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open access

Age-Dependent Effects Of Chronic GABAA Receptor Blockade In Barrel Cortex

Description: GABAA receptor binding is transiently increased in rat whisker barrels during the second postnatal week, at a time when neurons in the developing rat cortex are vulnerable to excitotoxic effects. To test whether these GABAA receptors might serve to protect neurons from excessive excitatory input, polymer implants containing the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline were placed over barrel cortex for a 4-day period in young (postnatal days 8 - 12) and adult rats. In the cortex of young, but no… more
Date: May 2001
Creator: Gargan, Lynn

The Developmental Physiology of the Zebrafish: Influence of Environment and Cardiovascular Attributes

Description: Temperature effects on the development of the zebrafish embryos and larvae and adults were examined. It was found that the earlier in development a temperature change was performed on an embryo, the more significant the change in survival and/or subsequent development. Thus, viable temperature ranges for zebrafish widened significantly as development proceeded. Adults reared and bred at 25oC produced embryos that were significantly more successful at the lower range of rearing temperatures comp… more
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Date: August 2001
Creator: Bagatto, Brian

Submerged wood inhabiting macoinvertebrates of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River, Texas: Assemblage analyses, comparisons to the benthic fauna, and a study of Cyrnellus fraternus (Trichoptera: Polycentropodidae)

Description: Taxonomic composition and spatio-temporal variability of macroinvertebrates inhabiting snags were examined from an 8-km segment of the Elm Fork of the Trinity River. Seventy-seven macroinvertebrate taxa were collected from submerged wood during the study. Assemblages were highly variable spatially and temporally, especially among seasons. An ordination of species and environment did not find snag taxa to have striking correlations with many of the selected environmental variables, although ther… more
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Date: August 2001
Creator: Johnson, Zane B.
open access

Life History and Secondary Production of Caenis latipennis Banks (Ephemeroptera: Caenidae) in Honey Creek, Oklahoma

Description: A study of the life history and secondary production of Caenis latipennis, a caenid mayfly, was conducted on Honey Creek, OK. from August 1999 through September 2000. The first instar nymph was described. Nymphs were separated into five development classes. Laboratory egg and nymph development rates, emergence, fecundity, voltinism, and secondary production were analyzed. C. latipennis eggs and nymphs take 132 and 1709 degree days to develop. C. latipennis had an extended emergence with fiv… more
Date: August 2001
Creator: Taylor, Jason M.

A laboratory course in experimental genetics for the biology major.

Description: This manual has been designed for a class of twenty- four students concurrently enrolled in the lecture course. The laboratory aids in the learning process and fosters an interest in the science of genetics. This manual and the experiments contained within are both informative and fun. The manual correlates with and expands upon the genetics course. Each investigation, with the exception of the Drosophila melanogaster project, can be completed in a 3-4 hour timeframe. This manual provides a “ha… more
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Date: December 2001
Creator: Lux, Melissa McNeil

A Novel Phytoestrogen that Acts as an Agonist for Human Estrogen Receptors.

Description: Estrogen is the natural agonist of the estrogen receptor (ER). However, certain plant-derived compounds or phytoestrogens have been identified that mimic estrogens and act as agonists and/or antagonists of ERs, depending on subtype and target tissue. Understanding how phytoestrogens interact with ERs, and therefore effect the estrogenic response, may prove beneficial in hormone replacement therapy and in the prevention and treatment of hormone-related diseases. Using Thin Layer Chromatography, … more
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Date: December 2001
Creator: Pearce, Virginia

Comparative Morphology of Sensilla Styloconica on the Proboscis of North American Nymphalidae and Other Selected Taxa: Systematic and Ecological Considerations.

Description: Sensilla styloconica on the proboscis of 107 species of North American and tropical butterflies were comparatively studied using the scanning electron microscope. Focus was on 76 species of North American Nymphalidae representing 45 genera and 11 subfamilies. Nomenclature for generalized and specific types of nymphalid sensilla is proposed. Written descriptions and micrographs are presented for each species studied. Morphological features were generally consistent for all or most species withi… more
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Date: December 2001
Creator: Petr, Daniel
open access

A Study of the Pyrimidine Biosynthesis Pathway and its Regulation in Two Distinct Organisms: Methanococcus jannaschii and Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Description: Methanococcus jannaschii is a thermophilic methane producing archaebacterium. In this organism genes encoding the aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) catalytic (PyrB) and regulatory (PyrI) polypeptides were found. Unlike Escherichia coli where the above genes are expressed from a biscistronic operon the two genes in M. jannaschii are separated by 200-kb stretch of genome. Previous researchers have not been able to show regulation of the M. jannaschii enzyme by the nucleotide effectors ATP,… more
Date: December 2001
Creator: Patel, Seema R.
open access

Investigations of neuronal network responses to electrical stimulation in murine spinal cultures.

Description: Spontaneous activity in neuronal networks in vitro is common and has been well documented. However, alteration of spontaneous activity in such networks via conditioning electrical stimulation has received much less experimental attention. Two different patterns of electrical stimulation were used to enhance or depress the level of spontaneous activity in spinal cord cultures. High-frequency stimulation (HFS), a method routinely shown to increase the efficacy of synaptic transmission, was employ… more
Date: December 2001
Creator: Sparks, Christopher A.
open access

Effector Response of the Aspartate Transcarbamoylase From Wild Type Pseudomonas Putida and a Mutant with 11 Amino Acids Deleted at the N-terminus of PyrB.

Description: Like its enteric counterpart, aspartate transcarbamoylase (ATCase) from Pseudomonas putida is a dodecamer of two different polypeptides. Unlike the enterics, the Pseudomonas ATCase lacks regulatory polypeptides but employs instead inactive dihydroorotases for an active dodecamer. Previous work showed that PyrB contains not only the active site but also the effector binding sites for ATP, UTP and CTP at its N-terminus. In this work, 11 amino acids were deleted from the N-terminus of PyrB and t… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Asfour, Hani
open access

College Freshman Biology Two Semester Course: Integrating Deep Processing Teaching Techniques

Description: Development of a college level freshman biology course was undertaken in response to government reports that American students have fallen behind students of other countries in the area of the sciences. Teaching strategies were investigated to accomplish two objectives, to define essential academic material to include in the course and to investigate teaching techniques that would increase deep processing of the information. An active process that consisted of applying the cognitive information… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Blevins, Mary Jean
open access

The Use of Genetic Polymorphisms and Discriminant Analysis in Evaluating Genetic Polymorphisms as a Predictor of Population

Description: Discriminant analysis is a procedure for identifying the relationships between qualitative criterion variables and quantitative predictor variables. Data bases of genetic polymorphisms are currently available that group such polymorphisms by ethnic origin or nationality. Such information could be useful to entities that base financial determinations upon predictions of disease or to medical researchers who wish to target prevention and treatment to population groups. While the use of genetic in… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Howell, Bruce F.
open access

Immunohistochemical characterization of neuronal cilia in the rat central nervous system.

Description: An anti-G"11 antibody was used to label neuronal cilia throughout the rat central nervous system. Immunoreactive cilia were observed in every examined region of the rat CNS, but not in monkey or mouse tissue. Antibodies to G"q and G"q/11 failed to label cilia. Immunoreactive cilia were observed as early as postnatal day 0 in spinal tissue, and postnatal day 3 in hypothalamic tissue. There was a statistically significant negative correlation between a region's mean cilium length and that region… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Hughes, Rhome
open access

Autoradiographic Localization of Carbachol-Induced Second Messenger Response in the Rat Spinal Cord Following Inflammation.

Description: This study examined central mechanisms of persistent pain using an autoradiographic technique to localize phosphoinositide hydrolysis (PI) in the rat spinal cord dorsal horn. The lateral half of laminae I-II showed the highest levels of baseline PI turnover and carbachol-stimulated PI turnover in normal animals as well as after inflammation. Inflammation resulted in increased baseline PI turnover in this region of the ipsilateral (76%) and contralateral (65%) dorsal horns. Carbachol increased P… more
Date: May 2002
Creator: Moore, Jack
open access

Neuronal Network Analyses in vitro of Acute Individual and Combined Responses to Fluoxetine and Ethanol

Description: Embryonic murine neuronal networks cultured on microelectrode arrays were used to quantify acute electrophysiological effects of fluoxetine and ethanol. Spontaneously active frontal cortex cultures showed highly repeatable, dose-dependent sensitivities to both compounds. Cultures began to respond to fluoxetine at 3 µM and were shut off at 10-16 µM. EC50s mean ± S.D. for spike and burst rates were 4.1 ± 1.5 µM and 4.5 ± 1.1 µM (n=14). The fluoxetine inhibition was reversible and without effect… more
Date: August 2002
Creator: Xia,Yun

Use of Satellite Imagery and GIS to Model Brood-Rearing Habitat for Rio Grande Wild Turkey Populations Occurring in the Western Cross Timbers Region of Texas

Description: Remote sensing and GIS have become standard tools for evaluating spatial components of wildlife habitats. These techniques were implemented to evaluate Rio Grande wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo) poult-rearing habitat in the Western Cross Timbers region of Texas. Texas Parks and Wildlife (TPWD) random roving turkey counts for 1987-1989 and 1998-2000 were selected, indicating locations where hens with poults were observed. Satellite imagery from 1988 and 1999 was classified and then processed w… more
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Date: August 2002
Creator: Miller, Christopher J.
open access

Comparative biochemistry and genetic analysis of nucleoside hydrolase in Escherichia coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, and Pseudomonas fluorescens.

Description: The pyrimidine salvage enzyme, nucleoside hydrolase, is catalyzes the irreversible hydrolysis of nucleosides into the free nucleic acid base and D-ribose. Nucleoside hydrolases have varying degrees of specificity towards purine and pyrimidine nucleosides. In E. coli, three genes were found that encode homologues of several known nucleoside hydrolases in protozoa. All three genes (designated yaaF, yeiK, and ybeK) were amplified by PCR and cloned. Two of the gene products (yeiK and ybeK) encode … more
Date: December 2002
Creator: Fields, Christopher J.

A Physiological Age-Grading System for Female Hydrellia pakistanae Deonier (Diptera: Ephydridae)

Description: Conflicting opinions about the effectiveness of H. pakistanae as a biological control agent for hydrilla prompt researchers to find a method for assessing the fly's success. Developing a physiological age-grading system for the fly using ovarian morphology to detect changes in reproductive activity is useful for evaluating reproductive status of the fly in field populations. Changes in the appearance of follicular relics in ovaries with oviposition provide a reliable method to estimate fec… more
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Date: December 2002
Creator: Lenz, Jennifer Marie
open access

Establishing genetic and physiological baselines for the black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus).

Description: The black-tailed prairie dog (Cynomys ludovicianus) has experienced dramatic declines over much of its historical range due to habitat loss, plague, poisonings, and shootings. Many populations now occur as isolated genetic relicts. A multiple locus genetic profile was obtained using microsatellite analyses of six polymorphic nucleotide repeats from 319 black-tailed prairie dogs collected from 16 colonies throughout the state of Texas. This assessment revealed that existing populations have suff… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Biggs, Cindy Dawn
open access

A Contravention of Established Principles of Interspecific Allometric Metabolic Scaling in Developing Silkworms, Bombyx Mori.

Description: Established interspecific metabolic allometric relationships do not adequately describe the complexity and variable physiological states of developing animals. Consequently, intraspecific allometric relationships of oxygen consumption and carbon dioxide production as a function of body mass; the respiratory quotient; the function of the silk cocoon; and body composition were investigated for each distinct developmental stage of the silkworm, Bombyx mori. Whole animal O2 consumption in Bombyx r… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Blossman-Myer, Bonnie
open access

Influence of parental swimming stamina on the cardiac and metabolic performance of larval zebrafish (Danio rerio).

Description: Superior swimming stamina in adult fish is presumably passed on to their offspring, but the ontogeny of the appearance of superior stamina and the requisite enhanced cardio-respiratory support for locomotion in larval fishes has not been determined. Is the expression of the suite of parental traits enabling superior swimming stamina in their offspring dependent upon their achieving juvenile/adult morphology, or does it appear earlier in their larvae? To answer this, adults were classified int… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: Gore, Matthew R.
open access

Bacterial Challenge in Lumbricus Terrestris: A Terrestrial Invertebrate Immunotoxicity Model.

Description: A bacterial challenge assay was developed utilizing the earthworm, Lumbricus terrestris, in order to assess potential immunotoxic effects from exposure to specific polychlorinated biphenyl congeners. Earthworms were inoculated with Aeromonous hydrophila, establishing a 10-day LD50. In vitro assays for effects of PCBs on phagocytosis agreed with mammalian studies, demonstrating potent suppression of phagocytosis by the non-coplanar PCB congener 138 and no suppression by the coplanar congener 12… more
Date: May 2007
Creator: McDonald, Jennifer C.
open access

Stream water quality corridor assessment and management using spatial analysis techniques: Introduction, evaluation, and implementation of the WQCM model.

Description: The rapid development of once-rural landscapes often produces detrimental effects on surface water quality entering local reservoirs through vulnerable stream channels. This study presents a methodology that incorporates geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing techniques for the creation of a stream corridor evaluation mechanism, coined the water quality corridor management (WQCM) model. Specifically, the study focuses on determining the viability of the WQCM model in assessing … more
Date: August 2007
Creator: English, April R.
open access

Morphological and Hematological Responses to Hypoxia During Development in the Japanese quail, Coturnix coturnix

Description: Hypoxic responses in quail development differ depending upon stage, duration and level of oxygen partial pressure of embryo. Incubation was switched to/from 110mmHg partial pressure (hypoxia), to/from 150mmHg (normoxia) during different stages in development, and control was incubated in normoxia throughout. Hatchability and embryo survival resulted in no hatchlings in continuous hypoxia. Responses to various hypoxic exposures throughout development resulted in recovery/repair of hypoxic damage… more
Date: May 2003
Creator: Elmonoufy, Nourhan
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