Biochemistry, Biophysics, and Structural Biology Commons^™

Evaluation Of Coverboards For Sampling Salamanders In South Georgia, Charles Michael Houze Jr.

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

Salamanders are important components of many forested communities. However, their fossorial habits and seasonality often make them difficult to sample. The use of artificial coverboards (coverboards) is a relatively new and little-studied technique for monitoring the terrestrial activity of salamanders Coverboards are designed to simulate fallen tree limbs and logs, and to provide a moist refuge for forest salamanders. Despite several studies, questions remain concerning the value of coverboards. Therefore, I conducted an experiment in 1996-1997 to determine whether coverboards are as effective for sampling salamanders as searching natural cover objects such as logs and branches. Using a paired design, …

Spiroplasma Diversity In Two Tabanid Flies And In Vivo Interactions Of Spiroplasma And Entomoplasma, Latonya T. Brown-Derrick

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

Chrysops vittatus, a small deer fly, and Tabanus atratus, a horse fly, were captured concurrently in Bulloch County, Georgia during June through September of 1989-1997 Cultures were made from adult females, and the frequency and diversity of spiroplasma carriage were determined by deformation and endpoint testing.

Of the 90 Chrysops vittatus processed, 23 (25 .6%) carried spiroplasmas. The most prevalent spiroplasmas were representatives of group Vlll (20/23): strain B1357 (7/23); Spiroplasma syrphidicola (5/23); S. chrysopicola (4/23); strain TAAS-1 (4/23). Groups XVIII and XXXV were represented by S. Htorale (2/23) and strain B2649 (1/23), respectively.

Of the …

Development And Validation Of An Improved Ultrasensitive Assay For Cardiac Troponin I (Ctni), William G. Blake

Theses

Cardiac troponin I (cTnl) has been reported to be a highly specific marker for myocardial injury. In patients suffering from acute coronary syndromes, a sensitive serum marker which is closely related to the extent of myocardial damage which provides prognostic data and which can be measured rapidly is desirable. In this thesis a “sandwich” enzyme immunoassay was developed to measure cTnI. The developed assay was reproducible with the inter assay precision ranging from 4.8-14% and the intra assay precision ranging from 3.1-9.5%. The limit of detection of the assay was calculated as 0.385 ng/ml. The upper reference range (non-parametric 95% …

Partial Sequencing Of A Balbiani Ring Gene And Development Of A Molecular Probe, Kerri Ann Kurzeja

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The Environmental Protection Agency is currently developing sediment quality criteria in order to protect the nation's water sources. In order to assist in the development of standards for the disposal of heavy metals, our laboratory is undergoing sediment toxicity studies on Chironomus riparius. It is an EPA approved test organism that spends most of its life in the sediment. Following a previous study (Cochrane et al., 1994), the organism's response to heavy metals will be monitored on the genetic level. Several genes, including a Balbiani ring (BR) gene, which was the focus of this thesis, will be studied to determine …

1080 Operational Procedures Manual - Second Edition, Agriculture Western Australia

Biosecurity published reports

Sodium fluoroacetate (1080) is an extremely toxic substance which can be a danger to humans if handled incorrectly. At the same time 1080 is the most effective and efficient poison for the control of Western Australia's main vertebrate pest species including rabbits, wild dogs and foxes. One of the main reasons for its usefulness in Western Australia is that many native animals have a high tolerance to it and so may not be affected by baiting.

Industry Resource Protection Program (IRPP) This program, part of Agriculture Western Australia, supports feral animal control carried out by its staff and community groups. …

Polyadenylation Of Vesicular Stomatitis Virus Mrna Dictates Efficient Transcription Termination At The Intercistronic Gene Junctions, Leroy N. Hwang, Nathan Englund, Asit K. Pattnaik

School of Veterinary and Biomedical Sciences: Faculty Publications

The intercistronic gene junctions of vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) contain conserved sequence elements that are important for polyadenylation and transcription termination of upstream transcript as well as reinitiation of transcription of downstream transcript. To examine the role of the putative polyadenylation signal 3' AUACU₇5' at the gene junctions in polyadenylation and transcription termination, we constructed plasmids encoding antigenomic minireplicons containing one or two transcription units. In plasmid-transfected cells, analyses of the bicistronic minireplicon containing the wild-type or mutant intercistronic gene junctions for the ability to direct synthesis of polyadenylated upstream, downstream, and readthrough mRNAs showed that the AUACU …

The Biogeochemical Cycling Of Dissolved Organic Nitrogen In Estuarine Sediments, David J. Burdige, Shilong Zheng

OES Faculty Publications

Benthic fluxes and pore-water profiles of dissolved organic nitrogen and carbon (DON and DOC, respectively) were determined in seasonal studies at contrasting sites in Chesapeake Bay. Pore-water dissolved organic matter (DOM) concentrations were elevated over bottom-water values, generally increased with depth, and ranged from 15 to similar to 160 μM for DON and ~200-2000 μM for DOC. Pore-water DOM concentrations and the C:N ratio of this material showed spatial (depth) and temporal changes that varied among the sites studied. These trends appeared to be related to differences in the types of sediment organic matter (SOM) undergoing remineralization, as well as …

Iron In Ice Cores From Law Dome, East Antarctica: Implications For Past Deposition Of Aerosol Iron, R. Edwards, Peter N. Sedwick, Vin Morgan, C. F. Boutron, S. Hong

OES Faculty Publications

Total-dissolvable iron has been measured in sections of three ice cores from Law Dome, East Antarctica, and the results used to calculate atmospheric iron deposition over this region during the late Holocene and to provide a preliminary est. of aerosol iron deposition during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Ice-core sections dating from 56-2730 BP (late Holocene) and ∼18 000 BP (LGM) were decontaminated using trace-metal clean techniques, and total-dissolvable iron was determined in the acidified meltwaters by flow-injection analysis. Our results suggest that the atmospheric iron flux onto the Law Dome region has varied significantly over time-scales ranging from seasonal …

Evaluation Of Toxicity, Bioavailability And Speciation Of Lead, Zinc And Cadmium In Mine/Mill Wastewaters, Mujde Erten-Unal, Bobby G. Wixson, Nord Gale, Jerry L. Pitt

Civil & Environmental Engineering Faculty Publications

The toxicity of common compounds of lead, cadmium and zinc was evaluated in waters similar to that found in the world's largest lead producing area in Missouri. Static, acute toxicity tests were performed using fathead minnows (Pimephales promelas) and water fleas (Daphnia magna) respectively. Test organisms were subjected to varying amounts of sulfide, carbonate, chloride and sulfate salts of lead, zinc and cadmium mixed in hard, alkaline waters typical to this region. Median lethal concentrations were calculated using nominal versus measured metal concentrations. Measured metal concentrations included four different metal fractionation (extraction/filtration) techniques at different pH …