformis, was used and binding was detected using an avidin-biotin peroxidase (ABP) complex technique. The object of the current research was to 1) determine if mouse strain differences have an effect on lectin binding, …

Description Of The Form Of Wing-Flashing Behavior In Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus Polyglottos), Lyn M. Harper, Kathryn J. Schneider

Honors Theses

The purpose of this study was to describe the form and location of wing-flashing behavior in mockingbirds and to identify differences in flashing between young and adult birds through film analysis techniques and observation. Subjects consisted of 50 mockingbirds from the University of Richmond campus. Analyses of the data suggested that there were three types of wing-flashes based on degree of wing extension. Flashes were most likely to occur in direct sunlight and in grass. No significant differences in the form of flashes between adult and juvenile mockingbirds were found. It is hoped that this study will provide insight into …

The Effect Of Bilateral Adrenalectomy On The Electrocardiogram Of Meriones Unguiculatus, Jeff A. Brown

Honors Theses

The effects of adrenalectomy on the heart rate and electrical potentials of the heart of the Mongolian gerbil were studied (using an EKG) in an attempt to determine in hyperkalemia is the cause of its short survival time following adrenal ablation.

The Distribution Of The Ctenophore, Mnemiopsis Leidyi (A. Agassiz), In A Vertical Thermal Gradient, James J. Leder Iii

Honors Theses

The distribution of organisms in an estuary is affected by a plethora of environmental factors. The ctenophore, Mnemiopsis leidyi, is found to exists over a wide range of these factors, temperature and salinity in particular, allowing it to occupy the estuary year round and make use of low salinity areas unavailable to most marine organisms.

A Quantitative Study Of The Distinctive Proteins Of The Eosinophil: A Comparison Of Normals And Eosinophilic Patients, James M. Olson

Honors Theses

Eosinophils have long been associated with parasitic and allergic diseases. Methods of procurement and purification of eosinophils in the last ten years have allowed intensive investigation into their components, properties, functions, and mechanisms (Gleich et al, 1982). The goals of this project are to separate eosinophils in blood samples taken from patients with eosinophilia and from normals based on density over distontinuous Metrizamide gradients; to determine quantitatively the levels of the three distinctive proteins of the eosinophil, specifically MBP, EDN, and ECP; and to compare the levels of these proteins found in eosinophils of patients with eosinophilia to the amounts …

Wood Anatomy And Relationships Of Neowawraea (Euphorbiaceae), Dörthe S. Brandt, W. John Hayden

Honors Theses

Wood anatomy of three specimens of Neowawraea phyllanthoides Rock, a rare and endangered member of Euphorbiaceae endemic to the Hawaiian Islands, is described and compared with woods of other genera of subfamily Phyllanthoideae. Neowawraeahas often been associated or synonymized with Drypetes Vahl. Wood of Neowawraea is diffuse porous, perforation plates are simple, imperforate tracheary elements are thin-walled septate fiber-tracheids, rays are heterocellular and crystalliferous, and axial xylem parenchyma is restricted to a few scanty paratracheal and terminal cells. In several respects these results differ from earlier published descriptions of the wood of this taxon; these earlier descriptions are shown …

Cytogenetic Test Of Captan And Triethylenemelamine In Mouse Bone Marrow, Stephen M. Fry

Honors Theses

Following a single non-toxic i.p. injection with 0.5 or 1.0 mg triethylenemelamine/kig a significant increase in chromosome aberrations in mouse bone marrow was observed 6, 12, 30, but not 54 h after treatment. A single i.p. injection with 250 mg captan/kig caused up to 68% lethality above controls, but no significant increase in chromosome aberrations after the same time intervals. One metacentric chromosome was observed 6, 30, and 54 h after captan treatment among 300, 300, and 101 metaphase spreads respectively, whereas none appeared in 1495 control spreads.

Adaptive Mechanisms For Aquatic Existence In Freshwater Turtles, Oscar Gloor

Honors Theses

Naturalists have often marveled at the ability of some air-breathing vertebrates to remain underwater for long periods of time (that is, "long" from man's reckoning). Seals, penguins, porpoises, and whales are all noted fro their ability to use oxygen stored in various ways to permit them to "stay under" for many minutes.

The return of vertebrates, which evolved on land, to an aquatic existence has been a much discussed subject from an evolutionary standpoint. That there are many advantages to life underwater is easily seen simply by the fact that, according to fossil records, terrestrial life arose from the sea. …

Physiological Adaptations Of Aquatic Turtles, Oscar Gloor

Honors Theses

Naturalists have long noted the remarkable ability of aquatic turtles to remain submerged for long periods of time. Only recently, though, has much serious attention been given to discovering the mechanisms which enable turtles to survive for so long in the relatively hypoxic aquatic environment.

The Great Potato Debate, James D. Hudson

Honors Theses

Anencephaly and spina bifida cystica are two of the most common severe congenital malformations consistently observed in human populations. Both represent defects in the neural tube and share a significant number of similar epidemiological associations among them, occupational class, geography, sex ratio, maternal age, year and season of the year. In anencephaly most of the brain and upper skull never form usually resulting in death within a few hours of birth. Spina bifida cystica is a malformation of the spinal cord often causing paralysis, vulnerability to infection, and early death. In 1972, Dr. J.H. Renwick presented a controversial hypothesis which …

Response Of Insects To U.V. Light And Varying Intensities Of White Light, Tim Matthews

Honors Theses

Object: To determine the sensitivity of insects to ultraviolet light and also to verify their response to varying intensities of white light.

Theory: Insects are generally sensitivity to light of any wave-length. Some insects' reactions are due to the response of specialized epidermal cells whereas the center of most response is in the compound eye. The reaction is generally thought to be due to an electro-chemical reaction within the light sensitive cells of the compound eye, i.e. mainly the cells of the crystalline cone and the rhabdomere. Insects tend to react more strongly to light in the ultraviolet region although …

Response Of Insects To Ultraviolet Light As Compared To White Light And Observation Of Other Factors Involved In Their Response, Part 2, Tim Matthews

Honors Theses

The goal of this experiment was to confirm the response of insects to ultraviolet light as compared to white light. This is the data collecting portion of the experiment.

Another equally important objective was simply to observe and record the insects' response to the light and their relation to factors other than the light itself. The possibility of a connection between the number of insects attracted to the light and the intensity of the moonlight was not thought of until later in the experiment.

To develop my powers of observation was an important goal. Any type of research is more …

A Brief Summary Of Insects's Vision And Their Response To Light, Tim Matthews

Honors Theses

Insects have been studied and observed since man first walked this earth. Man's first observation was that some insects were quite palatable. One of Christ's contemporary's, John the Baptist, maintained a diet which consisted of "honey and locusts". The spittings of another insect provided nourishment for the Children of Israel during the Exodus. Even today insects are of primary importance in the ecology. It is only a small minority of the insect population that are nuisances. The vast majority of the insect population is not only beneficial to man but also to the rest of the animal kingdom and to …

Experimentation To Develop Procedures To Be Used In The Investigation Of The Effects Of Restriction On The Unmodified Dna Of The Bacteriophage Lamda, John Haynes

Honors Theses

The results of experimentation approximately twenty years ago with variuos bacteriophages by Ralston and Krueger¹⁶, Anderson and Felix¹, Luria and Human¹², and by Bertani and Weigle² have shown that the host range of a given phage depends directly on the bacterial strain on which the phage has last propagated. This event came to be known as host-induced modification or host-controlled variation. As this phage host range is controlled by the host environment and can be altered from one generation to another it has, according to Luria, made microbiology "the last stronghold of Lamarckism" …

A New Me: A Study In Diet Therapy, Marsha Ellis

Honors Theses

Obesity is a major problem in our nation today. It Seems that we are eating too much and exercising too little. We can analyze, discuss, and write about obesity from now through eternity. However all of this is in vain, unless it causes us to lose weight.

A Comparative Consideration Of Lipoprotein Distribution And Stress Response In The Mallard Duck And Man, Janice Mackay

Honors Theses

Lipid is associated with all of the major serum protein fractions of both the mallard duck and man. however, whereas the ρ lipoproteins predominate in man with little lipo-albumin evident, according to available literature, in ducks the lipo-albumin constitutes more than half of the serum lipoproteins, and a substantial lipo-prealbumin fraction is evident. Most studies of lipo-proteins are carried out on human serum primarily for the purpose of diagnosis of abnormalities. The stress response in many animals includes a rise in serum α-globulin levels, but its physiological basis is still speculative. While a consideration of the changes in lipoprotein distribution …

The Effects Of Moist-Heat Treatments And Stratification On Germination Of Prairie Plant Seeds, John E. Stuurwold

Honors Theses

Germination of Silphium terebinthenaceum was enhanced by a post-stratification most-heat treatment at 80°C. Tested seeds of four other perennial herbs common to midwestern prairies (Andropogon scoparius, Sorghastrum nutans, Eryngium yuccifolium, and Solidago rigida) showed little adverse or beneficial effects of the heat treatment. Heat treatments alone had little effect on the seeds; the length of stratification periods necessary to effect maximal germination varied. The significance of these findings is examined in the light of related literature on grassland fire ecology.

Inadequacies In The American Diet, Emma Gail White

Honors Theses

Good nutrition for people of all ages for health maintenance as well as restoration of health is an economic, political and humanitarian concern. Unfortunately, millions of people in North America experience some degree of malnutrition as a result of ignorance or poverty or both. This paper discusses inadequacies in the American diet, the causes of those inadequacies, influences on American diets, and ways the diet may be improved. The paper also provides the results of a dietary survey and a survey of economic groups.

The Role Of D-Gluconic Acid In The Regulation Of The Synthesis Of The Enzymes Of The Entner-Doudoroff Pathway In Pseudomonas Fluorescens, Steven C. Quay

Honors Theses

Induction of Entner-Duodoroff pathway enzymes in Pseudomonas fluorescens was investigated to study the role of gluconate as a possible inducer. Glucose oxidase-deficient mutants were isolated and characterized. One of these mutants, gox-7, was deficient in particulate glucose oxidase; another mutant, gox-17, was deficient in particulate glucose and gluconate oxidase activities. Gluconate, but not glucose, induced synthesis of gluconokinase and 6-phosphogluconate dehydratase in both mutants. High constitute levels of 2-keto-3-deoxy-6-phosphogluconate aldolase were found when both mutants were grown on glucose. Growth of parent and both mutant strains on glycerol also resulted in high levels of Entner-Doudoroff pathway enzymes. It was concluded …

An Ecological Study Of Coliform Bacteria Associated With Vaccinium Corymbosum, Harry C. Bittenbender

Honors Theses

Recent research has shown that there are coliform populations associated with the cultivated high bush blueberry, Vaccinium corynbosum. This study is aimed at determining the ecology of these colofirms, as they are related to blueberry production from the farm to the warehouse. Tests will be made to identify the Salmonella group, those associated with "food poisoning." Total bacterial coliform counts will also be made. This paper is primarily an ecological study of the coliforms found on blueberry farms near Grand Junction, though fruit samples were taken from all warehouses of the M.B.G.A.

Plant Galls, Michael Paul Grisham

Honors Theses

Plant galls, or cedidia, are defined as

...pathologically developed cells, tissues, or organs of plants that have risen mostly by hypertrophy and hyperplasy under the influence of parasitic organisms like bacteria, fungi, nematoda, mites, or insects.

The plant gall is unique in providing not only food, but shelter as well for its host. While the host benefits, damage to the plant results. Among other things sap flow is disturbed, premature decay results, non-essential parts are developed at the cost of essential parts, and many other injuries occur. A few examples of the benefits of plan galls may be cited. Nitrogen …

Readings On Evolution, Nancy Goodson

Honors Theses

For this special studies project, several books by and about Charles Darwin were read and summarized.

Special Studies In Evolution, Chris A. Abernathy

Honors Theses

A review of books and readings on evolution.

A Continuation Of Research On The Experiments With Chemical Stimulants Upon The Learning Process Of Planaria, Allen Ray Threet

Honors Theses

This semester's work for no credit within the Honors Special Studies has been a continuation of research for the Fall Semester of 1967. I have exhausted the periodical listings available concerning the chemical experiments undertaken with planaria. Enclosed is a reading list of articles and books which were read and considered for the paper "Experiments with Chemical Stimulants Upon the Learning Process of Planaria."

The Presence Of Iron In Surface Waters, James Phelan

Honors Theses

Iron is found in most natural surface waters, although in widely varying amounts, depending on several factors relating to the water and its environment. This report is designed primarily to gain an understanding of these factors contributing to the stability and solubility of iron in these natural waters.