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Exposure to Nanomaterials Results in Alterations of Inflammatory and Atherosclerotic Signaling Pathways in the Coronary Vasculature of Wildtype Rodents

Description: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the leading cause of death for people of most ethnicities on a global scale, and countless research efforts on the pathology of CVD has been well-characterized over the years. However, advancement in modern technologies, such as nanotechnology, has generated environmental and occupational health concerns within the scientific community. Current investigation of nanotoxicity calls into question the negative effects nanomaterials may invoke from their environmental… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Davis, Griffith M.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Field and Laboratory Fish Tissue Accumulation of Carbamazepine and Amiodarone

Description: The goals of this dissertation work were to assess the bioaccumulation potential of carbamazepine and amiodarone, two widely used ionizable pharmaceutical compounds that possess mid-range and high LogD values, respectively, and to evaluate alternative methods to assess chemical accumulation in bluntnose minnows, catfish, and tilapia. Results indicated that carbamazepine does not appreciably bioaccumulate in fish tissue with BCFk and BAF carbamazepine values < 10. Amiodarone, however, with a log… more
Date: December 2013
Creator: García Martínez, Santos Noé
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Functional Neural Toxicity and Endocrine Responses in Mice Following Naphthalene Exposure

Description: Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a well studied and diverse class of environmental toxicants. PAHs act via the aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR), and studies have suggested that PAHs may elicit neurological and estrogenic effects. Doses of PAHs between 50 to 150 ppm may elicit neurotoxicity in rodent models. The present study investigated the effects of naphthalene on in vivo steroidogenesis in Swiss Webster male mice, and in vitro neural function of Balb-C/ICR mice frontal cortex ne… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Colbert, Crystal
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Generating Molecular Biology Tools to Investigate the Ca2+ Binding Ability of Arabidopsis TON2

Description: The position of the cell division plane in plants is determined by the position of the preprophase band. The pre prophase band (PPB) is a ring of microtubules centered around the nucleus on the inner side of plasma membrane that establishes the cortical division site. The PPB forms at the end of G2 and breaks down at the end of prophase leaving behind protein markers of its position that are collectively called the cortical division site. During cytokinesis the phragmoplast expands towards the … more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Shao, Danyang
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Genetic Interest Assessment

Description: Genetics is becoming increasingly integrated into peoples' lives. Different measures have been taken to try and better genetics education. This thesis examined undergraduate students at the University of North Texas not majoring in the life sciences interest in genetic concepts through the means of a Likert style survey. ANOVA analysis showed there was variation amongst the interest level in different genetic concepts. In addition age and lecture were also analyzed as contributing factors t… more
Date: May 2013
Creator: Doughney, Erin
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Genomic Island Discovery through Enrichment of Statistical Modeling with Biological Information

Description: Horizontal gene transfer enables acquisition and dissemination of novel traits including antibiotic resistance and virulence among bacteria. Frequently such traits are gained through the acquisition of clusters of functionally related genes, often referred to as genomic islands (GIs). Quantifying horizontal flow of GIs and assessing their contributions to the emergence and evolution of novel metabolic traits in bacterial organisms are central to understanding the evolution of bacteria in genera… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Jani, Mehul
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

A High-fat Meal Alters Post-prandial mRNA Expression of SIRT1, SIRT4, and SIRT6

Description: Sirtuins (SIRT) regulate the transcription of various genes involved in the development of diet-induced obesity and chronic disease; however, it is unknown how they change acutely following a high-fat meal. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of a high-fat meal (65% kcals/d; 85% fat recommendation), on SIRT1-7 mRNA expression in blood leukocytes at 1, 3, and 5-h post-prandial. Men and women (N=24) reported to the lab following an overnight fast (>12H). Total RNA was isolated a… more
Date: December 2015
Creator: Best Sampson, Jill Nicole
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Hypoxia and the Development of Endothermic Capacity in Chickens (Gallus Gallus)

Description: Adult chickens employ endothermy – internal generation of heat that maintains a constant body temperature (Tb). Prior to hatching, chicken embryos are ectothermic - controlling Tb by external heat sources. Upon hatching, the hatchling transitions from an ectotherm to an endotherm that has been shown to be delayed by hypoxia. In this study, whole animal oxygen consumption () and liver, heart, and skeletal muscle citrate synthase activity (CSA) and were measured during this transition to endothe… more
Date: August 2012
Creator: Neely, Aaron Mackallan
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Identification of the Neurobiological Basis of Hemodynamic Responses Correlated with Cognitive Stroop Task Performance After an Acute Bout of Aerobic Exercise

Description: Cardiovascular activities may increase the brain blood flow improving neuronal activities leading to improved cognition. Consequently, the effects of an acute bout of moderate intensity aerobic exercise on brain hemodynamics and its correlation with cognitive color-word Stroop task performance were tested. The Stroop tasks were congruent (color matches word) and incongruent (color does not match word). Prefrontal (PFC) and motor cortex (MC) blood flow was recorded by fNIRS (functional near-infr… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Pal, Amrita
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Immunohistochemistry of the Gills of the Channel Catfish Ictalurus Punctatus: Cells and Neurochemicals That May Be Involved in the Control of Cardioventilatory Reflexes

Description: In teleost fishes the neurochemicals involved in sensing and responding to hypoxia are unresolved. Serotonergic branchial neuroepithelial cells (NECs) are putative O2 chemoreceptors believed to be homologous to the neural crest (NC) derived APUD (amine-precursor uptake and decarboxylation) pulmonary NECs and carotid body type-1 glomus cells. Branchial NECs contain serotonin (5-HT), thought to be central to the induction of the hypoxic cardioventilatory reflexes. However, application of 5-HT … more
Date: December 2013
Creator: Oden, David S.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Impact of Developmental Stress on Cardiovascular Physiology of Two Archosaur Species: American Alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and Domestic Chicken (Gallus gallus)

Description: Crocodilians and birds comprise sister taxa of archosaurs, the development of these vertebrates occurs within an egg case that leaves developing embryos susceptible to fluctuations in the nesting environment. Studies suggest that sub-optimal conditions alter morphological growth and cardiovascular physiology. Regulation of the cardiovascular system is immature in the subjects studied, and embryos may rely on humoral rather than neural control of the cardiovascular system. The primary focus of t… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Tate, Kevin B.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Implications of Diet in Cardiovascular Disease Risk: Postprandial Changes in Circulating Monocytes and Endotoxemia

Description: It is well established that continual consumption of a diet high in fat leads to the development of chronic conditions such as obesity, cardio metabolic syndrome, and atherosclerosis that are associated with high incidence of cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have identified endotoxin-derived inflammation as a major diving force for the development of these conditions. Our laboratory has recently demonstrated that consumption of a single high-fat meal results in acute postprandial endotoxe… more
Date: August 2018
Creator: Venable, Andrea Henning
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Improving Processing Efficiency for Forensic DNA Samples

Description: The goal of this project was to reduce processing time for forensic DNA testing without incurring significant added costs and/or the need for new instrumentation, while still generating high quality profiles. This was accomplished by: 1) extraction normalization using the ChargeSwitch® Forensic DNA Purification Kit such that a small range of DNA concentrations was consistently obtained, eliminating the need for sample quantification and dilution; 2) developing fast PCR protocols for STR primer … more
Date: May 2015
Creator: Connon, Catherine Cupples
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

In Vitro Exploration of Functional Acrolein Toxicity with Cortical Neuronal Networks

Description: Acrolein is produced endogenously after traumatic brain injury (TBI) and is considered a primary mechanism for secondary damage occurring after TBI. We are using frontal cortex networks derived from mouse embryos and grown on microelectrode arrays in vitro to monitor the spontaneous activity of networks and the changes that occur after acrolein application. Networks exposed to acrolein exhibit a biphasic response profile. An initial increase in network activity, followed by a decrease to 100% a… more
Date: May 2018
Creator: Durant, Stormy R.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

In Vitro Investigations of Antibiotic Influences on Nerve Cell Network Responses to Pharmacological Agents

Description: Neuronal networks, derived from mouse embryonic frontal cortex (FC) tissue grown on microelectrode arrays, were used to investigate effects of gentamicin pretreatment on pharmacological response to the L-type calcium channel blocker, verapamil. Gentamicin is a broad spectrum antibiotic used to control bacterial contamination in cell culture. The addition of gentamicin directly to medium affects the pharmacological and morphological properties of the cells in culture. A reproducible dose respons… more
Date: December 2014
Creator: Sawant, Meera
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Induced Bradycardia Effects on Angiogenesis, Growth and Development in Early Development in Chicken Embryos, Gallus Domesticus

Description: Cardiac performance, angiogenesis and growth was investigated during early chicken development. Heart rate, and thus arterial pulse pressure and cardiac output, were altered with the bradycardic drug ZD7288. Heart rates at 72 h of development of control embryos and those dosed with chicken Ringer were not different at 171 bpm. Acute and chronic application of ZD7288 caused significant bradycardia. Chronic dosing of Ringer and ZD7288 changed neither eye diameter nor development rate. Chronic dos… more
Date: December 2010
Creator: Ruck, Sylvia A.
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

The Influence of in Vitro Gill and Liver Metabolism of Xenobiotics on Fish Bioconcentration

Description: This dissertation examines the ability of in vitro biotransformation assays to provide an indication of metabolic potential. The potential for xenobiotic compounds to bioconcentrate in aquatic organisms is expressed through the bioconcentration factor (BCF). The metabolic loss of ibuprofen, norethindrone and propranolol was measured using rainbow trout (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and channel catfish (Ictalurus punctatus) gill and liver S9 fractions, microsomes and cell suspensions. Metabolic trans… more
Date: August 2010
Creator: Gomez, Cristi Frasier
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Investigating Human Gut Microbiome in Obesity with Machine Learning Methods

Description: Obesity is a common disease among all ages that has threatened human health and has become a global concern. Gut microbiota can affect human metabolism and thus may modulate obesity. Certain mixes of gut microbiota can protect the host to be healthy or predispose the host to obesity. Modern next-generation sequencing technique allows accessing huge amount of genetic information underlying microbiota and thus provides new insights into the functionality of these micro-organisms and their interac… more
Date: August 2017
Creator: Zhong, Yuqing
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Investigating Realistic Scenarios of Biodiversity Loss on Ecosystem Functioning: Extirpation of Rare Species and Food Web Collapse in Tropical Floodplain Lagoons

Description: This thesis investigates the influence of nonrandom species loss on the structure and functioning of trophic floodplain lagoons. Two experiments were conducted based on different realistic scenarios of biodiversity loss using multitrophic fish assemblages derived from long-term survey data. Loss of fish diversity influenced overall ecosystem multifunctionality of these lagoons through complex multitrophic interactions throughout the aquatic food web. These results indicate that biodiversity l… more
Date: May 2012
Creator: Pendleton, Richard McCall
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Isolation and Bioinformatic Characterization of Four Novel Bacteriophages from Streptomyces toxytricini

Description: Six initial phage isolates with high titer lysates were obtained using Streptomyces toxytricini B-5426 as the host bacterium. These isolates were named Goby, Toma, Yosif, Yara, Deema, and Hsoos. However, upon completion of the sequencing, it was found that the Yara and Hsoos isolates were identical, as were Goby and Deema. As a result, final analysis was completed on only the four unique isolates. All of the phages mentioned above were isolated from soil samples from different locations. Al… more
Date: May 2019
Creator: Alzaid, Hessah
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
open access

Key Factors Influencing Retention Rates among Historically Underrepresented Student Groups in STEM Fields

Description: The aim of the study was to identify the factors that have an influence on the completion rates of undergraduate students in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). Using Tinto's retention rate theory as the theoretical foundation, data were collected from freshman who were enrolled in the years 2005 to 2008. Results showed gender and first-generation status were significant predictors of STEM completion and time taken to complete the degree. Institutional bias pl… more
Date: December 2018
Creator: Premraj, Divya
Item Type: Refine your search to only Thesis or Dissertation
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