Life Sciences Commons^™

Predator Deterrence In The Central Newt, Notophthalmus Viridescens Louisianensis (Wolterstorff) With Notes On Salamander Antipredator Strategies, Malcolm Mccallum

Masters Theses

The effectiveness of the skin secretions of Notophthalmus viridescens as a predator deterrent has been well documented. Still, there have been documented cases of predation on this salamander. This study investigates the ability of a variety of herptiles to feed on N. viridescens louisianensis.

In the first experiment, plethodonts and efts were fed on alternate weeks to snakes. Latency of response, anatomical location of predator attack, and behaviors displayed by predators and prey were recorded during each trial.

In the second experiment, tongue flick frequency by T. sirtalis to the essence of live N. viridescens louisianensis, Eurycea cirigerra …

A Biosystematic Study Of Three Plant Pathogenic Fungi, Richard James Langham

Masters Theses

Isolates of Chalara australis, Eucalypt Ceratocystis, and Ceratocystis virescens were grown on Potato Dextrose Agar, Malt Extract Agar, and Czapek Agar and examined as part of a biosystematic study on these fungi. Basic micromorphological and macromorphological data on the cultures were recorded and the taxa were found to be morphologically similar. Tissue isolates and single spore isolates were crossed within these taxa and an interspecific cross performed. Chalara australis was found to be either asexual or have only one mating type present in the cultures studied. Eucalypt Ceratocystis was found to have a mating system characteristic of bipolar …

Relative Sensitivities Of Diatoms To Selected Heavy Metals, Jennifer E. Carlson

Masters Theses

Baseline data, including diatom community structure, metal concentrations of water, sediments and periphyton of the Embarras River were determined previously (Vaultonburg, 1991). Data on diatom community structure in conjunction with efforts to identify relative sensitivity of diatoms may be useful in establishing an effective method for biomonitoring metal pollution in the Embarras River and other aquatic systems. The main objectives of this project were: i) develop a bioassay method; ii) evaluate relative toxicities of several metals towards diatoms; and, iii) evaluate relative sensitivities of diatoms toward dissolved metals.

Unialgal cultures of Cyclotella meneghiniana, Navicula vaucheriae, and Nitzschia palea were isolated …

An Evaluation Of Benthic Macroinvertebrate Community Structure And Sediment Toxicity In Lake Taylorville, Sanhita Datta

Masters Theses

Sediments act as a "sink" for xenobiotics which can be accumulated by a variety of organisms and thereby enter the food chain contaminating fish, wildlife and humans. Although the chemical nature of these substances can be known by direct chemical analysis of the sediments, the significance of the contaminants and their bioavailability should be determined through bioassay techniques. A survey of the benthic macroinvertebrates of Lake Taylorville, a reservoir in central Illinois which is fed by two rivers that drain a primarily agricultural area, revealed a rather depauperate fauna. Subsequent studies were conducted in order to identify the underlying cause …

Zooplankton Community Structure As A Function Of Abiotic And Biotic Factors Prior To A Multiphased Restoration Effort, John H. Ensign Jr.

Masters Theses

Lake Taylorville, an impoundment on the South Fork of the Sangamon River, is located just south of Taylorville in Christian County, Illinois. The tributaries of this reservoir drain primarily agricultural areas and contribute to degradation of the reservoir through excessive sediment and nutrient loading. A restoration project is underway which involves construction of sediment basins and dry dams. Analysis of the crustacean zooplankton community has formed an integral part of an intensive limnological investigation of the reservoir during the initial stages of the restoration effort. Seasonal variation in the composition, and density of the major groups was observed. Rotifers (Brachionus …

Frequency Of Attainment Of Plateau In Maximal Oxygen Consumption In Differentially Trained Athletes, Jeffrey Michael Seda

Masters Theses

A plateau in oxygen consumption during exercise testing has been considered a requisite indicator of achievement of true maximal oxygen consumption. The wide range of reported percentages of subjects revealing a plateau (7 to 80 percent) indicates that closer analysis of factors that may influence plateau attainment is necessary. This study examined the frequency of plateau attainment in two groups of differentially trained subjects. One group (TR) of 12 males (ages 18-36) were trained runners and the other group (WL) of 12 males (ages 18-31) consisted of trained weight lifters. The subjects participated in a series of maximal exercise tests …

The Relative Weight (Wr) Condition Index As A Predictor Of Growth, Prey Abundance And Environmental Conditions, Hongsheng Liao

Masters Theses

We evaluated the relative weight (W_r) condition index for assessment of growth, prey availability and environmental conditions in fish populations. Standard weight (W_s) equations for pumpkinseed (Lepomis gibbosus) and golden shiner (Notemigonus crysoleucas) from 302 pumpkinseed and 285 golden shiner populations, with well over 10,000 fish of each species, were developed with regression-line-percentile (RLP) technique. The proposed W_s equation in metric units for pumpkinseed is log₁₀W_s = -5.179 + 3.237 log10TL, and for golden shiner is log10W_s = -5.593 + 3.302 log10TL. The English-unit versions of these equations were also developed. …

Artificial Cavity Box Use By Eastern Screech Owl, Otus Asio, Lori A. Davis

Masters Theses

Screech owl use of 29 artificial cavity boxes placed in wooded habitat on a 14.6 hectare study area in east central Illinois was monitored from 1975 through 1993. A total of 28 screech owls were captured a total of 155 times. Two to 4 adults were usually present and 3 broods were reared in the boxes. The time between first and last capture of birds taken 4 or more times ranged from 270 to 2589 days (average 1740 days). Home range of 5 owls captured 8 to 17 times ranged from 0.45 to 6.0 ha. Cavity boxes were used more …

The Effect Of High Intensity Exercise Training Verses Low Intensity Exercise Training On Fractionated Plasma High-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol, Teresa L. Spate

Masters Theses

Exercise training is thought to result in an elevation of high-density lipoprotein (HDL) and the cardioprotective subfraction HDL{dollar}\sb2{dollar}. Twenty-five healthy women (39 {dollar}\pm{dollar} 7.8 yrs; 70 {dollar}\pm{dollar} 14 kg) walked two miles three times per week for 12 weeks to examine the effect of exercise intensity on the HDL profile. The L.I. group (N = 12) walked at 60% of the heart rate reserve (HRR) and the H.I. group (N = 13) walked at 80% HRR both maintaining the prescribed distance and frequency. A 22% increase in total HDL (from 32 {dollar}\pm{dollar} 6 to 39 {dollar}\pm{dollar} 8 mg/dl) and a …

Ecology Of The Spotted Turtle, Clemmys Guttata At The Western Range Limit, Thomas P. Wilson

Masters Theses

No abstract provided.

Anatomical And Sem Studies Of The Pericarp And Aleurone Layer Of Two Supersweet Corn Cultivars, Tufail Ahmed

Masters Theses

Supersweet corn (Zea mays L. var. rugosa.) which contain endosperm mutant shrunken -2 exhibits low seed vigor and poor field emergence especially when soil temperature is 10-15 °C. Based on their emergence in the field at low temperature, they can be divided into two groups as tolerant and sensitive cultivars. Two cultivars 'Illini Gold' (Tolerant) and 'Honey 'n' Pearl' (Sensitive) were studied to see any anatomical differences, holes and cracks in the pericarp and air pockets between pericarp and aleurone layer. Significant differences were found in the thickness of pericarp. 'Illini Gold' cultivar has thicker pericarp and thin walled aleurone …

Can Critical Power Predict And Monitor Swimming Performance?, Michelle L. Stoppenhagen-Noll

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if critical power (CP) can be used to predict and monitor swimming performance. Fifteen female collegiate swimmers from Eastern Illinois University volunteered as subjects for this study. CP was measured on an arm ergometer. Freestyle performances in the 50 and 100 yard distances were also measured. All three tests were measured both pre- and post-season. Results indicated that CP can predict performance in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle swims. Those with higher CP will swim faster. CP can monitor improvement in 50 yard times. CP is not a good indicator of …

The Slip Velocity Of Coating Formulations Using The High-Shear Viscometer, Daniel Parker Krieger

Masters Theses

When using a cup and bob viscometer, it has long been recognized that errors in the viscosity measurement can arise from several factors, among them slip. Slip is a phenomenon which occurs when there are slipping layers in the fluid under shear, causing a non-uniform velocity gradient to be generated across the gap of the cup and bob viscometer. A layer of fluid at either the bob or cup wall moves faster than the adjoining layers, causing the slipping effect. This leads to a low viscosity calculation for the fluid.

In this study, experiments with coating formulations were conducted using …

The Effect Of Viscosity In Beveled Blade Coating, Salih Cebe

Masters Theses

The objective of this study was to investigate the effects of several types of coating viscosity on coat weight development during the beveled blade coating process. In this study, the effects of several types of coating viscosity were experimentally investigated at the applicator roll, before and underneath the blade. Coating color viscosities were changed through two methods. The first method involved changing the temperature of coating color at constant carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) concentration, while the second method consisted of varying the CMC concentration in coating formula at constant coating temperature.

Coating viscosity had an influencing effect both on the amount of …

Complete Nucleotide Sequence Of Psti-L Fragment Of Tanapox Virus Genomic Dna, Sarah J. Neering

Masters Theses

Tanapox virus (TPV), of the genus Yatapoxvirus, is a human poxvirus that was originally isolated from the Tana River Valley in Kenya in 1962. TPV produces a mild disease characterized by a short febrile illness associated with one or more nodular skin lesions. Although there have been limited studies on TPV, other poxviruses such as vaccinia virus, have been extensively characterized and their genomic DNAs sequenced. In order to examine the molecular features of TPV, we have cloned approximately 17% of the genomic DNA. TPV DNA was digested with Pstl restriction endonuclease and cloned into pUC19. The Pst …

Inhibition Of Cytochrome P-450 But Not Neutrophil Depletion Prevents The Pulmonary Toxicity Associated With 1-Nitronaphthalene, Steven Michael Green

Masters Theses

1-Nitronaphthalene (1-NN) is an environmental contaminant that has been shown to cause pulmonary toxicity in rodents. To examine the contribution of cytochrome P-450 to the metabolism and subsequent toxicity of 1-NN, rats were pretreated with chloramphenicol, a suicide substrate of P-450. To determine if inflammation plays a role in 1-NN toxicity, rats were pretreated with cyclophosphamide to deplete neutrophils. In both experiments, morphological analysis of the lower airways was performed with light and electron microscopy. A second group of animals was examined for biochemical indicators of inflammation and cell damage. The parameters examined were cell content, protein content and lactate …

Corticolous Bryophytes Of East-Central Illinois, R. Korkut Canayakin

Masters Theses

Among the numerous factors that influence epiphytic corticolous bryophytes, inclination, "raintracks", aspect, and phorophyte seem to play important role.

In order to determine the effects of these factors, 203 forest trees located in five sites has been examined. The results were arranged in tables and charted.

The Oxyporinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) Of Illinois, Rodney S. Hanley

Masters Theses

The monogeneric subfamily Oxyporinae (Coleoptera: Staphylinidae) is composed of the genus Oxyporus Fabricius. Members of the genus are obligate inhabitants of higher, fleshy mushrooms. The Illinois fauna of Oxyporus includes nine species from two subgenera which are treated in this study. A key to the identification of adults, descriptions, fungal host lists, and distributional maps are provided for each species. The most commonly collected species in Illinois are O. occipitalis, O. stygicus, O. major, and O. vittatus; uncommon or rare species are O. lateralis, O. quinquemaculatus (a new record for Illinois), O. femoralis femoralis, …

The Effect Of Heart Rate And Rating Of Perceived Exertion While Exercising On The Stairmaster 4000pt With And Without Upper Body Support, Nicole Lamkin

Masters Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if any differences exists between heart rate and rating of perceive exertion during exercise on the StairMaster 4000pt with and without upper body support. Thirteen female intercollegic athletes were examined during a 1.5 mile run and eight minutes of supported and eight minutes of non-supported StairMaster exercise. The subjects worked at a slow step rate for the first two minutes (4.9 METs) and the last six minutes each subject worked at 70% of their submaximal level achieved on the 1.5 mile run. Variables measured included HR and RPE. A one factor ANOVA …

Cardiovascular Responses Of Trained Cyclists To Different Pedaling Rates At A Constant Power Output On A Cycle Ergometer, David C. Immke

Masters Theses

Previous research has not resolved the issue as to which pedaling rate is the most efficient in terms of oxygen uptake (VO₂) for competitive cyclists. The purpose of this study was to determine the most efficient pedaling rate (30, 60, or 90 rpm) at steady state submaximal cycling (720 kpm/min) for trained cyclists. Eight healthy subjects (all male) were examined during steady state exercise for each of the three trials for which work rate was kept constant with varying pedal rate and resistance. Variables included oxygen uptake, cardiac output, heart rate, stroke volume, arterio-venous O₂ difference, respiratory …

Phylogenetic Relationships Within The Batagur Complex (Testudines: Emydidae: Batagurinae), Jean M. Capler

Masters Theses

Relationships between 10 species of the batagurine genera Batagur, Callagur, Kachuga, Hardella, and Morenia are discussed based on a cladistic analysis of 35 morphological characters. Ocadia sinensis (Emydidae: Batagurinae) was used as the outgroup species. Four cladograms were produced with a length of 59.0 steps and a 0.75 consistency index. In contrast with previous studies, Hardella and Morenia do not appear as a monophyletic clade. Instead, Hardella is included with the remaining ingroup taxa (exclusive of Morenia) based on five synapomorphies. The present genus Kachuga was determined to be paraphyletic, having excluded the present genera Batagur and Callagur. The pangshura …

An Investigation Of The Host Specificity Of The Brown-Headed Cowbird, Brian D. Peer

Masters Theses

We attempted to determine the factors associated with the lack of parasitism of the Common Grackle (Quiscalus quiscula) by the Brown-headed Cowbird (Molothrus ater). We investigated the breeding phenology of the two species, the responses of colonial- and noncolonial-nesting grackles to female cowbird models, the frequency of artificial egg rejection by grackles, incubation success of cowbird eggs transferred into grackle nests, and the survival rates of cowbirds cross-fostered into grackle nests.

By the time cowbirds began egg-laying at our study sites, 88.5 % of all grackle nests were beyond the point of successful parasitism. Grackles responded …

The Relationship Between Lifespan And Reproduction In The Giant Waterbug (Belostoma Flumineum), Wendy Nixdorf

Masters Theses

The evolutionary significance of senescence and death is poorly understood. Life history theory suggests that the allocation of energy to growth or reproduction is necessarily associated with a decrease in energy available for maintenance of the soma. This study attempted to determine if an investment in reproduction would decrease longevity in the giant waterbug (Belostoma flumineum). Male and female waterbugs were collected from the field as last instar stage nymphs and maintained under controlled laboratory conditions. Individuals were randomly assigned to mating effort treatments, (virgins or breeders with breeding efforts ranging from 1 to >5 times). Following breeding, …

Lichen Communities On White Oaks In East-Central Illinois, Michael R. Thon

Masters Theses

This study was conducted as a survey of epiphytic lichen communities occurring on white oak trees at Walnut Point State Park (Douglas Co.) and Fox Ridge State Park (Coles Co.). Using a system of cover classes to estimate lichen cover, quantitative data on the distribution and abundance of epiphytic lichens was obtained. These data were used to calculate summary statistics of each community including total cover, species richness, and Shannon diversity. A total of ten taxa representing six genera were found. The foliose lichen Physcia millegrana had the highest cover in the open canopy habitats while all other taxa had …

Breeding Systems In Spiranthes Magnicamporum Sheviak, Christopher D. Loyet

Masters Theses

A study of the ecology, breeding systems, and pollinators of Spiranthes magnicamporum Sheviak was undertaken in fall 1992. An initial survey of three glacial drift hill prairies revealed sexual activity in this species via removed pollinia. Two hill prairie populations were used for pollination study. In each population, five individuals were randomly selected and crossed using autogamic, geitonogamic, and xenogamic methods. In addition, ten individuals were fitted with pollinator-exclusion bags. After capsule formation, all plants were harvested. They were examined in the lab for general morphology, the presence or absence of embryo formation, and the prescence of sexual or asexual …

Vegetation And Tree Survival In A Savanna Restoration Project, Vermilion County, Illinois, Mary Claire Hruska

Masters Theses

This study involved pre-burn and post-burn inventories of herbaceous and woody vegetation, a post-burn tree survival survey, the development and implementation of a management plan for the savanna restoration site and the development of general guidelines for savanna restoration. An herbarium collection was made, 242 species representing 64 families were found on the site.

There were several significant changes in the density and frequency of vegetation after the burn. The following herbaceous species increased significantly in frequency: Agalinis tenuifolia (Vahl.) Raf, Ambrosia artemisiifolia L., Carex spp., Cassia fasciculata Michx., Desmodium glabellum (Michx.) DC., Dichanthelium acuminatum (Sw.) Gould & Clark var. …

The Effects Of Turf Compression On Plants Growth Regulator Efficacy, William Lyle Petersen

Masters Theses

A 150kg lawn roller was used in combination with various Plant Growth Regulators (PGR) (Embark & Event, Event & Oust, Embark & Oust, Escort & Oust, Telar & Oust, Event & Balan, Oust & Balan, and Balan) to evaluate its affects on the growth rate of rough turf at the Coles County Airport. The rolled plots were evaluated for height, reduction of seedheads, phytotoxicity, and weed control. Rolling was of no significance to treated or untreated turf. PGR combinations containing Oust were significantly better at reducing turf height than combinations lacking Oust. PGR combinations lacking Oust discolored turf significantly less …

Ecology Of The State Endangered Yellow Mud Turtle, Kinosternon Flavescens In Henry Co., Illinois, Michael W. Tuma

Masters Theses

Illinois populations of the state endangered yellow mud turtle (Kinosternon flavescens) persist in scattered locations on sand prairies. The largest population occurs on a remnant sand prairie of the former Green River Marsh in Henry Co. A study was conducted during 1992 to determine important criteria for preserve design. These criteria included extent of turtle movements within the site and habitat use. Turtles were captured by aquatic hoop traps, drift fence, and by hand from May 11 to August 31. A total of 16 adults, four juveniles, and eight hatchlings were captured. Population size was estimated at 44.80 adults using …

Biotic, Abiotic, And Behavioral Patterns Associated With The Nocturnal Movements Of Shrews, Patrick T. Sullivan

Masters Theses

Thirteen trails left by shrews coated with fluorescent powder were examined for microhabitat documentation. Thirteen data parameters were collected from each trail, two of which differed significantly between Blarina brevicauda and Sorex longirostris. The small soricid Sorex longirostris was captured in areas with higher grass content, and lower wooded content, than the larger Blarina brevicauda. The difference in microhabitat use may be a key mechanism in reducing competition between these two species.

Effects Of Music And Sensory Deprivation On Ratings Of Perceived Exertion And Exercise Affect, James Chinery

Masters Theses

Music as an ergogenic aid is a novel concept, and one that has been sporadically researched. The purpose of this thesis was to study the effects of music and sensory deprivation on ratings of perceived exertion during exercise.

Eleven active males (i.e. they exercised at least 3 times a week), were tested in three different conditions (music, sensory deprivation, control). They exercised in each condition, at workloads corresponding to 50, 70 and 90% of their maximal oxygen consumption. The sessions and workloads within each session were randomized.

No significant differences were found for heart rate between conditions. Significantly lower perceived …