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Articles 1 - 15 of 15

Full-Text Articles in Biology

The Antibacterial Efficacy Of Silver (I) Cyanoximates Against Streptococcus Mutans Ua159 Biofilm Growth And Infection In Galleria Mellonella Larvae, Jill Hughes Jan 2023

The Antibacterial Efficacy Of Silver (I) Cyanoximates Against Streptococcus Mutans Ua159 Biofilm Growth And Infection In Galleria Mellonella Larvae, Jill Hughes

Honors Program Theses

Streptococcus mutans is the known etiological agent of dental caries. S. mutans’ virulence factors, namely biofilm formation and lactic acid fermentation, contribute to its pathogenic behavior within the oral cavity. Biofilms are thick, antibiotically resistant communities of bacteria that are much more difficult to treat than planktonic or free-floating bacteria. Continued misuse of antibiotics against dynamic communities, like biofilms, has led to increased research on non-antibiotic alternatives. Amongst these alternatives, there are silver and silver-based compounds. Silver is commonly incorporated into medicine due to its inhibitory and bactericidal effects and antibacterial properties. Silver (I) cyanoximates have demonstrated promising antibacterial activity …


The Regulation Of Stress Steroid Release In Freshwater Turtles, Yoke Tassent Jan 2022

The Regulation Of Stress Steroid Release In Freshwater Turtles, Yoke Tassent

Honors Program Theses

The goal of this study is to characterize the Hypothalamic-Pituitary-Adrenal (HPA) axis regulators of the stress response in a turtle species, the Red-Eared slider, Trachemys scripta elegans and to determine if NPY acts as a secretagogue for adrenal steroids in reptilian species, as it does in mammals. Here, I caught turtles using baited hoop traps. Then, I used pharmacological injections of ACTH (intermediate in HPA axis), dexamethasone (DEX, a synthetic steroid that blocks ACTH release and induces HPA negative feedback), NPY (starvation hormone), and NPY receptor agonists. Each turtle received a single injection upon capture, and I recorded whether adrenal …


Blue Mussel Hybrid Complex Shifts In The Gulf Of Maine Towards A Dominance Of Mytilus Edulis, Daniel Woods Jan 2022

Blue Mussel Hybrid Complex Shifts In The Gulf Of Maine Towards A Dominance Of Mytilus Edulis, Daniel Woods

Honors Program Theses

The Gulf of Maine (GOM) in the United States is the fastest warming body of water in the world. Due to a complex history of glaciation, the GOM has restricted circulation that causes it to function more akin to an enclosed sea. As climate change has disrupted the stable flow of the Gulf Stream, more warm-water currents are entering the GOM at higher frequency. This warming has had a profound impact on the distribution of the blue mussel, Mytilus spp., which inhabits the rocky intertidal habitat within the GOM as the main prey species to a keystone predator. Two sister …


Immunotherapy: Therapy Vs. Enhancement, Mariah Daly Jan 2020

Immunotherapy: Therapy Vs. Enhancement, Mariah Daly

Honors Program Theses

The battle against cancer is a long-standing struggle that has resulted in new information and the development of novel medical technologies. Current research aims to figure out a way to reprogram cells and bodily mechanisms to eliminate those cells that are cancerous without destroying healthy cells in the process. Methods which use the body’s own mechanisms, such as immunotherapy, have shown and continue to show potential for specifically targeting cancer cells. Adoptive T cell therapy is one form of immunotherapy that has gained significant attention and focus in the field. Therapies improve conditions up to the normal state of being, …


The Kinesin‐3 Motor, Klp‐4, Mediates Axonal Organization And Cholinergic Signaling In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Margaret E. Magaletta, Kendall J. Perkins, Catherine P. Deuchler, Jay N. Pieczynski May 2019

The Kinesin‐3 Motor, Klp‐4, Mediates Axonal Organization And Cholinergic Signaling In Caenorhabditis Elegans, Margaret E. Magaletta, Kendall J. Perkins, Catherine P. Deuchler, Jay N. Pieczynski

Faculty Publications

Microtubule plus‐end directed trafficking is dominated by kinesin motors, yet kinesins differ in terms of cargo identity, movement rate, and distance travelled. Functional diversity of kinesins is especially apparent in polarized neurons, where long distance trafficking is required for efficient signal transduction‐behavioral response paradigms. The Kinesin‐3 superfamily are expressed in neurons and are hypothesized to have significant roles in neuronal signal transduction due to their high processivity. Although much is known about Kinesin‐3 motors mechanistically in vitro, there is little known about their mechanisms in vivo. Here, we analyzed KLP‐4, the Caenorhabditis elegans homologue of human KIF13A and KIF13B. …


The Role Of Klp-4 In Regulating Cholinergic Signaling In Vivo, Catherine Deuchler Jan 2019

The Role Of Klp-4 In Regulating Cholinergic Signaling In Vivo, Catherine Deuchler

Honors Program Theses

Cellular trafficking is dominated by the use of motor proteins trafficking cargo along the microtubules that make up the cellular cytoskeleton. Polarity within these cells controls the direction of the trafficking, and the cargo consists of organelles, new proteins, neurotransmitters, etc.. Motor proteins differ in the cargo they carry, the direction that they move, as well as the rate and distance that they can travel. The trafficking of neurotransmitters occurs along neurons, highly polarized cells, and this research focuses on neuronal trafficking as a method of controlling the release and degradation of acetylcholine and thus regulating the signals that they …


The Genetics Of Adhd: A Review Of Polymorphisms In Neurotransmitter System Genes, Ada Spahija Jan 2018

The Genetics Of Adhd: A Review Of Polymorphisms In Neurotransmitter System Genes, Ada Spahija

Olin Prize for Undergraduate Library Research

No abstract provided.


Detection Of Local Steroidogenic Enzyme Gene Expression In Brown Anoles, Ada Spahija Jan 2018

Detection Of Local Steroidogenic Enzyme Gene Expression In Brown Anoles, Ada Spahija

Honors Program Theses

The endocrine system in vertebrates responds to stress by releasing steroid hormones, mainly glucocorticoids (GC), which increase blood glucose levels to supply key organs and muscles with energy needed for survival. Steroid hormones are synthesized via an enzymatic pathway that converts cholesterol into either GCs, androgens, or estrogens in a step-wise manner. The adrenal cortex is known to produce GCs, but evidence suggests that individual organs can also produce steroid hormones de novo in response to stress. This study aims to quantify gene expression of four steroidogenic enzymes, encoded by CYP19A1, CYP17A1, StAR, and HSD17ß3 genes, via qRT-PCR to determine …


Novel Species-Specific Glycoprotein On The Surface Of Mytilus Edulis And M. Trossulus Eggs, Fiona M. Harper, Kasandra J. Riley, R. D. Rawson Aug 2017

Novel Species-Specific Glycoprotein On The Surface Of Mytilus Edulis And M. Trossulus Eggs, Fiona M. Harper, Kasandra J. Riley, R. D. Rawson

Faculty Publications

Protein–protein interactions play a central role in the gamete attraction, binding, and fusion stages of gamete interactions and fertilization for broadcast spawning species, such as marine mussels in the Mytilus edulis species complex. Although assortative gamete interaction has been implicated in the level of reproductive isolation among the three species in this complex, the molecular basis of these interactions has not been elucidated. Using mass spectrometry peptide sequencing, cDNA sequencing, and bioinformatics approaches, we have investigated species-level variation in the proteins expressed on the surface of mussel eggs. We herein describe an extracellular protein, MESP-1, from the surface of the …


Functional Analysis And Treatment Of Self-Injurious Feather Plucking In A Black Vulture (Coragyps Atratus), Kristen L. Morris May 2017

Functional Analysis And Treatment Of Self-Injurious Feather Plucking In A Black Vulture (Coragyps Atratus), Kristen L. Morris

Thesis Projects

Feather plucking (FP) is a maladaptive behavior observed in captive avian species. This self-injurious behavior results in damage to and removal of feathers and skin tissue, resulting in animal welfare and financial consequences. The etiology and maintenance of FP have been hypothesized through medical and environmental processes, yet a definitive solution has not been found. The current study investigated the environmental variables maintaining the FP of a Black Vulture (Coragyps atratus), as well as evaluated a function-based treatment for this behavior. The behavior was found to be maintained by positive reinforcement in the form of contingent attention. Treatment …


Nk Cells Expand And Interact With K562-Mb15-41bbl Plasma Membrane Particles, But Not With K562-Mb15-41bbl Cells, Ryan H. Lindstrom Jan 2016

Nk Cells Expand And Interact With K562-Mb15-41bbl Plasma Membrane Particles, But Not With K562-Mb15-41bbl Cells, Ryan H. Lindstrom

Honors Program Theses

Natural Killer (NK) cells are highly cytotoxic and specific towards certain types of cancer cells and are therefore a potential target for immunotherapy. In order to determine how NK cells acquire these traits, K562-mb15-41BBL cancer cells, specially modified leukemia cells designed to enhance NK cells for cancer eradication, were tagged with an Alexa Fluor 647 (A647) fluorescent dye and cultured with peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) over a week. Non labeled K562-mb15-41BBL cells were used as a control. The co-incubation of PBMCs and K562s is intended to show which cells from the mixed PBMC culture interact directly with the cancer …


Further Description Of Hybridization In The Sea Stars Asterias Rubens And Asterias Forbesi Through The Application Of Species-Specific Genetic Markers, Callie Bateson Jan 2015

Further Description Of Hybridization In The Sea Stars Asterias Rubens And Asterias Forbesi Through The Application Of Species-Specific Genetic Markers, Callie Bateson

Honors Program Theses

Hybridization occurs when two separate species reproduce to form hybrid offspring. If the hybrid offspring backcross with individuals of their parental species, the subsequent offspring may have varying amounts of the parental genomes, if viable. Following the retreat of the Last Glacial Maxima 20,000 years ago, two sea star species, Asterias forbesi and A. rubens came into secondary contact in the Gulf of Maine where they began to hybridize. Previous research in our lab studied the frequency of hybridization at four locations along the east coast (Quebec, Nova Scotia, New Hampshire, and New York) using morphological identifications as well two …


Presenting Fake Figures: A Tool To Teach Effective Scientific Figure Design, Verónica A. Segarra, Stephanie Pulford, Susan Walsh Jan 2013

Presenting Fake Figures: A Tool To Teach Effective Scientific Figure Design, Verónica A. Segarra, Stephanie Pulford, Susan Walsh

Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.


Human Pathogen Shown To Cause Disease In The Threatened Elkhorn Coral Acropora Palmata, Kathryn Sutherland, Sameera Shaban, Jessica L. Joyner, James W. Porter, Erin K. Lipp Jan 2011

Human Pathogen Shown To Cause Disease In The Threatened Elkhorn Coral Acropora Palmata, Kathryn Sutherland, Sameera Shaban, Jessica L. Joyner, James W. Porter, Erin K. Lipp

Student-Faculty Collaborative Research Publications

Coral reefs are in severe decline. Infections by the human pathogen Serratia marcescens have contributed to precipitous losses in the common Caribbean elkhorn coral, Acropora palmata, culminating in its listing under the United States Endangered Species Act. During a 2003 outbreak of this coral disease, called acroporid serratiosis (APS), a unique strain of the pathogen, Serratia marcescens strain PDR60, was identified from diseased A. palmata, human wastewater, the non-host coral Siderastrea siderea and the corallivorous snail Coralliophila abbreviata. In order to examine humans as a source and other marine invertebrates as vectors and/or reservoirs of the APS pathogen, challenge experiments …


A Proposal For A Common Minimal Topic Set In Introductory Biology Courses For Majors, Eileen Gregory, Jane P. Ellis, Amanda N. Orenstein Jan 2011

A Proposal For A Common Minimal Topic Set In Introductory Biology Courses For Majors, Eileen Gregory, Jane P. Ellis, Amanda N. Orenstein

Faculty Publications

A common complaint among instructors of introductory biology courses is the course covers too much material. Without a national consensus specifying which topics are essential, instructors are leery of excluding material. A survey was administered to Two-Year College and Four-Year College and University section members of the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) to identify the topics and skills college and university biology instructors believe students completing introductory biology should know and comprehend. Analysis identified a strong consensus for twenty topics and seven skills that should be included in all year-long introductory college biology course sequences for majors.