Search Results

open access

Temporal and Spatial Comparisons of Ambient Toxicity of the Trinity River in Relationship to an Effluent

Description: A toxicological study was initiated because of concerns about allegations that the Texas Water Commission that effluent from the Dallas Central Wastewater Treatment Plant, which discharges into the Trinity River, was affecting downstream water quality. Monthly, flow-weighted composite effluent samples were collected. Grab samples were also collected upstream and downstream from the effluent from April 1989 to August 1991. Toxicity tests were conducted on these samples using Ceriodaphnia dubia a… more
Date: December 1993
Creator: Hall, David B., 1958-
open access

Cloning of Carbonic Anhydrase from Cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.)

Description: Carbonic anhydrase is a ubiquitous zinc-metalloenzyme that catalyzes the interconversion of carbon dioxide and carbonate and has been found to play a wide range of roles in animals, plants and bacteria. Cotton genomic and cDNA libraries were screened for the plastidial isoform of carbonic anhydrase. The nucleotide sequences of two 1.2 Kb partial cDNA clones were determined. These clones exhibit high homology to carbonic anhydrases from other dicot plants and possess all the expected peptide mot… more
Date: December 1998
Creator: Local, Andrea
open access

Effects of External Electric Fields on Light Transmittance in Isolated Crayfish Nerves

Description: Acute effects of a pulsed external electric field (PEEF) at 20 V/cm and a d.c. EEF at 90 V/cm on light transmittance in an isolated compound crayfish nerve was measured. In a third series, the nerve was pre-treated with the Na+ channel blocker tetrodotoxin (TTX). A PEEF produced an irreversible increase in the variation of light transmittance in normal nerves but a reversible increase in TTX treated nerves. This data was statistically insignificant. The d.c. EEFs produced a reversible and stati… more
Date: December 1995
Creator: Northcutt, Brian S. W.
open access

Biotic Factors and Temperature Tolerances via Critical Thermal Methodology in Goldfish

Description: CTMinimum and CTMaximum were measured in 620 goldfish to determine if biotic factors, in particular starvation, condition factor and size, affect temperature tolerance. Twenty-eight days of starvation adversely affected both upper and lower temperature tolerance. Condition factor was related to upper but not lower temperature tolerance.
Date: August 1999
Creator: Ford, Tiiu Kirsti, 1972-
open access

The Role of Gabergic Inhibition in Modulating Receptive Field Size of Cuneate Neurons

Description: A blockade of GABAergic inhibition increases the receptive field(RF) size of most somatosensory cortex (SI) and some ventrobasal thalamus (VB) neurons. The results suggest RF size of cuneate neurons may be modulated through GABAa and GABAb receptors, independent of firing frequency.
Date: August 1997
Creator: Tennison, Cullen F.
open access

Contemporary Biology Curriculum for Non-majors

Description: The proposed biology curriculum for non-majors has one main objective, namely to improve scientific literacy among college students. The National Science Education Standards defines scientific literacy as "the knowledge and understanding of scientific concepts and processes required for personal decision making, participation in civic and cultural affairs, and economic productivity". The suggested strategies to accomplish this goal are to limit the number of topics covered, introduce relevant s… more
Date: August 1998
Creator: Smallwood, Susan
open access

Isolation and Characterization of the Operon Containing Aspartate Transcarbamoylase and Dihydroorotase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Description: The Pseudomonas aeruginosa ATCase was cloned and sequenced to determine the correct size, subunit composition and architecture of this pivotal enzyme in pyrimidine biosynthesis. During the course of this work, it was determined that the ATCase of Pseudomonas was not 360,000 Da but rather present in a complex of 484,000 Da consisting of two different polypeptides (36,000 Da and 44,000 Da) with an architecture similar to that of E. coli ATCase, 2(C3):3(r2). However, there was no regulatory polype… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Vickrey, John F. (John Fredrick), 1959-
open access

Cottonseed Microsomal N-Acylphosphatidylethanolamine Synthase: Identification, Purification and Biochemical Characterization of a Unique Acyltransferase

Description: N-Acylphosphatidylethanoiamine (NAPE) is synthesized in the microsomes of cotton seedlings by a mechanism that is possibly unique to plants, the ATP-, Ca2+-, and CoA-independent acylation ofphosphatidylethanolamine (PE) with unesterified free fatty acids (FFAs), catalyzed by NAPE synthase. A photoreactive free fatty acid analogue, 12-[(4- azidosalicyl)amino]dodecanoic acid (ASD), and its 125I-labeled derivative acted as substrates for the NAPE synthase enzyme.
Date: December 1998
Creator: McAndrew, Rosemary S. (Rosemary Smith)
open access

Evaluation of the Use of the Bivalves Ischadium recurvum Rafinesque, 1820 and Corbicula fluminea Muller, 1774 as Biological Indicators of Relative Water Quality in Terms of Growth and Upper Temperature Tolerance

Description: Growth of mussels under laboratory conditions was examined under various food regimes in different water types and temperatures. Growth was less than would be useful as an indicator and comparisons with field exposures were of minimal value. The effects of organophosphates on bivalves were examined via toxicity tests, tissue concentration, and by controlling exposure through the use of physical constraints. Upper temperature tolerance of both bivalve species was examined with respect to differe… more
Date: December 1997
Creator: Hemming, Jon Michael
open access

Molecular Phylogeny and Evolution of the American Woodrats, Genus Neotoma (Muridae)

Description: The evolutionary relationships of woodrats (Neotoma) were elulcidated through phylogenetic analyses of mitochondrial DNA restriction site and allozyme data. DNA samples from eleven nominal species from the genus Neotoma and two outgroup taxa, Ototylomys phyttotis and Xenomys nelsoni, were cleaved using a suite of 17 Type II restriction endonucleases. Mitochondrial DNA restriction profiles were visualized following electrophoresis of restriction digests via methods of Southern transfer and hybri… more
Date: August 1992
Creator: Planz, John Valentine
open access

The Removal of Linseed Oil Vapors by Biodegradation

Description: Linseed oil is very important in industry but its use is limited due to noxious vapors produced by oxidation on exposure to air. Since some of the products are toxic, release of linseed oil vapors to the environment is normally prohibited. In order to remove the odorous compounds, a biofilter system based on bacterial metabolism was designed and the major premises of bioremediation were studied. A total of five bacterial strains capable of using linseed oil vapors as their sources of carbon and… more
Date: August 1996
Creator: Sukplang, Patamaporn
open access

Plankton Community Response to Dechorination of a Municipal Effluent Discharged into the Trinity River

Description: Chorine is used by the Village Creek Waste Water Treatment Plant to kill pathogenic microorganisms prior to discharge of the effluent into the Trinity River. The residual chlorine in the river impacted aquatic life prompting the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in December 1990 to require dechlorination using sulfur dioxide. One pre-dechlorination and four post-dechlorination assessments of phytoplankton, periphyton, and zooplankton communities were conducted by the Institute of Applied Sci… more
Date: December 1994
Creator: Bryan, Brynne L. (Brynne Lee)
open access

Chronic Ventricular Sympathectomy : Effects on Myocardial Metabolism

Description: Chronic ventricular sympathectomy elicits changes in the coronary circulation, myocardial oxygen consumption and size of infarction resulting fromcoronary occlusion. These changes indicate a change occurring in the basic metabolism of the heart in response to the removal of its sympathetic nervous input. This hypothesis was tested using two groups of dogs, a shamoperated control and a ventricular sympathectomized group. The sympathectomy procedure was an intrapericardial surgical technique whic… more
Date: August 1993
Creator: Adix Longlet, Nancy J.
open access

Interactions between Carotid and Cardiopulmonary Baroreceptor Populations during Dynamic Exercise in Man

Description: During dynamic exercise the arterial baroreflexes have been thought to reset to the prevailing level of systemic pressure in order to modulate transient changes in blood pressure with the same sensitivity (gain) as at rest. To test this hypothesis, cardiovascular responses to dynamic exercise and carotid baroreflex responses to graded neck suction and neck pressure (NS/NP) were examined in seven men of moderate fitness (V02 = 41.4±3.6 ml O2*kg^-1*min^-1) during two levels (20% and 40% of peak o… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Potts, Jeffrey Thomas
open access

Nucleotide Sequence of a Bovine Arginine Transfer RNA Gene

Description: A single plaque-pure lambda clone designated λBA84 that hybridized to a ˆ32P-labeled bovine arginine tRNA was isolated from a bovine genomic library harbored in a lambda bacteriophage vector. A 2.3-kilobase segment of this clone was found to contain an arginine transfer RNAccg gene by Southern blot hybridization analysis and dideoxyribonucleotide DNA sequencing. This gene contains the characteristic RNA polymerase III split promoter sequence found in all eukaryotic tRNAs and a potential RNA pol… more
Date: May 1996
Creator: Eubanks, Aleida C. (Aleida Christine)
open access

Pyrimidine Metabolism in Streptomyces griseus

Description: Salvage of pyrimidine nucleosides and bases by S. griseus and the regulation of aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) were studied. The velocity-substrate curve for S. griseus ATCase was hyperbolic for both aspartate and carbamoylphosphate. The enzyme activity was diminished in the presence of ATP, CTP, or UTP. The synthesis of ATCase was repressed in cells grown in the presence of exogenous uracil. The specific activity of cells grown with uracil was 43 percent of that for cells grown in minima… more
Date: August 1994
Creator: Hughes, Lee E. (Lee Everette)
open access

Subcellular Localization of N-acylphosphatidyl-ethanolamine Synthase in Cotyledons of Cotton Seedlings

Description: N-acylation of phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) with free fatty acids catalyzed by N-acyl phosphatidylethanolamine (NAPE) synthase was reported in cotyledons of 24-h-old cotton seedlings. Here I report subcellular localization of this enzyme. Differential centrifugation, sucrose density gradient fractionation,aqueous two-phase partitioning and electron microscopy techniques were utilized to elucidate subcellular site(s) of NAPE synthase. Marker enzymes were used to locate organelles in subcellular… more
Date: December 1995
Creator: Sriparameswaran, Anuja
open access

Nesting Ecology of the Dickcissel (Spiza americana) on a Tallgrass Prairie Relict in North Central Texas

Description: Eighty-three species of vascular plants were inventoried on the prairie relict during peak dickcissel nesting. Based on foliar cover and occurrence frequency, the five dominant plants were heath aster (Aster ericoides), eastern gammagrass (Tripsacum dactyloides), little bluestem (Schizachyrium scoparium), sensitive briar (Schrankia roemeriana) and meadow dropseed (Sporobolus asper). Sixty-one percent of dickcissel nests were constructed on or immediately next to three plant species: eastern gam… more
Date: May 1993
Creator: Steigman, Kenneth Lee
open access

Comparison of Aspartate Transcarbamoylase and Pyrimidine Salvage in Sporosarcina urea, Sprolactobacillus inulinus, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Micrococcus luteus

Description: The enzyme that catalyzes the committed step in pyrimidine biosynthesis, aspartate transcarbamoylase, has been compared in selected endospore-forming organisms and in morphologically similar control organisms. The ATCases and pyrimidine salvage from Sporosarcina ureae, Sporolactobacillus inulinus, Lactobacillus fermentum, and Micrococcus luteus were compared to those of Bacillus subtilis. While the ATCases from Sporosarcina ureae, Sporolactobacillus inulinus, and L. fermentum were found to exhi… more
Date: August 1994
Creator: Barron, Vincent N. (Vincent Neal)
open access

Regulation of Colony-Stimulating Factor-1 Biosynthesis

Description: Recent studies suggest that synthesis of the Colony-stimulating factor (CSF) is a well regulated process. However, the molecular mechanisms of the signal transduction of the various inducers of CSF such as monokines and lymphokines are not well understood. Using Interleukin 1 (IL-1) stimulation of CSF-1 in the MIA PaCa-2 cell line as a model system, the involvement of G-protein has been studied. The IL-1 induction of CSF-1 synthesis can be inhibited by both Pertussis toxin and Cholera toxin, wh… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Ku, Chun-Ying
open access

Toxicity of Chromium and Fluoranthene From Aqueous and Sediment Sources to Selected Freshwater Fish

Description: Research efforts in aquatic toxicology have historically centered on the chemical analyses and toxic effects of waters to aquatic organisms. More recently, sediment-source toxicity has been explored, with efforts concentrated on establishing sensitive and accurate methodologies. This study focused on the toxicity of trivalent chromium, hexavalent chromium, and fluoranthene to Pimephales promelas, Ictalurus punctatus, and Lepomis macrochirus. Test fish were exposed to both water-borne and sedime… more
Date: May 1990
Creator: Gendusa, Tony C.
Back to Top of Screen