Life Sciences Commons^™

Dissolved Organic Matter Influences The Timing Of Embryonic Development Of The Purple Sea Urchin, Strongylocentrotus Purpuratus., Corbin J. Hodges

Master's Theses

Marine dissolved organic matter (DOM) comprises one of the largest carbon reservoirs on earth and has long been considered a potential energy source for marine invertebrates. The importance of DOM transport has been adequately demonstrated for unicellular organisms, where DOM can meet 100% of an organisms energy needs, but the effects of DOM uptake for marine metazoans are less well understood. In this study, three general areas involving the influence of DOM transport to marine invertebrates were explored. First, we assessed the effects of using seawater exposed to high intensity ultraviolet radiation (UVR) on the study organism; embryos of the …

Non-Target Effects Of The 'Push-Pull' Habitat Management Strategy: Parasitoid Activity And Soil Fauna Abundance, Charles A.O. Midega, Zeyaur R. Khan, Johnnie Van Den Berg, Callistus K.P.O. Ogol, Toby J. Bruce, John A. Pickett

All Peer-Reviewed Publications

We assessed the non-target effects of a habitat management system ('push-pull') on maize stemborer specialist natural enemy activity and soil Collembola. Two study sites in western Kenya were sampled. There were two treatments at each site, maize monocrop and 'push-pull'. The latter comprised an intercrop of maize and Desmodium, Desmodium uncinatum Jacq., with Napier grass, Pennisetum purpureum (Schumach), as a trap crop planted around the edge of the plot (spaced 1 m from main crop). Trichogramma spp. were recovered from stemborer eggs while Cotesia sesamiae and Cotesia flavipes were recovered from stemborer larvae, and Dentichasmias busseolae from pupae. Mean number …

Cloned Meat, Voluntary Food Labeling, And Organic Oreos, Donna M. Byrne

The University of New Hampshire Law Review

[Excerpt] “In December 2006, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that it had reviewed all the available evidence and was poised to approve meat and milk from cloned animals and their progeny. I remember telling one of my colleagues, a patent law professor, who should be as comfortable with technology as anyone, about this development, and his response was, “Yuck. I’m not eating it!” To which of course I replied, “Humph. You won’t know the difference.” Meat or milk from a clone or its descendant is virtually identical to meat or milk from a non-clone, said the FDA, as …

Mechanisms Of Neonatal Brain Injury In A Rat Pup Hypoxic-Ischemic Model, Wanqiu Chen

Loma Linda University Electronic Theses, Dissertations & Projects

Perinatal hypoxic-ischemic (HI) brain injury is a major cause of acute morbidity and chronic nemological mortality in infants and children, with a reported incidence of 2- 9 per 1000 births. The pathophyiological mechanisms leading to immature brain damage after HI are complex and relate to the developmental stage of the brain. The objective of our study is to understand the neonatal hypoxic-ischemic brain injury and to aid in the development of pharmacological treatments.

Hypoxic inducible factor 1 (HIF-1) is a transcription factor which is stabilized and activated by hypoxia. It is the most important factor involved in the cellular response …

Pulsatile Flow Of Blood In A Constricted Artery With Body Acceleration, Devajyoti Biswas, Uday Shankar Chakraborty

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

Pulsatile flow of blood through a uniform artery in the presence of a mild stenosis has been investigated in this paper. Blood has been represented by a Newtonian fluid. This model has been used to study the influence of body acceleration and a velocity slip at wall, in blood flow through stenosed arteries. By employing a perturbation analysis, analytic expressions for the velocity profile, flow rate, wall shear stress and effective viscosity, are derived. The variations of flow variables with different parameters are shown diagrammatically and discussed. It is noticed that velocity and flow rate increase but effective viscosity decreases, …

Remarks On The Stability Of Some Size-Structured Population Models Vi: The Case When The Death Rate Depends On Juveniles Only And The Growth Rate Depends On Size Only And The Case When Both Rates Depend On Size Only, M. El-Doma

Applications and Applied Mathematics: An International Journal (AAM)

We continue our study of size-structured population dynamics models when the population is divided into adults and juveniles, started in El-Doma (to appear 1) and continued in El-Doma (to appear 2). We concentrate our efforts in two special cases, the first is when the death rate depends on juveniles only and the growth rate depends on size only, and, the second is when both the death rate and the growth rate depend on size only. In both special cases we assume that the maximum size for an individual in the population is infinite. We identify three demographic parameters and show …

Education In Plant Pathology Present Status And Future Challenges, James Macdonald, Caitilyn Allen, David Gadoury, William Jacobi, Segenet Kelemu, James Moyer, Tim Murray, Kevin Ong, Charles Pearson, John Sherwood, Ann Vidaver

Department of Plant Pathology: Faculty Publications

Plant pathology is largely a mission driven discipline that seeks to increase the fundamental understanding of host–pathogen interactions and the etiology of plant diseases for the purpose of preventing or mitigating crop loss. This is an important mission because all nations face serious challenges in their efforts to prevent disease on plants cultivated for food, fiber, ornamental use, timber, and fuel, as well as those growing in native ecosystems. In 1994, it was estimated that global losses due to plant diseases ranged from 9.7 to 14.2% of potential yield (12).

Practice Notes: Strategies In Health Education - Program: "What's Cooking On The Central Coast With The Pink And Dude Chefs?", Julie Chessen, David W. Hey, Lisa Nicholson, Ann Yelmokas Mcdermott

Kinesiology and Public Health

No abstract provided.

School Breakfast Program: Efficacy And Impact, Amber Ward

Food Science and Nutrition

The primary goals of the school breakfast program are to reduce food-insecurity among low-income students and to decrease the growing habit of breakfast skipping. Consumption of school breakfast has been associated with improved health and academic performance. The purpose of this review was to investigate these alleged beneficial outcomes and to evaluate the program’s success in promoting accessibility and participation for all students. Results showed that children who ate a school breakfast were more likely to have a healthier BMI and a broader daily nutrient intake. Participation also helped students achieve higher math and reading grades. Their teachers reported improvements …

Pot1 Proteins In Green Algae And Land Plants: Dna-Binding Properties And Evidence Of Co-Evolution With Telomeric Dna, Eugene V. Shakirov, Xiangyu Song, Jessica A. Joseph, Dorothy E. Shippen

Biological Sciences Faculty Research

Telomeric DNA terminates with a single-stranded 3′ G-overhang that in vertebrates and fission yeast is bound by POT1 (Protection Of Telomeres). However, no in vitro telomeric DNA binding is associated with Arabidopsis POT1 paralogs. To further investigate POT1–DNA interaction in plants, we cloned POT1 genes from 11 plant species representing major branches of plant kingdom. Telomeric DNA binding was associated with POT1 proteins from the green alga Ostreococcus lucimarinus and two flowering plants, maize and Asparagus. Site-directed mutagenesis revealed that several residues critical for telomeric DNA recognition in vertebrates are functionally conserved in plant POT1 proteins. However, the plant proteins …

Heme Reversibly Damps Period2 Rhythms In Mouse Suprachiasmatic Nucleus Explants, C. J. Guenthner, David Bickar, Mary E. Harrington

Psychology: Faculty Publications

The hypothalamic suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN), which in mammals serves as the master circadian pacemaker by synchronizing autonomous clocks in peripheral tissues, is composed of coupled single-cell oscillators that are driven by interlocking positive/negative transcriptional/translational feedback loops. Several studies have suggested that heme, a common prosthetic group that is synthesized and degraded in a circadian manner in the SCN, may modulate the function of several feedback loop components, including the REV-ERB nuclear receptors and PERIOD2 (PER2). We found that ferric heme (hemin, 3-100 μM) dose-dependently and reversibly damped luminescence rhythms in SCN explants from mice expressing a PER2::LUCIFERASE (PER2::LUC) fusion protein. …

Brain Food, Winston J. Craig

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

The Core, Dominique Gummelt

Lake Union Herald

No abstract provided.

The Ecology Of The Peaks Of Otter Salamander (Plethodon Hubrichti) In Sympatry With The Eastern Red-Backed Salamander (Plethodon Cinereus), Norman Reichenbach, Andrew Kniowski

Faculty Publications and Presentations

The Peaks of Otter Salamander, Plethodon hubrichti, is found along a 19 km length of the Blue Ridge Mountains, Virginia, USA, often in sympatry with the Eastern Red-backed Salamander, P. cinereus. In a sympatric area of Bedford County, Virginia, we conducted a mark-recapture study on a 10 × 10 m site. Surface densities of salamanders increased as the number of days without precipitation prior to a collection event increased. This suggests vertical movements in response to surface moisture. When salamanders returned to the surface after rain, individuals appeared to “shuffle” between rocks and likely, leaf litter. That is, we were …

Number 51 (December 2009), Southern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

(December 2009) - Post-impoundment Changes in the Cyprinid Fauna of the Lower Sabine River, Louisiana and Texas By Royal D. Suttkus and Maurice F. Mettee

The Desperate Dozen: Southeastern Freshwater Fishes on the Brink. By Bernard R. Kuhajda, Anna L. George, and James D. Williams

Prioritizing Areas of the Conasauga River Sub-basin in Georgia and Tennessee for Preservation and Restoration. By Seth J. Wenger, Megan M. Hagler, and Byron J. Freeman.

State Southeastern Fishes Council State Reports

Minutes, Business Meeting, 34th Annual Meeting, Southeastern Fishes Council

2008 Treasurer's Report for the Southeastern Fishes Council

Prioritizing Areas Of The Conasauga River Sub-Basin In Georgia And Tennessee For Preservation And Restoration, Seth J. Wenger, Megan M. Hagler, Byron J. Freeman

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Business Meeting Minutes, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Post-Impoundment Changes In The Cyprinid Fauna Of The Lower Sabine River, Louisiana And Texas, Royal D. Suttkus, Maurice F. Mettee

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

The Desperate Dozen: Southeastern Freshwater Fishes On The Brink, Bernard R. Kuhajda, Anna L. George, James D. Williams

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

State Reports, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Front Matter, Southeastern Fishes Council

Southeastern Fishes Council Proceedings

No abstract provided.

Apolipoprotein E But Not B Is Required For The Formation Of Infectious Hepatitis C Virus Particles, Jieyun Jiang, Guangxiang Luo

Microbiology, Immunology, and Molecular Genetics Faculty Publications

Our previous studies have found that hepatitis C virus (HCV) particles are enriched in apolipoprotein E (apoE) and that apoE is required for HCV infectivity and production. Studies by others, however, suggested that both microsomal transfer protein (MTP) and apoB are important for HCV production. To define the roles of apoB and apoE in the HCV life cycle, we developed a single-cycle HCV growth assay to determine the correlation of HCV assembly with apoB and apoE expression, as well as the influence of MTP inhibitors on the formation of HCV particles. The small interfering RNA (siRNA)-mediated knockdown of apoE expression …

Environmental Implications Of Francisella Tularensis Biofilms, Jeffrey J. Margolis '00

Doctoral Dissertations

Francisella tularensis survives in one of the widest environmental ranges of any pathogen. Numerous mammals and arthropod vectors are infected by this highly virulent organism. How this zoonotic pathogen persists outside of its many hosts remains unexplored. We aimed to examine how F. tularensis interacts with environmental surfaces, and hypothesized that biofilm formation may enable survival of this organism in nature. By understanding the role these surface-attached bacterial communities play in F. tularensis ecology, we hope to gain insight into the mechanisms of environmental persistence and transmission of this pathogen.

We identify chitin as a potential non-host niche for F. …

The Role Of Multiple Ccaat-Binding Factors In Candida Albicans Gene Expression, Lashall Lynn Bates

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The CCAAT-binding factor is a heterooligomeric transcription factor that is evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes. In yeast, the DNA-binding component that interacts with the CCAAT consensus sequence in promoters consists of the subunits termed Hap2p, Hap3p and Hap5p. In yeast and fungi, a fourth subunit, Hap4p, is required for regulating gene expression. The goal of this research is to understand the function of the Candida albicans CCAAT-binding factor and how it relates to virulence and pathogenicity. C. albicans is a human opportunistic pathogen responsible for a variety of mucosal and systemic infections that result in significant morbidity and mortality, particularly in …

Relating Fires’ Effect On Forest Succession And Forest's Effect On Fire Severity In One Burned And Unburned Environment, Tyler Jay Seiboldt

Department of Environmental Studies: Undergraduate Student Theses

Wildfires are a natural part of many forest ecosystems and play a vital role in maintaining their health.  Wildfires can have a critical influence on a landscapes plant community through their relative frequency, seasonality, and severity.  One of the most heavily influenced regions by wildfire disturbance is the Klamath Mountain region of California.  I looked at the affect a wildfires severity had on the Whiskey creek valley within the Whiskeytown National Recreation Area.  8 tree species and 4 flower species were examined on both the burned and unburned regions within this valley nearly a year after the wildfire (May 17-23 …

Detection And Measurement Of Water Stress In Vegetation Using Visible Spectrum Reflectance, Arthur Zygielbaum

Department of Geography: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

At any scale, from a single microbe to the planet that nurtures us, water defines our place in the universe. It provides the hydraulic forces needed to give plants structure, and the medium enabling photosynthesis, the basis for most life on Earth, to occur. Knowledge of plant water status is vital to understanding the state or condition of vegetation, information which is essential to disciplines as diverse as agriculture, geography, and climatology. Non-destructive and remote sensing of plant water status allows the gathering of such information across wide geographic extents and over long periods of time. Monitoring vegetation remotely requires …

Infants Born Preterm Exhibit Different Patterns Of Center-Of-Pressure Movement Than Infants Born At Full Term, Stacey C. Dusing, Anastasia Kyvelidou, Vicki S. Mercer, Nikolaos Stergiou

Journal Articles

Background: Infants born preterm are at risk for developmental impairments related to postural control.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to determine whether infants born preterm and infants born at full term differed in postural control at 1 to 3 weeks after term age.

Design: This study included 17 infants born preterm (mean gestational age=31.9 weeks, range=25.0–34.6) and 15 infants born at full term (mean gestational age=38.9 weeks, range=37.3–40.6). All infants were without diagnosed neurological or genetic conditions.

Measurement: Center-of-pressure (COP) data were recorded at 5 Hz while each infant was positioned supine on a pressure-sensitive mat …

Gold Nanoparticle Interactions And Impact Upon A Common Biofilm Source: Legionella Pneumophila , Amber Stojak

All Theses

There exists widespread concern of pathogenic bacteria colonizing and establishing biofilms in water systems providing a direct exposure route to the public. Legionella are widely distributed in human-made and natural environments, and colonization lends the potential to infect human hosts that may lead to the development of Legionnaire's Disease. Silver has been used in cooling towers and water filtration systems for removal of planktonic bacteria and biofilms; however permanent removal of L. pneumophila biofilms with metal ions is impossible when established biofilms are in hard to access places such as dead end piping or inside a protozoan host. Bulk metals …

Physical Activity Among Youth In A Weekend Respite Camp Program, Kathleen Felton

All Theses

The engagement in physical activity among 24 youths with disabilities was studied. Researchers examined the effects of age and gender of the youth, the parent's knowledge of physical activity recommendations, and parent's physical activity practices on physical activity engagement. Levels of physical activity participation through leisure time, work or chores, and sports were assessed. Analysis was performed to determine relationships between each of the variables and the youths' level of physical activity respectively. Results of chi-square analysis indicated that parental influence using current physical activity recommendations was correlated with the youth's level of physical activity participation through leisure. Results suggested …

Inhibition Of Pi 3-Kinase Signaling Contributes To Metronidazole Resistance In The Protozoan Parasite, Entamoeba Histolytica, Rhonda Powell

All Theses

Amoebiasis is defined as an intestinal infection with the human protozoan parasite, Entamoeba histolytica; approximately 100,000 deaths annually can be attributed to amoebiasis. Disease states range from asymptomatic colonization to invasive amoebiasis, characterized by abdominal pain and dysentery. Dissemination to extraintestinal sites, such as the liver and/or brain, can occur. Vesicle trafficking is critical for parasite virulence, and multiple signaling cascades within the pathogen facilitate these events.
One important regulator of signal transduction is the tightly controlled PI 3-kinase (PI3K), which phosphorylates the lipid, phosphatidylinositol bisphosphate (PIP₂), producing phosphatidylinositol trisphosphate (PIP₃). Effector proteins, such as Akt, …