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Articles 1 - 11 of 11

Full-Text Articles in Biology

The Biochemical Characterization Of Cellular Retinoic Acid Binding Protein Type 1 (Crabp1), Emma Magna Jan 2020

The Biochemical Characterization Of Cellular Retinoic Acid Binding Protein Type 1 (Crabp1), Emma Magna

Honors Theses

The goal of this research was to express and purify Cellular Retinoic Acid Binding Protein Type 1 (CRABP1). CRABP1 binds to retinoic acid in the cell and shuttles the retinoic acid from one area in the cell to another. The overproduction of CRABP1 appears to be problematic because it can sequester the retinoic acid and prevent it from regulating gene expression. Previous studies have shown that increased levels of CRABP1 can result in tumor-promoting activity and disruption of lipid biology in the cell. Our objective was to express this protein in an inducible bacterial system, so that we could purify …


Pre-Juvenile Naked Goby (Gobiosoma Bosc) Age And Growth, Annamaria Deitz, Juliana Harding Dec 2019

Pre-Juvenile Naked Goby (Gobiosoma Bosc) Age And Growth, Annamaria Deitz, Juliana Harding

Honors Theses

Due to the abundance of larval naked gobies, Gobiosoma bosc, within the estuarine ichthyoplankton, it is important to understand their age and growth. Naked gobies are a largely distributed, both geographically and within an estuary, small, benthic fish species. There are 3 pairs of otoliths, calcium carbonate structures within the ear canal, that detect vibrations and record the age of the fish, both daily and annually. Using laboratory-reared gobies of a known age (Tremont et al. 2015), daily signatures on the sagittal otoliths were first validated to be daily, then a growth curve for the wild caught larvae was …


Isolation And Characterization Of A Novel Terpenoid From The Needles Of Eastern White Pine (Pinus Strobus), And Its Potential Relation To Climate Change, Samantha Hack Apr 2019

Isolation And Characterization Of A Novel Terpenoid From The Needles Of Eastern White Pine (Pinus Strobus), And Its Potential Relation To Climate Change, Samantha Hack

Honors Theses

Climate changes is one of the most serious threats facing the future of our planet, and with is we will see drastic changes to water levels global temperatures, and atmospheric conditions. Modeling future atmospheric conditions is crucial if we are to plan for and mitigate the consequences of climate change – while important, these models will not be useful to future scientists unless various parameters, such as BVOC emission to the atmosphere, are accounted for and included in computer models. Eastern white pine (Pinus strobus) are predicted to be a major component of future climax forests as their abundance increases …


The Effects Of Climate Change And Forest Disturbances On Terpene Production Of White Pine (Pinus Strobus) And Red Pine (Pinus Resinosa) In Northern Michigan, Troy Dehagen Apr 2019

The Effects Of Climate Change And Forest Disturbances On Terpene Production Of White Pine (Pinus Strobus) And Red Pine (Pinus Resinosa) In Northern Michigan, Troy Dehagen

Honors Theses

The secondary impacts that climate change may have on the interactions between forests and the atmosphere through forest disturbances is of increasing interest as the climate continues to change. Anthropogenic climate change, which is a direct result of coal and fossil fuel emissions, is likely to impact forest ecology through increased temperatures and extreme precipitation events, thus increasing the frequency and severity of climate-induced forest disturbances. Forest disturbances may have a secondary impact on the production and emission of biogenic volatile organic compounds (BVOC) within forests. In the presence of oxides of nitrogen (NOx) produced from fossil fuel …


Hinge Region In Dna Packaging Terminase Pul15 Of Herpes Simplex Virus: A Potential Allosteric Target For Antiviral Drugs, Lana Faisal Thaljeh Apr 2019

Hinge Region In Dna Packaging Terminase Pul15 Of Herpes Simplex Virus: A Potential Allosteric Target For Antiviral Drugs, Lana Faisal Thaljeh

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Evaluating Mutagenicity Of Burned Arginine-Based Heterocyclic Amines And Anti-Mutagenicity Effect Of Chinese Medicinal Herbs, Rayford C. Alva Apr 2018

Evaluating Mutagenicity Of Burned Arginine-Based Heterocyclic Amines And Anti-Mutagenicity Effect Of Chinese Medicinal Herbs, Rayford C. Alva

Honors Theses

From the unexpected finding that cooked grains and meat substitutes elicit a mutagenic response in Salmonella typhimurium TA98, our work has been aimed at deconstructing this finding via a survey of heated binary amino acid combinations, involving arginine, a plant-based amino acid. secondly, our work has looked towards sing phytochemical extracts from traditional Chinese medicinal herbs to inhibit the mutagenic activity of heterocyclic amines (main culprit for mutagenicity in meat). Two fractions from the burned products of arginine and phenylalanine (RF-HCA-06 and -07) were statistically significant inducers of mutagenesis; Scutellaria barbata and Oldenlandia diffusa, both separately and together, were statistically …


An Analysis Of Environmentally-Persistent Free Radical Formation On Surrogate Soil Systems Containing Iron(Iii) And Copper(Ii) And The Potential Remediation Effects Of Laccases, Andrew Paul Mullet May 2016

An Analysis Of Environmentally-Persistent Free Radical Formation On Surrogate Soil Systems Containing Iron(Iii) And Copper(Ii) And The Potential Remediation Effects Of Laccases, Andrew Paul Mullet

Honors Theses

No abstract provided.


Using Intrinsic Properties Of Polyaniline To Sense Expression Of The Microrna Let-7, Jared N. Gloria May 2016

Using Intrinsic Properties Of Polyaniline To Sense Expression Of The Microrna Let-7, Jared N. Gloria

Honors Theses

MicroRNAs are approximately 22-nucleotide long RNA molecules that function through decay and translational repression of messenger RNA. The microRNA let-7 is found to play a role in maintaining the fate of differentiated cells in humans. Thus, expression level of this microRNA is a reliable biomarker of tumor cell phenotype. However, there are significant limitations in the current profiling techniques of microRNA. The current methods like northern blotting, microarrays, RT-PCR, or using locked nucleic acid (LNA) for in-situ hybridization are either laborious, semi-quantitative, or expensive. In this research we try to address this issue by developing a fast, specific, and inexpensive …


The Importance Of Isolated Wetlands As Habitat For Rare And Endangered Species In Comparison To Riparian Wetlands, Hillary K. Ballantine May 2012

The Importance Of Isolated Wetlands As Habitat For Rare And Endangered Species In Comparison To Riparian Wetlands, Hillary K. Ballantine

Honors Theses

In this paper, I will review the literature on the factors contributing to the presence of rare or endangered species, the species found in each wetland type and what threatens them, and the views on how to and why we should conserve these habitats. I will also provide data analyses on the importance of isolated wetlands as habitats for rare and endangered species in comparison to riparian wetlands, and present my own views on the topic.


Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller Dec 2011

Lesson Not Learned: Deepwater Horizon Research And Media Coverage Exposes Gaps In Knowledge And Risky Protocol Within The Oil Industry, Lauren Haller

Honors Theses

An insatiable thirst for oil has led poorly coordinated, risk-prone megasystems deeper into the ocean in search of new oil reserves. Profit-driven agendas at the corporate level have a top-down effect within these megasystems. Cost-cutting and risk-downplaying leaves the field employees unprepared to handle emergencies. A series of costly mistakes led to the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill, which caused extensive damage to an already fragile ecosystem in the Gulf of Mexico. The wealth and political influence of the oil industry overpowers lax regulatory agencies and legislation-even though media and research has exposed frustrating parallels between the Deepwater Horizon …


Method For Identification Of Origins Of Replication And Genes Regulated By Dnaa In Bacteria, Olga G. Troyanskaya Jan 1999

Method For Identification Of Origins Of Replication And Genes Regulated By Dnaa In Bacteria, Olga G. Troyanskaya

Honors Theses

The study is focused on developing computer programs to identify origin of DNA replication based on analysis of total bacterial genomes, scoring regions for number of DnaA binding sites, AT content, DNA adenine methylase boxes, and integration host factors binding sites. The programs were tested on cyanobacterium Synechocystis, and several potential origins were identified. However, no one definite region could be located. Currently, software is being developed to analyze common motifs around the origins of all bacteria with known origins. Genes whose transcription could be regulated by DnaA were identified by searching for DnaA boxes preceding promoter regions.