Life Sciences Commons^™

Proportional Assessment Of X And Y Chromosome-Bearing Spermatozoa In Bull And Boar Ejaculates Using Conventional And Real-Time Pcr Techniques, Julius Braden Paul

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Considerable variation in the percentage of Y-chromosome bearing spermatozoa (%Y-CBS) between ejaculates in the same male has been reported. Collection regime has been speculated to influence the degree of variation in %Y-CBS in bull ejaculates (Chandler et al., 1998). Experiments were designed to evaluate the effects of two collection regimes on %Y-CBS. Conventional PCR combined with gel electrophoresis and image analysis was employed to determine %Y-CBS in ejaculates from two bulls collected on 7-day intervals and two bulls on 21-day intervals. Real-time PCR technology was used to quantify %Y-CBS in the same ejaculates. Boar ejaculates were also analyzed with both …

Characteristics Of Fat Free Yogurt As Influenced By The Incorporation Of Folic Acid, Charles August Boeneke

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Folic acid fortification is used in the prevention of neural tube defects such as spina bifida and ancencephaly, heart defects, facial clefts, urinary tract abnormalities, and limb deficiencies. Although yogurt is not a good source of folic acid, fortification could aid in prevention of above mentioned defects. Fortification of yogurt with folic acid may or may not change its physico-chemical characteristics. Fat free sugar free yogurt was manufactured using 0, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% of the recommended daily allowance of 400 micrograms of folic acid. Treatments included addition of folic acid at these levels before and after pasteurization. Lemon …

Using Self-Determination Theory To Understand African American Women's Physical Activity Patterns, Joan B. Landry

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Physical inactivity is a major health risk factor in our society. Women and minority populations are especially at risk with regard to physical inactivity. This three-part study employed quantitative and qualitative methodologies to investigate physical activity behaviors in middle aged and older African American women. This population was chosen because African American women are the least active segment of our society. In the first phase, a quantitative approach was used to investigate relationships between Self-Determination and the Stage of Change for physical activity in a sample of 105 African American women. This study provided validation for using this theoretical approach …

An Approach To The Measurement Of Sexual Behavior In The Bull (Bos Taurus) Using Variable Female Stimulus Conditions, John Denver Bailey

University of Kentucky Doctoral Dissertations

Most researchers studying sexual behavior of the bull have adopted the practice of severely restraining and sedating female stimuli, utilizing so-called "service stanchions" and quantifying behavioral events expressed by each bull. Based on these observations, bulls are classified as having high, medium, or low libido and ranked according to their ability to "service" the inanimate stimuli. It has been assumed that these methods represent appropriate measurements of reproductive behavior that will be expressed in a natural mating scenario and that bull sexual behavior can be studied in a manner that is independent of the context of the female. Hence, conventional …

Population Structure And Genetics Of Longevity In A Colony Of Dog Guides, John B. Cole

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The objectives of this study were the description of changes in genetic diversity in a colony of dog guides since its founding, and the investigation of the genetics of longevity in that population. Two breeds of dog, German Shepherds (GS) and Labrador Retrievers (LR), were evaluated. There were rapid increases in average pairwise relationship in both breeds, although the average was approximately one-third higher in the GS population than in the LR population. A similar trend was observed for average inbreeding. In the current generation, relationship and inbreeding for all animals averaged 25.3% and 26.2% in GS and 15.5% and …

Arterial And Venous Adaptations To Short-Term Handgrip Exercise Training, Mahmoud Awad Alomari

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

Four studies on vascular and exercise physiology are presented in this document. The 1st study examined the relationships between measures of fitness and FVF in 55 young [22.6 ± 3.5 years] adults. Estimated VO_2peak correlated with arterial inflow (Ainf) [r=0.54; p=0.012] and resting venous outflow (Vout) [r=0.56; p=0.016]. Lastly, HG strength was associated with Vcap [r=0.57; p=0.007] and Vout [r=0.67; p=0.001]. The 2nd study examined the relationship between FVF and exercise tolerance (ExT) in 20 patients with HF [age: 59 ± 13 years] and 10 age-matched controls [age: 51 ± 16 years. The ExT was measured as the maximum …

Potential Functionality And Digestibility Of Oryzanol As Determined Using In Vitro Cell Culture Models, Chih-Chun Jean Huang

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

A mouse lymphatic endothelial cell (SVEC4-10) model and a human intestinal cell (C2BBe1) model in vitro were developed and capable to be used to study antioxidant activity, hypocholesterolemic capability and digestibility of γ-oryzanol. The critical and vital parameters in developing these cell models were the emulsion preparation of hydrophobic compounds for cell models, the consistent management of cell culture, and the selection of cell viability detection methods compatible with the cell lines and the test substances. The results showed that, in some situations, γ-oryzanol could present a more effective antioxidant activity than α-tocopherol, in terms of reducing tert-butyl hydroperoxide promoted …

Table Of Contents

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Histological Effect Of Ascocotyle Tenuicollis (Digenea: Heterophyidae) Metacercarial Infection On The Heart Of Fundulus Heteroclitus (Teleostei: Cyprinodontidae), Toni Hicks, Edna Steele

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

2002 & 2003 Annual Meeting Extended Abstracts

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Some Notes On Multiplicative Congruential Random Number Generators With Mersenne Prime Modulus 261-1., James Harris

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

Scas Officers And Council Members 2003 - 2004

Journal of the South Carolina Academy of Science

No abstract provided.

The Fundamentals Of Forest Certification, Errol E. Meidinger, Christopher Elliott, Gerhard Oesten

Contributions to Books

Published in Social and Political Dimensions of Forest Certification, Errol Meidinger, Christopher Elliott & Gerhard Oesten, eds.

Single-Nucleotide Polymorphisms In Soybean, Y. L. Zhu, Q. J. Song, D. L. Hyten, C. P. Van Tassel, L. K. Matukumalli, D. R. Grimm, S. M. Hyatt, E. W. Fickus, N. D. Young, P. B. Cregan

Department of Agronomy and Horticulture: Faculty Publications

Single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) provide an abundant source of DNA polymorphisms in a number of eukaryotic species. Information on the frequency, nature, and distribution of SNPs in plant genomes is limited. Thus, our objectives were (1) to determine SNP frequency in coding and noncoding soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) DNA sequence amplified from genomic DNA using PCR primers designed to complete genes, cDNAs, and random genomic sequence; (2) to characterize haplotype variation in these sequences; and (3) to provide initial estimates of linkage disequilibrium (LD) in soybean. Approximately 28.7 kbp of coding sequence, 37.9 kbp of noncoding perigenic DNA, and …

Multiple Transporters Associated With Malaria Parasite Responses To Chloroquine And Quinine, Jianbing Mu, Michael T. Ferdig, Xiaorong Feng, Deirdre A. Joy, Junhui Duan, Tetsuya Furuya, G. Subramanian, L. Aravind, Roland A. Cooper, John C. Wootton, Momia Xiong, Xin-Zhuan Su

Biological Sciences Faculty Publications

Mutations and/or overexpression of various transporters are known to confer drug resistance in a variety of organisms. In the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, a homologue of P-glycoprotein, PfMDR1, has been implicated in responses to chloroquine (CO), quinine (ON) and other drugs, and a putative transporter, PfCRT, was recently demonstrated to be the key molecule in CO resistance. However, other unknown molecules are probably involved, as different parasite clones carrying the same pfcrt and pfmdr1 alleles show a wide range of quantitative responses to CO and ON. Such molecules may contribute to increasing incidences of ON treatment failure, the molecular basis …

Regulation Of Zebrafish Hindbrain Development By Fibroblast Growth Factor And Retinoic Acid: A Dissertation, Nicole M. Roy

Biology Faculty Publications

A thesis submitted to the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology and the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences of the University of Massachusetts, Worcester in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology.

Fibroblast growth factor (Fgf) and Retinoic acid (RA) are known to be involved in patterning the posterior embryo. Work has shown that Fgf can convert anterior tissue into posterior fates and that embryos deficient in Fgf signaling lack posterior trunk and tail structures. Likewise, studies performed on RA have shown that overexpression of RA posteriorizes anterior tissue, while disrupting …

Effects Of Social Interaction On The Electric Organ Discharge In A Mormyrid Fish, Gnathonemus Petersii (Mormyridae, Teleostei), Thomas A. Terleph, Peter Moller

Biology Faculty Publications

African weakly discharging electric fish (Mormyridae) use their self-generated electric signals and electroreceptive abilities for orientation and communication in the context of courtship and territorial interactions. This paper documents socially mediated changes in the electric organ discharge (EOD) of subadult Gnathonemus petersii under non-breeding environmental conditions. Increases in EOD duration and changes in the relative phase amplitudes occurred in dominant fish during same-sex (male–male, female–female) and opposite-sex interactions. Similar changes were also observed in fish that were restricted in their physical interactions, suggesting that direct contact is not necessary to induce dominance-typical EOD waveforms. The possible communicative functions of these …

Fecal Coliforms And Antibiotic Resistance Of Tuckahoe Creek, Catherine C. Parker

Honors Theses

The Tuckahoe Creek has been classified impaired by the Virginia Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) indicating that one of the following parameters exceed the accepted limits: pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen (DO), phosphates, nitrates, and concentration of fecal coliforms. Throughout the course of this study, two selected sites have been monitored monthly in order to measure these parameters. Route 288 is located near a construction site, and Route 621 is near Sycamore Creek Golf Course in a more rural area. The results from this study have shown that the fecal coliforms have been uniformly within the set legal limit of 1,000 …

Bacs: An Abundant Bacteroid Protein In Rhizobium Etli Whose Expression Ex Planta Requires Nifa, Olivia Jeanne Jahn, Guillermo Davila, David Romero, K. Dale Noel

Biological Sciences Faculty Research and Publications

Rhizobium etli CFN42 bacteroids from bean nodules possessed an abundant 16-kDa protein (BacS) that was found in the membrane pellet after cell disruption. This protein was not detected in bacteria cultured in tryptone-yeast extract. In minimal media, it was produced at low oxygen concentration but not in a mutant whose nifA was disrupted. N-terminal sequencing of the protein led to isolation of a bacS DNA fragment. DNA hybridization and nucleotide sequencing revealed three copies of the bacS gene, all residing on the main symbiotic plasmid of strain CFN42. A stretch of 304 nucleotides, exactly conserved upstream of all three bacS …

Avian Population Trends Within The Evolving Agricultural Landscape Of The Eastern And Central United States, Michael T. Murphy

Biology Faculty Publications and Presentations

State-level Breeding Bird Survey (1980-1998) and U.S. Department of Agriculture statistics were used to test the hypothesis that changes in agricultural land use within the eastern and central U.S. have driven population trends of grassland and shrub habitat birds over the past two decades. The degree to which population trends differed between grassland and shrub habitats was evaluated with respect to migratory and nesting behavior. Grassland birds declined significantly between 1980 and 1999, but, on average, shrub habitat species did not. Grassland-breeding, long-distance migrants exhibited the strongest negative trends. Most species (78%; n = 63) exhibited at least one significant …

2003 Weed Science Research Report – Green Section, Ndsu Weed Science, Dept. Of Plant Sciences

Plant Sciences Weed Science Reports

The Weed Science team at North Dakota State University conduct field research in the State of North Dakota. This specific document reports on field research conducted in 2003 It includes work on wheat and the management of several weeds in North Dakota.

Spatial And Temporal Heterogeneity Of Anopheles Mosquitoes And Plasmodium Falciparum Transmission Along The Kenyan Coast, Charles M. Mbogo, Joseph M. Mwangangi, Joseph G. Nzovu, Weidong Gu, Guiyan Yan, James T. Gunter, Chris Swalm, Joseph Keating, James L. Regens, Josephat I. Shililu, John I. Githure, John C. Beier

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

The seasonal dynamics and spatial distributions of Anopheles mosquitoes and Plasmodium falciparum parasites were studied for one year at 30 villages in Malindi, Kilifi, and Kwale Districts along the coast of Kenya. Anopheline mosquitoes were sampled inside houses at each site once every two months and malaria parasite prevalence in local school children was determined at the end of the entomologic survey. A total of 5,476 Anopheles gambiae s.l. and 3,461 An. funestus were collected. Species in the An. gambiae complex, identified by a polymerase chain reaction, included 81.9% An. gambiae s.s., 12.8% An. arabiensis, and 5.3% An. merus. Anopheles …

Red Series Reference Values In Healthy People From 15 To 60 Years Old Who Live Between 1700 And 1850 Meters Above Sea Level (Coroico - Nor Yungas - La Paz, 2001), Maria Eugenia Quispe Nina

Theses and Dissertations

This study occurred in the area of Coroico at 1700 meters above sea level and in the community of Carmen Pampa, situated at 1850 meters above sea level. Coroico is the capital of Nor Yungas province, department of La Paz. This study hopes to contribute information on reference values for erythrocyte numbers, hemoglobin values, and hematocrits for people between 15 and 60 years old that live between 1700 and 1850 meters above sea level, with the goal of facilitating precise diagnosing of anemia. The study used samples of healthy people, residents with more than two months in Coroico, of middle …

Effects Of Epiphyte Load On Optical Properties And Photosynthetic Potential Of The Seagrasses Thalassia Testudinum Banks Ex König And Zostera Marina L, Lisa A. Drake, Fred C. Dobbs, Richard C. Zimmerman

OES Faculty Publications

The biomass and optical properties of seagrass leaf epiphytes were measured to evaluate their potential impact on the photosynthetic performance of the seagrasses Thalassia testudinum Banks ex König (turtlegrass) and Zostera marina L. (eelgrass). Turtlegrass was obtained from oligotrophic waters near Lee Stocking Island, Bahamas; eelgrass was collected from a eutrophic environment in Monterey Bay, California. Leaf–epiphyte loads were characterized visually and quantified using measurements of their phospholipid biomass. Light absorption and reflectance of the intact epiphyte layer were determined spectrophotometrically. Turtlegrass epiphytes from the oligotrophic site absorbed a maximum of 36% of incident light in peak chlorophyll absorption …

Extracellular Enzyme Activity And Uptake Of Carbon And Nitrogen Along An Estuarine Salinity And Nutrient Gradient, Margaret R. Mulholland, Cindy Lee, Patricia M. Gilbert

OES Faculty Publications

Amino acid oxidation (AAO) and peptide hydrolysis (PH) are processes affecting the recycling of organic material and nutrients. We compared extracellular AAO and PH rates to C and N uptake rates along estuarine gradients of salinity, nutrients and productivity in the Pocomoke River, a subestuary of the Chesapeake Bay. This estuary is seasonally depleted in inorganic N, and rich in dissolved organic material (DOM) throughout the year. AAO, PH, and N uptake rates measured in 1999 and 2000 were not limited to particular size fractions measured, or to auto- or heterotrophic groups of organisms. At a station near the turbidity …

The Role Of Physical, Chemical, And Microbial Heterogeneity On The Field-Scale Transport And Attachment Of Bacteria, Brian J. Mailloux, Mark E. Fuller, Tullis C. Onstott, James Hall, Hailiang Dong, Mary F. Deflaun, Sheryl H. Streger, Randi K. Rothmel, Maria Green, Donald J. P. Swift, Jon Radke

OES Faculty Publications

A field-scale bacterial transport experiment was conducted at the Narrow Channel Focus Area of the South Oyster field site located in Oyster, Virginia. The goal of the field experiment was to determine the relative influence of subsurface heterogeneity and microbial population parameters on flow direction, velocity, and attachment of bacteria at the field scale. The field results were compared with results from laboratory-scale column experiments to develop a method for predicting field-scale bacterial transport. The field site is a shallow, sandy, unconfined, aerobic aquifer that has been characterized by geophysical, sedimentological, and hydrogeological methods. Comamonas sp. strain DA001 and a …

Demographic Assessment Of The Blue Crab (Callinectes Sapidus) In Chesapeake Bay Using Extractable Lipofuscins As Age Markers, Se-Jong Ju, David H. Secor, H. Rodger Harvey

OES Faculty Publications

The blue crab (Callinectes sapidus) plays an important economic and ecological role in estuaries and coastal habitats from the Gulf of Mexico to the east coast of North America, but demographic assessments are limited by length-based methods. We applied an alternative aging method using biochemical measures of metabolic byproducts (lipofuscins) sequestered in the neural tissue of eyestalks to examine population age structure. From Chesapeake Bay, subsamples of animals collected from the 1998-99 (n-769) and 1999-2000 (n=367) winter dredge surveys were collected and lipofuscin was measured. Modal analysis of the lipofuscin index provided separation into three modes, whereas carapace-width …

Life Values In Youth Sport: A Qualitative Analysis, Carla J. Schmitt

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations (1964–2006)

A qualitative analysis was used to examine the life values gained and enhanced through participation in youth soccer from the player, coach, and parent perspectives. Nine players, nine coaches, and nine parents were interviewed for this study. Participants were placed in groups according to classification and availability, and participants not available for the group times, were individually interviewed. The interview guides consisted of 11 questions, and two separate guides were used, one for players and one for coaches and parents. All interviews were hand, audio, and video recorded. Triangulation, involving the primary researcher and two additional researchers familiar with qualitative …

Experimental Investigation Of Elemental Incorporation In The Otoliths Of Larval And Juvenile Fish: Implications For Use As Environmental Recorders, Gretchen Bath Martin

Biological Sciences Theses & Dissertations

Innovative techniques for discerning fish stocks, identifying nursery habitats, locating spawning sites, tracing larval transport pathways, and quantifying the degree of population connectivity are required to meet the goals of sustainable management of marine capture fisheries. One of the most promising techniques is the use of elemental signatures in fish otoliths (ear stones), which record valuable life history data and serve as the link between fish and their environment. To validate the assumption that otolith elemental composition is a function of water elemental concentrations, and to address the possible effects of external variables such as temperature and salinity, the composition …

Shallow-Water Reefs In Transition: Examples From Belize And The Bahamas, H. Allen Curran, Benjamin J. Greenstein

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

The plight of coral reefs throughout the Caribbean region has been widely reported by reef scientists. A variety of causes has lead to reefal decline, particularly in shallow waters. This study compares the responses of shallow-water reefs in Belize and the Bahamas to outbreaks of white­ band disease (WBD) and traces changes on these reefs to the early 2000s.

Prior to the mid-1980s, reef ridges of the Pelican Cays of Belize were constructed of luxu­ riant stands of Acropora cervicomis. As else­ where, this species suffered massive mortality in mid-1980s owing to WBD, and dead A. cervicor­ nis substrates were …