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Following natural menopause, androstenedione becomes the main hormone secreted by the follicle-depleted ovaries. We have previously evaluated high physiological doses of androstenedione in the female rodent, and found relations between higher androstenedione levels and spatial memory impairment; this relationship was shown when androstenedione levels were of endogenous, or exogenous, origin (Acosta et al., 2009, Camp et al., 2012). This androstenedione-induced memory impairment in females led us to question whether this androgen also impairs memory in males; no study has yet evaluated androstenedione's impact on cognition in the male rodent model. This is a clinically relevant question, as androstenedione is a steroid of abuse. In the current study, four-month old male rats were given either a daily injection of androstenedione, androstenedione with anastrozole or vehicle (polyethylene glycol). Subjects completed a battery of cognitive tasks evaluating spatial working, reference, and recent memory including the water radial arm maze (WRAM), Morris water maze (MM), and delayed match-to-sample maze (DMTS). We found that androstenedione administration impaired spatial cognitive performance in MM on early overnight forgetting and DMTS early recent memory trials across all days of testing. In addition, we found that androstenedione with anastrozole administration impaired spatial cognitive performance in the learning phases and early overnight forgetting in the MM but had no impact in DMTS testing. There were no significant differences in the WRAM maze for either group. Our findings suggest that androstenedione can impair spatial reference and early recent memory, and that anastrozole reverses this impairment for early recent memory, but not reference memory. Interpreted in the context of hormone conversion, androstenedione's effects on spatial learning and memory may be due, in part, to its conversion to estrone.
ContributorsTorres, Laura Maria (Co-author) / Camp, Bryan (Co-author) / Karber, Lily (Co-author) / Hiroi, Ryoko (Co-author, Committee member) / Bimonte-Nelson, Heather (Co-author, Thesis director) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, has become a common practice in United States oil fields for enhancing their productivity. Among the concerns regarding fracking, however, is the possibility that it could trigger shallow earthquakes. The brine that results from fracking is injected into the subsurface for disposal. This brine causes a pore pressure gradient that is commonly believed to trigger failure along critically stressed subsurface faults. In Timpson, a small city in eastern Texas, earthquakes have become much more common since two injection wells were installed in 2007. 16 events of M_W > 2 have been detected since 2008 and are believed to be associated with failure along a subsurface fault. Applying interferometric synthetic aperture radar, we analyzed 3 sets of SAR images from the Advanced Land Observing Satellite (ALOS) from May 2007 to December 2010. Using these data sets, XX interferograms were generated. From these interferograms, it was possible to determine the spatial and temporal evolution of the crustal deformation in the line-of-sight of the satellite. The results show strong evidence of uplift in the region adjacent to the injection wells. While previous studies have established a strong connection between fluid injection and increased seismicity, this is to our knowledge the first observed case of crustal deformation that has been observed as a result of hydraulic fracturing fluid disposal.
ContributorsSedlak, Alexander Paul Woodward (Author) / Shirzaei, Manoochehr (Thesis director) / Vivoni, Enrique (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Geographical Sciences and Urban Planning (Contributor) / School of Earth and Space Exploration (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Adaptation theorists suggest that effective film adaptations combine familiar material from the source with new material from the screenwriter. This study assessed the success of The Hunger Games film adaptations through analysis of the latent fairytale structure within each movie and parallel novel, and recommended film adaptation improvements. Russian scholar Vladimir Propp's structural analysis approach was used to identify 32 distinct functions and classify the series as a fairytale.
ContributorsMcGlynn, Rita Kathryn (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / White, Julianne (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The goal of the studies described in this thesis was to determine the changes in vascular density in the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) of the hypothalamus following prenatal exposure to the synthetic glucocorticoid hormone, dexamethasone (DEX). DEX is a synthetic glucocorticoid used clinically in women at risk for preterm delivery or in preterm infants to promote proper pulmonary development in high-risk neonates. Prenatal exposure to glucocorticoids such as DEX may change the development of important brain regulatory centers such as the PVN, resulting in increased risk for diseases in adulthood.
Previous studies have demonstrated that the hypothalamus regulates neuroendocrine and autonomic function and behavior. Within the hypothalamus, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is an integratory node that contains neurons associated with the control of neuroendocrine and autonomic responses. The PVN also has one of the highest density of blood vessels within the brain. Alterations of normal PVN angiogenesis by dexamethasone could potentially result in long-term modifications of brain and endocrine functions.
Timed-pregnant Sprague Dawley female rats received DEX on gestational days 18-21 and the resulting progeny were sacrificed at Postnatal Day (PND) 0, 4, 14, and 21. A tomato lectin, Lycopersicon Esculentum labeled with DyLight594 was used to stain blood vessels in the PVN and scanning confocal microscopy was used to analyze the experimental brains for PVN blood vessel density
Analysis of data using a 3-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with age, sex and treatment as main factors, showed a significant age effect in vascular density. Analysis of female data by 2-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect of age, but no treatment or interaction effects. Post-hoc analysis shows significant differences at PND 2, 4, 14, and 21 compared to PND0. A Student‘s t-test of a planned comparison on PND2 showed a significant reduction by DEX treatment (p < 0.05). Analysis of data from females, using 2-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect of age, but no treatment or interaction effects. Post-hoc analysis shows significant differences at PND 2, 4, 14, and 21 compared to PND0. A planned comparison at PND 2 using Student’s t-test indicated a significant reduction by dex treatment.
The results of these studies demonstrate that there is significant postnatal angiogenic programming and that the vascular density of the PVN is altered by prenatal dexamethasone administration at PND2. The time-course shows developmental fluctuations in vessel density that may prove to be physiologically significant for normal brain function and developmental programming of brain and behavior.
Previous studies have demonstrated that the hypothalamus regulates neuroendocrine and autonomic function and behavior. Within the hypothalamus, the paraventricular nucleus (PVN) is an integratory node that contains neurons associated with the control of neuroendocrine and autonomic responses. The PVN also has one of the highest density of blood vessels within the brain. Alterations of normal PVN angiogenesis by dexamethasone could potentially result in long-term modifications of brain and endocrine functions.
Timed-pregnant Sprague Dawley female rats received DEX on gestational days 18-21 and the resulting progeny were sacrificed at Postnatal Day (PND) 0, 4, 14, and 21. A tomato lectin, Lycopersicon Esculentum labeled with DyLight594 was used to stain blood vessels in the PVN and scanning confocal microscopy was used to analyze the experimental brains for PVN blood vessel density
Analysis of data using a 3-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) with age, sex and treatment as main factors, showed a significant age effect in vascular density. Analysis of female data by 2-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect of age, but no treatment or interaction effects. Post-hoc analysis shows significant differences at PND 2, 4, 14, and 21 compared to PND0. A Student‘s t-test of a planned comparison on PND2 showed a significant reduction by DEX treatment (p < 0.05). Analysis of data from females, using 2-way ANOVA demonstrated a significant effect of age, but no treatment or interaction effects. Post-hoc analysis shows significant differences at PND 2, 4, 14, and 21 compared to PND0. A planned comparison at PND 2 using Student’s t-test indicated a significant reduction by dex treatment.
The results of these studies demonstrate that there is significant postnatal angiogenic programming and that the vascular density of the PVN is altered by prenatal dexamethasone administration at PND2. The time-course shows developmental fluctuations in vessel density that may prove to be physiologically significant for normal brain function and developmental programming of brain and behavior.
ContributorsWidener, Andrew John-Claude (Author) / Handa, Robert (Thesis director) / Orchinik, Miles (Committee member) / Mustard, Julie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study sought to identify traits that act as possible predictors of academic science proficiency of highly gifted adolescent students. A combination of cognitive, personality, and conative traits were selected for evaluation as predictors of scientific proficiency using student General Ability Index (GAI), Revised NEO Personality Index (NEO-PI R), and Kolbe Index scores to evaluate each, respectively. Statistical correlational analyses revealed that high expressions of the conative trait Fact Finder and the personality traits Ideas and Straight-forwardness predicted higher degrees of academic science proficiency. In contrast, lower expressions of the personality traits Excitement Seeking and Order predicted higher degrees of scientific proficiency. Further, stepwise regression confirmed that the NEO-PI R facets of Excitement Seeking and Ideas traits were significant predictors of science proficiency and suggested that the personality trait Vulnerability may also be a predictor. The repeated appearance of the Excitement Seeking and Ideas facets and the dependence of the other identified traits suggests that these traits were the most promising possible predictors of scientific proficiency in highly gifted students and should be the target of future research.
ContributorsRoss, Christian Hamilton (Author) / Lansdowne, Kimberly (Thesis director) / Oakes, Wendy (Committee member) / Young, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
If democracy is the best way to rule why then is it limited only to the political sphere? This question is central to economic democracy which is the theory that economic activities should be governed by democratic principles. In America, ESOPs are used for a variety of reasons, and I believe that they can be used for the development of democratic firms. My thesis looks at current ESOPs to see if they are democratic, and suggests how they can be used to develop democratic firms.
ContributorsHeth, Zachary Fredrick (Author) / Simhony, Avital (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Being able to self-regulate has been found to be an important part of a person’s physiological and psychological health. It allows someone to regulate their emotions well in trying to obtain a goal, or in realizing a goal is unobtainable and re-evaluating the situation to form an obtainable goal (Rasmussen, Wrosch, Scheier & Carver, 2006). Self-regulation can be measured in many ways, but a physiological measure of self-regulation is heart rate variability (HRV). HRV monitors the body’s response to emotional stressors through measuring how variable a person’s heartbeat is (Appelhans & Luecken, 2006). A second potential factor contributing to self-regulation is social closeness. Research has also shown that the more social closeness a person experiences, the better able they are to regulate their emotions (Kok & Fredrickson, 2010; Kok et al., 2013). Social closeness is assessed via self-reports. There is a difference between partners’ and self-reports, such that the partners tend to be more positive when asked about the participants through questionnaires (Vuorisalmi, Sarkeala, Hervonen & Jylhä, 2012). When examining the relationship between reports of spouses, research has shown that the husbands are worse at reliably reporting their wives’ behaviors, but are more reliable when reporting on personal situations between the couple than is the wife (Khawaja & Tewtel-Salem, 2004). To date we know that a higher HRV is associated with better self-regulation and that social closeness leads to better emotional regulation; however, we do not know if HRV and social closeness combine to predict better functionality or if it matters if the husbands or wives are filling out the self-reports on social closeness. This study investigated four hypotheses regarding the relations between HRV and social relations between partners and how the social or emotional functioning of female fibromyalgia (FM) patients. The first hypothesis is that when the FM patient feels disregard from her partner, she is more likely to exhibit a decline in her social functioning, and that this decline is less pronounced in high HRV. The second hypothesis is that if a FM patient feels disregarded by her partner, her emotional functioning will become inhibited; furthermore, that this relationship is moderated by her HRV. The third hypothesis is that when her partner feels he disregards her, her social functioning is impaired, and that this relationship is moderated by her HRV. The last hypothesis is that when her partner feels he disregards her, her emotional functioning declines, and that this relationship is moderated by HRV. The FM patient’s HRV was measured in a laboratory setting, and the partner disregard was measured by a partner survey that was administered to both the FM patient and her partner. Through the analysis of all of the results, none of the four hypotheses had significant results showing that none of them were supported by this experiment.
ContributorsKillion, Jordan Ann (Author) / Davis, Mary (Thesis director) / Yeung, Wan (Committee member) / Zautra, Alex (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
DNA is a natural genetic polymer capable of storing and preserving genetic information in biological systems. Due to its natural information storage capacity, recent scientific progress demonstrates that DNA has the potential to exceed standard information storage technologies. However, DNA is limited in its information storage capacities due to its susceptibility to degradation in the presence of naturally occurring nucleases. Threose nucleic acid (TNA), an unnatural genetic polymer with a 3'->2'phosphodiester-linked threose sugar backbone, has promising potential to overcome this limitation. TNA is not a substrate for natural nucleases and thus shows a dramatic increase in stability compared to DNA. However, TNA transcription has a tendency to generate G:G mispairs and lead to a gradual loss of information within the template. It was hypothesized that the mutation occurs through a G:G Hoogsteen base pair that forms preferentially over the canonical G:C Watson-Crick base pair. Incorporation of 7-deaza-dG into a four letter template effectively eliminated G:G mispairings and improved the replication fidelity from 60% to 99.6% with only four errors in a thousand. These results have laid the groundwork for further research to increase the length of the TNA product synthesized and to test TNA's ability to store genetic information.
ContributorsMeyers, Madeline Ashby (Author) / Chaput, John C. (Thesis director) / Chandler, Douglas (Committee member) / Dunn, Matthew R. (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This study analyzes various reasons why some Americans find the subject of ghosts and ghost hunting so fascinating. A recent poll suggests that nearly half of Americans believe in ghosts. Thousands of ghost hunting societies exist in which members try to find proof of a supernatural world. Hundreds of films featuring paranormal elements have been released over the past few decades. The prevalence of this subject warrants further investigation regarding its appeal. Ghost stories have been passed down from one generation to the next for millennia in literature and by word of mouth. There have been accounts of ghosts haunting homes and families all over the world. Edgar Allen Poe and Nathaniel Hawthorne introduced the American horror story, which is characterized by themes that strike Americans where they care most. These stories transgressed from literature into film and television where they began reaching widespread audiences and continue to exist and thrive today. However, for as long as there have been people interested in ghost stories, there have been those interested in ghost hunting. This hobby became widely popular in the late twentieth century when popular films made it acceptable to discuss the possibility of a haunting in the home. Reality television then showed that anyone could be an investigator. Even though the topic of ghosts can be frightening and disturbing to some, others find ghost stories and ghost hunting very appealing. The purpose of this study is to understand the motivations of these investigations and the attraction to these tales. Over the course of this research, two interviews with local ghost hunters were conducted to understand their unique perspective on the subject. Further, public forums were analyzed to determine popular opinions regarding these appeals. Psychologists have proposed various theories regarding the appeal of ghosts in popular media, which provides a theoretical framework for the public opinions gathered from the forums. There is very little research regarding the motivations of ghost hunting, which is alarming. Many people have decided to dedicate their lives to this hobby, so why has so little research been conducted on the subject?
ContributorsCiliento, Nicole Angela (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / Killoren, Lexi (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The influenza virus is the main cause of thousands of deaths each year in the United States, and far more hospitalizations. Immunization has helped in protecting people from this virus and there are a number of therapeutics which have proven effective in aiding people infected with the virus. However, these therapeutics are subject to various limitations including increased resistance, limited supply, and significant side effects. A new therapeutic is needed which addresses these problems and protects people from the influenza virus. Synbodies, synthetic antibodies, may provide a means to achieve this goal. Our group has produced a synbody, the 5-5 synbody, which has been shown to bind to and inhibit the influenza virus. The direct pull down and western blot techniques were utilized to investigate how the synbody bound to the influenza virus. Our research showed that the 5-5 synbody bound to the influenza nucleoprotein (NP) with a KD of 102.9 ± 74.48 nM. It also showed that the synbody bound strongly to influenza viral extract from two different strains of the virus, the Puerto Rico (H1N1) and Sydney (H3N2) strains. This research demonstrated that the 5-5 synbody binds with high affinity to NP, which is important because influenza NP is highly conserved between various strains of the virus and plays an important role in the replication of the viral genome. It also demonstrated that this binding is conserved between various strains of the virus, indicating that the 5-5 synbody potentially could bind many different influenza strains. This synbody may have potential as a therapeutic in the future if it is able to demonstrate similar binding in vivo.
ContributorsKombe, Albert E. (Author) / Diehnelt, Chris (Thesis director) / Woodbury, Neal (Committee member) / Legutki, Bart (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2014-05