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- Member of: Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
- Status: Published
Description
It is important to consider factors that contribute to successful fertilization and the development of viable offspring. Better understanding the factors that contribute to infertility can be used to assist in the development of viable offspring, especially for human beings looking to successfully reproduce. Identifying paternal effect genes, genes that come from the father, introduces more targets that can be manipulated to produce specific reproductive effects. Use of Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study reproduction has increased, in part, due to the use of the GAL4 system. In this system, the GAL4 gene encodes an 881 amino acid protein that binds to the 4-site Upstream Activating Sequence (UAS) to induce transcription of the gene of interest. These sequences constitute the two components of the system: the driver (GAL4) and the responder (gene of interest) \u2014 each of which is maintained as a separate parental line. Effects of the GAL4 driver line "driving" transcription of the responder can be assessed by examining the offspring. One of the more common uses of the GAL4 system involves analyzing phenotypic effects of reducing or eliminating expression of a target gene through the induction of RNAi transcription, which often results in toxicity, lethality, or reduced viability. Utilizing these principles, we strove to demonstrate the effect of knocking down the expression of testis-specific sperm-leucyl-aminopeptidases gene CG13340 on progeny by inducing expression of RNAi with two distinct GAL4 driver lines - one with a nonspecific actin-binding activation sequence and the other with a testis-specific activation sequence. Comparison of both GAL4 driver lines to crosses using N01 wild type ("wt") flies verify that inducing RNAi transcription using the GAL4 system results in reduction of proper offspring development. Further studies using D. melanogaster and the GAL4 system can improve knowledge of factors contributing to male fertility and also be applied to better understand mammalian, specifically human, fertility.
ContributorsEvans, Donna Marie (Author) / Karr, Timothy L. (Thesis director) / Roland, Kenneth (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
I have conducted a creative that captures the power of women through an artistic perspective. The title of the creative project is “A Tribute to the Women Among us,” because this project’s purpose is to express gratitude for the women that fought for the rights I have today, and for the women I encounter in marches, continuing the fight. I have taken photographs of women and children at women's marches in the United States and in France, yielding a total of 10 photographs I will be presenting at my defense, and printing out to sell. All the profits made from the photographs will be donated to planned parenthood.
ContributorsMiss Ozuna, Alejandra Miss (Author) / Anand, Julia (Thesis director) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This thesis explores the relationship between sustainability, the fashion industry, and fashion exhibitions. Sustainability has been a driving force in the fashion industry in recent years as designers attempt to combat staggering textile waste statistics in order to lessen the damage the industry has on the environment. Producers must rethink human engagement with nature based on a new ethic of ecosystem stewardship, which proposes that humans have ethical obligations to one another in their mutual relationship with non-human species and nature (Schmitz 13). Enhancing a socio-ecological perspective garners new ways of consuming and appreciating clothing design while focusing on lessening impacts on the environment through using less materials, reusing materials in new textile developments, and projecting a sustainable identity that can be followed by the public in order to be more conscious of spending habits, annual waste, and how sustainably ethical companies are. Removing natural resources or transforming landscapes to enhance human well-being paradoxically stands to diminish human well being over time (Schmitz 12), and this is something that humans face with the inevitability of climate change affecting future generations. In mapping the relationship between sustainability, fashion designer's design process, and the way curators communicate sustainable themes, an overall understanding of sustainable culture can be understood in the industry.
ContributorsLord, Nicolas K (Author) / Sewell, Dennita (Thesis director) / Mesch, Claudia (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of my honors thesis project was to generate the tools needed for in vivo imaging by determining the optimal plasmid-fluorophore combination. To determine the optimal plasmid and fluorophore, asd plasmids were constructed with various promoters, origins of replications, and red fluorophores. The optimal asd plasmid for fluorescent in vivo imaging was determined by the plasmid stability, growth rate, and growth phase dependence on fluorescent intensity. The end goal is to be able to use the asd plasmid in vaccine strains for the purpose of in vivo imaging of the recombinant attenuated Salmonella vaccine (RASV).
ContributorsEudy, L. Adam (Author) / Curtiss, Roy (Thesis director) / Roland, Kenneth (Committee member) / Forbes, Stephen (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12