Two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy for protein analysis

A number of forms of coherent multi-dimensional vibrational spectroscopy (CMDVS) have been identified as being useful for addressing a range of biological problems. Here a particular member of this family of spectroscopies, electronvibration- vibration two-dimensional infrared (EVV 2DIR) spectroscopy (also known as DOubly-Vibrationally Enhanced InfraRed (DOVE-IR)), is explored for its possible utility for two particular bioanalytical applications; protein identification and the study of enzyme mechanisms. The main focus of this work is on the development of EVV 2DIR as a tool for high-throughput, label-free proteomics, in particular for protein identification and absolute quantification. The protein fingerprinting strategy is based on the identification of proteins through their spectroscopically determined amino acid compositions. To this end, spectral signatures of amino acid side chains (tyrosine, phenylalanine and tryptophan) have been identified, as well as those from CH2 and CH3 groups which have been found to be appropriate for use as internal references. The intensities of these cross peaks are measured to give proteins’ amino acid compositions in the form of amino acid / CHx ratios. Specialised databases comprising the amino acid / CHx ratios of proteins have been developed for achieving protein identifications using the EVV 2DIR data. The second strand of this research considers the potential of triply resonant EVV 2DIR for studying protein structures and mechanisms. It is possible to use the electronic polarising properties of EVV 2DIR to good effect to achieve significant enhancement of the signal size when probing a chromophore. Here this effect is demonstrated for the case of bacteriorhodopsin (bR) membranes isolated from Halobacterium salinarium. The signal enhancement that is achievable from the retinal chromophore at the heart of bR makes it possible to study this whilst avoiding the surrounding protein

Factors that Influence the Success in Higher Education for Students with Autism

The purpose of this study was to determine factors that influence the success in college for students with autism. To meet this purpose, four upperclassmen college students with ASD were recruited for semi-structured interviews on their college experience. The interviews were transcribed and coded which led to the uncovering of three categories and three themes. The data from this study suggest that success in college for students with autism is influenced by an integration of multiple factors working together which include personal, macro educational, and micro educational. Many general themes uncovered in this study were mirrored by the current literature (e.g. interpersonal relationships, accommodations, etc.) while some themes that were prominent in the literature were not found to be salient in the present study (e.g. transition, self-advocacy, etc.

Evaluation of the Basis and Effectiveness of Habitat Assessments in Wetland Functional Assessment Methods

I studied the basis and effectiveness of wetland assessment methods in providing habitat assessments. While it is well understood that wetlands and riparian areas provide important ecological functions and habitat for a wide variety of wildlife species, much is still to be learned about providing meaningful, accurate and repeatable methods for assessing them. I examined and evaluated four assessment methods to determine their accuracy and usefulness in assessing a site\u27s provision of habitat. One hypothesis I tested is that if the assessment methods studied provide an accurate assessment of wetland functions, then the resulting site scores for the methods should be correlated. The second hypothesis is that there is a correlation between the site scores and an independent measure of function, specifically the number of riparian-associated bird and butterfly species observed at each site. Biological and physical data collected from 47 riparian sites in California\u27s Central Valley were used to calculate site scores using Habitat Assessment Technique (HAT), Rocky Mountain Riparian Hydrogeomorphic (HGM), Southern California Riparian Model, and Reference Wetland assessment methods. The rankings of these site scores were also calculated for each method. Correlation coefficients (r) were calculated between the site scores of the four methods, as well as between the site scores and the numbers of riparian-associated bird and butterfly species for each plot. The site scores were mostly uncorrelated. Only one statistically significant correlation was demonstrated between the site scores for the Southern California Riparian Model and Reference Wetland methods (df = 46, r = 0.46, p = 0.00103, with Bonferroni correction). With Bonferroni corrections (p \u3c 0.00625), the site scores were also uncorrelated with the numbers of riparian-associated bird and butterfly species. Without Bonferroni corrections, only two statistically significant correlations were demonstrated: between the number of riparian-associated bird species and the HAT score (df = 46, r = 0.37, p = 0.0095) and the number of riparian-associated butterfly species and the Reference Wetland score (df = 46, r = 0.38, p = 0.0092). I rejected both original hypotheses, which demonstrated that the assessment tools currently available do not consistently produce relatively precise, or reproducible results. Possible reasons for these problems include attempting to assess a function that is too broadly defined, inappropriately or subjectively selected variables, subjectively assigning values to variables, or inappropriately selecting reference sites. The existing attempts at assessing wetland or riparian function are important steps in the right direction toward assessment of wetland and riparian sites and achievement of no net loss, but functional assessment must be considered a work in progress

A New Genus and Two New Species of Unarmed Hymenolepidid Cestodes (Cestoda: Hymenolepididae) from Geomyid Rodents in Mexico and Costa Rica

Two new cestodes of the family Hymenolepididae are described from two species of rodents of the family Geomyidae collected in Mexico and Costa Rica. One new species of Hymenolepis is described from Cratogeomys planiceps Merriam 1895 from near Toluca, Mexico and another that we allocate to a new genus is described from Heterogeomys heterodus (Peters, 1865) from near Irazú Volcano, Costa Rica. Hymenolepis s. str. includes those Hymenolepididae with an apical organ, with no hooks on suckers or apical organ, and three testes. Hobergia irazuensis n. gen., n. sp. includes a hymenolepidid with an apical organ, unarmed scolex, small pockets termed foveolae, in which the suckers completely retract, and extremely bi-lobed ovary. Multivariate morphometric analysis showed good separation of these species from all other hymenolepidids possessing an apical organ and lacking a well developed rostellum and rostellar hooks in the Nearctic and Neotropical regions

Ease the résistance : the role of narrative and other-referencing in attenuating psychological reactance to persuasive diabetes messages

Title from PDF of title page (University of Missouri--Columbia, viewed on December 7, 2010).The entire thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file; a non-technical public abstract appears in the public.pdf file.Dissertation advisor: Dr. Glenn Leshner.Vita.Ph. D. University of Missouri--Columbia 2010.Reactance theory (Brehm, 1966; Brehm & Brehm, 1981; Dillard & Shen, 2005) explains that persuasion may fail by inducing threats to individuals' perceived autonomy; this study provides evidence of pathways through this resistance to enhance message persuasiveness. A 2 (narrative) x 2 (other-referencing) x 2 (message) x 4 (order) experiment tested whether packaging overt recommendations as a story rather than an informational argument (i.e. narrative structure) and highlighting the impact of health decisions on family and friends rather than the individual (i.e., other-referencing) can effectively attenuate reactance. In the context of reactance-inducing print messages promoting healthy diet and physical activity for adult diabetics (N = 58), narrative and other-referencing directly and indirectly influenced attitudes and behavioral intentions. Specifically, both narrative and other-referencing led to lower perceived threat to choice, less state anger and counter-arguing, less negative cognitive responses, more positive attitudes toward the ad and the behaviors promoted, and greater likelihood of compliance. Moreover, reactance mediated the influence of these factors, such that narrative and other-referencing attenuated reactance, which, in turn, enhanced persuasion. Findings illustrate two strategies that message creators may use in order to benefit from clear, direct health messages while avoiding the resistance they may provoke. Moreover, findings inform message design for diabetes self-care education, a pressing need given the rapidly increasing prevalence of this illness, particularly among underserved populations.Includes bibliographical reference

Intragenomic conflict over dispersal

IIntragenomic conflict may arise when social partners are more related through one parent than the other, e.g. owing to individuals or gametes of one sex dispersing further prior to fertilization. In particular, genes originating from the former parent are favoured to promote selflessness and those originating from the latter parent are favoured to promote selfishness. Whilst the impact of patterns of dispersal on the evolution of intragenomic conflict has received recent attention, the consequences of intragenomic conflict for the evolution of dispersal remain to be explored. We suggest that, if the evolution of dispersal is driven at least in part by kin selection, then differential relatedness of social partners via their mothers versus their fathers may lead to an intragenomic conflict, with maternal-origin genes and paternal-origin genes favouring different rates of dispersal. As an illustration, we extend a classic model of the evolution of dispersal to explore how intragenomic conflict may arise between an individual’s maternal-origin and paternal-origin genes over whether or not that individual should disperse in order to ease kin competition. Our analysis reveals extensive potential for intragenomic conflict over dispersal predicts that genes underpinning dispersal phenotypes may exhibit parent-of-origin-specific expression, which will facilitate their discovery.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Nods and Becks, Lucy Cobb Institute Yearbook

Nods and Becks is the yearbook from the Lucy Cobb Institute in 1905. The Lucy Cobb Institute was a girls\u27 school in Athens, Georgia that remained open from 1859-1931. The most famous feature of the school was the Seney-Stovall Chapel built on school grounds. Currently, the University of Georgia owns the property. Fay Lamar Webb graduated from the Lucy Cobb Institute in 1905. There are group photos of each class level as well as many of the clubs and athletic groups. Included are several pages of prose and poetry written by students and many pages of entertaining quips about the students.https://digitalcommons.gardner-webb.edu/fay-webb-gardner-scrapbooks/1002/thumbnail.jp

Academic Effects of Service-Learning

Service-learning is growing in popularity. Ziolkowski (1996) pointed out that if service-learning is to become a lasting component in American education, it must have a clear link to the academy (in addition to the development of moral and civic values and the benefit to the community). We therefore examined students\u27 perception of their learning of specific aspects of course content. We measured perceived learning in two sections of Cognitive Psychology in which half of the students did service-learning. We asked each student to rate his or her knowledge of Attention, Memory, Language, Cognitive Development, Metacognition, Individual Differences in cognitive processes, and Thinking. Service-Learning students felt they knew significantly more about Cognitive Development than did non-Service-Learning students. In a subsequent Cognitive Psychology course, there was a trend for Service-Learners to perform better than non-Service-Learning students on tests. Students in a different course, a seminar on homelessness, felt that the major part of their learning had come from service-learning

Calcium mobilization and Na+/H+ antiport activation by endothelin in human skin fibroblasts

AbstractEndothelin (ET-1) has been shown to exert vasoconstrictor activity in vivo and mobilize Ca2+ in vascular smooth muscle cells in culture. In this paper we show that the human skin fibroblast exhibits specific receptors to ET-1 and that activation of these receptors results in increased intracellular Ca2+ (Ca2+i) and accelerated Na+/H+ antiport activity. ET-1 raised Ca2+i in a dose-response manner; the peak Ca2+i rise was from basal levels of 112.2 ± 21.9 to 299.2 ± 49.7 nM at 300 nM ET-1. This rise was attenuated by removal of extracellular Ca2+i0. Although ET-1 did not alter basal intracellular pH, it enhanced Na+/H+ antiport activity of acidified cells. Fibroblasts demonstrated 156 ± 18 (mean ± SE) ET-1 receptors per unit cell and an equilibrium dissociation constant of 203.4 ± 35.6 pM. Inasmuch as ET-1 plays a role in the metabolism of cells such as the undifferentiated fibroblast, an important action of this peptide may be to act as a growth factor.Endothelin; Growth factor; (Human skin fibroblast

That’s “Who-I-Am!”: An Identity Regulatory Model of Narcissism

Despite advances in understanding narcissism, limited attention has been paid to articulating a higherorder construct that explicitly captures the multi-faceted nature of narcissistic motives and displays. To address this missing link, this study presents an identity-based self-regulatory model of narcissism. We draw from identity control theory (ICT) and propose that dominance identity, a personal identity central to the narcissistic self-concept, is the overarching psychological motive driving narcissistic beliefs and behaviors. Validating, promoting, and protecting this dominance identity is the primary goal that guide narcissistic self-regulatory processes. We identify grandiose self-views, narcissistic self-promotion, and interpersonal aggression as the primary intra-personal and interpersonal strategies employed to sustain narcissistic personal identity. Complementing the prominent self-esteem based regulatory model of narcissism, the central premise of this framework is that dominance identity acts much like a thermostat that sets identity goals. Meanwhile, self-esteem, like a thermometer, is an evaluative indicator of such identity -goal attainment. This identity regulatory model provides a parsimonious way to organize current understanding of the underpinning psychological drivers of narcissism