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open access

The Acute Toxic Effects of the Synthetic Cannabinoid, JWH-018 on the Cardiovascular and Neuroendocrine Systems in Ictalurus punctatus (Channel Catfish)

Description: Cannabinoid (CB) receptors have been found in most vertebrates that have been studied. The location of various CB receptors in the body and brain are known, but their physiological functions are not fully understood. The effects CBs have on the cardiovascular system have been of growing interest in recent years. Increasing reports from emergency departments and law enforcement agencies detail acute cardiovascular and psychological effects from synthetic CB intoxication, such as JWH-018. This ma… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Taylor, Dedric Esmond
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Role of Thyroid Hormone across Avian Development Spectrum: Investigations on Systemic Development, Metabolism and Ontogeny of Endothermy

Description: Achievement of endothernic capacity is vital for independence from ambient temperature changes, sustained activity, optimal biochemical reactions and optimization of parental care. During early avian development, the core tenets of transition from ectothermy to endothermy are development of metabolic capacity (oxygen consumption, mitochondrial bioenergetics), enhanced cardiovascular function (heart rate and cardiac output), pulmonary ventilation and thermogenic capacity. Thyroid hormones, parti… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Sirsat, Tushar S
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Markov Model of Segmentation and Clustering: Applications in Deciphering Genomes and Metagenomes

Description: Rapidly accumulating genomic data as a result of high-throughput sequencing has necessitated development of efficient computational methods to decode the biological information underlying these data. DNA composition varies across structurally or functionally different regions of a genome as well as those of distinct evolutionary origins. We adapted an integrative framework that combines a top-down, recursive segmentation algorithm with a bottom-up, agglomerative clustering algorithm to decipher… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Pandey, Ravi Shanker
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Developing a Phylogeny Based Machine Learning Algorithm for Metagenomics

Description: Metagenomics is the study of the totality of the complete genetic elements discovered from a defined environment. Different from traditional microbiology study, which only analyzes a small percent of microbes that could survive in laboratory, metagenomics allows researchers to get entire genetic information from all the samples in the communities. So metagenomics enables understanding of the target environments and the hidden relationships between bacteria and diseases. In order to efficiently … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Rong, Ruichen
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Effectiveness of Hybrid Problem-Based Learning versus Manual-Based Learning in the Microbiology Laboratory

Description: Promising results from the use of problem-based learning (PBL) as a teaching method in medical programs have encouraged many institutions to incorporate PBL into their curricula. This study investigates how applying hybrid-PBL (H-PBL) in a microbiology laboratory impacts students' higher-order thinking as compared to applying a lecture-based pedagogy. The experimental design compared the learning outcomes of two groups of students: the control group and the H-PBL group, for whom PBL cases compr… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Alharbi, Najwa
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Studies on Zebrafish Thrombocyte Function

Description: Thrombocytes are important players in hemostasis. There is still much to be explored regarding the molecular basis of the thrombocyte function. In our previous microarray analysis data, we found IFT122 (an intraflagellar transport protein known to be involved in cilia formation) transcripts in zebrafish thrombocytes. Given recent discoveries of non-ciliary roles for IFTs, we examined the possibility that IFT122 affects thrombocyte function. We studied the role of IFT122 in thrombocyte function.… more
Date: May 2017
Creator: Pulipakkam Radhakrishnan, Uvaraj
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Cardiovascular Fetal Programming in Quail (Colinus virginianus), An Avian Comparative Model

Description: The consequences of early embryonic insults and how they affect subsequent life reflects the emerging concept of "fetal programming". The aim of this project is to study the effects of embryonic insults as they subsequently manifest themselves in adults, with emphasis on the heart and vasculature. My experiments establish that fetal programming operates on the bobwhite quail inducing similar changes as those observed in mammalians and other birds. The quail's fast development provides reliable … more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Flores Santin, Josele R.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Maternal Transfer of Dietary Methylmercury and Implications for Embryotoxicity in Fathead Minnows (Pimephales promelas)

Description: Mercury (Hg) is a ubiquitous environmental contaminant, which is capable of global atmospheric transport. As a result, even the most pristine aquatic ecosystems are affected by atmospheric Hg deposition, following which microbial transformation yield organic Hg forms, the most concerning of which is methylmercury (MeHg). Methylmercury is capable of bioaccumulation and biomagnification in food webs, resulting in potentially toxic body burdens due to regular dietary exposure in long-lived organ… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Bridges, Kristin N.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effects of Brain Injury on Primary Cilia of Glial Cells and Pericytes

Description: Glial cells maintain homeostasis that is essential to neuronal function. Injury to the nervous system leads to the activation and proliferation of glial cells and pericytes, which helps to wall off the damaged region and restore homeostatic conditions. Sonic hedgehog is a mitogen which is implicated in injury-induced proliferation of glial cells and pericytes. The mitogenic effects of sonic hedgehog require primary cilia, but the few reports on glial or pericyte primary cilia do not agree about… more
Date: December 2016
Creator: Coronel, Marco V.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Search for Surrogate Marker(s) of Immunity Following Vaccination with Experimental Vaccine (Autoclaved Leishmania Major + Bacille Calmette-Guérin) in Human Volunteers

Description: Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is usually a self-limiting lesion on the skin while visceral leishmaniasis is a progressive, systemic disease with high mortality even if treated. The problem associated with treatment and vector control justifies a search for an effective vaccine which seems to be the only practical means to control the disease. The aim of this study is to identify immunological surrogate marker(s) associated with protection against Leishmania infection. The results indicate that a… more
Date: December 1998
Creator: Mahmoodi, Majid
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Characterization of Aspartate Transcarbamoylase in the Archaebacterium Methanococcus Jannaschii

Description: Asparate transcarbamoylase catalyzes the first committed step in the de novo synthesis of pyrmidine nucleotides UMP, UDP, UTP, and CTP. The archetype enzyme found in Escherichia coli (310 kDa) exhibits sigmodial substrate binding kinetics with positive control by ATP and negative control with CTP and UTP. The ATCase characterized in this study is from the extreme thermophilic Archaebacterium, Methanococcus jannaschii. The enzyme was very stable at elevated temperatures and possessed activity fr… more
Date: December 1996
Creator: Stewart, John E. B. (John Edward Bakos)
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Identification of Glycine as the Factor in Peptone Which Induces Pleomorphism in Azotobacter Vinelandii

Description: The rigid peptidoglycan layer of the cell wall is responsible for maintaining the structural integrity of bacteria. Antibiotics such as penicillin exert their anti-bacterial effect by inhibiting synthesis of peptodoglycan, and enzymes such as lysozyme destroy cell integrity by hydrolyzing specific bonds in the interior of this macromolecule. Defective cells can no longer withstand the high turgor pressure within the cell because they are no longer protected by a rigid wall and tend to become fr… more
Date: December 1972
Creator: Rosenthal, Raoul Simon
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

The Physiology of Azotobacter Vinelandii Cysts

Description: The value of the adenylate energy charge [(ATP)+1/2(ADP)/(ATP)+(ADP)+(AMP)] in Azotobacter vinelandii cells was monitored during growth and germination in flask cultures. The miximal value of 0.88 was attained during mid-log phase; this declined gradually to 0.50 by late stationary phase. When these cultures were transferred to encystment media, the adenylate energy charge decreased to an average value of 0.40 as the vegetative cells encysted and remained unchanged during the next 20 days. Ency… more
Date: December 1980
Creator: Aladegbami, Solomon L.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Linkage Relationships of Greenbug Resistance in Barley, Hordeum Vulgare L.

Description: The linkage relationship and arm location of the gene for greenbug resistance in the variety Will was determined by using primary trisonomics and tertiary trisomic homozygous translocations. The gene for greenbug resistance was found to be on linkage group 1 by using primary trisonomics. The gene was located on the cetromere segment of the Tl-6a translocation by using a tertiary trismoic homozygous for greenbug resistance. The data further substantiates the feasibility of using trisomics in pla… more
Date: December 1972
Creator: Gardenhire, James H.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Maturation of Endothermic Capacity within the Avian Developmental Spectrum: A Characterization of Thermoregulatory Metamorphosis

Description: An avian embryo is ectothermic, with body temperature determined by environmental temperature. Upon hatching, the neonate begins a conversion so that endothermic capacity becomes feasible and body temperature becomes independent of environment. Whole animal metabolic rate and ventilation response, cardiovascular development, and maturation of muscle mitochondrial flux were the focus of this dissertation because of the direct role in shivering thermogenesis. Precocial ducks and altricial Double-… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Sirsat, Sarah Goy
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Glucose and Altered Ceramide Biosynthesis Impact the Transcriptome and the Lipidome of Caenorhabditis elegans

Description: The worldwide rise of diabetes and obesity has spurred research investigating the molecular mechanisms that mediate the deleterious effects associated with these diseases. Individuals with diabetes and/or obesity are at increased risk from a variety of health consequences, including heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease; all of these complications have oxygen deprivation as the central component of their pathology. The nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been established as a mod… more
Date: August 2016
Creator: Ladage, Mary Lee
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Environmental Modulation of the Onset of Air-breathing of the Siamese Fighting Fish and the Blue Gourami

Description: This study determined the effect of hypoxia on air-breathing onset and physiological and morphological characters in larvae of the air breathing fishes Trichopodus trichopterus and Betta splendens. Larvae were exposed intermittently (12/12 h daily) to 20, 17, and 14 kPa of PO2 from 1 to 40 days post-fertilization. Survival, onset of air breathing, wet body mass, O2, Pcrit were measured every 5 dpf. Hypoxia advanced by 4 days, and delayed by 9 days, the onset of air breathing in Betta and Trich… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Mendez Sanchez, Jose Fernando
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Thresholds and Legacy Effects of Tropical Floodplain Fish Assemblages in Response to Flood Attributes

Description: Natural flow regimes are critical for sustaining biodiversity and river integrity. Floods and droughts form an important component of river systems and control population sizes and species diversity across space and time. Modification of flow regimes, including disruption of the timing, magnitude and duration of flooding, is a global problem, and many new impoundments are planned for large river-floodplain ecosystems in the tropics. Flow modifications may cause dramatic non-linear responses … more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Hoeinghaus, Ana Paula Ferrari
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Characterizing the Molecular Changes of Austrofundulus limnaeus As It Develops Towards and Enters Diapause II

Description: Austrofundulus limnaeus is a species of annual killifish which inhabits ephemeral ponds in South America. The species is able to survive seasonally desiccating ponds due to their ability to produce robust embryos. The embryos of this species are capable of entering a developmental arrest, termed diapause II, which precedes the onset of drought. While in this arrested state embryos exhibit the greatest tolerance to anoxia of any characterized vertebrate at 25ºC. Furthermore, when raised at 30ºC,… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Toni, Lee S.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Impact of a Genetically Engineered Probiotic Therapy and IGF-1 Genomics in the PAHenu2 Mouse Model of PKU

Description: Absence of functional phenylalanine hydroxylase results in phenylketonuria (PKU). Viable treatments remain few, expensive and secondary conditions such as osteopenia occur in most PKU patients. Objective 1: Given the recently described roles of gut microbes to aid host digestion, an orally administered genetically engineered probiotic as the delivery vehicle for enzyme replacement therapy was created. The engineered probiotic, pHENOMMenal, produced phenylalanine ammonia lyase with significant… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Durrer, Katherine Elaine
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Effect of Acute Alcohol Ingestion on Resistance Exercise Induced mTORC1 Signaling in Human Muscle

Description: The purpose of this project was to further elucidate the effects post-exercise alcohol ingestion. This project had many novel aspects including using a resistance exercise (RE) only exercise design and the inclusion of women. To our knowledge, we are the first to investigate the effect of post-RE alcohol ingestion in women. In the first chapter of this project, information on the prevalence of alcohol use and the importance of skeletal muscle as a dynamic and metabolic tissue was provided. In c… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Duplanty, Anthony A.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Glucose Induces Sensitivity to Oxygen Deprivation and Alters Gene Expression in Caenorhabditis Elegans

Description: An organisms’ diet represents an exogenous influence that often yields colossal effects on long-term health and disease risk. The overconsumption of dietary sugars for example, has contributed to significant increases in obesity and type-2 diabetes; health issues that are costly both economically and in terms of human life. Individuals who are obese or are type-2 diabetic often have compromised oxygen delivery and an increased vulnerability to oxygen-deprivation related complications, such as i… more
Date: August 2015
Creator: Garcia, Anastacia M.
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Characteristics of Primary Cilia and Centrosomes in Neuronal and Glial Lineages of the Adult Brain

Description: Primary cilia are sensory organelles that are important for initiating cell division in the brain, especially through sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling. Several lines of evidence suggest that the mitogenic effect of Shh requires primary cilia. Proliferation initiated by Shh signaling plays key roles in brain development, in neurogenesis in the adult hippocampus, and in the generation of glial cells in response to cortical injury. In spite of the likely involvement of cilia in these events, little … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Bhattarai, Samip Ram
Partner: UNT Libraries
open access

Understanding Microbial Biodegradation of Environmental Contaminants

Description: The accumulation of industrial contaminants in the natural environments have rapidly become a serious threat for human and animal life. Fortunately, there are microorganisms capable of degrading or transforming environmental contaminants. The present dissertation work aimed to understand the genomic basis of microbial degradation and resistance. The focus was the genomic study of the following bacteria: a) Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764, a unique bacterium with specific enzymes that allow… more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Vilo Muñoz, Claudia Andrea
Partner: UNT Libraries
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