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Articles 1 - 10 of 10

Full-Text Articles in Microbiology

Development And Characterization Of Novel Sub-Coatings With Polymorphic Brookite Titania Nanoparticles: Enhanced Uv/Vis Photocatalytic Antibacterial And Anticancer Properties, Donna Weinbrenner Dec 2010

Development And Characterization Of Novel Sub-Coatings With Polymorphic Brookite Titania Nanoparticles: Enhanced Uv/Vis Photocatalytic Antibacterial And Anticancer Properties, Donna Weinbrenner

All Dissertations

ABSTRACT
Nosocomial and community infections and biofilm formation from bacteria has increased significantly through adaptation combined with overuse of broad spectrum antibiotics. Because the world population continues to escalate, hospitals and long-term managed care will also escalate, thereby increasing transmission of infections, lowering patients' quality of health. Another disease on the rise throughout the world is skin cancer. A treatment modality that would cause less deleterious effects on the patient would be ideal. These two seemingly different issues could be solved with one product. First an inexpensive, safe, and non-selective antimicrobial surface coating would enhance the hospital arena and a …


In Vitro Boosting And Expansion Of Tumor Infiltrating Killer T Cells, Chunlei Mei Dec 2010

In Vitro Boosting And Expansion Of Tumor Infiltrating Killer T Cells, Chunlei Mei

All Theses

Immune cell tumor infiltration represents one of the mechanisms that the immune system responds to tumor cells. The tumor infiltrated immune cells include lymphocytes (TIL), dendritic cells (DCs), macrophages, and natural killer (NK) cells. Although TILs have been extensively studied in order to develop adoptive transfer based immunotherapies, how to effectively isolate, culture, and in vitro boosting the killer cells from TILs remains a challenge. Meanwhile, OK-432, a heat and penicillin-treated lyophilized preparation of the low-virulence strain of Streptococcus pyogenes, has been shown to exhibit immunomodulatory activities and potential antitumor therapeutic function, including the activation of DCs, neutrophils, macrophages, lymphocytes, …


Bovine Colostrum, Mary Hayes Dec 2010

Bovine Colostrum, Mary Hayes

All Theses

Colostrum is the first milk produced by mammals within a 24 to 72 hour period after parturition. Bovine colostrum is sold commercially as a nutraceutical product and its manufacturers purport numerous health benefits of the product for treating gastrointestinal disorders, respiratory tract disorders, viral and bacterial infections, and promoting tissue repair.
Four commercially available colostrum products, two whey, and one non-fat dry milk were obtained on separate days. These products were analyzed for fat, protein, ash, moisture and dry matter content. One colostrum product did not adhere to label claims in that it contained a mean of 19.1% fat whereas …


Sequencing And Functional Analysis Of A Multi-Component Dioxygenase From Pah-Degrading Sphingomonas Paucimobilis Epa505, Renuka Miller Dec 2010

Sequencing And Functional Analysis Of A Multi-Component Dioxygenase From Pah-Degrading Sphingomonas Paucimobilis Epa505, Renuka Miller

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Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are hydrophobic organic compounds consisting of two or more fused benzene rings. PAHs derive from many different sources including petroleum refining, wood treatment, and coal coking industries. Because of their structural stability and water insolubility, PAHs are extremely resistant to degradation. These compounds are also believed to have mutagenic, carcinogenic, and teratogenic effects. Therefore, there are currently 16 PAH compounds on the EPA's list of priority pollutants.
Many species of bacteria have the ability to breakdown these persistent pollutants. However, bioremediation strategies using these organisms have many unresolved issues. While laboratory experiments can easily demonstrate the …


Biofuel Ethanol Production By Saccharomyces Bayanus, The Champagne Yeast, Kristen Miller Dec 2010

Biofuel Ethanol Production By Saccharomyces Bayanus, The Champagne Yeast, Kristen Miller

All Theses

The importance of biofuel ethanol is growing as the demand for clean, renewable fuels produced from non-food sources increases. The United States relies mainly on corn and the yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the production of ethanol. A shift to cellulosic feedstocks, as the main source of biomass for ethanol production, would alleviate the pressure on farmers to produce corn for both the food industry and the ethanol industry. Example cellulosic feedstocks include switchgrass, sorghum, and canary grass. The cellulosic feedstocks are typically grown on land that cannot support economic food production, and thus lay unused.
For cellulosic feedstocks to be …


Further Purification And Characterization Of Jenseniin P, A Bacteriocin Produced By Propionibacterium Jensenii B1264, Gaoyan Wang Aug 2010

Further Purification And Characterization Of Jenseniin P, A Bacteriocin Produced By Propionibacterium Jensenii B1264, Gaoyan Wang

All Theses

Jenseniin P, a bacteriocin discovered by Prince, can inhibit the growth of several strains of propionibacteria and lactobacillus(Prince 1993). Ratnam further purified jenseniin P by ammonia sulfate precipitation and anion exchange chromatography. In that study, partially purified jenseniin P was stable in various pH ranges, SDS concentrations, several solvents, and remained active after holding at 100 ¡C for 60 minutes. The molecular weight was estimated to be between 6 and 9 kDa. In addition, jenseniin P was demonstrated to be inhibitory to Propionibacterium acnes using the spot-on-lawn method. Thus, Ratnam postulated its possible application in acne treatment(Ratnam 1997).
In this …


Genome-Wide Screening For Functional Factors In Listeria Monocytogenes Biofilm Formation, Yong Ouyang Aug 2010

Genome-Wide Screening For Functional Factors In Listeria Monocytogenes Biofilm Formation, Yong Ouyang

All Theses

ABSTRACT
Listeria monocytogenes is a ubiquitous gram positive food borne pathogen. Ingestion of L.monocytogenes contaminated food can cause serious infections in immune-compromised persons. In addition to planktonic growth, this pathogen can also grow as biofilms under adverse conditions, which has been proved to be more resistant than its planktonic counterpart to various eradications, such as antibiotic treatments. Compared with the extensively studied intracellular replication mechanisms, L.monocytogenes biofilm developmental process is not well understood.
Our research group initiated a systemic study on the molecular mechanisms of L.monocytogenes biofilm formation. A whole genome-scale screening for functional factors involved in L.monocytogenes biofilm development …


Modified Method For The Microbial Enumeration Of High Fat Foods, Robert Valerio May 2010

Modified Method For The Microbial Enumeration Of High Fat Foods, Robert Valerio

All Theses

Foods of high fat content, such as peanut butter and ground beef, can be of particular interest to food microbiologists due to their role in harboring microorganisms that lead to spoilage and/or foodborne illnesses. In previous studies on raw poultry rendering materials, Glenn (2006) determined standard phosphate buffer serial dilutions produced erratic microbial enumeration results. As the material contained high fat, it was
hypothesized that the immiscibility of fat in the aqueous buffer caused the errors. This could occur by fat globules entrapping microorganisms in foods. Upon serial dilution with aqueous buffers, the fat globules may not be evenly dispersed …


Growth And Hydrogen Production From Carbohydrates And Switchgrass By Thermotoga Neapolitana, Divya Dharshini Chandrasekaran May 2010

Growth And Hydrogen Production From Carbohydrates And Switchgrass By Thermotoga Neapolitana, Divya Dharshini Chandrasekaran

All Theses

Thermotoga neapolitana is an anaerobic thermophilic marine bacterium that has been reported to degrade cellulose. This hyperthermophilic bacterium grows at 77¡C and could be used in large scale applications because of its ability to withstand extreme conditions. The aim of this study was to analyze the growth and production of hydrogen by T. neapolitana when grown on various carbon sources including the bioenergy crop switchgrass. Switchgrass was provided by the Clemson University Pee Dee Research and Education Center and was milled to about 4mm in size. Switchgrass was then added to an anaerobic medium and inoculated with T. neapolitana . …


Localization Of Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-Trisphosphate To Phagosomes In Entamoeba Histolytica Achieved Using Glutathione S-Transferase- And Green Fluorescent Protein-Tagged Lipid Biosensors, Yevgeniya A. Byekova, Rhonda R. Powell, Brenda H. Welter, Lesly A. Temesvari Jan 2010

Localization Of Phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-Trisphosphate To Phagosomes In Entamoeba Histolytica Achieved Using Glutathione S-Transferase- And Green Fluorescent Protein-Tagged Lipid Biosensors, Yevgeniya A. Byekova, Rhonda R. Powell, Brenda H. Welter, Lesly A. Temesvari

Publications

Entamoeba histolytica is an intestinal protozoan parasite that causes amoebic dysentery and liver abscess. Phagocytosis by the parasite is a critical virulence process, since it is a prerequisite for tissue invasion and establishment of chronic infection. While the roles of many of the proteins that regulate phagocytosis-related signaling events in E. histolytica have been characterized, the functions of lipids in this cellular process remain largely unknown in this parasite. In other systems, phosphatidylinositol (3,4,5)-trisphosphate (PIP3), a major product of phosphoinositide 3 kinase (PI3-kinase) activity, is essential for phagocytosis. Pleckstrin homology (PH) domains are protein domains that specifically bind …