The evaluation of the instrumentation of an acoustic measurement buoy designed to monitor the underwater acoustic environment during pile driving activity

Driving large support piles in brackish estuaries results in permanent damage, and possibly death to marine mammals and fragile infant fish spawned in these areas. The damage is a result of excessive acoustic intensities produced by the pile driving activity. To monitor this \u27noise\u27, students in the Undergraduate Ocean Research Projects: TECH 797 2005-2006 (Risso et al. 2006), working with Dr. Ken Baldwin as their advisor, proposed the concept of using an \u27Acoustic Measurement Buoy\u27. Their project was funded by the National Sea Grant College Program, NOAA, and Department of Commerce. Their problem statement was To develop a portable, robust, and inexpensive system for measurement of waterborne noise associated with construction in coastal and estuarine regions (Risso et al. 2006). Based upon extensive testing and experimentation, this thesis evaluates the feasibility of their design, the problems encountered, some solutions and recommendations for improvements in putting the \u27Acoustic Measurement Buoy\u27 to practical use. The individual components were analyzed to compare their requirements, specifications and performance. Evaluations were performed on a test bench, in the tank in the Jere Chase Ocean Engineering Lab, on the R/V Gulf Challenger and at a floating dock in a coastal marine environment. The data were collected using National Instruments LabVIEW(TM) software, data acquisition hardware, and post processed using Matlab(TM) software. Standard techniques in failure and root cause analysis, such as cause and effect diagrams, fishbone diagrams, flow diagrams and process maps will be used in the data and component analysis

Elucidating residues on the BK channel required for activation by alcohol and intoxication in C. elegans

textAlcohol produces changes in behavior through molecular effects on ion channels, enzymes and transporters. Many proteins have been elucidated that at least in part mediate behavioral changes induced by alcohol. However, it has been difficult thus far to uncover key amino acid residues within a protein that are necessary for the effects of alcohol. This information is critical, potentially leading to effective pharmacological treatments for alcohol use disorders (AUD) and identification of allelic variations that predispose an individual for AUD. The big conductance voltage- and calcium-activated potassium (BK) channel has recently emerged as a critical protein for the effects of alcohol across species. In this dissertation, we study the molecular action of alcohol on the BK channel, and how this action contributes to behavioral intoxication. To accomplish this, we first provide credence for using the nematode C. elegans for studying the behavioral effects of ethanol. We demonstrate how behavioral intoxication and internal ethanol concentration in C. elegans is altered by the osmolarity of the ethanol-solution, reconciling results from previous conflicting reports in the literature. We then identify the amino acid residue T381 on the BK channel in C. elegans is critical for behavioral intoxication, but not other BK channel-dependent behaviors. These results suggest a functional BK channel resistant to ethanol. By knocking-in the human BK channel, we then demonstrate that the equivalent residue, T352 is also critical for behavioral intoxication in C. elegans, but not other BK channel-dependent behaviors. Using single-channel recordings, we find that the T352 residue is critical for the potentiating effects of ethanol on the human BK channel, without being critical for basal-function. Finally, we investigate the role of calcium-sensing residues on the worm BK channel for behavioral intoxication in C. elegans. We find that these residues are non-essential for intoxication, in contrast to in vitro reports in the mammalian channel suggesting the calcium-sensing residues are critical for ethanol-activation of the BK channel.Neuroscienc