Matching Items (203)
Description
Mammalian olfaction relies on active sniffing, which both shapes and is shaped by olfactory stimuli. Habituation to repeated exposure of an olfactory stimuli is believed to be mediated by decreased sniffing; however, this decrease may be reserved by exposure to novel odorants. Because of this, it may be possible to use sniffing itself as a measure of novelty, and thus as a measure of odorant similarity. Thus, I investigated the use of sniffing to measure habituation, cross-habituation, and odorant similarity. During habituation experiments, increases in sniff rate seen in response to odorant presentation decreased in magnitude between the first and second presentations, suggesting of habituation. Some of this reduction in sniff rate increases was revered by the presentation of a novel odorant in cross-habituations. However the effect sizes in cross-habituation experiments were low, and the variability high, forestalling the conclusion that sniffing accurately measured cross-habituation. I discuss improvements to the experimental protocol that may allow for cross-habituation to be more accurately measured using sniffing alone in future experiments.
ContributorsVigayavel, Nirmal (Author) / Smith, Brian (Thesis director) / Sanabria, Federico (Committee member) / Gerkin, Rick (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2015-12
Description
Collaborative research is not only a form of social and human capital and a public good, but also a fundamental elicitor of positive Collective Action. Collaborative Research Networks can serve as models of proactive and purposive Collective Action and catalysts of societal change, if they function as more than hubs of research and knowledge. It is the goal of this Honors Thesis to examine the current nature under which collaborative research networks, focused on matters of Global Health or Sustainability, operate., how they are organized, what type of collaboration they engage in, and who collaborates with whom. A better understanding of these types of networks can lead to the formation of more effective networks that can develop innovative solutions to our collective Global Health and Sustainability problems.
ContributorsHodzic, Mirna (Author) / Van Der Leeuw, Sander (Thesis director) / Janssen, Marco (Committee member) / Schoon, Michael (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2012-05
Description
Agrobacterium tumefaciens has the ability to transfer its tumor inducing (Ti) plasmid into plant cells. In the last decade, agroinfiltration of Nicotiana benthamiana plants has shown promising results for recombinant protein production. However, A. tumefaciens produce endotoxins in the form of lipopolysaccharides (LPS), a component of their outer membrane that can induce organ failure and septic shock. Therefore, we aimed to detoxify A. tumefaciens by modifying their Lipid A structure, the toxic region of LPS, via mutating the genes for lipid A biosynthesis. Two mutant strains of A. tumefaciens were infiltrated into N. benthamiana stems to test for tumor formation to ensure that the detoxifying process did not compromise the ability of gene transfer. Our results demonstrated that A. tumefaciens with both single and double mutations retained the ability to form tumors. Thus, these mutants can be utilized to generate engineered A. tumefaciens strains for the production of plant-based pharmaceuticals with low endotoxicity.
ContributorsHaseefa, Fathima (Author) / Chen, Qiang (Thesis director) / Mason, Hugh (Committee member) / Hurtado, Jonathan (Committee member) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05